In a basement of the mansion.
Alderp was frantically beating a man bound in chains, his body emaciated.
His fat face was flushed red. Sweat rolled down his forehead. Each kick carried anger and fear.
"Hey! Maxwell! Use your ability and turn this situation around for me!"
Alderp shook his bloated body and kicked the man hard, producing a dull thud.
The man curled up, like a bug being stepped on, his hands over his head, trembling uncontrollably.
"I'll pay the price later! Activate your ability right now and take control of those people!"
The man covered his head with his hands, his voice extremely weak. "I can't... the opponent's power is greater than mine. My ability will be greatly reduced... and there's also a priest's power that can counter me..."
Alderp froze. His fist stopped in mid-air. Sweat dripped from his chin and landed on the man's face.
'Impossible?'
This man's name was Maxwell.
Years ago, Alderp had summoned this Devil by chance.
Remote control of others, altering perceptions, distorting reality... Maxwell's abilities had never failed.
It was thanks to him that Alderp had risen from an unknown nobody to the position of city lord.
And now, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
"Bam!"
The basement door was kicked open.
Dust swirled in the dim lamplight.
Makoto was the first to walk in.
He glanced at Alderp, who was as fat as a pig. He could tell at a glance that this man had been completely drained by wine and women.
Then he looked at Maxwell, curled up on the ground, covered in chains, thin as a rail.
"So that's how it is." Makoto chuckled lightly.
"Wh-who are you people?" Alderp instinctively stepped back, his lower back hitting the table behind him.
Beam lunged forward in one stride, grabbed Alderp by the neck, and pinned him to the wall.
Alderp's toes left the ground. His fat face turned purple. He tried desperately to pry Beam's fingers loose with both hands, but the hand wouldn't budge.
Makoto crouched down, reached out, grabbed Maxwell's head, and lifted his face.
The lamplight fell on that pale, scar-covered face. His eyes were sunken, his cheekbones high.
His whole body exuded the aura of an ordinary slave.
"Wh-who are you?" Maxwell's voice was hoarse.
"Nishikawa Makoto."
Makoto gave his name, then chuckled lightly. "But even if I tell you, you'll probably forget soon enough."
Yu walked up from behind and asked curiously, "Senpai, who is this guy?"
Makoto stood up and answered, "One of the top Devils in this world, Maxwell. He feeds on human despair and pain and has the ability to distort reality and alter the target's perception."
Yu, the Teddy Devil, and the others exchanged glances, a hint of fear flashing in their eyes.
'With such a terrifying ability, how did he end up in such a state?'
Makoto glanced at Alderp, pinned against the wall. "This guy is like a fish. He only has a seven-second memory. Every time this fat pig uses him, he forgets to collect the contract price, so he's been taken advantage of all along."
Yu and the others were speechless.
Most of them were also Devils, so of course they knew that humans had to pay a huge price to use a Devil's power.
But Maxwell possessed such great power, yet his mind was so slow.
'It seemed that not only were the adventurers in this world dim-witted, but the Devils in this world weren't too bright either.'
"Hey, I'll give you whatever you want. Stop. What good would killing me do?" Alderp, pinned to the wall, kicked his legs in the air like a duck being strangled.
Makoto ignored him and looked down at Maxwell.
"Maxwell, what price was Alderp supposed to pay this time?"
Every time after Alderp gave Maxwell an order, he would say, "I'll pay the price later."
Maxwell never saw a problem with it, agreed, and then immediately forgot.
That was the reason Alderp had been freeloading off Maxwell's abilities for so many years.
Maxwell paused. A trace of blankness flashed through his empty eyes, as if he were trying to remember something.
"Alderp... fifty years of his lifespan..."
"Ha?"
Yu looked at Alderp's bloated body, wasted by wine and women, and laughed derisively. "Does this fat pig look like he has fifty years left to live?"
Maxwell also came to his senses.
He looked up at Alderp, pinned against the wall, and stared for a few seconds. A trace of confusion appeared on his pale face.
"That's strange... I remember he still had fifty years of lifespan left..."
"That was the first time you met him, right? You're hopeless." Makoto was speechless.
With that, Makoto waved his hand.
Beam released Alderp's neck, grabbed him by the scruff, and threw his whole body in front of Maxwell.
Alderp hit the ground, his fat face slamming into the stone floor. His nose was smashed, and blood poured out.
"For a contractor who can't pay the price, what is the punishment?" Makoto asked with a smile.
Maxwell replied weakly, "Taken to Hell... to suffer eternal torment."
"Alright, then go ahead." Makoto smiled.
"Oh—" Maxwell nodded as if suddenly understanding. He reached out his emaciated hand and grabbed Alderp's arm.
A black magic circle spread from beneath his feet, enveloping the two of them.
"Wait! Wait! Stop! I don't want to go!"
Alderp struggled frantically, trying to pry Maxwell's fingers off with his other hand.
Maxwell twisted slightly. Alderp's arm twisted like a pretzel. The sound of bones breaking rang out.
Alderp's pig-like, miserable screams echoed in the basement.
The two men's bodies slowly sank, as if into a swamp.
Alderp's screams disappeared beneath the floor.
…
Outside the mansion.
Maxwell had taken Alderp back to Hell.
The control curse that had been attached to the three Uzaki women and the others had been lifted.
Everyone seemed to wake from a nightmare. Their eyes snapped open, gasping for air.
Hana looked down at her hands, which still had a faint afterglow, and suddenly remembered what she had just done. "Wh-what... what was I doing?"
Tsuki's eyes reddened instantly, her voice choked with sobs.
Yanagi also bit her lip. Her thick bangs covered her eyes, and her body trembled slightly.
But compared to them, who were unscathed, Kazuha and the others were in much worse shape.
Their limbs were bloodied from Yu and the others' attacks.
Aqua quickly came to heal them... although the idiot goddess was usually very unreliable, when it came to healing, she was dependable.
A pale blue healing light flowed from her palm, covering the wounds. Flesh began to slowly heal.
"Isn't this treatment a bit too different?" Shiho sat sprawled on the ground, looking at the two bloody holes in her calf, then at the completely unscathed Uzaki women and Mrs. Shizuka, muttering to herself.
She wasn't afraid of pain.
When she learned of her sister's death, she had no longer wanted to live. That kind of spiritual pain was incomparable to physical pain.
But she couldn't help complaining. The difference in how Makoto treated the Uzaki women versus how he treated her group was just too great.
After Aqua's treatment, Kazuha's wounds had healed. New skin grew from under the scabs, pink and tender.
"Are you okay, Kazuha?"
Mrs. Shizuka held Kazuha's hand, examining her wound up and down.
Since both of their families had died, they had depended on each other for survival. Not mother and daughter, but closer than mother and daughter.
Kazuha gave a smile back and was about to say 'I'm fine', but suddenly noticed that Mrs. Shizuka had no injuries at all... in stark contrast to herself and the Miyano sisters.
'Something's not right!'
"Auntie Shizuka... how come you're not hurt?!"