Chapter 903: The 'Devil'. 2
"... This just got even more complicated, Mother," Emilly muttered, and Evie couldn't help but agree.
This place had caught the attention of one of the kings of hell, and everyone knew that nothing good came from dealing with those beings.
Evie thought about Victor's words, saying that when she needed him the most, she would summon 'The Devil.'
Evie hated knowing that Victor's premonition could become a reality. Currently, Evie felt that for witches, there was no faction that would make a 'fair' deal with them other than Victor's.
But Evie couldn't trust this 'feeling.'
"Mother, what should we do?"
"I will visit them personally."
"... But-" The girls wanted to retort Evie, saying it was dangerous, but they were interrupted by Evie.
"We are dealing with Merlin."
Silence fell in the room.
"He is the greatest genius of 'energy control' that ever existed, and even though he's a demon now, I have no doubt that he hasn't lost that ability."
"No magic can be used in front of him, or he will intercept that magic. We need users like me who can hide their summoning, or everything you do will be useless."
None of them wanted to accept Evie's words, but they had no choice. After all, it was the queen's decision, and the only one in this room who could contradict the queen's decision was her biological daughter, Emilly Moriarty.
And that's what Emilly did.
"We will be watching, Mother. If something happens, we will intervene. That's non-negotiable."
"Very well," Evie nodded in agreement with those words.
...
"Hmm, I still think this is very reckless, Merlin."
"You're overthinking it, Yama."
"I'm not..." Yama narrowed his eyes. "Despite trusting your ability and my own, isn't it too risky to come here alone? You know very well that man has eyes in this place."
"Ah, yes... The chaos dragon god, the only being to have divinities on both sides of the balance... A peculiar existence, isn't he?" Merlin's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Don't play with me, Merlin. Answer my question." Yama narrowed his eyes.
Merlin rolled his eyes. "You're too impatient, young Yama. Trust your teacher, okay?"
"I trust you." Yama nodded. "But I don't trust your eccentricity."
Merlin fell silent; he was going to say something but remained silent when he realized that he didn't even trust his own eccentricity.
"So, what are we doing here?"
"A new world... A new opportunity, isn't that interesting?"
"Tsk, stop beating around the bush and tell the truth." Yama was slowly getting more irritated.
Merlin realized this, so he spoke in an attempt to satisfy Yama: "... Let's say I'm here to discover the 'origins' of witches."
"Oh?" Yama became interested now. "Are you saying that world has connections with witches?"
"Probably." Merlin was evasive, but for someone who knew him well, like Yama, that was like a confirmation to him.
After all, Merlin wouldn't be here if there wasn't something that greatly interested him.
"I see... And how can this benefit us?"
"That, my dear disciple... is what I came to find out," Merlin said.
A green magic circle appeared in front of Merlin and Yama.
"She is coming." The moment Merlin said that the magic circle shimmered, and the white silhouette of a woman appeared.
The light around the silhouette exploded into various particles, and Evie appeared wearing her royal attire along with her staff and crown of green flames.
The magic circle eyes with magical circles looked at Yama and Merlin.
"Yama, the king of hell... This is an unexpected visit... I wonder what the king of hell wants with Arcane?"
"... Won't you invite us in?" Yama asked.
"I'm sorry, but... Currently, my country is going through complicated situations, so the entry of anyone other than witches is prohibited."
"Interesting... Does this rule apply even to me?" Yama covered his body with his power.
"Yes, no one will enter Arcane, even if it's you." The magic circle in Evie's eyes changed slightly, and at that moment, she had tried to use evaluation magic on the targets, but that same magic was blocked by the demon behind Yama.
The speed at which the magic was broken further confirmed Evie's suspicions that the demon behind Yama was definitely Merlin.
Evie and the larger demon's eyes met for a few seconds, and Evie swore she saw a sense of amusement in the demon's eyes.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and looked back at Yama. "You haven't answered... What has the king of hell come to do here?"
"... I want to make a deal with Arcane," Yama said.
A scroll appeared in front of Yama, and he acted as if he had done it, but Evie clearly noticed that it was the demon behind the king of hell who summoned the scroll, which could mean only one thing. 'Merlin clearly knew about the origins of the portal and had the idea to come here.'
"Take it." The scroll floated toward Evie.
First, Evie thoroughly examined the scroll for any possible traps, and only after doing so did she
take the scroll and open it. Upon opening the scroll, she saw the written contract.
"This..." Evie opened her eyes wide at what she was seeing; this contract was simply too unfavorable... for the demons under Yama's banner.
She read the contract more carefully and even used some magic to see if there was any catch, but even after doing all that, she found the contract to be legitimate, with no deception. This was an extremely disadvantageous contract for the demons and very favorable for the witches.
'This is something Merlin would definitely do. That old bastard would do anything for knowledge, even make unfair contracts like this.'
"Are you sure about this?" Evie asked.
"Yes," Yama replied confidently.
"... Let me ask again, are you absolutely sure that the demons under your command will support us in anything we do, and in return, all we have to do is give you access to the portal?"
"Yes... Wait, what?" Yama took the scroll and read it. When he saw the unfair contract that would essentially make the demons subordinate to the witches, he looked furiously at Merlin.
At this moment, there was no respect for his teacher. Yama realized that Merlin would easily sell him out for knowledge!
This... This was so typical of Merlin! He should have paid more attention.
Merlin turned his head and started whistling as if he had done nothing wrong. Veins were even more visible on Yama's head, and then he looked in Evie's direction with a forced smile.
"Unfortunately, this contract is wrong. My stupid subordinate must have made a mistake."
"I see, that's a shame... You should ensure that this subordinate is punished. After all, this mistake only shows that the king is inattentive." Evie 'kindly' advised.
But Yama and Merlin could feel the acidity in the woman's words.
Yama's smile became even more forced, feeling utterly embarrassed now, but as a king, he had learned to have thick skin, so he accepted this 'kind' advice with a smile on his face. "Of course, I will ensure that this demon is punished."
Evie nodded. "I see that this conversation is over, so I will be leaving..."
"Wait, Queen of Witches."
"... What?"
"My proposal is not over yet."
Another scroll appeared in front of Yama, and this time, Yama read it. 'This is acceptable.' He nodded internally as he saw the conditions of the contract.
It was basically a business contract; in exchange for letting them use the portal, Yama's demons would share the profit found between 30-70.
30% for the witches and 70% for the demons. For Yama, this was a 'fair' percentage. Although internally, he didn't like it much, considering that he could just take the portal for himself, right? But by doing that, he would possibly anger a terrifying existence, and he didn't want that.
Yama handed the contract to Evie. "Read the contract and tell me what you think."
Evie took the contract and read it... She was surprised at first; the contract wasn't bad, but at the same time, it wasn't good. The reason for this was that these beings would go to the other side, and they could take all the good things for themselves and only give her the leftovers.
"Unfortunately, I cannot accept this contract either..."
Yama's face contorted. "Don't be greedy, Witch." His words came out in a completely hostile tone.
Evie narrowed her eyes.
"You are not in a position to negotiate anything... Do you know why no one has leveled this place already?"
"It's because we all fear the reaction of that annoying existence."
"If it weren't for that, you and your group of witches would have already been wiped from existence."
"You are not in a position to be as greedy as you always have been. Know your place, witch."
Merlin, who saw this, only smiled in amusement. He knew something like this would happen. Witches like to play the victim, but in the end, it's all a game of interests.
The witches don't want to give up the portal, but they also won't accept commercial contracts where they come out at a disadvantage. They are so used to exploiting other beings that they don't realize the situation they are in.
'If this continues, it's only a matter of time before someone invades this place... And when that happens, that dragon will intervene and take the whole place for himself, bringing the witches under his banner.' Merlin could clearly see the kind of patient game Victor was playing.
'He completely understands what witches are like... This intellect is very much like Diablo's... In fact, it may even be superior because all I'm seeing is just the surface. I'm sure they have other plans beneath the surface regarding the witches.' Merlin thought.
"... Leave, King of Hell."
Yama grunted angrily, the space around him distorting as if it were about to break, and this action made Evie even more cautious. With just a hand gesture, she created several magic circles, and a tense atmosphere surrounded them.
"I said, leave, King of Hell."
"... Mark my words, Witch. One day, you will bow to someone, and I will be there to witness that moment." Yama turned and started to leave the place along with Merlin.
'Don't state the obvious. I know that, but it won't be you.' Despite being proud, Evie knew very well the kind of situation she was in. She was just being stubborn and not giving up. After all, Kings and Queens don't give up easily.
Emilly, who was watching this meeting inside Arcane, bit her lip. 'I have to do something. My mother's stubbornness will condemn us.'
