Hannya stepped out of the summoning circle, relieved she found an excuse to escape that bitch hounding her about etiquette and charm.
She wanted to scoff. Who in the platform beats people they just met over a little joke?
And that traitor Baku didn’t even bother aiding her! What good was an unfathomable background if she couldn’t throw her weight around?
‘Useless backing!’
While she moved forward, she waved her hand, creating a clear space around her, the large clouds in the area beginning to rotate slowly, making the scene resemble the eye of a steady storm.
She was excited for this meeting; finally, a good contractee. And one living on the other side, on top of that, a person that owned the perfect patch of land to plant the seed of her and her beloved's presence in Neel.
‘Kikiki, Corrine's event was the perfect choice! With her loyalty to me early and not that limp dick Bophamet, the tides of change will flow rapidly when the gates open!’
She chuckled in her heart. Hannya truly was a genius! What’s the point of saving a prince from his tower if she didn’t have a castle of her own to bring him to? What chump didn’t have a wondrous destination when riding into the sunset?
‘Kikikiki, excellent! Now where is this little sucker?’
But as the clear space expanded within the dense mist, Hannya noticed… a few changes she didn’t expect.
The rocky sensation she felt under her feet was not part of organic nature but paved stone.
The stalactites she expected to see were replaced with a dark canopy filled with stars.
And the rough and cramped walls she envisioned were made of wood and concrete.
Hannya stared at her surroundings in incredulity. Why the hell was she in a city?
‘The fuck is this?’
The summoning definitely came from Corrine’s letter. The second she touched it, the spell sigils should compel her unguarded mind to keep it close and hidden, periodically casting illusion magic on her.
When her despair begins to generate, the contents should have revealed itself.
But this wasn’t the cave she was supposed to be imprisoned in.
‘Was she not captured by bandits?’
That’s where the event was.
At least it was supposed to be. So why was Hannya standing in an alley in some city?
And…
Hannya looked to the sky once more, her pink eyes rotating slowly as she gazed at the structured mana floating above her.
Why was there a sound-muting barrier cast in the area?
The little devil waved her hand again, causing the slowly rotating mist to pick up speed. As it did, the clear space expanded more, revealing the true scene in front of her.
Five armored men stood before her, swords drawn but trembling slightly. To the left of them, a demon lay. She shifted her gaze to the decapitated red corpse.
She found the sight somewhat annoying. The guy was dressed as a butler and quite overweight. There was no way he was a warrior, a far cry from the stronger men in the dream knights.
Her gaze drifted back to the humans in armor, her eyes spinning with disdain. Who kills a clearly weak and defenseless man? Hannya didn’t want to sound misandrist, but she could never understand how men could be so cruel to one another without batting an eye.
‘Huh, maybe it’s the race thing.’
The little devil snorted, causing the warriors to jump a little. Hannya had almost forgotten that this part of Neel was bigot town.
She ignored the level 20 mobs in front of her and searched for her target as the mist expanded further.
She then heard a weak voice behind her.
“M-my lady, please… C-chauncy…”
Hearing that, Hannya turned around. There she saw a small girl covered in blood, kneeling on the ground with her hands clasped together, looking at Hannya with tears streaming down her face.
A pitiful scene to the pink-haired devil.
“Ah, there you are.”
The devil's eyes spun a bit faster as she picked up the scent coming from the girl deeper in the alley. The devil walked closer.
As she closed in on her target, the scent in the air assaulting her senses grew denser. Engulfing Hannya and her hungry core completely.
DING
[
Conditions met.
[Feeding Frenzy] is now active.
The [Mark of Madness] stirs. It wishes to lend a helping hand.
It offers suggestions to your drunken mind.
]
As Hannya’s blood began to roil within her body, her core shuddered at the delightful taste. All questions in her mind ceased upon seeing the broken girl. The location and circumstances did not matter.
What mattered was the contract. She needed this one. Only this one would do. For control on the other side, for Neel’s much-needed salvation, for her and her groom-to-be’s happiness in the future.
Wouldn’t this contract be a world-saving, joy-bringing, and love-declaring one?
Hannya thought so. The pink-haired devil smiled.
“Awww, poor Corrine. Kikiki, you never had a chance, did you?”
~~~
The Kidnappers froze in place as the area was covered in a dense white fog; they were a hair too late.
“Fuck! Hold position for now.” The leader spoke as the mist completely blinded them; it was so dense no one within could see the person standing next to them. The obscuring obstacle was ridiculous, and the jingling noise from within stirred anxiety within the leader's heart.
But then all five of them felt something even more horrific. A heavy, evil, and overwhelming power swept past them. The laws of chaos contaminating the area were even more suffocating than the dense smoke they stood in.
As seasoned mercenaries, they encountered a demonic beast or two emanating chaotic laws in mid-level dungeons, but this? It felt more like a horde of beasts were summoned within the small alley.
Some of the men behind the leader trembled slightly. Even when encountering greed devils to make deals, the air wasn’t nearly as thick. The being within the smoke screen wasn’t even trying to hide their presence.
And then the air shifted once again, the dense clouds began to rotate and expand, clearing the men’s vision. When the mist cleared, within the eye of the storm, they saw the creature.
A pink-haired, pink-eyed monster, masquerading as a little girl. She wore the traditional clothes of the eastern regions, not the businessman's suit of the greed devils.
This brought the leader even more fear in his heart. Greed devils wore suits because they had to, not because they liked it. It was a mandatory uniform.
‘It isn’t a greed devil.’ The leader's eyes trembled at that realization. This crying little bitch summoned a rogue devil to this place.
A true evil from the depths of Hellnia. The little girl had lost her mind; she was planning to get everyone here killed!
The pink-haired devil looked to the sky confused, then turned her gaze to the extraction team.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
The leader felt his back become covered in cold sweat as he felt the gaze lock onto them, but it quickly shifted to the dead demon next to them.
A derisive snort rang out from the entity, causing the leader and his men to jump. He gripped his sword a little tighter, prepared to make a break for it if needed. He had no issue sacrificing his men to get away.
But the devil simply ignored them as it gazed around the area, searching for something leisurely.
Then a voice called out from deeper in the alley, turning the devil's attention.
“M-my lady, please… C-chauncy…”
That stupid, suicidal girl was trying to plead with the creature. The leader felt his anger rise. He hoped the monster would just rip away her soul and be done with it.
“Ah, there you are.” The devil said, turning and walking closer to the kneeling girl. As the men watched her move closer, the leader's eyes landed on the sigil the devil walked over.
A bold idea hit him. The summoning circle.
‘We can reverse summon it if we break it!’ Though risky, the monster was moving further away from the spot. If he puts his all into speedily getting to the circle, fulfilling this contract may still be possible. He didn’t dare negotiate with an unknown devil.
With a nervous flick of his spatial ring, the leader produced a small vial filled with a translucent liquid. He had to be quick with this; he waited a little longer as the devil drew further and further away from the circle.
As he waited for the chance, he uncorked the vial with his thumb, a small pop leaving the mouth of the vial.
“Awww, poor Corrine. Kikiki, you never had a chance, did you?” The devil spoke. “But be at ease now, this devil will-”
Sniff Sniff
But all of a sudden, the devil stopped in its tracks and began to sniff the air. Then the fiend slowly turned its head back to the group of armored men. Its eyes then locked onto the vial in the leader’s hand; as it did, the pink hue shifted to murderous blood red.
“Huh?”
‘Shit, it noticed!’ The leader had been exposed, he had to take the gamble here and now.
The leader fortified himself with as much chi as he could muster as he launched himself forward to the summoning circle; he just had to get close enough to splash the holy water on the sigil. That would be enough to end this tense situation, and he could collect enough coin to retire for a lifetime.
POP
His takeoff was met with a small fist to the chest, detonating his upper body into a cloud of bloody mist.
A single step had earned the seasoned kidnapper an early retirement.
The men behind him, now splashed with the remains of their leader, trembled violently with fear. They saw no indication of the creature's movements, and their leader’s aura did nothing to shield the strike. He died without a single yelp of regret.
The devil sighed in satisfaction as its red eyes began to settle back to pink. It's lips curled in disgust. “Pitiful, I show the smallest ounce of grace, and you choose to ambush me?” The devil looked up at the shaken mercenaries. It frowned at the towering forms.
“Kneel down.” The devil said, as ripples of energy flowed from her mouth. The pink power steamrolled through the protective layers of chi the men cloaked themselves in, invading their bodies directly.
THUD
They kneeled instantly. Their bodies compliant and their wills well past broken.
“And stay there.” Another ripple flowed out, sweeping past the men like a tide, their chi paths commandeered and mana circuits suppressed.
The pink-haired devil shook its head as pink chi began to slowly eat away at the broken vial on the ground. “Kikiki, weaklings. I'll deal with you in a second.” It turned its head back to the stunned girl kneeling deeper in the alley and smiled, unbothered by the blood now dripping down its face.
“Now, where were we?”
~~~
Damien watched in horror as the monster commanded the men in front of it to kneel. He stood at the edge of the mist clouds, half obscured, fighting to regain control of his chi paths.
He hesitated to leave when the mission prompt showed up in front of him.
[
Urgent mission: Retreat!
Description: A summoning circle has been activated, and a chaos field has anchored here. The summoned creature is currently beyond your capability. Report to the temple authorities about the situation as quickly as possible.
]
He wanted to leave immediately and report the situation to the temple and his master, but he also didn’t want to leave Corrine behind. He still wanted to believe in her; she was still human. Though troubled in the mind, he believed there was still good in her and this wasn't the true her doing these things.
He’d never abandon a friend like that, especially when they were in their greatest time of need.
He planned to distract the creature somehow and take off with Corrine. He had yet to encounter a foe as nimble as he was; even his sword master had praised him for his evasive skills, and with chi fortifying him, he was confident he could save her.
But what happened next erased all thoughts of rescue from his mind.
The fellow warrior that tried to stop the summoning pulled out a vial of holy water for protection. The second that happened, he had been ruthlessly murdered by the monster in an instant.
The speed of the strike and the gruesome explosion that followed made the young hero’s eyes constrict to the size of needles.
He didn’t see a single movement. A tensed muscle, a shortened breath, nothing. By the time he even felt the wave of killing intent, the lower half of the man had already hit the ground.
At that second he knew. The system was correct once again. He needed to retreat and let the authorities know as soon as possible. This battle was far past his current skill level.
He clenched his fist at the thought. He was still too weak. And this devil wasn’t even trying to hide its malicious nature like the one he met before. This one was true to itself and killed without a second thought.
Staying any longer would only get both him and Corrine killed.
But before he could turn and leave, a wave of what he could only describe as magical chi bombarded his protective aura like a battering ram. His layer cracked in places, letting some of the energy enter his body.
He felt it trying to disrupt his mana and force his body to kneel like the men in front of him.
As his knee began to bend, rage built up in the young warrior. He would never kneel! Not even if the heavens asked him to, so an evil creature such as this one was out of the question! He fought with all his might to push back the residual energy threatening to make him submit.
As he did so, he glared at the devil in defiance and fury. But the devil did not seem to even notice him. Turning around to the helpless and confused Corrine once more, smiling malevolently at her.
‘Don’t you dare touch her, you bastard!’ Were Damiens thoughts as he fought desperately to regain control of his body.
~~~
Hannya walked closer to Corrine, a wide smile on her face. Now that the trash was taken out, the deal could proceed.
She kneeled down and placed a hand on Corrine's shoulder, causing the young girl to shake.
Hannya spoke softly. “Fear not, young one. I have heard your cry for help, and I have come to offer what you desire. Salvation.”
Corrine looked up at the entity before her, her tear-stained face filling with desperate hope. “Salvation…”
The devil nodded, her smile never leaving as the warm blood on her hair dripped to the ground below. “That’s right. Now tell me, what is it you desire? This one will grant it to you.”
The young heiress's eyes opened wide as she hastily looked over to the cold corpse of her butler.
“Ch-Chauncy! Please, my lady. Please heal Chauncy!” the young girl cried out, grabbing the devil's kimono in a manic display of distress.
The devil’s brows knitted together as she turned her head to the dead demon. She then turned back to the young Corrine. “Kikiki, child. You know that demon is long dead, not much of a fighter either, it seems, kikiki! Is that really what you want?” The devil laughed. Heal? What was this girl thinking? A waste of a request, in her opinion.
But if that's all it took to get her signature…
Corrine's eyes dulled once more. “B-but devils can do anything… Is it really impossible?”
Hannya patted the young girl's lowering head. “Kikiki, impossible? I didn’t say that.” Causing Corrine’s head to snap up once more. The devil leaned in close and whispered. “But you do know the price for such a wish… right?” She grinned.
Hearing that, Corrine’s green eyes steeled with determination. She nodded. “I do. I… I will sacrifice my life for Chauncy!”
The devil's eyes slightly widened at the words, but she soon looked at her strangely as she laughed. “Kikiki! Your love is indeed inspiring! But you're a fool for saying such things. Kikiki! Trade one life for another? A wasteful transaction, I have no interest in taking your life. Your servitude will do.”
Hannya waved her hand in the air. Chaos energy began to merge and twist, producing a black contract in the air in front of Corrine.
“Now.” Hannya spoke, her eagerness reaching its peak. “Just sign here, and all will be granted.” The devil gestured to the contract, her eyes glowing with a mischievous pink.
As if hypnotized by the unreadable patterns in the air, Corrine reached out to touch the contract with her mana.
But just before she could connect with it fully. A shrill voice called out.
“Don’t do it, Corrine! Don’t listen to that monster! I know you're still in there!”
Corrine’s hand paused, causing Hannya to boil with anger. Who dares edge her big sale!
Hannya’s head whipped around in fury, only to see a young boy half obscured by her mist, struggling to stand.
‘Who the hell is this!’
Before Hannya could walk over and slap the person across the city, an angered growl came from the girl beside her. Corrine, now filled with hope for Chauncy’s recovery, replaced her previous despair with vicious anger and hatred.
“Damien!” She shouted; the pure hatred in her voice was a complete 180 from the meek begging she was doing earlier, causing Hannya to blink in surprise.
She took a closer look at the boy. After some thinking, she wanted to laugh.
Why was one of the protagonists here interrupting her deal? Was this a joke?
But then, another random thought pushed through her haze of deal-making…
Why was Damien, this himbo, self-righteous, gigolo of a cheat protagonist, already acquainted with Corrine?
One of the novel's first and most popular antagonists?
4 chapter trade deal?
