Chapter 227

Episode 227: The World (12)

[You.]

Mamon opened his mouth with half of the city disappearing as if evaporating in front of him.

[You made a wish contract.]

The lava that was sprayed to exterminate humans is no longer there. That too has already evaporated.

[I made a wish contract with a human.]

The same goes for half of my body. Mamon wrapped his hands around the missing half of himself and clawed his nails.

If the area I was in charge of wasn’t even anger, I felt angry.

[You...!]

Contracts between humans and devils are usually rental contracts.

And a rental contract is a form in which the contractee pays a price and the devil lends the contractor power equal to the price received.

Whether you strengthen yourself in return or make a deal with another demon, you must first lend your power to the contractee.

However, from the devil’s point of view, a rental contract saves him the trouble of moving, and even if the contractee dies, he only loses the power he lent – if he’s lucky, it can be recovered – but there is no significant loss to the devil himself.

On the other hand, what about wish contracts?

Wish contracts are a bit different. The offering must be given to the devil in the form of power, and in return for it, the devil must grant the contractor’s wish.

Since you did not lend your power, you will not lose your power even if the contractor dies, but instead, you will have to take the risk of moving it yourself.

Additionally, a wish contract must be fulfilled even if the contracting party dies. If there are many loopholes in the wish, it is possible to get out of it, but if there are no loopholes, it can become a contract full of losses for the devil.

This is especially true depending on the form of the wish.

[But with whom? I found no trace of a contract on you...]

But such a wish contract also has its advantages. As long as it is a wish contract, it can receive power from old magic directly from the sacrifice it makes.

Not just the first time, but every time a mutual agreement between the contractor and the devil is made.

It was as if Mephisto had just skipped everything and received power directly from the Supreme Reason.

[No way?]

[It’s too late for me to notice.]

But who did that Mephisto make a contract with, and what did that contractee wish for?

While Mammon was guessing, he came to a profound realization.

[Yes, I thought it was somehow strange. There’s no way you would cling to the vessel even in such a disadvantageous situation...!]

I thought there must be a reason why Mephisto wouldn’t give up the vessel even at the risk of his soul being captured by Satan or him before the fight began.

For example... the human soul is trying to capture Mephisto’s soul, so it’s not even possible to throw away the bowl.

But... what if a human soul and Mephisto made a wish contract? What if the human side made it a wish that Mephisto would not abandon the vessel and run away at any moment?

If you were prepared to prevent yourself from escaping from the vessel at any moment, even at the risk

of being engulfed... [Perhaps you hoped that your contract would destroy you together...?]

If the vessel breaks without Mephisto being able to escape from it, Mephisto die together too Considering the nature of the vessel that hated the devil, that might be a possibility.

The problem is that if you make a hypothesis like that, it doesn’t explain what just happened.

If the cancer contractor really wanted to destroy Mephisto, why would there have been any reason to give him strength just now?

[that’s right. So it’s quite a problem.]

[...Now that you’re so obediently admitting it, it suddenly seems like it’s not true.]

[There’s so little trust. Sad.]

...No. There may be a reason.

Mamon remembered that Mephisto had needlessly gotten rid of the hero earlier.

If Mephisto’s contractor wanted to protect humans, he would have prioritized saving someone’s life over co-destruction with the devil. This also explains the same contradiction.

Mephisto clearly made a contract with the original owner of the vessel. The terms of the contract are still unclear, but clear.

[You keep hiding something like this... How can I trust you!]

Mamon gathered the remaining demon energy and strengthened his defenses.

How on earth was the contract covered? Questions that could not be resolved were thrown to the other side. It won’t be too late to resolve that later.

bang! bang! What is urgent now is to check Mephisto, who is aiming for his regeneration.

[Damn it!]

Unlike Mephistopheles, his regenerative power is quite weak. It is said that there is a reason why they hid themselves by spreading lava and instead of giving distance, they only attacked them from a distance.

However, the balance was endangered as half of the body flew away. As I focus on defense, my body collapses, and as I concentrate on recovery, Mephisto’s attacks are too harsh.

Mamon became angry at that. It was very painful to see what happened as unexpected variables continued to creep into areas where I felt reassured.

[Why are you doing this? I heard you will enjoy watching me struggle! Where did he go?! Huh?!]

[Damn it!]

The gushing lava cut down. The sword strike that penetrated between them exploded at some point, shaking the protective shield he had put on.

And if there seemed to be even the slightest hole, Ratel would come in sharply, like a needle. Just the task of pushing it back took all my nerves.

What is even more infuriating is that at this moment, Mephisto is using only a very small amount of magic energy. The guy who had won the game pushed him forward, consuming only the amount he could recover.

Unlike myself, who was so busy defending himself that his consumption was extreme.

If we continue like this, we will lose. Mammon realized it.

Mephisto was satisfied with what I had gotten and snapped his fingers.

“...Come back soon.”

Suddenly, the contractor who had been watching everything helplessly mentioned the last condition.

‘You have a short temper. I don’t know how I got this opportunity, but it’s okay to tidy things up a bit.’

But is there any reason for him to listen? Mephisto chuckled and strengthened his feet.

thud. With a light step, my body disappeared in an instant. no. The body moved momentarily and stepped on the outside of the pit.

The robe draped over his shoulders fluttered like a cloak.

「The promise is....」

‘A specific person must be saved. Once survival is secured, return the initiative back to Gretchen. Additionally, we will not touch humans even a hair and protect them if possible.’

Having to give back the initiative was annoying, but it was better than getting killed by Mammon without even being able to struggle. So I accepted it.

‘But look, is survival really guaranteed?’

But is there any reason to give the initiative back right away? Even if they fought on the side of humans—they were going to protect them anyway, right?—now that they are running rampant as devils?

Mephisto knew. The fear brought by overwhelming power.

In such a situation, if Gretchen takes control again, will humans want to keep this body alive? Rather, perhaps he felt it was safer to kill Gretchen when she was in control, that is, when she was weak.

‘It also tolerates old magic. This body is not yet safe.’

Even though he turned Hell into an enemy—strictly speaking, he never considered Hell an ally, so it would be absurd to say he turned Hell into an enemy—what was the reason for killing Mammon? It’s for survival.

But the body that was saved like that is killed so absurdly by a human? That’s really boring.

Mephistopheles did not want to leave such danger behind. A more certain guarantee was needed.

A more explicit guarantee.

“You guy...”

‘Don’t worry. ‘I won’t kill you.’

If it were my personality, I would prevent it by annihilating everything that could be dangerous... but that was blocked in the contract itself. So I have no choice but to use another move.

When Gretchen returns, he might come forward and ask me to kill him, so I’m going to lie to block that possibility.

He approached the humans step by step. He could tell his poor contractor was tense, but that only made him happy.

Because his misfortune is hidden only when other people are unhappy.

“...It’s coming.”

Fortunately, the humans did not aim their weapons blindly. The same was true for the idiotic followers of Isin.

All the demons were running away to avoid Mephistopheles, and now that immediate safety and some leeway was secured, their faces were stiff, but they were demons and did not rush at them. I just looked at him with wary and frightened eyes.

And that was what made Mephisto quite happy. It was only when the fear of cancer reigned that the world Mephisto knew became at least at peace.

[Who is the leader?]

In my heart, I want to keep things like this... but there is no way Gretchen, such a brat, will do that.

Damn Gretchen. You really don’t make the situation any easier.

“Lord Seong!”

Soon, someone came forward, despite the opposition of many people.

He was someone who remembered seeing things through Gretchen’s eyes. Maybe he was the owner of this city?

I thought a hero would appear, but it was surprising. Maybe not. If you look closely, it looks like it’s still unconscious.

“...who are you?”

[Are you asking because you don’t know? I think Isin’s servants have already said everything.]

In any case, the important thing is compromise. Mephistopheles chuckled and changed Ratel’s form. Ratel, who had become a chair, supported his body while laughing at the heaving soldiers.

[I am one of the great devils that you Angers want to kill.]

“....”

[At the same time, I am also a being who does not need to listen to Satan’s orders.]

“...Are you just explaining what happened?”

[explanation? No, no.]

Mephistopheles slowly crossed his legs. The ease flowing between the twisted legs becomes a pressure when it touches a human being.

[This is a notice.]

The red eyes between the goat bones smiled.

[I don’t want to lose the dish I barely got.]

“...What do you mean by that?”

[For example, something like this.]

At the same time, the bone cracked along with a crunching sound. The gray hair that had been dragging on the floor began to shrink upwards and stay in the night. It was a head where ash and night coexisted.

Crack. At the same time, the body covered in black magic and ratel became thicker, and the shape of the clothes changed to a familiar one.

“...lily!”

“Demon knight...!”

[I inform you that the moment you try to plunge the blade into this guy’s heart, I will jump out.]

The moment the pitch-black demonic energy passed over my face for the last time. The moment the bone mask completely shattered with a crashing sound.

Mephistopheles smiled with his fully revealed face. It was a smile made on the face of an evil knight.