Unmoved

Fran found the demon again the next day, and the first thing that greeted her was its delighted voice.

"Oh, Mage, you finally came to find me."

The joy in its voice was genuine. The demon was overjoyed by Fran's arrival, like drought-stricken land finally receiving rain.

Only after Fran cut off contact with the demon did it realize that the Gray Space it inhabited contained nothing—no sound at all, with only itself left behind.

If it had not occasionally been able to send its consciousness back to the Abyss, it truly suspected that it would have been driven mad there.

But it had to remain in the Gray Space for a certain period of time first, or it could forget about returning to the continent.

And there was nothing it could do within the Gray Space. It talked to itself for a long time, so long that even it could no longer endure it and felt as though several months had passed.

Then, when its consciousness briefly returned to the Abyss, it discovered that only a little over ten hours had passed.

While in the Abyss, that made it even think that being with David would be better than staying in a space without any sound...

"I tested the incantation you mentioned..."

Fran got straight to the point. Before she could finish, the demon immediately responded:

"Well? Did you find that Black Stone Slab incredibly powerful? Just using the power upon it lets you easily shatter even a Third Order barrier."

"If you need more incantations, you can come to me and trade for them. I've always been generous..."

Fran showed little reaction and merely emphasized one thing.

"If you want me to test more incantations, you'll have to give me more compensation."

She paused, then continued:

"As for