Scarlett and Michael made their way toward the Capital, the guards immediately recognizing them and letting them through without any problems. Making their way into the Castle to meet with their contractors, they handed Arthur over.
"You have completed your side of the agreement now I shall grant you a contract with a demon of your choosing." The Demon King said
"I want a contract with you, Your Majesty." Scarlett requested.
"Impossible. I have already signed a contract with a being."
"Then what about your war general, Sir?."
"That can be arranged for you, what about you little human?"
"Any demon with a Gift relating to blood would suffice, My Lord."
"Very well, that's all I want from you humans, now get out of my sight."
Scarlett and Michael were grinning from ear to ear while leaving the Palace knowing their power will likely double. Michael even began laughing menacingly. It is said that creating a contract creates a divide in your soul, which in turn makes you act on your emotions more than your rationality. The Demon can also sever the contract which will damage both parties' souls forever and cut their power in half. Those are the only known drawbacks of making a Demon contract/pact.
*** *** ***
Arthur had flashed in and out of consciousness for the next few days, he couldn't remember anything after Michael broke his 9th finger. 'Curse them'. He remembered that they told him he would be given over to the Demons for experiments, he frantically looked around to inspect his surroundings. He was chained to a stone pillar his hands and feet tied down in opposite directions by sturdy black chains which emanated dark mana. The rest of the room had basic gray walls, a small purple wood table, and a small light at the top, he instantly knew where he was; A dungeon or torture room since he saw quite a bit of tools on the table.
"So you're awake. You took almost a week to fully wake up like this." Arthur didn't even feel his presence until he spoke. "I'm a scientist for the Demons and you're my test animal, I would give you my name but since you'll probably die soon I won't bother with such formalities." He started rummaging through his tools when Arthur noticed another presence behind him. The scientist saw that he realized there was another person and smiled at him. "That's a healer we prepared so that you won't pass or die as easily." Arthur quickly flicked his head towards him, a frightened look on his face. "Don't look so worried... it'll hurt at the start but your mind should adjust to the pain meaning that you should start feeling less pain after a few months." 'Months? I can't stay here for months but what can I do? I'm stuck, my Gifts useless in the face of true power.'
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The scientist walked over to him and started breaking everything. First both his legs. Left leg. CRACK. "AGHHHHHHHHH!" This was when Arthur realized he didn't have anything to muffle the noise he made. Right leg. CRACK. "PLEASE STOP IT HURTS, it hurts so much." He started sobbing.
"I don't like hearing you scream but the Demon King wants to hear it so I can't do anything about that." Scientist muttered to himself. The healer instantly healed both his legs, and after healing came the breaking of Arthur's arms. Left arm. CRACK. "What'd I do to deserve this!" Screamed Arthur desperation filling his voice. "You were just unlucky, unfortunately," the Scientist said breaking Arthur's right arm. CRACK. "AGHHHHH!"
"Being born with four Gifts and all of them being physical based." He clicked his tongue. "Truly unlucky. You got the Demon King's interest and got captured for just existing. Poor child." He put away the hammer he was using and switched to a skin peeler. "Now for the skin collection process, the pain you'll feel will be triple the pain you felt when I broke your legs and arms." Arthur didn't even struggle, he knew there was no point.
He peeled the skin on Arthur's chest. "AGHHH IT BURNS MAKE IT STOP IT BURNS!" Arthur was held tight by the chains not even being able to move an inch. Finishing that he went over to his legs and peeled off some skin from his shins. "please... stop this... I can't take it anymore." Arthur said barely audible. Scientist went for the skin on his forehead last. "Why me... WHYD IT HAVE TO BE ME" Arthur screamed in pain. Scientist demon ignored him.
"Lastly I'll take some hair then we'll be done for the day." Arthur mentally sighed in relief when he got a knife and cut his hair without causing him pain. "With that, we should be done for the day! Healer please heal him and make sure he'll be fully recovered by tomorrow so that we can repeat the same thing." He knew that they would repeat it again but still hearing those words made Arthur sob and mutter uselessly to himself. The Scientist left after that.
"No child should go through this much pain. I truly feel sorry for you human." Arthur looked up to see a Demon lady whom he presumed was the healer standing in front of him. She had smooth dark skin, red eyes, and two big horns growing out of her forehead. "The Demon King does sometimes do truly evil things. I can't believe he would do such a thing to an innocent child." The Lady looked up into Arthur's eyes. For some reason Arthur saw sadness and pity in her eyes, he couldn't believe she was pitying him. He felt pathetic.