NOVEL NEXT Chapter 196: The Council of Beasts.
Jax asked the spider what she meant, why she hated the Celestial, but the spider moved so fast that he didn't see her. She crushed him against the ground, and her fangs were exposed menacingly. She hissed: "Speak, you damn bastard! Tell me how to get out of here or you will die!"
Jax looked at her with a scoff and began to laugh. "Don't overestimate yourself, insect. I am being kind to you because I want to, not because I'm afraid of you."
The golden fire reappeared, completely surrounding him. Seeing it, the spider's gaze changed. Jax disappeared and reappeared right in front of her, and she was pulled into the Dream World. Her mind was confused because she didn't understand what was happening. She could feel that the human in front of her had done something, but it was as if she hadn't slept in years; her mind was exhausted and she began to hallucinate. But with a furious roar, she managed to break Jax's domain by force.
Jax was a few feet away. "Look at your abdomen," he told her. The spider turned and saw a small line. Jax held a small dagger in his hand, made of golden fire.
"I want you to understand, little spider. I am kind because I want to be, not because I'm afraid of you. So if you mess with me, I will make sure to erase you from the face of the earth. I have the power. Do not challenge me."
A voice resonated behind Jax without warning. The sheer ability to do that made Jax's body freeze, surprised that anything could get so close. A gigantic white tiger with black stripes was sprawled lazily on the grass, staring intently at Jax and the spider. Seeing it, Jax felt even more terror. Such a colossal monster had been so close, and he hadn't seen it; that was completely abnormal.
A still more powerful roar resonated from the sky, and a red dragon, larger than a mountain, crashed down with a loud bang, like a true primal beast.
Jax thought that would be it, but he was wrong. An even larger serpent appeared, looking at him stealthily while flicking its tongue. The situation was completely out of control. Four beasts on the same level as the spider were surrounding him and staring intently. Jax took a deep breath to calm down. He didn't fear one spider, but with all four together, the situation seemed genuinely bad for him.
The dragon approached and began to reduce its size. Its colossal body changed from a giant monster to the size of a human. A redhead woman with deep red eyes looked at him, smiling sweetly as she said, "We heard you are capable of leaving this place. How about we talk calmly? I don't think a battle between us would be convenient for anyone."
Jax maintained his posture, the golden fire still crackling beneath his skin, though his smile had vanished. The Dragon Woman, with her unusual sweetness, had de-escalated the situation by taking human form.
"Talking is undoubtedly the best path," Jax replied, his voice calm and firm, despite the terror he felt realizing that the gigantic white tiger was still behind him, and the serpent and spider flanked him. "And what makes you think that I, precisely, am the one who holds the key to leave this place?"
The spider, who had not changed her form, emitted an annoyed hiss. The Dragon Woman, however, stepped forward, her red eyes fixed on Jax with a mixture of plea and ancient hope.
"Don't play games with us, 'demigod'," the dragon said, her voice now a soft thunder. "We don't play. Your entries and exits, the pillars of light you have ignored, are unstable void portals. But you, you open them with the ease of a mortal opening a door. We have been trapped here, in this gods' graveyard, for ages. The only reason we haven't annihilated you is because we sense the energy of the outside in you. The energy of freedom."
The tiger, without moving, growled, confirming her words.
Jax assimilated the information, mentally adjusting his perception of reality. They had called this place a "gods' graveyard." His golden armor became slightly brighter as he concentrated.
"I understand your urgency," Jax conceded. "But that leads me to my concern. I have just taken control of the continent. I have established order, law, and, well, my own doctrine. You are beings of immense power. If I release you, how can I be sure you won't attack my territories or my people? Killing you four, one by one, is possible for me, but the result would be the entire continent ending up in flames from our battles. I cannot allow that chaos."
The spider scoffed, and one of her legs scraped the ground, causing a minor tremor. "A worm's worry. Do you think we would stoop to playing with your mortals?"
"Power breeds hunger," Jax countered, staring intently at the Dragon Woman. "And hunger, even in a divine form, runs wild without limits. I need a guarantee, a leash, something to ensure that, once outside, you will maintain peace and distance yourselves from my affairs. And that you won't try to kill me, of course."
The Dragon Woman smiled, not with sweetness now, but with ancient wisdom. She took another step closer, and Jax felt the heat of her breath.
"Your concern is logical, for a newcomer," she said. "There are ways to ensure the conduct of even those of us who are beyond the gods. There are Contracts, child. Contracts sworn before Destiny itself."
Jax blinked. "Destiny Contracts? What is that? I don't know that law."
The four beasts looked at each other, and the spider let out a deep, resonant laugh that sounded like disbelief.
The tiger finally spoke, his voice a low, vibrating purr: "You are a demigod... and you've never heard of a Destiny Contract. It is the most common thing among beings like us, who are demigods and above the gods. The Celestial Contracts or the law oaths of your little continent are merely a shadow of this."
Jax felt a chill that had nothing to do with the fear of combat, but with astonishment. A contract that can bind a demigod and entities that are above the gods... In that moment, Jax discovered another secret: the gods and divine power can be contained by something superior to them: Destiny.