Corrine's story was a tear-jerking tragedy, and one Hannya kept up with rather meticulously.

  Not because she liked world-peace-loving characters; she disdained such naive ideologues.

  There will always be conflict. As long as personal desires and beliefs exist, a difference of opinion will always stand next to it. A fundamental requirement of constant change and evolution.

  And change and evolution are what make demons what they are.

  Hannya believed the same could be said for all the fantastical and sentient creatures of this new world. Though below her now, she wasn’t oblivious to this constant and absolute truth.

  The consequences of intelligent life.

  The now pink-haired devil wasn’t interested in Corrine’s pure nature when reading her arcs and side stories. She followed them closely because of a theory another user proposed about the novel {Tragedy of Heroes}.

  A theory she was on the fence about until the day she died.

  A theory she found interesting enough to test the truth about in this fantasy world.

  And Corrine was test subject number one.

  But she was met with a strange start for Corrine’s origin story.

  In the novel she was supposed to run into a forest, get cornered in a cave, barely escape alone by the aid of her butler, but sadly get captured by the mastermind in the next city over.

  She would then be dragged to a hidden cave, her fingers removed and sent with a letter to her father as a bargaining chip. Her face mutilated, body beaten, and mind shattered for amusement as the mastermind waited for the city lord to submit.

  She is later retrieved by her father, after he lost everything he had to save her. But after getting his daughter back in such a state, the father too would lose his mind.

  Beginning their tale of terrorism across Neel.

  That was the origin of the story of the first antagonist.

  The Wretched Warlock, Corrine the Cruel.

  Hannya’s spinning eyes glanced between the glaring girl and the struggling boy. They were not supposed to meet until the academy arc. So why does Corrine speak as if she knows this person already?

  The little devil put a hand on Corrine’s shoulder comfortingly and smiled at Damien a small distance behind the kneeling men.

  “Kind Corrine, do you know this boy?” the devil questioned, feigning ignorance of the protagonist's identity.

  Corrine glared at Damien and answered. “He’s the one that murdered Chauncy!” Her anger rising even more at the memory, this fool had entered fully sure the enemy was her butler.

  Just because he was a demon. What was she thinking? Everyone outside of Gomorrah was the same. Simple-minded, ignorant sycophants of the pantheon. Her father was right; the world has forgotten what it means to be ‘human’.

  Damien was startled at the genuine hatred. They were friends. How can she still not see he was working in her best interest? Was her mind truly that gone? Or…

  He spoke compassionately. “Corrine, listen to yourself! He was a demon! These monsters aren't your friends! I am! They-”

  “SHUT UP!” She cut him off, unable to listen to any more of his ignorant words. “You don’t know anything! I should have known… No. I knew already and chose to ignore it.”

  She clenched her small fists as she looked down at the dead butler. “The second you didn’t recognize my family crest, it was obvious you were a commoner.” Her cold gaze locked back on the young warrior. “Commoners really are the most pitiful people on the plane of Neel…”

  “Corrine. You…” He couldn’t believe it; she was looking at him like she didn’t know him at all. And now she was speaking down to him like she was above him. Damien gritted his teeth as he stood up straight, finally rid of the strange chi invading his body.

  He stared at Corrine with sorrow, but his eyes soon changed to righteous resolve. With a hand on his sword and one behind his back, he spoke with determination. “So, you genuinely worship the devils, Corrine. No bedevilment and no schemes…”

  Corrine answered indifferently. “That’s right. Though unworthy of her lordess, I will take this deal with no regrets.”

  Hannya, mentally eating popcorn to the side as she watched this drama, nodded in satisfaction at the words. Deal sealed!

  Without a second thought, Corrine waved her hand. Her transparent mana stuck to the contract, floating beside her. The contract absorbed the foreign mana, and the words began to glow. After a second, the black mana exploded into particles and entered Corrine's body.

  Snap

  A finger snapped at the display, and a melodious voice followed.

  “[Wish magic:] Revive Corrine’s fallen butler.”

  A complex array made from chaos energy snaked through and wrapped around the body of the butler. Unbeknownst to Damien, an energy secretly exited his body during this process and went into the butler below.

  DING

  [

  Contract Acquired!

  [Feeding Frenzy] resolved.

  The [Mark of Madness] laughs happily at your success! An unknown force tethers itself to your exclusive contract.

  A mutation is occurring…

  ]

  The devil felt much more relaxed after Corrine’s signature, a benign smile now on her small face.

  Hannya ignored the notifications, mentally swiping them away to glance over at the dead demon now covered in chaos energy and pink-sparkling, black mist.

  It rolled and molded around the rotund butler. After some time, the black mist dissipated, leaving a pale red demon lying on the ground.

  The big-boned demon breathed slowly with his eyes closed. He slept peacefully despite the hard pavement below him.

  Tears welled up in Corrine’s eyes seeing that. A miracle. A miracle only a devil could do.

  Damien, watching all this, gripped his sword a little tighter at the sight. He squeezed out, his voice low and dangerous. “Very well…”

  Crunch

  A muffled crunch sounded from behind him as he continued. “Then I challenge you to a duel of sanctity!” He knew he could not take on that monster quite yet, but if he could buy some time…

  Corrine’s relief was replaced with overwhelming rage once more. This asshole challenged her to a deathmatch with no questions asked. So he really was commoner scum, a mind captured by the church and morals blinded by manufactured biases. She felt like an idiot ignoring the subtle hints from Chauncy.

  This entire time, despite speaking at length and laughing and joking with the person.

  Not once had Damien questioned his attempted murder of Chauncy, in fact, not once did he look at the corpse after he was slain. It was like the second he knew Chauncy was a demon, all consideration of his existence vanished.

  ‘You think you know a person.’ Corrine thought. She wanted to laugh at all of this; in a way, she was still right about the young warrior. Damien was indeed perfect.

  The perfect tool for the grand temple. The jackpot they waited so long for.

  She answered recklessly at the thought, he dares to erase Chauncy’s existence from his mind. “I accept th-”

  Jingle

  But a single chime and cute laugh interrupted the two’s quarrel. “Kikiki, she declines.” A pink-haired entity interjected. Though the playful voice sounded from Corrine's side, The devil herself appeared in front of Damien without warning, as if popping into existence.

  A blink was all it took to lose track of her.

  This horrifying speed made Damien's heart almost leap out of his chest. On pure instinct he unsheathed and swung his sword to the devil's neck.

  The smiling devil didn’t even glance at the blade as a small wrist flew to intercept it.

  Shatter

  With a lazy flick, the devil's wrist shattered the unenchanted steel blade, her eyes still locked on the boy in front of her, unbothered by the flying shrapnel. Her other hand struck like a viper, a fist crashing to the side of the young warrior.

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  A small shock wave left his body, followed by the sound of bones cracking from the blow, but the now wide-eyed boy didn’t have time to wince, as a knee came flying to his skull while he bent in pain. It crashed into his nose with controlled momentum, snapping his head back up at dangerous speeds.

  The lazily posed hand of the devil sped down with action, grabbing the exposed neck of the youth, raising him high in the sky.

  Blood dripped from his mouth and nose as his eyes struggled to stay open, his consciousness fading in and out rapidly.

  His mind was now gripped with fear. He had underestimated the lack of honor the creature possessed, attacking him directly without a single scruple.

  “Kikiki! Slow and weak, far from the standards of a hero.” The pink devil laughed as her iron grip tightened around the neck of the young warrior.

  Hannya turned to Corrine as she held up Damien like a helpless chicken. She grinned at the girl. “Killing him now would be better… Don’t you agree, contractee?”

  Damien's heart shuddered at the words. Would he really die here?

  Corrine’s cold eyes looked at the boy before her, broken and bleeding. It took her mistress a single second to reduce Damien to such a state; the person she once aspired to catch up to was nothing but an ant in front of a devil, in front of true power.

  But Corrine said something that surprised the young warrior.

  “There’s no need. He’s not worth the time, Mistress.” She said simply.

  “Oh? Don’t tell me this little human is really a friend of yours.” The devil questioned. Staring intently at Corrine.

  The young warlock shook her head. “He’s not. He’s no one to me; he means nothing to your servant, my lady.”

  Hannya wanted to laugh at the stray bullets hitting Damien; she could feel him shaking from the shock. Really? Shock? After all that’s happened? This guy really was twisted in the head. But she kept her face neutral as she spoke back.

  “Nothing, huh? Then how do you know this one?” The devil asked pointedly, holding out Damien to the young girl.

  “...He’s just a boy I met on the road a week ago, nothing more, my lady.” She said succinctly.

  “...” Hannya stared at the girl, feeling a bit annoyed at such an obvious omission of the facts.

  She needed to know the details of how the timeline changed! But this goody-goody was being fucking benevolent to her servant’s murderer!

  She shows submission, yet hides important information from her. Not a very subservient attitude. Hannya glanced at the incapacitated butler to the side.

  ‘I see, her worries are gone, so she’s back to the good-natured girl she once was.’

  Her view of the world has changed, but only slightly. The consequences weren’t heavy enough to push her to ruthlessness. An error on Hannya’s end. She did not need a weak-willed servant; she needed the tyrannical warlock to guard the gate of Hellnia for the future.

  Hannya spoke again, this time her voice tinged with a bit of anger. Her [Method Actor] at full form.

  “You're quite ungrateful, aren’t you? You dare lie to a devil?” The entity spoke, gripping the neck of Damien a little tighter, causing him to struggle for breath as he grabbed at the small hand choking the life out of him.

  “M-my lady, you misunderstand. I was just-”

  “Misunderstand?” The devil tilted her head at the audacity. “Do you take me for a fool? He’s clearly more than what you say he is. I can smell the complicated affection coming from you.”

  Corrine’s heart trembled at the words. She hated Damien with all of her being, he was a fool whose mind was brainwashed by the church and the person who almost killed Chauncy.

  But…

  She did not want to see him die. At least, not like this. So she minimized his importance to her new master.

  “So tell me, little Corrine.” Hannya voiced seriously, making no mistake Corrine would suffer consequences if she lied again. “How do you know this stupid creature?”

  Corrine answered honestly this time, knowing hiding anything more would only bring a devil's wrath. She kneeled down and spoke earnestly.

  “We met in a forest close to my territory…”

  As Corrine recounted the events quickly, Hannya kept her face passive and listened intently. But her mind was colliding with questions.

  ‘Why in the fuck are Damien and his master in the capital to meet with her goddess?’

  He was supposed to stay in isolation until the entrance exams. When he got out, he was supposed to show off and charm a bunch of women at the exams. Then pledge his fealty to an obscure goddess that hid her racist power level.

  Corrine then approaches him after he’s all cocky and happy, falling into his first trap. A trap leading to the death of dozens of students and one of his love interests.

  Why was everything so fucked? No way it was because of her! She was locked in Hellnia all this time!

  “…and that’s all we know of each other.” Corrine finished.

  Hannya tossed Damien away like a broken doll as she paced back and forth. None of this made sense.

  She looked over at Corrine. The information she could get from her now was minimal. She would give her the tasks she needed to do later. For now, The girl had to leave; there was no telling when people would show up to investigate the strange mist clouding the area.

  Plus…

  She peeked over at the crumpled hero. Hannya had to ‘question’ this guy as well. Better Corrine not be around; wouldn’t want to lose her elegant image.

  The little devil waved her hand. “Very well, since you were honest, I won’t kill this one this time. Besides, I’m not one to kill children anyways.” She never intended to kill Damien.

  He indeed seemed to walk the mental spectrum line, and Hannya was an equal opportunity devil, so him being a boy made no difference to her either. But at the end of the day, Damien was still a child.

  ‘And a child could always be reeducated.’ The devil grinned maliciously.

  Hannya pointed to the demon lying on the ground. “Take that one and leave the city; your presence here will only bring you more misfortune for the two of you now, young one.”

  She walked up to the sleeping demon and drew a complex collection of pink sigils on his bloody jacket. Once done, the area around the man glowed, and his red skin transformed to a human-like pale shade.

  Corrine was in awe at the scene. Such a realistic illusion drawn by hand, and it took the devil only a minute to complete? Corrine did not know how old the devil was by appearance, but the casual display of spell knowledge suggests that she’s as old as, if not older than, their House co-founder and protector, Baphomet.

  The sigils he passed to them weren’t nearly as complex and nuanced. She was curious to know more about her new intelligent and benevolent master, but that would come another day.

  The devil was right; the mist had been here for almost ten minutes already. Surely guards and priests were on their way here to investigate.

  Corrine lifted the large butler on her shoulder; this weight was nothing to a warrior like her, and began to walk to the edge of the mist in the direction of her lodgings. She would need to meet with her papa and fill him in on the details of the events here.

  She gave one last glance at Damien before leaving. As she gazed at him, the young warrior gazed back from the ground. He lay there, coughing up blood and gasping for breath.

  Corrine looked down at him; she felt nothing but pity for her former savior. He was walking a path of destruction, and he was none the wiser. She hoped that one day he would see the world for what it really was. With this mercy, her debt to him was paid.

  With that last final thought, she turned and left, trusting her lady would keep her word.

  Hannya turned to face the young warrior lying on the ground a bit away from her. Her smile widened as she moved closer.

  ‘Kikiki, just you and me now, fuckface.’ Hannya thought, her elegant mind shining consistently with each graceful step.

  “I want to ask you a couple of questions, little warrior Kikiki!’

  Damien gritted his teeth; he was in bad shape. His ribs were broken, and his head was concussed. He couldn’t think of a way out; the devil was too fast and hit like a troll.

  But his hopes weren’t dashed; he just needed a little more time. He didn’t believe for a second the devil would keep him alive after he answered its questions, and he knew not answering would lead to his torture, but he steeled himself and kept silent. Just a bit more time.

  “How did you know that butler was a demon?”

  “...”

  “Have you pledged to a god yet?”

  “...”

  “Have you heard the word ‘Ragnarok’ spoken before?”

  “...”

  “Oh, not answering? Kikiki!” The devil knew the game this boy wanted to play.

  She would happily indulge in his show of bravado.

  ‘Righteous-type characters always play this part the same way.’

  “Fine then.” Hannya chuckled as she raised a slender finger. “I’ll ask you one question. If you answer honestly…” The slender finger then pointed to the long-forgotten kidnappers kneeling and shaking deeper in the alley.

  Damien’s eyes widened at the gesture. He understood the meaning without the creature stating it. His understanding of their nature was obvious to him.

  ‘No! They weren’t part of this!’

  “Kikiki, a reaction? You guessed right, boy. Kikiki!” The devil laughed loudly; it was every time with these characters. They love the idea of sacrificing themselves for the helpless stranger needing them. Hannya really enjoyed playing the villain this time around. She wasn’t a bully, but damn did it feel good to crush people’s spirits!

  “Now answer honestly, and those innocent, helpless, and uninvolved civilians will get a chance to live.” The devil whispered.

  Damien’s body trembled with anger. A despicable creature! Using hostages! Damien could feel his helplessness rising within him.

  Hannya ignored his trembling and asked. “Why is your master meeting with her goddess?” She said as she walked slowly and leisurely to the group of kneeling men. Making sure her anklets were particularly loud with each approaching step. A bit of mental torture should loosen his lips.

  JINGLE

  STEP

  Damien’s mind raced. What should he do? Stay silent to protect his master or save his fellow warriors?

  JINGLE

  STEP

  Hannya grinned at the group of men facing away from her; with each jingle closing in, she could see the shaking bodies increase in fear. The despair coming from them feeding her core even more rapidly.

  She was feeling more full the closer she got. Making her mind drift further and further from her original goal.

  ‘Sweet despair! Yummy, yummy, yummy! Kikikiki!’

  JINGLE

  STEP

  Unaware that Hannya’s mind was swimming in the delightful taste of despair, Damien made up his decision. He would answer this question; he had no choice. He couldn’t live with himself if he sacrificed the men in front of him when he had the option to save them. He didn’t dare take human lives so lightly. Not as a hero.

  “I-”

  But before he could answer, and while Hannya’s mind and body revelled in her scrumptious meal, a voice shouted in the distance.

  “Plasma Magic: [Star Beam]!”

  A white-hot, narrow beam of light streaked through the sky, coming down on the giddy devil. It cut through her neck, beheading her and leaving a deep scar of magma on the ground in front of her.

  “Ah?” Was all she could muster as her vision began to rotate.

  Hannya’s head flew through the air, a stupid smile still plastered on her face as her head and body slowly dissolved into mist and vanished.

  Damien was shocked. The devil had been slain so easily. He rolled over and looked to the sky.

  Through a hole torn through the obscuring mist, there, flying at breakneck speeds to the location, he saw his beautiful master.

  “M-master…” He said weakly. His voice now set to 1 hp now that his worries were gone. The devil was dead, or at least sent back to Hellnia, locked away from the plane of Neel.

  “Damien!” The wizard shouted as she landed quickly. “[Heal]” She hastily cast heal on her disciple, shocked at the damage he sustained.

  She continued quickly, waving her hand and breaking the sound-muting barrier cast around the area, letting in the sound of ringing alarms and frantic shouts. “Damien, what’s happened!? I got the emergency signal from the talisman you crushed! Why was a devil here in the middle of the city!? What’s going on!?” She questioned rapidly as she inspected his quickly healing body.

  Damien just smiled, relieved. He knew he could count on his master to make it in time.

  He answered hoarsely. “I’m fine, Master; it was a summoning, and the devil and summoner are now gone. The danger is over; we just need to help the brave warriors over there now-”

  “Kikiki! A fine shot. Too bad it lacked the right firepower...”

  Jingle - step

  Jingle - step

  Jingle - step

  Damien began to tremble violently at the sound and voice. Impossible!

  From the mountains of mist deep within the dark alley, a small, pink-haired devil emerged. Undamaged and carefree, her red eyes spinning rapidly as she grinned menacingly at the magic hero.

  “Quite audacious for attacking a superior being during her leisure hunt, human.”

  The devil walked forward, rotating her shoulder, letting out a small popping noise as her grin widened from the onlookers vibrating in fear.

  “The price for overstepping your authority will, without a doubt… be blood… hero.”