To the girls, Will seemed as if he had taken a third breath, while in actuality, Will had not stopped his second breath. In fact, his breath was simply so drawn out it seemed as if he had stopped breathing. However, the moment he held the energy-replenishing pill, he accelerated his breath and took in a vast amount of energy.
The Breath not only allowed one to be a conduit for energies, but coupled with concepts such as conductibility, one could possess unique applications of the ability such as quickly replenishing their energy.
Lisa and her comrades were on tenterhooks as they struggled to maintain clarity of mind. They had exhausted all the means at their disposal, and yet they were still only his equal in the clash.
They had other means that could make them stronger, but they all required time, something Will did not give them much of. Even though he had allowed them to set up their spell, the ladies were not foolish enough to believe that Will would always be that kind.
'Even though we are stuck, there are four of us and one of him. Sisters! Hold Strong! We are almost there! All we have to do is hold out for a little while longer! The Breath is taking a toll on him. It is not an infallible ability and has limited uses. So let's keep to the plan and put everything we have into this spell!'
Lisa did her best to motivate her sisters as they clashed against Will's Unbound Vector. Unfortunately for them, Will still had one more card hidden in his sleeve. And now was the time to use it!
…
High above in the skies, the trio of Adelda, Jingsung and Adelda were waiting for Will to finish the battle below. In their eyes, this battle was as good as over. Will was indeed at his limits but Adelda was well aware of the fact that Will was also a mage and that he had not used any of his mage skills.
Not only that, But Will had also avoided using any of his water-related abilities. Although he no longer had the benefit of Lyra's Elemental affinity, he was still a bonafide Water Meister. The class with the highest affinity for the water element. Hence Will had a few ways to win this battle from their perspective.
Adelda was however curious as to what Will was trying to achieve.
'Will could have killed them off quite a few times already, but he actually held himself back. What is his objective with these women?'
While Adelda was wondering what Will's intentions were, Narcissus revealed an expression of incredulity as he laughed uproariously, "This boy just messaged me via intent. He is a crazy one I tell you!"
Jingsung Ha and Adelda turned to Narcissus, hoping that the young deity would explain himself, but he chose to ignore them and gathered a small amount of Divine Power in his open palm and directed it at Will.
"I Narcissus, Son of Zeus and prince of Mt Olympus, hereby offer you, mortal Will Chamberlain, a Contract of Equals. What say you?"
The moment Narcissus finished speaking, a golden radiance escaped from his open palm and radiated outwards, signalling the initiation of a powerful supernatural phenomenon. One which Jingsung and Adelda were already quite familiar with. Jingsung and Adelda looked at each other in confusion, both their eyes seemingly asking the same question, "Is he signing the contract now mid-battle?"
Directly beneath Narcissus, a large supermatrix formed. It was made up of ancient Greek symbols intertwined in complex geometric patterns, while the light from the matrix focused on Will's silhouette.
As far as the ladies were concerned, the atmosphere became oddly sanctified, and this strange sensation was spreading with time.
"I accept!" Will shouted, catching the ladies by surprise.
To them, this was a sudden outburst of words without context that they could not comprehend, but soon, their questions were answered.
A holy and sanctimonious aura converged on Will from high on above, as golden flakes of light mixed in with his green aura from invoking the Breath of Solitude. With each passing second, Will's disposition changed, becoming more and more oppressive to the maidens.
To them, it was as if they had gone from fighting a mortal to fighting a deity!
At first, due to their minds being strained, they could not understand what was happening. However, with time this changed, as the familiar oppressive nature of a divine aura that smothered Will, infusing itself into his Unbound Vector, causing the maidens to come to a frightening conclusion…divinity!
The ladies were not strangers to seeing mortals having contracts with deities. Natasha was valued not only due to her talents and background but also because she had caught the eye of a deity, similar to Mercedes and Ulysses.
There were also rumours going around that Francis was close to becoming a servant of Hela while Gianluigi Remus' ancestor, Storm Wolf Remus, was no different from a deity. Some Bloodline abilities, when practised to their peak, allowed cultivators to touch upon the doors of divinity!
Divine power was domineering and had countless uses most mortals could only dream of. Yet despite this undeniable truth, the girls found it difficult to place the mortal in front of them on the same level as Savants such as Ulysses.
Regardless of what they wanted to accept, the fact that Will was in contact with a deity was becoming more and more evident, as the attack he had unleashed upon them started to show signs of being infused with divine power.
Unfortunately, none of these girls were experienced enough to tell the grade of divine power, all they knew was that this battle was as good as finished.
A light golden radiance infused itself into Will's Unbound Vector as the attack became increasingly more oppressive and stable. The Great Valkyrie's Blade that the girls had put so much effort into manifesting, quickly receded into nothingness as it was devoured by the newly mutated ribbon of colourful light.
Will's own figure was covered in a blinding light that made it impossible to see the entire area around him. Only Adelda and Jingsung above knew what was happening to the young man within the blinding radiance.
'It's the exchange of talents!'
A Contract of Equals between a mortal and a Deity was an exchange of talents. The Deity did not simply bless the mortal such as with a normal contract but rather also gave the mortal powerful abilities unique to their divinity. These were usually in the form of an upgrade to one's vessels, a passive ability or a higher power of some sort.
Most of the time, it was difficult to know what kind of talent one would gain from a Contract of Equals with a deity as only the deity had the power to determine what they were willing to give the mortal. Narcissus however only really had one talent of note outside of his powerful mind and soul. This talent was a rare type of Noble Intent [1] that allowed one to grow stronger by directly converting willpower into divine power.
Willpower was an abstract concept. One that could hardly be quantified, but it was definitely accepted as a crucial factor in the growth of many a cultivator. Only those with powerful minds could have great willpower. This resolve, under the effect of Narcissus' talent, allowed one to directly convert their abstract resolve into power.
Narcissus was seen as a mental weakling by many, but there was one aspect of his resolve that was unmatched by any deity in existence. This was his pride in his beauty. In other words, his narcissism!
This was the reason why Narcissus was valued because he could turn his own narcissism into strength he could use in battle. This was the ability he was born with since the dawn of time. This was the Prince level Noble Intent: Invictus!