"I understood my mistake. Is this really necessary?" Alexanderia read the paper once more; the more she read, her expression became darker.

Ray didn’t even look at her. "I don’t trust you. That’s my guarantee for keeping you around."

"What I don’t?" She knew the answer already.

"I will kill you."

With a heavy sigh, she went through the contract again; it had three main parts that she had to follow: she couldn’t do anything that would cause harm to Ray directly or indirectly; he had to follow her orders unless they went against her survival; and at last, she couldn’t exit the contract unless she died. With the aura of a devil in the contract, she was sure there was no cheating in what was written in there.

"Can I at least know what will be done with me?"

Ray turned toward her. "You will help me kill the king of silence and General Armstrong; after that I will go to Mars."

"I will be free to choose?" Alexanderia asked with surprise.

Raising an eyebrow, Ray replied, "I’m not some sadist who enjoys torturing you; the only reason you are alive is because you have some use." His words were harsh, but Alexanderia needed to know her place.

"Ok." She took a deep breath. "What about Marian?"

"I told her and Jade about what happened; they want to make a video and publish it to the world, announcing who pulls the strings behind the scenes. I will send you to them after you sign that contract."

Her finger touched the empty place on the contract, and a chain came out of the paper, making a leather collar around her neck. She felt no changes, and she didn’t want to know what the penalty of going against the contract was. "The thing is, I’m not ready to face Marian."

"I don’t care." Ray swung his hand, and a portal swallowed her, sending her to the mansion. For now he had bigger problems to focus on. Someone was searching the whole world after the bunker; Ray doubted its defenses could hold out any longer.

As much as he wanted to be calm, the encounter with the brain made him worry; inside of it, at least 300 types of magic existed, making an army of machines that could use one not that hard with its capabilities. And there was the king of silence himself.

At first Ray thought two generals and he were equals in their plan, but seeing the two generals fall to his trap, he surely was the one who pulled the strings from the very start.

"I want a visit."

Dark hands dragged him to a portal on the ground, inviting him to the devil of lust and his biggest ally, Famine. She had taken the form of some woman that Ray had not met before, yet he was too busy to care about such things.

"Who is Mythos?"

"My, my. At least take your time first." Her lips licked her fingers with seduction.

Ray crossed his legs; his magic had regenerated to half of its full capacity. "I’m on your quest, ma’am." He took his hand to his chin. "And I wonder how accidentally you wanted me to kill someone on earth that has a perfect bond with a devil."

"I didn’t expect that human to be able to carry the burden of Mythos. When I demanded you kill him, he only had two shades of the devil." She changed her form to Aria. "Yet now he has five shades."

"How strong is he?" That was Ray’s main question. Even with five magics, he had a chance, but when higher entities were involved, his chances grew near zero.

"He has a devil form. Mythos is the devil of imagination; his shades can grant magic to the wielder. With five of his shades, he can use the devil’s powers for a mere moment.

"Five shades? He has five magics!"

With Aria’s lips, she sucked her finger. "That man was born with no magic or system, a true outcast."

"And a true vessel." Things were getting worse. By any words that came out of her mouth, "Can’t grant me the power to face his powers?"

"No, compared to those who fight against one another, I’m weak." She smiled. "But you have another bond that can help you."

"Impossible," Ray shook his head; fear and hunger were too dangerous. "I need to find another way."

Famine moved to sit on his legs; not getting even an erection out of him was hurting her ego. "It is stronger than any devil; just say you will offer all the five shades to it."

"Why are you telling it an ’it’ too? Both of you are devils."

Kissing Ray’s neck, she whispered to his ear: "A firstborn is not a devil; we were named devils because we had some of its features."

Ray held her face tightly. "Why do you want the other devil to be weakened?"

"You don’t need to know the details; the one you need to seek help from is elsewhere."

Ray stood up from the sofa. "If something happens to me, I will guide it here."

For a mere second he could see fear in her face before she could change her form to Ray’s mother. "Don’t worry, it has taken a liking to you. Firstborns have their own games too."

"How many drops of blood do I need from him to be able to use devil magic?" With only one blood ray, sometimes he could feel the horror that was within him; with a few more, his sanity would have been at risk.

"2 more; after you take it, your power will surge to new heights that earth had never seen before."

Walking toward the still-open portal Ray said, "The question is, will it be me?"

The devil laughed like a crazy person, "That depends on you."

After two steps Ray found himself in the bunker again; the defenses were at their last line of defense. "I can’t do this in the mansion; I need to do this as far as any human possibly can." The best place came to his mind after a second.

A bony hand knocked on his back, taking him to the platform in the space.

"If I die here, at least the view is good!"