44

Even though I went into this with knowledge of roughly what would happen I can't help but feel a bit better after seeing her blood hit the contract. she then had an odd look after it burst into flames but that's probably because of the binding since I didn't warn her about it. oh well, I am completely safe in her presence unless she allows a third party to kill me without her influence.

"So, how do you want the fruit? should I store that one so it doesn't go bad or what's the plan?" I gesture to the fruit on the table and she pushes it toward me so I store it. soon the door opens and Delia walks in, when she notices I am not dead yet she gives a very brief nod of acknowledgment and then bows to Catherine.

"Lady Christina you summoned me?" she stays with her head lowered.

"Yes take this seal and papers to have the power to handle the situation in town Leia I am splitting off to handle some matters." Delia stands back up and stores the items and waits for further orders. "we are going to head off soon just continue on your way to town Leia and greet the mayor, if anyone asks just tell them I will be there when I am finished with some business and use the seal and paperwork to prove that you have authority on the situation."

Catherine stands and motions for me to follow, we both leave the room with Delia following behind. Catherine then stops at a door and we are stopped as she goes inside to presumably grab some effects before we head out, while we are alone Delia standing beside me she smacks my side.

"What?" I look at her and she deadpans.

"What do you mean what? why are you out of your shackles?" I can't help but think Catherine is intending for this conversation to happen since she could clear out the room in its entirety in seconds if she wanted and yet she is taking her sweet time.

"Well, I guess we got something we need to do but it shouldn't take too long so don't freak out, all is well as far as I am aware." I see her blue eyebrows scrunch and she looks at me with narrowed eyes.

"I am not freaking out I just wanted to know how things turned out like this. it would be sad for Athena to hear about her boyfriend's death and I just wanted confirmation of your wellbeing." before I can retort the door opens again and we both shut up as Catherine comes out redressed in attire for foot travel versus the other clothes she had on that where more for appearances.

"Alright Nova you follow me, Delia continue on and I trust you to handle any situation that arises once you make it to town Leia."

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Watching the carriage continue on I can't help but marvel at its size, after being on the inside I apricate the work the craftsmen have put into making it. when I get a chance I need to look more into the space-compressing side of item crafting since that could be useful for a whole manner of things but I haven't looked at much regarding the subject or I would remember with my Astaroth trait.

"You ready?" a few feet away Catherine is standing and as I turn to look I notice she is waiting on me.

"Sorry the carriage is a cool magic construct I was thinking about looking more into how it was made when I get the chance." she nods and I do some light stretches and wonder if she is going to drag me around like she did Chen Rui since he was way slower than her. "so what the plan?"

"We are going to get some distance between us and those who are tracking us and hope they didn't catch on to us splitting off and if they did I will make a decision then on what to do." I nod and consider offering to teleport us but I would have to manually draw the circle to make it look like it takes time so she doesn't question why I had to use the ring to escape earlier. after all, this is over if she finds out I could teleport she would be pretty pissed to find out I was completely playing her but if she finds out I can teleport faster than just drawing it I can just say I was keeping a few secrets just in case. at that point, if she asks about the ring I can say I had it for emergencies because I need to focus on where to teleport and I was panicking while being attacked.

"If you want I could set up a teleporting circle, devils have long-range space magic but it takes time to set up." her eyes briefly go a bit wider before narrowing but she stays silent and then just shakes her head.

"Let's make some distance first if they follow then I will consider it, but why do you need the ring if you can teleport?"

"It takes more time to teleport that way than the ring and I needed to get out fast." Catherine nods as she walks toward me.

"I see, prepare yourself I am not going to go slow so don't throw up on me." I try to back up and tell her to wait but then I am grabbed in a side hug and semi lifted and everything blurs as we are moving faster than I can keep up with. I use Agares to speed up my perception and things slow down but still, it's like I am in a really fast car. the difference between our current power is astronomical and I start to sweat thinking about how fast the god-tier entities are since they dwarf demon overlord. we come to a sudden stop after a bit of traveling and I can't even remotely imagine how far we just traveled but it was a massive distance considering the terrain is massively different.

"Far enough away yet to tell me the plan or am I just a fridge at this point." Catherine has spread out her spirit energy because I can feel it pulsing out of her almost like sonar.

"I plan on eating the fruit one at a time until I complete a ritual and then at that point we will discuss what's next." seems she can't feel anyone following because she stopped and doesn't seem concerned, or its just they all are that much weaker than her. in the original she killed his trackers and then Broc shows up after that to track her himself thinking she is a lady called Christina and is someone important to the Asmodeus family and wants to kill her before she gets strong. if he shows up this time I kind of want to try him out for myself since he should be in demon emperor and I have a territory and many different skills, plus it will be a good showcase to show off a bit so Catherine is more likely to accept my evil piece if she thinks I am strong. at this point, I have no doubt she wants me dead after all this and I can slowly change her mind, and then when she is weak during nirvana I can offer the piece. not much time to work with but it is something, also Broc needs to live this so he can go to silent night wasteland and cause problems during that event.

"Alright just let me know when your ready for the first fruit I guess." she nods and sits down and begins to do something internally that I observe with all-seeing eye.

The process of nirvana isn't all that complicated from what I am seeing, she is condensing her spirit power into a smaller liquid if I had to describe it. so if she is a gallon of spirit power she is condensing it smaller which is making the liquid have higher power and take up less space. so she will have the same amount but it will be worth more and go for longer.

"Alright, I need the first fruit." I pull one out and toss it over, she catches it and eats it after a brief check with her spirit power.

If her spirit power container was a gallon then only three-quarters of that is left but it is shining more brightly over the process. in reality it's a lot more complicated than that but I am simplifying it a great deal and also wonder if I could do something similar to make my demonic energy more fuel efficient.

---------

After waiting roughly an hour Catherine stands back up, brushes herself off with a burst of spirit power, and scans the surrounding area. after a few pulses of her spirit power, she looks toward the west and frowns.

"Wait here I will be right back." she disappears without me being able to respond.

This might be the part where she kills the people following Christina and alerts Broc, or he was already alerted and was following us himself and she went to kill him while she still has enough power. once her nirvana power gets to a certain point she has little to no spirit power and is vulnerable to even an imp so it is not a bad idea on her part, I just wanted him to live long enough to be a problem in silent night wasteland so I can steal his family's artifact from him.

"Good you didn't run off." she appears behind me as wind rushes past me.

"Well we have a contract so it would be foolish for me to run before I can get paid in full." she snorts and walks toward me before preparing to grab me again to run further I would presume but honestly I would rather not be manhandled like that again. "can we just teleport? or for that matter fly?" if I wasn't mistaken she almost seemed amused at my reluctance but snatched me up all the same. as the surroundings start to blur I don't even have to use my magic to keep up if I put some effort in, she should still be in demon overlord at this point but the drop in speed is noticeable after the first part of nirvana.

-- Broc POV --

I feel the soul shackles on my troops disappear which lets me know that my prey has bite and I need to step forward to not waste any more men.

"All of you fall back, it should just be Lady Christina so follow toward the town Leia and wait for me there I will peruse her myself she is out of your leagues." they all bow before heading off without so much as a word like the good slaves they are, I don't know who Christina is but I plan on finding out and getting rid of this threat before it can grow. Another Asmodeus woman like Catherine and we would likely lose the chance to snag the dark shadow empire for ourselves.