Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Demon Order (2)

The reason I went so far as to place a Curse of Silence on myself just to deceive Lucia was simple.

To form a contract with Valak, a High-Rank Demon, just like in my previous life.

If I wanted to change the future, there would inevitably come times when I had to act without catching Levia’s attention within Saengterminum.

That was why I deliberately fed Lucia false information—that I had met Aron Bayonel and learned about her origins from him.

So that she would have no choice but to silence me by turning me into a Believer of the Valak Order.

.

.

.

Fwoooosh…….

The blinding light gradually faded, and my vision slowly came back into focus.

A stench—far beyond merely metallic—of rotten, decayed blood filled my nose.

On top of that, the musty odor of a sewer.

The Magestone Lamps embedded in the ceiling emitted a dim amber glow, making it easy enough to see.

Though the space was enclosed by stone walls on all sides, giving it a suffocating feel, its height and width were quite expansive.

Gloomy, yet familiar.

Well, of course it was. 

This was the very place where I had made a contract with Valak in my previous life.

“Damn it… that teleport…….”

I shook my head, trying to shake off the dizziness and nausea.

A side effect of Forced Teleport.

Lucia had used the Demonic Aura of her believers and the power of a Demon Cult Leader to transfer me here.

“Wow……. Casting a barrier was already impressive… and now Forced Teleport too?”

Even though I knew Lucia was a Demon Cult Leader, I could not help but admire her sincerely.

No matter how I looked at it, her ability was insane.

She had deployed a barrier in the middle of Saengterminum’s streets without anyone noticing, summoned nearby believers, and even cast Forced Teleport on top of that.

It was an effect I could not help but covet.

SPLAT……. SQUELCH…….

Feeling something unpleasant under my shoe, I lowered my gaze and frowned.

Scattered flesh, shattered bones, smeared blood, crushed organs.

The stone floor was stained with fragments of life.

At least they were not human corpses, but reptiles—snakes, lizards, and the like.

I was standing near the corner of a massive square altar.

The surface of the altar was engraved with large and intricate formulas carved into it, and countless reptilian corpses were piled across it like a grotesque mountain.

Too many to even count.

Looking below, I saw dozens of believers—easily more than several tens—bowing their heads, clad in black robes.

The direction they faced was the very center of the altar.

I followed their gaze.

“I can see why Aron said you would come looking for me.”

Lucia stood at the center of the altar, her expression as calm as ever.

…No, that was not calm.

Standing unfazed atop such a grotesque altar—it was not composure.

It was madness.

Madness disguised as calm.

There was no demon worshipper who had adapted to this place’s insanity as thoroughly as she had.

“To think a demon worshipper would be a second-year student at Saengterminum. You have more guts than you look.”

“You are the strange one. I thought you would be more surprised after being dragged here like this.”

“Of course I was surprised. I never expected that a descendant of one of the Four Great Houses, exiled from the Dark Empire, would become a Black Mage.”

Despite my criticism, she continued speaking without the slightest disturbance.

“Hm……. I wonder if you can still say that after seeing this…….”

A violet haze swirled around her right foot before—

THUD!

She stomped down on the center of the altar.

That movement became the signal.

The believers below began muttering incomprehensible words in perfect unison.

Fwoooosh…….

The surrounding air trembled.

A chilling wind swept across the altar, coming from nowhere.

Dark Demonic Aura seeped out from the believers’ bodies and was absorbed into the altar all at once.

The sight of dozens of humans chanting the same words in unison was not just grotesque—it was almost devout.

Their murmurs grew louder, forming a resonant harmony like an echo.

THUD… THUD… THUD…….

The altar beneath my feet trembled at a steady rhythm.

Before long, violet power traced along the grooves, completing the formulas across the entire altar.

As Lucia stepped back from the center, the reptilian corpses on the altar began rapidly converging toward the middle.

Bones, flesh, blood… everything moved as if guided by a single will.

No matter how many times I saw it, it was never a pleasant sight.

Hummmm—

The Sacred Mark on the back of my hand grew hot, reacting to the powerful Black Magic.

…The demon would descend soon.

Goosebumps spread across my body against my will.

It was an instinct shared by all sentient beings.

Pure fear.

The altar pulsed like a beating heart, pressing down on me with silent pressure.

Danger.

Something on a completely different level from a human was about to appear here.

Even knowing that it would not be the demon’s true body but merely an avatar, the pressure was overwhelming.

To a mere human, a demon was that kind of existence.

At last, the reptilian corpses formed something like a cocoon, like that of a larva.

Then—

Snap.

The believers’ chanting, which had reached its peak, stopped all at once.

The trembling altar also fell silent as if nothing had happened.

In the heavy stillness that followed—

Riiip……! Thud.

Something tore out of the cocoon and stepped onto the altar floor.

A young boy wearing black suspenders and a white shirt.

But the pair of horns on his head and the spotless state of his clothes made it clear—

He was no ordinary boy.

The boy brushed off the blood on his head and looked straight at me with bright eyes.

“Oh……. You are the new believer joining us?”

His voice and tone were those of a child.

Yet in such a grotesque setting, his innocent demeanor felt utterly out of place.

That boy—posing as a child—was none other than Valak.

A High-Rank Demon who would later be known as the Dragon Generalissimo.

Even if he had been summoned in the form of an avatar rather than his true body, that avatar still contained the demon’s consciousness.

Lucia had summoned him in this form to make me form a contract and become a believer.

“Then let us make a contract. Lucia must have explained it to you, right?”

Valak narrowed his eyes as he looked at me, tilting his head.

“…What is this? A Curse of Silence?”

He saw through my curse instantly and shot Lucia a glare.

“Lucia, you brought me an interesting one. Why present me with someone defective like this?”

“I apologize… but this one was not brought here through the usual method.”

“You brought him without explaining anything?”

“…He knows about my origins.”

Valak’s expression twisted.

“He knows you are from House Baskerville? How does a brat like him know that?”

“It seems he got entangled with Aron Bayonel…….”

“Aron Bayonel……. Hm? The one who fled the Dark Empire from the Four Great Houses? Explain in detail.”

Lucia calmly and concisely explained the situation to Valak.

After hearing everything—exactly as I had told her—Valak made a sour face.

“That guy is insane.”

Somehow, I had just received the highest praise from a demon.

Truly an honor.

“And he says he will come looking for you soon. How did he even find out about your origins?”

“Who knows……. Considering he even placed a Curse of Silence to keep the information from spreading, it does not seem like he intends to reveal it. We can investigate him later.”

“Hm……. So that is why you brought him here?”

Valak’s gaze fixed on me, and he covered his mouth with one hand, snickering like a mischievous child.

“Pfft! Hey, look at this guy. He is stiff as a board. Was the summoning process too intense for him?”

He could not be more wrong.

Back in my previous life, I had been afraid when I first saw Valak.

But now that I had returned to the past, he was nothing special.

I was simply waiting quietly for him to offer me a contract.

“Lucia, since he knows your origins, we cannot just let him go. Good call bringing him here.”

Valak opened his right hand, and a sinister dagger emerged from his palm.

The blade was made of white bone, while the handle resembled a mass of flesh dripping with blood.

The crimson dagger, crafted from reptilian corpses, was grotesque enough to be called a monstrosity.

“I do not like having to contract with a Holy Power Awakener……. but well, if I want to avoid Levia’s notice, I will have to put up with it.”

After toying with the dagger, Valak lightly tossed it toward me.

It bounced a few times across the floor before coming to a stop at my feet.

“What was your name again……. Actually, never mind. It does not matter. This is not even a formal contract.”

Smiling brightly, Valak made a slicing gesture across his palm.

“Just make a small cut on your arm or skin with that dagger. Then you will have a contract with me.”

Swoosh.

I reached out and picked up the crimson dagger.

Hummm— Perhaps because it was a weapon created by a demon, the heat radiating from my Sacred Mark was so intense it felt like I was being burned.

This dagger was essentially the contract itself.

If I injured myself with it while holding the intent to form a contract, the agreement with Valak would be established.

However, a contract formed in this manner would never be considered a “formal contract.”

Because it was made without any conditions from the contractor, the terms would be dictated entirely by the demon.

Those who formed contracts like this would gradually lose their sanity to madness.

Even if they tried to avoid using the demon’s power, the result would be the same—only the speed of their corruption would differ.

But there was exactly one way to avoid being consumed by madness without forming a formal contract.

“You are worried about losing your mind, are you not?”

Lucia spoke, assuming I was hesitating.

“Do not worry. I am the Cult Leader of this Order…….”

“The Cult Leader? You are the leader of this Demon Order?”

Feigning ignorance, I asked back, and she pointed below the altar.

“Why do you think the believers here are standing so quietly?”

“…I have heard about it. A Demon Cult Leader can control the madness of believers who serve the same demon, right?”

That was why the Valak Order could exist within Saengterminum without its believers running rampant like lunatics.

Lucia, as their leader, kept them under control.

“Even if you make a contract, I will be here… so your mind will not break. In exchange for keeping my origins a secret, I will regulate your madness.”

“That is quite the creative form of coercion.”

Unfortunately, I had come here to form a proper contract with Valak.

Not to accept some slave-like agreement.

Flash!

As the Sacred Mark on the back of my hand burst forth, scattering brilliant golden light across the altar, I infused my right hand with Holy Power.

The Holy Power clashed violently with the demonic energy—

And began to devour the crimson dagger.