TREVOR HATED the method of summoning the Ancient Devil because it was so archaic, but it was the only way to do it.
Hence, he pulled out a dagger and sliced the palm of his hand.
[I hope my barrier is strong enough to block Prince Nero and Emperor Nikolai's senses for a moment.]
He put a barrier around the guest room that he was using in the palace.
After all, he didn't want the emperor and the Crown Prince to berate him for summoning the Ancient Devil. The first time it happened, it was the Ancient Devil who showed up unannounced. Hence, he wasn't scolded.
However, this time, it was him who summoned the Ancient Devil.
[But honestly, what am I doing? I'm barely breathing and yet, I'm wasting my energy just to summon this Ancient Devil bastard. I wish smartphones exist in this world.]
Anyway, his negative thoughts were soon forgotten.
Fresh blood then trickled down and touched the now sizzling floor. The spot where his blood dropped melted, creating a black hole.
Then, as expected, the Ancient Devil emerged from it.
"You made up your mind quickly," the Ancient Devil teased him as his feet landed on the floor quietly. "Is my offer too sweet to resist?"
"Hey, we do not have the kind of relationship where we could joke around each other."
"You're boring."
"And you're old."
"That's crossing the line, you little bastard. The body I currently own is only in his early twenties. I'm pretty young right now."
"Please have some conscience. You already existed during the Ancient Period."
"Consider it as my past life– I was only a boy during that period anyway."
Trevor just rolled his eyes, then he changed the subject. "You knew it," he accused the Ancient Devil in a serious tone. "You knew the gods were already on a hunt to find Princess Neoma."
The Ancient Devil sat on the bed as if he owned it. "The Goddess of Truth cannot lie."
"So, she just name-dropped my Moon Princess when her fellow gods asked her who cleaned her domain?"
"Your manner of speaking has changed."
"Well, try living in the modern world for five years."
The Ancient Devil ignored his sarcasm. "If Princess Neoma signed a contract with the Goddess of Truth to hide her secret, then we could have avoided this situation. After all, the contract would have restrained Alethea from exposing Princess Neoma's secret."
Trevor didn't want to admit it, but the ancient bastard was correct.
[A contract would have stopped something like this from happening.]
But it wasn't like Princess Neoma was being careless.
[My Moon Princess probably just lowered her guard because the Goddess of Truth cooperated with her during the trial.]
That was the problem with kind-hearted people.
"I'll become your successor then," Trevor declared firmly. "What do you want in return?"
"Nothing."
"Bullshit," he said, scoffing at the ancient bastard. "I wasn't born yesterday. Moreover, it's only common knowledge that Devils don't give favors for free."
"I'm serious," the Ancient Devil claimed. "Once you inherited my title, I'll become free from my duties. Moreover…" He clutched his chest tight. "This body will finally become mine."
Ah, so that was it.
"What will happen once you completely take over that body? Will you lose your power as the Ancient Devil?"
"I wasn't named THE Devil just because of the demonic power I possess– I was named THE Devil because of my mere existence that allows such power to exist in the first place. I already told you, didn't I? I'm also a god, no matter how much the old bastards up there deny it."
"Wow, congratulations. Your existence is sooo special, huh?" Trevor said sarcastically, even clapping as slowly as he could. "For someone as ~special~ as you, you'd think the problem with Darkness and Impure Mana would have been solved already, huh? But, no. You old rotten bastards just have to put everything on the shoulders of a young princess."
"What's the problem with Darkness and Impure Mana?"
He couldn't answer the Ancient Devil because he sounded genuine.
That confused the hell out of him.
[Does he not realize the danger of Darkness and Impure Mana?]
"Darkness is a part of Nature, and so is Impure Mana," the Ancient Devil explained casually. "What should we do about it? Darkness and Impure Mana only get harmful if you use them for that purpose."
"Impure Mana is an existence rejected by Nature."
"That's how humans see it. But Nature doesn't really "reject" Impure Mana, per se," the ancient bastard explained. "It's just that Nature is an agent of the Goddess of Life, and Impure Mana belongs to another god."
"Huh?" Trevor asked, confused. "The Bookworm didn't inform me about that."
"It's because your little pet can't access information related to major gods," the Ancient Devil said. "I'm only saying this to you because you're now my successor. But Impure Mana falls under the jurisdiction of another god."
"Another god?"
"Impure Mana comes from the dead Mana of Darkness attribute users. Who do you think is in charge of it?"
Dead Mana…
Dead…?
Ah.
Trevor tilted his head to one side. "The elusive God of Death."
Aha, that made sense.
The God of Death disappeared after the Ancient Period ended. Of course, the God of Death didn't completely vanish. After all, an uncountable number of people and other living creatures would still die every single day.
[Just like how new lives are born every single day even though no one knows where the Goddess of Life is.]
"It seems like the God of Death isn't doing a good job managing Impure Mana," Trevor said, scoffing. "The Goddess of Life has the Nature as an agent to deal with things related to life. What is the God of Death doing?"
"I guess the God of Death hasn't convinced him to be his agent yet. Even though no one knows where the God of Death is, it's pretty known among the gods that he's looking for an agent to manage all things related to death on his behalf. He invited this certain individual a few years ago, but he was rejected," the Ancient Devil said, shrugging. "I wasn't surprised since I knew it wouldn't be easy even for the God of Death to boss HIM around."
"Who?"
"Lord Levi's divine son– the God Slayer."
Ah?
Ruto was the agent that the God of Death was trying to recruit?
Trevor couldn't help but feel bitter. "That damned chef is acting like he's the main character again."
The Ancient Devil laughed. "Isn't he? He has everything. Of course, anyone would think the world revolves around Ruto Solfrid."
"Wrong– the world revolves around my Moon Princess."
"It revolves around the two of them, then?"
"No!" Trevor protested. "If you say that the world revolves around Princess Neoma and that damned chef, then it will look like they're the female and male lead in a romance fantasy novel!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing."
The Ancient Devil just looked at him weirdly before he changed the topic. "I don't want to give you false hopes, so I'll be honest with you, Trevor Kesser. Even if you inherit my ability now, it won't save your life– you're still dying. In fact, it might even have the opposite effect since gaining a new powerful ability might put a strain on your already weak body."
"I know that."
"And yet, you still want to inherit my power RIGHT NOW?"
"The gods won't leave the de Moonasterios alone if I don't chase them away properly," Trevor said, sighing. "Of course, I'm sure it would be easy for Emperor Nikolai and Prince Nero to kill those puny minor gods. But if they do that…"
"Ah, right," the Ancient Devil said while nodding. "The God Slayer would appear."
"Yeah, that damned chef would get involved with the Imperial Family again," he said, frowning. "He exists to eliminate gods who break the rules, but he's also tasked to protect them as long as they don't commit any crime. In this situation, it's clear that the de Moonasterios would be the villain if they kill gods just to protect my Moon Princess."
"So, you're willing to destroy your body further just to save Princess Neoma's Imperial Family from getting hunted down by the God Slayer?"
"It's just one of the things I do for love~"
"That's stupid."
"You're grinning, though?"
"Because I like the way you love Princess Neoma," the Ancient Devil said, standing up and extending his hand to him. "The more there are people willing to die for Princess Neoma, the better."
"Don't say that in front of Princess Neoma– she'll hate it," Trevor said, clicking his tongue. "Anyway, let's begin the succession ceremony."
***
[SHOULD I just kill them all?]
Nikolai was confident that he could kill the minor gods that trespassed in his palace, but he was worried about the consequences.
[Ruston Stroganoff, the God Slayer, would not turn a blind eye if I killed these gods.]
"Father, let's just kill them," Nero said impatiently. "These puny gods are nothing but trespassers anyway."
The minor gods were obviously offended.
To be honest, Nero raised a valid point.
However…
"Gods are allowed to enter the Imperial Palace as long as they're not hostile towards the de Moonasterios," Nikolai said, sighing. "It was a deal that the First Emperor made with the gods who blessed his existence when he was born into this world."
Nero scoffed. "Then let's get rid of that stupid deal. You're the emperor now, Father. Who cares about the First Emperor's outdated rules?"
Ah.
[My son has a point…]
Nikolai was tempted, but he got distracted soon.
"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, please don't be hasty."
It was Trevor Kesser.
The demon boy, who was supposed to be on the verge of dying, materialized out of thin air.
[Hmm?]
Trevor looked better now than he did the last time Nikolai saw him.
However, it didn't change the fact that the demon still looked like he was on his deathbed.
[This stupid boy gained an ability that his crumbling body couldn't handle.]
"Why did you gain a new ability when you know your body is about to break down any moment?" Nikolai asked, shaking his head. "Are you stupid?"
"Or do you have a death wish?" Nero added. "If you wanted to die that badly, you should have just told me– I would have helped."
"Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness are still as cruel as ever," Trevor said in a "polite" voice. "Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness become unhinged whenever Lady Roseheart and Princess Neoma aren't here~"
Nikolai and Nero glared at the demon boy at the same time.
Of course, the rascal just laughed it off.
"I'm here to solve the current issue, Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness," Trevor said, smiling. Then he turned to the floating pairs of red orbs around them. "Dear gods, if you want to meet Princess Neoma, you have to go through me first." The demon boy patted his chest as if he was proud of himself. "I am Princess Neoma's one and only Contractor."
***
"AND THAT'S what happened."
Neoma raised an eyebrow after hearing Trevor's story. "So, you made a deal with the Ancient Devil to become his successor? Then you faced the minor gods in the Imperial Palace and announced that you are now my Contractor. You also told them that I don't work for free, so they better offer me a handsome payment?"
Right now, she was having a private talk with Trevor inside the cabin.
Only the two of them were there.
[Because Mama Boss will get mad again if I talk about Impure Mana…]
"That's pretty much it," Trevor said casually. "Princess Neoma, the fact that you cleaned up Goddess Alethea's domain has already spread. It's inevitable that the gods who experienced the same thing would come to you. Hence, instead of rejecting them bluntly, we must take advantage of the situation and make a deal with them."
"Okay, but let's talk about that later."
"But this is an important issue, my Moon Princess…"
"No, your life is more important," she said while looking at Trevor straight in the eye. "You received the Ancient Devil's ability, but your condition didn't improve. Is this really the right time to accept that relic's offer?"
As usual, he just shrugged casually. "It's not that bad, Princess Neoma. My condition didn't improve, but the Ancient Devil gave me some of his life force. That was why I was able to get out of my deathbed. Moreover, he was decent enough to send me here."
She let out a sigh. "You're really crazy."
Trevor laughed as if he was delighted. "Crazy about you, my Moon Princess~"
So cringe.
But she didn't say it out loud this time.
"Trevor Kesser," Neoma said in a serious tone, then she cupped Trevor's thin and pale face between her hands. "Punch me if I make you uncomfortable."
***
[MY MOON Princess is going to kiss me, isn't she?]
Trevor's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't dare to move an inch as Princess Neoma closed her eyes.
And then his Moon Princess' beautiful face slowly got closer.
He accepted his fate right then and there.
Trevor closed his eyes.
[I can die a happy man now.]
***
NOTE: Sorry for the sudden break. I took a short vacation for my mental health. But I'm back, and so are the updates. Thank you for waiting.
***
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