"All of you were so arrogant earlier, even mocking me," Piccoro said in contempt. "Where is that arrogance of yours now, huh?!"
"I-I'm sorry! I made a terrible mistake!" one of the Saints from the Reika Kingdom replied as the Dragon Born stepped on his head, grinding it on the ground.
"Sorry?" Piccoro laughed. "Do you think that your apology is enough for me to forgive you? Fool. Do you think the Crystal Palace would easily forget those who tried to backstab them?"
The black-scaled Dragon Born increased the weight he put onto his foot, making the ground under the Saint's head shatter.
"Wow, he's playing the part of the bad guy really well," Lux muttered as he glanced at Cethus, who was looking at his uncle with admiration. "You look quite happy right now. Does seeing your uncle step on a Saint's head turn you on?"
"Hah~ this is but a small thing, Lux," Cethus replied. "Our family's motto is to step on others while they are down! Unlike those weaklings who can only bully the weak and fear the strong, our Clan treats everyone equally. As long as they are our enemy, and as long as they are not a Supreme, we will trample on them, especially when they are at their weakest!"
"…Wow." The corner of Lux's lips twitched after hearing Cethus' family motto. "As long as you're not facing a Supreme, everyone is fair game, right?"
"Of course," Cethus replied. "Are you silly? Supremes can kill me with just a sneeze. As for my Uncle, a single slap would turn him into meat paste. Why would we go looking for trouble with them? As long as they are Saints and below, my Uncle and Grandmas can step on them as many times as they like. They're just Saints, you know?"
Cai's Grandpa, Maximilian, laughed out loud after hearing Cethus' words.
"I like this Dragon Born," Maximilian said. "My hobby is also stepping on others while they are down."
"Um, for a Low Lander, you sure know what you're talking about," Cethus looked at Maximilian as if he found a kindred spirit. "Fortunately, both of us are on the same side. I like strong people like you."
"Hahaha! What a coincidence. I like strong people too."
"We will get along, old man. By the way, just call me Cethus."
"I'm Maximilian, Cai's Grandpa."
Lux watched as the old man and the Dragon Born shook hands. The two then laughed together as Piccoro stepped on the head of the Saint, whom Gaap had temporarily released to be interrogated.
The other Saints were present, and all of them were bound by Antero's power, preventing them from escaping.
"P-Please, what can I do to compensate for my mistake?" the Saint from the Reika Kingdom begged. "I'll do anything! Also, please, spare my Kingdom of my sins. I did it on my own accord."
Piccoro laughed like the second-rate villain that he was and kicked the Saint's body until he was facing upwards.
"I like the rings on your fingers," Piccoro said. "Give them to me. Of course, you can refuse. I'll just pry them off of your dead body. By the way, you already know that this kid over here and that Halfling over there are Necromancers, right? I'm sure that they will make good use of your corpse once you're dead."
Faced with the threat of death, the Saint from the Reika Kingdom, as well as the other Saints that were held captive, all shuddered internally.
Since they only had one option for survival, losing the possessions inside their storage rings was far better than losing their lives.
The Saint from the Reika Kingdom handed all the rings he possessed to Piccoro, making the Dragon Born smirk.
The Saint of the Reika Kingdom thought that the worst was over, but he was dead wrong in his assumption.
"Now, please sign this contract of servitude," Piccoro handed the Saint a magic scroll. "Don't worry, this is not a slave contract. You will just have to run a few errands for the sake of our Crystal Palace and do whatever we tell you for a year. After that, you will regain your freedom. I repeat, this is not a slave contract, but a contract of servitude, okay?"
The hands of the Saint shook as he read the contents of Piccoro's "Contract of Servitude".
"S-Sir, you said that I will only run a few errands for a year," the Saint of the Reika said in a trembling voice. "But, here it said 10 years. Is there some kind of mistake??"
"10 years?" Piccoro arched an eyebrow. "Oh, I must have written that incorrectly. However, since it's already written as 10 years, then we'll go with that. You're a Saint, aren't you? You have a very long life ahead. 10 years is nothing to you, right?"
"B-But…"
"So you would rather die? Okay. Good. We can do that as well."
"I-I'll sign it!"
Lux, who was watching this, couldn't help but wonder why Piccoro always seemed to have Contracts of Servitude with him. Perhaps, the black-scaled Dragon Born had this hobby of forcing others to become subservient to him.
Suddenly, Lux's body shuddered when he remembered something.
Piccoro had been waiting for him outside the Gates of the Fallen for a month. Had he exited the Dungeon the normal way, would he have also been forced to sign this Contract of Servitude as well?
'He wouldn't have done that, right?' Lux thought as he looked at the Saint of the Crystal Palace anxiously.
At that exact moment, Piccoro also looked in his direction and smiled.
'It's really a shame that I didn't catch this brat back at the Gate of the Fallen,' Piccoro thought. 'If I made him my servant, wouldn't I be enjoying the benefits of having him as my underling?'
What Piccoro didn't know was that Eiko was able to automatically hear the thoughts of other people who had bad intentions towards her and her Papa.
This ability was also shared with Lux, so the Half-Elf was able to hear the Dragon Born's innermost thoughts.
'Looks like I managed to dodge a bullet.' Lux sighed internally. 'Cethus' uncle is a very troublesome character.'
After the first Saint was forced to sign the contract, the other Saints also surrendered their possessions and agreed to serve the Crystal Palace for 10 years.
Lux was fine with this arrangement because the Crystal Palace had helped him a lot this time.
"Uncle, can you give me some of those rings you got?" Cethus asked Piccoro with a smile on his face. "Don't be stingy, okay? If you do, I'll tell Grandma about this. I'm sure you will forget to tell her the part about you securing resources for the Crystal Palace."
"Huh? Just who do you think I am?" Piccoro smacked Cethus' head making the latter cry out in pain. "My loyalty is only to Crystal Palace. But, since you are my nephew, I'll give you this ring… Um, this ring has a lot of resources in it. This is too good for you. Let me look at the others and see which one had the least items inside it…"
Piccoro then scanned all the storage rings that he had extorted from his new servants before handing one to Cethus.
"Make sure to not tell your Grandma about this, okay?" Piccoro whispered in Cethus' ears. "All good things should belong to the family. Let's just keep this side hustle under wraps, okay?"
"I want some Legendary Equipment. My lips would be sealed."
"Tsk, you brat. When did you learn to be shameless? Okay, have these Legendary Shoes. They have decent attributes. Make sure to keep your lips sealed as you promised, okay?"
"Uncle, you really are the best!"
The other Saints from the Crystal Palace, who had seen and heard the shameless Uncle and Nephew pair, averted their gazes in shame.
Piccoro had managed to get the possessions of Saints, which wasn't a small thing.
However, seeing his attitude, it seemed that he was serious about keeping all of them for himself instead of adding them to their Palace's treasury.
"Y-Your Highness, this…," one of the Saints whispered in Aur's ears.
"Don't worry," Aur replied. "I'll tell my Aunt later."
The other Saints then looked at Piccoro with laughter in their eyes. None of them dared to tell their Steward about Piccoro's extortion. However, if it were their Prince who did it, even the arrogant Dragon Born would have no choice but to surrender the "confiscated goods" he'd collected to be added to their Kingdom's treasury.
With this, the Six Saints who had sided with the Divine Army of Light were under the control of the Crystal Palace.
Now that their pursuers had retreated, their journey continued without any more mishaps.
Vera, Alexander, and Maximilian stayed on the Floating Island until it reached the territory of the Crystal Palace before returning to their duties.
Now that Lux's safety was assured, they could focus on their own tasks without worrying about a powerful organization hunting down their family member, who carried many burdens on his shoulders.
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