What the hell is with this bastard...!
I thought it was all over, but this crazy bastard summoned a demon just to save his own skin?!
‘Tch, and here I thought that was a sure-kill strike.’
There are many ways to deal with a demon, but the single most important rule is always the same.
Never give the demon the first move.
Demons employ fundamentally different magic, and the demonic power they wield completely transcends the laws of this world. If a demon casts a spell, reading the precursors is nearly impossible.
Give it the first move, and defeat may be decided in the blink of an eye.
Above all, every demon is twisted, possessed of moral standards entirely their own, and they feed on malice. Stand still, and you might find yourself suffering such a foul trick that death would be preferable.
Therefore, the only proper course of action when facing a demon is to forgo any exchange of words and smash it with your strongest attack to bring it down.
But... I failed.
A perfect failure in the truest sense of the word.
[Tiiiing—!!]
‘Tch...’
It was a blow backed by everything I had, yet it was stopped so futilely.
No, was it even stopped?
If my eyes didn’t deceive me, that demon did absolutely nothing. It simply stood still and took my attack.
Does that mean my arrow wasn’t even worth defending against...?!
*Shiver—*
‘Urk...!’
It’s a bit late for this realization, but... this demon is strong.
Simply by looking at me, my heart is pounding and my legs are trembling violently. My body screams at me to flee, defying my will.
Just moments ago, my head had been filled with nothing but rage, but no longer. As the anger fades, fear floods into the empty space it left behind.
...Things went sideways at the last second.
Matias, that bastard, setting a demon loose just to survive no matter what... He deserves to go to hell.
“What are you doing!! Hurry up and kill that bitch!!”
“...?”
But something is strange.
That demon is just standing there, doing nothing.
Judging by the look on that bastard Matias’s face, this clearly wasn’t negotiated beforehand.
Of course, there’s no way a demon would obey a human’s command, but once a contract is in place, they usually at least pretend to comply.
Could he have not made a contract...? No, that’s not it. Seeing him bleeding like that, the contract is a certainty.
Then why on earth isn’t it moving? Could it already be scheming some—
“You dare command me?”
“Urp...!”
The moment the demon opened its mouth, the atmosphere in the room changed in an instant.
If until just now it had merely kept its mouth shut and exuded pressure on its surroundings, now it felt as though that pressure had transformed into blades and hammers that indiscriminately assaulted everything around me.
The edges of my vision turned pitch black in an instant, and at the same time, every fine hair on my body stood on end, shivering.
...No.
This demon hadn’t been scheming anything. It simply didn’t want to follow someone else’s orders.
Demons follow contracts like absolute, immutable laws, so why...?
Could it be...?
“...Demon, did you make a contract with Matias?”
“Contract?”
‘Urk...’
Common sense dictates that you must not converse with a demon.
Most demons are capable of linguistic magic, so exchanging words with them is tantamount to suicide.
So why did I... Kuk, I don’t know.
I ended up speaking to it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Could I have already been beguiled?
There’s no way a demon would answer normally, so why did I—
“No, I did not.”
“Hurry up and— What...?”
“...”
Yet, surprisingly, the demon answered my question obediently.
A typical demon would have mocked me with everything it had.
“What are you saying! I—I summoned you and formed a contract, did I not!”
“The summoning is correct, but I did not form a contract.”
I suspected it might be lying, but judging by Matias’s reaction, it seems he truly had not made a contract.
So he summoned it, but the contract was not yet complete.
Good. If that’s the case, there’s still a chance this can be resolved peacefu—
“What... Kuk, then let us make a contract right now! I shall give you my soul, so lend me your strength!”
‘Damn...!’
Blood pouring from his hand, trembling like a broken wreck, Matias spoke those words and then swung his pierced limb, splattering blood toward the demon.
...Damn it. It was too fast, and I couldn’t react properly.
I should have shot the first arrow at Matias, not the demon...!
Any chance of a peaceful resolution is now completely gone.
“Now, hurry and kill... that... bitch...”
“...?”
But why is that bastard acting like that?
Matias’s face, which had been relieved just moments ago thinking it was all settled, turned pitch black in an instant.
Not a figure of speech—literally. His complexion changed drastically, as if he were severely choking or had food lodged in his throat.
And that wasn’t all. Contrary to his blackened complexion, the whites of his eyes, which had been stark white, were dyed bright red.
...Could this be—
“H-hurr...”
[SPLAAAT—!!]
“...”
After my vision briefly flashed bright red, Matias, who had been perfectly fine just moments ago, vanished without a trace.
...No, strictly speaking, since Matias was splattered all over this entire room, he hadn’t exactly disappeared.
‘The smell... Urp.’
Mana rampage.
A phenomenon in which a vessel unfit to receive a certain amount of mana takes in mana beyond its limits, placing a burden on the body.
Normally, receiving mana beyond one’s limit does not result in something like this.
At most, the mana flows back outside the body, or one might vomit a little or suffer a nosebleed. Mana rampage caused by mana overdose can be fully cured if the aftermath is handled properly.
But... this is on a completely different level from such a trivial mana overdose.
To draw an analogy, it is as if the water of a lake was compressed and forced into a small teacup.
Not even clean water, but rotting, fetid water reeking of decay.
“Hmph. Weak.”
And the reason Matias ended up like this is obvious: that demon.
That demon... refused to contract with Matias.
Why?
The reason demons answer summons is to devour souls... If it kills Matias before even forming a contract, it cannot obtain his soul, can it?
“...Do you not want Matias’s soul?”
“Did you think I would desire the soul of something so weak?”
Wow. Talk about honest.
It’s an answer so brazen and so absurd, but precisely because of that, its credibility is sky-high.
Above all, from its appearance to the magical power rippling through the vibrating air, it is a being that makes an Archdemon seem like a mere demon rather than a high-rank one. It makes no sense for such a being to grant a wish just to obtain a single human soul.
It is no different from a wealthy man picking up breadcrumbs from the dirt to eat.
Then... why on earth did it answer Matias’s summons?
If not to steal a soul through a contract... then merely to manifest in the physical world...?
“...Go back. There is no place here for a demon like you.”
If that is the case, this is no ordinary disaster.
Things were already awry from the moment the demon was summoned, but for a demon to manifest for a purpose other than contracting with a human is something so rare it can be counted on one hand.
And every single one of those rare cases brought terrible calamity upon the world without exception.
Damn it, what should I do—
[Clunk—]
“—?!”
Then, the demon that had been standing still suddenly began to move. With every step it took, light flickered and the air vibrated.
...I-Is it coming for me?
I have to respond—
[Pshhh—]
“What is this...”
The bow rotted.
Not as a metaphor, but truly, physically rotted away.
The bow, having lost its elasticity to decay, could not endure the tension of the bowstring and snapped in half at the grip.
“Ugh, ah...”
I have to move. I have to hurriedly back away.
But... I can’t move.
My body, which had been trembling and screaming at me to flee just moments ago, is frozen like ice and refuses to obey.
My vision, which had remained clear except for slightly darkened edges, is now terribly blurred by tears.
“H-hurk...”
*Trickle—*
No... No...
I don’t... I don’t want to die like thi—
“Disgusting.”
However, the demon looked at me with a slightly furrowed brow, as if disgusted, then simply ignored me and exited through the hole in the castle wall I had entered through.
I... I’m not dead?
Huh...?
[Thud—]
As the oppressive pressure that had filled the room just moments ago vanished, my legs, which had been frozen completely stiff, lost all strength as if nothing had happened and simply gave out.
I should be in pain from slamming onto the hard stone floor, but such pain is trivial compared to what just transpired, so I cannot feel it at all.
“Ha, haha...”
After all the effort I’ve put in, after everything I’ve been through... To think I was so terrified of a demon that I couldn’t even resist...
Was I really this weak? This cowardly?
The tears streaming down my cheeks feel as though they are condemning me as a weakling.
So many tears have fallen that the floor is soaked... wait... Huh?
“...”
These tears are strangely warm.
And they are not transparent in color, either.
[Disgusting.]
In that instant, the expression the demon wore when it passed me flashes through my mind.
To think I... I am this... disgusting...
Ah... Ugh...