A few minutes later...
The contract terms were finalized, leaving both parties somewhat satisfied. In the case of Levi, he made sure to include three big terms.
Firstly, Arthur would not be harmed or affected by her party whether Blee'der's evolution succeeded or failed.
Secondly, if the evolution went through as anticipated, Shia had to ensure that Levi joined the Contract Ritual Assembly in the next two months regardless of the cost. If she failed to deliver, she would pay ten million lumen credit to Levi.
This wasn't all, she had to attempt sponsoring him for the next years until he successfully joined...Each year she failed, she had to pay him the same amount again.
This condition was extremely harsh as ten million lumens wasn't an amount any Daywalker could produce easily...Only high-ranked or rich Daywalkers could afford such a penalty.
Third, if he were to succeed, they must not speak of this deal with anyone or mention his name.
In other words, this was a one-time deal.
After the terms were written in luminous ink on the Nocturnal Contract, Shia went first and signed her full name at the bottom.
When she finished, she extended her palm at the contract, her eager smile couldn't be maintained.
"Excuse me, is it possible to have ten minutes with my little brother?" Levi suddenly requested with a soft smile, "I would like to put his mind at ease."
"Little brother?" Shia tilted her head in confusion and then glanced at the agitated mountain behind Levi.
"That's your little brother?" Jamal's eyes widened, "Are you messing with me? He looks older than us!"
"Yes, he is one year younger than me," Levi replied calmly.
"The hell? Are you telling me this behemoth is still a teenager?"
Sergio gulped a mouthful as lifted his head to look at Arthur's face, almost breaking his neck in the process.
"Guys, this is not the time."
Although Shia was just as shocked as her partners, she still brought back the conversation to the more important subject.
"You can have five minutes tops."
She approved and walked to the room's door, followed by her squadmates whose dumbfounded eyes never left Arthur.
"That will do." Levi nodded in appreciation.
The moment the door was closed and Arthur saw them keep a respectful distance, he immediately turned to face Levi.
"Big bro, what's your next move?" He asked, "Did you find Blee'der's perfect evolution?"
"How could I?" Levi chuckled, "I never left your sight."
"Levi...How can you laugh in this f*cked-up situation?"
Arthur scratched his head in agitation, trying his best to understand his brother's angle, but failing miserably.
While he wasn't the brightest of minds, he had read the terms of the contract. There wasn't an ounce of play work or fine print in the terms.
In other words, unless Levi genuinely produced a method to help Blee'der's evolution, he was cooked beyond reproach.
"Arthy, relax." With the same serene smile, Levi said, "While I don't know the answer, I know who does."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Arthur lifted his head in confusion, but Levi's attention was already on someone else.
"Ash'kral, don't you think it's time we are done with foreplay?" He asked as he gazed at the infinite darkness before him.
Surprisingly, not a single nightcrawler had invaded Levi's personal space even though he was in an outpost packed with Daywalkers.
It was all because of one entity...
"Boy, I don't swing that way."
Ash'kral emerged from the darkness, his sinister crimson eye manifesting first akin to the awakening of a slumbering devil.
"I don't think we have time for jokes." Levi tapped on his wrist twice and said calmly, "We have four minutes and thirty seconds to negotiate our Daywalker contract terms."
"Boy, have you finally gone mad?"
Ash'kral twisted himself around Levi akin to a serpentine without touching him. He brought his menacing slit in front of him, seemingly trying to read out Levi's motives.
"Ash'Kral, please don't insult my intelligence." Levi said composedly, "I may not have eyes, but my observation skills aren't to be underestimated."
"What are you on about?" Ash'kral frowned.
"I see you want to act dumb all the way...Fine by me."
Levi leaned against the chair and picked up the teacup on the small table on his side after a couple of attempts...Then, he took a sip and started speaking, his tone unchanging.
"Ten years...For an entire decade, you have been beside me. You were the first nightcrawler I have laid my eyes on as a child after the incident. While you scared the living crap out of me and gave me unspeakable nightmares, I realized something..." He smiled, "Those nightmares were normal, and they continued for five years until I reached twelve, the minimum required age for a human to sign his name on a Nocturnal Contract."
"..." Ash'kral remained quiet.
Unbothered by his silence, Levi continued on, "While the nightmares were normal, I couldn't help but note that all of them shared one single detail...You, possessing my body at the end."
"I am sure you aren't foolish to leave behind such an obvious hint of your strong desire to own my body, which made me believe that it was my intuition warning me about you."
Arthur listened to his brother's whispers, realizing that he was talking to a nightcrawler in the bridge of darkness.
While he had no idea what he was talking about, he kept his ears open and didn't interrupt him.
"Once I became twelve years old, that's when you pulled back and watched as the nightcrawlers held a free buffet each day to torment me. Some invaded my dreams when I slept, some kept showing me the most hideous scenes known to mankind, and some were outright making it impossible for me to live."
Levi paused, still maintaining the same serene smile like he was retelling a story unrelated to him instead of a childhood trauma that no one could imagine...
"Yet, throughout all of that misery, you made sure to eliminate any nightcrawler that seemed close to winning me over. You might not know, but I have a really strong memory and remember every single nightcrawler my spiritual eyes landed on."
"Every, one, of, them." He intoned word by word while looking straight into Ash'Kral's gleaming red eye.
"..." Ash'Kral still refused to interject.
"One disappearance might be a lucky coincidence, but every time?" Levi chuckled, "You can imagine my surprise when I realized that you were my guardian angel, keeping me safe until I grew to my late teen years."
While Levi's mental fortitude also played a heavy role, he was still a child. A child with dead parents and a future inhabited by outlandish creatures.
There were bound to be some close calls, where he simply wanted to give up...
"You're welcome." Ash'Kral finally spoke, his voice devoid of emotions.
"Welcome? Haha, hahahaha," Levi couldn't help but break out laughing wildly, his white pearly teeth fully showing.
"Your shamelessness truly puts mine to shame." Levi's chuckles died down, and then he carried on coldly, "You think I haven't figured out that you were behind all of it? That it was you, using those nightcrawlers to cripple my spirit for the promised day?"
"The promised day?" Ash'Kral's slit thinned a little.
"Yes, the day when I realize that my dream of becoming a Daywalker is nothing but, a dream." Levi sneered, "It would have happened either in the Contract Ritual Ceremony or after I reached thirty years old, the final window of becoming a Daywalker."
"That's when you planned on swooping in and giving me the worst possible contract a Daywalker can sign in his life, knowing that I will have no other choice but to sign it if I want my questions answered and my vengeance fulfilled."
"Well guess what, I have no interest in wasting another year, begging for a recommendation letter, knowing that even if I obtained it and aced the trials, no nightcrawler but you, will want me."
Levi turned to face Ash'Kral and said expressionlessly, "So, I decided to take the initiative and choose the date of the promised day...Like it or not, it's happening today."
After he was done, Levi merely picked up the teacup and took another sip, quenching his dried throat...Then, he asked Astra Ai how much time was left for the five minutes to finish.
"One minute."
"Your move," Levi uttered, unfazed.