Interlude: The Demons' Interest

[[[Kukuku... Such amusing events unfolding, my contractor.>]]]

In the pitch-black darkness, a grotesque pillar of writhing flesh dreamed. A towering mass of meat crammed with thousands upon thousands of faces. Each face varied wildly in shape and age—crying, laughing, tormented, despairing, expressionless, insane—mirroring every emotion etched across the human world. The Manbianja Dantalian. Rank 71 among the 666 demons, falling into the class typically called great demons once they hit the 100s.

Such a great demon was utterly delighted by the recent exploits of the six-year-old boy he'd contracted with.

Demons get bored. Endless competition and wars rage eternally in Hell, but to them, it's as mundane as a human's daily routine. Especially for great demons in the top 100s—they've long solidified their own factions, so petty squabbles and conflicts won't budge their ranks anymore.

He is the Manbianja. The Demon of Change. He prized the processes of transformation in all living things amid the ceaseless flux of time. From the smallest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whims of individuals to the rise and fall of nations, shifts in history, even the grand cycles of nature itself. He drew power from the changes in all that lived.

And now, he was thrilled by what Actor had done. Actor had merely sown seeds of distrust to survive, but that spark was igniting a massive war between the Holy Kingdom of the mid-realm and the mage city-state.

The Holy Kingdom despised demons as heretics, offering unwavering faith to their god alone. To Dantalian, their unchanging existence—living solely by divine will—was an object of revulsion... contempt.

The mage city-state, Magus Civitas. Their endless thirst for knowledge bred change and destruction, which Dantalian found marginally better than the temples—but their transformations were shackled to that thirst, so he paid them little mind.

Yet now, the stalled clock of history ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was ticking again. Nations across the central continent, backing either the Holy Kingdom or Magus Civitas, were splitting into factions and shifting to a war footing.

For ages, the temples had imposed crippling liquor taxes, claiming alcohol a divine gift. Resentment had piled up like dry tinder. Actor's exposé was the oil pouring onto that pyre, ready to blaze.

After Actor and his crew escaped the chaos, the holy knights and mages eyed each other warily.

The first to reach for the forbidden tome was the Blue Tower's lord, Gunter.

With events spiraling like this, lies were impossible. So they switched to the original plan: retrieve the grimoire. To cover tracks, they claimed the holy knight witnesses died by Dantalian's hand—launching an attack to massacre the Knights of Purity.

The Blue Tower specialized in lightning magic at its peak. Their ultimate assault spell:

Lightning ravaged the metal-armored knights, who were vulnerable to it despite their elite status. Bolts faster than sound massacred them.

Rumble!!—Krrooooom!! Crackle-crackle!!—

"Gaaaaahhh!!~~"

"Kweeeaaah!!~~ You bastaaard!!~~"

"Disciples of the Blue! Retrieve the grimoire! Annihilate them all! With things this far gone, revert to the original objective—recover Pladeus's legacy!"

""""Yes, sir!""""

But their foes were the Knights of the Seven Virtues. Even struck by the strongest lightning, about a hundred trembled on unsteady legs, barely holding ground.

Over a hundred holy knights lay electrocuted, but Gloria and survivors stood firm.

"Sisters... we can't retreat like this! I'll hold them—return to the temple! Hurry!—"

"Sister Gloria!"

"Go! Let our martyrdom today not be in vain! Expose the ugly truth of Magus Civitas summoning Dantalian, one of the 666 demons, into the mid-realm!—"

"Not a chance! Thunder Strike!!"

Kaboom!!—

"Faith is our shield! Saint Shield!"

Bwoooom!!— Crackle!—

"Sister Gloria!"

"Go now! Hurry!—"

"Don't let them escape!—"

""""Yes!""""

"Lightning Spear"

"Chain Lightning"

Krrrrumble!!—

The holy knights fell to Gunter and the mages' onslaught. Though special list for a great demon, they faced lightning experts from the towers. Already disadvantaged in spell matchups and ambushed, their only victory was relaying the news.

But Gloria was tenacious. Her desperate stand let some survivors shake pursuit and reach the Holy Kingdom safely.

Now both nations had crossed the point of no return.

Watching it all unfold in real-time—the mid-realm's shifting currents sparked by his contractor—the Manbianja Dantalian savored every moment. How could he not revel in such change?

A cataclysm in under ten days.

He'd thought no ordinary human could fulfill [Offer Ten Thousand Faces]. Even if his contractor was a reincarnator from another world.

Still just a baseline human, six years old in this life. He'd expected nothing, planning a brief glance at the kid's struggles for amusement.

Past contractors always got sniffed out by temples and purged quickly. Unlike other demons, he didn't grant direct combat prowess, so they posed no real threat—mere assassins peeling skins or infiltrating for kills. At best, they'd snag a hundred faces or so.

Pathetic souls who failed quotas and sparked no change? Long harvested.

But this contractor? A mere whim for fleeting fun, and he'd triggered a massive incident, altering history's flow...

Wasn't it delightful? Humans alone sparked changes even he hadn't foreseen.

Among them, this contractor was the finest Dantalian had ever known.

Whoooosh—Clack! Clack! Ding-a-ling~♪

"What is it, Amdusias?"

High-heeled footsteps echoed in Dantalian's realm as a woman appeared: blue wavy hair with a single unicorn horn, striking features, flawless luminous skin, emerald eyes, sharp nose, plump lips flowing with harmonic beauty.

Ding-a-ling~♪

Strumming her harp, Amdusias replied in song. Rank 67 great demon among the 666.

Those who heard her voice or songs fell to demonic allure, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠losing reason to become her eternal slaves. Her contractors gained her beautiful timbre, wielding song to control foes—not just beasts, but plants too. At peak blessing, they could unleash catastrophes via melody.

But the price? Post-death eternity in her palace, dancing and singing in torment. Endless balls and melodies echoed there, but participants writhed in agony, wailing at their cursed fate amid ceaseless performance.

Even this cruel contractor was shunned by another demon. Rank 38 great demon among 666.

Halphas: Her sole pursuit? War! Endless war! War for war's sake! A battle-mad lunatic topping Hell's craziest.

Where Dantalian chased biological change, Halphas sought pure destruction—the void without change, naturally loathed by him. Likewise, war's ruin of art repulsed Amdusias.

Ding-a-ling~♪

Ding-a-ling~♪

His rare toy eyed by rivals? Infuriating for Dantalian. Contractors sparking such change were centuries-rare! Meant as disposable plaything, but no handing this fun over.

Ding-a-ling~♪ Whoooosh—

Amdusias vanished from Dantalian's darkness. Irked by his contractor's unexpected popularity, Dantalian resolved to watch Actor's back more closely.