Chapter 11
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"So..."
The demon I summoned cannot use its power right now. However, if I eliminate the culprit behind it, it will be able to.
The demon will assist with my revenge on the condition that I help it eliminate the culprit.
Since I decided not to sell my soul, there is no risk of falling into hell.
"...This isn't bad, is it?"
Of course, one must always be cautious with contracts.
It was an offer far too sweet to accept blindly. There was definitely a trap.
"How do you intend to find the demon you need to deal with?"
[I'll just have to find the human who made the contract and crush them.]
...The human who made the contract?
My head turned before I could stop it.
Deyan, pinned to the wall, was still unconscious.
"...You said there were no demons capable of crossing over into the human realm, didn't you?"
[No. I am the exception now.]
Beval puffed out his chest, acting arrogant.
[You were the one who called me.]
"That's true."
[I specifically made the summoning conditions easy so I could come to the human realm on purpose, but these stupid humans never looked for me, did they?]
"Aha."
Thirteen drops of blood and a heart. I felt like I understood how this gap had occurred.
This demon had been desperate to ascend to the human realm one way or another.
Beval was still chattering away beside me.
[But then you just happened to call me.]
"If I don't sign the contract, what happens to you, Beval?"
I asked, my gaze fixed on Deyan. The angel answered eagerly.
[The meaning of your summoning will vanish, so he will soon lose his power and either return to hell or cease to exist. You thought well, Idir.]
[No! Think again, Idir. It's true I can't use my power, but that only refers to the majority of a demon's strength. I'm still stronger than you humans.]
"If Beval continues to stay in the human realm, what about you, Sariel...?"
[I will remain. It is also our mission to watch over that creature so he cannot pull any tricks.]
Oh, is that so?
I looked back and forth between the beaming angel and the flustered demon.
'So, this means I have the upper hand, doesn't it?'
The angel wants me not to sign the contract with the demon, and the demon is in a position where he needs me.
Even if I had prepared myself for hell, isn't it human nature to avoid it if possible?
The situation was turning in my favor.
This was all thanks to the blood of Dejan Vojislav Nemanjić.
'Right after the summoning, Beval asked whose blood it was, didn't he?'
That was Deyan's blood.
Why did he react to his blood?
The answer was simple. The demon who granted Deyan his immortal power is the very "demon" Beval is looking for.
"Hehe."
I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't.
Covering my mouth slightly with my fingertips, I began to laugh, my shoulders shaking.
"Hehe. Hehehehe..."
The angel and the demon stiffened, startled by my sudden laughter.
[...I, Idir...?]
"Hehehe."
[Idir? Why, why are you laughing?]
"Hehehe!"
I couldn't help but find this knight of the enemy nation, hanging helplessly on the wall pierced by glowing nails, adorable.
'You were the key to every problem.'
I gently cupped Deyan's cheeks with both hands.
As my body heat touched him, he furrowed his brows, as if regaining consciousness.
"Ugh..."
"Sir Nemanich. Please, wake up."
"Gah..."
"Are you in a lot of pain? Can you understand me?"
I stroked his cheeks and neck as if tending to a dear lover, coaxing him back to his senses.
Finally, Deyan slowly lifted his eyelids.
I waited for him to capture me in his blurry vision.
"...Grand Duchess?"
"Are you feeling a bit better?"
"What on earth is this... No, what has happened?"
"Who knows? More importantly, I have something to tell you."
"Pardon? In this situation, what could possibly..."
I leaned in and whispered quickly into his ear.
"You haven't forgotten that you promised to help with my revenge, have you?"
"..."
"So, let's make a deal."
I will help you break your curse, and you will help me with my revenge.
"I just had a very good idea."
I gave a slight smile to the still-dazed Deyan, then went before the angel and knelt.
"Sariel."
[Idir. You thought well.]
I don't know what he misunderstood, but Sariel smiled gently and stroked my hair.
[Yes. One must not carelessly join hands with a demon.]
"No, that's not it."
[A wise choice... Huh?]
"I just remembered something I wanted to pray to you for, Sariel."
They say that, originally, one should pray for others, not for oneself.
"Please, grant me the opportunity to save the soul of that pitiful and foolish knight of the enemy nation."
I looked up at Sariel with teary eyes, like an innocent child.
The hand that had been stroking my hair like a child's stopped abruptly.
"Did you hear my prayer?"
[...]
[What is she saying right now?]
At the same time Beval's bewildered voice came from behind, a loud scream pierced the hallway.
"Kyaaaak! My Lord! Please, save me!"
I turned my head, beaming.
'He's not dead yet?'
A "horse" burst through the door that Dejan Vojislav Nemanjić had smashed.
"Hey, you crazy woman!"
Holdin, who had tumbled in miserably, scrambled across the floor on his backside.
Behind him, Glay Holdin appeared, holding a sword emitting a blue glow.
"My apologies, Grand Duchess. I will deal with this one now."
"Don't kill me, Grand Duchess! If you look closely, I might still be of use!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! A moment ago, I was just briefly out of my mind..."
Holdin, who had been scrambling to beg for his life, saw his eyes widen slowly.
"...Who are you people?"
He had finally noticed the angel and the demon.
I let Holdin, who had frozen in stupidity, figure out the situation and spoke.
"Glay. That's enough, wait in the hallway. That man still has his uses."
Then I approached Holdin and placed a hand firmly on his shoulder.
"Make a choice, sir. Whether you will watch your superior receive divine punishment from an angel, or do as I say. Prove your worth."
"Pardon? Punishment, what... And what is an angel?"
Holdin's gaze, distorted by all sorts of questions, landed on Deyan hanging on the wall.
His mouth dropped open to its limit.
"My, My Lord...!"
I firmly blocked him from running toward Deyan.
"Make your choice first."
"Damn it! What choice do you want me to make!"
"You sign the contract with the demon."
I pointed to Beval, who was watching with sparkling interest.
"In my place."
* * *
Holdin doubted his own ears.
He even thought that perhaps his mind had snapped due to the life-threatening danger right in front of him.
"What, what did you just... No, pardon?"
"Of course, you don't have a choice."
Thankfully, I wasn't the one who was crazy.
"Gah!"
"Because the moment you refuse, you will die."
Because the crazy one was the Grand Duchess in front of him, Idir Hubert.
Holdin tried to pry away the slender hands that were gripping his throat with nails dug deep.
But the harder he resisted, the stronger the woman's grip became.
'What kind of strength does a woman have...!'
Don't they say that when a person is cornered, they gain superhuman strength?
This insane Grand Duchess was exactly that.
To think she would suddenly pounce, knock a person down, and then climb on top to choke them.
The wounds from the blade Idir had brandished hadn't even healed yet, and now his throat was being targeted again.
'Is there something about my throat!'
Holdin struggled to escape from Idir, who was choking him with her clear green eyes flashing.
His crushed throat ached, and his vision blurred as his airway narrowed.
"You sign the contract with the demon. Beg him to let you find and take revenge on the culprit who killed my mother. As the price, tell him you will give him time to stay in the human realm."
"Cough, cough...!"
"Then I will pray to that angel over there for you. To break Sir Nemanich's curse."
*Smile.*
Idir's coral-colored lips curled up evenly.
To think she was a Grand Duchess who could spout nonsense while smiling with such dizzying beauty, all while choking someone.
'She's crazy. She's crazy, crazy, crazy!'
"Did you understand me?"
Idir asked with a smiling face.
At the edge of Holdin's blurred vision, he saw Deyan hanging on the wall.
The pure white nail piercing his shoulder was emitting a mystical, faint light.
No one would think this was the work of a human.
And there were two non-human entities watching this situation.
The demon, in particular, was finding this situation fascinating.
'There's no other way.'
Holdin, struggling to supply oxygen to his brain, nodded hurriedly.
"O, okay..."
Okay, you crazy woman.
'Let go of my neck...!'
At this rate, he would breathe his last before he could even sign a contract with a demon.
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