"Bow!!" With his shout, they all fell to the ground in his presence. Even Celestine bowed her head low.
Almost as if they had seen God himself.
"Right now, there is no stronger than me in this world!!" His gleeful shout filled the silent room.
"That was only true because I wasn't around." Yet, his body froze at the voice that came from nearby.
Vult sweated. Who was this man? How did he come behind him? Why didn't his body move? In an instant all his mana vanished in thin air, it was then that he noticed. Celestine and Kaguya, those two didn't bow to him. It was to the person standing behind him.
'I have to do something… I have to…' He felt a beast breathing down his neck, he didn't feel something like this even beyond that door.
"Move, you die. Speak, you die. Breath, you die. Think, you die." The voice explained in the calmness of the frigid air. Even if he wanted to move, he couldn't. His own body ignored his command, the eyes that bore into his back belonged to a predator and he had once again—even with all this power—ended up as prey.
'So it turned out like I thought it would.' Adam noticed the presence of the contract in Vult's body.
He had first felt it on his recent visit to Ai's world, that uncanny presence that lingered on the outskirts of the Universe. Asking the Administrator didn't get him anything. But, the words of her warning from his previous visit rang in his ears. Time had passed since then, but the thought didn't leave him.
What if there are more Shops like his out there? The question had been there from the start and the answer was also an easy one, but he hadn't paid it much mind because he never crossed paths with them. However, now they tried to interfere in the world he had a hand in.
'If I didn't have power they'd walk right over me. Well, looks like they are still trying.' Adam tried to locate this person's shop as his eyes burned gold. But, nothing came up. He clicked his tongue expecting that, since his sight got blocked the Goddess had her hands in it.
He couldn't determine the location of his own shop because of this. This information did appear helpful. Now he knew that another shop operator tried to enter this world. Their reason? He didn't know. Recalling the wheel there were several types of payments they could receive. He got Sexual intercourse, which in hindsight was the most useless one for many people. However, a way to get more information out of this waited in front of him.
"What did you pay in return for your strength?" Vult shuddered. He couldn't answer that, that woman had specially told him that he shouldn't mention it.
"Speak." However, the voice that reached his ears made his unwilling lips open.
"After my death, she'll absorb all my powers," Vult spoke in a daze.
'I see, so that's why his limiters are pushed higher.' Adam checked Vult's body and found that he had trained enough to shed his mortal body. By creating Gods through training, this Shop operator absorbed their powers upon the contractee's death and became stronger themselves.
"I guess this person was the perfect opportunity for you?" Adam chuckled as Vult panicked like a deer in headlights, "Since you want power so much, I'll give you more of it."
"W-What?!" Vult grunted, divinity entered his body. He had a similar experience at the shop, but this time things went wrong.
'It is burning me from the inside!' Vult convulsed, and a wave of scorching energy filled his vessel. The pure golden energy went on a rampage inside his pathways and burned his organs alongside his core, feeling the pain he gritted his teeth however, his painful screeches filled the room soon.
"ArrghhH!!! AGGHHHHH! Stop! S-Stop!!!!" It had filled him, but Adam didn't care he kept pouring more in and Vult felt his body bloating up.
That woman had only given him a drop of Divinity, but here it was like a stream.
Before he could absorb one drop of divinity, a million had poured in. It was impossible to absorb everything, even with his limiters pushed higher. His limit approached fast. He could feel it, death came closer with each second.
It dawned on him that if he died, nothing would save him. He couldn't use the card he had gotten for some reason, and the woman didn't come to his rescue. She promised, yet refused to show up. It was clear to him that he had become a pawn to that woman, however, he didn't want to die before getting his revenge.
But, as things stood she was weaker than this man. When he made the contract, he specifically asked to become the strongest person in his world. He thought that the God Celestine worshipped was included, however, as he said it. He wasn't around in the world. In simple words, he got scammed too.
"P-Please… stop!" He begged.
"Isn't this the power that wanted? Take it all." However, his words fell on deaf ears. His body started to crack, purple blood started to pour out and an ominous golden light peeked through the cracks.
"Nooo—?!" In a second his body blasted into a million pieces that got disintegrated due to Adam's leftover divinity detonating. But, that wasn't the end.
All power started to clump together before vanishing before his eyes. The contract was in action. Adam couldn't do anything even if he tried to locate the contract so he gave up on that method. Soon the time of the world returned to normal as he mended the broken fabric of space. That explosion did a number on the surroundings.
In front of him Celestine, Kaguya, and Maia had their heads lowered as Alicia and Claudia looked confused. But, his eyes went to the dark elf in front of them. She held onto Chloe's body, her yellow eyes full of tears.
She didn't know if it was because Vult had died, or because she saw hope again because the one who gave her a second chance appeared. Though it didn't matter, for the first time in the life she had led. Olga begged for help.
"Please… help her…" Lowering her prideful head, she was ready to grovel at his feet. However, he stopped her.
"This happened because of what I did." With his hand on her shoulder, he made her look up. Through tear-filled eyes she couldn't even see his face however, his reassuring voice reached her ears, "I plan to take responsibility for this, so don't worry about anything."
With a wave of Adam's hand, Chloe's head returned to how it used to be.
"M-My Queen… please don't cry…" She looked astounded, but watching Olga in tears Chloe hugged her.
"Chloe… I am …glad you are alive…" In an instant, she too couldn't hold her tears back. Coming back from the brink of death, wasn't something she expected, but it happened. Not only that, Olga was safe. That was what really mattered to her.
'It is good that I receive more room to do things when the Contractee is in danger.' Adam already expected some deaths to come from this, especially among the people who were directly involved in the plans.
However, unlike his expectations, Celestine agreed to it all even before he could say that he would bring back anyone who died. It surprised him, to say the least, because she wanted them to be safe.
'It could be that she expected me to not let them die.' She had strong faith in him.
"It is an honor of our lifetime to see you again Adam." And that ridiculous faith of hers seemed to get stronger by the day.