The Black Flame Treaty
She seems surprisingly like a good person?
Octavia watched Elisa vanish into the distance, contract in hand, and realized there were no more tears in her eyes. No—it wasn’t just the tears. The fury and resentment that had consumed her only moments ago had been diluted to almost nothing.
Even while Octavia had been drowning in despair, Elisa had looked at her with an incomparably beautiful face and offered a smile so pure it seemed untouched by any shadow. Despite the fact that this was the very person who had forced her into such a hopeless choice, the sight had been enough to make Octavia’s heart flutter wildly.
And then Elisa had spoken to her in a voice filled with what felt like genuine emotion.
Elisa had delivered those words of comfort with an angelic smile, so gentle it was almost painful. Depending on how one heard it, the statement could have been taken as nothing more than sarcasm or mockery. Yet to Octavia, who had already hit rock bottom in despair and confusion, it registered as an overwhelmingly kind consolation.
Just as Elisa said, although the price had been enormous, the result of her choice had been to save her people from the flames of hell. It was the same logic as choosing to pay a steep ransom to preserve one’s life rather than face execution. Of course, part of it was Octavia’s own desperate mental escape, a desire to free herself even slightly from the crushing psychological burden. Still, in the end, she had found real comfort in those words.
And then…
Elisa… No, Lady Elisa… Even though she is a demon and a subordinate of the Demon King, she seems like a good person. To think she would comfort me even in a situation like this.
Elisa had been utterly ruthless in carrying out the negotiations, yet she had still left behind small acts of consideration. Blushing deeply, Octavia could not tear her eyes away from the spot where Elisa had disappeared from view.
“What is this?! You dare call this the outcome of negotiations?!”
“Y-Your Holiness, please forgive us.”
“But we had no other choice. The demons locked us in prison and refused to budge an inch…”
“Ugh…”
Inside the great temple located within the World Tree Jupiter, the Pope and the high elves could not contain their shock and rage as they looked at what the envoy had brought back. The Demon Kingdom’s demands were on a scale that would rip out the very foundations of the Elf Theocracy, and Octavia’s signature sat upon the document. Above all, the clause requiring the Pope himself to issue a personal apology left him so stunned that he could scarcely believe his own eyes.
Yet after a long silence, the Pope spoke.
“…There is no choice.”
“Y-Your Holiness?”
“As infuriating and mortifying as it is, the water has already been spilled. Since the envoy leader, granted full authority, has placed her signature upon it, we cannot overturn the agreement. Besides, you all know as well as I that we no longer have time.”
“Ugh…”
“Your Holiness…”
Despite their feelings, neither the Pope nor the high elves had any justification or leeway left to try to reverse the situation. The black flames had already turned sixty percent of Canna Forest into ash and were closing in on the World Tree Jupiter itself. To stop them, they desperately needed the very magic the demons had demonstrated before their eyes. In the end, the Pope and the others had no option but to officially approve the treaty.
“This is a letter bearing my seal. Deliver it to the demons waiting outside.”
“Y-Yes, Your Holiness.”
The Pope’s voice grew firm. “We will accept all of their demands. In exchange, we request that they immediately cast the spell as stipulated in the contract. There is no time. Tell them to hurry!”
“Understood. I will convey your words exactly.”
A vassal rushed out of the temple to carry out the order. Watching him go, the Pope could only feel an incredibly complicated mix of emotions.
We accept every condition demanded by the Demon Kingdom.
In accordance with the contract, we hereby request the immediate deployment of the promised magic.
There is no time. Make haste.
— Pope Julius
With this, we should be able to protect the World Tree and the Elf Theocracy somehow. But… things will become truly difficult afterward.
It was no different from offering up one of their own arms as the price of salvation. The Pope could not decide whether he should view the situation positively—after all, the nation had been saved—or negatively, since his authority would plummet and the country’s power would be shaken to its roots. A tangle of relief and deep anguish filled his heart.
Feeling both emotions at once, the Pope turned back to the envoys and asked about the one who was not present.
“So… Octavia has been left there as a negotiator?”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
“They called her a token to ensure the contract is upheld. If we fail to comply, they will turn her into a Dark Elf without hesitation.”
“Haa…”
In name she was a negotiator, but in reality Octavia—his own daughter—had been taken as a hostage, little better than a prisoner of the Demon Kingdom. The Pope felt yet another heavy burden settle onto his shoulders at the thought of his daughter now reduced to the equivalent of a princess captured by the Demon King.
Of course, because she had failed to respond more flexibly and had signed such a horrific agreement, Octavia could not escape responsibility. Even so, what the Pope felt toward his daughter was not anger at her helplessness, but pity.
That child who barely made it back alive from the black flames… Why has she fallen into danger once again?
No matter how cold and resolute a Pope he was in carrying out the will of the gods, in front of his daughter—especially Octavia, the one he cherished most—he was nothing more than an ordinary father. When he had first heard that she had been swallowed by the black flames, the Pope had felt as if the world itself were collapsing.
She had somehow survived the brink of death, yet afterward she had voluntarily chosen the dangerous path of negotiating with the demons. Now she had become their miserable captive. Truly grieving for her, and determined to bring her back safely once the matter was settled, the Pope resolved to carry out these humiliating terms as faithfully as possible—not merely out of religious duty, but for her sake.
“It burns well.”
“At this rate, the World Tree will be reduced to ashes before long.”
Achilles, the imperial knight, wore a deep smile as he gazed at the blackened earth and the roaring black flames blazing at its edge. If the elves’ natural fortress—Canna Forest—and the World Tree were burned away, the elves would lose all will to resist. All that would remain would be to march in and claim the charred territory.
And once the elves were conquered through this sequence of events, Achilles’s plan would advance to an even greater stage.
Once the elves are gone and the World Tree disappears, the holy power that governs this world will weaken dramatically. Then… the plan for His sake can be accelerated.
With keen anticipation, Achilles savored the final moments of the elves’ demise. Then—
“Hm?”
“What… what is that?”
The next instant, an entirely unexpected sight appeared. The composure on Achilles’s face vanished in a flash, replaced by intense bewilderment.
The black flames that had been surging forward as if to devour the World Tree in a single gulp were suddenly engulfed by an unidentified blue fire that had risen without warning. And then—
“What… what is happening?”
“W-We don’t know either, sir. That blue flame is…”
Blue flames erupted from every direction and began to swallow the black fire. Even though the black flames had grown so large that an ordinary wildfire could no longer be stopped by human means, the blue fire erased them in an instant. The inferno that had been devouring Canna Forest vanished cleanly, as though it had never existed at all.
“The black flames… extinguished so easily…”
“Is it the elves’ magic? I never imagined they could prepare a countermeasure in such a short time.”
“Damn it! We were just about to reach the World Tree…”
The imperial soldiers voiced their fury and regret. Yet the one who received the greatest shock was none other than General Achilles himself.
Impossible… That black flame is something I received directly from Him. The power of the One who stands in opposition to the elves could not possibly be extinguished so simply. But how…?
Achilles knew the true nature of those black flames better than anyone. He understood better than anyone that this situation should have been impossible. And from that realization, he deduced that someone else had intervened.
The Magical Kingdom… Could those filthy witches have joined hands with the elves?