Volume 10, Chapter 2 – Contract

Passing through the corridor, Yisi and Laxy quickly arrived at the door of Tina’s room. Before opening the door, Yisi subconsciously glanced at Laxy.

Although she had some contact with Tina, and they were even pretty familiar, that was only because Tina was helpless against her strength. If it were someone she didn’t know, and an Angel like Laxy at that, Tina might immediately see Laxy as an enemy and attack her without a second word.

Laxy, one step ahead of Yisi, grasped the doorknob, her expression solemn.

“My Lord, please let me go first.”

“Wait, Laxy, that’s exactly what I wanted to say. You wait at the door first. Don’t come in until I say you can. Tina’s power isn’t as great as mine, but as a Demon Lord, if she insists on attacking you, the aftershock of the battle between us could destroy this entire mansion. So, I need to verbally test her reaction to you first. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll be the one to get the information about the ‘Land of the Gods’ from her.”

“But My Lord, for that very reason, as your servant, I should be the one to go before you. Compared to your safety, my own well-being is insignificant.”

Her slender eyebrows were filled with determination; Laxy’s slight frown conveyed her inner resolve.

Sighing as if she had no other choice, Yisi reached out and covered Laxy’s hand on the doorknob. Then, she pushed Laxy’s hand away and turned the knob herself.

“A Demon Lord of Tina’s level could never hurt me. Well, when she sees me, she might just wave her arms and legs demanding food, though.”

Making a wild joke, Yisi opened the door.

Contrary to what she had expected—that Tina would curiously get out of bed and observe her surroundings—Tina was just sitting dazedly on the bed. Dressed in a loose white nightgown, with black horns on her head and long gray hair cascading down like a waterfall, her small body was motionless under the light reflected from the snow outside, so much so that she looked like a lifeless doll.

Hearing the click of the lock, Tina’s ears, hidden beneath her gray hair, twitched. She slowly turned her head in Yisi’s direction.

Sensing that something was amiss, Yisi frowned slightly. She first looked back at Laxy, making a hushing gesture, then lightened her own footsteps.

It was too quiet.

In my memory, Tina isn’t the type to sit quietly and wait for someone to find her. As someone who was being hunted and begging me for help before she fell unconscious, she should at least be panicking after waking up. Sitting motionless like this, staring blankly at the wall, is just incredibly bizarre.

Silently, Yisi moved from the doorway to Tina’s side. However, Tina’s gaze didn’t follow Yisi’s movement; it remained fixed on the door.

Frowning more deeply, Yisi waved her hand in front of Tina’s eyes.

No reaction.

Looking closely, those crimson eyes not only lacked luster, they weren’t even focused.

Reаd οո KαtRеαԁіոgСαfе

She’s blind.

Why would this happen?

I definitely removed the weakening curse from her, and I even used a high-grade ‘Ragnarøk’ magic potion. Even if someone is on the verge of death, as long as they have a breath left, I can restore them to perfect condition, and even strengthen their life force as a bonus, making their body healthier. I used a ‘Ragnarøk’ potion when I rescued Lin from the Imperial camp. If Tina’s eyes were injured, the potion should have repaired them.

Yisi shook her head.

No, this isn’t the time for that. More than the blindness, I should be concerned about her mental state. If her current immobility means she’s had a mental breakdown, then even my unparalleled magic potions won’t be of any use.

Please don’t let that be the case…

Her heart sank. Yisi felt a tightness in her chest, and even breathing became difficult. She sat down sideways on the edge of Tina’s bed, gently placed her right hand on Tina’s shoulder, and called out softly.

“Tina?”

Yisi felt Tina’s shoulder tremble under her hand. Immediately after, Tina turned her head, looking at Yisi with vacant eyes.

“Is that Yisi?”

Yisi let out a long sigh of relief. Since she could still answer, it meant her mental state was normal. Yisi’s tensed-up body relaxed slightly.

“Huu, yes, I’m here. Tina, your eyes…”

“I can’t see.”

Her tone was calm, as if she were talking about something that had happened to someone else.

“Uh, are you alright?”

“How long was I asleep?”

“Almost a month.”

“A month… Shorter than I thought. There’s still plenty of time. After I fell unconscious, did you encounter any other demons, Yisi? Or anything that looked ominous?”

She’s like a completely different person.

Reαⅾ оn KаtRеаԁіոɡСαfе

Before, Tina always used a formal pronoun for ‘I’ in front of me, but now she’s just using a simple ‘I’. That, combined with this overly rational, un-childlike way of speaking, makes me wonder if the person sitting in front of me is some kind of alternate personality of Tina’s.

Yisi shook her head at Laxy, who was standing at the door warily watching Tina, signaling her not to worry. Then, she answered Tina.

“No. Other than the demon dwelling in the gospel, I haven’t met a second demon—and I don’t think that book demon has anything to do with you. More importantly, what happened to you, Tina? And besides being blind, is there anything else wrong with your body? The way you are now is making me uneasy.”

Although she couldn’t see, Tina still lowered her head, avoiding Yisi’s gaze. After three full minutes of silence, her body, which had been devoid of emotion, finally began to tremble slightly. Her hands gradually tightened their grip on the blankets, her fists turning white. Tears also streamed from her unfocused eyes, dripping onto the blanket, leaving small, wet spots.

“The Demon Lord’s castle… has been breached.”

“Hah? What?”

Even Yisi’s voice couldn’t help but rise an octave. After all, even I had never been able to find where Tina’s castle was. According to Tina and Sandra, the castle of Tartaros was hidden within a barrier created by the Demon Lord, almost like a separate dimension independent of this world. As long as Tina didn’t wish it, not even the strongest Fallen Angel, Azazel, could find and breach the barrier, to say nothing of Tina’s own power, which exceeds level 100.

And now, Tina was telling me her castle had been breached. If she wasn’t currently letting out sobs that she was trying—and failing—to hold back, I would have even thought she was making an absurd joke.

“By whom? And when did it happen?”

Her voice laced with concern, Yisi took a handkerchief from her inventory to hand to Tina. However, upon seeing Tina’s vacant eyes and her hands that made no move to take it, a look of self-reproach flashed in Yisi’s eyes. She tossed the handkerchief aside and instead gently pulled Tina into an embrace.

Just as she looked, Tina was tiny. Even with both of us sitting on the bed, her forehead only reached my lips. Holding her, she felt exceptionally slender and soft. Because she had been motionless on the bed for so long, her skin under the nightgown was tinged with the chill of the snowy day. Her body was so fragile, it felt as if it would break with just a little bit of force.

The grief of losing her home mixed with the anxiety of being unable to see her surroundings. Held in Yisi’s embrace, Tina first stiffened for a moment, then her rigid body gradually relaxed. Finally, like a child who had found her mother, she pressed her lips together, clung tightly to Yisi, and let out low whimpers.

Tina must have had no other path to take, otherwise she wouldn’t have come looking for me. The look on her face before she fell unconscious flashed into my mind—that helpless and desperate gaze. It’s impossible to ignore.

“I should probably distract her first and ask questions after she’s calmed down.” Yisi tried to stand up to ask Laxy to help make some lunch for Tina. However, she couldn’t, as Tina was holding her too tightly. In the end, she had to sit back down, letting Tina hold on, and waited for her emotions to stabilize.

Feeling the trembling in her arms gradually subsided, Yisi softened her voice.

“Are you okay now?”

“…Mhm… Thank you…”

Without looking at Yisi’s eyes, Tina remained clinging to her, her face buried in Yisi’s chest. The dampness on her chest—probably from the tears soaking her clothes—made Yisi a bit uncomfortable, but given the circumstances, she could only try her best to ignore it.

“It’s okay. You said it back then, didn’t you? ‘Help me’? Since I’ve taken you in, Tina, it means I won’t just sit back and do nothing. I need to know the specifics: who hurt you, what methods they used, and where Sandra and Hetty are. Only by knowing all this can I help you.”

Rеaԁ оո KatReaⅾiոɡСafе

“Thwee monfs (Three months)…”

Although Tina’s face was buried in my chest, making her voice sound muffled, it wasn’t impossible to understand if I listened carefully.

“Three months?”

“Mhm.”

Her emotions finally stabilizing, Tina released Yisi. Although tear-stains remained on her face and her voice was still thick with tears, Tina tried hard to put on a brave expression. She wiped her tears with her sleeve, raised her head, and widened her eyes, looking up at Yisi with a gaze that couldn’t see, her expression filled with determination.

“A contract.”

“What?”

“Yisi, rescue the people in the Demon Lord’s castle for me. As the terms of the contract, I will become Yisi’s familiar. From this moment on, the existence known as Tina Alexia Tartaros, along with the Demon Lord’s castle, will belong to Yisi Enya, to be commanded at Yisi Enya’s will. This contract shall be the proof.”

Huh?

Things were moving too fast. A question mark that she couldn’t comprehend popped up over Yisi’s head, and she tilted it slightly. Just as Yisi was about to say something, an abstruse, purple sigil, looking like countless magic sigils superimposed on each other, appeared in Tina’s palm. She unhesitatingly grasped for Yisi’s right hand.

Tap.

Their palms pressed together.

“My Lord!” Laxy’s angry, startled cry came from the doorway. “Demon Lord!”

Drawing the rapier she had already prepared, the magical light of [Acceleration] and [Flash] flashed on Laxy’s body. Immediately after, a white line shot from the foot of the bed toward Tina. In that instant, everything the white line touched was easily split in two. The vase, the wall, the bedpost supporting the canopy—all were cut by the white line, leaving a cross-section as smooth as a mirror. In the blink of an eye, the line reached Tina.

Tina frowned.

“An attacker?”

Sensing the magical fluctuation, Tina released Yisi’s right hand and instead made a grasping motion toward the white line. With a soft ‘pssh’ sound, the ‘Single Line’—powerful enough to sever anything—twisted and dissipated in Tina’s hand as if it had never existed.

However, the disappearance of the ‘Single Line’ didn’t mean the things it had destroyed would return to normal. Having lost its post, the bed’s canopy fell toward Yisi and Tina below.

“[Spatial Lock]!”

Rеαⅾ οn KаtReadinɡСаfе

Locking the falling debris in place, Yisi stood up, inserting herself between Laxy and Tina, who were on the verge of battle.

“Both of you, stop.”

“My Lord, that was a forced contract! She’s trying to harm you!”

While directing a sharp, warning look at Yisi, Laxy held her rapier diagonally in front of her. As long as Yisi moved, she could strike Tina with her fastest speed.

“Harm me?”

“A Demon Lord’s forced contract! Even if you do not agree to the terms, the contract will be established and will force you to abide by the results. Please step aside. Only by killing this Demon Lord can the shackles on you be broken.”

A forced contract?

Yisi first looked at her right hand, which Tina had just grabbed—there was nothing on it. Then, she discreetly pulled up her status bar and looked at the last spot in her buff list—still no new status effects.

“Yisi, what happened? Is this your friend?”

“Mhm, Laxy is part of my household. Tina, the magic you just used was…?”

“A contract I placed on myself. As long as you can rescue everyone in the Demon Lord’s castle for me, Yisi, the Demon Lord will be your possession.”

In other words, what Tina just used wasn’t a forced contract, but a constraint she placed on herself? Even if the person named ‘Yisi Enya’ does nothing, the contract won’t restrict ‘Yisi Enya’. But if ‘Yisi Enya’ fulfills the condition Tina set, the contract will then begin to restrict Tina.

But judging from the current situation, even though Tina only set the restriction on herself, the contract still failed to form because of my overwhelmingly high resistance.

Laxy is too wary of the Demon Lord, and Tina is too reckless.

The situation gave Yisi a headache. From Laxy’s perspective, whose homeland had been destroyed, it was perfectly normal to be wary of a Demon Lord; not tying Tina up immediately was already a sign of great self-restraint. And from Tina’s perspective, she probably felt that Yisi would only help her if they sealed a contract. The enemy was someone even a Demon Lord couldn’t defeat. If Tina couldn’t offer a sufficient reward, not even a madman would be willing to help. Looked at that way, Yisi, who was stepping in merely out of sympathy, was even crazier than a madman.

Yisi sighed.

“Ahh, both of you, stop. Laxy, Tina means me no harm. She needs my help right now, and I’m also worried about Sandra’s situation. As for you, Tina, I hope you won’t attack my companions. They are my family. I will instruct them to treat you with the proper etiquette for a guest.”

“But the contract seems to have failed…”

“I’ll help you even without a contract, Tina,” Yisi said, glancing around the room Laxy had damaged. Thanks to [Spatial Lock], the debris was all hanging in a bizarre state. “Haah, anyway, this isn’t the place to talk. Tina, first, get yourself back into your best condition. Then we’ll go to the Demon Lord’s castle and rescue your people.”