Legacy of Forgotten Times 137 The Loophole

Honestly, he could kill him now but that would mean he would be kicked out of school. He couldn't hide the murder. Then what about maiming him? No, that would be the same result at that point he would be better off killing him. Then how was he supposed to stop him from having any thought about Brie?

"Actually now that I thought about it I wonder if you have ever caught onto the loophole in your deal with Baal?" Linri was getting distracted but this was his genuine curiosity. He was not sure even Diego was aware of him.

"What loophole?" Tory asked.

"Well isn't your deal with Baal was killing every Alkatraz descendant? Then he would bestow you power right? He wanted to erase the Alkatraz bloodline from the world. Does nothing about this seem odd to you?"

"How do you know all this?"

"*Sigh* Dude we are way past the point you were supposed to ask that question so can you get to the point. Oh yeah, by the way, thanks for confirming it. I actually had no way to prove you did all that stuff. Then again do I need proof if I am going to kill you anyway? So let me ask you again, have you never caught onto the loophole? Don't tell me you are not one bit curious about it?"

"No. There was no loophole"

"Haha, now that's where you are wrong. Every deal out there has a loophole. No matter how smart you are, no one can create a perfect 'deal'. Especially demons, actually they intentionally add loopholes to their deals to make their contractors go insane. It's a sort of hobby for them. And when it comes to deals with higher beings I can be considered an expert. So can you tell me the exact words Baal used? I, of course, know what he said but I just want to make sure"

Tory looked at him. He didn't say a word. Was he rebelling? Just because he didn't beat him up did he think Linri was not going to hurt him?

Linri gave Six a signal who then proceeded to punch Tory in the stomach as hard as he could.

"Don't make me repeat my question" Linri got up from his chair and lifted Tory from his hair.

"He told me in exchange for the Blood of every Alkatraz family member he could grant me eternal strength to crush my enemies"

"Okay, that part checks out. So can anyone spot any loopholes? I think there is at least three" Linri asked his friends. They just looked at each other. Was there a loophole?

"Okay since everyone is quiet let's start with the first one, shall we? You see in contracts bound by law there are usually footnotes to make the meaning of certain words clear. That way no one would be able to claim that they did not understand the meaning of the contract. Demons don't bother with that. The words in them hold the meaning you or the demon assigns to so you can pull it the way you want. In here it said the blood of every Alkatraz family member. Have you caught onto it yet? It didn't say the blood of every 'current' Alkatraz family member. Meaning he could have just denied you what he promised even if you killed everyone. He would have told you that you didn't bring the blood of the old family members so you have failed. Tell me do you see that not happening?"

Tory turned as pale as a paper.

"Now, now. Don't breakdown just yet. I said three loopholes, this was only the first one. As for the second one it has to do with the phrase 'there is'. Aren't you also a member of the Alkatraz family? So by law it also includes you. Meaning you would also have to kill yourself. Maybe if you succeded Baal would say you were still alive and again denied you your right. Maybe he could have even kill you and turn you into a demon too fulfilling the contract. The terms never dictated that you had to be alive or human to enjoy his power"

"Last but not least we have the word blood again. Tell me, have you never thought about this particular choice of word?"

"No" said Tory after gulping. It felt like he could also see where Linri was going with this.

"Wow, such a surprise! Anyway, the blood in here could be interpreted as their deaths but there is another more literal interpretation. Just plain old blood. Maybe after succeeding, he would tell you that you wouldn't have to kill anyone and just offer him their blood. As a servant of the Alkatraz family for generation Baal shouldn't be able to harm them let alone make a deal that offers someone strength in exchange for their lives. Actually, he deceived you by saying he wanted to end the Alkatraz bloodline with you. So you thought you actually had to kill them. Now offering blood on the hand is a much more feasible option. That was how ancient rituals worked anyway. You were just too dumb to realize it"

Tory was breathing heavily.

"Th-that has to be a lie. There is no way it could be that simple!" Tory screamed.

Linri punched him in the face.

"Hey! If you are psychotic enough to murder your own family at least be a man enough to admit it. Don't just delegate the responsibility to the demon. Even if you don't mourn after them have the decency of being aware of what you did. The demon did not force you to kill them, you chose to. Don't worry I won't blame you. They treated you like crap but at least don't be a hypocrite"

"No no no no no. You are lying! That can't be true. How can you even know of this? Yes, you are definitely lying" Linri punched him again.

*Crash*

The door of the room was flung open. Jaime rushed in with Brie following her.

"Is this him?" she asked Linri while looking at Tory who was laughing maniacally. Brie looked disturbed by seeing her brother like that. She was clenching the hem of her skirt.

"Yep, what you want to hit him too?"

"Yes!" She was about to hit him when Linri stopped her.

"Wait why do you want to hit him? Just to make him hurt?"

"So? No one can hurt my little baby!" Linri gave Jaime a smirk.

"If you just want to make him hurt how about doing something worse? I am not talking about killing him or torturing" Jaime looked at Linri squinted her eyes. He was giving off the evil vibe she didn't like again.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Let's summon a demon"

Chapter end