By the time I recovered from the disorientating sensation, I found myself in an empty room that was probably a basement given its lack of windows.
I gave my person a quick run through to check for any losses. The grimoire was there and so was Shadowfang however the grimoire seemed to have lost some of its energy during the summoning and could no longer support its levitation. It laid there lifelessly like an ordinary book right next to the giant blade it was bound by chain to.
With these two settled, all that remained to be found was the devil egg. However, I vaguely remembered it not being teleported along with me as I got summoned. I guess that made sense, after all, the egg had a soul of its own and could be counted as a separate entity. Since it was still in the maze, Habona and Violet Snow should be able to take good care of it.
After checking that my body and limbs were all intact, I finally had the sense of mind to notice the demonic array drawn in blood beneath my feet. A short distance away was a group of three human men and a girl.
Each of them had a noticeably different bearing to them. One was a black robed, red headed man roughly thirty years of age and had an arrogant look on his face as he stared at me with a devilish glint in his eyes as if he could see right through me. He was probably the master of this group and also an occultist.
Flanking the occultist on either side was two burly bald men who looked almost identical to each other. Both were over 30 years of age and had a scar riddled face beneath their shiny domes.
Their two meter tall frames were clad in chainmail that covered even their heads. Wrapped around their hands were a pair of black, metallic gauntlets that matched their sinister and bloodthirsty aura. Just from a glance, one could tell that these two were the stereotypical evil henchmen of a villain.
(Chainmails were made by interlinking multiple metallic rings in order to form an armor. They boasted an impressive defensive ability that rose with the density of their chain links. These metallic rings were particularly suited for carving magical arrays and thus made chainmails the preferred armor for crafting enchanted gear. Due to the complexity of crafting their metallic rings, chainmails tended to be more expensive.)
The last of the four was a little girl roughly 14 to 15 years of age. She was a rather pretty lass. With her fair skin, flowing black hair that reached up to her shoulders, she possessed a sort of ladylike beauty. At least it would’ve been so if not for the gray shorts and shirt she wore that were clearly meant for slaves.
However, I don’t mind that slave teenage girl setting either. That tattered and bare bones piece of cloth gave a tantalizing view of her thighs and arms as she laid there shivering in fear while looking at me.
My head experienced a moment of silence as I spaced out from the shock of having just been summoned. What’s up with these four? Don’t tell me they’re the welcoming party…more importantly…where am I? Is this the Western Human Realms?
While I stood musing to myself, the only guy who seemed like a mage due to his robes, stepped and spoke to me in a slightly broken but understandable version of the devil’s tongue. “Oh devil, bow before me, your almighty master.”
“Master?” My lips curled into a disdainful smirk as I snorted. “Ever since I’ve been born, I’ve always been the master. You actually wish to command me? I’m afraid you aren’t even qualified for that.”
“I’m a mighty three-star occultist while you’re just a measly two-star head imp and yet you claim that I do not have the qualifications to be your master?” Perhaps my rejection had an effect on him but his face was noticeably darker as he emphasized the difference in our levels and even went so far as to brazenly threaten me.
“If you do not obey my command, I’ll send you back to your damned home, hell!”
“…”I didn’t want to go back there, at least not for now. But to use this as a threat to restrain me, to force me to submit…I’m sorry but it’s still lacking.
Having mistaken my silence as a sign of success, the occultist adopted a softer tone as he pointed at the shivering girl next to his leg: “I know what you devils desire, look, this is the gift I’ve prepared for you.”
Oh so that’s a gift, well wasn’t he a thoughtful one. As I shifted my gaze to the girl, she shrunk back in horror, visibly terrified by my renewed attention on her. However, there was simply nowhere in this empty room where her panicked self could hide.
Tears rolled down her eyes as she desperately scampered to the back of the occultist. Unfortunately for her, the black robed man would have none of that and wasn’t going to be a gentleman about it. He kicked her on the shoulder, neither too lightly nor too heavily, telling her through his actions that being offered to the devil was her fate.
She did not know what that fate would mean for her, but she didn’t plan on finding out either. She stubbornly clung to her desire to live as she vigorously shook her head, expressing her silent resistance of my approach. From time to time, she would throw me a tear-filled look of curiosity as she did so.
What a strange a girl…how should I say it, there seems to be a certain disarray to her soul as if there were two souls within it…wait, the position of that second soul…is in the abdominal region! It’s not that she has two souls…she’s pregnant!
My emotions right now could only be described with one word, astonished. While there were cases of teenage pregnancy in China, as an otaku shut-in, I had not encountered one until today. This was my first time seeing a pregnant 15 year old…though her belly wasn’t really that big on the account that she wasn’t that far into her pregnancy.
Devils had the inborn gift to evaluate a soul, while it wasn’t omnipotent, a powerless girl’s soul was definitely within its limits.
“A gift? This pregnant girl?” I turned to the black robed caster with a befuddled look that seemed to ask, ‘exactly what should I do next’. I didn’t know what kind of answer I would get out of his mouth but I questioned anyway.
“Don’t devils love tainted women?” He was equally befuddled by my reaction as he explained to me in a tone that seemed more like he was explaining it himself as well. “This slave has been trained by me for a long time and is even pregnant with my child, shouldn’t she be tainted enough…”
“No…what I meant was how exactly do you want me to use this gift of yours?”
“Well, that’s up to you. You can eat her if you want or you can play with her if you want, either way she’s yours.” He waved his hands as if to accentuate his magnanimity and signalled for one of the bald men to toss the girl to me.
Judging from their swift reaction, these men must’ve followed him for a long time and knew exactly what he wanted. One of the men lifted her up by her hand like he would a chicken or a cat and tossed her to me without a second thought.
No matter what, there was no way I could stand by and watch this girl get hurt. I rushed forward and caught her with my slender arms and gently lowered her to the ground. Perhaps the sudden turn of events had simply been too much for her but even after getting rescued, she was still shellshocked and could only lay there motionless like a dead person.
“How is it, are you satisfied with my gift?” Seeing that I had taken to the girl pleased the occultist greatly. He smiled at me with a satisfied look on his face and said: “As long as you agree to serve me, she’s yours. Not only her, I can give you more women as well just as long as you accept me as your Master!
Is his head screwed on right? What’s with the sudden calls of [submit to me, accept me as your master]. He even tried to gift another person’s daughter away, and that was his woman too! I detested these kind of bast*rds who treated women as objects!
“Did you just say that the child was yours? So you guys have…done it?” In a moment of anger, I ended up asking what was a stupidly obvious question.
“Hahaha, of course we’ve “done” it. If we haven’t “done” it, how could there have been a child…hahahaha…” Hearing my question, the occultist couldn’t help but roar with laughter. Even the two bald men at side were smirking derisively at me.
Having your way with a girl and giving her away so callously…how much of a bast*rd are you? People like you don’t deserve to live. Thinking about all the innocent women who might’ve fallen victim to his clutches because of their young age or circumstances, my head was hit with a rush of blood and I yelled at the robed caster: “You actually gave away your own woman!?”
“…” The occultist was stunned into silence, clearly not expecting my vehement refusal. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, seemingly having understood something. He anxiously offered me new terms: “So you prefer virgins…why didn’t you say so from the start, all the women here have already been played with. If you want virgins, you’ll have to wait a few days for me procure more goods for you.”
This bast*rd! I should kill him right now but he introduced himself as a three-star occultist…
Hmmm, at this distance, a mage like him should be at a disadvantage though…with Shadowfang, my melee capabilities are significantly higher that before…at this distance, I might not even lose to him.
Then there’s the matter of those two baldies…being his bodyguards, there’s no way they were less than three-stars.
In an ambush, my epic-grade weapon, Shadowfang, might just be able to kill one of them in a swing. Then the question was…would my hands go soft at the thought of killing a person…after all, I had never killed a person before.
Sneaking a glance at the pregnant teenager shivering on the floor, I knew that I had to act. This time, I must kill…before that however, there was a mountain of questions I had to ask. At the same time, asking these questions should lower his guard.
“Fresh goods, that’s what you said. You better not go back on your word.” In order to gain his trust, I went along with his suggestion. I licked my lips expectantly, fully playing into the part of a lecherous devil: “Make sure they are beautiful.”
As if in response to my action, he licked his lips as well before laughing uproariously, clearly happy that he had found a comrade: “Hahahaha, don’t worry. As long as you follow me, I’ll guarantee an endless supply of virgins…hahahaha…hell probably didn’t have beauties such as these…haha…”
I don’t know if he was mad or something but he seemed to laugh uncontrollably whenever he got excited. Truth be told, he was a pretty handsome fellow if only he didn’t have that creepy laugh.
“By the way, will I end up returning to hell?”
“Do you wish to return?”
“No.” That was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Throughout our interaction, the black robed caster had been carefully observing my reactions. From my reaction just now, he probably assumed that he had found my weakness which was my strong desire not to return to hell. With this angle to work from, things should be a lot easier for him.
Having confirmed this point, he nodded, satisfaction written all over his face as he gave out the answer I expected: “I had to expend a lot of effort in order to summon you here. As long as I’m still alive, my mana will be able to support your perpetual stay in the Western Human Realms.”
“Western Human Realms! You’re saying this is the Western Human Realms?!”
