Chapter 473 A Shard from the Abyss

"…"

Even if Black Alex was someone who was not that proficient with scheming, he can still sense the danger accompanying Cheva's offer.

After all, this is an Abyss Monster that was giving him an offer.

Even if Cheva was really 'sincere' on making a deal with him, Black Alex still had no a.s.surance that Cheva was looking out for his well-being.

At this point, Black Alex began to open his mouth as he decided to reject Cheva's offer. But before he could even articulate his denial, another voice spoke out to him.

"Black Alex, let's try not to be hasty, ok? Why don't you hear out what he will say first?" Alex, whose voice sounded both strained and exhausted, mentally said to Black Alex. "Even if he is a high-ranking Abyss Monster, there's still a chance that his offer is legitimate…"

"Hm? Original Alex, this is the Abyss that we are talking about here. Even if it is my origin, I still know a lot about its nefarious actions…." Black Alex mentally replied to Alex, as the former did his best to not show Cheva his communication with original Alex. "The Abyss is a place of trickery and manipulation. It targets anyone with desperate needs, and now it includes us. Even if I am the representation of the Abyss, the Abyss won't hesitate to f**k me over if it wants to…."

"Heh, I know about that, Black Alex. But I didn't say that you should accept Cheva's offer first. I just told you that you should hear him out." Alex replied quickly. "There will be no problem if we just hear him out, since we still have not accepted his offer…"

"…."

With these words by Alex, Black Alex realized that the original was actually serious on hearing out Cheva. Even when this said monster had left a suspicions remnant on Black Alex, Alex still had the audacity to give it a chance to talk!

This made Black Alex feel some tinges of wrath inside him, as he could not fathom why Alex was acting like this.

"Tsk, why don't you possess my body now and start talking to Cheva? You seem to have a plan against its schemes already..." Black Alex said as he continued to watch Cheva's worm warily. "My purpose in life is to fight with the power of the Abyss. Schemes like this… are not in my expertise."

"Well about that…. I actually have no way to control you right now." Alex replied sheepishly. "I'm still busy preserving Golden Alex's life here, so my full attention is on controlling his body."

"Disappointing. So the best that you can do right now is to just give me advice." Black Alex replied as he almost snorted. "Are you not even worried about me? I am your access to the Abyss, a power source that you cannot just let go. Do you really think that its ok to risk myself here?"

"Well, the answer to your question will depend on you. I already gave you free reign on what you will do next, so don't bother asking me if I worry for you. But don't fret. You are still my power, so I will not be happy if I lose you." Alex replied.

"? So you expect me to deal with Cheva alone? Original Alex, you-"

"After you hear Cheva's offer, you can decide if you will accept its offer or not." Alex suddenly said, as his voice showed signs of fading. "If I am not busy with Golden Alex, I can be the one who will decide on his offer. But I am still occupied, so I'll leave everything to you! Good luck deciding!"

"Hey! If you do this, the Abyss will-"

"Thud." Alex's connection with Black Alex was cut-off at this point, leaving Black Alex isolated in his mental landscape. No attempts by Black Alex to talk to Alex worked after this time, leaving him alone once more.

"…"

********************

"Mortal, why are you taking so long to make your decision? Did you break your head from excitement?" Cheva said as it noticed Black Alex's sudden silence. "Mortal, hesitating like this won't do you any good. You are the Abyss Envoy, so you must act more prudent than this!"

"You want me to act prudent? Fine! You can start talking now!" Black Alex replied. He appeared to be slightly incensed as he said these words, something that Cheva noticed.

Of course, Cheva dismissed this emotion as just petty anger from Black Alex.

After all, Black Alex is still young, so for him to feel angry from being coerced into a deal is just right.

"Good, mortal, good! Now just raise your palm and release some of your blood! That way, our contract will be made!" Cheva happily said, as it did its best to keep its emotions from spilling out. "I don't care how much blood you want to give to me. The more, the bette-"

"Huh? Who told you that I am accepting your offer? I just told you to state the offer to me first!"

"What? But-"

"With my status as the Abyss Envoy, I, Black Alex, orders you Cheva to state your offer to me!" Black Alex suddenly said as he gave Cheva's worm a freezing glare. This glare was accompanied by murderous intent, which made Cheva feel a hint of danger. "Disobey this order, and I will be destroying your remnant spirituality!"

"You mortal! You may be an Abyss Envoy, but you cannot order me like this! You-"

"Hmph, if you don't state everything about your offer, then I will be destroying this worm for good." Black Alex said as he gathered his Abyss Energy once more. "I don't care if you don't care about my status. You're the one who needs to make an offer with me, so you should be sincere about it too!"

"…."

"Now talk, or I will end our communication for good."

"Hehehehe mortal, you are making me both impressed and angry. Do you know how amazing you are for doing this? Hehehe, you don't know how much I want to kill you right now!" After a few seconds of tense silence, the formerly smug Cheva managed to talk again, but this time in a more subdued tone. "But fret not. I cannot kill you since I have been banished back to the Abyss already…"

"…"

Even when Cheva's words sounded calmer compared to before, Black Alex could still feel the simmering anger hidden within its words, something that made him raise his vigilance against this monster.

"Just start talking already. I won't be like the other desperate people who will accept your offer before hearing it out" Black Alex said as he made his Abyss Energy creep closer to the worm. "You clearly know who has the advantage in this conversation…."

"Hmph, if it weren't for that stupid change in the Abyss, I would have never tried this!" Cheva mumbled in annoyance as it realized that Black Alex was serious." Tsk, should I have just chosen another person? Argh fine, now that I am here, there's nothing else that I can do…"

Before Black Alex could comment on what he just heard, Cheva continued talking, this time with a sense of urgency on its words.

"You may not know this Envoy, but the Abyss is currently experiencing its latest restructuring. Because of this, a lot of its rules will be changed, and its leaders will be changed too." Cheva said as it changed its designation of Black Alex from 'mortal' to 'Envoy'. "With these changes comes the chance for us monsters to evolve and get stronger. Which me-"

"So basically, you want to use my help to achieve a certain level of power in the Abyss Realm. I now understand why you act like this. You must be desperate to have a backer, and in this case, you're only choice of backer is me." Black Alex mercilessly said, applying all the techniques that he can use on taking control of the conversation. "And to think that I was intimidated by you earlier. You're actually the desperate one here!"

"You-"

"If you want my help, then you better offer me something nice. After all, the word of an Abyss Envoy is enough to give you a good status." Black Alex coldly said, as he began releasing the aura of the Abyss Envoy. "You have been disrespecting me earlier, but since I can see that you're just a desperate monster, I will let you off. Now, tell me what you can offer in exchange for my services."

"Hong long long~"

This aura forced the indignant Cheave to quiet down, as it felt a suppression coming from Black Alex. Its previous haughty att.i.tude was now gone, as this monster realized that it cannot play tricks against Black Alex anymore.

"Tsk, this mortal was acting like he does not know his status earlier. That's why I thought I can strong-arm him into a.s.sisting me. But before I can start the contract, he actually began reinforcing his status over me? What the heck is this? Did he just trick me?" Cheva thought glumly to itself as its main body began to shake in indignation. "Ugh, this will make my plan worse…"

Cheva was extremely unwilling to let things to go on like this, but upon realizing that it had no way to trick Black Alex now, Cheva just sighed as it decided to tell the truth to him.

"E-Envoy, earlier I thought that your power will not be enough, so I mused on just giving you a year's worth of Abyss Energy. But now that I witnessed your astounding power, I realized that Abyss Energy will not be enough to satisfy you." Cheva said quickly. "You are meant for better things, so I have something better for you!"

"Ho? You intend to give me something better? You should have said that to me earlier. Good! Now, show it to me."

"Envoy, I cannot show it you right now, since showing it will bring ma.s.sive upheavals in this place. I can only give it to you once you start using it, which will ensure your safety." Cheva said as it did its best to not show the reluctance on its voice. "Please understand me."

"? Something like that exists? Hm, interesting…" Black Alex replied as he gave Cheva a look of interest. "But even if you can't show it to me now, you can still tell me what it is, right?"

"Yes, Envoy I can. But-"

"Then tell it to me now, Cheva. My patience is running thin already, so don't delay my f**king time."

"…"

After hearing this snappy reply from Black Alex, Cheva sighed as it felt more and more oppressed by Black Alex's aura. Cheva then trembled as it realized that at this point, it was not Cheva that was making the deal anymore.

It was Black Alex that was now in control of the deal, and Cheva has no choice but to follow it.

"I-I have an Abyss Transcendence Shard with me, Envoy. That's the treasure that I can offer you in exchange for your a.s.sistance!" Cheva said as it tried to make its voice sound as sincere as possible. "As long as you agree to a.s.sist me with my conquest inside the Abyss Realm, I will be giving you the Abyss Transcendence Shard! I swear that with my life!"