Sssss—
The red energy flowing from the mandala coiled around Morgantʼs legs like a snake. For some reason, an ominous feeling crept in.
"This doesnʼt feel right for a contract rite."
Morgant looked up at Titus, who chanted the incantation with a serious expression.
He couldnʼt explain it logically, but his sensitive demonic senses warned him.
Judging that his own safety mattered far more than the souls of the third-eye clan, Morgant leaped out of the mandala.
Pajijijik!
But an invisible wall repelled him, preventing his escape from the mandala.
He glared at Titus and shouted with killing intent.
"You lowly worm dare!"
Green demonic aura erupted from Morgantʼs body.
The fierce green demonic aura extended in all directions, trying to pierce the invisible wall of the mandala.
Tzutzutzutzu—
But the red energy from the mandala neutralized Morgantʼs demonic aura.
Morgant had never expected a mortal of the phenomenal world to block demonic qi art from the demon realm. He panicked and drew his sword.
"Iʼll skin you alive myself and drag out your soul!"
Morgant roared in fury as he raised his sword and charged at Titus.
But Titus continued chanting, focused solely on maintaining the mandala.
Morgantʼs sword seemed poised to pierce Titusʼs heart at any moment.
In that instant, dozens of chains of light burst from the floor.
Chwararararak!
Morgant, charging toward Titus, immediately became bound by the chains of Solomon, rendering him immobile.
With his limbs tightly restrained by the chains, Morgant shouted at Titus.
"Ugh! You bastard! Release me now! Or else youʼll suffer eternal torment where even death is a luxury...!"
Tzutzutzutzu—
As he bellowed, black miasma rose from the floor and coalesced into a human shape.
Seeing the completed figure, Morgantʼs expression hardened.
"You... you bastard?"
It was Zeke Draker, emerging from the shadows.
Zeke looked at Morgant and said,
"Eternal torment where even death is a luxury. Have you ever truly experienced such suffering?"
Morgant realized he had been deceived by Zeke from the start.
He had opened the door himself, leading the greatest enemy into the secure zone.
Morgant glared at Zeke and Titus, snarling,
"Coward! And you call yourself a knight? If youʼre a knight, face me honorably!" Hearing Morgantʼs outburst, Zeke smirked.
"A demon spouting words like 'honorablyʼ—thatʼs amusing. You tried to deceive Titus into a contract and devour the precious souls of the third-eye clan without shame." Zeke had already grasped all of Morgantʼs intentions.
He approached Morgant and added,
"And besides, do you think you could beat me in an honorable fight?" In that moment, Zeke revealed his rank, pressuring Morgant.
Kugugugu—
Morgant realized in shock that the power Zeke had concealed surpassed his imagination.
"How could a lowly human possess such..."
While Morgant panicked, shadows rippled behind Zeke.
He drew Laevatein, pointed it at Morgant, and said,
"Youʼre not even worth sealing. Vanish quietly."
Shiiik—
Laevatein sliced through Morgantʼs neck.
Morgantʼs body, decapitated by Zekeʼs sword, slowly sank into the shadows.
Zeke sheathed his sword and turned to look at Titus and Yulina.
"You both did excellently. Thanks to you, we entered without being detected." At Zekeʼs praise, Titus and Yulinaʼs faces flushed with pleasure.
Having easily eliminated Morgant, Zeke stepped out of the mandala and approached the energy device.
Inside the massive glass tube, a lump of mana resembling a compacted purple cloud continuously supplied mana.
Zeke was curious about the identity of the mana mass that steadily produced mana within the device.
"What exactly did they use to make such stable mana supply possible?" He examined the control panel as he approached the device.
Using dragonʼs wisdom and his clairvoyance, Zeke deciphered the information and operated it, slowly reducing the mana output.
The purple mana mass filling the glass tube began to shrink.
When it had completely vanished, Zeke couldnʼt help but be shocked.
"A person?"
Inside the glass tube lay a child with purple hair.
*
"Annoying."
Nigel found the control devices on her wrists and neck quite bothersome.
But in this place, even a slight misuse of her original power could lead to ascension and departure to peach blossom paradise, so she had no choice.
She glanced at the massive hunk of meat before her and set down her knife and fork.
Then, from across the table came a voice as smooth as rolling jade beads. "Oh dear, why arenʼt you eating? Is it not to your taste? Shall I go kill the chef?" The content was brutal, a stark contrast to her beautiful voice.
Nigel looked at the being seated before her.
She had dazzling blonde hair, skin like white jade, and wore an elegant, luxurious dress.
She cut her steak with graceful poise and placed it in her mouth, appearing every bit the refined lady of a prestigious noble house.
Except for the two horns protruding from her forehead.
"If you dislike lizard meat, shall I have them bring something else?"
With an expression full of irritation, Nigel addressed the demon before her.
"What is the meaning of this?"
At her words, the demon smiled and said,
"Ah. Na. Su. Ta. Sha. My name is Anastasia, remember?" Nigel ground her teeth at Anastasiaʼs words.
"Do you think Iʼll make a deal with the demon archlord because of this?"
"Nigel, really, Iʼm just trying to get closer to you. The deal with the master has nothing to do with me. Iʼm merely the messenger."
The being seated before Nigel, who looked like a noble lady, was the avatar of one of the six demon archlords of the demon realm.
Empowered by the demon archlordʼs authority, she surpassed most demons in strength— a top-tier demon noble who possessed immense power despite her delicate appearance.
Hearing such words from Anastasia, Nigel wore a look of absurdity.
"A demon wanting to befriend the highlander? Thatʼs the first nonsense Iʼve heard in my life."
At Nigelʼs retort, Anastasia shook her head.
"No, itʼs true. Think about it—we highlander have no real reason to fight us." Nigelʼs eyebrow twitched at her words.
"What nonsense is that?"
Anastasia set down her knife and fork and picked up her wine glass.
Savoring the aroma, she said to Nigel,
"The highlander seek to maintain the balance of the phenomenal world, right?" Nigel said nothing in response to Anastasiaʼs words.
As if not expecting an answer, Anastasia took a sip of wine, smiled in satisfaction, and continued.
"Indeed, wine from the phenomenal world is far superior. In the demon realm, crops donʼt grow properly, making good wine hard to produce. Did I tell you? Once, I wagered a rare vintage as a contract condition... Ah, what was I saying?" Nigel looked at Anastasia with an irritated expression.
From their first meeting, this demon had always been like this.
She would act scatterbrained, then drop a crucial point at the decisive moment.
Anastasia pondered her wine glass, then looked back at Nigel and said,
"Ah, yes. I was talking about balance. Sorry, my mind wanders these days. I suppose Iʼve lived too long."
"Then finish your story. Unless you want to test my patience."
She set down her wine glass and said,
"What we ultimately seek is the same: balancing the phenomenal world." Nigel smirked at her words.
"By eradicating all mortals of the phenomenal world and creating a new one—that madmanʼs delusion?"
"No, no. Weʼre not planning something so barbaric. Think about it, Nigel. This world has been flawed from the beginning."
Nigel glared at Anastasia with a fierce expression.
"Itʼs because of the damned demons your kind follows that the phenomenal world was ruined. If youʼre going to spout such nonsense, get out."
"Such a hot temper. Think, Nigel. Strictly speaking, the primordial light that created this world repeatedly destroyed civilizations it didnʼt like and recreated them countless times to build a world to its liking. Were the lives lost then truly less valuable than those in the current phenomenal world?"
Nigel was momentarily speechless at Anastasiaʼs words.
Anastasia continued with a smile.
"The constellations rebelled to stop the primordial lightʼs merciless destruction. The rebellion succeeded, and the primordial light vanished. Only then could the civilizations of the phenomenal world continue their history without perishing." Nigel shot back at Anastasia.
"And now your kind is trying to ruin that history of the phenomenal world."
Anastasia shook her head.
"Thatʼs not true, Nigel. Both I and the demon archlord have pondered this issue for a very long time. Is the current phenomenal world truly functioning properly? Our conclusion is no."
"Thatʼs the arrogance of your demon realm. The very idea of dictating the phenomenal world based on your own decisions is rotten."
Anastasia smiled broadly and said,
"Nigel, you must harbor much resentment toward us? But thatʼs fine. I like you." She set down her wine glass and snapped her fingers.
A screen appeared in the air, filled with countless moving scenes.
All of them featured "humans."
"Look at this, Nigel. What do you see here?" Nigel remained silent.
Anastasia gazed at the screen and said,
"Humans, humans, humans, humans. The phenomenal world is overflowing with them.
Since when? When did this land become solely the humansʼ domain?" Her expression, unlike before, turned icy cold.
Pointing at Nigel, Anastasia said,
"Youʼd understand better, Nigel. Youʼre a survivor of a race exterminated by 'humans,ʼ after all."
At those words, Nigel made a face of utter disbelief.
"Donʼt spout nonsense. Iʼve survived being chased by the one-horn tribe all this time. The one-horn tribeʼs extinction was their own doing."
"Is that so? You really think that?"
As she questioned, she waved her hand, bringing up another screen.
Surprisingly, it showed a one-horn tribe village.
Seeing the village after so long, Nigelʼs eyes wavered for a moment.
Anastasia said,
"The one-horn tribe hasnʼt completely vanished. Survivors live in the harsh, barren lands beyond the everwinter mountain range in the eastern continent."
Nigel couldnʼt help but be surprised that the one-horn tribe hadnʼt gone extinct.
But that was all.
For Nigel, who had transcended her race, news of her kin stirred little emotion.
Anastasia looked at Nigel and said,
"Nigel, this happened because of humans in the end. Humans invaded their village, forcing them into such barren lands..."
Chijijijik—
Suddenly, Nigel, seated across from Anastasia, flickered and began to fade.
Seeing this, Anastasia clicked her tongue.
With a resigned expression, she rose from her seat and snapped her fingers sharply.
Woooong—
The surroundings shifted in an instant.
Tzutzutzu—
The lavish reception room vanished, replaced by the stark, dim interior of a stone structure.
Anastasia transformed from her noble lady attire into a silver-haired woman in formfitting leather.
With cold eyes, she looked at Nigel lying in the stone sarcophagus and said,
"Even kin doesnʼt work. The guardianʼs defenses are truly solid."
She had infiltrated Nigelʼs mind to find a way to break the seal on the black star and now examined the list floating in the air.
It was filled with keywords to stimulate Nigelʼs psyche.
"Hmm, Iʼve tried most things. Next is..." Anastasiaʼs eyes gleamed.
"Zeke Draker. Heir of the dragon slayer and her only human disciple."
Muttering to herself, she reached out and stroked the cheek of the sleeping Nigel.
"Alright, Nigel. This time, letʼs dream something nice with this."