Episode 2 – Contract
2. Contract
Hebilon.
The largest slum in the Duchy of Cruciv.
Herald criminals, drug addicts, debt collectors, serial killers, pedophiles, human traffickers, etc.
A place where all kinds of trash from the eastern part of the empire flows in.
In this place, which is virtually considered a lawless area, dozens of people dying every day are a normal occurrence.
In the very center of Hevilon, a boy entered a secret room deep underground.
“Master.”
The one who greeted me with a somewhat bowed head was a girl with very off-white black hair.
“Ready.”
“Good job.”
Leon answered with a satisfied smile.
The girl quietly closed the door and stepped back.
Kkeak-thud.
After confirming that the door was closed, Leon turned his gaze to check the state of the room.
A huge inverted pentagram painted in blood.
At the apex of the pentagram were placed one by one jewels that radiated brilliant light.
The jewels, otherwise known as spirit stones, contained hundreds of souls each and were stained redder than ever.
In addition, the grimoires piled up on the walls and the gloomy atmosphere that filled the entire room clearly showed that an evil ritual was being carried out here.
Clap clap!
“Okay! Perfect!”
Leon clapped his hands a couple of times in satisfaction.
He pulled out the dagger hanging from his waist and approached Omangseong.
Ji Ik.
Eventually, Leon stretched out his left arm and cut his palm with his blade, causing a wound.
Blood dripped into the magic circle drawn in the center.
The pentagram that consumed his blood began to operate, emitting red light in all directions.
Deuddeudeudeuk!
An enormous pressure weighing down the space.
The entire basement trembled as if there had been an earthquake, and dirt fell here and there.
“Ohhh!!”
But Leon was not shaken at all, and in fact became even more excited.
Cracked!
A crack appeared in the center of the Pentacle Fortress as if it had torn the air.
Immediately, a black fog billowed out from inside.
The smoke that rose began to tangle with each other and create a shape.
A man’s upper body filled with sculptural muscles.
However, the skin is dark red instead of flesh-colored, and instead of clothes, wounds are engraved all over the body like tattoos.
The two gorgeous horns on his head were cut in half at an angle on one side.
[Human, have you called me?]
His name is Bergov.
It was a sword demon.
* · * *
The stronger the power in the world, the more freely one can live.
If you have the power, you can do what you want, and you don’t have to do what you don’t want to do.
There is no need to be oppressed by others; rather, you can oppress others yourself.
In the 21st century Earth, that power is money, but in the world where Leon is reincarnated, it refers to actual force.
Of course, money is very important here too.
But it is clear that a strong person is more powerful than a person with a lot of money.
In the world of superhumans who tear down mountains and cut down the sky, power comes before money.
So what Leon was concerned about over the past six months was the restoration of his strength.
Just because you are possessed by the Sword Expert’s body, it does not mean that you can fully use his force.
Not long ago, he was a modern man, but nothing changed when he first picked up a sword.
If it doesn’t work out, just make it happen.
Leon continued training based on the knowledge in his head and the sensations remaining in his muscles.
It wasn’t a boring process.
Isn’t manipulating mana, moving one’s body, and swinging a sword something every man dreams of?
With fun as the driving force, Leon quickly learned how to manage mana and swordsmanship.
I devoted myself to training for at least 8 hours a day.
As a result, he was able to recover to the level that Leon Crusiv had achieved in just one month…
“It’s still not enough.”
I’m just catching up on what I’ve already done.
Skill improvement quickly becomes sluggish.
If things continued like this, it wasn’t enough.
El Prime Academy, which I will be visiting soon, is truly a place of chaos.
In order to survive there and create the paintings he wanted, he needed even greater strength.
That’s because the subject of comparison is the main character. In the original, Leon Crusiv had excellent sword skills.
But of course ‘Kim Jeon-woo’ didn’t have that kind of talent.
He had a natural body that he had honed all this time, but inside he was not Leon Crusif, but Korean Kim Jeon-woo.
His talent with the sword was at the level of a commoner, not a prodigy, a gifted person, or a genius.
“Well, that was expected.”
Leon had no expectations that he would have outstanding talent.
He was already preparing a solution.
Sword Demon, Bergov.
A devil who gives skills to swordsmen who are in despair after being blocked by a wall in exchange for their souls.
This is a being that appears in front of Leon Crusif in the original work.
The cost is terrible, but Bergov’s power alone shows solid performance.
In the original work, Leon Crusip, who received power from Bergov, steps onto the level of a sword master, although only for a short time.
Leon decided to bring Bergov back through sacrifices and rituals.
He decides to work in Hebilon, where nothing strange happens.
This was the reason why Leon had been coming and going to Hevilon like it was his home all the time for the past six months.
Back again, when Leon meets Bergov.
Bergov, who had responded to the summons, looked around him and frowned slightly.
[Only low-quality souls have been collected.]
The polluted souls of violent criminals are treated as the lowest quality by demons.
Just as there is a big difference between the soul of a noble saint and the soul of a street drug addict.
“Instead, didn’t you just squeeze the sheep in?”
Leon responded calmly to Bergov’s tackle.
100 People per soul stone.
In total, the souls of 500 humans were a decent amount, no matter how bad the quality was.
It was a possible number because it was all Hebilon.
“Anyway, nice to meet you!”
Leon was truly happy to see him, his eyes shining.
Meet the Devil.
It was the moment when one of the bucket list items I wrote when I came to this world was achieved.
[······.]
Bergoff was truly taken aback by his lively appearance for the first time in hundreds of years.
Usually the people he encounters are divided into two categories.
A devastated human clinging to the desperation of wanting to overcome the wall.
And a person whose eyes are turned to revenge and anger.
But that guy…
“This is the devil!! Losers of the Demon World!!”
‘You’re crazy.’
Bergoff concluded briefly.
When you first look at a crazy person, his eyes are different.
It was clear that this guy’s mind was distorted somewhere.
There is no way he could be a normal person to summon a demon in the first place.
Of course, sometimes there are people who summon people directly, like now.
However, humans who encounter themselves inevitably become quiet under the overwhelming coercion of the devil.
“Ooooo!!”
······Instead of running wild like a monkey seeing fire for the first time.
‘Still, I like one soul.’
If you want to do a transaction, shouldn’t you first check the other party’s items?
After checking the soul that Leon had placed on the trading table, Bergov quenched his appetite.
His soul was noble and burning brightly like the sun.
The devil’s primal desire to obtain a powerful soul stimulated Bergoff.
It was on a different level from the souls used in the summoning ritual that had just been consumed.
In the first place, the souls obtained that way quickly melt and disappear like candy.
The soul obtained through a contract can be held on as long as one wishes.
This was the reason why demons appeared to humans and recommended contracts.
[Human, do you want power?]
“That’s right.”
When the topic of work came up, Leon immediately calmed down his excitement.
[Hmm. Isn’t a talent like yours great for humans?]
A rare compliment came out of Bergov’s mouth.
Compared to the prosecutors he had encountered so far, achieving that level of achievement at that age was a very respectable talent.
However, Leon responded with a wide greedy smile.
“This is simply not enough.”
[What? hahahahaha!!]
Perhaps he liked his answer, Bergov burst out laughing.
[Yes, if you decide to pick up a sword, you have to be that greedy!]
······Of course, Leon was actually saying this because he lacked talent, but he didn’t know that.
[Okay, if it’s your level, I’ll make you a special servant.]
Bergov immediately raised his hand to sign the contract.
Leon stopped him.
“Wait a minute.”
[Hmm?]
“There’s no need for something that excessive, just do something that doesn’t have any side effects. I have a talent for swords. “That’s all you need.”
[······What?]
I wonder if I heard it wrong.
Bergov, who had been dumbfounded with his eyes closed, burst into anger.
Gooooo!
Dark red magical energy stretched out from him like tentacles.
[How dare you negotiate with me now?]
Bergoff raised his spirits with the intention of educating the arrogant man.
No matter how much he came to the human world as a spirit, that much was possible.
“Instead.”
Despite the magic that was pouring at him, Leon opened his mouth without even blinking.
“Magias.”
[······!?]
“I’ll help you catch him.”
* · * *
From Noble mtl dot com
Bergov withdrew his power.
[What do you know?]
“Well, Magias, is he the enemy you want to catch and kill?”
[······.]
Leon said while staring intently at Bergov’s severed horn.
“If you sign a contract according to my conditions, I will bring Magias to you within this year.”
Bergov’s head became confused.
When a contract is in progress, you can look into and feel the soul of the other person.
If you lie in such a situation, you will be found out right away.
This guy wasn’t bluffing or lying at all.
All I feel is strong confidence.
‘······Really?’
Magias, can you catch that newbie?
He is a guy who has been chasing him for over several decades, but has not even been able to catch his tail.
It is laughable to believe the assurances of a mere human, but Bergov was more desperate than that to catch the bastard.
The worries did not last long.
I felt like I was being deceived.
Bergov made a decision.
[······Good. However, if things don’t go as you say, I will immediately take your soul.]
“Please do so.”
Leon was just smiling despite Bergov’s cruel threats.
[······.]
Bergoff glared at Leon for a moment as if he did not like it, then stretched out his hand and shot out an intangible energy.
Shooooo!
The energy that stretched out went straight into Leon’s chest and was bound to his soul.
The contract has been concluded.
A devil’s talent that greatly increases one’s sense for the sword.
A contract with the devil that holds your soul as collateral.
There are no side effects even if the conditions are met.
This means that the unfortunate event of being eroded by negative emotions and becoming a demon like Leon in the original work will not occur.
You won’t be able to strategize as Bergov’s subordinate and invade the human world as he wants.
The corners of Leon’s mouth rose wide.
“Good.”
After all, the devils make a clean contract, right?
The devils were better than most humans in that they never lied.
After the summoning ritual was completed and leaving the ruined Pentacle Castle behind, Leon came out of the secret room.
The girl was still waiting, maintaining the same posture as when she came in.
“Master, thank you for your hard work.”
She handed one of her heavy pockets to Leon.
“These are assets in kind.”
“Hmm.”
Leon, who was counting the platinum coins in his pocket, took half of them and offered them to the girl.
“I think this is enough.”
“······.”
“You have a lot of money to spend now. Get it quickly.”
The girl wanted to decline right away, but she knew Leon’s personality of not wanting to say anything twice, so she accepted without saying anything.
“Aria.”
Leon bent her waist and looked directly into her blue eyes.
He took out and repeated what he had said before.
“Once again, you can take me as your master, and if you want, you can take the money and leave whenever you want. But.”
He reached out his hand and smoothed the leather choker around Aria’s neck.
“Betrayal is difficult. Know?”
Looking at his shiny red eyes.
“Master.”
Aria smiled brightly.
From the day he saved her from hell, Aria swore to follow him.
“Of course.”
Her face was flushed as she answered.
Her hand was stroking the choker carefully.
“······Good.”
Leon took a quick step back.
A madman recognizes a madman.
She felt a different kind of madness than her own.
“······.”
“······.”
They looked at each other in silence for a moment and then said goodbye.
“Okay, see you later.”
“Yes, master.”
At the Academy.