Elite Demon

An Upper Demon!? This guy was actually an Upper Demon!?

Roy had vaguely suspected it earlier. He figured that even a Middle Demon could not completely negate the effects of his Bloodthirst Technique with a single spell. But when he heard the other party personally admit to being an Upper Demon Race, he still could not help being startled.

Damn it, what rotten luck. He had not expected an Upper Demon to be the one activating the summoning and drawing demons in. If he had known, he never would have stepped into the Magic Array to answer the summons...

Roy knew very well that High Demons had only two attitudes toward Low-Rank Demons: kill them or enslave them. There was no third option. Even without reading it, he knew this Demon Contract was a contract of enslavement.

Roy did not want to be enslaved by anyone, even if the other party was a High Demon. Perhaps other demons considered submitting to a High Demon perfectly natural, but Roy had always been an anomaly among demons. His way of thinking meant he had never been willing to let anyone enslave him.

He wanted to take a gamble and fight this guy. Even if it meant damaging his soul, Roy wanted to go back. Even if the other party was also a demon and an expert at manipulating souls, as long as he was not an Angel, a demon's mortal enemy, he could not break through the Ouroboros Mark's protection over Roy's soul...

But the problem was that Roy had no answer at all to Serlun's magic. One Weakness spell, and he had practically lost all combat ability. How was he supposed to fight under those circumstances? Besides, judging by Serlun's attitude, he did not seem willing to simply kill Roy.

He could refuse to sign the contract, but then he would have to remain in this world for an entire year. Serlun would probably lock him up. How would that be any different from prison?

After thinking it over, there was only one way: activate the Magic Array himself and go back!

So while Serlun was still talking, Roy secretly pressed his hand against the Magic Array, trying to channel demonic power into it and activate the teleport Array. He remembered that even a tiny amount of magic power was enough to activate a Summoning Ritual.

However... nothing happened!

What was wrong? Was it because no ritual had been performed, or was sending a demon back different from a Summoning Ritual?

Roy was still stunned when Serlun noticed the demonic power he had output. Serlun immediately said in surprise, "You... you can output magic power?? Ah, right. You have the bloodline of an Upper Demon. It is not strange for you to have an Output Circuit... but..."

Serlun rubbed his demon horns in confusion and said, "But when I activated the Magic Array, I was summoning toward the Shallow Abyss. How did a demon with an Upper Bloodline end up in the Shallow Abyss?"

As he spoke, he looked at Fat Tiger in Roy's arms and continued, "And this Hell Hound too. I have never seen a Hell Hound with Demon Wings... How bizarre! What kind of mutation is this?"

There were too many suspicious things about Roy. Yet despite his confusion, Serlun had never doubted Roy's identity, because Roy carried the unique demonic aura of the Abyss World. Serlun could not possibly mistake that. After pondering it for a while, he stopped thinking about it. The Abyss World was so vast—were strange things really that rare? Once he put aside his doubts, he wanted even more to subdue Roy.

He believed that although Roy was a Lower Demon, he was definitely an elite among Lower Demons! There had indeed been such cases before. Even demons of the same species could differ enormously from one another. Occasionally, an individual far stronger than others of its kind would be born. Such demons were usually called Elite Demons within their own rank.

Thus, Serlun showed rare patience and said to Roy, "I told you already, do not waste your effort. If you want to teleport yourself back, you must reverse the magic power output of the Summoning Array. The amount of magic power required is not trivial—it is enormous. If you think you can easily teleport back, then you are gravely mistaken!"

By the end, he was gradually becoming impatient. "My patience is limited. I will give you one last chance. If you truly refuse to sign the contract and submit to me, I will shackle you and throw you directly into the human kingdoms. The Angels of Cloud City will give you a warm welcome!"

Roy was helpless too. It felt as though every path back had been blocked, so he could only stare at the words on the contract.

The Demon Contract stated that Roy had to submit to Serlun. During his stay in this world, he had to obey Serlun's orders and fight as his subordinate until he died here or was banished. During that time, every soul captured on the battlefield had to be handed over to Serlun. In return, Serlun would provide him with a certain amount of food.

That had been the original arrangement, but because he wanted to recruit Roy, an Elite Demon, Serlun added a clause at the end of the contract. If they won a war, Roy would receive one-tenth of the souls gained in that war as a reward!

Upon seeing the contract's contents, Roy immediately understood why an Upper Demon like Serlun had appeared in this world. Because they could remain here for extended periods, they did not hesitate to raise armies and wage war in this world. After all, as long as they won each war, the victorious demons could harvest a vast number of souls from the battlefield. This method of gathering souls was much faster for Upper Demons than hunting alone!

If Roy had merely been an ordinary Lower Demon, Serlun would never have shared the spoils of war with him. He would have squeezed Roy dry like a slave master.

It had to be said that Roy had been truly fortunate to give himself Demon Wings. Upper Demons valued bloodlines, but Serlun would never know that Roy's bloodline was actually extremely complicated. It was only because Serlun had misunderstood Roy's bloodline that he regarded him so highly...

Overall, this contract was still one of enslavement, but compared to the contracts imposed on other summoned demons, it was already far better. A ten-percent share of the soul profits had elevated Roy from a slave to an indentured worker...

So after examining it carefully and finding no traps, Roy signed his name and put the contract into effect.

When Serlun saw Roy sign his name, he could not help laughing smugly. He removed the helmet from his head, revealing his true appearance. His face looked somewhat human. If not for those demon horns, Roy would not have doubted that he was human.

These humanoid demons were often a sign of the Upper Demon Race...

"Come down. I still need to recruit more troops!" Serlun pointed at Roy and said, "You are the Master of that Hell Hound, right? Then I will not make a contract with him. You will be responsible for taking him with you from now on! Do not send him away. My orders to you apply to him as well!"

This was Serlun's order. Having signed the contract, Roy naturally could not disobey, so he could only nod in agreement.

Actually, this was fine too. Only Roy knew that Fat Tiger was not a real demonic Hell Hound. He could not form a contract with anyone... Since Serlun was not making one with him, he would not discover that.

"Now I have a task for you. Go to the surface and keep an eye on the crater's progress!" Serlun continued. "Once I have summoned enough troops here, I will detonate the volcano!"

Roy had no idea why Serlun wanted to detonate the volcano, but he did not ask. He left with Fat Tiger.

The place where he had been earlier was underground. The scorching heat he had felt upon emerging from the Summoning Array had been because of that. This seemed to be a tributary of an underground magma river. By following the river, one could travel underground to the base of a volcano.

After climbing from the base to the crater, Roy discovered that a large number of Abyssal Creatures had already gathered there. Most were Low-Rank Demons. Following patterns that had already been drawn, they were producing a mercury-like liquid and pouring it over the lines, forming an enormous Magic Array around the volcano's crater...

Recalling Serlun's words about detonating the volcano, Roy immediately understood. This Magic Array was likely meant to forcibly trigger an eruption. Otherwise, he guessed the volcano would not erupt anytime soon.

Roy did not interfere as he watched the Low-Rank Demons work. He took Fat Tiger into the sky and surveyed the terrain surrounding the volcano.

"Heh, Chaos Dragon Ogas, Cloud City... Heroes of Might and Magic World. I have been summoned to a very dangerous place this time," Roy muttered self-mockingly. "But while a demon like me is in danger in this world, does that mean an Upper Demon like you is safe?"

It will not be so easy to enslave me...

This chapter drew inspiration from the Dungeon and Devil campaign of Heroes of Might and Magic III.

P.S.: In the Heroes of Might and Magic World, Chaos Dragon Ogas is the ancestor of demons, but he probably will not appear in this book. In this story, Hell, the Abyss, and the Demon World all refer to the same world. I will reconcile any setting inconsistencies that I can and try to keep things unified, but please forgive those I cannot resolve. Niche stories are already difficult to write; if I make it any harder, I probably will not be able to continue writing it.