The Soul Contract

“Oh?”

Iris narrowed her beautiful eyes.

She seemed to understand what Furenna intended to do and secretly sent a message to Hastur.

Furenna once again drew the Sacred Blade.

But this time, she did not point the blade toward Iris or Hastur.

Instead, she reversed the sword and aimed the blade at her own neck.

She swung without hesitation.

The sword aura tore through the Heroine’s skin.

A clear gash appeared across Furenna’s neck.

Fresh blood sprayed out.

“As expected! She wants to commit suicide!”

Iris’s expression changed drastically.

Seeing this, Hastur immediately tightened her tentacles.

Ti Mo could no longer breathe at all, her complexion worsening.

The tentacles continued to exert pressure.

Before Heroine Furenna could successfully kill herself, Ti Mo would definitely have her neck snapped first.

“Stop!”

Furenna realized this as well.

The Sacred Blade, already cutting into her flesh, halted its force.

Ignoring the blood pouring out, Furenna shouted for Hastur to stop.

“Heroine should not play such petty tricks.”

“We demons already know your Heroine secret.”

Demon King Iris’s smile remained, but its warmth had vanished.

She coldly threatened Furenna.

Furenna’s suicide attempt had nearly ruined the Demon Clan’s plan.

The next Heroine might not be as easy to control as Furenna.

“Heroines are saviors summoned by the Church through the Sacred Flame of the Creator Goddess.”

“The necessary condition for a new Heroine to appear is that no other Heroine exists in the world.”

“In other words, only when the previous Heroine dies can a new one be summoned.”

Demon King Iris spoke of secrets known only to the royal family and the Church among humanity.

As she spoke, she explained Furenna’s motivation.

“If you successfully commit suicide, the child in our hands loses her value.”

“Do you think we would let her go?”

“You, as a Heroine, would not be exploited by demons.”

“The Church would also receive news of your death through the Sacred Flame.”

“They would summon the next Heroine to protect humanity, right?”

Furenna’s wound healed rapidly.

Hastur also slightly loosened her restraint on Ti Mo.

But Ti Mo was still struggling to breathe.

“But you are wrong, Heroine.”

“If you kill yourself, I will have Hastur immediately snap this child’s neck.”

“And it will happen before you die.”

Iris completely grasped Furenna’s dilemma.

Only one path remained for Furenna.

She was trapped between advance and retreat.

Unless she possessed the resolve to sacrifice Ti Mo, Furenna had no way to break the situation.

The task of “kill the Demon King at all costs” gradually rose to the highest priority, urging Furenna to act.

“Cannot harm humans, cannot let Ti Mo die” and “kill the Demon King at all costs” churned violently in Furenna’s mind.

They relentlessly tortured her heart.

The Sacred Blade was in her hand, yet she did not know whom to aim it at.

Iris saw through Furenna’s inner struggle.

The Demon King’s red lips parted slightly.

Next, she would present a proposal Furenna could absolutely not refuse.

“I have no intention of exploiting your power, Heroine.”

Huh?

Furenna raised her head in disbelief.

She thought she had misheard.

But with a Heroine’s hearing, how could she hallucinate?

“My desire to use you against humanity is merely your own assumption~~~”

“Isn’t that right, Heroine~~~?”

Iris switched to a playful smile.

She had seen through Furenna’s thoughts.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Furenna calmed down slightly.

Reviewing their conversation, Demon King Iris indeed had not once mentioned using the Heroine’s power.

“Then what do you want?”

Furenna did not believe the demons had no ulterior motives.

Even if they did not intend to use her power, they would certainly demand something.

Iris sent a message to Hastur to release Ti Mo first.

The tentacles loosened their grip around her neck.

Ti Mo was finally able to breathe deeply.

She wanted to tell Heroine Sister not to worry about her life and to eliminate the Demon King.

But she had no strength left to do anything except gasp for air.

Seeing Ti Mo no longer suffering, Furenna’s urge to “kill the Demon King at all costs” also subsided.

At this moment, Iris made her demand—

“Do not resist. Come with me and leave human territory, back to the Demon Clan’s lands.”

Iris locked eyes with Furenna.

“At the same time, I will not exploit your power as a Heroine.”

“Demon King, do you take me for a fool? Without me, humanity has no ability to oppose the Demon Clan!”

Furenna sneered.

Demon King Iris truly thought her stupid.

Even without forcibly ordering Furenna to fight humanity, merely removing the Heroine from the field was already immensely beneficial to the demons.

Moreover, as long as Furenna did not die, humanity could not summon a new Heroine.

Until Furenna died of old age, Heroines would never again aid humanity.

By then, the demons would likely have wiped out humanity hundreds of times over.

“Heroine, don’t be so quick to judge.”

“How about looking at this contract before making your conclusion?”

Iris reached out and sliced open space.

From her storage space, she took out a contract and tossed it toward Furenna from afar.

Furenna reached out and took the contract.

After examining it carefully, she was surprised to discover that the paper was made of an exceptionally rare material.

The contract inscriptions, once signed, could never be altered.

It would form the highest level of magical binding upon both signing parties, preventing either side from breaking the agreement.

But demons lived in desolate wastelands with scarce resources.

Where did they obtain such precious materials?

More importantly now was understanding what kind of soul contract the Demon King intended to sign with her.

Furenna’s gaze swept over the contents of the contract.

She also learned the new Demon King’s true name from it—Iris.

The contract’s contents were beyond Furenna’s expectations.

It was a relatively fair set of terms, acceptable to both Demon King Iris and Heroine Furenna.

“Heroine Furenna shall be imprisoned among the demons for life.”

“She shall not use force against the Demon Clan, nor assist humanity, unless permitted by Demon King Iris.”

“Including Demon King Iris herself, all demon spellcasters capable of using eighth-tier or higher magic shall not participate in battles against humanity.”

Furenna had not expected this.

To eliminate the Heroine’s presence, the demons had actually made such massive concessions.

Humanity’s greatest difficulty against demons lay in the imbalance of top-tier combat power.

Demons possessed numerous grand mages.

Peak-level powerhouses like the Four Heavenly Kings and the Demon King were almost nonexistent among humanity.

Thus, once humanity lost the Heroine, they could only be slaughtered at the demons’ mercy.

This was a fact known to a small number of humans, Heroines, and demons alike.

Such contractual terms meant that even if the demons decided to launch an attack on humanity, only a handful of grand mages could take part.

Humanity would be fully capable of resisting demon assaults on its own.

And losing the Heroine would no longer be a fatal issue for humanity.

Thus, neither side could truly overpower the other.

A strange stalemate would form, lasting until Furenna’s death and the contract’s expiration.

But expending such enormous effort to achieve such a result…

Furenna did not believe the demons would engage in something so pointless.

Yet the contract listed clause after clause in meticulous detail.

There were no loopholes, no wordplay.

Overwhelming sincerity was laid bare before Furenna.