7th Demon Prince Jilbagias’ Chronicle of Demon Kingdom Toppling

１５．Contract and Soul Vessel

「Is that… enough to convince you?」

I tried to ask the Demon God who was panting like a girl in heat.

「… Uhm. Fine then. To honor your wit and resolution, I agree to form a pact with you.」

Antendixis replied so after she calmed down.

「By the way, do spare me from being discovered by the demon race. We will be troubled if you die before we received Our compensation after all.」

… So it came to this, eh.

Thank goodness this girl was a pervert who would get in heat upon hearing the proposal that would allow her to commit a taboo.

No kidding right, should I really make a pact with this pervert…

「What's with that face? You're going to make a pact with the oldest Demon God you know? Show more respect and fear toward Moi!」

I saw the mirror and realized that I actually frowned upon realizing the true nature of this pervert. Seeing that, Antendixis was pouting her lips, clearly displeased.

「Well, I'm a hero… so the devil aside, I'm quite surprised myself to find that I'm about to make a pact with a Demon God.」

「Fufufu, Feels like you fell from grace, doesn't it? Well, you'll get enough power just by making a pact with me.」

「… Does that mean that just like your authority, I 『Will gain more power by breaking taboo』?」

「That's one way but, not all of it.」

Antendi―― screw that long name, I'm gonna call her Ante from now on. Ante said so while sitting sideways like when I met her for the first time.

「We're the Demon God who rules over taboo. We can exert our power in the place where taboo exists. Whether in Hell or your world, Our strength will only increase as long as there's someone, somewhere who broke taboo. Thus, my contractor will gain even more power as long as he violated the taboo. And upon familiarizing yourself with Our power, you can even create a new 『Taboo』.」

「Create new taboo?」

「――【Taboo to Blinking】」

Ante suddenly recited those words of power.

「… I can't close my eyes.」

「Just like that. Just like how I told you a while ago.」

So it was akin to magic that was restricting certain actions, or forcing a certain action.

Strong. People with stronger magical power than me might be able to resist, but they can still feel this magic. Being able to bombard the other party with such complex curses without having to chant long or complicated aria was enough to put this power amongst the strongest.

… The heck I'm thinking about, I still couldn't fu*cking blink my eyes.

「MY EYES! MY EYES ARE PARCHED! STOP THIS!」

「Ee~h? Can you endure this a while longe~r? The more you tell me to stop, the more We don't want to do that, you kno~w? What should we do no~w?」

「ARE YOU KIDDING ME! MY EYES ARE PARCHED ALREADY!」

Stop casting curses on your contractor(candidate)!! Ante didn't hide her grin as she looked at the pissed off me, finally her murky eyes were starting to get teary.

「Gyah! Our eyes got parched too! By the way, the curse is affecting Us too.」

「――FUUUUU*CK!」

After the curse was released. I realized that if I used 【Taboo To Breathing】, I wouldn't be able to breathe too…

「That's only natural. We're the Demon God of taboo remember? We're closely related to taboo more than anyone else.」

And then, Ante revealed a bewitched smile.

「――Therefore, your proposal had the greatest effect on Us.」

「Can't you just break taboo by yourself?」

「At this point, We had already became too powerful that we can barely move around.」

Ante muttered as she lay powerlessly on her throne.

「Whether it's Devil or Demon God, both are ruling over certain concepts. We gain more power as our concept become stronger, the same goes for Our 『Purity』 and status. We also went from 『Wielding Power At Our Own Will』 to 『Pure Power』, we became closer and closer to becoming a concept itself――」

Her murky eyes were looking at me as if to ask, do you understand now?

Her murky eyes were filled with nothing and yet brimming with endless power.

「We think that maybe, this world, this land, and this space used to be an existence with a name. But then, they become too powerful. By now, they're merely a form of power without free will. In the end, we might be nothing more than parasites who ate the flesh of their carrion.」

「The scale of the story is too big… But, the way you're talking about it is exaggerated right? You should at least say that you're the child of mother earth.」

Ante was staring dumbfoundedly at me when I stated my honest opinion.

「… Fufufu, makes sense. Oh well, we apparently strayed away from our topic. We're talking about making a pact, right?」

「Yeah. I guess it can't be helped that we're straying from the topic since your always idling around in this place.」

Despite being a Demon God, this lass was surprisingly someone who was easy to talk with. Always unpredictable due to her own capriciousness.

Now let's get her power and leave this godforsaken Hell as quickly as possible.

「So, what kind of pact do you want to make with Us? We, the one who give you power is definitely in a dominant position after all.」

There were two types of pact with a devil.

The type of pact in which the requester gained power in exchange for offering something to the devil.

Or, the type of pact in which the requester employs the devil in exchange for giving them magical power.

Sofia or small familiars such as imps were the latter types. Their pact with Platy was for them to do chores or education for her as she supplied them with the magical power to maintain their body in this world. They then took action that would raise their authority during their break so that they could get a better offer from the next contractor.

In Sofia's case, she would read books during her spare time, and the miscellaneous imps would commit small mischief.

「I give you a taboo. You give me power. Is there anything more than that?」

「I'm referring to 『Grade』. How much of your vessel are you going to allocate for me?」

Pact with devils couldn't be done infinitely.

Whichever of the two needs the requester's soul vessel as a medium to contain the authority of the devil. And then, since each individual had a different limit for their soul vessel, the requester couldn't just carelessly make a pact with something like a thousand imps.

「Naturally, As much as I can take but first, how much power can I get if I do so? Or else, do I look like someone who has any other choice?」

「If you're asking for power to defeat the demon king, then it's not possible. Well, whichever your choice is, we have already planned to fill your vessel to the brim till it's about to break. And that's my answer to your question.」

「Stop saying something scary like that…」

Till my soul vessel is about to break she says, are you kidding me?… Though it was troublesome since this Demon God did have too much power in her possession and had no problem to part with it.

「Give me your hand. My contractor.」

Ante stretched her hand. I placed my hand on top of her hand.

「In the name of Demon God Antendixis. I give my power to the Hero Alexander.」

「In the name of Hero Alexander. I offer taboo to Demon God Antendixis.」

Our line of sight interlocked.

「The contract, completed.」

『Power』 was flowing into me by using our overlapped hands as the bridge.

That moment, I regretted my decision.

Something that was outside the concept of light or darkness, good or evil, something like a concentration of corruption which originated from the other side of the world was starting to flow into me like a muddy stream.

「――Too, slow.」

Ante let out a sadistic smile upon seeing my expression.

I didn't even have the leeway to refute her. I tried desperately to withstand the sensation of something akin to countless poisonous bugs crawling in my body as if trying to transform it to fit their needs.

「Your soul is just like a tattered dreg on its last leg. It can accept my power beyond its limit. Yes, it's accepting our power like desert absorbing the rainwater.」

I'm, almost drown――

「Rejoice. You're the first person to accept so much power of the Demon God.」

Our hands then got separated.

I fell on my knees, breathing heavily.

When I tried to look in the mirror―― I saw that my appearance was a mess.

It was a literal transformation. My skinny body gained muscle like when I was still in my heyday as a hero. But, the colour of my skin became dark indigo like Ante. My light brown eyes became even darker, filled with chaos. I even got a pair of horns. Strangely enough, all of that was the physical features of the demon race.

「Now no one will know whether you're a devil, a demon race, or a human anymore, your existence is just like chaos itself.」

Ante was holding her sides as she said those words with a smile on her lips.

「You won't be able to visit Hell anymore once you leave the portal. The next thing is, the fact that you might not be able to return to your world if you get used to this place.」

So this was my first and last visit, eh. Honestly, I was saved by that fact.

「… Will my figure be changed too when I returned to my world?」

「Well, there's possibilities for that but… it's within the scope of the contract with a devil.」

Eh… What do you mean by "Within the scope of the contract with a devil"?

「… By the way, am I basically in danger once it's known that I'm actually contracted to a Demon God?」

Though Platy would really be delighted, I realized that I couldn't just tell her that I made a pact with Demon God of taboo. To destroy the Demon Race! like hell I could give such a reply if Platy asked me what kind of taboo I'm going to commit.

「That sounds bad indeed. Fortunately, I've another name. As long as you're not using my authority in the name of Alexander, the effect is only 『Average』. In short, you can pretend that you're making a contract with a devil instead of a Demon God.」

「I see.」

What in the world does she mean by contract without using the name of Alexa–

Ah come to think of it, I almost forgot that my current identity was Jilbagias.

「Then, how about telling the others that I'm not making a contract with Demon God of Taboo; Antendixis, but with Devil of Of Constraint; Ante?」

「Devil of constraint; Ante… you even snipped Our name…」

Though Ante looked like she was so upset with the nickname that I gave to her, soon enough, her shoulders started to tremble.

「This Demon God… We, treated like nothing more than an imp♡… How blasphemous♡」

Yup, this girl was a pervert after all.

Or rather, the moment I openly called her Ante, I felt that my power increased by a large margin… It seems to treating a Demon God like a normal devil was a taboo…

「U~hm. The matter about the name is a bit regretful but, you've to return immediately.」

I averted my gaze from Ante who was panting like a woman in heat, and just when I was about to turn around to leave.

「… Uhm. Yeah. The nickname is regrettable but…」

Ante regained her composure and sat properly on her throne.

「I'm about to bid farewell in a while to this familiar place.」

「… Eh?」

「Well, it really has been a while after all. How many thousands years ago since the last time I saw your world? I'm really looking forward to it.」

「Uhm, Ante-san? Why do I get this feeling that you're going to come with me?」

I mean, the Demon God Cannibal who made a contract with the 1st demon king was only offering his power while he stayed in this world.

So I assumed that a Demon God-rank's existence wasn't something that could carefreely wander around in my world.

… Right?

「Hah, what are you talking about? I will naturally come along with you to your world.」

I made a vigilant look on my face upon hearing her remark.

「It's okay. Even if I say that I'll come to your world, it's only part of me which is even smaller than your fingertip that will cross the portal with you. Moreover, my status as your contractor is more than what you expect. I keep getting stronger even as we speak right now, I'll use that power to maintain my body in your world.」

「Eh…」

「In addition, to save more power, I shall reside within yourself. Like this.」

Ante suddenly embraced me.

And just when I was wondering what she was doing right now―― her body turned transparent, and then absorbed into my body!

『Preparation complete.』

I heard her voice come from my chest.

「COMPLETE MY A*RSE!!!」

What in the hell was this Demon God doing to me just now!?

I did say 『As if trying to transform it to fit their need』 but, ain't this a literal "Total Transformation"!?

Did that mean she was stuck with me around the clock!?

「STOP THIS JOKE AND GET THE HELL OUT OF MY BODY!!」

I beat my che*st to show my protest, alas it ended up in vain with me suffering from the pain.

And yet, Ante's laugh kept resounding inside my head…

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TN: Current Score Alex 1 : Ante 1