Azure Whale City, Dorsal Fin Village.
In the basement of a house that stood out from all the others.
Candlelight flickered, stretching and shifting shadows across the walls.
A burly, middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and long, dark brown curls knelt before a shrine. Head bowed, he seemed to have just finished reporting something and was waiting for the presence within the shrine to respond.
"You're saying you can't do it?" A voice, so calm it sent a shiver down one's spine, rang out from within. The cloth covering the shrine was suddenly swept aside, revealing the demon statue beneath.
It was a standard demon statue: a pair of twisted, curling horns; a hideous, terrifying face; slit pupils that inspired both seduction and fear; a pitch-black body covered in tiny scales; clawed hands tipped with long, sharp nails; a thick yet nimble tail; and hooves like a goat's.
But Nigel knew that the so-called demon statue was only a common conception of demons. The demon's true form could change at will, and it had no physical body in the Material Plane.
"Y-yes. I can't do it!" he said, his voice trembling slightly. But as he continued, his resolve grew firmer. "I can't kill an innocent old man just to achieve my own ends!"
"If I did that, how would I be any different from the people I hate?!"
"The Old Priest is a good man. He's devoted himself to his work all these years. I can't kill him!"
"I won't do that, so..." Nigel rose to his feet. His trembling body had grown still as he asked, "Can you undo the contract and go back where you came from?"
"So you've had a change of heart and decided to be a good person?" The demon's tone remained calm and even in response to Nigel's attempt to cross the bridge and burn it behind him.
No, in this case, he hadn't even crossed the bridge before trying to burn it.
"Nigel, you really are never going to amount to anything."
"You have a goal you absolutely must achieve, yet you hesitate at every turn."
"You made a Demon Contract, yet you still worry about all those so-called good people."
"I knew you couldn't be a good person, but I never thought you couldn't even manage to be a bad one!"
As the demon spoke with contempt, a strange-looking sheet of paper appeared from within the shrine. Its lines of text gave off a faint, eerie glow.
[Clause One: The demon 'Naimus' (true name excerpt, verified) will provide Nigel Dartmenly with a complete method of stealing faith, guarantee that the method is genuine, and explain how to use it properly. When used as instructed, it will have no side effects, or any side effects will be incapable of harming Nigel.]
[Clause Two: Nigel must take control of the Dorsal Fin Village church as soon as possible and give Naimus seventy percent of the faith he steals.]
[Clause Three: Naimus must not, by any means, implication, or action, persecute Nigel or expose the contract he signed with him.]
[Clause Four: Nigel must not, by any means, implication, or action, reveal Naimus's existence.]
[Clause Five: This contract will be dissolved seven years after it is formed, or when the total faith Nigel has stolen reaches one thousand years①. Afterward, neither party may reveal the contract by any means, implication, or action.]
Clause Two was trembling faintly. The contract was clearly on the verge of being violated.
At that moment, Nigel suddenly drew a short sword from his chest. Its blade was etched with runes in some silvery material.
He sprang up in an instant. The Runic Shortsword in his hand almost became a streak of white light as it swung toward the Demon Contract, ready to cleave it apart.
As the Paladin stationed at Dorsal Fin Village, Nigel knew a thing or two about demons. When he had first discovered the demon statue and signed the contract, he had already planned to break it and turn against the demon.
The Runic Shortsword had Divine Script engraved into it with holy silver. It could directly dispel demonic power and render a Demon Contract invalid!
But in the next instant, several snakelike ropes shot through the basement, catching Nigel before he could strike and binding him fast.
His thrusting sword was only a hand's breadth from the contract, yet that distance had become an impassable chasm.
The ropes twisted, pinning Nigel down. Their tremendous force stretched him out into a starfish shape and suspended him in midair.
The Demon Contract's eerie light washed over the room as a shadow slowly stepped out of the demon statue.
"You've already fallen so far that you're nothing but a Paladin stationed in a tiny village, yet you still cling to a kindness that could drown you."
"And you disguise yourself as a vicious brute, shutting everyone else's goodwill out."
"You act recklessly and think you know best, convinced that you can somehow make everything work out perfectly, without sparing a thought for what might happen if you fail."
"Just like now. You thought you had a way to break the contract, but you forgot that breaking contracts is what demons do best."
"How could I not have prepared for this?"
Nigel tried to say something, but the ropes had bound his mouth. He couldn't get a word out.
"I don't want to hear any more of your tired old nonsense. Just hand over your body like a good boy." As the words fell, Clause Two of the Demon Contract surged out from the page and covered Nigel's body.
The shadow turned into a streak of light and shot toward him.
"The Abyssal Hell is too barren. It took all I had just to reach the Material Plane. You don't want the chance to steal faith and change your nature? Then I'll do it myself!"
Nigel struggled desperately, making muffled sounds. But with the contract's power behind it, the shadow encountered no resistance as it slipped easily into his mind.
The last thing Nigel heard was the demon Naimus's voice.
"I'll help you accomplish everything you wanted to do, and put an end to all your regrets."
"Though my methods may no longer fit your foolish kindness."
"No... I haven't completed my redemption yet. I haven't..."
"This demon... I let this demon out. I can't..." Nigel's desperate soul began to wail, but there was nothing he could do to stop the demon.
Everything that was Nigel was quickly seized and replaced by Naimus under the contract's power.
The ropes binding his body loosened and lowered him to the ground. Then they curled up, becoming as docile as a pet.
The night passed quietly. As the Whale Call sounded outside, Nigel—or rather, Naimus—opened his eyes and savored the long-missed sensations of a physical body.
A slight smile tugged at his lips, then faded.
His gaze shifted to the ground. The shrine and demon statue began to burn.
Green flames lit up the basement, dark since the candles had gone out. The shrine and demon statue quickly melted in the flames.
Yet Naimus's shadow on the wall did not flicker with the fire. It grew solid and real.
He closed his eyes and reflected. Information flowed through his mind:
[New identity acquired. Precepts updated.]
[Identity 1: Variant Demon Naimus]
[Precept Details]
[Main Precept: Oath Keeper—Strictly abide by the terms of contracts and do not violate any established contract.]
[Precept Feedback: The power of contracts is enhanced, and can be channeled into a Pact Vessel to grant it supernatural power.]
[Pact Vessel: Rope of Oath (autonomous movement; stronger binding; increased speed)]
[Master Precept: None]
[Identity 2: Paladin Nigel]
[Precept Details]
[Main Precept: None]
[Master Precept: None]
[Innate Secondary Law: Daily Practice—Must practice Swordsmanship once a day.]
[Precept Feedback: Swordsmanship enhanced; (when selected as a Master Precept—after completing the day's practice, gain one hour of Swordsmanship inspiration.)]
This was Naimus's greatest reward for falling into the Abyss. He had successfully acquired a portion of the God of Precepts' Divine Rank. As long as he abided by the precepts he had gained through his actions, he could draw power from them.
Main precepts could be enhanced.
Each identity could gain one Main Precept and one Master Precept.
Precepts were broadly divided into passive and active types.
Precepts that were followed passively, by refraining from doing something, were called Main Precepts.
Precepts that involved actively doing something according to a certain rule were called Master Precepts.
That power was also why he had deliberately infiltrated the Material Plane, a region shrouded in the faith of the God of Precepts.
"It really has been a long time." Naimus stepped out of the basement and looked at the sun rising outside the window, speaking with a sigh.
Then Naimus put his feelings away. His movements and expression shifted to match Nigel's exactly. Even if someone examined his soul, he was Nigel.
A knock sounded at the door.
(A unit of faith is the amount produced when an ordinary believer prays at a shrine every day for a year.)