Chapter 30: The Hero is Extremely Thrifty
Lance decided he was going to make his plan a reality.
Leading a silent and bewildered Misha by the hand, he returned to the church, where they ran straight into Samuel, who was up early for his morning training in the courtyard.
When Samuel saw Lance and Misha returning from outside together, he froze. He instinctively glanced up at the sun, which hadn’t even fully risen yet, and asked in confusion, “Lord Lance, Envoy Misha, you two… what were you doing out?”
Lance smiled at him. “Finding a way to catch Ashby.”
Misha: “…”
Misha had no choice but to follow Lance’s lead, forcing the corners of his mouth up into a strained smile for Samuel.
His feelings were a complicated mess. He didn’t want to offer any explanation for Lance’s words; he was too busy trying to mentally construct a way to send a message to Ashby—specifically, a message telling Ashby to run for his life.
Samuel, however, was instantly hooked the moment he heard they were going to capture the Great Demon Ashby. He fell in step behind Lance as they went to find Arlo, chattering excitedly the entire way, unable to contain his enthusiasm.
“What kind of method did you come up with?” Samuel pressed, unable to help himself. “Will it really work?”
“We won’t know until we try,” Lance replied.
Samuel nodded earnestly, clearly in full agreement with whatever Lance said.
Arlo was currently doing his best to heal his injured leg.
The injury to his head had mostly recovered, and today, finally free of the headache, he could maintain a higher level of focus while casting magic. He figured he should be able to roughly fix his leg. But just as he was struggling to maintain the healing glow, he heard a knock at the door, followed by Samuel’s unusually polite inquiry: “Envoy Arlo, are you awake?”
Arlo shuddered so hard his nearly-healed leg seemed to cramp in phantom pain. He didn’t know if he should make a sound. But then, he heard Misha’s nervous voice.
“He’s probably not awake yet,” Misha whispered. “It doesn’t look like a good time to discuss this. Let’s go.”
Arlo felt like he was looking at a savior.
Misha. His cute Demon King colleague, Misha.
As long as Misha was there, he trusted that Samuel wouldn’t do anything crazy to his leg. But if Misha left… he was worried he wouldn’t be able to keep his other leg intact.
Arlo spoke up hurriedly. “I’m awake!”
Misha: “…”
After a brief pause, Lance opened the door and walked in. “Glad you’re up.”
Arlo: “…”
Arlo felt that things were taking a turn for the worse.
Why was the Hero here too?
What weird thing was he planning to do now?
Lance explained his plan to Arlo.
He felt the plan was perfect and highly feasible. Arlo, however, just sat in silence, then looked up and exchanged a look of pure suffering with Misha.
What is going on?
How can there be a Hero this evil, who has absolutely zero respect for the spirit of a contract?!
Can something like this actually work?
Misha kept signaling Arlo with his eyes, hoping he could come up with a way to stop this detestable Hero. Arlo understood the assignment perfectly. He took the lead in questioning the Hero, aiming to point out the gaping holes in the plan.
“Lance, have you thought this through?” Arlo sighed. “Becoming a sacrifice and the ritual to summon Ashby… they all require forming a contract with the demon.”
Lance: “A contract?”
Misha suddenly remembered this detail. He could barely suppress his excitement, feeling like he had finally found the way to stop Lance. He wished he could agree with Arlo immediately, rushing to say, “Right! Summoning rituals all require signing a contract!”
Lance: “…”
Seeing Lance hesitate, Misha hurriedly struck while the iron was hot. “And it’s a blood pact that binds the soul. It’s extremely troublesome to break.”
Lance: “Ah…”
Lance looked somewhat disappointed.
Misha hurriedly began describing the terrifying nature of the Great Demon summoning ritual to Lance.
Strictly speaking, it was a form of sacrifice. They would need to prepare an open space, draw the corresponding summoning circle, and then write the names of Ashby and the living sacrifice on a contract. After that, the living sacrifice would be placed on a makeshift altar. Depending on the specific requirements of the rite, they might need to drain the sacrifice’s blood or inflict grievous wounds, leaving the sacrifice in a near-death state.
Every step of this summoning ritual was extremely dangerous, especially for the living sacrifice. One slip up, and they might die on the altar before the Great Demon even appeared.
Lance frowned. “It might require bloodletting?”
Misha coughed once and nodded seriously.
Lance: “How much blood?”
Misha: “…”
Misha froze.
Even as a Demon King, he had never considered this question.
As far as he knew, blood was simply meant to strengthen the connection between the ritual and the summoner. In terms of ritual specifications, there didn’t seem to be a regulation on the exact amount. He couldn’t explain the technicalities, so he could only shake his head awkwardly and mumble, “I don’t know either.”
Lance nodded and looked toward Arlo.
“Er… blood is the medium that links the summoner’s soul to the contract,” Arlo frowned, improvising. “In most cases, people kill the sacrifice or bring them to the brink of death during the offering, but that is mostly symbolic. If we’re talking strictly about its function as a medium, the ritual doesn’t actually need that much blood.”
Misha signaled frantically at Arlo with his eyes.
We need to make the Hero give up! We should be raising the difficulty of this circle to infinity, not telling him the truth!
Arlo instantly caught Misha’s drift. In this overly harsh working environment, he felt he had developed a near-perfect telepathy with his Demon King colleague. So, he immediately continued, “However! Rituals that skimp on blood often cause the Great Demon to feel dissatisfied.”
Lance: “Dissatisfied?”
Arlo tried his best to weave a strange lie. “They will inevitably devour the sacrifice’s flesh and soul personally to retaliate against the trader for such a stingy and unsatisfying summoning method.”
Lance: “…”
Lance seemed to fall into deep thought.
Misha felt that Lance was on the verge of giving up.
Naturally, he had to press the attack, trying to exaggerate the horror of the sacrificial ritual. “This kind of trade is very unequal!”
Arlo nodded. “The one who benefits is always the demon.”
Misha: “That’s why this has been listed as a forbidden art for years. Most books on summoning have been destroyed.”
Arlo: “Normal people would never be willing to do such a thing.”
Lance: “…”
Lance frowned and asked, “You two… seem very familiar with this summoning magic?”
Misha: “…”
Arlo: “…”
“My dear Envoy,” Lance smiled at Misha. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to draw the summoning circle for a Great Demon, would you?”
Misha: “…”
Wait, no! Why does he still want to summon the Great Demon?!
Misha shook his head desperately, trying to indicate that he knew absolutely nothing about Great Demon summoning circles and that everything he said was just hearsay and rumors.
But Lance’s smile told him the truth—Misha was terrible at lying. His expression and reaction were enough to expose everything he was thinking.
He could only whisper aggrievedly, “It’s a very dangerous thing… We don’t want you to risk your life.”
Lance: “…”
“You want me to save the world; that is inherently a dangerous thing,” Lance sighed. “That is why I need your help to provide clear enough information so I can avoid these dangers as much as possible.”
Misha: “…”
Misha decided not to look at the Hero’s overly serious and persistent face.
Doesn’t matter. He absolutely would not cooperate with this.
Lance sighed again. “If you two don’t know, I’ll have to go ask the people from the Church for help.”
Misha: “…”
Lance: “Samuel, does your church have experts in this field?”
Misha: “…”
Lance: “Oh, right. I’ll have to warn them that this is very dangerous. It might cause casualties among the uninvolved personnel participating—”
Misha: “…”
He deliberately emphasized the words “uninvolved personnel.” It was a clear hint to Misha—if Misha and Arlo were willing to help, these poor humans wouldn’t have to get hurt.
Damn it. Manipulated by the Hero again.
But no matter what, Misha didn’t want to drag humans who couldn’t be resurrected into this. He could only sigh deeply, filled with apologies toward Ashby.
Sorry, Ashby. I have to sacrifice you a little bit.
“I can draw the circle,” Misha whispered. “This matter is too dangerous. When drawing the circle, it’s best if no one else is present.”
Lance smiled and nodded. “Good.”
Misha: “…”
But Lance had already moved swiftly to his next question. “The efficacy of the summoning ritual relies on the sacrifice’s blood and the summoner’s name?”
It was hard for Misha to explain a concept related to magic circles to someone who didn’t really know magic.
He could only use simple substitutions to explain. For example, in this magical world, names were very special things. Generally speaking, a person’s name was believed to be tightly bound to their soul. As long as the summoner signed their own name on the contract, it was equivalent to putting their soul on the table as a chip.
“Then…” Lance asked again, “How does he judge if you used your real name?”
Misha: “…”
Arlo: “…”
What weird thing is this Hero plotting now?!
Just as the Divine Realm had a Hero System, the Great Demons actually had a Contract System passed down from the Divine Realm as well.
This system relied on the Divine Realm’s infrastructure, vastly improving the efficiency of transactions between demons and humans. It freed the originally busy and miserable demons from heavy paperwork. For modern demons, as long as the trader wrote down their name, the system would automatically inform the demon of the person’s identity.
In other words, the moment Lance wrote his name, Ashby would know that the person summoning him was that annoying human Hero.
Misha had just told Ashby about the situation with Deventer. He believed that at this very moment, Ashby should be in a state where he wanted nothing more than to skin the meddlesome Hero alive. If the Hero served himself up on a platter like this, Ashby would definitely take the bait.
But Misha absolutely could not tell Lance about the Divine Realm’s system.
He could only mutter softly, “Demons can just tell. It’s an innate ability of demons.”
Lance felt he had obtained all the information he needed. Satisfied, he easily finalized the rest of the plan. Misha had to look at Samuel, hoping Samuel would raise some objections like he and Arlo had.
He thought, Samuel is a Paladin, after all. Surely a Paladin wouldn’t accept this kind of evil summoning circle? Furthermore, the Hero wants to trade with a demon! If I were a Paladin, I’d arrest the Hero and clap him in irons right now.
But Samuel just wore a face full of admiration and respect, saying excitedly, “Lord Lance, I can provide the venue for drawing the circle!”
Misha: “…”
Arlo: “…”
Lance nodded. “Preferably somewhere empty to avoid dragging in unrelated people.”
“My father has a vacation villa just outside the city,” Samuel said, patting his chest to guarantee it for Lance. “I can have all the servants leave.”
Misha: “…”
What… villa?
Samuel’s family… is that rich?!
Lance was clearly very satisfied with this glittering golden ticket.
He wanted Misha and Arlo to write out a list of materials so he could prepare everything as soon as possible. But Arlo was still worried; he felt that Lance’s so-called plan didn’t even qualify as a plan.
The idea was full of holes. And if Ashby didn’t hold back in time… they might actually lose their Hero over this.
Arlo frowned. “This plan… is just too reckless.”
“I understand. You don’t advise me to put my soul on the ‘table’ you described,” Lance smiled. “But as long as it’s a gamble, there’s a possibility of winning.”
Misha: “But…”
Lance: “The best way is to cheat.”
Misha: “But… huh?”
What?
Wait, is that something a Hero should be saying?!
Misha had no choice.
He proactively cooperated with Lance, helping him prepare all the materials needed for the array.
They couldn’t perform the summoning in Sky Dome City, lest the battle with the Great Demon Ashby accidentally injure innocent people. So, once the materials were ready, they followed Samuel to the vacation villa he had mentioned.
But upon arrival, Misha realized just how ridiculous Samuel’s definition of a “villa” was.
This is a villa? This counts as a manor, doesn’t it?!
What kind of golden ticket did they pick up?!
Samuel seemed a bit embarrassed, whispering to everyone, “This is my mother’s pre-marital property. The place is a bit small, but it should be barely enough to draw the circle.”
Misha: “…”
He just needed an empty room to draw a circle. Samuel had cleared out a space this massive.
It wasn’t like he was summoning a giant dragon.
“I’ve already asked the servants to leave the manor,” Samuel added. “Aside from us, there isn’t a single person on the estate. Lord Lance, absolutely no one will return before daybreak tomorrow.”
Lance was very satisfied.
Standing in the manor’s neatly trimmed garden, he finally nodded in approval.
“Let’s begin,” Lance said. “Better to get this resolved quickly.”
Misha: “…”
Misha had resigned himself to fate.
Over the past few days, he had tried every method to contact Ashby, but the layers of illusion Ashby had set up outside his demonic domain blocked magical communication. Misha had no other option but to try sneaking out of the city late at night to find Ashby in his domain. However, Lance insisted on checking on him in his room late at night to prevent Misha from staying “sleepless all night” to look up information for him.
Naturally, this resulted in Misha being unable to leave Sky Dome City. To this day, he still hadn’t told Ashby the news that the Hero wanted to cause trouble.
He was truly worried. He was afraid the Hero would hurt Ashby, and afraid Ashby would hurt the Hero. He felt like a pained demon sandwiched between the Hero and the Great Demon. At a time like this, he actually found himself hoping the Hero and Ashby could just sit down and have a nice talk.
But it seemed there was no hope for that now.
Misha could only pin all his hopes on Ashby’s understanding of him.
The moment the Hero summoned Ashby, he would try his hardest to hint at the truth to Ashby, maybe say some nonsensical things, hoping Ashby would sense something was wrong and not fall for the Hero’s hateful trick.
Drawing the array went smoothly. With Arlo’s assistance, Misha didn’t even take much time to complete the main circle. He placed the altar for the “living sacrifice” within the array, set up Ashby’s statue, and positioned the copper basin meant to hold the contract with the Hero’s name.
They lit the branches piled around them—wood known as “Demon Wood”—and then invited the Hero to step onto the altar. Misha walked up to the Hero holding a brass dagger and asked hesitantly, “Have you really decided?”
Lance blinked and asked him back, “Are you worried about me?”
Misha: “…”
Lance raised his hand with a half-smile and, with practiced ease, patted Misha’s head before Misha could dodge. “Don’t worry. It’ll be quick.”
Misha: “…”
Yes, the sacrifice usually dies very quickly.
Misha sighed deeply, handed the brass dagger to Lance, and then took out the contract they had drafted with Lance last night for the Great Demon Ashby, handing it over along with a charcoal pencil.
Misha: “If you want to regret it…”
Lance had already rapidly signed his name on the contract.
“I won’t regret it,” Lance said. “I rarely regret things.”
Misha: “…”
Misha sighed again.
Fine. Let him be.
He had done everything he should have done. If the Hero insisted on courting death, what else could he do?
Misha placed the signed parchment on the altar and sprinkled Ashby’s favorite strong liquor around it. Only then did he turn to look at Lance. “Lord Lance, next is…”
Next was the presentation of the sacrifice.
According to the standard summoning ritual, the summoner was supposed to present the flesh and blood of the sacrifice. That meant someone had to cut open the Hero’s flesh and offer the blood of the living sacrifice to the Great Demon for Ashby to manifest.
But Misha couldn’t do such a thing, and he didn’t want the Hero to do it either.
He looked at Lance in silence, hoping Lance would abandon this terrible plan. But Lance still picked up the brass dagger and raised his hand.
Misha turned his head away, afraid to watch what was about to happen.
Lance turned the tip of the dagger and aimed it at his left hand.
He raised the dagger high and stabbed down hard—
Pricking the tip of his finger.
Misha: “…”
Arlo: “…”
This…
Wait.
Eh?!
A bead of blood welled up on his fingertip. Lance frowned slightly, gently sucked the wounded finger, and then turned his head to look at the exposed and twisted statue of the Great Demon Ashby on the altar.
He revealed an expression of utter disgust.
Lance, deadpan: “Pah.”
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