?Aella and Mira walked into the cavern where Arad’s egg was resting. They could see it on top of a mountain of gold, gems, and jewelry, pulsing with magic.

The room keeps changing. Each time they walk in, new things grow, and the older ones grow larger.

BA-DUMP! They could hear the egg throbbing like a heart, emitting a faint purple glow as it discharged mana into the room that later condensed as pure mana crystals on the walls, ceiling, and ground, dangling and protruding down like stalactites and stalagmites.

Mira gasped, taking a step back. “Sorry, almost forgot,” Aella waved her hand around her, engulfing her in a ball of wind magic, “Better?”

“Yeah, thanks,”

Arad’s egg constantly absorbed air from the cavern, dropping the pressure and oxygen concentration a lot, and on top of that, the discharged mana fills the air and overwhelms anyone who isn’t used to it.

For someone like Mira who isn’t attuned to any kind of magic, she feels like she’s standing on a mountain peak, thousands of feet in the air. On top of that, the concentrated mana overwhelms her and makes her feel like she hyperoxiginated.

This cavern isn’t an environment that humans can survive in without the aid of magic.

Mira blinked, “It hit faster today.”

“The mana in the air is a bit denser than before. It’s honestly getting to terrifying levels,” Aella walked forward, and Mira slowly trailed behind her until they reached the start of Arad’s gold bed.

“But isn’t it natural?” Mira said, looking at the gold and the egg, “This looks like those stories of great monsters. The egg would crack when we try to steal the gold, and we’ll face the powerful monster guarding the treasure.”

“Alcott said it feels like a labyrinth level fifty boss room. And that was three days ago,” Aella looked at Mira, “It’s probably more than double that now,”

“If Arad won against adult dragons and even managed to kill an abomination that most might not be able to handle,” Mira stared at the egg, “What kind of power would he come up with,”

They could sense the mana in the room slowly rising, leaking out of the egg as heat, radiating with power and magic.

“How is he doing?” Meryem walked into the room, looking at the walls as if to inspect the growing magic crystals. “Seems well,” She smiled.

“The magic is growing steadily, so we can guess he’s doing fine,” Aella replied, “It reminds me of butterflies. They start as larvae then evolve in a cocoon to full gown adults,”

“Do you know what scares me?” Meryem approached them, “He’s only becoming a juvenile. Would he even be able to live with us when reaching the higher stages? Or he’ll have to disappear from the world like other magic dragons?”

“We don’t hear much about other magic dragons, but if Gojo is still around he’s a mature adult now. Arad would be with us for a while,” Mira smiled.

“Gojo is only two years old,” Aella looked at her, “Arad might not be with us for more than three years before reaching a level where life like it is now can’t sustain him. Just looked at how much he eats now. I doubt the forest’s ecosystem could handle him,”

“He’ll probably start hunting in other places,” Mira looked at the egg, “But his magic discharge would be quite troublesome,” Without Aella’s protection, just standing in this room could kill her.

“Zephyr is back!” Aella smiled, “Let’s go see her,”

“You’re right,” Mira looked at the egg, “Good night, Arad,”

The two left, leaving Meryem sitting there with the egg. She looked at the ceiling, “It’s been a few days. What are you doing in there?” She sighed, “Don’t make us wait,”

****

Upon walking out of the basement, Aella and Mira could see Zephyr asleep on the couch, scratching her bulged stomach.

“She looks pregnant,” Mira sighed.

“Ate herself to sleep,” Aella waved her hand, “Wake up,”

Zephyr opened her eyes, “What? I’m digesting food here,”

“Long story short, how do we void a devil contract?” Mira stared at her, and Zephyr blinked, “A devil? I sensed one of them earlier…”

“Roberta is stuck in a contract,” Aella looked at her, “Can you help?”

“Depends on the contract and the devil we’re talking about,” Zephyr replied, barely managing to sit. “But please keep in mind, I don’t have much authority in hell.”

“I know you can’t tell the devil to quit, but can’t you figure out a way to void the contract,” Aella stared at her.

“Contracts are give and take. What did he give for you to be held by the contract? Equivalent exchange, isn’t it?” Zephyr flew and sat on Aella’s head, “The devil is as held by the contract as we are and is playing the same game of trying to figure a way to make us fail the contract. This the most common case,” She looked at Aella’s eyes, “Let’s go give that contract a read.”

****

In hell, the devil laughed as he watched, “As expected of the great wind spirit, she is immediately aware of the game and intends to play,” He smiled, standing up, “Most devil’s true goal is making their clients fail their contract, but that a double-

edged sword,”

The devils in his room bowed, lining up to form a path as two of them conjured a hell gate, “Be well,”

“Time to make my first move,” With a smile, the devil walked into the gate and stood in the mortal world with a large smile on his face. He extended his hand forward, “My lady…I am not shady,” He giggled.

“Your father in hell, and to this world, I might bring,”

Merida sat in front of one of Alina’s food stalls, eating a piece of grilled chicken as the devil appeared behind her. She slowly turned her head, seeing as the people around her seemed frozen in time.

“Who are you?” Merida asked, her eyes glowing green.

“Someone who’s here to help, what do you say, want your father back?” He smiled, extending his hand toward her.

“About that,” Merida said, black veins bulging from her right arm up to her neck. She lunged at the devil and pulled the longsword Alcott gave her from her magic bag in the blink of an eye, swinging at the devil’s neck.

The devil lunged back, only having a long scratch across his chest.

“You’re fast and aggressive, aren’t you?” He smiled, wiping the purple blood dripping from his wound.

BAM! Merida’s body disappeared from his sight, causing him to gasp, ^What’s this speed? No, her magic isn’t that of a human.^ The devil’s head jolted to the side as he turned, seeing Merida already standing on the wall of the church tower in the distance, about to jump back at him.^

BAM! With one leap, she crossed a hundred meters back and swung at the devil’s neck.

CLANG! The devil lifted his arms and blocked the sword with his forearms, ^The demon lord of fungus is lending her his power?^

“To think you could call upon a patron’s power this fast,” The devil laughed, “But, no matter how much power he lends you, you can’t beat me,” .

“This is…ME!” Merida said in a gargling voice, the fungus spreading across her body.

“This is the last time I ask,” The devil pulled an unsigned contract, “Want your father back?” 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Merida took a stance, ready to strike.

“So you don’t want him back? What a shame,” The devil waved his hand, and the contract burned into ash, “Now even if you begged, I’m not bringing him back…BLUGH!” He coughed blood, feeling his heart throbbing as his vision blurred.

“What shrooms are you on?” Merida said, her voice changing, “Yeah, my shrooms,” It was then that the devil realized this wasn’t Merida’s he was facing, but the demon lord of fungus himself.

“You! Helping a mere human like this? Do you have no pride?” The devil stared at Merida.

“She’s the one who got me where I stand,” The demon replied, “To me, she’s like a mother. And my pride is making sure people like you never insult my mother, trying to trick her into a contract,”

^I see!^ The devil growled internally. ^She never heard me in the first place. The moment I stopped time, the demon lord of fungus took her place.^

The devil laughed, “Then this route is blocked, no matter,” He waved his hand, “I’m no fool to face you alone,”

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