Malevolent – Chapter 18 – The Consequence of Failed Renewal, and a Mind That’s Growing Worse

As the CEO of Jiaket Consortium, a fuel supplier for mobile armor, Chilney enjoyed an extraordinary social status within the Westivian Covenant. Many council members within the Covenant, and even quite a few higher-ranking ministers, maintained close personal relationships with him.

However,

This businessman, who held such a distinguished position in the Westivian Covenant and should have been laughing heartily in some luxurious venue, was now kneeling in his own backyard, trembling with fear. The formidable bodyguards who once always protected Chilney were nowhere to be seen.

Or rather, they had been knocked unconscious and were now floating in a nearby pond.

…

“Crack…”

With a crisp sound, under Chilney’s terrified gaze, the compass floating before him—the one used for contract renewal—shattered into pieces, turning into black smoke that dissipated into the air.

At this moment, Chilney’s suspended heart finally broke completely.

“No, how, how could this…”

Instantly, Chilney’s temples began to twitch, and unprecedented anxiety spread through his heart like a virus, causing his face to lose its former gentleness and refinement, becoming terrifying and ferocious.

“It can’t be, how could I fail?”

While desperately shaking his head to deny it all, Chilney cast a pleading gaze behind him.

The next moment,

A striking, captivating woman appeared in Chilney’s sight.

Her figure was tall and well-proportioned, exuding a natural elegance and sense of power.

A simple white T-shirt outlined her toned curves, paired with deep blue jeans, appearing plain yet extremely fashionable, as if every detail had been carefully crafted, yet still maintained a casual air.

The cuffs of her pants were slightly rolled up, revealing slender ankles with a touch of languid casualness, yet drawing one’s gaze.

Her short hair was as smooth as silk, the gray strands shimmering with a soft radiance in the dim sunlight, while the golden highlights interspersed throughout seemed to add a touch of the bizarre and enchanting, as if by magic. Her hair swayed lightly in the wind, revealing endless vitality with her movements. Those crimson eyes, as clear as blood jade, were filled with a breathtaking mysteriousness, as if they could easily penetrate one’s heart and reach the depths of the soul.

Of course,

Most eye-catching were the fluffy cat ears on her head, twitching slightly, capturing the surrounding sounds. The gray fur on her ears was fine and soft, and the gray tail behind her was equally impossible to ignore, swaying elegantly in the air, each movement full of spirit and grace.

Beautiful, yet also emanating a deadly threat.

Because, with the swaying of her tail, a terrifying pressure of curse power gathered, pressing down on Chilney like a hydraulic jack at all times.

This was why Chilney, despite possessing fourth-tier strength and nearly reaching the Divine Martial Realm, was forced to remain kneeling on the ground.

…

Looking at this beautiful woman with a cold, indifferent expression, Chilney instinctively took a deep breath.

Cat ears, cat tail, and the ability to control curse power.

This woman was clearly not human.

Others might not understand this woman’s identity. But as a player who had participated in the Salvation Game, Chilney knew her identity all too well.

One of the four vassals of the Terran Malevolence…

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—”Serveiling.”—

The monster who, during the first anti-malevolence campaign, single-handedly annihilated two army groups of the Westivian Covenant…

Although Chilney, with his peak fourth-tier strength, could practically strut anywhere in the Westivian Covenant, he didn’t dare show the slightest hint of resistance in front of a malevolence’s vassal.

It should be known that,

In the current human spiritual power cultivation system, above the fourth tier, there were three more realms.

The Divine Martial Realm, the Divine Departure Realm, and the legendary Divine Graced Realm, which could oppose malevolences.

The gap between each realm was like an unbridgeable chasm.

He, at the peak of the fourth tier? Even challenging a Crimson Hex Tier Corrupted Beast would be difficult, let alone confronting a Vassal Tier being who could match the Divine Departure Realm.

Therefore,

When looking at the cat-eared woman, Chilney’s eyes showed unprecedented respect, all his past pride and dignity completely thrown aside. He even trembled as he lowered his head, speaking in a pleading voice:

“Lady Serveiling, please, please give me another chance!! I just accidentally made the wrong choice! If I choose again, I’ll definitely get it right!”

Chilney’s voice even carried a hint of crying.

However,

The pleas of this pot-bellied middle-aged man didn’t move Serveiling at all; they even caused this cat-eared woman to slightly furrow her brow.

After all,

Serveiling had always been displeased with the boss granting this man wealth ten years ago.

Thus, faced with Chilney’s begging, Serveiling merely tilted her head coldly and spoke in a melodious yet suffocating voice:

“The game only offers one chance, don’t you understand? Among those who gambled their lives with you back then, did anyone ever get an extra chance because they begged?”

“This…”

“The rules of the Salvation Game are absolute, understand?”

Serveiling narrowed her eyes slightly.

As these words fell, Chilney’s body involuntarily trembled, and the plea he was about to utter was forcibly swallowed back. Scenes from ten years ago flashed through his mind like slides.

Ah, yes…

Gaia Lobir’s game rules could never change.

Rules, huh?

Hehe…

If it weren’t for those damn rules, I wouldn’t be facing this monster alone!

Failure to renew meant that he, having sold his soul to the Terran Malevolence, would die from soul collapse.

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Chilney didn’t want to die.

Unfortunately, the Vassal Tier being named ‘Serveiling’ didn’t care much about his thoughts.

“Since you can’t renew the contract. I’ll collect your soul for the boss first.”

As she spoke, Serveiling coldly raised her hand, and golden-gray lightning began to gather in her palm along with terrifying curse power. The death pressure produced by the concentrated curse power directly caused Chilney to sweat profusely, with terror continuously pouring from his eyes.

Although it was because of his contract with the Terran Malevolence that he had gained his current position, Chilney was no longer the desperate man he had been years ago.

Over these ten years, he had acquired wealth, status, family…

Having all this, how could he be willing to give it up?

Even if he had lost the game, he still wanted to take one more gamble.

And so,

Gathering his courage, just before Serveiling was about to harvest, Chilney hurriedly exclaimed:

“Wait! Lady Serveiling! Losing the game… doesn’t mean we can’t renew the contract, right?”

“Hmm?”

Hearing this, Serveiling dispersed the curse power in her hand and strangely examined Chilney:

“Are you saying you’ve obtained intelligence on House Solrog?”

“No, no… about that family, I sincerely apologize, I’ve been investigating for ten years but haven’t acquired any information.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“Yes.”

Chilney nodded repeatedly,

“Yes, I’ve obtained intelligence about that ‘Bai Xingwu’ lady!”

With these words,

Serveiling, who had maintained a cold expression, couldn’t help but show surprise, and then disbelief spilled from her crimson vertical pupils:

“What evidence do you have?”

“I have it, I have it!”

Saying this, Chilney hurriedly pulled out a classical hairpin from his personal belongings and presented it with both hands,

“This was very difficult for me to obtain! The hairpin previously used by Miss Bai Xingwu! If we trace the source of this hairpin, we might be able to find that lady!”

“…”

In response, Serveiling didn’t say anything but slowly stepped forward, taking the hairpin from Chilney’s palm with a solemn expression, and thoughtfully gazed at the pattern on the hairpin.

Observing Serveiling’s eyes, which revealed doubt and uncertainty, Chilney couldn’t help but smile slightly.

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That’s right,

Just as expected, hehe…

…

Chilney knew very well that now that he had failed the game, there were only two ways for him to survive: one was to provide intelligence on House Solrog, and the other was to provide information about ‘Bai Xingwu.’

However, after gaining power, he had searched for six full years without finding any information about this family or that lady.

Therefore, to survive, he had to deceive her!

Obviously, using House Solrog wouldn’t work because Serveiling seemed to already know some information about this family. False intelligence would likely be seen through.

So,

Chilney decided to focus on Miss Bai Xingwu.

After all, according to Chilney’s judgment, Serveiling wasn’t familiar with this Bai Xingwu. Using false intelligence about her was most likely to succeed!

Bai Xingwu was related to the Divine-Graced Maiden.

If that was the case, using a hairpin with the Divine-Graced Maiden’s aura? It might work…

To be honest, Chilney didn’t know if this would fool her, but being in this situation, he had to take a gamble.

The evidence seemed to suggest,

He hadn’t gambled wrong?

Staring intently at Serveiling, who hadn’t acted but continued to ponder, Chilney’s heart gradually began to fill with joy.

It, it seems to be working?!

Seeing that everything had developed exactly as he had imagined, Chilney’s heart became increasingly excited. However, before he could get too excited, something unexpected happened.

As if hearing something, Serveiling slightly raised her eyebrows.

Then, under Chilney’s confused gaze, Serveiling directly pointed her finger at his head.

???!

“Huh?”

“Boom!”

With a thunderous sound, before Chilney could react, a gray-gold lightning bolt rapidly expanded in his eyes.

“Why…”

The next instant,

Before he could finish speaking, feeling utterly bewildered, Chilney’s thoughts were severed.

His entire head was engulfed by lightning, turning to ashes. The headless body, still smoking, wobbled for a few seconds before falling powerlessly to the ground.

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Until the end of his life, he never understood why he had failed.

“Tch.” Looking at the fallen corpse, Serveiling disdainfully clenched her fist, crushing the hairpin into pieces.

Bai Xingwu,

Was the most important person to the boss.

Joking with information about her?

Truly seeking death.

With a cold snort, Serveiling directly stepped on Chilney’s corpse. With another dance of lightning, Chilney’s body completely turned to ashes.

Afterward, Serveiling, while setting up explosives to clean up and destroy the evidence, muttered with curiosity.

“You didn’t really think I would be fooled by someone like that, did you? You even specifically sent a telepathic message to warn me.”

Of course, Serveiling wasn’t talking to herself.

Because as this question was raised, a voice quietly echoed in the cat-eared woman’s ears:

—”I believe you wouldn’t be deceived, I was just offering a reminder.”—

“Just a reminder?”

Hearing this word, Serveiling playfully raised her eyebrows,

“It seems you, Yelena, specifically came to find me for other matters?”

—”Yes.”—

“Tell me, what’s up?”

—”I hope you can return to the Veiled Domain soon.”—

“What’s wrong, not confident letting the octopus girl watch the house?”

—”That’s part of it. But mainly… the boss has awakened.”—

“Oh, so that’s… Huh?!! You said the boss is awake?”

Hearing this, the smile on Serveiling’s face instantly froze. As a vassal, she naturally hoped that Bai Lianyue would soon escape the slumbering state and revive. But if the awakening was too sudden, for them… it might not be a good thing.

There wasn’t enough time to prepare sufficient food and energy!

This was more than a decade earlier than expected!

The being speaking with Serveiling had clearly guessed her concerns. So, that clear, melodious voice once again echoed in Serveiling’s mind.

—”I’ll prepare the food and energy. You go back first to accompany the boss, try not to let her use the malevolence’s power… if she continues to use it, the boss’s mental state will only get worse…”—

“Understood.”