{300 Power Stones bonus chapter }
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"Then… let's cut the chatter. Why don't we handle the matter of the blood oath first?"
As Helen stepped into the elevator, Alex's harmless, friendly smile disappeared. He stepped aside, gesturing for John Wick and Caine to take their seats. His gaze shifted toward Winston, who was still seated comfortably on the sofa, sipping whiskey while scrutinizing John Wick.
"Jonathan, I thought you'd die alone," Winston teased as John sat down. He set his glass aside and drew out the notebook used to record blood oaths.
John Wick said nothing—he didn't know how to respond. Instead, Caine, now a father himself, stepped in with a half-joking remark to ease the awkwardness.
"Mr. Winston, it won't be long before you're drinking at John's wedding banquet."
The playful banter lightened the room's atmosphere, setting the stage for what came next.
Winston's tone shifted as he moved on.
"Well, jokes aside, let's begin with the oath."
His eyes turned to Caine.
"Mr. Caine, please produce the silver seal of the blood oath."
Nodding, Caine quickly pulled from his pocket the silver medallion Alex had given him.
"Now, Mr. Caine," Winston continued, "state the trouble you want John Wick to resolve."
At that, both Winston and John turned toward Caine, curious. What exactly had Alex instructed him to request?
Taking a deep breath, Caine spoke slowly:
"I want John Wick to protect me and my daughter—until the day we can live ordinary lives again."
The room stilled. Winston's eyes immediately shifted from Caine to Alex, as did John's. But Winston was the first to smile. Without hesitation, he went on:
"Very well, Mr. Caine. John Wick has heard your request. Please hand him the seal. If he agrees, he will leave a blood imprint within it."
Caine extended the medallion toward John.
John didn't hesitate. He pressed his thumb against the sharp spike, blood welling up from his fingertip. Opening the medallion, he pressed the print firmly onto the white cloth on the left side.
Beside him, Winston quickly recorded:
"October 23, 2009, 4:27 PM, at the Lighthouse Hotel—Caine and John Wick signed a blood oath. The oath is hereby in effect."
With a snap, he shut the notebook and looked squarely at John.
"Once the oath is forged, refusing to aid the petitioner means death. Killing the petitioner means death. In short, your only choice is to fulfill his request, no matter what."
At last, John understood why Caine had worded his demand as protecting himself and his daughter until they can live normal lives. And he understood why Alex had been so eager to bring him here and formalize it immediately.
From this moment on, he could never raise a hand against Caine. On the contrary—should Caine or his daughter face danger, he would be compelled to protect them.
Even if the High Table sent assassins, the blood oath took absolute priority.
Yet one question still gnawed at him: why had Night Demon appeared at the airport leading High Table assassins?
John's eyes turned to Alex, the true mastermind behind all this.
"Mr. Alex, I've fulfilled your request. Now tell me—what really happened here?"
"Of course."
Alex poured fresh whiskey for John and Caine, then braced his hands against the sofa as he stood behind them, his voice calm but steady.
"The High Table wanted to use Caine's daughter as leverage, to force him out of retirement. To do so, they abducted her."
As he laid it out—the abduction, the coercion, the rescue, the bounty, the retreat to New York—the whole chain of events came into focus.
Only then did John Wick grasp the truth. The High Table had hoped to turn him into their weapon, coercing him to kill Caine. The outcome would've been inevitable: one dead, the other gravely wounded.
Alex's maneuver had spared him from that trap.
John exhaled slowly, as did the others in the room, relief visible on their faces.
But Alex? He only smiled, enigmatic as ever.
Because this oath's purpose went far beyond tonight.
One day, it would be the very thing to make the High Table choke on its own rules.
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