Tenebrous Wolf

Holding a conversation with a demoness was no easy feat, as one would expect. Fortunately, Klaus's communication skills were top-notch, allowing him to ease the tense atmosphere.

Taking a deep breath, he introduced himself.

"Since we're both in this unfortunate situation, why don't we use this chance to know each other. My name is Klaus Schwarz. What's yours?"

The demoness crossed her arms, her small wings flapping behind her bare back.

"Briar."

"I see. That's a cu— I mean, that's a good name," Klaus said, quickly correcting himself. "By the way, I'm curious about something."

Briar raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"What kind of demon are you? I've never heard of a bat demon before."

Her eyes seemed offended. "Your words are rude! Bat demon? Can't you see I'm obviously a succubus?!"

Klaus shrugged.

"Well, forgive me. My knowledge of demons is limited, and you don't exactly look like a typical succubus. Maybe… a bat-succubus hybrid?"

"Hmph." Briar huffed, but didn't outright deny it. "Demons are not limited to a single species. There are countless kinds among our race. The succubus clan is merely one of them."

"Clans? You mean like Noble Demon Households?"

"The correct term is Pandemonium Clans. They are formed by demon nobles who carry a demonic bloodline within them. Those demons are called pure-blooded, while the rest—impure bloods—are just lesser demons who serve under a king or lord of a territory."

Klaus's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is the Succubus Clan among those Pandemonium Clans?"

"Yes! It's one of the Great Five Demon Clans in the Demon Realm. The Succubus Clan is ruled by one of the five supreme rulers of the Underworld, known as the Succubus Queen. And I—"

The demoness abruptly froze.

Her lips pressed shut as if she had said too much. A flicker of confusion crossed her eyes, as though she hadn't meant to reveal that information.

Had something forced her to speak? She clicked her tongue.

Klaus, however, didn't seem to notice. He had already fallen into deep thought.

"I see. So, it's similar to the Imperial Clans formed by humans." He muttered under his breath, pulling a plain sheet of paper from his bag and jotting down a few notes.

Knowledge about demons was scarce, controlled by the government, major clans, and the military. Whatever information was made public was carefully curated, with the most crucial details kept under strict lock and key.

That was why it surprised him to learn that the demon race had such diversity. They weren't just a singular entity, they had internal divisions, species, and hierarchies. They were fundamentally different from humans in ways the public likely never knew.

Of course, he had only been given the most basic knowledge, like everyone else. Even the information hub he received from Sergeant Griffin probably contained nothing beyond what every Apprentice was expected to know. If he wanted access to more, he'd have to climb the ranks, which in hindsight was a tedious and time-consuming process.

But if he could gather enough information, he might finally learn the truth about what happened to his parents.

It was that simple.

He never believed the cause of their deaths was anything ordinary. And the fact that the book they left behind had summoned a demoness the moment it came into contact with his blood only reinforced his suspicions.

Still, it was unlikely that she knew anything about that matter. Besides, she didn't seem particularly strong.

She might be concealing her true strength, but there was no way I could have summoned something vastly beyond my own level. If anything, she should be around the level of a Fiend or Wraith.

Klaus held his chin, and studied the demoness carefully.

Sensing his stare, Briar shifted uncomfortably beneath the blanket, and her bat-wings flapped nervously.

Why was he looking at her like that?

Klaus continued his silent evaluation.

If he followed the ranking system established used to grade 'Shadow Creatures', the same system used to measure a demon's destructive potential, then the hierarchy would be as follows, from weakest to strongest:

Fiend → Ghoul → Wraith → Tyrant → Calamity

At least, that was the general information given to Ascendants. He had learned about it through less-than-official means such as sneaking around and eavesdropping on passing Ascendants when they spoke about demons.

Of course, there were times when he was caught and scolded. Fortunately, eavesdropping wasn't a major offense as long as it wasn't done near military quarters.

Because of this, he had gathered a great deal of useful information about Demons and Shadow Creatures.

For some reason, Demons were vastly stronger than Shadow Creatures of the same rank. If that logic held true, then they were also stronger than humans of the same rank.

With that in mind, the demoness sitting on his bed wrapped by his blanket would be around the rank of a Fiend.

Klaus wasn't exactly sure why he was so certain about this, but the information in his head told him otherwise and formed that truth.

The strangest part was that he didn't feel like Briar was stronger than him.

In fact, it was the opposite. He felt he was stronger than the demoness.

Did that even make sense?

If he followed the logic of the Ascendants, it should have been a contradiction in the ranking system. At the same time, something told him it wasn't a contradiction at all.

I don't understand. Where the heck am I getting such information from? Does it have something to deal with that book?

Klaus rubbed his temple.

Even though the book had vanished, the archive of knowledge inside his mind remained. But the sheer vastness of it made it nearly impossible to process. He could only grasp fragments, and small pieces of information, because his human brain simply wasn't capable of handling it all at once.

Perhaps if he advanced from Apprentice to Enlightened, he'd be able to access more of the information buried in his mind.

"..."

Briar studied Klaus in silence while subtly scanning her surroundings, as if searching for something in particular.

Then, after a few moments of silence, she finally spoke.

"Hey, since you asked me a question, it's only fair I ask one in return."

"I have a name, you know."

Ignoring his remark, Briar continued, "How exactly did you summon me into this world?"

Klaus frowned briefly before wiping the expression from his face. Folding his arms, he answered nonchalantly.

"Well, if you also me about that, I don't exactly know. I was messing around with some strange book, dropped my blood on it, and all because why not? Then, the next thing I knew, you appeared like a summoned Pokémon."

For the first time, Blaine tilted her head, genuinely confused. "What's a Pokémon?"

Klaus blinked. "Wait, seriously? You don't know what Pokémon is?"

"Should I?"

"It's a popular animated series. You know, a cartoon."

"A... cartoon?"

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what a cartoon is either?"

Briar looked clearly annoyed. "Geez, why do you keep saying weird things? What the hell is a cartoon?"

For a moment, Klaus was genuinely taken aback.

She doesn't know what a cartoon is?

Even a kid barely old enough to talk would recognize a cartoon, but Briar was completely clueless.

Wait… now that I think about it, do demons even have TVs in the Underworld?

The thought was absurdly funny. If demons had no way to observe humanity from their own realm, it made sense that they wouldn't have modern entertainment or technological advancements.

Then what the hell do they do all day? Watch peasants fight to the death in a cage for fun?

That's seriously messed up.

Klaus barely held back a laugh. If he started laughing now, Blaine would definitely think he was mocking her.

He glanced around for the remote, spotted it in a second, and grabbed it before aiming it at the TV.

"This is what a cartoon looks like."

Then he changed the channel. At that moment, Briar turned toward the TV and her eyes widened.

An animated series started playing on the screen, replacing the dull news segment. It was that new show called Joyriders, or something along those lines.

Indeed, it was just an ordinary cartoon series.

Despite that, Briar looked as if she had seen something unfathomable. "W-What is this? Some kind of illusion magic?"

"Nope. Is there such a thing as illusion magic? Regardless, this is what we call a television. It's how we watch shows, news, and entertainment."

Briar leaped out from the bed with her blanket still wrapped around her and leaned closer to the TV screen, her eyes practically sparkling.

He knew she was excited because her bat-like wings, which peeked out from under the blanket, were flapping repeatedly. But he was curious about what would happen if he grabbed them?

"This… this is incredible. How did humans create something like this?"

"Science, engineering, and a little thing called electricity," Klaus said with a casual shrug. "I take it demons don't have anything like this?"

Briar scoffed, still transfixed by the screen. "Of course not! If we did, we wouldn't waste time on pathetic wars. We'd be watching this instead, or even creating something even more interesting…"

Klaus couldn't help but laugh. "So, you like it?"

The demoness quickly straightened and cleared her throat. "I— I didn't say that!"

Wasn't this person rather cute? Her reaction only made Klaus chuckle more.

"Right, right. You totally hate it. But I have another question, do you mind?"

"Ask quickly."

"Yes, I shall," Klaus cleared his throat and spoke with a serious expression. "What do you know about the Master and Servant Contract?"

The moment those words left his lips, Blaine's shoulders stiffened.

She immediately turned her head and looked at Klaus with an expression that screamed horror.

That was definitely something she didn't want him to know.

"You… You… H-How did you know about that?"

"I read about it in that book I told you about. If I recall correctly, it's something that links two souls together. Yes? But I don't know much about this stuff, so tell me more about it."

"Even if you say that…" Briar awkwardly averted her gaze.

The moment she tried to dodge the question…

"Mm… Eh? Wh-What… the!?"

Suddenly, Blaine's body trembled violently as a shiver ran through her. Her voice came out in a confused stammer. And then—

"No way… N-No…"

Her face flushed red as she mumbled, and her body lost strength. She collapsed onto the floor.

A faint tremor overtook her and her body shivered bit by bit. She felt funny as her insides became increasingly hot with each second.

"Wh-what is... ha..ppening..."

"Ahh... So, this is the result of the curse," Klaus, who had moved closer to her, muttered.

"C-Curse…?"

"Why are you asking me as if you don't know? The Master and Servant Contract is a form of demon mysticism, right? I don't fully understand its mechanics, but it's designed to ensure loyalty. If a servant betrays their master or harbors guilt, the contract enforces punishment. And in this case, for whatever reason, you're the servant, and I'm the master."

"...No...way... No... No... Make it stop... Pls... Help... Me..."

Briar, with a completely enchanted expression, raised a bewitching voice and rocked her body back and forth.

It was quite erotic. Klaus swallowed hard but maintained his composure.

"Of course, I'll stop it," he said, crouching beside her. "But only if you promise to answer all my questions, truthfully. Otherwise…" His lips curled into a smirk. "I could always leave you like this for a few hours. The curse doesn't seem life-threatening, just… overwhelmingly inconvenient."

Everything had gone according to plan. He'd first introduced her to television, lowering her guard, then hit her with a sensitive question she'd try to avoid which triggered the curse in the process.

Now, all that remained was for her to submit.

Briar bit her lips and thought, this is the worst.

"Wh… Whatever, Mmh, just… just help me…"

"Very good."

Klaus simply smiled. It was a knowing smile that concealed layers of hidden intentions.

"I'll make sure to take care of you."