Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Mark silently used his senses to gauge this eccentric woman. She was a B-Rank Hunter and a rather weak one at that—but her expertise didn't lay in combat. She could bind people into contracts with actual power. If people went against it, they would die.

Reol'ran sighed: "What a useful ability to have. Not a big deal for me but it could make your life a lot easier if you had something like this."

"Don't make me greedy when there is no use to being greedy."

Reol'ran sighed. "Focus, Mark, focus."

Bale breathed out a puff of smoke and asked through the bite on his cigar. "Tell me, Scientist, can you artificially awaken Hunters as I've heard?"

"I believe I can, Mr. Bale," said Yuri.

Bale squinted his eyes. "Does any other A-Rank Hunter know about this 'method' of yours? No, does anyone know about it?"

"No other human knows about it other than me." Of course, a demon knew of it but that didn't have to be mentioned.

Bale smiled and walked closer to Yuri, his shadow alone would have intimidated anyone—Bale was just too big, he was nearly 3 meters tall and extremely masculine. His bald, bronze face was also rather menacing.

Yuri seemed incredibly small in comparison.

"Here is the deal," said the Hunter, "We brothers will help you get the required materials and you will only awaken people that we allow from now on. And you will also give me the entire method of how to Awaken others, too in return."

Yuri frowned. "I don't mind taking the shorter end of the stick since I am the weaker party, but I also want you never to harm me—and protect me just in case it gets troublesome down the line."

Bale laughed, his gaze as cold as ice. "Are you really in a position to negotiate? One clench of my hand and you will be tomato squeeze. My Laboy loves eating tomato squeeze."

Yuri grew silent. "If I die, you just won't get the method."

"I have people who can read the memory of corpses."

"I have set up some ways that will make sure the method is spread to the entirety of humanity if I am harmed here today. Maybe, videos will start popping out in the internet, guiding people on how to awaken as Hunters."

Yuri seemed meek but her words were bold.

Mark tapped Bale on his back, the brother looked back.

"Let me handle this, brother, you don't have to scare her like that. We are partners from now on, after all."

Bale squinted but smiled.

'The good cop bad cop method, huh?' Bale thought, 'My brother is learning well. It had been a good idea to leave him in the criminal underworld.'

Mark came to the front and met Yuri's gaze, both of their eyes sparkled slightly. They both wanted this negotiation to succeed. Then, Yuri could awaken as an A-Rank Hunter and that alone would change their standing by a lot.

She might also be able to help Mark evolve and conquer a nation in this world.

"Miss Yuri, been a while," said Mark.

"A while indeed," she said, smiling.

"Tell me about the Awakening Method. Why have you alone discovered it while no other scientist has been capable of doing it before you?"

'A good question,' both Shuuma and Bale thought.

"It's simple, really," Yuri said, and they perked up. "The other scientists are fools. Monkeys. They had never been interested in the actual evolution of the human race as a species. What to say, for thinking of it, I had even been termed to have a 'dangerous thinking,' before the whole demon shebacle began."

Mark smiled. "And?"

"I dedicated years of my life to this and recently, I got my hand on a beautiful demon's body. It was inside a Dungeon, so it didn't vanish. I did research on it and made sure of my ideas—And the rest of the thing is scientific. Just know that because I am one of the best in Science, it just ended up that I am the first to develop this method."

Mark's smile widened. "We can't be sure about that, what if somebody else had found the method before you but never revealed that to the world? That sounds like a reasonable thing to do."

Bale chuckled. "Indeed, I myself would do that."

Shrugging, Yuri chuckled, too. "That doesn't make what I have to offer any less valuable to you, does it? Why are you dragging this out so much, we could sign the contract now and if you give me the materials, we could be doing productive research instead of this drama. We have nothing to lose by binding ourselves into this deal."

The Contract Hunter chortled. "The world would go crazy if they knew what's happening in this silent street. Well, me am a good businesswoman. Two Billion dollars for my silence, and also one chance to awaken whoever I wanted to as a Hunter."

Mark smiled and spoke to his brother, "So, we are taking the deal, right?"

The muscle man nodded. "Freak, bind us into a contract in which betrayal is impossible. And make sure no loophole in it would trouble any of us—I will read it thoroughly and if I find anything wrong in it, don't blame me for my violent temper."

The Contract Hunter Shuuma just chortled harder. If she was killed here, the information regarding the deal would be spread to the entire world—she had cameras on her body that could go live on her command. If the contract ended up happily bound, she would have to destroy it.

And there were millions of people contracted to her who would become mad at Bale. Cold mad. Bale wouldn't take the risk unnecessarily. There was no reason to when the benefits aligned more on letting her walk her own way.

Shuuma began to prepare a Contract using her ability.

Her eyelashes closed shut and a blank paper flickered into existence before her face. "An unbetrayable contract without any harmful loopholes for any party involved in the contract. And a non-disclosure agreement between the involved parties. Are you all willing to sign?"

Yuri asked, her gaze focused on Bale, "I need a Tier 2 Demon to begin my actual finalization of the research, can you get one?"

"Do not underestimate me, woman," Bale sneered. "I can get you more than one Tier 2 Demon. Not all Tier 2 Demons are the same as the boss of the mega-dungeon, some are easy to kill."

Yuri smiled and for the next hour, they all discussed the contract; Bale tried to sneak one or two rules into it that could completely ruin Yuri's life in weird ways, but Yuri easily pointed them out and a very fair contract was created.

Even Reol'ran checked it and approved of it before Mark nodded at Yuri.

All of them signed it.

Even Shuuma had to sign it. And then, they were all partners.

Unless Yuri's actions called for it, Bale couldn't even harm her hair. This was the power of a Contract ability—Mark himself felt some kind of shackle around his soul and a new contract appeared in his Soul Space.

It had even slightly played with his Destiny.

Calmly, Reol'ran's Will floated beside the contract and a violet blade appeared in her hand. She blurred and appeared on the other side of the contract—the contract was sliced into pieces.

"Our destinies are one, Mark. If we sign a contract, it has to be done with both of our consent or none of us could be bound; keep that information a secret. We can use it to fool many into harsh contracts while remaining free ourselves."

Mark smiled in pleasant surprise. The contract's restriction over him vanished from Mark's mind but the others didn't even notice it.

Bale exchanged a final handshake with Yuri. He said with overbearing arrogance, "Wait near the entrance to the mega-dungeon. I will bring an immobilized Demon to that place for you today itself. I want results by the end of this day, if I don't see no value to the contract after one month of its creation, the contract will become void, do remember that."

The A-Ranker got back in his car and then waited for Mark.

Mark exchanged a handshake of his own with Yuri.

"Good job not being intimidated," he said.

"I've seen bigger men, Hailen."

Mark smiled and entered the car on the front seat, and soon enough, it began moving. He waved at Yuri and the Contract Hunter, Shuuma.

They watched as the car became a distant blip headed into the mega-dungeon.

"Want me to drop you near the mega-dungeon? Your driver isn't around, right? Mine will be here soon." Shuuma asked, checking her account to see a humongous transaction of cryptocurrency.

Yuri shook her head. "No, I want to jog. I have been stationary for a while, and the mega-dungeon entrance is close enough for it to be just a walk away. I'll just run towards it. And my driver is closeby, he will come if I contact."

…

"Brother, where are we headed next?" Mark asked.

The bald A-Ranker said calmly, "To a Tier 2 Demon. Let's go capture it and see if this little scientist woman is the real deal."

Mark smiled. "I kinda like this woman."

"You do?" The A-Ranker asked, then smiled. "She's yours."

Mark laughed out loud.

Yuri becoming an A-Ranker would be a big help to him in conquering a nation this world.

And for now, he even had Bale on his side.