Death... and me

Rean continued, "However, it doesn't change the fact that he was your subordinate, so you'll have to pay a small fine for his mistakes."

Gaius narrowed his eyes for a moment before he took out his spatial ring. "I see... a monetary compensation, right? How about 50 Divine Stones? Yes, I think that should be enough to make up for the mental strain your friend's daughter suffered."

Rean shook his head, though. "No, no, no! There's absolutely no need for any monetary compensation, Brother Gaius."

"No Divine Stones?" Gaius was puzzled by Rean's words. However, he had a bad feeling about it.

Rean smiled after seeing that as he continued, "Exactly. It's just that Brother Gaius seems to be a righteous person since you wanted to take revenge for me. However, instead of that, how about Brother Gaius takes care of everyone from now on? A righteous person like you obviously wouldn't mind that."

Gaius didn't understand what Rean meant by that. "Can this friend describe what you want for me?"

Rean shook his head as he replied, "Not only for you but for everyone in this mansion." He then took out a Soul Binding Contract, which greatly surprised Gaius. Such contracts were expensive back in Lanqueas and Huring, let alone in Treavin. Gaius had only seen them twice in his life. "Here is the Soul Binding Contract. I want all of you to sign it."

Gaius knew very well that whatever was written there, he would have to accomplish. Of course, that would be the case if the punishment stated was worth it. If the punishment was something light, then it might be worth breaking it.

However, Gaius's expression went pitch black as soon as he read the terms. Simply put, he would be forbidden to commit any evil acts from now on. Not only that, his first priority would always be the well-being of the people. He basically had to become the exact opposite of what he was at the moment.

Robbery, killing, and things like that would still be allowed...if the targets were evildoers. He absolutely couldn't attack innocent people. Extortions were forbidden as well. He and his group would not be allowed to leave Dry Sky City for the rest of their lives, being responsible for its protection. They would have to put the people's necessities ahead of their own.

Rean wrote a very long contract, covering all possible flaws that could be exploited. Simply put, Gaius and his group would need to become the heroes of Dry Sky City! "This is too much! If I really do that, I'll never be able to increase my own cultivation anymore."

Rean shook his head, saying, "That's because you only knew how to force others until now. Believe me. It's entirely possible to be a good person and still increase one's cultivation. A righteous person like Brother Gaius definitely won't find it difficult. Not only that, people will not hate you but love you. Isn't that great?! You have the chance to start a revolution! It's time for this city to correct its wrongdoings, and Brother Gaius has the righteousness and strength to start it."

Gaius gritted his teeth before Fire Element gathered around him. Divine Energy soon ran rampant, giving it the expression that a battle was about to start. However, Gaius didn't attack Rean at all. Instead, he focused his entire power on his movement technique and tried to escape that place. "Like hell I would do such a thing! This world is for the strong, and I intend to stay as the strong! Everyone should just follow my orders and give me everything I want!"

However, he barely had the time to give a few steps before Rean's body appeared in front of him.

"Ahhhh!"

Gaius didn't give up, though.

'Myriad Fire Dragon!'

His Fire Element changed into several dragons that moved according to the movements of Gaius's weapon, a staff! Rean was quite surprised by that since Malaka had been the last person Rean saw that used the staff. In any case, Gaius was way too weak to fight someone like Rean.

Rean moved like a ghost, destroying all of the fire dragons before cutting through Gaius's staff in a single move. Gaius's staff was nothing more than a simple Silver Peak-level weapon. This just went to show how much poorer the people in this continent were. It obviously had no chance against Rean's Golden Middle-level sword, which was already as strong as a Golden Peak-level weapon. Rean didn't even need to use any skill to achieve that.

*Bang!*

Rean then kicked Gaius against the ground, breaking several of his ribs at once. Poor Gaius spurted blood like a fountain, almost passing out from that single move. He quickly became unsuited for combat, just like that. Naturally, all the guards around were terrified. Most of them couldn't even see the move due to how fast it was. Nevertheless, it was obvious that Rean defeated Gaius so easily.

Rean brightly smiled at Gaius as he said, "Brother Gaius, there's no need to feel so shy. A righteous person like you can definitely pull it off. So, how about it? Do you want to sign the contract right now? If you don't, then I can take away your cultivation. You got to this level doing what you do. I think most of the people who 'contributed' to your cultivation so far wouldn't mind if I 'permanently confiscated' it from you."

Rean's hand then approached the location of Gaius's dantian as it shone with white light. Gaius, obviously, was terrified by what he saw. "Alright! Alright! I'll sign it! I'll sign it!" As unwilling as Gaius could be, it would be much worse if he didn't have his cultivation anymore. He could only drop his blood on the contract, which was used to bind his soul.

Of course, before the contract burnt, Rean had every single guard in that mansion sign the contract as well. The penalty for those who break the contract was death! They only had one choice now, which was to become Dry Sky City's saviors.