Perhaps Mother had also intended to steal the Purification Cult’s Time Stop artifact after Beroga was defeated. If that had been part of her plan from the very beginning, then every piece fit together almost perfectly.
Isaac felt an uncomfortable sense of familiarity. Mother’s methods reminded him of Catherine.
Catherine always prepared several plans at once and connected them so carefully that even if one failed, another would quietly accomplish the same objective.
Mother felt like a far more dangerous version of Catherine. When Isaac thought about it, that wasn’t surprising. After all, Catherine had learned from Mother ever since she was a child.
The thought lingered in Isaac’s mind for only a moment before Beroga finally broke the silence.
"...Weren’t you used as bait by that woman to draw us out?" Beroga asked.
"Yes, we were," Isaac admitted with a nod. Beroga’s words surprised him more than he let on. So, Mother hadn’t simply lured out members of the Purification Cult at random. She had deliberately targeted the highest-ranking members of this branch.
Isaac kept his expression calm, acting as though he had already figured it out.
"That’s why we should work together. I want revenge against her too. Since we have the same enemy, why don’t we join hands?" Isaac said.
Beroga frowned instead of answering immediately. His eyes drifted toward Ki Beli before returning to Isaac.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.
Isaac noticed Beroga stealing another glance at Ki Beli a few moments later. The concern in those brief looks was obvious enough.
It seemed Beroga wanted to help him. Unfortunately, because he had been summoned through the contract, the System wouldn’t allow him to interfere directly.
"I mean exactly what I said. I’m going to kill Mother eventually. We can work together until then," Isaac replied.
That answer visibly caught Beroga off guard. For several seconds, he simply stared at Isaac as though trying to determine whether he had misheard him.
"You want to kill her? Why would you do that?" Beroga finally asked.
"She killed my siblings."
Isaac answered without hesitation. His voice was filled with a chilling cold.
Beroga became silent. He carefully studied Isaac’s face, searching for even the slightest trace of dishonesty, but the expression looking back at him remained unchanged.
After a long pause, Beroga slowly nodded. "I don’t think you’re lying. But how am I supposed to trust you?"
"That’s simple. We can use a Contract. Become Emily’s summon, and I’ll help you kill Mother. If you have any other conditions, tell me now before we make the Contract," Isaac replied.
Beroga lowered his head and thought quietly for several moments. The place remained silent while he considered Isaac’s proposal.
Finally, he looked back up.
"I have three conditions. First, don’t kill Ki Beli. Tame him instead," Beroga said.
Isaac remained silent, allowing him to continue.
"Second, I want you to spare a few members of Purification Cult’s branch in our Sector, if the Cult is still standing that is. If they continue trying to oppose you, you’re free to tame them instead, but don’t torture or execute them."
He paused briefly before raising his hand toward Emily.
"And my last condition is for her. I want her to enter the Tower of Heaven and Hell before the end of this year."
The moment those words left Beroga’s mouth, Ki Beli suddenly began struggling violently again. His restrained body twisted against the bindings as though he would rather die than become someone’s summon.
Beroga looked at him with obvious guilt before quietly looking away. There was nothing he could do while bound by the System’s rules.
Isaac watched the exchange before raising an eyebrow.
"You’re talking as if your entire branch is about to disappear," Isaac said.
"Because it is. Mother won’t stop after taking Ki Beli and me out of the picture. Once we’re gone, she’ll move against everyone else in this sector," Beroga answered with a bitter smile.
Isaac wasn’t particularly surprised by that answer. It matched the image of Mother that had gradually formed in his mind. If she had already begun moving against the Purification Cult, there was no reason she would stop halfway.
"Well, that’s fine with me. If the ones you want are still alive, we’ll tame them instead," Isaac said after thinking for a moment. Beroga might have a lot of information about Purification Cult, and other branches. Moreover, he would also know about the insides of the Tower of Heaven and Hell, which almost no one around him knew.
He then turned toward Emily.
"What about you? Are you alright with those conditions?" Isaac asked her.
Emily frowned slightly but didn’t answer immediately. Isaac could understand why she was hesitating.
Those people had attacked her family. They had tried to destroy everything she cared about, so asking her to spare them wasn’t an easy request.
Using Tirra’s bond ability, Isaac quietly spoke to her.
’Emily.’
She looked toward him without moving her head.
’Beroga is already dead. If we want revenge against him, the best method is to squeeze every bit of value out of him.’
Emily blinked in surprise. It looked as though something had suddenly clicked inside her mind, as if she had gained an enlightenment.
"Squeeze every bit of value out of them," she quietly repeated.
Isaac suddenly felt a strange sense of unease. For some reason, those words sounded much worse coming from Emily than they had inside his own head.
He couldn’t explain why, so he simply remained silent.
After thinking for another moment, Emily nodded. "I’m okay with those conditions."
Isaac smiled before reaching into his spatial ring. He pulled out a Contract scroll and looked at it with mixed feelings.
These Contract scrolls weren’t cheap, and lately they seemed to disappear from his hands faster than he could replace them.
Every time he used one, his savings shrank a little more (they did not). Combined with the two hundred Gold Coins he would soon spend on Sage Sea’s materials, Isaac genuinely felt like he was becoming poorer by the day (he was not).
Suppressing the urge to sigh, he activated the Contract.
Emily had wanted to take his place in the Contract, but Isaac insisted on handling it personally. Some promises carried more weight when they were made by the person intending to fulfill them.
The Contract was completed without any problems. Soon afterward, Emily and Beroga established their formal summoning bond, and a faint light briefly connected their souls before fading away.
After the connection stabilized, Isaac folded his arms.
"There’s something I’ve been wondering. The Purification Cult has always acted like they’re completely devoted to supporting Apocalypse. I didn’t expect you to cooperate with us this easily," he said.
"You’re misunderstanding something. I don’t care about Apocalypse. I only joined the Purification Cult because it was the only way people like us could survive in this sector." Beroga shook his head.
Isaac frowned.
That answer wasn’t what he had expected. He had believed the Purification Cult was filled with fanatics who worshipped Apocalypse without question.
Beroga noticed Isaac’s reaction and let out a quiet laugh.
"You don’t know much about this world outside your city, do you?" he asked.
"I know enough," Isaac replied.
"Do you? How much do you know about the Thousand-Year Stampede?" Beroga said before asking another question.
"It’s a monster stampede that happens once every thousand years. Countless monsters rush down from Mourning Frost Mountain and attack the surrounding cities. Every time it happens, countless people die." Isaac answered without much hesitation.
Nearby, Sage Sea continued arranging an enormous rune formation around Ki Beli. Although his hands made from mana never stopped moving, his attention had clearly shifted toward their conversation.
Knowledge related to Apocalypse was something even he found interesting. He had been long dead after all.
"No, that’s not what the Thousand-Year Stampede really is," Beroga said.