As the constellation title of the Demon Archlord slipped from Zeke's lips, Elizaveta's eyes widened in shock.
"How does he know Father's constellation title?"
She sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.
The problem was, she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.
Even with her genius mind that had mastered every spell in the Demon Realm, she couldn't figure out what Zeke had done.
She felt she had to intervene, even if it meant being rude in front of the Demon Archlord.
Elizaveta fought back the overwhelming pressure and tried to lift her head as she rose from her seat.
For demons, obeying a master to whom one had sworn vassalage was as natural as breathing.
She forcibly overcame that demonic instinct and struggled to stand.
But then—
"Sit."
With Zeke's low command, an immense pressure crushed down on Elizaveta's body.
Rumble!
As he unleashed the Chamber of Metal Power with his Elemental Sword, the pressure bearing down on the entire hall intensified several times over.
The princesses weren't the only ones struggling; even the demonkind standing at a distance had to grit their teeth to withstand the Chamber of Metal Power's force.
Elizaveta, who prided herself on her demonic aura, and even Yekaterina found it hard just to keep their balance.
Zeke took another step forward and addressed the face manifested in the mirror.
"Demon Archlord, I asked if you'd like to make a deal with me." A message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract gazed upon the Undying.]
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract found the faint divinity emanating from the Undying intriguing.] At the same time, sparks flew from Zeke's body.
Crackle!
The polymorph setting him as a member of demonkind unraveled, and Zeke reverted to his human form.
Elizaveta, who had barely managed to raise her head against the Chamber of Metal Power, stared in astonishment at Zeke's returned human appearance.
"How in the world...?"
Zeke had deceived Elizaveta's contract with Belial's Deception, then used polymorph to transform into the same race as the demonkind Arzidum, whom he had prepared in advance.
Unaware that the contract hadn't taken hold due to the Deception, Elizaveta had made a direct deal with Yekaterina to place Zeke under her command, using her Authority to open the communication network to the Demon Archlord.
Realizing she had been tricked by Zeke, Elizaveta ground her teeth.
"Zeke Draker, you dare..."
The prideful Elizaveta couldn't accept that a mere human had fooled her; she trembled with rage, gnashing her teeth.
But at that moment, the face in the mirror lunged forward.
Groooar—
The grotesque visage approached Zeke, shaking its head side to side while emitting an eerie voice.
Another message appeared.
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract found the Undying's proposal intriguing.]
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract asked what kind of deal the Undying desired.]
Zeke looked at the manifestation of The Master of the Irresistible Contract in the mirror and spoke.
"Ensure that the demonkind in your faction do not respond to Narak's summoning contracts."
He pulled out the Ring of Solomon and held it out, continuing.
"If you accept my proposal, I'll hand over the souls of the constellations sealed in this ring."
Zeke unlocked the ranks of the constellations trapped in the Ring of Solomon.
Hum!
The Endlessly Devouring One, Mammon.
Serpent in the Black Mouth, Belial.
Harbinger of Blood and Madness, Warinom.
These were the souls of the constellations sealed in the Ring of Solomon.
Fallen Constellations devoured each other's souls to raise their ranks and grow stronger.
Zeke figured that even The Master of the Irresistible Contract, as a Demon Archlord, would covet powerful demonic souls like those of Mammon, Belial, and Warinom.
The manifestation in the mirror drew closer to the Ring of Solomon upon hearing Zeke's words.
Groooar—
It bobbed its head around, as if trying to get a better look at the ring.
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract found the Undying's proposal intriguing.]
[The three souls are all demons from the Gehenna domain. The ruler there, the Lord of
Unyielding Fiery Passion, warned that he may target the Undying as a result.] Zeke responded to the Demon Archlord's warning.
"It doesn't matter. If he comes at me, I'll just kill him."
Groooar—
The face in the mirror shook its head at Zeke's reply.
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract liked the Undying's bold words and actions.]
[The Fallen Constellation The Master of the Irresistible Contract made another proposal to the Undying.]
Zeke frowned at the rising message.
"Another proposal?"
He suspected there might be a trap in any offer from a contractual demon.
But then, a massive vibration emanated from the mirror.
Rumble!
The princesses, kneeling on the floor, jolted in terror at the sensation.
Elizaveta, who had just barely lifted her head, wore an expression of disbelief.
"F-Father is... manifesting?"
For the Demon Archlord, ruler of Pandemonium, to manifest in the Phenomenal World required an enormous amount of karma to neutralize the sanctions. This vibration essentially signaled such a consumption of karma.
Soon, along with the vibration, a metallic tube like liquid mercury extended from the mirror.
It stabbed into the nape of Anastasia, who was trembling.
Nyaaang!
Anastasia, in her cat form, let out a long wail.
Moments later, a brilliant light leaked from Anastasia's eyes.
A halo emanated from Anastasia's floating body in the air, exuding a presence that far transcended the Phenomenal World.
"Ahhh, can you hear me clearly?"
The entity from a distant rank, borrowing Anastasia's body—its avatar—spoke in a materialized voice.
Zeke broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.
As the Demon Archlord manifested through his avatar Anastasia, the space around her transformed into a divine domain.
It was a unique space on a whole different level from the Unique Domain of the Evil God Chaos that had been unfolded earlier, now spanning Yekaterina's invasion fortress.
"The difference in rank from Fell God Ajitahaka or Evil God Chaos is incomparable."
Having become a transcendent with divinity, Zeke could fully sense the magnitude of that power.
Compared to the Demon Archlord's rank, the souls of Belial or Mammon felt like fireflies before the sun.
The Demon Archlord, manifested in Anastasia's body, continued.
"Zeke Draker. I'm pleased to meet you in person. Personally, I consider myself a fan of yours."
The Demon Archlord spoke to Zeke in a friendly tone.
Though the voice was soft and gentle, the power within it fully revealed what the rank of the Demon Realm's ruler entailed.
The Demon Archlord pressed on.
"First, allow me to introduce myself. I bear the long and tedious constellation title 'The Master of the Irresistible Contract.' I wish it were shorter, but it's not something we can choose freely. Since you're special, I permit you to call me 'Mephistopheles' instead of that cumbersome title."
Zeke flinched upon hearing the Demon Archlord's true name.
Demons abhorred their true names being revealed.
For ethereal beings like Fallen Constellations, the true name held the power to pinpoint their existence.
Shamans focused first on discovering and correctly invoking a spirit's true name when summoning ancient souls.
In other words, uncovering an ethereal being's true name accomplished half the ritual.
Yet the Demon Archlord casually revealed his own.
It was a sign of absolute confidence in himself.
Zeke looked at him and spoke.
"Mephistopheles. So you're the Demon Archlord and ruler of Pandemonium?" Mephistopheles nodded in the cat's body at Zeke's words.
"You're quite suspicious by nature. But that's fine—thoroughness is essential. I swear on my soul: yes, I am the Demon Archlord and ruler of Pandemonium."
Zeke couldn't quite grasp why Mephistopheles, the Demon Archlord, was showing him such favor.
Sensing his doubt, Mephistopheles smirked and continued.
"You're quite popular among us. Affairs in the Demon Realm are stimulating, but they grow dull over time. For excitement and dynamism, it's far more engaging to observe events in the Phenomenal World, even if it costs a high price."
Through Mephistopheles's words, Zeke realized that the Fallen Constellations had been watching events in the Phenomenal World.
"Even those not directly intervening were observing what was happening." Mephistopheles chuckled, glancing at Anastasia's cat form.
"Compared to other talented children, this one was lacking, but she became my adopted daughter because our wavelengths aligned well. You turning her into a cat made my manifestation even smoother."
Zeke addressed the still-relaxed Mephistopheles.
"There must be a reason you paid such a great price to appear here in person." "You're impatient. I like that too. I'm the type who prefers getting to the point first." He clapped his cat paws.
A screen appeared, divided into four sections showing the domains of the Demon Realm.
It was the same as what Elizaveta had shown.
"Beta must have already shown you this. Truth be told, that was her real proposal.
If Zeke Draker, you had joined our side, I planned to shelve the card of the Demon King's descent."
Zeke furrowed his brow at Mephistopheles's words.
"I've heard that all demons aim to bring about the Demon King's descent. It's hard to believe that you, as the Demon Archlord, would abandon that." Mephistopheles nodded at his words.
"I understand your skepticism."
He clapped again, and the screen changed.
It now displayed the cityscape of Pandemonium.
"Look at this, Zeke Draker. Even in the Demon Realm, built on unstable dimensional fragments, we've cultivated a brilliant civilization."
Unlike other Demon Realm domains, Pandemonium resembled the Phenomenal World with its urban form.
No, in some ways, it was more advanced: countless forms of demonkind coexisted, forming a society.
It was a far cry from the image of demonkind as beings who pursued only violence and war as their sole joy.
"It took a very long time to achieve this. It was my own experiment: whether civilization could take root even in the barren dimensional borders of the Demon Realm." He continued slowly.
"In truth, demonkind are quite similar to humans. Humans, left to their own devices, also feud and fight among themselves, don't they? I closely examined the differences between demonkind and humans. And I realized one key difference: 'contracts.'"
Zeke spoke up at Mephistopheles's words.
"So you suppressed demonkind's destructive instincts through contracts." Mephistopheles smiled and nodded at his words.
"Exactly. Humans form societies by borrowing the power of contracts. I applied that to demonkind. Of course, with much stricter sanctions than for humans. I failed many times at first. If the sanctions were too weak, no one upheld the contracts; if too strong, contracts couldn't form properly. It took thousands of years to find the balance."
Mephistopheles gazed fondly at the civilization of Pandemonium he had built over that long time.
Then he turned back to Zeke.
"Zeke Draker, this experiment has given me a new goal: to extend it across the entire Demon Realm."
"To Abyssal and Abaddon, Gehenna as well?"
"Yes, of course. Those places differ environmentally from Pandemonium, so different methods will be needed. But I believe civilization can take root there too." Zeke finally understood Mephistopheles's plan.
"If that's possible, there's no need to force the Demon King's descent and push into the Phenomenal World."
Mephistopheles nodded.
"Precisely. In that case, we'd actually need a stable Phenomenal World. To sustain the unstable society of the Demon Realm, we require the karma generated there. The more the Phenomenal World prospers, the more karma it produces."
Mephistopheles descended from the air, drawing closer to Zeke as he spoke.
"So, I'd like to propose a new contract to you."
Zeke stared silently at Mephistopheles, who met his gaze and slowly opened his mouth. "How would you like to become the sixth lord of the Demon Realm?"