524
Chapter 524
Among the three princesses, Yekaterina, the most militant and battle-loving, had numerous combat units under her command.
The demon warriors who pledged loyalty to Yekaterina prepared for deployment with battle cries at her command.
Just then, a servant rushed to Yekaterina's side.
"My lady!"
Yekaterina glared at the hobgoblin servant.
"What is it at this crucial moment?!"
Sweating nervously at her fierce response, the hobgoblin servant spoke.
"Well... we received a message from Lady Elizabeth."
At the mention of Elizabeth, Yekaterina became more agitated and shouted.
"Why would that damned Beth contact me?!"
Though they were both adopted daughters of the same Demon Lord, the relationship between the three princesses wasn't good.
They weren't blood sisters, and ultimately, they were rivals.
Especially Elizabeth, the First Princess, and Yekaterina, the Second Princess, were fierce rivals competing to expand their territories.
In this situation, if one of them absorbed Third Princess Anastasia's forces, they could gain an advantage in their evenly matched competition, which is why they responded to the Abyss's summoning and came to the mortal realm.
So Yekaterina was already displeased just by the fact that her enemy Elizabeth had contacted her.
As Yekaterina fumed, a screen suddenly appeared before her.
[Rina, I see you're badmouthing your sister again.]
Yekaterina gritted her teeth at Elizabeth's face on the screen.
"Damn it, I told you not to access my invasion fortress whenever you want!"
Watching Yekaterina throw a fit, Elizabeth shook her head.
[Oh my. I'm sorry, Rina. But seeing your small and pathetic security system made me want to intrude.]
Hearing Elizabeth's provoking words, Yekaterina ground her teeth again.
"GRRRR, your arrogance will end soon. Wash your neck and wait. I'll personally cut off your head."
[You're still as barbaric and ignorant as ever.]
Elizabeth clicked her tongue at Yekaterina and continued.
[I'm sorry, but it seems I've won this match too.]
Yekaterina's eyes widened in shock at those words.
"What? What do you mean?!"
That's when it happened.
WOOOONG!
A gate opened in Yekaterina's invasion fortress hall.
Elizabeth, a master of magic, had accessed Yekaterina's invasion fortress and forcibly created a teleportation gate.
The demon warriors on standby in the hall drew their weapons alertly.
WHOOSH!
Elizabeth, wearing a golden mask, walked out of the gate.
Seeing this, Yekaterina let out an incredulous laugh.
"Haha! You've gone mad. You must have a death wish to come here on your own!"
Even for Elizabeth, it was impossible to open a gate in another princess's invasion fortress that could transport other high-ranking demons.
In other words, she had just jumped into enemy territory alone.
Nevertheless, Elizabeth casually waved at Yekaterina who was glaring at her.
"Rina, it's been a while, but you're still vulgar and brutish."
Watching her, Yekaterina ground her teeth.
"Yes, it has been. Not since you won the Demon Realm War with your cowardly tricks."
In Pandemonium, they held the Demon Realm War every ten years to select the most outstanding demon, and the Demon Lord personally bestowed treasures to the winner.
And the most recent winner was Elizabeth.
At Yekaterina's words, still harboring resentment over the results, Elizabeth covered her mouth and laughed.
"That was a fair match. You just failed to read the situation properly because you were too excited."
Yekaterina ground her teeth at Elizabeth's continued provocations.
"I don't need to exchange more words with you. What are you all waiting for?! Kill her!"
The fearless warriors of the demon realm approached to attack Elizabeth at Yekaterina's command.
But then, someone else walked out of the gate.
SWOOSH!
Black blades shot up from the ground.
The demon realm warriors stepped back momentarily at the threatening shadow blades.
The one who emerged from the gate was none other than Zeke.
But Zeke's appearance was different from usual.
His ears had grown longer, strange markings appeared on his face, and his hair color had changed to purple.
Yekaterina was startled when she saw Zeke standing behind Elizabeth.
"Zeke Draker?"
She immediately recognized Zeke Draker as he was her target.
But that wasn't why she was surprised.
'Why does a human have demon energy?'
Zeke's appearance and energy were exactly like those of a demon.
Then, Elizabeth spoke to Yekaterina.
"Rina, you've always been one step behind me."
She snapped her fingers at Zeke.
Zeke nodded and stretched out his hand.
WOONG!
A summoning circle appeared on the floor and something was summoned.
MEOOOW!
A cat's cry echoed through the hall.
What appeared on the summoning circle was Anastasia in cat form.
Since Zeke had a contract with Anastasia's soul, he could summon her anytime.
As a result, Anastasia, who had been hiding deep in the Mycenae Castle, was suddenly summoned to Yekaterina's invasion fortress. She bristled her fur and hissed, seemingly confused by the situation.
[Zeke Draker! What are you doing?!]
She raised her head and shouted at Zeke Draker.
Then she suddenly noticed something strange and backed away startled.
[De-demon?]
She had sensed that Zeke had transformed from human to demon.
Then Elizabeth approached Anastasia.
"It's been a while, Asha."
Seeing Elizabeth, Anastasia raised her tail and backed away.
[Elizabeth... what have you done?!]
At her words, Elizabeth silently gestured to Zeke.
Following her command, Zeke stretched his hand toward Anastasia.
RUMBLE!
Bound by the contract, Anastasia's soul was subordinate to Zeke and couldn't move anywhere when he exerted his will.
[UNGH!]
Pointing at the immobilized Anastasia, Elizabeth turned to Yekaterina.
"Rina, I have a proposal for you."
She pointed at Anastasia and said.
"I'll hand over Anastasia to you. In exchange, I want you to grant me one favor."
Yekaterina was startled by Elizabeth's offer to hand over Anastasia.
'What scheme is that fox plotting now...?'
Sensing Yekaterina's thoughts, Elizabeth smiled behind her mask and spoke.
"If you help open communications with Father, I'll cleanly hand over Anastasia."
Direct communication with the Demon Archduke, the Demon Lord who stood at the apex of the six rulers of the demon realm.
This was the condition Zeke had set in his deal with Elizabeth.
Yekaterina wore a suspicious expression at her words.
"You'll hand over Anastasia completely just for help opening communications with Father?"
The conditions were so favorable to Yekaterina that it was hard to understand.
Anastasia's forces were considerable, befitting her infamous reputation in the demon realm.
Gaining her power would instantly expand one's sphere of influence, but according to the current offer, Elizabeth was willing to give up that opportunity.
When Yekaterina looked at her suspiciously, Elizabeth said.
"Honestly, Asha's forces aren't that appealing to me. Most of my subordinates are magicians. Even if I accept low-ranking warriors, it would take time to integrate them into my camp."
Yekaterina thought Elizabeth's words made some sense.
Unlike herself, whose units consisted mainly of fighting-type demon warriors and combat races who used battle qi, Elizabeth's subordinates were mostly magicians.
Meanwhile, Anastasia's forces were mostly savage beast-type low-ranking warriors and demons with bizarre abilities.
To the germaphobic Elizabeth, Anastasia's subordinates must have seemed too vulgar to tolerate.
After pondering Elizabeth's words, Yekaterina slowly spoke.
"Why make communication with Father a trading condition?"
The Demon Lord, who stood at the apex of the fallen constellations, was a supreme being that even they, his adopted daughters, couldn't approach carelessly.
Therefore, to properly speak with him, all three princesses needed to gather and use the authority he had granted them together.
While Anastasia was subordinate to Zeke and could be made to use her authority without issue, communicating with the Demon Lord would be impossible if Yekaterina refused.
Elizabeth answered Yekaterina's question.
"That is the condition of the contract with Zeke Draker. I can only fulfill the deal for him to become my subordinate by communicating directly with Father and getting his confirmation."
Yekaterina carefully considered Elizabeth's words.
'According to her, if we make this deal, I get Anastasia's forces while the fox gets the human Zeke Draker.'
A demon realm princess and a human.
She weighed which had more value.
After some thought, Yekaterina chose Anastasia's side.
Even if the subordinates didn't match her taste, they could be trained to her liking.
Meanwhile, that human had already made arrangements with Elizabeth, so he would clearly be difficult to steal away.
Yekaterina glanced at the cat-formed Anastasia and nodded.
"Fine, I accept the deal."
At her words, Anastasia hissed again.
[You, you wenches...!]
Ignoring Anastasia's curses, Elizabeth extended her hand toward Yekaterina.
When they clasped hands, a preliminary contract was formed.
As Avatars of the Demon Lord, the contract demon, the princesses were bound by contract restrictions more strictly than any other demon.
Therefore, they couldn't break contracts once made, and moved to fulfill this one immediately.
Elizabeth gestured to Anastasia.
"Come here, Asha. Though your form has changed, Father's authority engraved in your soul remains."
Anastasia tried to resist, but it was useless.
Because Zeke had ordered her to move.
[Zeke Draker! Will you break the contract of subordination?! What are you doing after promising to protect me?!]
At those words, Elizabeth smiled and said.
"Zeke Draker kept his promise. I agreed to guarantee your safety. Though of course, your form will remain forever fixed as that cute beast."
Anastasia let out a sharp cry at Elizabeth's words.
Regardless, the three princesses gathered in one place.
Excluding Anastasia, Elizabeth and Yekaterina brought their hands together.
Light immediately burst forth from the backs of their hands.
The Avatar seal directly engraved by the Demon Lord.
A similar seal on Anastasia's forehead also glowed.
CRACKLE!
The three lights merged into one.
Zeke watched the rising light with an expressionless face.
The lights formed a large circle and became a huge mirror.
When the mirror formed, Yekaterina and Elizabeth stood before it and bowed respectfully.
CRACKLE!
Sparks flew from the mirror. But only briefly, soon fading as the mirror's interior turned black.
As complete darkness filled the mirror's interior, concentric circles slowly rippled from the center.
WOONG!
A form took shape on the mirror's surface, appearing like a cloth draped over a person's face.
Yekaterina and Elizabeth knelt before it, while Anastasia curled up trembling.
The facial features gradually became clearer, and an unbelievable pressure emanated from the mirror.
RUMBLE!
The demons in the hall couldn't withstand the pressure and fell to their knees.
Only Zeke remained standing.
At that moment, Elizabeth sensed something strange.
'How can he stand?'
The contract was perfectly fulfilled since they had connected communication with the Demon Lord according to the deal.
That meant Zeke had become a complete demon, but no demon could withstand the Demon Lord's pressure while standing.
But Zeke didn't just stand.
He slowly walked toward the mirror.
THUD! THUD!
As he alone approached the mirror while everyone else knelt, the princesses wore incredulous expressions with their heads bowed.
Then Zeke spoke.
"Demon Lord. No, ‘Master of Unbreakable Contracts’."
After calling the Demon Lord's constellation name, he continued.
"I want to make a deal with you."