The Witch Hunter System
chapter-815

Shortly after Vaan held Ninth Dream's soft hand, he immediately felt a strong spiritual connection established between them.

In fact, the spiritual connection was much stronger than the one with Ophelia, considering a wisp of his consciousness had been pulled into Ninth Dream's spiritual world.

Vaan found his spiritual avatar standing in a world of pure white snow.

The heavy blizzard had obscured everything around him, and only a single path leading up a small snowy hill was seen. Hecate waited for him under an ice pavilion at the top as she quietly enjoyed her tea.

'Interesting,' Vaan thought as he observed the snowy spiritual world.

He could feel the softness of the snow underneath his feet and the piercing coldness of the air entering his body.

Although the spiritual world wasn't real, it didn't miss any detail, making it difficult to distinguish from reality.

It was a truly well-constructed spiritual world.

"I trust you have been well since our last meeting, Sir Vaan?" Hecate calmly greeted with an amicable smile as she gestured for Vaan to take the empty seat across the stone table.

Vaan nodded before jumping straight to the main topic, "How did the meeting with the other Great Devils go, Lady Hecate?"

"Well, for the most part, I would say. At the very least, I have succeeded in convincing the other Great Devils to spare you. So you don't have to worry about the Great Devils joining forces to hunt you down for the time being," Hecate stated.

"However, that doesn't mean you are off the hook just yet. The Great Devils have laid down several conditions you must meet within certain periods. During this period, the Great Devils have agreed to a truce and won't act against you."

"But if you fail to meet their conditions within the stipulated time, it'll become unclear what they will do to you, Sir Vaan," Hecate calmly stated.

Judging by her tone alone, Vaan figured the conditions weren't too difficult for him to accomplish-or at least, Hecate believed so.

"What conditions have they laid down for me, Lady Hecate?" Vaan inquired.

"First and foremost, you have seven days to swear under Contract Magic in the presence of one or more Great Devils that you are willing to become one of the Great Devils and act in Gehenna's interests, which includes peacefully resolving any grudges between you and the Great Devils. Compensation can be negotiated, and other Great Devils can help mediate if required," Hecate stated.

"However, should you agree to become a Great Devil of Gehenna, you must also meet all the underlying qualifications to becoming one within the stipulated time. Since you are believed to be a Soul Master, the other Great Devils have given you two years to become a Rank 6 Divine Being and ten years to be a Peak Rank 6 Divine Being."

"Also, depending on which territory you choose to rule as the Great Devil of, there are further conditions you must meet within the given ten years."

"For example, if you choose to be the Great Devil of Pangea Territory, you must acquire the allegiance and acknowledgment of every Pangean country. Unfortunately, this option is impossible to achieve," Hecate sighed softly.

Vaan almost wanted to laugh when he heard how much time he was given.

While it might seem like the Great Devils had given him very little time to achieve something that took them hundreds to thousands of years, it was actually a lot of time for him.

He was confident that achieving the divine rank in at least one aspect would not even take him a year.

"Why is it impossible, Lady Hecate?" Vaan asked curiously.

He wouldn't have thought it impossible if Hecate had not said it. However, since she said so, The immediately suspected the reason.

"Some Pangean countries are already firmly under the control of the Great Devils. As such, you won't be able to acquire their allegiance and acknowledgment without offending the Great Devil in control of them," Hecate stated.

Sure enough, the reason was as Vaan suspected.

"Furthermore, if you were to force the issue and butt heads with them, you'll be forming new grudges with the Great Devils, which goes against the oath to resolve all grudges with them," Hecate continued.

"No magic can really bind you since you have the Nihility Law. However, the oath you take under Contract Magic will be the only thing the Great Devils trust to feel safe and not want to kill you."

"So, it is unwise to make them think otherwise, let alone expose the Nihility Law," Hecate stressed.

"Which countries are under the control of the Great Devils?" Vaan calmly inquired.

"As far as I know, all twelve city-states of the Divine League are under Astarte's control. As for Mephistopheles, I only know he has multiple countries under his control. As to which ones they are, I have no idea, unfortunately," Hecate said regrettably.

"I see," Vaan calmly uttered before asking, "So I can only choose to be the Great Devil of the Evernight Territory?"

"Technically, yes," Hecate answered before adding, "However, that won't be easy either. The Evernight Territory has already been stripped from my sole control and divided between the Great Devils."

"It's hard to say what will remain of it by the time you acquire the qualifications to rule it. Furthermore, the additional condition for the Evernight Territory is that you possess a Vampire Lord-rank Bloodline and acquire the allegiance and acknowledgment of every Vampire Lord."

"Also, among the Great Devils, Helcan and Mephistopheles will most likely try to make things difficult for you secretly," Hecate speculated.

Vaan couldn't help but shook his head.

Although he knew the denizens of Chaos lived with different values and mindsets, he still

found the Great Devils' choices rather disappointing.

Clearly, the Great Devils were quite positive and fearful of his future, yet they still wanted to

control and suppress him.

That was no way to earn his goodwill and favor.

Were they even trying? Or did being in positions of power for so long make them too proud and arrogant to suck up to someone weaker than them?

Nevertheless, Vaan noticed the nuance in Hecate's words.

"Basically, the lands of Pangea and the Evernight Territory are free for all because they are

currently without a ruling Great Devil. They aren't the only territories without a ruling Great Devil, though..." Vaan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.