Devon was being toyed with midair by Vega, looking every bit like the most pitiful clown in a circus.
He truly couldn't bear Vega's humiliation any longer and was constantly thinking about how to escape.
Vega always liked to give him a sliver of hope, waiting until Devon had run some distance before throwing him right back to where he started.
The pitch-black giant eagle circled in the sky, and when it grew tired of playing, it perched on a tree branch, its single blue-glowing eye fixed on Devon like it was staring at prey.
Finally, the demon couldn't stand the humiliation anymore. Using Devon's body, it fell to its knees heavily before Vega, begging desperately, "Lord God! Please let me go!"
"Keeping me here for amusement does you no good at all, it's just a waste of your precious time."
Vega chattered and laughed, its voice shifting from sharp to low and heavy.
"Why should I let you go? What value do you have that makes me want to release you?"
"No, you have none. So, your only worth... is for my amusement."
With that, Vega grabbed one of Devon's legs and tossed him into the air, letting him free-fall.
Just when he was about to slam into the ground, Vega dove down, caught him in its beak, and flung him skyward again.
It was like a deadly version of bungee jumping, with no safety line.
After playing for a while, Vega got bored, gently set Devon on the ground, stretched its neck, and said softly, "Boring. You can go."
"Really!?"
The demon couldn't believe it. Its spirit had been tortured to the brink of collapse.
Hearing that Vega would let it leave, it didn't think twice, it turned and ran for its life.
But how could Vega possibly let it go that easily?
After letting Devon run about a hundred meters, Vega flapped its wings once, caught up from behind, and raked its two sharp, massive talons across Devon's rear.
"Run faster! Faster!"
Vega kept urging from behind, and the helpless demon could only keep running with its aching body.
Even when his body reached its limit, with the threat of the giant eagle at his back, he had no choice.
After running who knows how far, the surroundings began to look familiar.
'That tree... I just passed it! And now it's here again!'
'This bastard never intended to let me go!'
'It's a loop!'
It was an illusion, he would never escape unless the caster lifted it.
Devon couldn't understand how such a twisted being could exist.
A god? He had never heard of any god this spiteful, this bored, like this damn crow.
Yet Vega seemed to read his thoughts. With a flap of its wings, a fierce gale sent Devon tumbling to the ground.
Too terrified to make a sound, Devon curled up while Vega laughed heartily at his trembling form.
"What's there to be unhappy about? The strong should humiliate the weak!"
"Don't like it? Then go defeat my messenger!"
Devon froze. A memory flashed across his mind, Viktor's figure, burned deep into his thoughts.
He was completely stunned.
'That human mage… was actually a messenger of the gods...'
It was as if everything finally made sense to him. With a loud thud, he knelt on the ground again, crying out in panic, "Lord God! I now deeply understand my offense, please forgive me!"
"I will never appear before you again!"
The demon didn't even know what kind of god Vega was, but fear alone made him beg.
That was the only explanation that made sense.
Why else would that terrifying man be so impossibly powerful, beyond human?
"Why are you begging? You can't even die."
As Vega spoke, black mist began to rise from its body, engulfing the giant eagle.
Soon, the mist dispersed.
The massive eagle had become a small, sly crow, flapping its wings as it stood before the trembling demon. Its tone was laced with temptation.
"You see, I have greed. You have greed. All beings with wisdom have greed."
"So, Yerm, you can't die. Why be afraid of me?"
Yerm shook uncontrollably. A black toad crawled out from Devon's body.
The moment Yerm emerged, Devon fainted instantly and collapsed to the ground.
Yerm's trembling grew even worse.
It knew, 'He really does know everything.'
He even knew its true name, Yerm, the original demon born from greed.
"Lift your head. Look at me."
Yerm hesitated but finally raised its head. Suddenly, Vega's eye glowed with blue light.
A stabbing pain shot through Yerm's skull, it felt like its soul was being bound.
It trembled, panicked, and asked in a shaky voice, "What... what did you do!?"
Vega opened its beak and patted Yerm's body lightly with a wing, soothingly, "Don't get worked up. I just used your own demon trade mechanism to put a lock on you."
"From now on, your consciousness will never perish. Even if you die, your memories and power will remain."
Yerm froze, staring at Vega in disbelief.
"Why... why are you helping me?"
But that thought only deepened its fear.
Because if He could do this so easily, He could just as easily take everything away.
And for demons, any deal required payment from both sides.
"So then..."
"From now until your life truly ends and your memories vanish completely…"
"Your soul belongs to me."
Even though Vega was just a crow, in Yerm's eyes, He was laughing, madly, sinisterly, terrifyingly.
Yerm wanted to resist, to escape this mad being before it.
But as soon as it tried, chains wrapped around its body, it felt steel spikes stabbing into its heart.
Seeing its struggling form, Vega said calmly, "Now then... go back."
"Return to the capital, to where Devon Lesser belongs. To the place where he'll face judgment."
Yerm's inky form seeped back into Devon's seven orifices, taking control of his body again.
He stood up, lifeless, and began walking slowly back the way he came.
Before long, his silhouette disappeared. Vega preened its feathers.
A teleportation array formed in the air before it, and the crow flapped its wings, landing once more on the shoulder of the approaching man.
"You can really preserve a demon's memories after death?"
Viktor didn't look at it, only asked quietly as he watched the trail of black marks Devon had left behind.
With a casual wave of his hand, the black traces faded, and the surrounding grass stood upright again, covering the path.
Vega gave him a surprised look and shook its feathers.
"I always thought you were smart, but it turns out you're as easy to fool as a demon."
Viktor got his answer and said no more.
Vega added lazily, "To actually do that, I'd need at least thirty percent of my power back."
"That's an original demon, after all. Once it dies, a new one takes its place, along with all its substitutes waiting to ascend."
Viktor gazed up at the uneven clouds above and asked, "How much have you recovered now?"
"Less than one percent."
Vega puffed up proudly, as if boasting how terrifyingly strong it had been in its full form.
Viktor ignored it and walked toward the forest in the opposite direction.
"Tell me where Erica is."
"Oh? I thought the cold, stoic Lord Viktor didn't care about my poor little disciple anymore."
Viktor brushed aside some weeds as he walked and answered lightly, "She's still my student."
"Wrong! I'm the one who taught her magic!"
"...Whatever you say."
The spring breeze rustled through the trees, tugging at the man's coat.
The crow perched on his shoulder lifted its head proudly, as if proclaiming its hard-won Viktory.
———
A few knights in silver armor stood outside the city gate, searching for something.
Soon, a figure in the distance caught their attention.
Devon Lesser, vacant-eyed and unconscious, was slowly walking toward the gate.
"It's Devon Lesser! Quick, inform His Highness the Second Prince!"
"No need. I'm already here."
The Second Prince stepped out from the gate, smiling faintly.
He looked at Devon, then gestured to the knights beside him.
One knight drew his sword and aimed it at Devon.
Lightning crackled along the blade, and in a flash, a bolt struck Devon's body.
Devon's body convulsed violently, and his consciousness returned.
He awoke with a start, staring blankly at the ring of knights surrounding him, completely bewildered.
The Second Prince stepped forward from among them. Devon's eyes lit up when he saw him, relief flooding his face.
"Your Highness! Second Prince! Where is this?"
The prince looked at the filthy man before him and sighed inwardly.
This man, was his cousin.
'Disgusting.'
But he didn't show it. Instead, he crouched down, forcing himself to ignore the stench and grime, helping Devon up.
"Cousin Devon, don't panic. I'm here to help you. Everyone in the capital believes you colluded with a demon."
"I know you were framed. Cousin, tell me everything that happened."
Tears welled in Devon's eyes. Finally, he'd found someone he could vent to. He poured everything out, the entire story to the Second Prince.
He even mentioned Viktor's assistant, Henny, the one possessed by the demon.
After listening, the Second Prince narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"So that's how it is, cousin."
"Oh, and by the way... the demon is still inside you, you know that, right?"
Devon jumped in fright, frantically patting his body, but found nothing strange.
He remembered nothing before seeing the prince, he'd fainted, then woken up here.
Panicking, he begged, desperate, "Your Highness! Please, exorcise the demon from me! I'm still a professor of the Royal Academy, I can't be accused of consorting with demons!"
The prince nodded.
"Of course, cousin. I'll remove it right now."
"It may hurt a little, but bear with it."
Devon nodded firmly.
"I've already suffered enough these past days, I'm not afraid of pain! Do it!"
The next second, his words stopped.
His eyes widened in disbelief. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
He looked down.
A sword had pierced straight through his heart.
"W–why..."
He'd survived Viktor.
He'd survived Henny.
Even the demon hadn't killed him.
But Devon Lesser never imagined that in the end, he would die at the hands of his own blood relative.
The light faded from his eyes, turning dull gray.
The Second Prince withdrew his silver sword and flicked the blood away.
He watched coldly as Devon collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
"Now the demon is exorcised."
From Devon's corpse, a black, slimy toad crawled out, it looked terribly weak.
The knights tensed instantly, ready to strike on the prince's command.
But instead, the Second Prince crouched down, picked up the disgusting toad, and held it in his palm.
The knights were stunned. One of them shouted in panic, "Your Highness! That's a demon! You shouldn't..."
Shhk!
Countless black spikes burst from the ground, impaling every knight except the one who'd spoken.
As they felt their lives slipping away, disbelief filled their eyes.
Then came the prince's calm voice, "David, you've followed me a long time."
"I've told you before, some things are better left unsaid."
The surviving knight, David, trembled and bowed deeply, sweat dripping from his forehead into the dirt.
"Forgive me, my lord!"
The prince smiled in satisfaction.
He lifted the black toad in his hand, studying it with interest.
Then a sudden, foreign voice rang out, not the prince's own.
"Greed... you don't look so good."
"Want me to lend you a hand?"
The weak toad opened its single eye, a faint glint flashing within.
It looked the prince up and down, his overflowing ambition, his seething desire.
'Delicious.'
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