Chapter 73

Chapter : 73

When Raphael visited Agares’s territory and met the Demons, he regarded them as the same humans as himself. After all, treating them as a different species simply because their skin color, culture, and way of survival were different made no sense.

But he was wrong.

They truly were Demons. At the very end of the North, a dreadful Demonic Aura flowed. This was no coincidence. In fact, passages connected to the Demon Realm sometimes opened in the North.

The reason Agares had survived even after stabbing a dagger into his heart during his contract with a Demon was partly because his life force had been strong to begin with, but the fact that a passage to the Demon Realm had been connected there played a major role.

After Raphael left the territory, Agares discovered that passage and threw himself inside it.

He swung his sword and killed anything he could see. Agares realized why Demons were crawling through his territory like insects. They were bastards who had been pushed out of the Demon Realm’s barren law of the jungle and had fled here.

The moment he recognized the problem, he thought of a solution.

He only had to teach them that fleeing to his territory would not let them survive. He killed and killed, intending to engrave into them that even if they came to the Human Realm connected to the North, they would die all the same.

Like that, he slaughtered countless Demons until the passage closed, and after coming back outside, he felt that something had gone wrong. His body was heavy.

It felt as though something had climbed onto his body and was pressing him down.

Ah, it is him.

Thanks to Raphael, he now knew the name.

“Amadeus.”

It was the Devil who had given him the power of immortality. That bastard was constantly watching for a chance to take over his body.

‘I should have been more careful.’

He should not have hastily struck at the passage to the Demon Realm. Because of that, Amadeus’s influence over his body had grown stronger.

The fact that he would one day have to surrender his body to Amadeus now felt painfully real.

Agares tried several methods during the rest of vacation in order to tear it out. He read related books and even went to a temple to receive a blessing.

Every result was failure, and time passed. The Academy opened its doors for the new semester and accepted its students. Agares, by contrast, remained in his territory and thought about what he should do from now on.

What should I do?

First, the reassuring point was that he had driven out most of the Demons from his territory.

The reason Agares had risked his life to contract with Amadeus in the past had been to protect his territory. Since he had roughly achieved half of that goal, he did not regret the contract itself.

It was just that, if possible, he wanted to protect his territory and not have his body stolen.

As he thought about what to do, Raphael’s face came to mind. He was a bastard who knew many strange things. Wondering what on earth he was, Agares sent people to gather information, but he could not find anything suspicious.

That made it even stranger. By what method had Raphael learned that the name of the Devil he had contracted with was Amadeus?

There were several other unusual points as well. His way of drinking alcohol and his way of thinking about Demons felt awkward when considering his origin and background.

Regardless of his true identity, the fact that he had known Amadeus’s name alone made him worth consulting. A long while after the Academy semester began, Agares moved.

He departed for the Academy.

---

I spent each day locked in a battle of nerves with the Bishot inside my imagination. Since I could not know when she might suddenly attack me, I felt uncomfortable and tense, as though a thorn were caught in my throat.

Still, considering that she had aimed for an opportunity like the ball, I vaguely hoped she would not start anything at just any time.

It was in the midst of that that Agares returned to the Academy. He had been absent from the Academy under the excuse that something had happened in his territory, and it seemed the conclusion had not been good.

Agares looked haggard when he returned to the Academy.

“Welcome back. What happened with the matter in your territory?”

“Let us speak about that separately later. It is too long to discuss while standing. If you have time, how about a drink?”

This was a dangerous period. The more allies I made, the better I could deal with Bishot. That was especially true if that ally was Agares, one of the male leads.

“Understood. Let us do that.”

And so, from the moment we met, we went to drink. As though something had made him impatient, Agares filled his glass with liquor without even a drinking snack.

I was too busy with life to make drinking a hobby, so even after seeing the label on the bottle Agares held, I did not know what kind of liquor it was. Still, I could tell at least that it was something with high alcohol content.

The liquor sloshed as it filled the glass, polluting the air with alcohol. It felt as though I could get drunk just from smelling it.

Agares drank first, and I followed.

“Do you remember the conversation we had before? You told me, did you not? That the true name of the Devil I contracted with was Amadeus. At first, I pressed you about how you knew that, then changed my words. I asked you to tell me when it was all right for you to speak.”

“Yes, I remember. It was during vacation, in Your Grace’s territory. We were drinking then too.”

“I am sorry about this, but my circumstances have apparently become somewhat urgent. If it is all right, could you tell me how you came to know Amadeus’s name?”

I lifted my glass and brought it to my lips. I did not drink, merely held the glass at my mouth. I acted as though I could not answer because I was drinking.

It was a time when I had to move my tongue carefully.

How had I known the name of the Devil Agares had contracted with? The truth was that I had learned it through conversations with the person who had created this world.

But I could not say that as it was. On top of that, I wanted to know why Agares had suddenly become curious about it, but if I found that out, it would also be difficult to dawdle and push the matter away.

Then what should I do?

It would be difficult not to give Agares what he wanted. I would give him half.

But I had to answer well. Before the drunkenness muddled my brain, I chose my words and separated what I should say from what I should not.

“Of course I want to help solve the problem Your Grace is experiencing. However, I previously promised not to reveal information related to this, so it is difficult for me to speak. Could you tell me first why you need to know?”

“Very well.”

Agares explained what had happened after I left his territory.

In the North, passages connected to the Demon Realm sometimes formed, and things like Demons crossed over through them.

To stop that, Agares had entered the passage.

That had been the start of the problem. Perhaps because of the strong Demonic Aura there, Amadeus’s influence had grown.

After hearing Agares’s story, I furrowed my brows and lowered my eyes, pretending to be regretful.

“I am sorry. I do not know anything about that.”

“I see....”

“Instead, do you remember Ian? Since Dark Magic is also one branch of magic, he might know something.”

“Then would you ask him on my behalf?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

Agares spoke as though it was nothing much, but I had goosebumps all over. I already had several knots to untangle, and now another huge one had appeared.

In the original, Amadeus never appeared.

Amadeus was merely a setting needed when creating the character named Agares. But perhaps because my sister thought he would never appear anyway, she had gone wild with it. Amadeus’s setting alone was tremendous.

The current Agares was so strong that there was almost no one in the Empire who could match him. Monstrous strength and the power of immortal regeneration. Those existed purely because of the Dark Power Amadeus had granted him. Then how strong was Amadeus, who bestowed that power?

What would happen if he took over Agares’s body?

Just looking at Amadeus’s race, Devil, made it obvious. Even if one said his purpose for descending here could not be known, countless people would die while he fulfilled it.

The only fortunate thing was that we knew Amadeus’s true name. The moment a Devil’s name was called, his power plummeted. If someone cried out the name, it would be possible for people to gather their strength and defeat Amadeus.

Instead, people would die in droves.

Although I had not drunk much, I shook my head at the sensation of intoxication rising. This was not something to delay even for a moment.

“Then I will go right away. The moment I learn anything, I will come find you.”

“I will be waiting in my dormitory. Come there.”

“Yes.”

I went to find Ian, intending to explain this and ask for a solution. Ian cut me off in the middle.

“What kind of stupid nonsense is that? Why would Dark Magic be magic? Do not treat something that vulgar as the same thing. The only common point between mages and Dark Mages is that they use mana when casting spells, so how is Dark Magic one branch of magic...?”

Ian grew heated over a strange point and became angry.

It was a mistake. I had not known he would be this sensitive about Dark Magic or hate it this much.

“Sorry. I am sorry. You know everything so well, so I explained it that way because I thought you would know this too. There is no way I would seriously think magic and Dark Magic are similar. Magic and Dark Magic are completely different. It is just that I was trying to persuade that idiot Agares....”

Ian finally nodded as though he had accepted it.

“Fine. I understand. Still, I do know, so I will explain. To start with the conclusion, there is no way to solve the problem in the way that bastard wants.”

“Hmm, do you mean the method has not been discovered yet, or that it is extremely difficult? Or does it not exist at all?”

“It does not exist. A contract is absolute. Especially if the other party is a Devil. It is impossible to modify the contract in the middle.”

“Then what about in a way he would not want?”

“That is possible. You only need to sever the contract itself. Cutting the connection between them is difficult, but it is not impossible. But that bastard will not want it.”

All of Agares’s strength came from Amadeus. His terrifying physical strength and his immortal regenerative power were both Amadeus’s power. The moment he severed the contract with Amadeus, Agares would lose everything.

Agares without his contract with the Devil would still be the lord of a vast territory and a great noble, but he would lose all his martial power.

All kinds of dangers lurked in the North, and considering Agares’s personality, he must have made many enemies throughout his life. If he lost the power he had received from Amadeus?

He would have to worry about survival.

“I see. Thank you. I understand now, thanks to you. It is all because of you.”

At least there was a method.

I should tell Agares.