Bab 386: The Sin of Pride

"Being a hero is not by virtue of your power; it is by virtue of how you use it. Kill, maim, rule, save—I care not what you use my power to accomplish, but I swear to you this: I shall abandon you in a moment should you fail to live up to my expectation. I shall consume your soul and drag you down to the Styx myself should you attempt to fool me. Do you still wish to have my help?"

James swallowed in fear as he turned to Talia and Selina. Pride had seen right through James. James planned to just use the demon to his advantage once. He would make the contract and use it to save Talia, and once that was done, James was going to abandon it again so that he would still become a hero. James didn't want to make this contract, but if he didn't, then Talia would be taken.

At that moment, Mark's words from earlier came back to James: It doesn't matter how hard you worked; you'll never be able to become a hero if you don't use what you have properly.