บท 46: Saving The Demoness Irethiel

After ending my call with Aegis, I checked my system Quest as it was almost time for me to finish it.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

QUEST:- COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING,

1) SAVE THE DEMON IRETHIEL

TIME LIMIT: 8 hours 9 minutes

2) MAKE HER SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO YOU.

REWARD~ ABLE TO USE ONE OF IRTHIEL'S SKILLS.

MISSION FAILURE~ ???

***

"There are about 8 hours left, huh, well that's plenty," I muttered to myself.

The Demoness Irethiel, whom I am attempting to save, is imprisoned in one of the graveyards in the Kingdom of Aloctona.

I thought to myself, left the dorm, and went towards the warp gate which was not far away from the academy.

The sun had already gone down and there weren't many people near the warp gate, so I showed the person at the reception my special class badge.

You must disclose your reason for visiting that specific location to use the warp gate, and there are many other verification processes as well so as not to allow criminals or other villains to move around easily.

But S'oreh academy students have a special privilege that allows them to bypass all verification processes.

He respectfully guided me toward the warp gate and asked for the destination I wanted to warp to, as soon as he analyzed my badge.

"To the Kingdom of Aloctona," I said.

He just nodded his head and quickly warped me to my destination.

***

I then arrived in Aloctona's Kingdom. And wasted no time putting on the assassin-style battle outfit Mika had brought for me. So, to avoid detection, I pulled up my hood, donned a black mask, and proceeded to a nearby taxi.

There are numerous vehicles available for quick transportation right in front of the warp gate, but I cannot afford them with my current savings, so I chose the cheapest option, a taxi.

"...."

"Let's get started right away. There's no reason to waste time." I muttered as I climbed into a taxi.

My clothing initially perplexed the taxi driver, but he eventually disregarded it and drove me to the cemetery, where I soon arrived.

After paying, I got out and started walking into the cemetery.

Fortunately, no one was there when I looked around because it was now dark and no one would want to stay out this late in a cemetery.

I then proceeded to a broken statue deep within the cemetery, whose description I had read in the novel;

The statue appeared to be of a past hero and was located near his tomb, but it had many cracks on it due to poor maintenance.

That was what the novel indicated; I don't know why a detailed description of it was given at the time I was reading it, but I guess I can't complain now.

I shook my head and emerged from my reverie. I then walked over to the nearby well, where I glanced at my reflection and muttered out loud in a runic language.

"In the depths of thy copper well,

When the clock and the mountains collide,

Remove fate's protective veneer.

By the copper rock's side"

The well dried up and the underground stairs appeared as soon as I murmured that.

As the person who found out about this was some demon cultist, so, I had no idea what that nonsense I just muttered meant.

After a few seconds of thought and contemplation, I descended the stairs and came to a door.

The door had a double-sided wooden bolt, was made of brass, and had noticeable traces of being broken and shoddily fixed.

I observed a cave-like structure within the entrance when I pushed the door open.

The cave had a smoothly carved natural stone floor and there were streaks of blood beginning from the entryway and continuing across the room, and ending at the wall on my right.

As I moved ahead, I discovered a whole suit of rusted plate armor that was nailed to the ceiling with a steel-shafted spear, and the roof was groin-vaulted (semi-circular in both main directions).

And Faded symbols were sketched upon the walls there. Upon inspection, it can be seen that there are symbols of good deities drawn with white paint while the symbols of several demon Lords are drawn in black.

And the empty exoskeletons of several giant monsters and humans are piled up in a corner of this space.

The air in the room was smoky and the cave smells of Manure.

But a faint breathing sound could be heard if listened to carefully.

As I approached the source of the noise, I came across a demon with both hands bound to the wall by enormous chains, and it appeared like something had been inscribed on the chains.

The demon's face appeared to be bloodless and her bones were apparent due to her extreme frailty. As soon as she noticed me, she carefully twisted to face me.

She struggled to speak in a demonic tongue, but I was able to understand her because due to my talent for' Universal Language.'

"...H.u.m.a.n?" she said.

I was perplexed by her state. In the book, her predicament was just briefly acknowledged.

That chain is giving her the energy she desperately needs to survive. The person who tied her did not want her to die quickly.

I have no idea who did this to her, but I do know that she was betrayed by the people of her own kind.

The demon cultist who arrived here in the book also came here to kill her; he might have been following orders from his contracted demon.

I'm not sure what she did to merit this treatment from her kind.

The demon spoke once more as I was thinking.

"W.h.o ar. e y.ou?"

I stopped thinking when I heard her and said,

"I came here to save you," I said.

"Sa.v.e m.e?" she asked, her expression remaining unchanged.

I was annoyed by her slow speech, so I took an advanced healing potion from my inventory and helped her to drink it.

She didn't seem to be struggling much and drank it without hesitation, as if she had already given up on life, didn't care even if it was some kind of poison.

"What if it was poison?" I confronted her.

"... You can speak demon language?" she asked, pausing for at least a minute after gobbling the potion.

I answered her with a satisfied smile after hearing her somewhat clear voice.

"I believe I can."

"... What do you want from me, human?" she asked with her face solemn.

"I'll save you, but I need you to sign a contract with me," I said.

"Even if you want to save me, you can't because the chains that bind me are inscribed with dragonic runes. Only millennia-old dragons could comprehend them." She paused to catch her breath before continuing.

"And I don't think they'll ever want to save me; if they found out about me, they'd want to kill me instead."

I'm not sure what dragons hold against her, but I don't need them to decipher that rune.

"You don't have to worry about that; if you make a deal with me, I'll handle everything," I said and smirked.

"... How arrogant you are for a punny little human," she said, her face twisted.

Seeing her expression, I decided to show her a demonstration and began deciphering the rune, and as I deciphered, cracks appeared on the chain. But I came to a halt in the middle and looked at her.

She was so shocked that her eyes threatened to pop out of her pale face.

"Y-you, W-who are you?" she exclaimed.

"So, what's it going to be?" If you refuse, I will simply abandon you, but you will die sooner or later."

I can only tell her this much because I cannot reveal future events.

She remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"How ironic, a human offering a contract to a demon."

After hearing her, my smile got even bigger because all she now needed was a push to accept my offer.

"I will also assist you in regaining your peak power, as well as with your vengeance, 'IRETHIEL'."

She just stared at me, perplexed, after hearing her name and my statement.

'I made her an enticing offer. 'And she'll undoubtedly fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.' I thought inwardly and grinned.

"If what you said is true, I'm willing to get into a contract with you. However..., we will enter into a contract with equal terms, and it will only be in effect while we are each receiving what we require from the other." Finally, she gave in.

As soon as I heard her, I grinned and deciphered the runes on the chains holding her, and soon the chains fell apart and crumbled to dust.

Irethiel collapsed to her knees as she was still lacking in strength.

****