Leveling Up Alone

Astaroth let out a sigh.

Meanwhile, Han-Yeol decided to accept the offer. “A-Alright…”

Lucifer was greatly pleased by Han-Yeol’s decision, while Astaroth seemed upset by it.

“Good! Excellent!”

“Shall we quickly proceed with the contract?”

“Ah, yes.”

Han-Yeol's efforts in gathering more Invoke turned to waste after he received the new skill from Lucifer, but that was not a problem as the new skill, Demonic Aura, allowed him to contract with demons far above what his Invoke was capable of handling.

Also, the fact that the first demon he was going to contract after obtaining this new skill was not some random demon but one of the Seven Great Demons, Lucifer, made it even more amazing.

Lucifer summoned a magic circle, and both of them dropped their blood on it to finalize the contract.

[You have contracted with the great demon, Lucifer, who rules over one of the Seven Deadly Sins, Pride.

[It is theoretically possible to contract with any demon as long as you have the required capacity to do so, but contracting a great demon ruling over one of the Seven Deadly Sins is something unheard of ever since the creation of the universe.]

[The Seventy-Two Demons of Solomon actively involved themselves in the human world, but that is not the case for the Great Demons. They ruled over the demon world and enjoyed immortality, so there was no merit for them to get involved in the human world.]

[The Seventy-Two Demons of Solomon frequently descended upon the human world to relieve their boredom, but the Great Demons waged war against the heavenly realms instead to relieve their boredom.]

[The Dimension Manager is fascinated and concerned that your achievement will disrupt the balance of power.]

Lucifer draped his arm around Han-Yeol’s shoulder, much like a bully preparing to steal lunch money or a loan shark before lending money to an unsuspecting victim.

The Great Demon conjured a wine glass with a fifth of it filled with white wine.

“Ah…” Han-Yeol was slightly worried after realizing the risk.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me.”

“Lucifer-nim!”

“Huh?”

“It’s this guy right here.”

Lucifer snapped his fingers.

Black smoke rose from the ground and gathered into a silhouette. Then, a person wearing a black tuxedo, a white shirt, and a black bowtie appeared.

The demon indeed looked unique. He had red hair, a handsome jawline, and his eyes were covered by something like a blindfold.

Still, the demon bowed toward Lucifer as soon as he appeared, as if he was able to see without any problem. However, this was just the beginning of surprises for Han-Yeol.

“Greetings, Han-Yeol-nim. My name is Stewart, and I will be assisting you from now on. I hope you will abuse me like a slave.”

“Excuse me?”

The fact that a demon was fluent in Korean was a huge surprise to Han-Yeol, but what surprised him even more was the demon’s strange request.

What in the demon world did he mean by ‘abuse me like a slave?’

Han-Yeol was flabbergasted by what he heard.

***

“That’s what happened,” Lucifer explained reluctantly.

“Your explanation did not explain much, though…?” Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion and retorted.

However, Lucifer was not willing to explain any more than he did just now.

“D-Damn you, Lucifer! That’s cheating!” Astaroth cried out.

She did not bother kicking up a fuss when Lucifer was about to contract with Han-Yeol, as she knew the latter would not have the required mana to summon a Great Demon, which meant that Lucifer would not be able to do much in the human world.

However, Lucifer dealt her a blow by arranging for one of his loyal retainers to become Han-Yeol’s secretary.

“Ah, yes, I do.”

“Just think of it as getting another one of those humans. Stewart will be assisting you from now on in your world, human. That’s all.”

“If you say so…” Han-Yeol muttered.

He no longer asked any questions, as Lucifer already said he was giving Stewart with no strings attached this time.

Han-Yeol turned toward his new secretary and greeted him. “Hello, Stewart-nim?”

“Please, just call me Stewart, Han-Yeol-nim,” the demon replied with a bow. Then, he added, “I will be in your care.”

“Ah, I will be in your care too.”

“Also, please drop the honorifics with me. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

“Ah, sure…”

“Excellent, Han-Yeol-nim.”

Han-Yeol began to feel concerned. Based on his first impression, he realized that the demon was one of those types who was entirely different from their appearance.

Meanwhile, Astaroth was gnashing her teeth in anger. “You damn cheater…! How dare you double-cross me!”

“Ah, A-Astaroth-nim… T-This was…” Han-Yeol stuttered while walking toward her.

They were not that close or anything, but he had been acquainted with her first.

“Ah! Human!” Astaroth exclaimed as her face turned red.

She did not expect Han-Yeol to be the first one to approach her like this. She called dibs on him way before Lucifer did, but she thought he was scared of her or something due to how she acted the first time they met.

“I apologize…”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“I should have rejected Lucifer-nim’s proposal, but I was unable to do so. I have numerous reasons for accepting it, but all of those are just excuses.”

Han-Yeol was grateful to Astaroth in many ways, as she had saved his life three times now. She was the only one he was indebted to this much, and their relationship deepened because of that debt.

“T-That is…” Astaroth bit her lips and muttered.

She was annoyed and angry that the human she wanted to monopolize ended up entering into a contract with Lucifer before her, but her wrath melted away like ice cream under the summer sun after seeing him apologize.

Han-Yeol might hold the potential that even a Great Demon like Lucifer would covet him, but Astaroth acted this way toward him due to her affection. He treated her just like a man would treat a woman, which touched her heart.

The demon world had its own set of rules that had to be followed, so there was nothing Astaroth could do when it came to repaying one’s debts.

Han-Yeol expressed his gratitude to her. “Thank you very much, Astaroth-nim…”

“Absolutely!”

The contract with Astaroth was simple too. The contract process was not fancy or complicated just because the demon was a demon lord. The demons were quite lazy in a sense, so they did not make the contracting process complicated just for show, and this was probably the complete opposite of how humans pictured higher-ranking demons to be.

Well, maybe there was one exception, and that was if they were crazy like Dellchant…

Han-Yeol shook his head after imagining the annoying shriek from Demon Merchant.

[You have contracted Astaroth, the twenty-ninth ranking demon of the Seventy-Two Demons of Solomon.]

[The Dimension Manager is not surprised by this as you have constantly met her, but there are growing concerns that you could end up tilting the balance of the dimensions soon.]

This was the third time he had done this, so Han-Yeol was no longer surprised by it. After all, humans were experts when it came to adapting to things.

“It’s time to send him back to his world, Lucifer.”

Lucifer broke out in laughter and licked his lips while gazing at Han-Yeol with a different set of eyes from the ones he ogled Astaroth with.

The Great Demon ruling over Avarice was Mammon, but Han-Yeol could not help but think that Lucifer was secretly the one who ruled over Avarice from behind the scenes.

“Lucifer!”

Lucifer clicked his tongue in annoyance after Astaroth lashed out at him.

Then, he snapped his fingers just as he did a few times a while ago.

***

Han-Yeol regained the consciousness he lost when he had lost his temper.

Fortunately, the negative emotions in him had already long disappeared.

Karvis finally let out a sigh of relief after Han-Yeol opened his eyes and the worst-case scenario she feared did not come to fruition.

“I’m back, Karvis.”

Han-Yeol was not sure if Karvis was getting influenced by the Jabberwock Chain or if it was because she had been destroyed once before, but Karvis had started acting quite brashly these days.

However, seeing something bad almost happen to her owner, Han-Yeol, made her revert back to how she was before.