Chapter 59

Chapter 59:  Rift Opening (10)

The Mental Space where Valak and I stood.

“Let me see…….”

Valak looked around at the surroundings, where nothing but darkness was visible, then lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“This place is too desolate for a conversation.”

SNAP!

When Valak snapped his fingers, the space that had contained only darkness changed in an instant.

It became the interior of a cozy house made of logs.

A round table and two chairs were placed in the center, and on the right side, embers crackled inside a fireplace, spreading a warm heat.

“Shall we sit down and talk at leisure? While we are here, time outside is frozen anyway.”

Since there was no particular reason to refuse, I sat down in a chair.

Valak also settled into the chair opposite me. 

He looked like a child, but I could not erase the feeling of an ancient demon from his every movement.

“Since I am here, make me a cup of cocoa. I am craving sugar.”

“…….”

“Ah, why not? You were the one who suggested we talk at leisure.”

“You lunatic.”

CLINK.

When Valak lightly gestured, a mug of cocoa was placed on the table.

Sip.

Mm, as expected, cocoa was love even in a mental world. 

The sweetness cleared my head at once.

The stuffiness inside my mind was refreshed, if only a little.

“You know what happened to my Cult Leader right now too, do you not?”

“How could I not know? She even used an authority herself.”

Lucia had used the believers and the Demonic Aura spread around to activate an authority on the altar.

“‘Large-Scale Teleport.’”

“What? You knew?”

“Do you think I would have been insane enough to jump onto the altar if I did not know?”

I also knew the rough teleportation location.

…I had no choice but to know. In the previous timeline, Lucia had also cast ‘Large-Scale Teleport’ as soon as she went berserk.

To the outer district of Saengterminum.

It had been the final method she had used while clinging to her wavering reason, in order to somehow escape from Saengterminum together with her parents.

However, her final earnest wish had been extinguished so quickly that it was almost empty.

Because the moment she cast ‘Large-Scale Teleport,’ her reason had flown away.

“…Hmm, good. If you have noticed that much, this conversation will be quick. You were also swept up in ‘Large-Scale Teleport,’ so when you open your eyes, you will be thrown directly into the place where Lucia and the believers are. With your abilities, can you survive there?”

“What is your point?”

In truth, I could roughly guess what Valak, having understood the situation this far, would propose.

However, I silently waited for Valak to speak.

Before long, Valak offered exactly what I had expected.

“As the demon contracted to you, I will temporarily release all restrictions based on the price for you.”

A strange light appeared in Valak’s eyes.

“With that, let us leave Saengterminum.”

“…Leave Saengterminum?”

“You saw it yourself, did you not? Now Lucia has become even more troublesome than the Defectors you eliminated. If she is left like this, killing you nearby will not be enough for her. She will cause enormous damage around Saengterminum.”

“Enormous damage? Is it not more than that?”

She had even briefly exchanged blows with Headmaster Levia. 

On top of that, the rampage had spread to the believers whose minds had resonated with the Cult Leader’s.

If there was no one nearby who could oppose her, the entire area would be devastated within five minutes.

…No, it had been devastated. In the previous timeline.

“It looked as though everyone nearby would be completely killed.”

“That is right. But if I temporarily release your restrictions, escaping that area will not be too difficult for you. Since Saengterminum will be in complete chaos because of Lucia, leaving Saengterminum during that time will be nothing.”

“A temporary release of the price for authority use……. You are offering quite a lot.”

“You were originally hiding here because a Wanted Order was issued for you for contracting with a ‘Top-Rank Demon,’ were you not?”

Valak tapped his own temple.

“But you know? No matter how I look at it, your mind does not seem that damaged for someone who contracted with Lucifer.”

Of course. 

Because I did not contract with Lucifer.

Valak, who had no way of knowing my thoughts, smirked as if he had seen through everything.

“You must have contracted with Lucifer under fairly extraordinary conditions. I do not know what kind of contract you made, but still.”

Well, if it was Valak, a High-Rank Demon, then he had no choice but to misunderstand it that way.

“A Contractor whose mind is intact even after contracting with that Lucifer… It was rather fascinating. I thought it would not hurt to leave a good impression on a Contractor like you starting now. You may consider it an honor.”

Ripple.

The half-full cup of cocoa swayed before my eyes.

Even if it was temporary, releasing every price attached to authority use……. It was not bad.

To be honest, I had not expected him to offer conditions that good.

However, “That does not become a reason for me to leave Saengterminum, does it?”

I knew demons well.

If these bastards offered only pure goodwill, they would not be called demons.

“Ah, that is true. This is a contract I am offering you, after all. Naturally, there are conditions attached.”

Valak waved one hand in a tone that suggested it was no big deal.

“In exchange for temporarily releasing the price, you will become the second Cult Leader of the Valak Order outside Saengterminum.”

“…….”

The corners of Valak’s mouth rose.

“I will not make the period that long. I think you only need to stay for about three years, until we find the next Cult Leader……. What do you think? Simple work, is it not?”

“Kekeke…….”

I lowered my head and let out a dry laugh.

Why did this not go beyond my expectations at all?

“Ah so that is what this is. The fact that the Valak Order was in Saengterminum has been exposed. So you are planning to rebuild your Order outside Saengterminum entirely?”

At my answer, Valak smiled.

“Wow, I really do like you. To think you would understand my thoughts immediately like this. It makes me wonder if you really are seventeen.”

“Haha! Yes, that is right. You really are good at saying the right things too.”

I smiled back at him as if answering his words.

“Things that are asking to be beaten.”

“…What?”

I threw the mug at his face with all my strength.

CRASH!

“Augh!”

The moment the mug struck the bridge of Valak’s nose and shattered, I stretched out my arm and grabbed Valak by the collar.

“…Cough… urgh……. Wh-what?”

“Did I not clearly warn you last time? If you stupidly increased the number of believers to that extent, you would eventually reach your limit.”

“Did you… just hit me? Me, a High-Rank Demon?”

Drenched in cocoa, his nose broken and bleeding, Valak stared blankly at me.

His face was dumbfounded, as if he truly could not understand my actions.

“And even after things have gone this far, you are trying to do the same thing somewhere else? Do you have no ability to learn?”

Even though this was the mental world, it felt as if veins were standing out on my forehead.

The face of Valak, who had taken the form of a child, slowly twisted.

{Even if you are a Contractor who contracted with the Demon of Pride, I think this crosses the line, Aron Bayonel?}

An alien voice that could not possibly have come from a child’s vocal cords, like something that would come out of a broken speaker.

CRACK! CRACK!

Valak’s body, and the ceiling of the log house, shattered like pieces of glass and turned to powder.

CREAK! RIP……!

Between the twisted space, the claws of a massive reptilian creature forced open the gap and looked down at me.

Except for the blood-red scales… and the dense black Demonic Aura rising from it, its form was similar to a dragon.

However, the two necks and two heads extending from its enormous shoulders made it clear that it was not a dragon.

That was Valak’s true body, appearing by borrowing the mental world.

{How dare… a human like you lay a hand on my body?}

{If you do not contract with me, you will die to Lucia.}

{That is why I graciously offered you a contract, yet you do not even know your place and dare……!}

The two heads of the monster alternately made their oversized vocal cords rumble.

Every time that voice spread, my entire body prickled as if I were being stabbed with needles.

I could feel my soul instinctively rejecting this.

It was warning me not to offend a High-Rank Demon in a place where only souls existed.

However, I was someone who had even fought directly against the true bodies of Top-Rank Demons.

For someone like me, enduring this level of pressure was laughable.

“Are you not misunderstanding something?”

{……?}

“Why have you been flapping your mouth as if I have no choice in this from the very beginning?”

I looked up at Valak with a cold smile.

“From the start, I jumped onto the altar where ‘Large-Scale Teleport’ would activate with my own feet. And yet you think you are holding my life in your hands by using that as leverage? The level of thought you are working with is incredibly cheap.”

{Heheheheh… I heard you were called Mad Dog, and it seems your mind really has gone thoroughly insane.}

{To think you would still try to argue even after beholding my true body. I will at least acknowledge that courage.}

{But does anything change just because you run your mouth like that?}

{There should be nothing a human like you can do in the mental world, correct?}

{If my true body attacks you here, do you think you can withstand the effect it will have on your mind?}

Normally, that would be true.

That bastard was a High-Rank Demon. 

Since our minds were deeply connected through the altar like this, if he wished it in this mental world, the mind of a human like me would be ruined as it was.

Still, if I had immediately tucked my tail between my legs over a threat like that, would I have been called the ‘Rabid Dog’?

“What are you so proud of after turning an eighteen-year-old child into that?”

{Heh, that is unexpected. Were you actually concerned about Lucia? I do consider that regrettable as well.}

{How was I supposed to know that the Defectors would spirit her parents away there, and that the Headmaster would even appear?}

{Lucia was the one who failed to properly fulfill the contract, so why are you trying to blame me?}

{To waste emotion on such trivial matters. You really are still a child too.}

“You really do run wild just because you trust in your strength.”

I did not like that face.

That face that tried to move people and throw them away at will, as if handling pieces on a game board.

So I would change the game board that demon was looking down on in my own way.

In the way of Black Mages, who handled Black Magic and demons.

“Fine. If you want to become that strong of a demon, let us make a bet.”

{Shut your mouth, Aron. My contract with you is canceled.}

{Regret your arrogant behavior with your death.}

Just before Valak’s two heads bared their teeth and lunged toward me, “If you win the bet, you will be able to use Holy Power like me.”

Flinch.

WHOOOSH…….

Valak’s murderous head stopped right in front of my nose.

“Kekeke… Hey, what is this? You said you would kill me, did you not? Did you already change your mind again?”

{…Say it to the end.}

{It seems worth hearing.}

“Keh, I suppose Holy Power does tempt you?”

Valak’s two heads crumpled until they looked as though he had chewed on a bug, but what could he do?

I could use Holy Power despite using Black Magic.

To demons, Holy Power was fatal.

However, that also meant that if one could overcome Holy Power, one could easily stand at the apex of demons.

Valak believed that I had a Formal Contract with ‘Lucifer,’ so he likely wanted to find out through me how to handle Holy Power despite using Black Magic.

“The contract terms are simple. As soon as I leave this place, I plan to kill Lucia immediately.”

{…Her?}

{…You will kill her?}

“That is right. It will be one of two things: either I kill her, or I put her into a near-death state.”

If things continued like this, there would be countless casualties in Saengterminum as in the previous timeline.

If I killed Lucia, who had begun to rampage, I could at least prevent the past from repeating itself.

{Kahahaha……! Foolish bastard…….}

{Do you think you can handle Lucia with your current strength?}

“I suppose not. But if you temporarily release the price for using your authority, it should be worth trying.”

{And if you succeed in killing Lucia or putting her into a near-death state with my authority?}

“If I succeed, there are two things I will demand from you.”

I raised one finger toward Valak’s eye, which was right before me.

“First, aside from me, your formally contracted Contractor, you will terminate the contracts of everyone contracted to you.”