Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Demon Order (4)

Whoosh!

Lucia’s claws sliced through empty air.

Just before her claws reached me, I twisted my body sideways and avoided the attack.

By a hair’s breadth.

Shock flashed across Lucia’s face.

Of course it would.

I was using Full-Body Demonic Armament.

She must have realized at once that I had activated Full-Body Demonic Armament.

On top of that, the violet mana enveloping my entire body was proof that I was a Black Magic user.

But neither Lucia nor I had time to indulge in idle thoughts.

Swish!

Lucia’s gaze sharpened at once, and she raised her claws toward me.

…Compared to my prime, I did not have much mana inside my body right now.

Even if I could use various types of Black Magic, my endurance was far inferior.

That was why I had aimed for this exact moment, when Lucia lowered her guard and approached me so closely.

But if I was prepared to burn through every last bit of mana inside me and pour every type of Black Magic into her— I could render Lucia incapable of fighting in an instant.

Just like now.

THUD!

I stomped my right foot and poured a large amount of mana into the floor.

Undead Serpent, summon.

The moment black smoke rose from the ground, a long afterimage shot out from within it.

Fwoosh!

A black shadow whipped around Lucia’s body like a lash, coiling around her once before tightening rapidly and binding her upper body.

Hiss…….

The Undead Serpent fully emerged from the smoke and flicked its tongue as it looked down at Lucia.

In her current state, Lucia would break free from a restraint of that level in a single second.

But that brief instant was more than enough for me, clad in Demonic Armament, to drive a powerful curse into her.

I stretched my arm toward her and opened my right hand.

Paralysis Curse.

Crackle……!

Violet mana rose from my palm.

It was a Mid-Rank Black Magic spell that slowed the opponent’s movements, and depending on the strength of the curse, it could even completely stiffen the target’s body.

I poured as much mana as I could into the curse.

The mana stored in my heart rapidly dwindled.

Crack!

Sparks flew from the Paralysis Curse.

My right hand, filled with a dense curse, was aimed at Lucia’s chest.

Crunch! 

Kyaaaak!

Unable to withstand Lucia’s strength, the Undead Serpent’s tail was torn apart.

As expected, she broke free in one second.

But it was already too late.

Creak!

My palm had already touched Lucia’s flesh.

The curse contained in my palm spread throughout her entire body.

Lucia grimaced and tried to put distance between us, but since she had already come into contact with the Paralysis Curse, her body stiffened.

Fwoosh!

I drove my arm downward.

BOOOOM!

The ground shook violently, and cracks spread across the stone floor.

“Cough…….”

Lucia, slammed down on her back, let out a choked breath.

It had been a harsh impact, but she was still a beastfolk in the state of Full-Body Demonic Armament.

This much damage was not fatal to her.

But Lucia only groaned.

Though conscious, she could not raise her body.

“…You will not be able to move for a while.”

A violet aura crackled across Lucia’s entire body.

“The curse took hold perfectly.”

It was a curse I had driven into her at point-blank range.

Considering the strength of the curse and her physical abilities, she would likely be unable to move for at least ten minutes.

Lucia’s lips trembled as she spoke in broken words.

“How… did you……?”

“I told you. I was never someone who used Holy Magic.”

I took my hand off her and stood up.

Full-Body Demonic Armament, released.

Creak……!

A violent wave of fatigue and stiffness swept over me, making me stagger briefly.

Since I had not forced Full-Body Demonic Armament beyond its limits, I was able to calm my exhausted body and mind after catching my breath.

Hiss…….

The Undead Serpent appeared beside me and flicked its tongue in my direction.

I nodded at it as if praising it for a job well done.

“…What the hell? Was that Black Magic just now?”

On Valak’s face, as he stood at the center of the altar, surprise and anger coexisted.

But that was fine.

That was not an avatar created by using humans as sacrifices, but an inferior avatar made from the corpses of reptiles.

It merely contained the demon’s consciousness.

It was not a body capable of exercising a demon’s authority.

If it had been capable of using that authority in the first place, Valak would have stopped me before Lucia was subdued.

The board they had prepared had been overturned.

So from now on, I would set the stage.

“Phew, good. Now, shall we have a rational conversation, Valak?”

I brought my hand to the nape of my neck.

Crackle…….

When my hand touched it, the violet mana rising from my throat slowly faded and scattered into the air.

Curse of Silence, released.

Realizing that the curse had been lifted, Valak and Lucia’s eyes trembled.

“You said you could not remember my name? Hahaha……. It does not matter. ‘Damon David’ was a fake name anyway.”

I removed the pendant.

Polymorph, released.

“……!”

Lucia gasped when she saw my face.

Black hair and red eyes.

Having returned to my original appearance, I walked toward Valak.

“That appearance belongs to House Bayonel……. Are you Aron? Aron Bayonel?”

“That is right. Was my greeting a little too excessive?”

“You madman……. You were hiding your identity while attending Saengterminum as a student? And as a student of the Holy Magic Department, no less?”

Valak’s expression and tone were more tense than ever.

“What exactly did you do? There is no way a Black Magic user could awaken Holy Power.”

I had no intention of telling him the truth.

That was why I had prepared a plausible lie to deceive Valak.

A lie that a demon would have no choice but to believe.

“I formed a contract with a Top-Rank Demon.”

“A Top-Rank Demon? What nonsense is that…….”

“Do you not find it strange? Why would I, a direct descendant of one of the Four Great Houses, go out of my way to flee the Dark Empire and hide my identity in Saengterminum?”

“Do not tell me… you fled the Dark Empire because you contracted with a Top-Rank Demon?”

“That is right. Rienna found out that I had contracted with a Top-Rank Demon. If I had stayed there, I would have been captured immediately, so I came here.”

This was rather funny.

Even though I was lying, it was not entirely wrong.

After all, Rienna in this life also mistakenly believed that I had contracted with a Top-Rank Demon.

“Considering you really left the Dark Empire, it does not seem like a lie……. But what does that have to do with you using Holy Magic?”

“It has everything to do with it.”

I smirked.

“Because the demon who contracted with me is one you must know very well.”

“What are you talking about……?”

Valak was a demon of hell, so he was well-versed in the demons that existed there.

That was why he knew.

He knew that there was a Top-Rank Demon who could wield Holy Power despite being a demon.

That name was…….

“The Demon of Pride, Lucifer.”

Valak’s face stiffened when he heard the demon’s name from my mouth.

“How… do you know that person’s name?”

“What did you think I meant? I know it because we formed a formal contract.”

The composure vanished from Valak’s face as he looked at me.

Of course it did.

The demon whose name I had just spoken was no ordinary Top-Rank Demon.

The Seven Deadly Sins.

One of the seven Top-Rank Demons kept as absolute secrets even within the Dark Empire.

And one of the seven demons who had once ruled hell.

Valak’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

“The Demon of Pride… If you contracted with that person, then it would be stranger if you could not use Holy Power.”

“Heh, now you finally seem to believe me.”

“What could a contractor of the Demon of Pride possibly lack, for him to come here?”

“While I was hiding in Saengterminum, I learned something interesting.”

I pointed at the Undead Serpent waiting behind me.

“I met believers who served you while I was making that undead in the Artificial Rift. Their atmosphere was different from the believers here. The moment they saw me, they rushed in to kill me.”

“…What happened to them?”

“I interrogated them, learned what I needed to know, and buried them underground, so there should be no risk of anyone finding them. They were also the ones who told me Lucia was a Demon Cult Leader.”

“Those defector bastards……. Why are their mouths so loose?”

“Lucia can control the believers’ madness? From what I saw of them, it did not look so perfect.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Those defectors… the ones I saw are not the end, are they? I am sure they are hiding all over Saengterminum.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You would not want to leave defectors beyond your control alone either. But if you gathered all your believers and swept them away… it would draw too much attention.”

This was the reason I had been recruited as a believer of the Valak Order in my previous life.

To hunt down defectors, there was no harm in turning someone with useful combat ability into a believer.

My past self had fit those conditions well enough, which was why Lucia had made me a believer of the Valak Order.

This life would be no different.

If anything, it would fit even better.

Of course, I had absolutely no intention of forming an unfair contract like I had in my previous life.

“Valak, let us make a formal contract.”

Tap.

I stopped in front of Valak and looked down at him.

“In exchange for helping you capture the defectors, you will lend me your power. Your authority seems quite useful in Saengterminum.”

“…I think I understand why the Demon of Pride contracted with you.”

Valak looked up at me and twisted his lips in displeasure.

“To think you can be this arrogant even before me, a High-Rank Demon.”

“I will take that as a compliment.”

“…Fine. Let us make a contract.”

After we finished speaking, Valak and I opened one hand at the same time.

The crimson dagger I had seen earlier emerged from Valak’s palm once more, and I also formed a dagger from mana and gripped it in my hand.

Slice…….

Valak cut his palm first with the crimson dagger.

The flowing blood ignored gravity and rose into the air, circling around Valak and me in a ring.

“In the name of the contracted one, Valak.”

The altar echoed with the voice of a demon filled with pressure, no longer the light voice of a boy.

A large amount of blood flowed from his wound and drew dense Rune Characters and complex formulas in the air.

“In the name of the contractor, Aron Bayonel.”

Slice…….

After cutting my palm as well, I swung my arm sideways and scattered my blood across the formula Valak had drawn.

Crack! 

Spark!

The crimson formulas that came into contact with my blood reacted with my mana and slowly began to turn violet.

This was the reason one had to learn the Descent Type in order to contract with a demon.

If the contractor could not interpret the complex contract formula drawn by the demon, then even if both sides reached an agreement, a “formal contract” was impossible.

Of course, now that I had returned to the past, interpreting those formulas was no difficult task.

Hummm—

In just ten seconds, the formula began emitting violet light and rang out with a clear activation hum.

“…Huh?”

Perhaps my calculation speed was faster than expected, because Valak’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“The contracted one shall grant power based on the price.”

“The contractor shall borrow power based on the price.”

Our words became the trigger, and the rotating formulas began to spin faster.

The moment the speed of the formulas crossed the critical point, Valak and I spoke at the same time.

““We hereby conclude a formal contract.””

Flaaare……!

Violet light erupted from the formulas and spread outward.