The Devil's Contract Lover - Chapter 56

“This set won’t do, and this one won’t either, and the pink dress is definitely out!” Yao Yuan plunged headfirst into an ocean of clothes, tossing out a huge pile of girlish dresses she had rummaged from her closet.

“Hah, Xing Kong , why do you like solid colors and floral prints so much!” She finally poked her head out from the pile, a small, emerald green, floral-print dress perched atop her head.

“What kind of dress do you like? Which one do you want now?” Xing Kong  put down his teacup, walked toward the pile of clothes, and with a single pull in the void, a white silk dress instantly unfurled in the air.

“So why do you like solid colors so much… Wait, this one is good.” Yao Yuan shook off the clothes on her body, and the silk long dress instantly covered her, perfectly worn.

Everything was in the most suitable size, needing no alteration whatsoever.

“No magical second adjustment this time?” She patted the dress. Usually, there would be minor adjustments to the details, like the cuffs or the waist. This time, the size and decoration of every part remained unchanged.

“I remember everything.”

“Ah? Mm…” Scenes from last night flashed in her mind. The formless, colorless, yet distinctly tactile shadow had caressed, permeated, and enveloped every single corner of her body.

Yao Yuan’s face immediately flushed red. She looked out the window to change the subject: “Shall we go see your parents now?”

“…” Xing Kong ‘s eyes darkened when he heard this, but he said nothing more.

Before leaving the house, Yao Yuan glanced back: “Should we bring any gifts? Is there a custom for things like tea or pastries in Hell?”

Going to meet the parents for the first time, going empty-handed always felt strange.

“Don’t overthink it. If you insist on a gift, a fragment of a pseudo-artifact is enough.” The Devil took her hand. “We need to find a place with abundant magical energy first. If there isn’t one nearby, we’ll go to the Bermuda Triangle.”

“Is there no fixed passage? Like a subway?”

“Of course not. Temporarily connecting to an inter-world coordinate requires immense magical power support,” Xing Kong  spread his wings, and Yao Yuan’s feet also lifted off the ground. “That fellow’s master has a very stable coordinate point.”

That sounded like he was talking about an enemy…

A thought flashed through her mind. She dove into Xing Kong ‘s arms to steady herself, then opened her phone and dialed the Group Owner’s number. The call connected quickly.

[You’re in the mood to talk to me, so the progress seems smooth?]

She was a little touched that he still remembered her. “It’s alright. You must observe magical energy frequently. Can you recommend a place where it’s abundant?”

[A place with abundant magical energy? Of course, that would be the area your master is currently in charge of.]

“My master… she seems to have forgotten me.”

[Then wait a moment, I’ll mark it for you.]

“Tha—”

The call ended. Soon after, an image was sent over, with a rough ‘X’ crudely marked on it using a screenshot tool.

She couldn’t understand the map at all!

Yao Yuan resignedly held up her phone and handed it to Xing Kong : “Can you understand this?”

“Here? It’s very close. Then let’s go here first.”

The sky instantly became very close. Being embraced by her lover and ascending into the air, flying against the backdrop of the azure blue—it was something she couldn’t have even imagined before.

Yet now, everything felt within reach. She raised her little finger, gazed at the non-existent severed surface, and then let her hand fall with a sense of relief.

A building resembling an abandoned factory appeared in their sight. It was common to find abandoned facilities in the suburbs. They landed steadily on the top platform.

Rusted locks were useless against the Devil. The door naturally opened, welcoming the two to descend through the passage.

“The magic concentration here really seems different,” Yao Yuan tried to circulate her circuit. A trace of magical energy was being transmitted into her body from the air. The speed was much faster than her attempts back in the villa.

“Indeed, it’s two to three times higher. It seems these humans have not given up on their ridiculous plan.” The Devil quickened his pace, moving a few steps ahead of her.

“Ridiculous means it’s hard to succeed?”

“No, on the contrary, it will be very easy to succeed. You will know the punchline later.”

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. Unique runes written with fluorescent pens were visible everywhere. The lines outlined by these runes seemed capable of conveying a small amount of magical energy, forming a replica of a human circuit.

“Xing Kong , what’s the use of them drawing so many runes?” Even though she was about to descend into Hell, she couldn’t control her curiosity. Making the age of magic arrive early—how was that not something that required a comet-hitting-Earth level of cataclysm?

Just relying on drawing runes in an abandoned factory, what part of the chain was this?

“This should be where they assemble parts. A large-scale magic array requires many points, and each point needs to use a large number of parts to construct a stable structure.” Xing Kong  suddenly stopped, reaching out to gesture at a spot about a foot above the floor.

“Xiao Yuan, stand a little closer to here.”

Yao Yuan nodded obediently and moved a few steps forward: “Is it because the magic is strongest at this point?” Several black shadows violently shot out, directly piercing the floor around her.

“Huh…?” Before she could react, she was caught in Xing Kong ‘s arms and plummeted straight down the floor below.

The surrounding reinforced concrete only sustained a single acceleration, and then everything began to blur. She embraced Xing Kong  securely. Even though she was about to face the real Hell, her heart was racing with happiness.

The feeling of falling suddenly came to an abrupt stop, and a scorching light enveloped the two of them.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a small anomaly.” Xing Kong ‘s eyes were cold. The moment the forced transmission terminated, the light dissipated.

“What happened?” Yao Yuan poked her head out of his embrace.

“Someone drained the nearby magical energy. I will solve it soon.” Xing Kong  gently put her down. They had been forcibly teleported to the first floor, and a huge hole was visible above their heads. However, the person draining the magic seemed to be in the basement, as Yao Yuan could feel the magical energy sinking downwards in an orderly fashion.

In the cold, damp basement, a woman was tied to a chair with bandages. She glared at the several trembling young people in front of her: “It’s still not too late to regret. The Tarot cards told me your actions wouldn’t end well.”

“I don’t believe you.” The leading girl, dressed entirely in red, forced herself to gather courage: “If your divination were really that accurate, how did you not calculate that you would be tie—tied up by us today…”

The young people didn’t even dare to say “kidnapped,” as they were all timid, ordinary youths. However, they definitely had something they had to do today, and that was—to summon a familiar!

“In short, the abundance of magical energy here is also partly due to our efforts, so it’s wrong for you to obstruct us from performing a familiar summoning.” Fire Opal kept emphasizing the justification of their actions. The louder her voice, the more it seemed to comfort her companions and herself.

“You know it yourself, summoning a familiar halfway will result in a backlash. Even I haven’t summoned a familiar.” The woman tied to the chair coughed a few times: “Cough, cough, cough, if you regret now, you won’t get hurt. I won’t retaliate against you. Hurry up and untie me.”

“It’s too late. Since we’ve already started, there’s no reason to retreat now!” The one among the youths wearing a long robe boldly incited his companions: “Let’s activate the summoning array now! With a summoned beast to help, we can make a splash in the world to come!”

His call immediately received a lot of agreement. Everyone present had seen countless anime and manga. In the event of an apocalypse or world change, only people with superpowers or magic pets had the protagonist template. Daring not to summon a familiar just because of fear? There might not be such a good opportunity next time.

After all, all of them had passed the Group Owner’s test a few days ago and got a less-than-satisfactory conclusion. If they were to rely on the return of the age of magic to become superior beings, that was a bit too far-fetched. Getting a familiar was more practical.

“Hey, who here knows how to draw a summoning array?” The slightly chubby young man desperately flipped through the book in his hand: “They all look similar. What kind of star combined with what kind of decoration?”

When in doubt, draw a star; call all the runes “decoration.”

If a mage from another world heard him talking like this, they would surely teach him a lesson with a magic staff. However, none of the people surrounding him had any foundation in magic.

“Let’s go with a Hexagram combined with an inverted cross. Use red paint or black ink for all the colors.” Fire Opal was the most prominent person among them, so she naturally finalized the decision for everyone.

Of course, this color scheme and design were something she had seen in a book she bought online, and she actually had no idea what they meant: Wasn’t summoning a familiar supposed to require a believing heart and the resonance of the soul? The form wasn’t important at all.

“You are courting death—Mmf.” A handkerchief was stuffed into the mouth of the bound fortuneteller. She struggled to beat the chair, but unfortunately, no one paid attention to her.

The young people present put their words into action. Fire Opal, who had some drawing experience, quickly cooperated with her friend to draw a decent-looking hexagram, surrounded by standard inverted crosses.

To add to the atmosphere, they all took turns slashing their fingers with a dagger, each dripping a drop of blood onto the array.

Rumble! Just as Fire Opal dripped the last drop of blood, some kind of sound seemed to come from upstairs.

“Fire Opal, what is that sound?”

She calmly reassured her companions: “It must be the Sky Dragon being moved by our will, preparing to send its strongest offspring for us to choose and command.”

“Hooray! I want an Ice Dragon!”

“Then I’ll take… a Dream Dragon! The one that’s always dreaming in the card game!”

Their smiles were cut short by a strange smell of sulfur. The scent of sulfur quickly subsided, replaced by an even more pungent smell of chlorine.

“Ugh, you, you are…” Fire Opal, who was closest, couldn’t help but gag physically. A human silhouette, visibly tall and male, was vaguely outlined in the mist.

The foul smell, which was almost toxic, quickly dissipated. Fire Opal heard a dull thud and quickly looked behind her: her companions had all collapsed on the ground. The only people awake here were her and the fortuneteller, who was furthest away.

Even she understood that the being summoned in front of her was likely far from the familiar of their dreams.

“Y-You don’t go overboard! I, I was the one who summoned you.” Her legs couldn’t stand up at all, and she was so scared that she only shuffled backward: “According to the Law of Summoning, you must obey my command…”

“Of course, my precious Contractor.” The male figure, who looked like a Devil, extended his hand respectfully toward her on the ground: “Sitting on the floor does not suit your status.”

H-Hottie! Fire Opal couldn’t help but swallow. A handsome humanoid familiar, just like a female protagonist’s setup. For a moment, she didn’t even think about the people collapsed behind her. Maybe they just fainted?

However, the moment their fingertips touched, she saw a bottomless black abyss in his eyes. The runes began to spiral and rotate.

Fire Opal’s arm instantly went limp, and her whole body swayed and tipped forward, easily grabbed by the collar by the man. The grabbing motion only lasted for a few seconds. When the man let go, she still maintained a semi-levitating state.

Her whole body clearly looked relaxed and on the verge of collapsing, yet she managed to stay standing just on her toes.

“What an idiot…” The fortuneteller bit her lip tightly.

“It feels good to be full.” The man licked his lips: “Next—”