The wolf obeyed immediately.

It moved with the same brutal speed it used for everything involving violence.

Aldric barely had time to scream before the creature slammed into him fully, knocking him flat against the stone floor. The undead wolf’s claws dug into the heavy robes first, ripping through the expensive fabric like wet paper. The sound filled the room sharply.

Rrrrip!

The robe came apart in strips almost instantly.

Aldric shouted and tried to crawl backward, but the wolf was already on top of him again. The creature’s jaws caught the front of his sleeping tunic and tore downward violently.

Fabric exploded apart.

The wolf did not stop.

Darion watched silently as the creature continued tearing at everything Aldric wore with horrifying efficiency. Cloth flew across the room in shredded pieces. The wolf’s claws pinned the man down while its jaws ripped through layers of fabric one after another.

Aldric was screaming now.

Not angry shouting anymore.

Not political outrage.

Pure panic.

"STOP— STOP IT!"

The wolf ignored him completely.

Within seconds, the heavy robe was gone entirely. The sleeping tunic followed shortly after. Even the underlayers beneath it lasted only moments before being reduced to torn scraps scattered across the stone floor.

The room echoed with Aldric’s frantic shouting and the violent tearing sounds.

Then suddenly—

There was nothing left to tear.

The wolf stepped back.

Aldric lay naked on the cold stone floor.

For a second the room became very quiet.

The former king immediately curled inward instinctively, trying desperately to cover himself with both hands despite the fact that he was shaking too badly to do it properly.

Humiliation hit him almost harder than the fear had.

His breathing was ragged now.

His face had gone pale.

Darion looked down at him calmly.

The contrast between them felt enormous now.

Aldric no longer looked like a king.

He looked broken.

The wolf stood over him silently, green eye glowing faintly in the dim torchlight.

Then Darion spoke again.

"Peel his flesh off slowly."

Aldric froze.

For exactly one second.

Then he broke completely.

"I’LL SIGN!"

The shout came out almost like a scream.

"I’LL SIGN, PLEASE!"

His voice cracked violently halfway through the sentence.

"NO MORE! PLEASE— I’LL DO IT!"

The words poured out rapidly now.

"I’LL TAKE THE OATH! I’LL SWEAR! JUST MAKE IT STOP!"

Darion remained still for a moment longer.

The wolf had not moved yet.

Aldric stared at it with absolute terror.

Then finally Darion lifted one hand slightly.

The wolf stepped back.

Aldric immediately collapsed fully against the floor again, breathing hard enough that his entire body shook with it.

For several seconds nobody spoke.

Even Vera was watching quietly now.

Not disturbed exactly.

But focused.

Careful.

Darion crouched slightly so that he was closer to Aldric’s eye level.

"Good," he said calmly. "That wasn’t difficult, was it?"

Aldric looked at him with naked hatred.

And fear greater than the hatred.

Darion stood again.

"Get up."

Aldric hesitated.

The wolf growled softly.

That was enough.

The former king forced himself upright immediately, keeping one arm awkwardly across himself while trembling visibly.

Darion returned to the table.

Vera moved beside him now.

The atmosphere in the room changed subtly.

Darion noticed it immediately.

The air itself seemed heavier somehow.

Not physically.

Magically.

Vera reached into one of the pouches hanging from her belt and removed a small black vial along with several thin silver fragments that looked almost like pieces of broken metal.

She arranged them carefully across the table.

Then she uncorked the vial.

Dark liquid spread slowly across the wooden surface on its own, moving unnaturally like living ink. Symbols began forming gradually within it, lines curving into shapes Darion did not recognize.

Aldric stared at it with growing horror.

"What is that?" he asked weakly.

Vera ignored the question.

Instead she looked at Darion.

"State the terms clearly," she said.

The wolf remained standing beside Aldric throughout all of this.

Watching him.

Waiting.

Darion noticed Aldric glancing toward it repeatedly.

Good.

Fear would keep him obedient.

Still...

Darion found himself wondering briefly whether Aldric might try something desperate midway through the oath. A sudden attack. A grab for Vera. A rush toward the door.

Desperate men did desperate things.

Especially cornered rulers who had lost everything in one morning.

Darion subtly shifted his stance slightly closer to the table.

The undead knights behind him remained perfectly still.

Ready.

"Repeat exactly after me," Vera instructed Aldric calmly.

The former king swallowed hard.

Then nodded shakily.

The room had become unnaturally quiet now.

Even the torch flames seemed dimmer somehow.

Darion felt it then.

The same sensation from his own oath.

Warmth.

Pressure.

Something unseen paying attention.

It crawled slowly across his chest like invisible heat.

The system reacted too.

A faint transparent notification flickered briefly at the edge of his vision.

[Magical Contract Detected]

[Binding Intent Recognized]

The text vanished almost immediately.

Darion’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Interesting.

So the system acknowledged this kind of magic directly.

Vera began.

"I, Aldric of Valdenmoor—"

Aldric repeated the words slowly.

His voice shook badly.

"I, Aldric of Valdenmoor..."

"You will continue," Vera said calmly, "without deviation."

Aldric nodded quickly.

Sweat covered his face now despite the cold room.

"You swear that the debt of fourteen thousand gold formerly owed by Percvale to Valdenmoor is permanently cancelled."

Aldric repeated it.

As he spoke, the symbols spread further across the table.

The black liquid moved unnaturally fast now.

Darion could feel the pressure in the room increasing.

Aldric felt it too.

His breathing became uneven again.

"You swear that Valdenmoor shall not take hostile action against Percvale, its lands, or its people."

Aldric repeated the words.

The moment he did, he suddenly flinched sharply.

Like something invisible had touched him.

"You swear that you will not reveal Darion’s identity as a necromancer to any authority, kingdom, noble, organization, or individual."

That one hit differently.

Aldric hesitated.

The wolf growled immediately.

Aldric shut his eyes tightly.

Then repeated it.

The moment the words left his mouth—

Something happened.

Darion felt it instantly.

The pressure in the room condensed sharply into a single terrifying moment of certainty.

Aldric gasped.

His entire body jerked violently.

The symbols across the table flashed once with dark silver light before sinking directly into the surface of the wood and disappearing completely.

Aldric staggered backward.

One hand flew to his chest.

"What—"

His voice broke.

He could feel it.

Darion recognized the exact expression immediately because he had worn it himself once.

The feeling of the oath settling.

Not around the body.

Inside it.

Permanent.

Aldric looked horrified.

Like he had suddenly realized invisible chains existed around his soul.

Vera calmly corked the vial again.

"It is done," she said.

Silence followed.

Aldric slowly sank to the floor.

Still naked.

Still trembling.

He wrapped both arms around himself now, trying desperately to cover his body while tears mixed with sweat across his face.

The man was crying openly.

Not loudly.

Not proudly.

Just broken sobbing from someone who understood fully that his future no longer belonged entirely to him.

Darion watched him quietly for a moment.

Then he looked toward one of the undead knights.

"Get cloth."

The knight immediately left the room.

A few minutes later, simple clothing from one of Percvale’s spare supplies was brought and thrown toward Aldric.

The former king grabbed it instantly.

He dressed quickly without looking at anyone.

His hands shook the entire time. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Once he finished, Darion looked at him calmly.

"One more thing before you go," he said.

Aldric froze immediately.