“Explain.”

The man, the Empire’s second prince, demanded.

However, his usual cigar was absent from his lips. Nor was his confident and arrogant expression visible. Instead, there stood a man with a reddened face, his features twisted as if he were possessed by an evil spirit.

“What exactly is going on here?!” he shouted, forgetting all decorum.

It seemed almost inevitable.

Reports had come in from below.

The magic of the Black Fangs had manifested.

With a tremendous crash, the image floated up into the sky.

But that shouldn’t have happened.

Such an event was never supposed to occur. After all, he had sacrificed so much—even his own soul, regarded as the most precious in the world—in forging that contract.

The Black Fangs were never supposed to spread this kind of information among the imperial citizens.

To prevent sedition.

However, it had no effect. The content of the image, let alone the memory of the image itself, was supposed to vanish from everyone’s minds.

Yet reports about the content of the image were flooding in. No change in perception had occurred.

The implications were crystal clear.

The contract into which he had poured his soul had no effect.

The curse had not held.

The constraint that was supposed to prevent the Black Fangs from spreading information had utterly failed.

“Have you lied to me?!” The second prince roared.

Before long, the demon reappeared before him, wearing a mischievous grin.

“[You know, as well as I do, that a demon never lies in a contract.]”

His brazen attitude caused the prince’s brow to furrow deeply.

“You said the curse would take effect.”

The prince clenched his teeth as he spoke.

But the reply that followed was calm.

“[I definitely imposed the curse. It just didn’t take.]”

The prince’s expression twisted demonically.

He finally realized it. The demon had deceived him.

—A curse can be imposed, right?

—Of course.

There was no lie in those words.

So, it wasn’t technically a breach of the contract’s laws. The demon had only confirmed that ‘a curse could be imposed.’ He had never said it would be effective.

“[I haven’t told a single lie.]”

Brazenly, Asmodeus wore an even more unpleasant grin as he spoke. His laughter was full of scorn and mockery.

Naturally, the face of the second prince soured even further. It was painfully obvious that the demon was mocking him, to such an extent that not realizing it would have been odd. Especially since he had already been thoroughly ridiculed by the Black Fangs.

To add insult to injury, a foolish moment had cost him 20% of his soul.

He felt like he might go mad at any moment. Vile curses against the Black Fangs and that disgusting demon were on the verge of spilling from his lips.

But…

He hadn’t risen to his position by being powerless.

“Huff…”

With a deep breath, he managed to shake off his torment. His flushed face slowly returned to normal.

Upon reflection… his emotional reaction significantly contributed to this failure.

The Black Fangs were increasingly seen as a threat to the Empire. Feeling threatened by their growth, he had prepared a plan, which ultimately led to all these failures.

In his anxiety not to fall behind the Black Fangs informationally, he had wasted two Holy Grails.

Moreover, in his fear of being outwitted by the Black Fangs again if he didn’t act quickly, he had failed to properly check the contract.

A failure that could have been prevented with calm thinking and strategic planning.

Knowing that acting emotionally was the root of the problem—and yet allowing anger to control him again—was something only fools would do.

It was utterly unfitting for someone born to rule.

He could not afford to repeat the same mistakes.

Once a problem is identified, one must strive to solve it.

Rather than shivering in defeat and anger, it was right to keep a level head and seek to recover what was lost.

“Let’s calmly assess the situation.”

In the end, the curse had not taken effect.

This meant that the soul quality of the leader of the Black Fangs far surpassed even that of a great demon.

…Though this thought made him feel as if he was in the dark.

“There are still cards left to play.”

The man reassured himself. It was, perhaps, to be expected. Upon revisiting the events with his sharp mind, he saw a way out of the situation.

“The Black Market is far too intact.”

A few buildings had exploded, but those were actions taken by the forces sent by the prince himself.

This raised an odd question.

Surely, the leader of the Black Fangs had been there. And naturally, the Archmage who ran the Black Market would have been present as well.

However, for two such beings to have fought there, the Black Market was suspiciously unscathed.

An Archmage, not unlike a natural disaster in human form.

It was inconceivable that such an entity had engaged in battle there. Otherwise, the area would have been reduced to a wasteland.

The only plausible explanation was one.

“Alliance.”

The Black Fangs already knew of the plan he had set in motion.

His own objective for this endeavor.

He had intended to sow discord between the annoying Black Fangs and the Archmage, making them confront each other—a plan they had clearly seen through.

Then, it was easy to guess what the Black Fangs had done. They must have explained the situation and, instead, recruited the Archmage to their side.

In that case…

“There are ways to deal with this.”

Bringing the Archmage over to his side and making him betray the Black Fangs seemed straightforward.

It was supposed to be a secret never to be revealed to outsiders, but… providing a part of the body from the facility would do.

The corpse of the former hero, Ian.

An object emitting the most dreadful curse in this world.

For someone immersed in dark magic, this temptation would be irresistible.

Just as the man was about to send a magical message to his subordinates…

“[How about we talk for a moment?]”

The demon suddenly muttered.

“[I didn’t mean to, but it turns out I’ve deceived you. Let me give you some useful information for free.]”

Right after being massively deceived.

And what’s more, from a demon who seemed suspiciously happy and was grinning.

Normally, he wouldn’t have listened…

“[I swear. The information I am about to provide will contain not a hint of falsehood.]”

Those words.

Having heard them, he could no longer ignore what was said. It was, perhaps, to be expected.

A demon is nothing if not strict about contracts. Once those words were spoken, no matter how twisted his nature, they had to be believed.

“[You will probably never find the person you are looking for.]”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“[The man who ran the Black Market, he was killed by someone claiming to be the leader of the Black Fangs.]”

Instantly, the man’s face turned pale.

It was, perhaps, to be expected.

He had always been excellent at assessing situations.

The leader of the Black Fangs had killed the Archmage. Yet, there were no signs of such a battle at the Black Market.

The implications were clear.

There was no fight.

What occurred between them could not be called a fight in any traditional sense.

It was simply a unilateral massacre.

The strong had merely taken the life of the weak.

A natural disaster.

The Archmage, akin to a walking calamity.

The leader of the Black Fangs had effortlessly killed a power that could stand alone against nations.

…Ultimately, the man reached his breaking point.

“Fuck. Stop spouting nonsense.”

Such words blurted out.

He knew.

As someone of noble birth, as someone who stood above others, he shouldn’t utter such vulgar words.

But still, he couldn’t hold back.

Really…

What kind of creatures were they?

With an intelligence organization of 100,000 under his command, they casually obtained even royal secrets,

They turned all his strategies against him, making a mockery of his opponents,

And even killed the Archmage in an instant?

Overwhelming intelligence.

Overwhelming strategic mind.

Overwhelming force.

It simply defied all reason.

How did such an organization suddenly come about?

Why are they so persistently hindering his path?

“Stop the nonsense! Black Fangs!!!”

*

‘Is someone talking about me?’

My ears tingled suddenly, naturally prompting such thoughts…

Well, it must be a misunderstanding.

After all, how honorably have I lived?

Who would talk behind my back?