I Can Take Revenge

Even if Montana was howling in despair outside, he was nothing but laughing bitterly inside him. He knew that something bad was going to happen, and it seemed that Mephisto didn't count on it to proceed as he thought.

Right now, Montana was trying to outrun police officers in the station. He didn't want to go to jail for something he didn't do, to rot in a place he didn't choose.

He signed a contract with a demon days ago. Why was he suffering now?

"Help me!"

Montana called out, and Caliga growled aloud as a response. Everyone and everything in between Montana and the exit were blown away in a snap. Caliga slipped in between his legs and grew larger than he should be. He then carried his master on his back as he ran with the whirlwind blasting everyone out of the way.

"What is going on?!" The officers falling behind him were bewildered. They doubted the CCTV would be able to help them understand, but they could clearly see Montana floating in the air at such speed. Not only would they be unable to catch him, but they would also fail to explain how he escaped.

Soon, the exit doors were blasted open, and Caliga took Montana out of the building. He then raced to the direction of a huge tree in the parking lot. Before Montana could react, they ran past it and jumped towards the shadow.

Just like that, they vanished.

No one saw how they vanished, but the officers never saw another trace of Montana again. They spread their forces three blocks around the station, and no one even saw Montana go their way. The man was completely gone without a trace, and the officers could only clench their teeth.

…

The strange sound and sharp coldness coming from the environment woke up Montana. He didn't know how long he had been knocked out. He sat up on the hard, cold floor and noticed that Caliga was back to his normal size, sleeping next to him.

His hand went to pet the black dog before his vision realized that someone else was there with them. Actually, two people were watching him from a distance.

Mephisto was gazing at him with a serious expression while another was even yawning. The woman seated next to Mephisto was naked in her full glory, and it made Montana widen his eyes in shock. Were they rather that indecent that they could…? Wait, she must be a demon, too.

"I am offended that you think of me like that. I just hope you would recognize my form, that's all." The woman got to her feet and walked towards Montana.

As she did, her image was morphing into a crooked-back old man with a very bushy mustache and a very long beard. The horns in his head were twice bigger than Mephisto's, the swirls resembling the handle of his cane. The only similarity they have was the way they dressed.

"Montana Mills, do you not know me?"

"…Are you Belphegor?"

"Hm, good boy." He grinned with only a portion of it seen through his thick mustache. "I heard that you ran into one of those nasty witches of Satan. Did you remember what he looked like?"

The human's eyes flickered before he gasped. "You're Belphegor?!"

Belphegor looked down at Montana and used his cane to flick his forehead. "I am both amused enough to favor you and annoyed enough to throw you around. Try to keep the balance if you opt not to be killed."

Montana then held onto his forehead and whimpered before looking at the man again. "You… you gave me Caliga, right?"

"Hm, no, I stole Caliga from the King of demons and handed him to you."

"…king? Like… the Devil…?"

"No, that's Satan. The King is Asmodeus." Belphegor scratched his head. "Mephistopheles, how much of this did you tell him?"

"…none?"

Tank! Belphegor angrily struck the ground with his cane, and the hit had drawn a crack from one end of the huge, dark place to another. However, the smile on Mephisto's face told him that it was not a joke at all. The prince then sighed and massaged his forehead.

Then again, he realized that it was probably his problem-not-problem as well. He didn't expect Montana to stay long with them. He expected Montana to fail at the challenge and hide away all his life.

It would be very easy for him if Montana's life stayed that way, but something happened unexpectedly.

"Let's assume you have zero knowledge about the princes of Hell. When you hear about a witch of Satan, what comes to mind?" Belphegor had no choice but to continue speaking with his contracted.

"…they're bad people?"

"No, they're corrupted sheep bound to cause chaos and spread the wrath of the demons on humans. They're not innately evil; only easily triggered by their anger," the demon corrected him, "If I tell you that you ran into one of these witches, what comes to mind?"

Montana stared at him before remembering the terrorist that copied his face and caused a big explosion. His brows frowned as he wanted to complain, but it reminded him how justice wasn't part of a demon's creed.

He just scratched his head. "You mean that man in the elevator? The terrorist?"

Belphegor smiled as he could freely read through the thoughts in Montana's head and see the burning flame and the water that washed it out. He then dropped the smile as he spoke, "Yes, that man. Satan had been hosting a lot of witches recently. Losing one of them is nothing to him. Would you like to try and take revenge?"

"Revenge…" Montana pulled on his lips as if trying to smile out of sight. "I can't take revenge. If faced with someone like that, I will die before he could take out his knife."

'That's the spirit! Ahahaha! Yes, give up and hide from the world.' Belphegor only nodded; however, it was Mephisto's turn to speak.

The demon reappeared next to Montana and kneeled down next to him. "Mon, do you know what will happen if you just keep on hiding?"

Belphegor's face changed while Caliga's head perked up. Montana stayed quiet as if thinking, but Mephisto whispered into Montana's ear even if his eyes were on Belphegor, "Caliga will never get to eat anything. If you hide, no one would be able to find and serve their bodies to Caliga.

"Have you forgotten? I promised you that you will keep Caliga well-fed if you do exactly as I say?" Mephisto grinned as if spiting Belphegor. "Why are you sitting on the ground like you do not have a demon to help you?"

"Help…" Montana echoed a single word. He then looked up at Belphegor who was the real holder of his contract. "Mister—"

"Belphegor. Just Belphegor."

"…Belphegor, will a hellhound eat a witch of Satan? Are they considered humans in our deal to feed Caliga once a week?"

Both Belphegor and Mephisto were surprised. They were only insinuating that Montana could either shy away or take advantage and kill more people. Why did he suddenly think of killing the witch?

The two demons exchanged gazes. This man… wanted to hunt witches of Satan to feed to his hellhound?

Wouldn't that be triggering a war between Belphegor and Satan?

Then again, didn't the prince admit to not even caring about the lives of his witches? He could always make another after all.

Moreover, was Belphegor willing to slap Satan's face?

The answer was yes.

Belphegor's deals always had two phases: it was the rise and downfall phases. Since Montana's rising phase involved being able to kill low-class witches, perhaps he should let Mephisto handle this. The high-class witches had backing from a lot of demon handlers, and so Montana had no chance to deal with them.

Hahah, that would cause his downfall.

"Witches are still human, but their souls are normally withheld by a lesser demon. If you want to feed Caliga with their souls, you should hunt both witch and demon handler." Belphegor's smile was so out-of-this-world that it was creepy to Montana. "That would force you to learn how to fight them. Are you willing to walk through such… laborious undertaking?"

"Mephisto already promised me he would help so I was hoping I could gain instant advantage from you…"

Belphegor shot a glare at Mephisto, and the latter only shrugged his shoulders. The negotiator only chuckled under the growing glare of the prince. "I actually came asking around for anyone who could help me enhance our little evil boy lover here, but I ran across someone asking if the person was a witch of Satan instead. It seemed that they existed in the same space that some demons managed to make a connection.

"Worry not, I'm working on that. Soon enough, I would be able to turn you around." Mephisto stroked at Montana's cheek as if wiping off the dirt on his face.

"Okay…" He scooted to face Mephisto. "What do I do now?"

"Erm… rest for today. If you go out there, the police would be able to find you quickly." Mephisto got to his feet and dusted his knees. "I'll get back to work. Just stay here with Caliga."

With a wink, Mephisto vanished. Montana turned to the other demon, but he disappeared at the sound of his cane. The human then turned to Caliga who got up and went to lick Montana's face as if consoling him.

It's just that… his breath of decay could still make Montana gag.

Before he could stop the black dog from licking him so much, the sound of the shutter echoed in the entire warehouse.