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Palan waved away the black smoke that was threatening to float into his face. “You know that was Solra, right?” he asked the disgruntled archangel in front of him.
“So what?” Raea asked, snapping her head towards him. “Did you form a contract with him too? Is that it?” She glared at the doorway, waiting to see if anyone else would try to come in. The first thing Raea did when she found out Palan lied to her was drag him to the prison to uncover all his contracts. She hadn’t even spoken to him along the way, causing Justitia to stress out as she followed after them.
“I still don’t know why you’re so upset about this,” Palan said and shook his head. “And no, I did not form a contract with Solra.” He sighed as the female angel beneath his and Raea’s feet finished signing a piece of paper. The yellow parchment fractured into thousands of pieces as Palan’s connection with the captive was lost. He really didn’t understand why Raea was blowing this minor thing out of proportion. He knew that one of her traits was envy, but it wasn’t like she was losing anything.
“You really don’t get it,” Raea said, placing her hands on her hips as she kicked aside the captive angel. “How would you feel if I made submissive contracts to dozens of other demons? What if I just let them all have their way with me?”
Palan’s brow furrowed as his torso-mouth ground its teeth. “I’m in the dominant position for these contracts,” he said. Raea’s eyes narrowed further. “Though, I get your point—you’re jealous. But don’t you think you’re taking this a bit too far? It’s like you’re getting angry at a bunch of ants, aren’t you above that?”
“Even if they were baby ants, I wouldn’t let them off if they dare set their eyes on you,” Raea said and stuck her chest out. “I was the one who found you when you were just a regular demon. I saved you when you were dying to that stupid badger. It was my care that got you to where you are now. And now other people want to have a share in that? Now that you’re at the top, everyone wants a part of you? Hell no! You. Are. Mine.”
“You know,” Palan said as a layer of black light enveloped his body. “I really don’t like being treated as someone’s property.” He was about to say something related to his own abilities bringing him to where he was, but Raea didn’t give him that chance.
“Then why did you make contracts with over three hundred people, you yellow-paper-loving slut!?” she shouted as the floor around her was set ablaze. “You don’t like being property! So why are you giving up a part of yourself to so many people!”
“I’m not giving up anything!” Palan shouted back. His tails slammed against the ground, causing the whole prison to tremble. “If you actually read the contents of the contracts, you would know!”
“I did read them! Why don’t I go form contracts with a thousand male demons and have their mana enter me!? Do you know how tainted you’ll become if you start meditating?” Raea asked and folded her arms over her chest. She glared at her demon, her tail swishing and lacerating the nearby cages and angels inside. Palan’s brow furrowed, but Raea didn’t let him speak. She lowered her voice and said, “I changed because of you. Even if you don’t want to admit it, you also changed because of me. Hadn’t a little part of me entered you because of our contract? Hadn’t you lost part of yourself to me? Will you even be the same person if you lose three hundred little bits of yourself to these angels?”
Palan’s expression darkened. What Raea said wasn’t unreasonable. The black glow surrounding his body faded away. The flames around Raea’s feet dimmed before flickering out of existence. She took a step forward and hugged him, burying her face into his neck. “What happened to you?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Palan asked as he absentmindedly used his hands to play with Raea’s wings.
“Are you even a pride demon anymore?” Raea asked, causing Palan to tense. “Do you know how hard it was for me to get you to submit? Now you’re just freely giving yourself away for a little bit of mana?” She broke off her embrace and made eye contact with Palan, resting her hands on his shoulders. Her hands clenched, her nails digging into Palan’s skin and drawing blood. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance, but no lightning rained down. “Is your pride that cheap? Weren’t you the one who told me, ‘If you want something, then take it’? Why are you bargaining for their mana? Just eat them and be done with it.”
“I thought you didn’t like it when I ate angels,” Palan said and raised an eyebrow.
Raea snorted. “And how many times have you actually cared for what I liked? Don’t use me as an excuse,” she said and released his shoulders. “I’d rather you be an angel-eating monster than a cheap whore.”
“But the efficiency…,” a third voice said.
Raea and Palan turned to stare at Pyre who cleared his throat. “Forget I said anything,” he said. “But, you know, over time, Palan would harvest more mana from contracts than from the onetime gain he’d get from eating an angel.”
Raea asked Palan, “Is who you are as a person worth that little bit of efficiency?”
“Of course it is,” Pyre said and nodded, answering for Palan.
Palan and Raea ignored him. “You’re right,” Palan said and furrowed his brow. His countenance relaxed.
“I’m always right except for the times I’m wrong,” Pyre said and struck his chest with his hand.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Palan said and knocked Pyre away with his tail. He clapped his hand on Raea’s shoulder. “You’re absolutely right. My pride isn’t that cheap. I listened to Pyre and followed the rules because I was still stuck in the mindset of a greater demon. I’m an archdemon now. Who dares to stand in my way?”
A black glow enveloped Palan’s hand, but unlike all the other times, the light wasn’t transparent. It was impossible to see through. He lifted his hand above his head. Hundreds of angels and their cages were torn out of place and flew towards Palan like they were falling sideways through the air. Pyre’s mouth fell open as all the angels Palan had formed contracts with tumbled to the ground by the demon’s feet. The ones he hadn’t formed contracts with—and those who had theirs removed already—remained untouched.
Palan opened his mouth. “Dissolve our contract or die.”