The demon stop at the foot of the mountain.
"Zaleos"
A demon with scales who was wearing a dark crown appeared. He held out his hand and a pathway was formed to a much deeper part of the mountain.
"Let's go"
Though it wasn't said in the novel, to think he has four demons under his command.
I followed behind. After ten minutes we arrive in front of another door.
The scent of blood?
The door opened. Inside were living humans that were suspended in the air.
There were cuts on their bodies. Burn marks as well as blood dripping from their feet.
As expected, this guy is really nasty.
"I'm surprised that you aren't screaming like the others when they first got here"
I already knew that you were torturing people in your hideout based in the novel. True, it is surprising to see it with my own two eyes, but its not like this is my first time seeing a scene like this.
"I would be restrained the moment I do something like that. Don't you hate loud people who always shout"
"Huhuhu~ I knew it! You are so intriguing. The fact that Astaroth wasn't able to see your future made my instincts yell at me that you are someone who will be of great entertainment for me!"
Those who were conscious was divided into three.
Those who were asking me to save them. Those who were telling me to escape, seeing that I wasn't restrained at all. And those who were saying that there was no use but to accept my fate to become one of them.
"Now, now, please sit here"
He pulled out a chair from a closet. The chair was made from pure gold and was accessorized with different gemstones.
Why does he even have this?
"No"
"Eh?"
He tilted his head, wondering why I refused.
"Come out"
A demon with large bat-like wings and long sharp fangs appeared behind David.
The demon was oozing black like smoke from its body, just like Asmodeus.
"Human, follow my master's order or else"
The deep voice of the demon shut the mouth of those who were crying and pleading for help. The eerie and cold air that was coming from the demon was indeed scary. But it is far from enough to terrify me.
"Belphegor, what do you think Asmodeus would say if you were to hurt a precious one of his master"
The four demons as well as David's eyes widened in shock.
"From what I know, don't you two have a rather close relationship"
Theo- no, Fotrexio said that Asmodeus and Belphegor was especially close as their abilities complimented each other and temporarily becomes more powerful when they are together.
"Well? You said you would do something to me if I weren't going to follow your master's order, right?"
"...."
David look behind him to see the demon that wasn't moving and who refused to answer my question.
The silenced became even more terrifying for the demons who were simply watching by for things to unfold before them.
"Astaroth who has the ability to see the future and the past in exchange for the master's sanity. Cerberus who has regenerative abilities as well as the ability to breathe fire. Zaleos with the ability to control the land. And lastly, Belphegor one of the seven demon kings with the ability of necromancy and eternal slumber"
The demons who were looking towards David with fear turned towards me with an even greater fear. David was also looking at me. Not fear but delight.
With a smile on his face, he stared at me just how a toddler would look to a new and different toy that it never saw before. That ecstatic feeling of finding something so entertaining for the first time was painted so visibly on his face.
"How... how do you know about my demon's abilities that even I took years to figure out?"
He slowly walk towards me while arching his back.
"Do you perhaps possess an ability that allows you to see what other's can do? No, that is impossible. I can't sense any mana in your body even though I am extremely sensitive to mana"
His head was on my shoulder.
"Tell me~ I am literally dying from anticipation just how exactly you know so much about my demons"
Black smoke rose from my feet.
"I'm sorry but I will be taking my leave"
"Huh?"
In the next moment, my body was covered with black goo. A mix of loud explosions and crackling thunder were bombing the entire place.
"Theo, is that you?"
"Yes, milady. It is me"
"Are you okay?"
"Do not worry, demons do not feel pain nor do we die"
Bullshit.
Although it is not killing but more of a forcing the demon to go back to hell, the saintess Charlotte has the ability to do that. After all, she was able to force Belphegor to go back to hell while she was fighting David.
As the self-proclaimed oldest demon, for him to not know about this is bullshit. The other demon kings knew about this and yet he is telling me he doesn't.
Not to mention, they do feel half of the original pain that was inflicted on them.
The surge of deafening sounds suddenly stop. The black goo that was protecting me this entire time slowly came off of me.
"No way... the entire mountain in a matter of seconds?"
Before coming here, the mountain I saw was definitely huge. Bigger than the rest I've seen so far. And it was obliterated in a matter of seconds.
"Anne!"
The two hugged me from both sides.
Too tight.
Too tight!
"Let go!"
These... idiots!
"Are you guys trying to kill me?"
I get that they were worried about me but these are going to be the death of me.
I thought a rib or two was going to break just now.
"Situation report"
".....The man that who abducted you is currently being handled by duke Azara"
"Is he alive?"
"Barely. He is currently being treated by the girl named Sarah"
It's amazing that Alex is the one answering me right now.
The two men were kneeling in front of me as I look at the surroundings.
From the looks of it both Eddie and Alex used all their power to blast the whole mountain while Theo protected me. As for Benedict, he seems to be the one responsible for stopping any forest fire from happening as well as capturing David.
I sat down on a flat surface and spread my arms.
"You two must have been so worried. Come here"
The two who were holding back their tears finally let it all out. They hugged me from each side.
"Eddie"
"Yeah?"
"Good job on finding the trail I left so that you guys can follow me"
"....."
"Alex"
"Good job on bringing the two of them here as fast as you can. You must have carried those two on your back at full speed, right"
Considering the distance and the time it took when I was riding Cerberus, they arrived sooner than what I expected.
"Yeah, I did"
It was midnight.
The moonlight wasn't as bright. There were only a few stars in the sky. There was a lot of clouds that were covering the sky as it moves forward. And yet I can clearly see their faces in this dim lighted place.
The two fell unconscious.
They must have expanded and used every single ounce of energy they have to blast off that entire mountain.
After some time, Benedict came and took the two on his shoulder and brought them to where Sarah and David was.
Benedict lay down the two as far away as possible from David as they might try to kill him as soon as they wake up.
"I'm surprised you haven't killed him yet"
"You are the boss. You get to decide what we will do with him"
"How thoughtful of you"
I took a look at David's physical condition. It was in a lot better state than I thought.
There are some fractures and internal injuries, nevertheless, none of it are lethal enough to kill someone.
I really thought that he must have lost an arm or leg at least.
A few hours later Alex and Eddie woke up at the same time.
"Alex, come here"
Alex crawled his way to me. He didn't had the strength to stand up so he crawled on all fours.
"Yes?"
"Say this name five times"
I whispered Belphegor's name to him.
He said the demon's name five times. Belphegor came out.
"Are you my new master?"
"Yes"
Belphegor took on the form similar to a human's. He was wearing ragged clothes and a hooded robe.
He then vanish into Alex's shadow.
Thanks to Benedict everyone was able to eat properly.
While waiting for Eddie to have enough mana to create a portal, I pondered about what David said to me earlier.
That Astaroth wasn't able to see my future.
Was it a coincidence? Or perhaps something related as to my origin?
David slowly opened his eyes.
"Are you going to kill me?"
"No. You don't deserve death. You killed people because your sanity was taken away from you. But that doesn't change the fact that you killed countless people"
Doesn't matter if the reason why you became a madman was because of your parents or the environment you live in.
Everyone goes through rough times. Having an unfortunate childhood is no excuse to justify his actions for taking away innocent lives.
"From now on, you be wearing this slave collar on your neck. Unlike others where they wear it on their fingers to disguise it as a ring, you will be wearing this around your neck at all times"
I placed the collar around his neck. I am the master so I am the only one who can remove it.
"Aamon, come out. I know it will be hard but please do your best to restore his sanity"
Although I am not Aamon's master he responded to my call by using the small amount of mana that was inside Alex to come out and immediately do as I ordered him to.
"Anne, can I talk with you in private"
"Sure"
I followed Eddie and we went somewhere far to ensure no one would hear what we were going ton talk about.
"The demon who is now contracted to Alex, do you need that demon?"
"I do. I don't want unnecessary deaths to appear in the future. Belphegor's
To use everything I can to accomplish my objective. That is how I do things after all.
"The next time, can I be the one who will be contracted to a demon?"
"Eh... why?"
"I want to be stronger. I didn't had much choice but to call for Alex and had him helped us to rescue you. I felt so useless. My title of being the empire's strongest man is just a joke. Someone who isn't even a mage can easily beat me like that"
"There is no need to blame yourself. I was the one who made the plan so it is my fault, not yours"
"But-"
"Also, regarding to your question just now, sure. If there is a demon in the future I will make sure that they get contracted to you"
While I do not know what may be going on inside his mind, what I do know is that he is incredibly frustrated right now.
"Let's go"
I gripped his hand tightly.
Behind my smile, he understood that it meant. "No matter what I won't let go of you, ever"
We went back to the others.
After some time, Eddie had enough mana now to create a portal all the way to the Dominique duchy.
After a day, Benedict went back to the Azara duchy along with the gifts I have for Sophia. The same thing goes for Sarah. As soon as Eddie recovered she went back to the Benzel's territory in the east.
"How longer will it take for Aamon to treat David?"
"He said that it will take him an additional week or so"
"You two heard that?"
Eddie and Alex looked at each other in confusion and looked back at me trying to figure out what I was trying to say.
"You two must be so frustrated down there. Let's go an relieve some pent up stress, shall we"