Extra's Revenge: Reincarnated As A Slave-Chapter 86: Counter Betrayal

Three hours passed in methodical efficiency.

Rey listened as Serena explained the various Artifacts, their functions, their dangers. She detailed which Technique Scrolls contained what knowledge, which ones required preparatory rituals, which ones would kill an untrained user.

The Senior Order members contributed their expertise, cataloging the treasures with the thoroughness of people who believed they would soon profit from this knowledge.

Rey absorbed every word, his enhanced mental processing storing the information with perfect recall.

He asked no unnecessary questions.

His queries were precise, surgical—extracting maximum understanding with minimum conversation. The Order members interpreted his silence as contemplation, perhaps even respect for their expertise.

They were wrong.

Rey was simply calculating.

When the last explanation finished, when Serena had detailed the final High Sequence Technique scroll, Rey stood.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "That was very thorough."

"Haaa..."

Serena’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

Perhaps this would work after all. Perhaps they could salvage something from Logan’s failed betrayal. The contract would expire in a few more hours, and they could part ways—

WHOOSH!

Rey’s hand shot forward.

It happened so fast that Serena’s brain didn’t register the motion until his fingers had already closed around her throat. Chaos Energy, dense and corrosive, flooded into her body through the contact point.

Her eyes went wide with shock and betrayal.

"The agreement—" one of the Order members started to shout.

Rey twisted his wrist.

Serena’s neck snapped with a wet crack.

Her body collapsed, lifeless, before anyone could react.

"You broke the contract!" another member screamed, backing away. "The Curse Art will kill you! It will—"

Rey turned his empty gaze on the speaker.

Nothing happened.

No purple light. No mystical backlash. No screaming agony like what had killed Logan.

The man’s voice died in his throat as understanding dawned—terrible, horrifying understanding.

"It should have activated," someone whispered. "The moment he attacked her, the contract should have—"

Rey didn’t answer their queries.

He simply moved.

His body flowed like liquid shadow, closing the distance to the nearest Sunlit Order member before the man could finish raising his weapon. Rey’s hand punched through the man’s chest, emerging from his back in a spray of blood and viscera.

He withdrew his hand and let the body fall.

"Run!" Serena’s second-in-command shouted. "Scatter! We can’t—"

Rey was already moving again.

The Deep Vault became a killing floor.

One by one, methodically, without hesitation or mercy, Rey hunted them down. The Order members tried to flee, but the vault had only one exit, and Rey stood between them and freedom.

They tried to fight.

However, they couldn’t do anything to stop him.

Why?

Because they were still bound by the Curse Art that enforced the Alliance Agreement.

The whole arrangement which was meant to be for their benefit quickly turned into a cruel joke.

Rey was able to attack them but they couldn’t do anything to him.

How was this happening? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Why was this possible?

Nobody knew!

Rey’s hand found the woman’s throat, and she died choking on her own blood as Chaos ravaged her from within.

He snapped necks and pierced their bodies with ease.

Thanks to his superior physical abilities as well as their own depleted stamina and Ether, it was easy to overpower them.

"The contract!" one man sobbed, pressed against the vault wall as Rey approached. "You’re still bound! You can’t—the penalty should—"

Rey’s hand closed around the man’s skull.

Squeezed.

The skull crumpled like parchment.

They died quickly, at least.

Rey granted them that mercy, if it could be called mercy. No torture, no prolonged suffering.

Just efficient, mechanical death.

The automatons watched impassively, their programming preventing them from intervening. The contract had classified these people as allies, and that classification still held for the machines.

Allies killing allies was not part of their prerogative to intervene.

They could attack neither.

But this was rather strange, was it not?

Both sides were allies, yet Rey could bypass this agreement and kill them effortlessly.

Did he use a loophole?

Well, not really.

Rey was simply no longer bound by the Alliance Agreement because the Curse Art Imprint no longer existed on him.

Indeed!

The Chaos Energy permeating every aspect of his Undead existence had done more than just erode Logan’s Slave Contract. It had corrupted the alliance agreement itself, transforming the Curse Art binding into something else entirely.

—Chaos!

The contract still existed, technically.

Its Ether signature could still be detected. But the Curse Art that should have enforced its terms had been converted into pure Chaos, and

Chaos followed no rules but its own nature.

Rey was free.

The others were not.

They couldn’t attack him—the contract still bound them, even as it released him.

They couldn’t even properly defend themselves without triggering penalties for hostile action against an alliance member.

They could only run.

And Rey was faster... Much faster!

The last Order member in the Deep Vault was a young woman, barely twenty, who had joined the Sunlit Order to escape slavery.

She huddled in a corner, tears streaming down her face as Rey approached.

"Please," she whimpered. "I didn’t—I was just following orders. I never wanted—"

Rey’s hand rested on her shoulder, almost gently.

Chaos Energy flowed.

She convulsed once, then went still.

Silence returned to the Deep Vault. Several bodies lay scattered among the treasures, their blood pooling on ancient stone.

Rey stood motionless for a moment, his mind already moving to the next phase.

"I need to kill the rest."

The remaining Sunlit Order members were scattered throughout the manor—some guarding the main haul, others still ransacking rooms for valuables.

They didn’t know what had happened in the Deep Vault.

Yet.

WHOOSH!

Rey moved toward the exit, the automatons falling into formation behind him. Their sensors registered the bodies but made no comment.

They simply waited for orders.

"Follow," Rey commanded. "Eliminate all Sunlit Order members in the manor. Prioritize speed over stealth. Prevent escape."

"ACKNOWLEDGED. INITIATING HOSTILE ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOLS."

The Sunlit Order members were thus no longer viewed as allies by the machines.

The hunt began.

[A/N: Did any of you see this coming? Also, this arc will be coming to an end in about a dozen more Chapters. It has certainly been an enjoyable first arc, wouldn’t you say?]