Forced Play

"Lord Chao, the bag is ready."

Dane's voice came from outside the door.

Chaoyang, however, slowly released his hand.

It wasn't because he couldn't bear to, nor did he want her to die on her own. It was because amidst the flickering fragments of memory, he had caught a glimpse of an unusual emotion. Its tone was incongruous with the rest of the memories, like a shadow hidden beneath the light. Although Chaoyang couldn't be 100% sure of the origin of this faint negative emotion, it wasn't hard to guess.

Upon discovering this loophole, a completely new idea surfaced in his mind!

-- That was to control Elodie and make her serve the demons!

This idea sounded far-fetched, but upon closer thought, one would realize that there was no fundamental conflict between angels and demons. If successful, the benefits he would gain would be immense.

After all, Chaoyang complained the most about his own combat ability. If he could recruit an angel as a bodyguard, wouldn't he be making a huge profit? It was important to remember that under the constraint of a contract, demons did not fear so-called "betrayal." The only difficulty was getting the other party to willingly sign the contract. Once the contract was established, Elodie naturally would no longer pose any threat.

Besides this main reason, Chaoyang also wanted to obtain more information about "natural enemies" from her.

If he hadn't been in another world, if he had happened to be in a city on Earth at that time... the outcome might have been completely different.

And the Dream Entry Technique couldn't be used for detailed questioning. To know about angels, he had to get the information from her directly.

"No need for the bag for now. Do you have any extra beds? Help me clear one out." Chaoyang picked up Elodie again and opened the door. Dane was outside, looking surprised.

"We do... What are you planning to do?"

"Heal this evil spirit," he said casually.

"You... want to heal an evil spirit?"

"She's not deeply corrupted; perhaps there's still hope." Chaoyang smiled at him. "The Lord God hopes Paradise doesn't reject anyone. Even evil spirits should be given a chance at salvation."

Dane's expression shifted slightly.

His tightly pursed lips relaxed considerably. It was evident that he had harbored doubts and worries about eliminating an evil spirit that looked exactly like a human girl. But now... his heart was at ease.

He silently approved of this course of action.

This overly sensitive perception... Chaoyang shook his head helplessly. Since becoming more familiar with his demonic abilities, he now had the illusion that he could communicate with people without even speaking.

"Of course, please follow me!"

Dane turned and led the way.

Just then, Chaoyang felt that faint wish power stir again!

What was going on?

He didn't have any contracts in his hand right now!

Could it be... related to the pure white threads on the reporter?

Chaoyang looked at him using Demon Vision and found that the white threads were still there, unchanged from before.

"My Lord?" Dane turned back to look at him.

"It's nothing, let's go." Chaoyang came back to his senses.

This whole ordeal lasted from afternoon until evening.

After all, he couldn't leave Elodie to be looked after by two ordinary people, so he had to stay in the room and watch her. It wasn't until the sky outside was filled with red clouds that she showed signs of waking up.

"My Lord, she's awake." Judy was the first to notice.

Chaoyang nodded and got up to walk to the bedside. While the two weren't paying attention, he made another clone, leaving his main body far from the bedroom. Although this was a waste of wish power, for the sake of safety, it was better not to be stingy. "You two, step back a bit, lest the evil spirit suddenly attack."

Dane and Judy obediently retreated to the doorway.

"Um... I wanted to ask you before," Judy said cautiously, "what exactly do we need to do to save an evil spirit? You said she's not truly human, so exorcism probably wouldn't work, right?"

"That's right, only the power of God can restrain evil spirits." Chaoyang replied calmly. "To be honest, this is my first time doing this, and I don't know the success rate. I'll just do my best."

"You... can do it."

"Mmm..." The girl let out a pained groan and slowly opened her eyes. Her pair of azure eyes showed obvious disorientation, clearly not yet recovered from extreme weakness.

"You slept quite a while," Chaoyang said, leaning over.

"Where is this..." She squinted and looked for a long time, then her expression suddenly changed. "You're that demon!"

As she spoke, she tried to sit up, only to find her hands and feet were tied to the bed frame with ropes.

A look of fear appeared on Elodie's face.

This subtle change did not escape Chaoyang's eyes.

"Evil spirit, do not be disrespectful to Lord Chao!" Judy shouted from the doorway.

"E-evil spirit?" She turned in surprise, only then noticing the other two people in the room. With her vision, it was not difficult to see that both of them were ordinary people.

Seeing her gaze sweep over, Judy quickly hid herself behind Dane again.

"You... haven't signed a contract yet..." Elodie said, forcing herself despite her weakness. "Leave here quickly, don't believe anything this man says! As long as you don't sign a contract, you'll still be saved..."

"They have signed," Chaoyang said abruptly. "More accurately, the contract is complete, so you can't see any traces."

He vaguely sensed that angels might also have a unique vision to track demons, including seeing through illusions.

Elodie clearly didn't believe him. "Hmph, is this another trick of yours? If they had completed the contract, you would probably be playing with their souls by now!"

Chaoyang shrugged dismissively. He knew he didn't need to refute the statement himself.

As expected, Judy immediately defended him. "Lord Chao isn't lying to you. He did sign a contract with me, and he completed it flawlessly! While I don't know what you mean by 'soul,' it sounds like a lie!"

Elodie's mouth opened, and she was momentarily speechless.

A faint smile touched Chaoyang's lips. He had left the two of them here precisely for this effect. "Your name is Elodie, isn't it?"

"How do you know my name?" the other party exclaimed in surprise again.

"So you don't even know about 'entering dreams,' yet you dare to assert with such certainty that a contract will steal one's soul?" Chaoyang said calmly. "Of course... entering dreams isn't without its benefits. Without the knowledge I planted in your dreams, we'd still be talking past each other."

"I—" Elodie abruptly shut her mouth.

It was clear she had only just realized that what they were speaking wasn't any language from Earth.

"You still haven't answered my question, evil spirit!" Chaoyang suddenly raised his voice, his tone shifting from its previous placidity to a sharp interrogation. "Have you encountered anyone like me before? If not, on what grounds do you conclude that a stranger would demand someone's soul?"

Elodie seemed to be asked such a question for the first time. She stammered for a long moment before retorting, "But you—"

Chaoyang grabbed a handful of flour he had prepared earlier and threw it in the other party's face. "Exorcise!"

"Cough, cough, cough..." Elodie accidentally inhaled some flour and began to cough violently.

"Answer me!"

"Because of the awakening—"

Chaoyang threw another handful of flour!

"Don't try to muddle through with irrelevant words. Answer my question: have you ever encountered anyone like me before!"

"I..."

"Exorcise!"

"Cough—uh, cough, cough, cough—" Elodie coughed so hard her back was hunched over.

"Is this the God of Paradise's exorcism ritual? It's incredible..." Dane pulled out a notebook and pen from his pocket. "Please allow me to record this."

After several rounds, the girl's hair and cheeks were covered in a fine powder, and her weak voice was reduced to mere coughs.

"I... want... to... say..."

Chaoyang reached into the flour bag again. "Exorcise!"

"My lord, she seemed to want to say something just now," Judy reminded him.

Chaoyang's hand stopped.

Elodie's expression looked as if she were about to cry. After a bout of gasping, she said intermittently, "I haven't encountered anyone... cough... I'll tell you, okay!"

Dane and Judy exchanged a glance, the same thought crossing their minds.

The evil spirit had capitulated.