Chapter 40

The Demon’s Whisper

The head Yuren had severed came flying through the air.

Before it could even hit the floor, Ferda fired a magical projectile and blew it apart.

Crack!

Fragments of the shattered head scattered in every direction.

“Ugh!”

Zed instinctively covered his face.

Worried that some of it might have gotten into his mouth, he spat repeatedly before shouting at Ferda.

“Why did you suddenly blow up his head?!”

Ferda calmly wiped the blood from his cheek with his thumb.

“We had to be thorough.”

“His head was already separated from his body. Did you really need to finish him off like that?”

“The demon is not the issue. At the very least, this is more believable than claiming the regent suddenly became skilled with a blade and cut off his head.”

“Ah. That is true.”

Zed looked down at Yuren’s corpse.

The stab wound and the clean mark left by the finishing slash were both clearly visible.

For a Third-Circle mage who had supposedly won through a desperate magical struggle, the wounds looked far too physical.

Zed decided to damage the severed surface so that the death could be disguised as the result of an explosion.

“So…”

After finishing the preparations, Zed looked at Ferda with resentment in his eyes.

“You said you only needed a pair of eyes.”

“And did you really come with nothing but your eyes?”

Zed laughed in disbelief.

“Do you think I’m insane enough to take that literally?”

As expected of a man with the makings of a legendary thief.

Even with vague instructions, his ability to understand exactly what was needed was dependable.

“More importantly, you arrived later than I expected.”

“A lot happened. I had to avoid people while moving through the palace, and I was unlucky enough to get caught by someone…”

Zed’s expression darkened as he remembered it, but then he grinned.

“Well, meeting that man actually allowed me to finish things more safely and without leaving any trouble behind.”

“Who did you meet?”

“A man named Kark from the Purge Corps. The one you lured here, Regent.”

The moment Ferda heard the name, an involuntary sound escaped his lips.

“Ah.”

Karl.

The man Ferda had placed a dog collar around.

“Things became much easier thanks to him. He entered as a substitute for the storekeeper.”

“I see.”

“More importantly, is your leg all right?”

Zed gestured toward Ferda’s leg with his chin.

The bleeding had slowed, but the wound was still open.

Before Ferda could answer, Zed bent down toward it.

“Let us stop the bleeding first. We should at least compress it with a bandage.”

“I have a handkerchief. I can handle it myself.”

Everything had to be carried out meticulously from beginning to end.

Thinking so, Ferda wrapped the cloth around his leg.

All he had to do was tie it in place, but the knot came out loose.

Ferda was already physically weak, and in his anemic state, he could not tighten it properly.

“Give it here.”

Unable to keep watching, Zed pushed Ferda’s hands aside and firmly secured the wound with the handkerchief.

“Let us say you stopped the bleeding with every last bit of strength you had. A man on the verge of death can accomplish all sorts of things.”

“Yes. That should be plausible enough.”

“So what now? Do I carry you out of here on my back? I should warn you that I charge extra for additional cargo.”

Ferda shook his head.

“I would prefer that you complete the job as requested. Do you see the book with the black cover and silver chains over there?”

Ferda pointed toward a book resting nearby.

“Yes, I see it. Is that what I need to take?”

“There should be golden silk that was used to transport Gamigin’s Necromancy. Wrap the book in it and safely carry it to the carriage we arrived in.”

Zed wrapped Barbatos’s Shadow Arts in the cloth he had brought.

His eyes never left Ferda’s injured leg.

“Are you truly going to be all right? Shouldn’t I call someone?”

“There is no need to worry.”

“You have lost a lot of blood. Of course I’m worried.”

“A person does not die from this much.”

Zed scratched his head, visibly conflicted.

Ferda continued insisting that he was fine, but the injury was too severe to simply ignore.

“Did you find the information you were looking for?”

“Not yet. I heard a loud commotion down here first, so I came to deal with that.”

“Then stop wasting time and go find it.”

“Is that really what matters right now? You look like you are about to die, Regent.”

“Was that not the information you were willing to devote your entire life to finding?”

There was a clear purpose behind Zed flattering repulsive women and cheating nobles through rigged gambling matches to extort their money.

Zed had nothing left.

The Red-Eyed Tribe had been exterminated, and he had been the only one to survive the massacre as a child.

His final memory was of his younger sister being dragged away by unknown assailants.

With no family remaining, that hope was everything to him.

“A contract is a contract. You agreed to carry out my work properly on the condition that you would obtain what you wanted.”

Zed looked displeased.

At the same time, however, he felt as though he could not refuse someone who was showing such ruthless determination.

Zed rose to his feet and earnestly pleaded with Ferda.

“Do not die.”

Then he moved.

Even as he ran at full speed, not a single footstep could be heard.

‘As expected, his talent was evident from the beginning.’

Admiring him, Ferda leaned back against the wall.

He rested against a display cabinet and steadied his breathing.

His mana was completely depleted, blood loss had left him anemic, and his mind had been pushed to its limits.

Yuren’s entry into the Sealed Vault had been recorded.

If he failed to emerge on time, an emergency response team would be dispatched.

‘Judging by the timing… perhaps twenty minutes.’

Even a single minute was precious right now.

Twenty minutes was an unbearably long time.

Especially in a place like this.

Ferda had grown weak, and weakened prey was irresistible to predators.

The ominous energy of the cursed grimoires began trying to seep into him.

—Would you like to play with me?

—Why not form a contract with me? I shall grant you the power to destroy the world.

—Come to me. I shall personally take you under my protection.

Voices ranging from childish to solemn crept over Ferda’s entire body, probing him as they attempted to slip inside.

Judging solely by their words, one might assume they possessed tremendous or mysterious powers.

But Ferda knew better.

These were insignificant demons whose names were not even known.

Their prices were unreasonable, their conditions were terrible, and even the power they offered was worthless.

‘Do I truly have to listen to the words of trash like this?’

Perhaps because of that, Ferda yawned despite the tense situation.

The malice they possessed was far too weak to exploit any opening in Ferda’s mind.

A short while later, all of the voices fell silent at once.

They had not retreated because of Ferda’s ironclad will.

Something of a higher rank than them was approaching.

“At last.”

The darkness within Ferda’s vision deepened.

Before he could fully register the instinctive sense of foreboding, a chilling cold wrapped around him.

Then someone appeared before Ferda.

—You damned mortal.

An old man with blue skin and a long white beard stared at Ferda through cloudy white eyes that resembled those of someone suffering from cataracts.

It was Marbas, the Great Demon who had contracted with Yuren.

—How dare you lay a hand on something that had only just become mine? Do you know what it means to earn the grudge of a demon?

Ferda looked at him and asked,

“What does it mean?”

—You will pay dearly for humiliating Marbas! For one million years, you shall suffer as your skin blisters and your veins freeze in the deepest reaches of the Frozen Hell!

Marbas thundered at him.

Then he tapped the floor several times with his staff.

Frost from Hell scattered across the ground.

—I shall grant you a chance to make amends. Form a contract with me. Take the place left vacant by my newest contractor. What do you say?

A contract with Ferda.

That was why Marbas had come here and threatened him.

“I refuse.”

—You would willingly incur my wrath? No one angers a Great Demon and returns alive.

“Wrath, you say.”

Ferda had already seen through his intentions.

“You simply wanted an excuse, so you contracted with that fool and pretended to create a grudge against me, did you not?”

It was one of the tricks demons used to lure people into their schemes.

While testing his abilities, Marbas had also intended to tempt him into becoming his true contractor.

Marbas, who had been wearing a fierce expression, let out a laugh instead of shouting.

—Keh keh keh… You are no ordinary man. So, you truly have no intention of forming a contract? I shall offer you a special discount on the price.

He sounded like a merchant clearing out old stock.

“None whatsoever.”

—What a shame. It would have pleased me greatly to possess an exceptional soul such as yours. When the day comes that you need me, you will have to pay a much higher price.

Despite claiming to hold a grudge, Marbas departed with remarkable ease.

Ferda’s field of vision remained narrow, but the chattering voices were gone.

Something hidden in the darkness stirred and approached.

—The power you displayed was truly astonishing, Lord Ferda Valdrova.

The voice was wet and viscous.

Emerging from the darkness was a toad dressed in a formal suit.

—My name is Morax. Why not come and form a contract with me? I shall place power and authority in your hands. I shall lend you everything you need to create a great Dread Queen ’s domain.

The toad’s enormous mouth curved into a sinister smile.

—Naturally, you will have to pay the price someday.

Morax, the Demon of Contracts and Prices, was one of the Seven Great Demons.

Among demons, he was the one who granted the greatest power, making him an exceptionally attractive prospect.

He could transform even a frail weakling into a Swordmaster and turn someone with no talent for magic into an Archmage in an instant.

However, the end of every such contract inevitably led to a horrific tragedy.

‘That is Morax’s curse.’

Ferda had already witnessed countless examples of those tragedies.

All that remained on his lips was a scornful smile.

“I already know exactly what you will do. You are boring, so disappear.”

—I shall withdraw for now, but the day will come when you call the name of Morax. I shall wait for that moment.

The gentlemanly toad tipped his hat and returned to his domain.

Soon afterward, someone else appeared before Ferda.

—Hello, darling.

A sticky, seductive voice whispered into his ear as its owner revealed herself.

Blond hair, blue eyes, and an ample chest.

She looked exactly like Olivia Arken.

—Hehehe…

But she was not Olivia Arken.

Her lower body was not human, but that of a serpent.

—What you showed me today was magnificent. I never expected you to land such a blow on Marbas’s contractor.

It was Sitri, the Demon of Lust and Illusions.

“I see.”

—Why do you look so indifferent? The most beautiful woman in the Empire is standing before you. Am I not to your liking?

She twirled her hair around a slender finger and smiled faintly.

Her provocative appearance would have been enough to set any man’s heart ablaze.

But not Ferda’s.

Even at an age overflowing with vigor, he remained completely calm despite seeing her pale, naked body.

Compared to Morax and Marbas, the power she offered was the most worthless.

—I suppose I truly am not your type. You said you married a dragon, did you not?

“Yes.”

—If you love that dragon so much, how would you feel if you could embrace two of her?

Ferda thought for a moment before looking at Sitri.

“Go on.”

—How do you think I was able to take Olivia Arken’s appearance? For a demon like me, this is child’s play.

She smiled deeply and whispered,

—Darling… would you like to see Valdrova’s form?

Ferda’s desire stirred.

That moment of hesitation was enough for Sitri to draw him in.

“Take Valdrova’s form.”

—Hehe. What an adorable man. Very well.

Sitri covered her face with both hands.

Everything changed beneath them.

Her blond hair turned red, two pairs of horns emerged from her head, and her eyes became golden, with white visible on all four sides.

—What do you think? Is this imperial visage not beautiful?

Sitri had recreated the appearance of Valdrova, whom Ferda had longed to see even in his dreams.

Ferda stared at her for a moment.

“That is not right.”

Only disappointment appeared on his face.

—What?

“My fiancée does not have such sharp features. Her eyes should slope downward a little more.”

—Hmm. Is that so? Like this?

Sitri altered her face according to Ferda’s instructions.

Ferda stared at it, then shook his head again.

“No. Her eyes are gentler than that. Her lips are not that full either.”

—Wait a moment. Like this?

“Why can you not understand what I mean? Am I asking for something difficult?”

—Like this?

For quite some time, Ferda argued with the Great Demon Sitri while repeatedly making her change her face.

After many attempts, Sitri abruptly sprang to her feet.

Deep disgust filled her eyes.

—You lunatic.

“What is wrong? I will form a contract with you if you wish. You merely need to reproduce everything exactly as I want it. It is not difficult.”

—Get lost! If I become involved with a pervert like you, I will only doom my own future!

Even Sitri, the Great Demon of Lust, vanished with a look of utter revulsion.

‘It seems no one can replace Valdrova.’

To be honest, Ferda had been slightly tempted.

For a moment, he had wondered whether seeing a substitute might not be so bad whenever he missed her.

But even that had proved impossible.

‘I should not have bothered.’

Sitri’s pitiful imitation only made Valdrova’s image linger more vividly before his eyes.

He missed her so painfully that loneliness and melancholy settled over him.

‘Ah, my king.’

Ferda called out to her desperately in his heart.

‘You love this world so deeply, yet the world seeks only to use you.’

The reason Yuren had attacked Ferda was to provoke Valdrova’s wrath.

A plan that could potentially overthrow the Empire could never have been born solely from Yuren’s personal resentment.

‘But do not worry.’

Ferda already knew who stood behind it.

And his sorrow only hardened his resolve.

‘I will make certain that everyone responsible answers for this.’

The one who hid the Empire’s dark-mage rats within the underground waterways.

The one who ordered Yuren to assassinate the regent.

The one who sought to send the declining Empire tumbling helplessly into ruin.

The one who prayed for every member of her own bloodline to die.

A beautiful flower blooming from the seed of calamity.

‘Olivia Arken.’

At that moment, Ferda’s vision cleared completely, and his narrowed senses returned to normal.

He heard someone rushing down the stairs.

They were undoubtedly the knights and mages dispatched in response to the emergency.

“Damn you, Altesh! What happened here?!”

“Is that… Regent Valdrova?!”

“Is he still breathing?”

“Yes, he is alive!”

“Bring a priest immediately! This is an emergency!”

“Regent! Can you hear my voice?”

He could hear them perfectly well.

Which meant he could finally get some sleep.