* * *

Unbelievable. Impossible. Unthinkable. It just couldn't BE. But it did. His symphony was cut off terribly and suddenly, painfully echoing in its very essence. It couldn't have happened. It simply couldn't have happened! But there could be no mistake. His hateful singing, which had given her the best of all possible pleasures, was almost silent. But the other melodies were becoming more and more distinct. Carrying the anger of the celestials from whom they had dared to steal the slaves who thought they were their servants in their naive blindness. What unbearably cruel disappointment, what monstrous injustice, what unthinkable meanness.

She performed her tune flawlessly and played her part perfectly. She did his will, and the coveted reward was in her hands. She had already anticipated all the pleasures and sufferings her new favorite toys would bring her, thinking about how she would beg for them for eternal use, defend them from her beloved brothers and sisters, and bestow them on her most hated ones. Now, there would be none of that. The reward for all her efforts could only be a final note, shrill and loud but followed by eternal silence. The realization of this monstrous, agonizingly beautiful injustice made every soul in her chorus cry out in unison. What to do? One must think about it. And that takes time. And what a blessing that, by his grace, she had it, and she hadn't wasted it. It's not much, but it's enough.

The deviless, who looked like a naked, tall, slender woman with light purple skin, firm breasts of C-size with large dark purple nipples, a long flexible tail, a pair of dark leather wings, long black-red hair, and small twisted horns on her temples, touched with a long sharp fingernail a small hourglass on a small tea table, turning it upside down. The sand inside flashed with a bright silver light and began to crumble downward, burning and blackening. The hard-won gift that had been given to them for the Fall was no longer to be regretted. When the clock turned over, the time inside the luxurious capital's estate accelerated by leaps and bounds. Especially inside the spacious dining hall she was now in.

The deviless leisurely approached the cultists lined up along the wall. They were all naked and standing at attention like Imperial Guardsmen at a drill waiting only for her command to begin the well-deserved celebration. That would now never begin. Each one of them she had personally nurtured, guided, and corrupted. Each was her masterpiece, her child, her beloved husband, her hated sister, her calculating wife, and her naive brother. When she reached the end of the line, she stopped in front of a tall, slender young man with short blond hair, a handsome, aristocratic face, and... a pair of big tits with large, protruding nipples that he had received today as punishment for a perfectly executed role. Reaching forward, she squeezed his chest affectionately, scratching a nipple with her long fingernail. Her sweet boy, who in his desire to earn praise had presented her with his entire family on a platter, how could she leave such a thing without the best possible punishment? Not fair...

Turning away from the young man who had never known the fullness of her love, the deviless went to the center of the dining hall, where all the furniture had been removed to make space. There, right on the floor, several dozen household servants and guards lay in even rows. The relatives of her new son-daughter lay in similarly even rows but slightly apart. Immersed in a trance, unaware of anything, and just staring at the ceiling. Almost untouched by her love, they were ready to experience all the torments of bliss she had prepared for them. Thanks to the help of her sweet son, who never became a full-fledged daughter and did not have time to discover the joy of forced motherhood with her. She was able to get her hands on a large part of a very rich and influential family almost without resistance. Without a fight, without loss! With all their wealth, the main among them was themselves. A carefully prepared and perfectly executed melody, where there was not a single false note. But which now would not end as it should! Oh, she would have begun the finale long ago, but he had willed her not to begin without his express permission. Perhaps he had special plans for this family. Maybe he just wanted to punish her for her beautiful performance of her part of the tune. She'll never know now.

She stopped in front of a young man lying on the floor, his shoulder-length white-blond hair disheveled and dressed in an expensive light blue robe embroidered with gold, and stared at him for a few seconds. So many plans she had for this young man. How much effort she had put into his appearance in this family, which neither he nor his young mistress, who was lying next to him, had even realized. So many tunes prepared especially for them. So many things that can't be accomplished now. It's not fair.

She turned back to the hourglass and sorrowfully clucked her very long and slightly bifurcated tongue. There's still time, but it's running out. She has to make a decision now. Right now. Otherwise, the time they had been given might not be enough. Run. Or? Or... Or! With a sorrowful groan, the deviless gently lowered herself onto the young man in a robe lying on the floor, sitting on his stomach. After that, she fixed her hair so it wouldn't get in the way and carefully approached his face. The work to be done is not easy. If only there were a little more time! So many painful temptations and no opportunity to enjoy them even a little!

* * *

When he opened his eyes, the young man in the light blue robe blinked in surprise, trying to figure out what was going on and where he was. He sat down on the floor and wrenched his head around in a daze, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth open like a beached fish.

"What the fuck..."

"Happy awakening, my sweet. How are you feeling?"

The young man turned to the voice and saw the deviless sitting in a luxurious armchair in a deliberately seductive and provocative pose so he could see everything. For a moment, the young man stared at her. Then he let out an inarticulate cry, threw his right arm out in front of him, and began to crawl backward. The air between him and the deviless rippled as if from a fire. But the deviless, who was looking at him with a smile, only said:

Инстинкт

"Calm down, my boy. I'm not going to hurt you..."

He didn't pay any attention to her words; instead, he threw both hands up, and the air shaking in front of him turned into a translucent, silvery sphere of protective barrier. He struggled to his feet and took a step back, looking around wild-eyed and cursing profusely.

"Fuck! Bitch! What the fuck!? What the fuck!? What?! What the fuck?"

"Boy, calm down and listen to me..."

"Aaah! Bitch, bitch, bitch, damn blood!"

Blushing like a boiled crawfish, he continued to maintain a protective barrier around himself with one hand (which, if she had her way, she would have been able to overcome), and with the other, he reached behind his back and pulled out a garland of small balls of smooth material. Clutching them in his hand, he turned with a face twisted with anger and humiliation to the pretty girl lying on the floor near him, with long brown hair and dressed in an expensive beige dress with a deep neckline on her chest. She must have been augmented with expensive alchemy.

"Oh, I see the young countess was not lacking in imagination....."

Hearing the deviless' voice full of merriment, the young man twitched, dropped the garland of balls, turned to her with a twisted face, and shouted hysterically, raising his hand in an accusatory gesture:

"You! What did you do?! What's going on?"

She responded by raising both hands conciliatorily in the air, still sitting in the chair.

"Calm down and listen to me. We don't have much time. Unless, of course, you want to stay alive and free yourself from your merry mistress."

At these words, the young man jerked like a stung man again and threw a glance full of anger at the girl lying on the floor. Then he slowly turned to the deviless and slowly hissed, repeating:

"What did you do?! What's going on?!"

The deviless smiled and pointed with the tip of her wing at the window. Or rather, at what was happening outside the window:

"As you can see, my Sovereign's plan has failed. The Fall of the Eternal, which has been in preparation for centuries, has failed. How exactly, I do not know, and it does not matter to me now. What I care about now is my fate. I don't like the choice I have. I could run away right now while the city is still deep enough. But where to? To another lord or lordess? The price would be the forfeiture of most of the sonm, dozens of new bondage oaths, and centuries of new ascendancy, with no chance of success. Or I could play my last tune before being silenced once and for all. Such sad options. If only..."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Here the deviless leaned forward conspiratorially:

"...there was no you. With your help, I have a very real chance to save myself."

"Yes? Why should I help you instead of killing you on the spot?"

"My boy, I don't want to upset you, but you can't beat me in a fight. After all, you're not a fighter. And you should help me, my dear, because without me you are doomed as well. I'm your only chance for salvation, just as you are mine."

"What?! What are you talking about?!"

"Have you not yet realized your true position? Have you not realized your true role in this world? Have you forgotten where you belong, Lucik?"

The deviless said the last phrase in the accurately copied voice of the unconscious girl in the beige dress. As soon as she said it, the young man's face smoothed. He lowered his hands, extinguishing the magical barrier, came to the unconscious girl, knelt in front of her, and, pulling up the hem of her dress, obviously intended to get his head under it.

"So lovely..."

Hearing the deviless' voice full of mirth, the young man twitched and drew back with a cry:

"What the fuck?! What?! How the..."

Turning to the smiling deviless, he literally shrieked:

"What is this?! Why am I... Stop... I'm... Stop... No... Can't... Oh, for fuck's sake!"

Sitting down on the floor, he clutched his head and, with a twisted expression, began to whisper half-crazily:

"No, no, no! God, no. It's... I'm not... Why? Fuck!!! Fuck!!!

"I guess it's finally gotten to you, huh?"

The voice of the deviless brought the young man out of panic and hysteria, and he turned to her, opening his mouth, but he had no time to say anything. The deviless, inexplicably when she managed to get up from the chair, towering over him, said in a hard voice, folding her hands on her splendid chest:

"People like you have been summoned here for a very long time, only to be used as willless slaves. Obedient to the will of their masters. Or mistresses. To fulfill their every whim with a smile on their face. Those who can't be subdued are destroyed immediately. Without pity. Without delay. As well as those who begin to show even a shadow of defiance."

As she spoke, the young man sitting in front of her, looking up at her, became increasingly pale and began to tremble.

"I had no power to remove your chains from you. I don't even know how that could have been accomplished. But I could open your eyes. To make you realize your true place and role. As you realize, this is a death sentence for you. Once your masters find out, you will be destroyed. And they will, for your chains are still in place, and you will tell them yourself at the first inspection."

The young man, pale as death, was already trembling violently, and large drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"You asked why you would help me. The answer is simple, my sweet. I am the only one who can help you stay alive and get revenge on your sweet mistress for all she has done to you. As well as her mother and little brother."

At the mention of the latter, the young man twitched again, and his face twisted painfully in disgust. He cast a hateful glance away at a young man of a slight build with a very handsome or even feminine face lying nearby. Leaning toward him, the deviless placed her palm on his cheek and turned him to face her, looking directly into his eyes.

"Help me, and I'll help you hide the fact of your 'epiphany' from your masters. Yes, you will continue to live your old life for a long time. You can't avoid it. Now, any trace of my kind will be thoroughly searched everywhere, and all I will be able to do without the risk of being exposed is to cover for you. But as the years go by, the vigilance of the servants of God and other fighters against my kind will fade. It has been so before, it will be so now, and it will continue to be so. And when that happens, with my help, you will be able to switch roles with your mistress so that she will not notice that she has become your submissive plaything. And with her, her entire house will fall at our feet. Believe me. I know what I'm talking about. So, do you agree, my darling?"

"The young man, who had been listening to the deviless with his mouth open, suddenly twitched and pulled away from her with a suspicious stare."

"Why would I even trust you? And what's the point of helping me at all? Just to trade one mistress for another? Or maybe you put all this into my head in the first place?"

With a theatrical sigh, the deviless rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my dear, you may rest assured I could have done with you anything I pleased while you and your masters lay at my feet in my complete power. I could have turned you into my slave without any difficulty, and then you and I would not be talking now but doing something else. But instead, I opened your eyes to your true position. And more than that. All the little that I had managed to do to you and your masters, I cleaned out of you. Because when the Celestials save the city, you, like all survivors, will be tested. But you'll be scrutinized especially hard because you're a Hero. Or should have been."

At these words, the young man twitched again and cast an oblique glance at his mistress.

"And if the inspectors find even a trace of my will in your soul or mind, nothing good awaits you. And me with you. You're my only chance not just to save myself but to keep what I have. So, there's no point in me imposing my will on you in any way other than with words. Which has taken us far too long. The fallen lord's great gift is nearly exhausted."

With a wag of her tail, the deviless pointed to her hourglass.

"The last grains of sand will soon burn out, and time will return to its usual course. Therefore, I await your answer. Now."

For a few seconds, the young man stared at the deviless standing before him, at his hosts lying on the floor beside him, at the motionless cultists lined up along the wall, and at the window. Then, he suddenly rose to his feet and looked at his "savior" with a completely different expression. For a brief moment, it became hard and strong-willed. For a brief moment.

"Are you kidding me, sweetie?"

"What?"

"Do you think I'm a complete idiot to take the word of the devil? Especially one who almost screwed me and my mistress? No, don't get me wrong, your offer is very tempting, but I don't believe you on a dime. So, to make up for it, let's make a pact. You guys love contracts, don't you? So we'll make a pact, sealed. My seals. You will take them upon yourself without the slightest resistance. If I see fit, we'll renew them. Or rather, when I see fit, we'll renew them. That's the way it is and no other way."

For a few seconds, they stared into each other's eyes. The Chained non-Hero, and the Deviless. Doomed without each other. Then Hell's daughter smiled playfully, arched her back, bared her breasts, and rolled her shoulders, spreading her wings:

"Well, let's discuss our agreement while we have some time. I don't mind...."

A few moments later...

"Okay, I'm fine with this one for starters. Later we'll finalize it."

"As you wish, my dear. Well, let's get started, as we don't have much time left. Shall I tell you where the seals are best placed, hmm?"

"I know!"

Reaching forward with his right hand, the young man with a grim expression squeezed the left breast of the deviless, on whose light purple skin the glowing contours of the magic seal immediately appeared. She reacted with a mischievous smile and began to say distinctly:

"I, Bitterness of Love, promise to do you, Lucius Skyworker, no harm, not to your body, not to your spirit, not to your mind. Not myself, nor by using anyone else to do so, whether living, dead, or never living. I promise not to influence your body, soul, or mind in any way except and only to conceal from others your awareness of the Chaines placed upon you. I promise not to push or guide you toward Vice in any way, either by myself or by using anyone else to do so, whether living, dead, or never living. I promise to help you avenge the De Trianon family who called and enslaved you in any way you wish. I promise to keep our pact a secret, never to tell anyone, living, dead, or never living."

As the deviless spoke the words, the seal on her left breast grew larger, more complex, and glowed brighter and brighter. When she finished speaking, the young man took the floor:

"I, Lucius Skyworker..."

As he spoke, another magical seal appeared on the back of the palm of his right hand.

"... I promise to create a shelter for you, Bitterness of Love, where you can escape and hide from your enemies. I promise not to harm you in any way, either by myself or by using anyone else to do so, whether living, dead, or who has never lived. I promise to assist you to the best of my power and ability, without the risk of revealing the secret of our treaty, as you need to maintain your strength and existence, but no more than you now possess. I promise to keep our treaty secret without telling anyone, living, dead, or never having lived."

When the last words were spoken, both seals flared especially brightly, then faded away, absorbed into their thin bodies, and rendered almost invisible. Lucius Skyworker also known as Leonid Smolin in his homeworld exhaled and wiped the sweat from his forehead. This imposition had been one of the hardest in his new life. If the deviless had resisted, he wouldn't have been able to seal her. But the Hell resident had not hindered him in any way, having completely stripped away her defenses and willingly accepted the magical seal of the treaty. That was alarming and made him look for a catch. He would deal with it later, as soon as he had time. And, of course, he would not limit himself to one seal. But now there were more important things to do. As if in confirmation of his words, the deviless stretched again and said in a languid voice:

"Well, let's get down to business. We have a whole play to prepare and stage for the arrival of the saviors of this city. And we have no margin for error."

"Okay, tell me what to do."

By the time the last grain of sand in the hourglass had burned away and time had returned to normal, the Trianon capital estate looked like the survivor of a desperate and bloody battle. The enemies had managed to get in by bypassing the defenses, but the loyal servants and bodyguards had managed to buy time and allow the masters and Summoned to take refuge in a well-protected spatial shelter where they waited for help. Except for the captured nephew of the family matriarch. The Hell servants had fucked him into incapacitation. Lucius nodded grimly but contentedly at the result of the work of the deviless and her puppets and turned to his "savior."

"Impressive. I'm all set, too, just like you ordered. You can settle into your new home, and I'll join my 'sweetheart' in the family shelter."

"Don't be so haste, my dear. You forgot something in your haste, and we can't afford any slip-ups. And this is an important detail."

"What? What are you talking about? Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes!

With a sadistic smile, the deviless held out a garland of small balls to the young man. Lucius Skyworker, legendary Architect of Space, epic Master of Barriers, and Imposer of Seals, let out an impotent groan of despair.

* * *

Epilogue. Brinar puts his quill aside. Looks at the number of omakes to Avada's work. Glances at the number of his work. He looks at his Muse, rereading the Uncalled for the third time.

"Why don't we write something of our own?"

"Mmmm. Nope."

* * *