'When you're going through a lot in your childhood, and it seems like everything is against you... you're bound to think negatively of everything.'

If that was how one would summarize Melissa's life in a nutshell, it'd be that.

Melissa's childhood was completely devoid of any meaningful experiences, in contrast to the experiences of other children who were able to see their parents every day, eat with them every day, and play with them every day.

Her world was nothing but bleak, and eventually, it morphed her into who she was today.

A negative person.

Everything that she came across, she viewed in a negative manner, and she couldn't help herself.

The only thing she cared about was herself, as that was the only person she trusted. She had been alone throughout a major part of her life; who else could she trust but herself?

It was just how she was, and she had come to terms with her personality.

Yet…

At this moment, staring at the figure that lay before her very eyes, her expression was complicated.

It was the first time that she had seen him in this state.

She had dreamed of this very moment many times.

She frequently daydreamed about the time when she would be able to look down on her father, pleading for her help while he was laying on the ground beneath her.

The situation…

It was just like in her dreams, except for one part.

"What are you waiting for?"

Melissa said coldly, her eyes paused on her father's figure. She wasn't sure why exactly she was acting the way that she was, but that was of no concern to her at the moment.

Her mind was clear.

"Ask for my help. Beg me, and I'll consider it."

Her tone was cold and, at the same time, carried a certain arrogance to it.

She wanted nothing more than to have this man beg in front of her. Nothing would satisfy her more than seeing him grovel before her with his head bowed and pleading for something. Anything.

Finally, she could show him that she was just fine without him.

Yet…

"Why aren't you saying anything? Do you not want to live?"

He remained silent and merely looked at her without saying anything else. His eyes were clear as he sat there with his back propped up against a tree.

"Come on? What are you waiting for? Beg me!"

As Melissa's mind became increasingly obscured by a particular sensation that penetrated deeper and deeper into her bones, so did her voice, which became increasingly agitated.

"Tell me that you want my help, and I'll gladly help you!"

At this very moment, Melissa was venting all of the animosity that she had built up over the years toward her father.

For treating her like the shit that she was and neglecting her for the shit that she was.

She desired the sense of accomplishment that would come from seeing the man groveling at her feet after everything that he had done to her.

She…

She needed that satisfaction.

Nevertheless, she still found herself sneakily retrieving her potions from her dimensional storage space.

She wasn't so self-centered that she'd kill the one and only chance they had of getting out of this place, despite the fact that she wanted to make the man in front of her beg as badly as she could.

Whatever was eating up her mind, it didn't completely destroy her rationality.

"Her—"

Just as she was about to hand out the potions, she was stopped by him.

"No, I don't need it."

"What?"

When she looked at him, Melissa's mouth suddenly went dry. For some reason, she couldn't help herself from saying anything as he slowly stood up, albeit weakly.

"Ukh."

He seemed to be struggling quite a lot, but for some reason, he stubbornly forced himself to stand.

"Let me—"

"No."

Melissa offered to help, but she flat out refused.

This pissed her off, but in the end, she remained quiet. His gaze made it hard for her to say anything. Her mouth would go dry whenever she tried to speak.

"What is it? What are you trying to do?"

She eventually managed to ask, her arms crossed in front of her.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see lights flashing above, and thus she didn't understand why he was still wasting her time with her.

Thump—!

"Huh?!"

What happened next utterly stumped her, as her entire body stiffened.

"W,what are you doing!?"

Melissa was left completely flustered for the very first time in a very long time as she fumbled her way through finding the right words to say.

But when she turned her head, she soon stopped struggling.

With his head resting against her shoulder, Octavious stared right at her.

He… he looked in utter peace at the moment, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt true emotions in his eyes.

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, Octavious closed his eyes, and his figure disappeared.

"As much as you think I didn't, I've always been proud of what you've achieved… even when it looked like I didn't care."

His words were like lightning bolts to Melissa's ears as her figure froze on the spot. When she snapped out of it, she realized he was long gone, and her head snapped upwards.

"Hey wait!?"

Melissa tried to call out for him, but it was already too late. A bright light flashed in the sky, and the battle above became even more intense.

***

Boom—!

"Arkh… shit!"

As Gervis slammed violently against the ground, he let out a loud curse. The force of the impact made his entire body hurt, and he had a hard time breathing as a result of how badly he had been knocked around.

"Cough… cough…"

Coughing several times, he looked up at the sky, and his expression changed. When the figure of a demon slowly descended from above, he felt a dryness in his throat.

"I thought… I thought I was strong, but…"

Gervis, who stood atop the dwarven realm, experienced an overwhelming sense of helplessness as he stared at Prince Andria from below.

He was just at a level he could never hope to achieve in his entire life. What made him despair even further was the thought that there were six more monsters just like him roaming across the world.

"…They truly are monsters amongst monsters."

The feeling just one gave him was one of utter despair, and he could only look up with indignity.

Such was the gap between them.

"What do you say about joining me?"

The Prince once again offered. An offer that Gervis had already spat on before and one he'd spit on again.

"I'm good."

WOOOM—!

Forcing himself up, Gervis loaded his weapon and fired right at Prince Adrian. The force of the attack made the air around it twist, and an explosion rang in the air.

BANG—!

The blow struck the Prince directly in the middle of his body, and a colorful blue cloud began to billow into the air above. It came as a result of the residual mana from the attack.

"D… did I get him?"

Gervis muttered in hope, staring at the blue cloud that started to settle down.

"Ah…"

Gervis's expression froze moments later.

"Im… impossible…"

It came as a great shock to him when the residual mana was finally gone and he realized that the Prince was, in fact, still alive, and the fact that the Prince seemed to have suffered little to no harm from his attack only made the situation more terrifying for Gervis, who struggled to keep himself composed.

"That… wasn't too bad."

Overhearing the demon's words from above, Gervis felt his skin grow cold. They sounded like soft and enticing whispers that crept right into his mind, affecting his composure.

"Was that the best you could do?"

Swoosh—!

He had no idea when the prince materialized in front of him, but all it took was a single blink of his eyelids to find him standing before him.

"You!"

Gervis was quick to react and attempted to quickly pull his gun and aim it at the Prince, but just as he touched his weapon, a hand came pressing upon it from above.

"At, at, at…"

A long, slender hand grasped Gervis's weapon, and as its fingers gently coiled around it, he was unable to move it at all.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Why the struggle when you know fully well that you can't even beat me?"

The Prince's words continued to echo within Gervis's mind, almost as if trying to tempt him into giving up.

On multiple occasions, Gervis found himself almost giving in to the temptations, but through sheer power, he was able to stop himself from falling for them.

"Ho, ho?"

Such tenacity astounded the Prince who found him even more pleasing to the eyes.

"Such Pride… ah, I really am starting to like you."

Indeed, the more Gervis struggled, the more Prince Andria found him pleasing to the eyes. If before he was merely testing the waters, he was now sure.

He wanted him on his side.

"What's the point in struggling? Just sign the contract and join my side. Don't throw away your life like tha—"

Pu!

Halfway through his sentence, the Prince felt something wet smack against the side of his cheek, and his entire expression froze.

Raising his hand and wiping at his cheek, his expression morphed dramatically, and when he looked down at Gervis who was looking at him with a smile. Power started to flood out of his body as he found himself unable to hold back anymore.

"T..this is a little gesture I learned from the humans…"

Especially when Gervis raised his hand and threw a middle finger at him.

"Fuck you."

"Fine then."

"Ukah!"

Grabbing Gervis by the throat, the Prince raised his hand and exposed his sharp nails toward it.

"Di—"

Swoosh—!

Just as his nails were about to pierce Gervis's throat, he felt something from behind him, and when he turned, he was surprised to see a certain figure.

It was the human from before.

"Hm? Aren't you the human from before? You didn't run away?"

That surprised him a little. Another good seedling.

"Are you here to save your little friend?"

"Uakh!"

His grip on Gervis's throat tightened, and Gervis groaned. Unexpectedly, however, just as he was about to open his mouth again, the human spoke.

"I… I wish to sign the contract with you."