Barren plains filled with poisonous gas and traps. The first destination of the strike force of Minas Mar was the territory of Payne Indias, the demon maestro. Seth had not forgotten the sudden intrusion of Dragos Cernat during their last trip to the Abyss.
In the meant time, Seth had also made the connection between the Maestro's formations that blocked Home Call and Dragos. Now, it was very obvious that those two had some kind of connection.
Dragos, the heart eater, had profited the most from the adventurers suddenly being unable to use Home Call. The one who set up the formations was the Maestro and the people who created that situation for Dragos were most likely the Scene.
All of this led to the conclusion, that the Maestro had told Dragos that they had entered the Abyss. Now, Seth wanted to deliver his thanks to the demon up close and personally. Maybe even sing him a little serenade
"Oh, Payne Indias~ Where are you?" he cooed as the four field teams entered the demon's territory.
Toxic smoke with hard-to-identify effects bellowed from the crevasses in the ground and even more bizarre creatures than last time wandered across the surface, even their strength seemed to have improved. This time Minas Mar had come with more people, more chosen, and more manpower. So much so, that they didn't even have to lift a finger.
The moment they entered these poisoned lands of diseases and mutations, a dark wave flooded across the barren landscape. The bizarre monsters the Maestro had released to the surface suddenly faced a dark army of brethren. Rotting, tireless, brethren.
This time Evee had come along with them and the immortal witch displayed the power of a necromancer who had been chosen by Persephone. Well, technically she didn't display any of her specific skills, it was just the horde of beasts she had collected during the siege on their base in the Holy Land, thoroughly buffed by her skills, her new Scepter, and the Ring of Acheron.
With her undead being the remnants of the Maestro's former elite and more, there was nothing that could stand in the path of her rotting army. Whatever dared to face them, was quickly converted into an ally. In the meantime, the field teams had nothing to do aside from following her lead. Whenever her monsters found a dungeon entrance, they flooded inside like a swarm of insects looking for prey.
Seth looked on with an awkward expression. As imposing and frightening the power of a necromancer was, he was glad that he had never aimed for the resurrection of the dead. At least not in the shape of a bunch of old, rotten meat and bones. Even when he worked with bones, they were very clean.
The blacksmith rather looked away from Evee's army, since the stench and the aesthetics of most undead were simply disgusting. The only saving grace was that Evee had a dimensional space where she could put her undead army-like pets, instead of constantly being surrounded by this scent of death and decay.
"Payne, you better get out quickly. The longer you wait, the worse your punishment will be;" Seth called out, his voice being strengthened by mana. The bard really wanted to end this quickly, so Evee could put away her moldy meat, for everyone's mental health. A few minutes of silence followed as he waited for an answer. While he waited, more and more undead kept pouring in and out of dungeons, filling the rugged terrain.
"What do you want?!" a slug had appeared on a rock close by and suddenly asked a question.
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Since he had answered, Seth gave a signal and Evee's undead came to a halt, frozen as if their time was stopped.
"Is that Payne Indias?" Edward, Evee's Brother, asked intrigued.
"No, you are more of a pain in the ass. This is just a speaker," the slug spat out rudely.
" There are two things I want, no three. Come out here so I can give you a good beating. Bring whatever you are willing to pay for your life and deactivate all the space lock formations you placed in the Holy Land and the Abyss. If you don't comply, we will disassemble every dungeon and laboratory we can find in this place, until I get my hands on you."
Releasing the formations that blocked Home Call was a necessity because Seth was annoyed looking for them himself. The beating was the punishment for working with Dragos in the first place and trying to set up a trap for them in the Abyss. The bribe was the consolation because he couldn't beat him to death, since he still needed him to get rid of the formations.
The slug stayed silent for a while. Seth was aware that the Maestro had two options now. The blacksmith doubted that Payne had the manpower to even stop Evee's army much less if all of them joined. This only left either giving up his work here and running away, or taking the deal. A demonic Maestro would never throw away their life and their research was almost as important as their life to them.
"Fine, but how do I know you won't just kill me after I complied with all your demands?" the slug asked composed.
"I have already prepared the contract. I you fulfill all my demands, you get to pack up your research and leave this world," Seth said magnanimously, as he brought out the contract he prepared beforehand.
"What, I still have to leave, even after fulfilling your demands?" the slug asked upset. "H-How about I promise not to leave my territory and not to harm players unless they come here on their own? Doesn't that sound fair? " he suddenly started bargaining.
"What do you guys think? Banishment or confinement?" Seth stepped back to ask the others in a hushed voice. Opinions varied since the territory of the Maestro was very dangerous for an ordinary adventurer.
"On the other hand, if nobody comes here, the demon can't harm anyone," Ray commented.
"Yeah, but we should add more conditions to it. He shouldn't be allowed to leave his territory, expand his territory, or have contact with anyone outside his territory on Urth," Alison suggested.
" his troops should not be allowed to leave either," Lydia added.
Like making a wish with a genie, they came up with all kinds of clauses that would completely confine Payne Indias to this piece of land on Urth whenever he was in this world and hinder him from helping the Scene or someone similar.
"Alright, the contract is drafted, now come out and sign it," Seth finally announced.
"Fine," the slug answered.
Soon later globs of black slime crawled from many of the crevasses in the landscape, pushing past the undead. They all fused together in front of Seth, taking the shape of a roughly anthropomorphic ibex. He was tall, his gaunt shoulder was on eye level with Seth, while his long, curved horns made him easily over 2,5m tall. He wore black wavy robes, and his fingernails were incredibly long and ugly.
"We finally meet face to face."
"Yes. Let's get this over with." the demon said disgruntled.
He lifted his hand and pierced the pack of his left hand with the nail of his right, to draw a drop of blood and drip it on the parchment of the contract. After the signal of the establishment of the contract, he pulled out a single gold coin.
"The worth of my life," the demon stated with a smile that exposed his crooked yellow teeth.
While they spent a lot of time working out the way to confine him, as well as the removal of the formations, the other two options had been rather vague. However, a smile was playing around Seth's lips.
"You think you can use this loophole and buy your life for a pittance because I didn't set the worth of your life, huh?"
Suddenly, a gauntlet caved in the caprine's face to the point of disfigurement. Spraying thick blood everywhere, the demon fell back with a cry of pain.
"Guess what? The extent of your beating was also not specified, as long as you don't die."
The demon looked up in shock, at the blacksmith who was now cracking his knuckles.
"I think you know where this is going. The more presents you spit out, the less often you get hit."
Like a demon pinata, but Seth did not say that out loud.