CHAPTER 55: GAME OF IMAGINATION II

Dorian remained in his initial position, watching as Ishtar had her eyes closed, whispering something that could possibly be an enchantment to her spell.

The thought of using his analysis skill on her did cross his mind once in a while. It would be pretty helpful if he could continuously track her every move.

However, seeing as most of his mana was already being distributed to other sources, he couldn’t risk collapsing again.

After what seemed like forever, the spell was finally active.

Ishtar stretched her hand forward, summoning a dark, shadowy circle on the ground that nearly covered the entire garden. Then, slowly, it reduced its size and took on a spherical shape, stretching higher than the mansion itself.

At each side of the sphere was a dark, ominous portal door, a gateway that was meant to lead Dorian right into the domain.

From afar, Dorian could see Ishtar approaching the door on her side of the circle, a smile on her face as she walked.

’Jokes apart, this ability can be quite useful,’ Dorian sighed. ’Nah, this is not the time to be thinking about this. I need to end this quickly before my mana runs out.’

Without saying a word to Maria and Seraphina, Dorian slowly approached the domain.

Seraphina had a worried look on her face; she couldn’t hide it even if she wanted to.

It didn’t take long for Dorian to reach the entrance of the sphere. From where he stood, he could already feel the huge flow of mana residing inside the domain.

How was she able to maintain this?

Dorian thought to himself for a while, and then, with a single step, he was sucked in.

He soon found himself standing on a tall platform, his hand resting on the frame built around the elevated area to keep him in place.

Opposite him, he could see the same balcony; only Ishtar was the one there, her arms folded as she watched him from afar.

The ground below was pitch dark, empty, and shallow, with not one detail Dorian could pick out. If he were to jump, the chances are he would be sucked into the dark fog, never to rise up again.

Even the sky was shrouded with these dark fogs as well, dripping down to the ground in the shape of small shiny magic particles.

"Welcome to my Domain, Lord Dorian!" Ishtar yelled from afar, her arms stretched out. "I do hope you are impressed. It took me years of perfection to make it what it is. Interesting, right?"

’Why does this woman think I care about such details? I just want to finish this and go home.’ Dorian tilted his head to the side, a single tear dropping from his eyes. He could feel his mana draining with every passing second.

Not that he had any suitable response to give Ishtar, but before he could speak, Ishtar stretched her hand forward.

"Now then, shall we begin by making our pact then?"

Dorian did the same, stretching his right hand forward.

It was the first time he was doing something like this; as such, he wasn’t sure what to do.

’I’ll let her go first, then follow her lead.’

Ishtar grinned. "Oh, great god of the sky, a pact shall be made in your name; decide for the laws of this pact and grant with it your divine judgment. Yakum."

A golden light sparked right in the center of the two platforms. It morphed, transforming into a large, elongated material in the shape of an iron object, with glowing strings surrounding it.

Dorian narrowed his gaze before he uttered his own words.

"Oh great god of the sky and gamble, a pact shall be made in your name; decide for the laws of this pact and grant with it your divine judgment. Yakum."

Boom!

A huge flow of mana spread from his platform throughout the entire domain, causing it to shake a bit.

Ishtar was shocked; her eyes widened at the massive golden light appearing right beside her own physical pact.

It formed into a bigger, sturdier iron rod creation, and its golden light was brighter and more beautiful than ever.

"What the hell..."

Ishtar stared at it for a good minute. The shock on her face was still evident.

These metallic objects were known to be the physical manifestation of a person’s pact and also the proof of the blessing bestowed on said pact.

The bigger the ferrous object, the more chances said pact is being favored by the God of Gamble.

That said, in all her years of playing a pact game, this was the first time she had seen any as big as her very mansion.

"Just who is this guy?" she muttered to herself.

Dorian himself noticed the difference in size of their physical pact. If he were to use an example, Ishtar’s iron rod was as big as a carriage, while his was the size of a mansion.

He found it suspicious, though, but in that moment, his focus was on the game entirely.

"I shall begin my pact," he announced.

As he said this, the forged piece glowed even brighter, waiting to hear what the pact would be.

"If I am to come out victorious, then I order you to grant me any wish I request for starting from my victory. "

"W...what?" Ishtar leaned back a bit, her face filled with disgust. "Are you kidding me? Wish? You’re one of those men who want to use me for my body and do all sorts of depraved things to me, aren’t you?. Ah, you want me to be your sex slave, don’t you?!"

"I didn’t go that far!" Dorian yelled, pointing. "I have made my pact, and that is that."

With blushed cheeks, Ishtar cleared her throat, trying to calm herself back.

’I expected she would be shocked by that. I am too,’ Dorian whispered to himself, eyes focused in front. ’I could have easily asked for her to hand over all the volcanic stones, simple as that. But that would only be for the long term, nothing more.’

’But if I can have her devoted to me through wishes, then there is a chance I can avoid more things in the future, including this war. Was making her fall in love too far? Yes, but I see no other way that won’t make her father think she is under some enslavement ritual.’

"I would like to offer my pact now—"

Ishtar uttered with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"If I end up the winner of this game, then I order you to become my slave and answer to only me as your master."

Dorian immediately wore a deadpan look on his face, watching as Ishtar stared at him with hunger, almost as if she had convinced herself she was the winner.

’We were thinking the same thing, eh; I should have guessed,’ he tilted his gaze to the side, closing his eyes in regret.

’Fuck my propriety. I should have done that instead.’