"Haah... I already told you, your summoning was part of a fair deal. If you want, even you will be able to make such deals after you inherit my powers. All you need to do is..."
"...is to make a deal with you? Are you kidding me? You want me to find the Holy Land of the Goddess and destroy the core of your powers? You think I'm crazy?!"
The Demon King looked back at me like I was an idiot.
"I didn't say that you had to destroy my power core. If you want, you can take it for yourself. I just don't want the wretched Goddess who put me in that dreary prison to have her way with my powers. I'd rather have it destroyed."
The Demon King showed a smirk on his face.
"And if you're not crazy, then what are you? Are you trying to pretend to be a sane, functional member of your 'normal' human society? In front of me?"
....damn it, this is why I hated this mind-reader bastard!
He didn't even need to use any kind of power to read the minds of others.
From what he said, Devils were creatures who could naturally see through the emotions of any other creature.
Now pair that ability with thousands of years of experience, and you get the monster who was sitting opposite to me.
"Even if I'm just a remnant will, a mere shadow of my former self, I can still clearly see through your emotions. Deep inside, aren't you overjoyed to know that I'm already dead?"
My expression became rotten instantly.
"Hahaha. I don't mind such thoughts at all! Rather, I welcome them. It just means that I didn't make a mistake in choosing you. After fulfilling the terms of the deal, you can do whatever you want! You will become the owner of my body, my innate abilities and talents – things that you could never have as a mere human..."
The Demon King then shrugged, wearing an amused smirk on his face.
"...Or you can even return back to your world by making a deal with the being who helped me in summoning you, if that's what you really want? My power core should be more than enough as a price for that."
With a frown on my face, I asked him about my most pressing concern about the deal he proposed to me.
"But how do I know that you won't try to resurrect and try to take over me once I fulfill my end of the deal? Even if you're powerless now, you can still pull me inside this illusion. What's stopping you from pulling something like this in a critical time and getting me killed?"
The previous playful smirk vanished from his face, replaced by a solemn expression.
"If you're worried about that, then I can add a specific clause forbidding me from interfering with you in any way in the contract. A deal is a deal, and no matter how wicked a Devil is, they will never break their word once a deal has been finalized."
"..."
"If you still cannot trust me, I can swear an oath using the method you're thinking of right now. It can't get any better than that, right?"
*Sigh…*
Damn it, I was already knee-deep in trouble anyway. Even if I wanted to return home now, I still needed to use some sort of magical art from the lands of Etheria.
But to get my hands on those arts and techniques, I needed to first defeat that Golem, and fighting that monstrosity would definitely cripple me, at the very least.
No matter how I looked at it, it was me who was backed into a corner. And the Devil knew that fact very well...
Taking a deep breath, I finally made my decision.
"Alright..."
Directing a sharp look at the Demon King in front of me, I declared.
"...I will accept your deal."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
A brilliant smile appeared on the Devil's face.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you."
"Tsk."
No, the pleasure was all mine.
But I didn't voice out that thought of mine, satisfied in knowing that this time at least...
Even this Devil couldn't see through my intentions.
…
…
"Huuu!"
With a loud gasp, my eyes suddenly snapped open, bringing me out of the illusion world conjured by the Demon King.
...*bam*...*bam–!*
Immediately after opening my eyes, I saw the stone Golem coming to a stop in front of my bleeding body.
'Ah...so even a Demon King had the same red-colored blood as normal humans...'
The gut-wrenching pain was back once again. I was once again left in a desperate situation, with no weapon, magic, or even an intact body.
But unlike before, I didn't immediately invoke my lifeforce burning technique.
Yeah, I had made a deal with the Devil. There was no longer any need for me to do something like that again.
"....cough....cough....Heavenly...King..Dular...."
Despite the pain, I addressed the Golem readying its holy energy cannon with a bloody smile on my face.
{....My..Lord....I can't...stop....please...kill....}
The original Demon King was now dead, but this loyal retainer of his couldn't let go of his hope. Hope that his master would return one day, freeing him from his duties and suffering forever...
"....I..thank you...for your service...."
But the Demon King was never coming back. After all, that was part of the deal I made with him.
However, as the one who inherited everything from him in return, at least, I wanted to give this hopeful demon his due closure.
Closing my eyes, I called out to my new source of power...
'Answer my call, Demon Realm!'
*RUMBLE~!*
....and the unending cloud of dense miasma covering the entire dungeon violently responded to me!
'From today....'
*WHOOSH–!*
'...I'm your new master!'
"Argh!"
Before the Heavenly King could understand what was happening, a devastating flood of demonic miasma suddenly rushed into my body, finally completing the incomplete puzzle of a Devil's physique....
—Abyssal Malevolence!
Just by standing close to me, the Sun Goddess' divine power coursing through the Golem's body slowly started to slowly corrode and dim.
The dark crimson miasma took on a jet-black hue as it rapidly ate away the holy energy powering the Golem at an astonishing speed, slowing down the holy energy cannon's power-up sequence.
...And for me, that small delay was more than enough.
The flood of malevolent force violently shook the dungeon tunnel, threatening to collapse at any moment.
All of my wounds – internal as well as external – were covered in a layer of this force, stopping the intense bleeding and temporality bringing me back to full-health condition.
I didn't need to check my status screen to confirm this. I could feel it deep within my bones.
There was not a shred of doubt in my mind, that right at this very moment, I...
—I can't lose!
With just a light wave of my hand, the formless malevolence around me swiftly took shape, twisting and distorting in place before turning into a giant, pitch-black arm pulsing with an intense destructive force!
*BOOM–!*
Without wasting any time, the giant arm made of malevolent force smashed through the Golem's body, instantly shattering the energy core powering the towering structure.
"You have served me well, now you can rest in peace."
The bright orbs radiating divine light on the Golem's face dimmed a little, before he managed to squeeze out a final response.
{...Thank you, My Lord...}
A hoarse whisper...
{...thank you...for saving me...}
After thousands of years of pain and solitude, his cursed life as a puppet finally came to an end.
*Ping~*
Indeed, I was not the Demon King he served.
But I still accepted and acknowledged his loyalty and determination to persevere for so long, waiting for his master's glorious return....
[Congratulations! You have defeated a lvl.32 Awakened Divine Guardian!]
[EXP Points Earned: +560]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
…
…
[You have leveled up!]
Notifications of his death, as well as my multiple level-ups bombarded my ears, but I couldn't bring myself to smile for some reason.
"Why did he even serve a trashy lord like you?"
Never in my life did I ever imagine that one day, I would feel admiration for a demon's sense of loyalty.
"Vanir, you bastard.... You really sat back and let the Heroes kill such loyal subordinates like him...."
*Ping~*
[Tutorial Quest: Completed!]
At last, the final stage of this damned tutorial was finally over.