Death... and me

"So what if I showed myself? What now?" asked Rean with a smirk as always.

Hearing that, Zostemou looked at Rean's expression of confidence. However, if one wanted to talk about confidence, then Zostemou was even more confident. "Hehehe! I thought you would come sooner or later, so I prepared a gift for you."

Suddenly, the entire city-state began to tremble as an underground formation activated. That underground formation was obviously under Zostemou's command, and he used to bind it Rean down. Several multicolored bindings sprung from thin air. They all tried to bind Rean on the spot, which Rean didn't try to stop at all.

Seeing that Rean was easily caught, Zostemou sighed in relief, instantly saying, "So, what were you saying? Something about my taxes being too high and that it hurt the people? Ha! I couldn't care less. That's how the world works. The strong prey on the weak, simple as that. Give me one reason not to kill you right now."

Rean looked at Zostemou with a puzzled expression as he replied, "Shouldn't that be my question? Give me one reason to not kill you right now? No, there's no need. All you have to do is sign the Soul Binding Contract, the same one all the other 'friends' signed. As long as you and your members sign the contract, you will obviously survive."

Zostemou and the others were taken aback after that. Even though Rean was completely bound by the formation, he still acted as if everything was under control. "Ridiculous. Since you don't want to collaborate, then don't blame me for being nasty. In any case, I'm sure you have quite some valuables on your body, so I guess getting rid of you is the best option anyway."

Zostemou then took a spear out of his spatial ring before launching an attack against Rean. He aimed directly at the head to make sure Rean would die straight away. However...

*Puff!*

All the binds holding Rean suddenly disappeared just as the spear was about to pierce his head. Following that, the impossible seemed to happen. Those same multicolored bindings seemed to go out of Zostemou's control and tried to capture him instead. "Impossible!"

He wasn't the only one. The formation captured everyone in the City Lord's estate, with only the City Lord himself having the strength to fight against it. Zostemou destroyed all the binds and immediately tried to escape. He had already decided that he would leave this city and try to conquer another one after what Rean did.

Unfortunately, the formation wasn't the only thing he had to deal with.

'Death Style, First Energy Form, Shadow Binds!'

It was rare, but Rean could use Shadow Bind as well. It's just that it wasn't as good as when Roan did it. Well, that was more than enough for an average cultivator at the Peak Stage of the Elemental Transformation Realm. At the very least, they were a lot faster and stronger than the multicolored binds of the formation.

*Grab! Grab! Grab! Grab...*

Zostemou had no chance to react as his entire body was wrapped in Shadow Bind. He tried to use his attacks to pierce them down, but it was simply impossible to deal with that many at once. A spear wasn't exactly a good weapon against this kind of threat.

Rean kept his hands behind him as he looked at Zostemou struggle. Little by little, Zostemou's Divine Energy was consumed without finding a single chance to escape. Eventually, he lost the power to fight against the binds and was captured as well.

Zostemou then looked at Rean with a helpless expression, asking, "How... how did you make my own formation work against me?"

Rean smiled in response but didn't answer. Naturally, that was Sister Orb. Well, there was also the fact that the formation wasn't anything impressive. It was only a Golden Initial-level formation. Not to mention that it was made using quite low-quality resources. It only took Sister Orb a day to analyze and take full control over it. "Let's forget this small detail. I'll give the formation's control back to you after we're done here. So, how about it? Will you sign the contract?"

However, Zostemou suddenly laughed out loud when he heard that. "Hahaha! There's no way I will sign this thing. If you know what's good for you, you will release me right now and disappear from my estate. Believe me, you don't want to buy a fight against my family."

Rean nodded, not finding it surprising at all. "As I thought. I heard before that the position of City Lord has changed quite a few times as the years passed. Sometimes it changed more than once or twice in the same year. However, ever since you got control of Dry Sky City, no one was able to take you away from power. It has a lot more to do than just your individual strength, right? So, tell me. Who are you?"

Zostemou was full of confidence as he replied, "So you did your homework at least. Indeed, it's all thanks to both my strength and my background that no one dares to take this city away from me. I'm Zostemou Traste, a direct descendant of the Traste Clan."

Rean nodded in response before saying, "Hello, Zostemou of the Traste Clan. So, will you sign the contract now, or should I threaten to destroy your dantian before you do so?"

Zostemou and his subordinates were taken aback after that. "Did you even hear what I said? No, first of all, do you even know what kind of power the Traste Clan is?"

Rean shook his head as he replied, "I came from outside the continent, so I have absolutely no idea as to who they are. With that being said, I can't really be afraid of them. Alright, enough bullshit. Will you sign the contract and help make Dry Sky City a better place or not? Your dantian is on the line just so you know."

Zostemou tried to explain to Rean who the Traste Clan was. It seemed to be one of the big powers of the Vankotis Region. Obviously, that was the region Rean was in at the moment. Unfortunately for them, Rean didn't seem to care, and Zostemou's group was forced to sign the contract of one hundred years in the end.