Let's Take Stock of the Situation (2)
The Skeleton Demon King.
Plenty of beings felt their blood pressure rise at that name alone.
But among them, the gods took the cake.
He was flippant, irreverent, and utterly devoid of the respect and reverence due to a deity — and this from a mere created being. Yet his abilities were so terrifyingly good that they couldn't even bring him to heel. Any scheme they tried, he'd relish dismantling it right in front of them, thoroughly enjoying himself. That was the Skeleton Demon King for you.
For those standing at the top with spines held straight, few creatures were as insufferable. And after finally managing to seal that abomination—
—there he was, grinning right in front of their faces, and now—
'What? He's asking ME to make a contract with him?'
The God of Penal Law was thoroughly bewildered.
The Demon King… no, he didn't even want to call this thing the Skeleton Demon King.
Regardless — a contract. With a god? The Demon King wanted a contract with a god?
He slowly looked Isaac up and down.
A young human child, still.
The skin tone, the features — a human of the Holy Empire, and… yes, a priest—
…what the hell, what?
A Demon King who was a priest?
As the God of Penal Law, his mind reeled. Since when could one wield both mana and holy power at once?
—Let's… start by confirming the basics.
"What's to confirm?"
The God of Penal Law stared straight into Isaac's scowling face.
A god's eyes could discern the essence of a soul. No matter how thoroughly divine power might cloud the surface, the soul within remained visible to them.
And there was no way that rotten-to-the-core soul belonged to anyone else.
He'd need to examine the details of how this had happened, but one thing was certain: this creature had escaped the gods' binding and was now inside the Holy Empire itself.
'A commoner…?'
No — nobility, actually.
—Your name?
"Have your brains finally leaked out? It's Isak, how many times do I have to… oh, right, it's Isaac now."
—No. Not that name. Your full name.
"…Full name? Isaac Eschua?"
…oh, God. Oh, gods, above.
The God of Penal Law clutched his forehead.
Right. Yes. Come to think of it, he did recall that it was an Eschua brat who had eaten the Skeleton Demon King's bone.
Yes, that was definitely the report he'd received. It had slipped his mind thanks to the Demon King's self-destruction throwing all of succession business into chaos, but still.
It was the Demon King's body, granted — but it was only a single finger bone. No human could eat that and survive, so he'd assumed it would sort itself out.
But instead of a human eating it, the Skeleton Demon King had eaten it?
'Are you kidding me?'
The Demon King had just recovered his own power. He was about to grow stronger than in his past life!
'And of all houses — Eschua?!'
One of the Five Great Families?
This was enough to drive anyone insane.
'Do they even understand what the Five Great Families are?'
The major faiths of the continent — houses whose patron gods wielded powerful factions even within the God Realm. And this brat belonged to one of them, of all things!
The Skeleton Demon King snickered at the expression on the god's face.
'He's probably in complete disarray right now.'
And the gods had their factions too. Which meant the Demon King was no doubt calculating exactly how many necks were currently tangled up in this mess.
If it came to light that the Skeleton Demon King was here, how many of them would bleed for it? Could the tail be cut loose before it dragged them all under? What was the minimum damage? The maximum?
But would the Demon King ever grant them the time to think it through? This had to be resolved before the god returned to the God Realm — otherwise the god would absolutely start plotting something underhanded.
Right on cue, Isaac smoothly held out the Supreme God's potion once more, laughing a bright pfft- of a laugh.
"You're going to kill me — right in front of the Supreme God's watching eyes?"
Whether the Supreme God truly watched or not, there was no way of knowing. So what!
In situations like this, the shameless bastard always won!
"Not that I care! Even if you try to kill me, the Supreme God means I won't die just yet. And then I'll tell everyone. That you failed at sealing me!"
—…!
"And sure, you could all band together and dispose of me — but then who's going to answer for the fallout?"
Fallout?
"Once I'm dealt with and the matter is 'closed,' the blame comes next. Someone has to answer for the incident before it can truly end — you know how that works better than anyone, don't you?"
Sweat trickled down the God of Penal Law's back.
It was exactly as the boy said.
The gods involved weren't the type to laugh it off with a hearty 'well done' after merely disposing of the Skeleton Demon King. Disciplinary proceedings were inevitable. If things turned serious, the matter could even fester into accusations of factional treason.
That realm, too, was endlessly torn by infighting between factions — a day without friction simply did not exist.
"If that happens, you'll never rise another rank for the rest of eternity. But if you contract with me and keep your mouth shut, no chaos breaks out, and everyone's happy. The end."
—As if YOU of all beings would never stir up any chaos!
At that look of pure don't feed me that garbage, Isaac let out a deep sigh of theatrical disappointment.
"Aw, come on, buddy. Don't you know me? I've suffered my whole life because of this curse. Just having a living body at all is a miracle."
—!
Come to think of it, the Skeleton Demon King had once longed for a living body — one that could someday die. He'd been told he was lucky to transcend death entirely, but apparently that had never been what he wanted.
Sure enough, a flicker of madness crossed Isaac's eyes as he pounded his own chest.
"You think I'd throw away this body I fought so hard to obtain?"
The words sounded sincere enough, but the look in his eyes said: you dare try to take what's mine?
"Oh, right! I can't make a contract without reverence, can I? But I'm genuinely grateful! I asked to be made human, and you bastards bungled it and stuffed me into this body instead — and honestly? I'm eternally freaking grateful for that! So that counts as reverence, right? That means I qualify for a contract, right?"
…should he just kill this thing?
"Anyway, I can't live without this body now. And I know full well that as a human I'm screwed where gods are concerned — but do you really think I'd go around broadcasting 'the Skeleton Demon King is right here!' No, right? Obviously not. I'm going to live a good, honest life as a human."
[Wow. What a load of crap.]
No, it isn't.
[Master, there is no way in hell you're living quietly.]
I'll be perfectly quiet.
Quietly nibbling away at the gods' treasuries, draining them dry, converting them from the inside into my own possessions. Quietly picking their holdings clean down to the bone while sticking strictly to assassinations. That's quiet, isn't it?
'The moment I reach transcendent tier, I'll blow them all to smithereens. And the one who signs a contract with me? I'll kill him first!'
Isaac laughed. Pfft, pffthahahaha.
'And for that, I need someone to keep sneaking me intelligence on the God Realm's movements.'
In that respect, an old acquaintance was useful in all sorts of ways.
[And the Supreme God?]
'Well, I'll need to collect enough leverage to keep the rest of the gods in line too.'
First things first — deal with the Red Faith bastards who picked this fight.
Before long, when Isaac declared he would stay quietly put, the God of Penal Law looked to be wrestling with his own conscience.
—But still… a contract, of all things.
By holy law, the God of the Red Faith could only contract with the Red house. And yet, of all people — of all families — Eschua?
—It cannot be done. It violates the law.
Tsk. This was the problem with crusty old bureaucrats.
Isaac openly made a face of pure disgust — then, as if it had never happened, broke into a smile.
"Heyyy, think it over carefully. When I lose my mind, there's nothing I won't do. Remember the whole self-destruction thing?"
—…
As if he could forget. There was still cleanup from that very incident going on right now, and it was killing him.
'This creature is unhinged.'
Rather than poke a sore and watch it fester, it might genuinely be safer to hand the Demon King what he wanted and let him stay docile. And so the God of Penal Law found himself deep in agonized deliberation.
'A contract with Eschua, of all houses.'
World peace on one side. The collective mental breakdown of all the believers who worshipped them on the other. Which mattered more?
The answer was obvious.
—Will you truly stay quiet?
"Yup. I'll do my best."
Yes — as long as everyone pretended they knew nothing, peace would reign for all.
—Fine. I'll make the contract. I already know full well you're only coming to me because you don't want the other high gods catching wind of this.
Isaac answered with a smile instead of words.
Well, that was honestly accurate.
A Saint needed a contract with a high god as a prerequisite — but the other gods?
'They'd try to kill me the moment they saw my face, same as this guy did. As if any of them would agree to a contract?'
And this god, for that matter?
'With his own neck on the line, you think he'd go around exposing my identity?'
The god wasn't so reckless as that. If nothing else, he was one of the few deities a person could actually negotiate with.
Which was when it happened.
—The contract is fine. But do be careful not to act too rashly.
"What?"
—I can look after myself, but if the higher-ups find out, there will be absolute hell to pay.
When it came to the Skeleton Demon King, they truly, deeply despised him.
"May you all drop dead. And don't flatter yourself into thinking you seduced me into this. Also — be especially careful of the God of Punishment."
"Ah."
Right. If this god was the deity who created and governed Penal Law, then there existed another who presided over executions — the God of Punishment.
And that god was a Chief God of the Red Faith.
'That one has no blood and no tears whatsoever.'
No persuasion would work on him, no bargain would hold. His power aside, Isaac genuinely would have been in danger facing him at present.
—I will shield you as thoroughly as I can so he doesn't notice, but remain vigilant. That is all I mean.
It went without saying.
—My contracting with you would cause an uproar, but… well, given that body, it shouldn't seem too strange.
Isaac, who understood exactly what those words meant, grinned like he'd been waiting all along for precisely this line.
"That's right. You bastards crafted this body with such loving care — of course I climbed inside."
—It is indeed a supreme body, but that does not entitle you to become the Saint.
"Excuse me, what?"
Was this bastard seriously cursing out someone else's plan to their face? But the God of Penal Law answered with cold rationality.
—It is true that your body was crafted with the most effort, and true that it has the highest specifications. But that is precisely why its lifespan is short. Why do you think there are multiple Saint candidates? Those 'candidates' are the interchangeable substitutes.
"!"
—Ever since, the other gods have been sending blessings to each of the houses. The Saint candidates are the children born carrying those blessings.
With that, the God of Penal Law fixed Isaac with a look that said don't get cocky.
—The Saintess may be the strongest, but isn't the Pope the de facto ruler? The other Saint candidates are every bit as formidable, so don't let your guard down. If you wish it even now, I could transfer you to a different body. Say — how about a child of the Red Faith? If you're contracting with me anyway, that might serve you better.
He was trying to frighten the Demon King on purpose, of course.
Trying to make the Skeleton Demon King give up that body.
'Yes — if anyone could turn even that body's flaws into assets and claw his way to the top, it'd be that lunatic.'
The truth was that the Skeleton Demon King occupying that body at all was deeply inconvenient. So he would lure him out somehow—
Lure him out somehow—
"Wait. So this body is actually even better than I thought? Right?"
—…
Damn it. Of course he couldn't be lured.
The corner of Isaac's mouth curled all the way up to his ear.
"If this body were bad, you wouldn't be so desperate to swap it out, now would you?"
The God of Penal Law stared at him with something close to horror. Typical. The little schemer's cunning never failed to reach truly sublime heights.
—But my words were no lie.
"Sure, sure. The stronger it is, the more fragile, and the other Saint candidates are the hardy substitutes — I got it, I got it. Pfft. Pfftpfft."
Damn it all. He wasn't listening at all.
'But I can't just let myself get dragged around by the nose by this creature.'
At this point, the only option was to figure out how to extract the Demon King from that body — quietly, without anyone noticing.
Yet for some reason, the God of Penal Law, who had been staring hard at Isaac, let out a long sigh instead.
—I did deceive you, that much is true. So out of remorse, I'll offer one piece of advice.
"Advice?"
The God of Penal Law gazed at Isaac with something like pity.
—Don't… grow too attached to House Eschua.
"What? I've never been attached to them a day in my life. Why, though?"
The God of Penal Law swallowed his answer.
Well… the Saint's body aside, the fact that the Skeleton Demon King was lodged inside Eschua of all houses was a headache for the gods as well.
'Eschua, of all places. It's like someone is pouring fertilizer on that genius.'
It almost felt as if someone were plotting revenge against them all.
—In any case, the contract is sealed.
The moment those words fell, the barrier that had trapped Isaac and the God of Penal Law dissolved.
Outside, the expressions of the priests who had been waiting in agonized suspense changed at once.
"He's come out!"
The Red Faith priests in particular moved as though they'd been waiting for this exact moment all their lives.
"He must have worked some trick to keep the other gods from interfering!"
Their god was the guardian deity of the Red Faith — one who watched over the Red house. It was obvious he had stripped away the Skeleton Demon King's mana so the capture could proceed without a hitch.
'As expected of our guardian god.'
'Yes — now all that's left is to take him into custody, and—'
…take him into custody?
In that instant, the Red priests' expressions as they looked at Isaac turned strange.
"…Huh?"
"Wh-wh-wh-what—?"
A priest who contracted with a god bore a mark upon their body.
The sigil of the contract.
And on the back of Isaac's hand, the sigil of the God of Penal Law — guardian deity of the Red Faith — was flashing brilliantly…
…what?
Um. What?
"O God…?"
—So it would seem.
So it would seem?!
"This is—!"
—Best of luck.
Instead of answering, the god of the Red Faith simply slipped away into nothing.