"Your Majesty Mathias!! The southern gate has been breached—you must flee at once!"
"The southern gate? There should be soldiers stationed there as well—how has it been breached so quickly!?"
"Th-they're... gone. According to the scout who barely returned from the scene, there aren't even any corpses..."
"These bastards...!"
Then there is only one answer.
Turning tail before the enemy.
After pouring so much money into this... and now that it's finally time to fight, am I to flee with the enemy right before my eyes...?
...Haha, no. I was mistaken.
They were an army composed of nothing but wandering rabble and bandits without a true liege lord to follow, so perhaps this was only natural.
"Y-Your Majesty..." As I stood there blankly, the vassal before me urged me as if time were running out.
This vassal was not doing this out of loyalty to me. He was doing it because his own life would be in danger if I did not hurry up and flee.
...I had known all along that this man was not truly loyal to me, but seeing it firsthand was utterly draining.
"No, I cannot let it end like this. I am the rightful king of the Kingdom of Leon...!"
An opportunity I gained by any means necessary—I cannot let it end like this.
I had to become the king of Leon by any means nec
Kwaaang—!
"Keo-heok!!"
Just then, a massive sound erupted from the wall, and soon everything was turned upside down.
Rocks came flying like a collapsing heap, wracking my entire body with agony.
"Keu-heok...! What... is happening...?"
I overcame the pain and barely opened my eyes, yet the room had instantly become a dust-filled mess, making it difficult to see.
It had been relatively quiet compared to the chaos outside just moments ago, but no longer. The shouts of allies and enemies tangled together rang loudly in my ears.
A hole had been punched through the wall.
"Haha... Damn it."
The royal palace walls were built with outstanding materials and fortified with high-level magic; they could not possibly fall to ordinary attacks. There was definitely someone outside capable of reducing the royal palace walls to rubble.
Of course, I could probably handle just one or two of them myself.
But I needed to focus on the fact that the situation had deteriorated enough for the enemy's attacks to reach the royal palace walls.
Even if I dealt with that one, others would pour in, and our forces were inferior to the enemy in every aspect, both in number and quality.
'The vassal... has he fled?'
Well, with the outcome this clear, who would want to die alongside a liege they served only for money? I would have abandoned him and fled too.
How pathetic.
I don't want it to end like this... I don't want it to end like this... but there's nothing I can do.
It was already all over. Outside, the king's elite forces were everywhere, and nothing remained for me.
If only I could sell my soul to a demon—
Flash—
"...?"
Just then, the room was suddenly dyed red.
Wondering if the enemy had already reached this far, I turned my gaze slightly, but there was no one there—only something dark red flickering in the air.
'A jewel...? No, it's an eye.'
The books that had filled the bookshelf until moments ago had been thrown from the shelves, likely due to the explosion, and were rolling haphazardly across the floor. Among them, one book bearing a magic circle emitted a crimson light, gently floating a glowing eyeball just above it.
A floating, glowing eyeball was already an abnormal situation, but the magic circles surrounding the eye made it even more bizarre.
"Th-this magic circle..."
When magic unknown to oneself appeared, it was common sense for a non-mage to flee without looking back.
If one were a mage? Of course, one would cast defensive magic. What fool would stand still not knowing what that magic did?
But... I could not afford such luxuries now. No, to be exact, I didn't want to bother.
Because from the moment I saw that eye, that eye, I somehow just knew. This was a demon summoning spell.
The demon that appears before those who harbor desire, granting wishes in exchange for taking their souls.
...Fine, things couldn't get any worse from here anyway. Don't demons like blood?
Sploosh—!
"K-keu-heuk...!"
Gritting his teeth, Mathias stabbed his own palm with the sword he held and swung his hand to spray blood onto the magic circle.
The foundation of demon summoning and contracts began with the offering of blood. If one offered blood containing all the contractor's information—from the soul to mana and life force—demons would react and appear to forge a contract.
Of course, the demon that appeared differed depending on the quality of the blood. If it were the lowest quality, a lowest-ranked demon like an imp would appear, and then one could not make a proper wish. How much power could one obtain from asking an imp for strength?
But... with my blood, it wouldn't summon an imp. I wished for at least a High Dem
Kwaaaaaang—!
"—?!"
Suddenly, his vision was dyed blackish-red.
For a moment he thought something was wrong with his eyes... but no, the light bursting from the demon summoning circle had filled the room, changing his vision like this.
Above all, the mana enveloping his entire body—he couldn't mistake it even if he wanted to. He had encountered all manner of mana while serving as regent, but he had never felt such chilling, viscous mana before.
...It was a demon.
"Ah, aaaah..."
As the blackish-red light gradually faded, someone who had not been there until just moments ago stood firmly in that spot.
The room was a chaotic mess, but his presence was so intense that it made such surroundings trivial.
His entire body shone with a blackish-red light as though drenched in rotten blood, yet his face was pale like a corpse in stark contrast, creating a severe discordance that inspired terror. His yellow pupils were like those of a lion stalking prey in the night's undergrowth, instinctively making one shrink back.
A big shot...!
Even without detailed knowledge of demonology, I could tell. This was clearly not a High Demon. Wasn't this an Archdemon, said to be summonable only by the luckiest of those with the highest quality blood?
I... I had that much potential... As expected, I was destined to become king!!
"Demon, I desire a contract!"
**********
Ugh, uugh... My stomach is churning.
If I let my guard down even slightly, I feel like I'll vomit. A metallic taste keeps rising in my mouth.
[What the hell is this!!!!]
'I never want to experience that again.'
From the start, it felt like my scalp was grabbed and I was being forcibly dragged somewhere, which felt awful, but what followed was even worse. It was exactly like my insides and outsides were flipped while I was still alive. Like being shoved into a centrifuge.
'...By the way, where the hell is this.'
Looking around, it's a complete mess.
A massive hole had been punched through the wall, causing it to collapse, and the floor was filled with fragments of the broken wall, furniture, and other debris.
Hmm... I'm glad I got out of that red, creepy place, but why the hell am I her
"Demon, I desire a contract!"
"...?"
Who's this bastard.
A guy with "I'm a bad guy!" practically written on his face is dripping blood from his hand and spewing strange words.
Demon? He says he wants a contract? What kind of dog shit nonsense... no, wait. It's me. The demon.
"I will give you my soul! So... become my strength!"
"Your strength?"
"Urk..."
He had asked me to become his strength out of nowhere, so I asked for details, but my voice must have sounded so eerie and terrifying that he got terribly frightened.
Well, even I surprise myself sometimes, so how much more terrifying must it be for him.
"Y-yes...! Become my strength and drive away the enemies!"
Wow, brave. If it were me, I wouldn't be standing before a demon that looked like me; I'd just collapse, trembling, and beg for my life. But he's holding his head high and speaking just fine.
"...I see."
I roughly understand the situation now.
The magic circle from earlier was magic to summon a demon, and the guy in front of me is the one who cast it.
Let's see... summoning magic is... 'Ah, this is it, summoning magic... Huh?'
There was a book lying at my feet giving off a strong presence, so I thought it was the medium for the summoning magic and glanced at it... but this isn't the book used for the summoning magic.
It's not summoning magic, it's a curse. Wondering if I was mistaken, I checked again, but there's no doubt. This is definitely a curse.
I've played Noah extensively, and since I was also being groomed by the development team, I know Noah's settings and systems inside and out, easter eggs included. There's no way I'd be mistaken.
Even 'Faust' is asserting that this is definitely a curse.
A curse where one uses their soul as both the medium and the price to summon a demon of matching caliber, then forces that demon to act.
...Of course, Faust is me, but anyway.
'I didn't get cursed?'
But I wasn't afflicted by the curse. According to the formula in this book, I should have been cursed.
What...? The summoning worked normally, didn't it? Could it be that since Faust's rank is so high, the curse to force my actions didn't take effect?
Above all, this guy... I don't know his name, but from what I can see, he's not strong enough to summon me through this curse ritual. He definitely doesn't even reach my toes. And yet I was summoned by him?
Uh... I have far too little information.
"Hurry up and deal with the enemies...!" "Mathias!! Surrender peacefu—... What?!" Who's that now?
The guy who summoned me shouted, and at the same time, a blonde woman jumped in through the massive hole in the wall.
Long, pointed ears pierced through her hair, asserting their presence, and the bow in her hand blatantly revealed what her class was.
A Hunter Elf. Damage is somewhat guaranteed, but with severely low stamina, poor mobility, and an extremely low stagger value, it's a class notorious among playe
Twang!
"...?"
The moment I felt the elf's emotion go beyond dislike to hatred, before even a second had passed, an arrow bouncing away right before my eyes came into my vision.
Huh? Why is an arrow suddenly here... Ah, I was hit by an arrow. Good thing it doesn't hurt. No, rather than not hurting, I couldn't feel anything at all?
"What are you doing, wench?" "Emergency!! Mathias has summoned a demon!! It isn't over yet, don't let your guard down!!"
The elf didn't answer my question at all and shouted loudly to someone outside. But not answering didn't mean she wasn't reacting.
Her eyes, filled with intense power, glared holes into me, carefully watching my every move, and her arms and legs were ready to move at any moment depending on what I did.
I... I didn't even do anything...