The Demon quickly figured out the reason for his power failing to take effect. The command he had condensed was for the door seal to be nullified.
Since the power of the seal was greater than his, it meant that his command couldn't be executed, which meant that it wouldn't even take effect. Therefore, it was just a waste of mana.
Thinking of something, the Demon condensed another magic circle, "The door seal loses a quarter of its strength!"
Boom!
The command took effect as it was within the range of his power. Smiling as a result, the Demon spoke, creating a third magic circle, "The door seal loses half its power."
The door seal had become weak now as he unleashed the final command, "The door seal is nullified!"
Boom!
The door opened, revealing an expansive space within where large pillars stood tall, almost reaching the skies—that was how they looked.
The mausoleum alone spanned a height of 600 metres, so it was a massive structure. The Demon sauntered into it, noticing a couple of Magic Beasts appearing in the expansive space. They had just been formed by harnessing Tehela's strength.
And upon detecting the intruder, they rushed at him, condensing a swirl of wind in their mouths that slammed out in the form of a tornado, intending to drill into their opponent.
But, the moment they reached a metre from the Demon, they strangely vanished as if they had never existed.
The Demon smirked in response and walked deeper into the mausoleum, muttering, "I see, since I entered it the moment it appeared, the traps and Magic Beasts that would protect it in the future aren't ready yet."
And indeed, it was the truth.
The Ruin of Amagoth erected traps and Magic Beasts by harnessing the power of the entity sealed within it. And, that took some time.
But, since the Demon had infiltrated it mere seconds after its arrival, nothing was ready to stop him. And the few Magic Beasts that had formed couldn't even approach him before they dissipated due to the effects of his command.
In an hour, he reached the depths of the mausoleum, staring at the chained figure of Tehela, noticing the mystical runes flashing through the chains, keeping her constricted.
The Demon thought for a moment, condensing a magic circle as he said, "Reveal the secrets of this place to me."
Boom!
The mysterious runes rapidly transformed in shape, turning into characters that the Demon could read, allowing him to understand that the mausoleum had been created by a Shaman King to trap Tehela.
"Help me!" Suddenly, Tehela's voice reverberated throughout the place, startling the Demon.
He looked at her in shock, watching her bloodshot eyes staring right at him, "How…are you able to speak? This seal should have kept you unconscious for an eternity."
What the Demon didn't know was that when he was messing with the mausoleum to gain insight into its secrets, the Mental Energy he unleashed flowed into Tehela, waking up her System from its unconscious state.
Following that, it planned to break free. But, as its own Mental Energy was sealed, it could only wait, collecting the Mental Energy unleashed by the Demon.
And the moment it saved up enough, it connected to the Astral Network to purchase a Skill that forced Tehela to regain her consciousness.
Following that, by resisting the chains that dug deeper into her body, she was able to talk.
"I don't think I'll be able to." The Demon smiled wryly, "I only became a Pseudo-Saint a couple of days ago. So, I'm still experimenting with my powers. Moreover,"
He observed the chains, shaking his head, "Even if I become stronger, I won't be able to affect these chains."
"You don't need to break these chains," Tehela said, absorbing all the information she received from her system about the Ruin of Amagoth. It had obviously purchased it in the Astral Network from a fellow System that frequented this world.
"Then, what do you want me to do?" The Demon asked, curious to see why the Titan before him didn't seem all that flustered, despite being sealed.
"Change my race using your power as a Principal Arbiter." Tehela continued, "With that, I should be able to escape part of the seal."
"Sure, this seems interesting." The Demon nodded before letting out a cunning smile, "But, what will you pay in response?"
"Take some of my lifeforce." Tehela didn't even bat an eye at the statement.
'As expected of a Titan.' The Demon nodded, planning to steal as much lifespan out of her as he could. After all, as long as Tehela breaks the seal quick enough, her profession as an Immortal would allow her to regain the lost lifeforce.
'It might be too bad if she fails to escape before her lifespan runs out though.' The Demon thought, amused as he erected a gigantic magic circle, carefully adding multiple details regarding the race change.
"Gah!" Tehela grunted in pain, sensing the majority of her lifeforce being stripped away from her, absorbed by the Demon who grinned happily, stating, "The contract has been established."
"Congratulations on becoming a human."
"Hah…haah!" Tehela gasped as she felt weak all over, failing to adapt to the change in eye level, for she was like an ant now as compared to her original self. She gazed at her scrawny hands that seemed to lack any semblance of strength, sighing as she sensed the chains constricting her shattering one after another.
She couldn't leave the mausoleum though, for some of the seal was still in effect. But, unlike before, she was able to move around, even if it was only limited to the mausoleum.
"Thank you." Tehela looked at the Demon, happy with the transaction. She then said, "Will you be leaving now?"
"Yeah, I only came here to learn about the seal. And now that I'm done with it, I'll research upon my observations to strengthen my profession." The Demon said, turning around to walk away.
"Before that, can you relay news of this mausoleum to others so that people would explore this place?" Tehela asked.
"Is that one of the conditions necessary to break your seal?" The Demon asked.
"Yeah," Tehela nodded.
"Alright, I'll do that." The Demon nodded casually, happy as he had obtained more than a millennium of lifespan from her, more than enough for him to research to his heart's contents. And with that, he left the mausoleum, reaching the nearest city to transmit the information.
"This is strange…" Compass Carburettor muttered, having gone through Tehela's memories, "Why is Slayer behaving like a mere Pseudo-Saint?"
"Something's amiss."
