Badge in Azure

Chapter 40: Supreme Demon, Little Imp (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Perhaps it was because Saleen and his party did not have a religion, and that was why their prayers had not been answered. Supreme demon Bafendier only opened one of his seven eyes, and looked at the platform behind the twelve pillars.

Bafendier’s eyes were filled with shock and doubt. It opened its mouth and said, “＠＆＃€!¤※?Humans!”

Besides Saleen, no one else understood what Bafendier had said. This was ancient Myers language, which had previously been popular on the mainland. Now, only the well-schooled among nobles and mages would know it.

What Bafendier had said was – Oh my devil, so small? These are humans?

Unconsciously, Canghong and the party retreated, but because there was a wall behind them there was nowhere to retreat to. Saleen’s eyes were closed as he carefully assessed the enormous demon. Sika tugged on Sarah’s clothing in the back. Saleen, however, moved forward.

Saleen walked along the stairs carefully and came before the supreme demon. And then, he did something that made everyone’s eyes pop.

Saleen deployed the Acid Sputtering spell to attack Bafendier.

Sizzle…

Something even more shocking happened. The supreme demon Bafendier’s single silver horn was easily damaged by Saleen’s Grade 0 spell. The supreme demon Bafendier was angered and rose up with a furious roar.

Saleen raised his head and used his deep blue eyes to look at Bafendier, slowly speaking in ancient Myers language.

“Supreme demons are immune to spells involving flames, acids, poisons, and fear. Even for supreme demons who are deceased, I am not able to harm their bodies. There can only be one reason that you are so fragile. That is, you are a fake. Let me guess which type of spirit you are. To have the nerve to take on the appearance of a supreme demon, you must be a Tolu, the most foolish of spirits.”

“You are Tolu instead, like your whole family!” The demon that had turned into Bafendier exploded in fury, as though it had received the worst possible insult.

“Having been imprisoned for tens of thousands of years, could it be that you have no strength left?” Saleen lifted the lower hem of his mage robe, adjusted his belt, and grabbed onto the demon’s horn with one hand. He then stepped on the scales of the demon’s face and climbed onto it.

“What are you doing!” The demon started to panic.

Saleen took out the carcass of the witcher spider from his leather sack and gestured in front of the demon’s only opened eye, saying, “I heard that a demon’s transformation spell will be undone once its body is attacked. Will it work if I jab you with this?”

The demon saw the witcher spider. Its arrogance dissipated, and it cried out in fear, “Despicable human, you can’t…”

“I can!”

Saleen raised his hands and prepared to jab it with the claw of the witcher spider.

“Please spare me, sir!” the demon suddenly cried. Tears flowed profusely from its single eye. “I do not want to die. Please spare me. I will not dare oppose humans in the future!”

Saleen paused and said in surprise, “I had heard demons had dignity, especially those with a pure bloodline.”

The demon transformed into Bafendier hesitated and decided to submit to Saleen’s abuse of power. It said pitifully, “Sir, I am about to starve to death. Please give that most ugly woman to me. I am willing to serve you loyally. A demon’s dignity cannot be compared to your mighty glory!”

“Most ugly woman?”

“The one with a scar on the forehead!” The demon licked its lips, as though suffering from unbearable hunger and thirst.

Saleen could not contain his smile and looked at Canghong who was on the platform. There was a scar on Canghong’s devilish face, the work of the hill cyclops. Canghong saw Saleen looking at him and asked, “Mage Merlin, what is that thing saying?”

“It said that as long as I feed you to it, it will be willing to sign a contract pledging its allegiance to me.”

Canghong’s sweat flowed freely. A demon’s allegiance was very tempting for a mage. Was Saleen going to offer him up as food to the demon?

“That, Mage Merlin, I heard, demons like to lie…”

Canghong moved backwards as he spoke, already leaning against the stone wall. Sika moved forward, grabbed Canghong by his neck, and lifted him up. Canghong did not have as much strength as her, and now that he had lost so much blood, he was completely unable to resist.

“Sika, what are you doing!” Sarah was shocked and habitually wanted to draw her flexible sword. Unfortunately, her flexible sword had long since been destroyed by the men from the Vulture Regiment. The thin sword she had picked up had also been lost in the swamp. Sika took out her boomerang and pressed it against Sarah’s neck.

Saleen lowered his head and said to the demon, “The one you want to eat is him?”

“Yes sir, please grant this woman to me.”

“Then tell me, will you eat or sign the contract first?”

“Of course I will eat first. I am out of energy and am unable to even remove this transformation spell to sign the contract with you!”

Saleen held the claw of the witcher spider and jabbed without hesitation. With a puff, blackish blood spurted out. Saleen jumped away as the demon cried out in pain. The image of Bafendier slowly disappeared as it curled up on the ground to reveal its true form.

This was a demon that quite closely resembled a human, aside from the fact that it had blue skin and a sharp tail. The horn on its head was very short and was almost hidden in its hair. It had black hair, and was naked. There was a thin gold vein along its back vertebrae which ended at the tip of its tail.

There was a dent on top of the demon’s head. It was very faint. If Saleen had used a greater amount of force, the claw of the witcher spider would have jabbed straight into the demon’s head. The demon, no matter how strong its vitality, would not have been able to withstand that.

“Huh? So it is an imp!”

Saleen’s heart relaxed. He could not tell which species this imp was. Imps were not powerful. Having been starved for so many years, its limbs were probably devoid of any strength and it was unable to deploy any spells.

“Sir, please spare me…” The imp had been injured by Saleen and laid on the ground in its original form. Its voice had become lower, as though it would soon cease breathing.

“It is true that demons like to lie. Tell me, you little imp, what use is there for me to sign a contract with you? I might as well make medicine out of you,” Saleen said solemnly.

The imp seemed to know that it could not deceive Saleen and answered with tears in its eyes, “Sir, I am the purest type of imp. Of all the planes within the crystal wall, only my transformation skill cannot be seen through…”

“Then how did I see through it?” Saleen was not letting up. He did not truly wish to kill this imp. While the imp was of a low grade, it was a real demon. It was rare to encounter demons in this plane. Saleen did not want to waste such a valuable living creature.

It would be extremely difficult to get this cunning demon to sign a contract willingly. The main reason for this was that Saleen did not know any contract magic and needed this imp to take initiative. Saleen did not want to scare it.

“Sir, you had the protection of god. My transformation spell was worthless before you!” the imp said, playing up to him.

“Chief, have you finished negotiating?” Sika asked loudly, still holding the weakened Canghong in her hands. As soon as Saleen gave the order, she would slice Canghong up and lay him before the imp.

Saleen turned around to see this scene and said with embarrassment, “Sika, let go quickly. I was joking with Canghong.”

“Only joking?” Sika put Canghong down gently and patted his shoulder saying, “Don’t be afraid. Chief is a good man. He will not harm you.”

Canghong’s heart reached the ground at the same time as Sika’s actions. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. Was Saleen a good man? Maybe. But all it took was for a good man to have bad intentions and he would be dead meat. This female Caucasus warrior had completely obeyed the mage; he must have lost his head to have wanted to poach her from him in the beginning.

Sarah glared at Sika viciously. There was a bloody line on her neck caused by Sika’s boomerang. Sika shrugged and said innocently, “Sarah, you heard him. Chief was joking.”

Sarah was resigned after hearing that one sentence. Was everyone from Caucasus so crude?

Saleen had no time to take Canghong’s and Sarah’s thoughts into consideration. He squatted down and stroked the imp’s head, asking gently, “Then, would you like to eat a little something or sign the contract first?”

The imp’s eyes looked around. It was struggling in its heart. It realized that it could not deceive this human who was younger than it. If it could eat some bloody meat, even just a small living creature, it would regain enough strength to wipe out all these fellows. It was an unfaltering demon. Would it really have to sign a contract with this weak human?

In the history of demons, nothing so humiliating had ever happened before.

How long had it been locked in this space? Ten thousand years? Twenty thousand years? Or thirty thousand years? It had eaten everything there was to eat. When was the last time it had eaten? It must have been a hundred and fifty years ago. If it did not agree to this human’s requests, it was possible that it would not have a chance to leave anymore…

Saleen’s face darkened. He spoke in ancient Myers language into the imp’s ear, “No need to think further. You have lived for so long that you should know that humans can be more evil than demons. I have many ways of dealing with you.”

This line worked. Saleen had read about demons cursing humans in magic notes, depicting their deep-rooted hatred. If humans had not gone so far in the past, the demons would not have made such laughable remarks which sounded like they had come from lambs instead.

“Sir, I am willing to sign the contract. Please proceed.” The imp lowered its face as though surrendering. It was still struggling in its heart and had hoped to find a loophole in this human’s contract. If it initiated the contract, based on its current strength, it could only complete the worst possible soul bond.

If it signed the soul bond, it would lose its freedom forever. Even if this human died, the imprint on its soul could not be removed.

Saleen gently stroked the imp’s head. Its hair was very smooth, and was more comfortable to the touch than Sika’s. His finger stopped at the dent created by the witcher spider’s claw. He touched the inside and rubbed it passingly. The imp grit its teeth in pain. Saleen smiled and cast it an evil look, saying to the imp, “My contract requires the use of a lot of fresh blood. It appears that this dent should be enlarged. If we were to fail, then it would be too bad for you.”