They were threatening and thin. It felt as if any sudden movement would cause him to snap out towards me and unhinge a jaw filled with nothing but two piercing fangs dripping with venom. It was horrifying, but I felt no need to be intimidated… I was long past that point.

“Or… maybe don’t be afraid. You look like you’re tense but your heartbeat is steady. It’s slow. Way too slow… almost like you’re constantly dying, hanging onto the border between life and death… you can’t trick me.”

“I was never trying to trick you,” I replied calmly, my eyes unwavering to the point that it was impossible for me to blink. “Your tail would have squeezed me to death if I didn’t apply a little bit of resistance…”

The scaly green tail wrapping me slowly let me down, allowing me to ease the rest of my tensed body. I could finally relax as I talked to this man, so I cracked my back and lay my eyes on his dark silhouette. The two women next to him were as threatening or even more than this snake bastard, yet… that’s for now.

“Congratulations… that’s all I have for you. You’re pretty quick… to have completed my stairs like that. If you would like, I can grant you wishes beyond your wildest dreams. Monetary power, political power, spiritual power…” The man smiled, the two long fangs hidden beneath those shadowed-out lips of his revealed themselves cautiously. “… the church can be on your side. I’ve created my own religion and it’s said that they’re more powerful than the government I carefully crafted… or would you like something more? Systematical power… correct? Skills, passives, stats, titles… I know what your kind wants.”

There was a long pause between us as I stared down at him. The only thing I received back was a small smirk as if he was reading my mind that calculated pretty much every outcome possible. It made my head immediately throb, but it was better than getting scammed by this man.

“It seems you’re having trouble picking one. So, how about I propose you a deal and you can decide whether you’d like to follow through with it or not?” The snake smiled gently while clasping his hands in his lap.

It was a deal with the devil, yet I couldn’t help but become intrigued with what he had to offer. I had no clue how far he could take me and I felt if I was too vague with something I could potentially be blinded. I was unaware of how much influence he had so if he offered something sweet for the taking to me, I could still be getting scammed. Satan wasn’t even here to mediate it, so I had no choice but to listen to him.

“Just relax…” He clapped both of his hands, creating a couch from the marble floor below me. It was cushioned by a softly woven string, seemingly absorbing any stress that intended to make me as relaxed and vulnerable as possible. “… I’ll offer you a title and a passive. I see you have some poison-related passives so I could easily upgrade them with just a flick of my finger… but I’m sure you’re more interested in the title, aren’t you?” 𝒪𝒱𝓁xt.𝑐𝒪𝔪

I could only assume it would be like how the top two nobles in Leviathan’s fortress were deemed Quincies due to their overwhelming power and intelligence. But, he wasn’t stupid. What I think of titles may be different from what they really are… was there some additional bonus to acquiring a title? Some systematical interference that I could obtain?

“You’re curious, aren’t you?”

“Just get to it,” I snapped back causing the two women by his side to deepen their glares.

They were strange. They reminded me of demons as they had miasma and somehow absolutely no mana, but I couldn’t really identify anything further. Their eyes were similar to goats which in tandem represented some higher demons that I encountered… but what’s this feeling? Something brighter? Something… holier?

“This kingdom is deemed The Emerald City by all. It is by no means rich with emeralds so the full reason why I settled here… is that it literally rains emeralds. From mountains in the very far west, I discovered a volcano bubbling with icy cold emerald green liquid. When I stepped into it my foot instantly froze off, threatening to spread to my entire body, so for a while, I had no left leg. But, little did I know after ignoring that place that in this exact spot, the liquid which evaporates into the atmosphere and forms clouds, rains green liquid. This green liquid when heated up rapidly turns into the highest quality emeralds known to all humanoid kind…”

“Okay… and what does this have to do with my title? Want me to be a savior or something?”

“Absolutely not. This place needs no saving, but it does need a protector. It needs somebody who can become an idol of peace and protection… so, I’ll grant you a title that will give you useless political power, monetary power, but the will to control every single living being in this city. How does that sound? Pretty good deal right?”

“Is that the only benefit? Any systematical benefits included with that title?”

“Oh, yeah. When I talked about improving your poison-related skills, this title will do that for you. It’s a bonus for seeing how hard you worked.”

If I had to be honest, the man proposed this knowing I’m from the future. He knows I’ll return to my timeline which is why he baited me into a false sense of familiarity by saying the useless political power and monetary power since I won’t be able to access it… but then he offers me the power to control every single person in this city. I guess he just wants me to use this place as a playground of some sort.

Geez… what a dumbass… he may know everything about my status, but that doesn’t mean he knows what’s really going on with my skills… this is too overpowered… the amount of power I can gather with this is unfathomable.

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