Hell's Contract

Hell's Contract.

It was the same item I had first laid eyes on when I formed my contract with Liliana. It differed slightly from that reckless version, but it was essentially the same document.

And it had come out of the pocket of Gill Stephen — an executive of Pandemic.

Was Hell... actually important in this world's lore?

What kind of relationship did Pandemic even have with Hell? Pandemic was an organization Maestro had founded for one purpose: to summon the Demon King. He was the kind of villain who showed you exactly what happened when a lunatic who genuinely wanted humanity wiped off the map also happened to have the power to do it.

From a player's perspective, you never really got Maestro's full story. All you knew was his goal — erase the human species from the face of the Earth. The original game never so much as hinted at a connection between Pandemic and Hell. That was why I had been so stunned the first time I saw Liliana. I hadn't even known this game had a Hell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in its setting.

What could Pandemic possibly have to do with He— wait.

A line of dialogue flashed through my mind. It had gone by in a blink during the game, but it was there. I remembered it.

It was a line delivered mid-battle against one of Pandemic's core executives. Since the game had never played out from Pandemic's point of view, players never got much of anything on the Demon King. You just figured there would be a final boss waiting at the end, and that was about it.

Looking back on it now... wasn't the Demon King a being from Hell? If they were summoning a Demon King from another world, the need for sacrifices suddenly made a lot of sense. And this Hell's Contract was the proof. Hell — a place I couldn't even begin to pinpoint — and Pandemic, that cabal of evil Fiends, were in communication. A Hell-forged artifact had come out of a core executive's pocket, after all.

Would Liliana know anything about the Demon King?

The problem was whether the Hell Liliana came from and the Hell the Demon King came from were even the same world. I really hoped she knew something. She had called herself a hikikomori who did nothing but play games in her room, but if the Demon King was a famous figure, she would have at least heard the name. Maybe that would make taking him down a little easier.

I slipped the contract into my pocket and headed for the dorm.

The walk back to the dorm was chaos. Because of the terrorist attack's aftermath, the Celestial Festival — which had been scheduled to run through Sunday — would probably wrap up today. Starting tomorrow, everyone would be buried in the investigation, Gill Stephen's interrogation, damage recovery, and the rest of the mess. Today was Thursday. Either way, no classes this week, so I wasn't complaining.

I walked into the dorm — and that was when I started hearing sounds from my room that absolutely should not have been coming from my room.

"Mmph! Nngh, nnnngh...!"

"Oh... you like it there, huh? Same female body, but you're definitely built different from me."

"Mmph! Hnngh!"

"...?"

I hopped on one foot, kicking off my shoes, and walked into the living room. What I found there was a situation I had not imagined in my wildest dreams.

"How about here?"

"Nnnnngh!"

"And here?"

"Mmph♡ Nnfmmph!"

"Weird. Sounds like you like all of it."

Liliana was plunging her tail into the blonde stalker's pussy — the same blonde stalker who was bound in my mana ropes with her legs spread wide. A soft tail buried to the hilt, and from around it, her juices poured out like a faucet left running.

"..."

"Oh, you're back?"

Liliana glanced at me and, without missing a beat, kept working that tail.

"Nnnngh! Nnnnnnngh!"

The blonde stalker, by contrast, noticed me and started muffling even more frantically through the gag.

"Liliana... what are you doing?"

"I was running some experiments on her body. Y'know, for when we have sex with other girls later. She's gotten super well-behaved now~. Doesn't even fight back."

"Mmph...! Nngh. Nnnnngh...!"

"...Looks to me like she's begging you to stop."

"Is it? I don't think so~. She definitely likes it."

The blonde stalker's eyes had definitely gone meek. The killing intent and the venomous glare she had been throwing at me earlier were gone. All that remained were the eyes of a helpless little herbivore.

"Looking at this, you've got a real talent for torture. I'll give succubi this — you people know how to break someone."

Women, anyway.

"Right?! Finally, some recognition!"

Liliana threw her arms up in a cheer, then pulled her tail out of the blonde stalker's pussy and wiped the juices off on her stomach. Looking at her — body slick with sweat and love juices, face flushed bright red — I almost felt a little sorry for her.

"...I sealed her mouth so she wouldn't make too much noise, but I think we can open it now."

I tweaked the magic circle and unsealed the blonde stalker's lips.

"Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. Please let me live. This crazy bitch is trying to kill me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Please let me live. Hoyeon. Please. I'm begging you."

The second her mouth opened, the blonde stalker dumped every word she had been holding in.

"What? She wasn't well-behaved at all! You little bitch! I thought we were becoming friends!"

"Haaah! Please. Stop already... I'm going crazy... haaah... aahn♡."

"..."

Liliana, apparently offended, shoved her tail right back into the blonde's pussy. Wait, that deep...? At that depth it had to be hitting her womb. And yet, for all the begging, the second that tail went in she let her tongue loll out and threw her head back like she was enjoying it.

"Hah, hah... hhck, hik... ah..."

No. That was not enjoyment. She looked like she was about to break for real.

"Liliana. Hold on a second. I need to talk to her."

I stopped Liliana before the blonde stalker actually passed out.

"How is it! Feels good, doesn't it?! You perverted little slut! Ah, fine. Okay."

"...Hhk. Nngh... hhck."

"Hey. Quit crying and get it together."

Tap. Tap.

I patted the blonde stalker's cheek with my palm as tears started rolling down her face, like she had been personally wronged by the universe.

"Elise sent you, right? You're an executive of the Iris Guild?"

"Hhk... hhck..."

"If you don't answer me now, I'll ask again tomorrow. Want to spend another day playing with Liliana?"

"Yes. Yes. Please let me live. Hhck... please..."

Seeing her go meek put me at ease. Finally, she was ready to have a conversation.

"First things first. What's your name?"

"It's Scarlet... hhk."

"Scarlet..."

Nothing in my memory. She wasn't a character with any real presence in the original. Probably just one of the Iris Guild's hunters.

"Why were you tailing me? What was the assignment?"

"Hhck... I was told to film you having illicit relations with women..."

"...I think this bitch is lying. Liliana?"

"I'm not! I'm not! Please! Please believe me... hhck. There's a camera in my right ear piercing too."

"Hmm..."

Unlike her clean left ear, there was something attached to the right one. I focused my appraisal vision on the piercing.

This is straight-up criminal hardware.

Then again, in a world with magic, of course there was going to be crime. I didn't particularly need to watch the footage. This was confirmation enough.

"Why do they need footage of me? Do you know the reason?"

"I don't know... I just do what they tell me from above... hhck."

"Haa..."

Something was definitely off. Elise had a cold personality, sure — but after everything I had done for her, would she really try to dig up dirt on me? No chance. A character that unlikable would never have been a heroine in the first place. Which meant there was something I didn't know... and I had no way of finding out what.

"Hhk... just let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me live. I'll do anything."

"Never mind. There it is. A way to find out."

I looked at Scarlet, still crying, and smiled.

"Scarlet. There's a way for both of us to come out ahead here."

"Yes, yes. That's fine. That's fine..."

I smiled a thoroughly nasty smile and pulled Hell's Contract from my coat.

"There. Not so bad, right? I'd say I've been more than considerate."

"Yes... thank you. Thank you so much."

"Just work hard enough to earn it."

Scarlet Wright accepted the contract from Lee Hoyeon and sneered on the inside.

This idiot. You can tell he's never survived a day in the real world.

She gave the contract one last look before signing. The loopholes were everywhere. Ambiguous phrasing that could be read two different ways depending on how you interpreted it, and every single restriction only applied so long as Scarlet stayed close to Lee Hoyeon. Meaning the moment she ran, the whole thing became worthless.

Done. Another mission in the bag. That's why I'm the best.

If Lee Hoyeon had walked in even a little later, that insane bitch would have broken her completely. She had gotten lucky, and she knew it. The lunatic in question was standing right next to Lee Hoyeon, smiling that bright little smile — and just looking at her face was enough to make Scarlet's pussy go wet, which terrified her more than she wanted to admit. The second she got out of this, she was going to make them pay.

"If you've checked the terms, inject your mana. I'm already done."

"Yes, understood..."

Scarlet poured her mana into the contract. The two copies lit up and bound themselves together.

So the newer contracts even pop up messages like this.

Scarlet had signed more contracts than she could count, but she had never seen one like this.

"Alright, Scarlet. Here's your first assignment. Report that you're still investigating me — then turn around and start investigating Elise. You're going to be a double agent."

"...Understood."

She just had to get out of this situation. Then she would run, immediately—

A strange tone cut through the thought, and a collar began materializing around Scarlet's throat.

"Wh— what is this?!"

Scarlet panicked and tried to raise her mana, but the instant the collar locked into place, the strength drained from her body. She couldn't do a thing.

"Wow... don't tell me you were already thinking of betraying me? That was fast."

"See? I told you she'd be like that. I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah. You win, Liliana."

"Yay! Then she's my toy?! You promised!"

Scarlet could not make sense of a single word coming out of the man and woman in front of her. Betrayal? Toy?

What the hell are they talking about...?

She forced herself to stay calm and met Lee Hoyeon's eyes.

"Um, Cadet Lee Hoyeon? What... is going on? We signed a contract on very favorable terms. Nothing like this was stipulated anywhere in the document..."

The contract hadn't even included the most basic clause forbidding hostile action. There were no interference provisions at all. That was why Scarlet had let her guard down. The loopholes had been everywhere.

So why had this collar appeared?

Lee Hoyeon, still stroking Liliana's hair, looked at Scarlet's bewildered face and let out a snort of laughter.

"Ahh... I take it this is your first time with a Hell's Contract, ma'am?"

Seeing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that smile, Scarlet's entire body began to tremble.