BXBX NOVEL Chapter 374: Tying a Leash
Now, here it was. A weakened husk, a mockery of its former power, disguised in the pathetic form of a stray dog. The urge to obliterate it, to purge the world of this devil once and for all, was a throbbing in his chest. His fingers clenched into fists, his jaw set hard and his heart raced.
But then, he saw Sylvana. Her tiny hand resting on the dog's fur, her eyes filled with innocent curiosity. The anger drained from him as quickly as it had risen. Shame washed over him as he realized he'd nearly show the ugly side of him to his daughter to witness.
"Oh, Sylvana," he knelt beside her, his voice rough with suppressed emotion. "Forgive me, sweetheart, can you bring Mama Koyuki and Aunt Envy to me?" He reached out, his touch gentle as he brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.
"Ok! Papa" The little one nodded and immediately ran back toward the mansion leaving Daniel with the stray dog… alone.
This is the last chance Daniel has to finish Satan off! If it were before his little one saw this dog and felt some kind of bond with it because of its cute appearance, he was sure that he would be able to finish it off the moment he saw it. But now… the weight of reason was against it. He didn't want to hurt his little one's feelings by killing this damn dog after she formed a bond with it.
So, there's only one thing he can do while they're away.
Daniel sinks his mind into his mindscape, looking at all the cards floating in his mindscape trying to find a card he needs for the situation, but there's none. He then begins using a simple spell to increase his strength.
— Archmage —
Level 4: When casting a Spell, Quick Spell, or Enchantment, you may search your deck for a card and add it to your hand.
—
Daniel searched through the deck for a specific card, hoping it could provide a solution to the problem at hand. After a moment of searching, he found the exact card that could help him in this situation.
—
Card: The Price of Power
Image: A depiction of a young knight bowing before the fairy king, receiving a portion of the king's power.
Rarity: Rare
Type: Enchantment - Attachment
Mana Cost: 2 Water, 2 Dark, 4 Non-Element
Description:
Gain Control of Enchanted Creature. Untap it. Enchanted Creature gets +5 to Power and Toughness. Upkeep -1.
Flavor text: "I only need one price for this exchange, and that is your eternal loyalty." - Oberon, The Fairy King.
—
**Upkeep: Pay X non-Elemental mana. If not paid, Sacrifice the card with Upkeep on it.
—
Daniel activated the card, channeling the powerful surge of mana within him. As Satan teetered on the edge of consciousness, he sensed the overwhelming power emanating from Daniel. Slowly, he opened his eyes to behold Daniel, the formidable human with the power of a Titan, standing before him. A radiant blue and dark light enveloped them, forming a magical circle that seemed to seal a contract.
Panic surged through Satan as he beheld the scene. He longed to flee, but his exhausted body refused to obey, rendering him immobile. All he could manage was to open his eyes. To Satan, Daniel appeared as nothing less than a devil preparing a malevolent ritual.
Unable to recognize the nature of the contract, Satan knew instinctively that it differed from the contracts used by demonic beings. Without such familiarity, he had no means to circuNovelFireent or deceive this contract. He struggled against his immobilized body, but to no avail.
"Oh? You're awake? That's convenient. I was just considering how to wake you up," Daniel remarked in a cold tone.
Daniel's touch sent a jolt of raw power coursing through the vessel. Satan, his essence battered by relentless spells, felt a surge that both invigorated and confined him. A desperate attempt to resist flickered within him, a flicker quickly extinguished by the overwhelming tide of magic. His fragmented consciousness was swept away, then meticulously reassembled under the new constraints.
A contract, unlike any he'd ever encountered, seared itself into his being. A leash, a magical tether, bound him to the will of this human. The animosity that had fueled him for millennia began to ebb, replaced by an unsettling subservience. This human... his master. The very word felt alien, yet a surge of loyalty, foreign and unsettling, bloomed within him.
"Enjoy your new leash, Satan," Daniel's voice held a hint of grim satisfaction. "Serve me well, and your continued existence might prove... tolerable."
Satan's gaze, devoid of its former malice, locked onto Daniel. A sliver of his old defiance flickered in the depths of his being, a spark buried under the weight of the contract. Yet, the overriding urge to obey, to serve his new master, was undeniable. His thoughts, once consumed by dominion and destruction, echoed a single imperative: protect... his master... his master's family...
As the contract solidified, a surge of power surged through the vessel. Satan's weakened essence began to mend, the contract acting as a conduit, albeit a tightly controlled one.
At that moment, Envy and Koyuki approached to see the commotion. Envy seemed to have an understanding of what had transpired in the backyard; after all, he wasn't the most powerful witch for nothing. That's why, before coming here, she had instructed Ragnar to keep little Sylvana occupied, ensuring that the young one wouldn't witness any unsavory scenes Daniel might be involved in.
"What did you do to him?" Koyuki was the first to ask the question. She knew what resided within that dog; it was the devil who had nearly killed both her and Michaela back then.
"Tying a leash. He seems to enjoy being a dog, so I made sure he acted like one," Daniel replied.
"Daniel... no one simply binds a Hell Lord to their service. Sooner or later, Satan will regain his free will," Envy warned, her face filled with concern.
Her worry was not unfounded. Many popular and reliable forms of contract magic stemmed from demonic magic. Though mages had added their own innovations and diluted the content of hellish chants or magical rituals reliant on hellish power, the root of the magic still traced back to the divergent branch of hellish contract magic.
Devils were renowned for their meticulous and uncheatable contracts, making hellish contract magic the ideal source for mages to develop their own versions. If someone asked whether there was any contract magic as potent as hellish demonic contract magic, the answer was that there was, but its knowledge had been lost.
None of the mages had been able to rediscover it, leading it to become nothing more than hearsay. Some mages even dismissed it as nonsense, but Envy knew it was a fact, not fantasy, having witnessed such a contract once long ago.
"We'll see," Daniel offered, a hint of a daring smile playing on his lips. Envy let out a weary sigh, the weight of her concern etched on her features.
Koyuki squeezed Envy's hand gently. "Don't fret so much, Envy. He wouldn't be our Daniel if he hadn't considered the potential loopholes, Don't forget how paranoid he is" she said, a touch of amusement in her voice.
"Hey, are you praising or dissing me?" Daniel playfully shot back, a hint of mock annoyance coloring his voice. Koyuki burst into laughter, the sound like wind chimes dancing in a summer breeze. She darted towards the mansion, leaving Daniel with a ghost of a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Envy's gaze lingered on Daniel, a flicker of unease crossing her features. With a sigh, she knelt beside the slumbering dog, her touch surprisingly gentle as she lifted the creature in her arms.
"Just... be careful okay?" she murmured, a subtle tremor in her voice betraying the worry she couldn't quite mask.
Envy, the weight of her earlier concerns still lingering, carried the dog towards a designated resting area within the mansion. Daniel followed her shortly, a thoughtful expression replacing his earlier amusement.
Once the dog was settled, a sense of normalcy seemed to return. Laughter filled the air as guests continued to enjoy the feast. Ragnar, deep in conversation with Daniel, reminisced about the early days when Daniel had first entered the Curtained World. Koyuki joined their conversation, her eyes sparkling with nostalgia as they recounted past experiences.
A sudden hush fell over the table. Lust, her gaze fixed on Koyuki, posed a question, her voice laced with a hint of amusement. "Speaking of the past, your sudden trip to the Tessia kingdom back then... was there more to it than meets the eye? Were you perhaps planning to blow up the royal palace a second time?"