The Devil's Contract Lover - Chapter 60

To cultivate a young lady from a manga requires at least more than a decade of effort—Yao Yuan had firmly believed this a day ago. But a day later, her conviction began to waver.

“Miss, it is time for lunch.” The one smiling was certainly not Xing Kong, but a waiter transformed from a lesser demon. Lesser demons, or imps, are the lowest rung in Hell, and in a high-magic world, they are also unwelcome familiars. They are slick, base, incompletely formed, and their favorite thing is to backstab their masters.

Yet, the handsome youth who had neatly arranged the dining table and stepped aside now looked utterly well-mannered; no matter when one glanced at him, he would return a smile.

“Xing Kong, how did you do it?” Yao Yuan lowered her voice. “Or are all those things in anime lies?”

“Their hearts are all in my bottle,” Xing Kong explained simply, sitting down next to Yao Yuan. “Try the magic I just taught you.”

Yao Yuan lifted her cup, staring at the transparent liquid inside, and placed her other hand over her eye. The magic power in the circuit slowly flowed from her heart toward her pupil, pouring illusion magic into it from within.

[Self Dream Interpretation] puts a human in a semi-dream, semi-wakeful state, allowing them to act strictly according to pre-set instructions, with every action being completed without fail.

Her sitting posture immediately became standard, and even her eating movements were exceptionally graceful: the source of all information was the standard etiquette recorded for her by the devil.

The whole process lasted less than 15 minutes, and Yao Yuan slumped onto the table, exhausted. “That’s exhausting. You’re not favoring this persona just to torment me, are you?”

“No, it’s just personal interest.” The devil’s slight smirk held no persuasiveness at all. She gently stroked Yao Yuan’s long hair. “You did very well. This way, it will be easy to reconnect with the human named Wang Runke.”

It took Yao Yuan nearly a minute to remember that Wang Runke was Xiao Ke. She asked, a little puzzled, “Is that necessary? That young lady’s magic tool was destroyed, so why bother getting involved with her?”

“Think about it here,” Xing Kong poked her forehead.

“Uh… are you suspecting that the person who gave her the magic tool is the False God?” Thinking carefully, the King’s Game Table did indeed have a sense of unnatural, fabricated rules.

“It’s very likely, and even if not, they must be from the magic side. You haven’t given up on your plan to usher in the Age of Magic, have you?”

The slightly chilly tone made Yao Yuan suddenly realize that Xing Kong had done all that groundwork just to ask this question. In some ways, she was exactly the same as when they first met.

[She never concealed her truest self from the very beginning.] Realizing this, Yao Yuan was in a good mood and pushed away the cup next to her hand.

“Of course, I haven’t given up. You, as a devil, must know that.” Yao Yuan leaned back in her chair. “Betting on more possibilities simultaneously increases my chances of winning.”

“Is that how you ensure victory?”

“Certainly. On one hand, I will assist you in building a new [me] to reclaim the lost parts; on the other hand, I intend to trust His Highness the Demon King.”

All this was not just for revenge against the False God. She was not going to give up on the investigation regarding Shanshan, but of course, now was not the time to tell Xing Kong.

So, she merely replied with a confident expression.

“Xing Kong, I regret this, can we go back now…” Yao Yuan covered her face with the handbag she was holding. This bag, unlike the clothes she wore, had an obvious luxury brand logo. She absolutely did not want to know which model of “that famous brand” it was; right now, it was only useful for covering her face!

“No, you must get out.” The devil was clearly amused, and she wrapped an arm around Yao Yuan’s to pull her out.

“I’ll choose the car while staying in the car! I’ll choose the car while staying in the car!” Yao Yuan struggled stubbornly, and Xing Kong finally let go.

“Alright, what kind of car do you want?”

“That one, then.” She pointed casually without even looking, completely unwilling to get out to communicate or select. It wasn’t because the young lady identity was fake; it was because being surrounded by a group of followers felt utterly ridiculous! Only TV dramas from more than a decade ago loved to film scenes of people being followed by a large entourage when going out.

The moment her voice fell, the entire car body transformed. The original inner cabin was perfectly replicated into a more spacious form.

Yao Yuan couldn’t be bothered to see what the outside looked like and directly dialed Miss Wang’s number. Fortunately, she still had it saved.

After a few rings, the call connected.

“Hello?” It was the person’s voice, tinged with hesitation.

“It’s me.” Learning from her previous lesson, Yao Yuan spoke first. “I’m Yao Yuan. How have you been lately? Have you given up those new hobbies?”

After a brief silence, the voice on the other end clearly rose. “How could I? It was just an accident, and I won’t give up on magic!”

Without knowing the context, it was impossible to tell what memories she had reconstructed. Yao Yuan thought for a moment and decided to satisfy Xing Kong’s wish.

Although she didn’t understand why the devil was so fond of traditional styles, there was no harm in playing along a little.

“Is that so? Goodness~ Oh, right, I’m back from studying abroad~” The moment she said this, Yao Yuan wanted to pinch herself. It sounded so fake!

“Studying abroad? Ah… oh~” Miss Wang actually accepted the premise. She asked as if waking from a dream, “It’s been so long, I forgot where you went to play. We’ve only met up once in the last few years; do you want to get together again?”

Seeing Xing Kong nod, Yao Yuan readily agreed. “Sure, where should we… meet…”

She froze. Wang Runke was being guided by a certain lesser demon and was running over, slightly excited, holding her phone. Well, the devil certainly was efficient.

A waiter opened the car door, and Miss Wang sat down without hesitation. Her bodyguards even stayed outside, seemingly at ease.

“Long time no see! I knew you’d be here when I saw this setup~” The young lady, her mind full of false information, greeted her warmly. “Want to check out the association’s new event together? I heard you can summon familiars!”

Hearing the words “summon familiars,” Yao Yuan almost spat out her drink. Just how obsessed were White Crystal and the others with practicing summoning magic in the modern age?

Xing Kong’s voice sounded in her mind.

[Allowing native spellcasters to summon familiars from other worlds can almost double the number of spellcasters. This method is very useful for accelerating the process of magical integration.]

So that was it. Come to think of it, Xing Kong’s voice was cold, completely unlike her intuitive voice. Another layer of doubt was dispelled, and her mood improved significantly.

“Heh heh heh, familiars, huh? Sounds just like a fairy tale.” Yao Yuan feigned a smile and chimed in. “Alright, let’s go together~ Where’s the destination?”

When she stepped out of the black sports car, she could hardly believe her eyes. The place in front of her was none other than the downstairs area of her previous rental apartment building.

Yao Yuan, holding onto a last shred of hope, turned her head. “Why are we summoning familiars in a residential area? Don’t mages in comics always do it in the woods?”

“Because this building is very unusual!” The young lady leaned in with a hint of awe and whispered, “The mentor said that there must have been a very powerful spell active here for a long time, leaving behind a lot of dark elements.”

The devil allowed Yao Yuan to stare at her for a long time, then walked ahead without glancing sideways, leading the way.

Everything was similar to a few weeks ago, yet vastly different. The person who opened the door this time was no longer a strange neighbor or the landlord, but Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli didn’t give her a chance to speak. She nodded coolly and stepped aside. Quite a few people had already gathered inside. Yao Yuan looked with slight embarrassment as her former room was transformed into a place with a strong occult style: the modern mages had removed all the old partitions, and the floor was almost covered in white candles.

“What’s with all these candles?” she asked, watching her steps as she walked.

“They’re ritual candles, used to seal away resentment and evil magic. Super cool.” Xiao Ke explained excitedly. “I really want to know what happened here in the past. They need so many things to seal it even though it’s ineffective now~” [No, you definitely don’t want to know.]

The four walls were covered with golden runes, so dense that from a distance they looked like gold dust paint. Only the center remained minimally simple, holding only a glass tank-like object, flanked by a faceless angel statue. On both sides stood a twisted wooden staff, from which strings of bay leaves were hung.

The only people in the room were her, Xing Kong, the young lady, Lapis Lazuli, and two unfamiliar members.

The two unfamiliar members were not very old. They were kneeling almost religiously by the glass tank, dipping their fingers into paint and smearing it on the floor.

“Xing Kong, what are they doing?” Yao Yuan asked the expert, standing on her toes.

“The preparation phase for summoning a familiar.”

“Can this succeed? Won’t they end up summoning a hell creature, like the person before?”

“With their magic power, they’ll summon an otherworldly slime at most.”

Xing Kong’s last sentence caught Lapis Lazuli’s attention. She nodded and explained to the two people kneeling on the floor, “You’ve prepared yourselves, haven’t you? No matter what kind of familiar you summon, you must take care of it for life.”

“We will certainly serve it well!” the older youth promised first.

“I’m not asking you to serve it, but to take care of it as a familiar,” Lapis Lazuli said with a serious expression. “It doesn’t matter if you regard them as companions or tools, but you must rely on them frequently to practice magic.”

“Yes!” The two of them completely ignored the underlying meaning, eagerly reached out, and asked Lapis Lazuli for the final step.

However, when their fingers were pricked and blood dripped onto the magic circle, nothing happened.

“I’m sorry, it seems you won’t be able to form a bond for now. Try again in two years,” Lapis Lazuli said, using standard words of comfort to usher the two “tools” out of the room. “Please practice more. Magic power greatly affects the result, and creatures from other worlds place great emphasis on their master’s magic power.”

“How about you try next?” Yao Yuan patted Xiao Ke. She brought her here because she wanted to summon a familiar, right?

“I’ve already tried, and now it’s your turn~” The young lady pushed Yao Yuan toward the glass tank. “Hurry up and try! I bet you’ll definitely summon a familiar!”

Just as Yao Yuan was about to decline, she saw Xing Kong nod slightly. If the “familiar” herself wasn’t afraid of being summoned into the tank right there, what did she have to fear?

“Alright.”

She smiled brightly, selected a portion of golden paint from Lapis Lazuli’s hand, and squatted down. “What symbol should I draw?”

“Anything you like.” Lapis Lazuli suddenly put away a surrounding recommendation booklet, apparently intending to let her use her own discretion.

[The Sun] Her intuition gave the clearest instruction it had in a long time. A Tarot card depicting the sun floated into her mind, and Yao Yuan had no desire to resist her strong premonition.

Although she didn’t understand why she should use the pattern of the sun to summon a creature from another world, she still carefully painted lines that imitated the sun’s rays.

The young lady suggested, a little panicked, “Maybe don’t use such an intense symbol? The Sun symbol is almost never used for summoning familiars. Everyone usually uses stars and half-moon runes.”

[Why the Sun?] Even Xing Kong asked her in her heart.

Is using the Sun symbol for a summoning array strange? She didn’t think too much of it. The dagger had already pricked her fingertip, and a drop of fresh blood fell onto the ground.