Chapter 2: Signing the Contract
How could it be him?
Thump, thump, thump, her heart kept racing, a feeling of fear.
George looked around, stepped forward, his steel boots clattering against the stone slab as he approached Kima.
Kima’s eyes widened, fixated on the holy sword in his hand, a wave of pain surged in her chest. Even though she had been reborn, the agony piercing her heart remained.
The sword of “justice” was getting closer to her.
Just as Kima had successfully been reborn, the hero had arrived; the only explanation was that someone had leaked a secret.
He was here to root her out, to kill her.
Kima’s tail drooped softly over her feet, trembling slightly.
George stepped in front of the egg, his tall figure completely obscuring Kima. Wearing a silver bucket helmet, his expression was unreadable; the holy sword moved in his hand.
Startled, Kima shut her eyes tight but heard no sound of the blade cutting through the air. She hesitantly opened her right eye; the terrifying holy sword had vanished—George had carefully placed it behind him, hiding it from view.
He had removed his helmet at some point, revealing a mane of golden hair and a warm smile that shone like the morning sun, as if afraid of scaring away a little kitten, softly said:
“Don’t be afraid, you’re safe now.”
His voice was quiet, yet there was an inexplicable strength that made one believe his words.
Ah? He’s not here to kill me.
Kima immediately recalled that she hadn’t told anyone about the rebirth ceremony. To George, she likely appeared to be some twisted demon lord’s secret.
But Kima didn’t relax; she hadn’t forgotten that she was now a succubus.
Even if George had a kind heart and wouldn’t burn her alive on a stake, she would still be taken to a sanctuary and imprisoned for life. Not to mention any thought of regaining her strength for revenge. There was no way she could gather resources and regain her strength under the watchful eyes of a group of old virgins, even with a cheat.
Her only fate would be to rot away in a simple cell until she died.
Even if she were extraordinarily lucky and managed to escape from the sanctuary, as a succubus with weak fighting abilities, she had no means to protect herself, and her body was craved by many…
Thinking of this, amidst George’s gentle smile, Kima seemed to envision her own pitiful, shabby form.
What to do?
George would definitely not just turn around and leave. At that moment, Kima caught a glimpse of the light blue magical barrier surrounding the egg. It was a protective spell, quite robust, meant to provide a fighting chance when the underlings betrayed their master.
Of course, against absolute power, the magical barrier was utterly useless. However, outside, there was an ancient stone slab that could be used to sign a slave contract.
In an instant, a mad thought surged into her mind.
Trick George into signing a slave contract with her! The contract for slaves didn’t apply to the strong. To succeed in signing it, it would have to be the hero George as the master, with herself as the servant.
How humiliating—how could a dignified demon lord become the slave of a hero?
Kima instinctively dismissed the plan, but upon reconsideration, realized it was the only lifeline in her desperate situation.
As long as she could deceive George into signing the slave contract, his power as a holy knight would diminish because of it. At that point, he would have to take her along to find a way to break the contract; the contract was notoriously difficult to break, providing her with many chances to maneuver.
This was too idealized.
Even if she managed to trick George into signing the contract, her fate after that would rely entirely on George’s character.
If George were a bit dark-hearted and instantly killed her with a sword, that would perfectly resolve the problem. Or, in a slightly better scenario, he could vent his anger on Kima, using her as a “living weapon.” She had no ability to resist at all.
But Kima was willing to take the risk; she was not someone who would just sit and wait to die.
To grow stronger, she could take any risk!
George had no idea that the seemingly cute little succubus trapped in the egg had devised a scheme to calculate against him in such a short time.
He leaned forward, reaching out toward Kima, but the light blue magical barrier blocked his fingers. George frowned, “So the demon lord is using magic to imprison you.”
As he spoke, he reached for the holy sword behind him, intending to slash through the magic barrier.
“Ah!”
Kima cried out in fear, shaking her hands vigorously.
George quickly pulled back his strength; the holy sword lightly struck the barrier, making the entire barrier shudder.
Kima clutched her chest, falling onto the egg’s bottom, her face displaying a false expression of anguish.
“Despicable demon lord, actually connecting the barrier to a person’s life!”
Hearing George’s curse, Kima joyfully clutched her abdomen, wobbling as she stood up, pretending to be severely injured.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, it was unintentional,” George reassured the girl in the egg.
Kima pretended to be terrified, trembling, widening her eyes as she timidly looked up at George.
George, with a guilty expression, asked, “I just wanted to rescue you. Do you know of any way to turn off the barrier?”
Kima certainly knew, but she wouldn’t say a word, knowing the holy knight’s ears could discern lies. She could only use body language to mislead him. So she displayed a look of terror, gazing up at George’s face.
She was already very scared.
“I won’t harm you,” George assured.
Kima seemed to be moved, struggling to shift her gaze to the stone slab beside her. George’s eyes naturally followed to the slab, where he picked it up and saw a diagram drawn on its surface. The image depicted a person cutting a finger to let blood drip onto the slab, then reaching toward a young girl.
Written above were a line of Chinese characters: “Drip blood onto the slab, then touch the beautiful young lady, and you’ll receive a maid!”
“This looks like a bunch of squiggly worms crawling on the ground; what kind of writing is this? I’ve never seen it before,” George muttered. “It seems like it’s a way to activate the barrier.”
He hesitated; any magic involving blood could easily go wrong. This could be a trap set by the demon lord, a curse.
But he couldn’t abandon her, even if she was a succubus.
“It’s just a curse,” George said, and he took off his right iron gauntlet, slicing his finger to let blood drip onto the slab.
The runes on the slab lit up, emitting a green glow that wrapped around George’s right hand. He bowed slightly, a friendly smile on his face, and reached out his right hand toward the girl in the egg. As his fingertip touched the magical barrier, it vanished in accordance with Kima’s will.
Kima stared at his right hand, struggling for a moment. Who would have thought that the demon lord who had forced her to sign a slave contract would one day, to survive, become someone else’s slave?
She took a deep breath, extended her hand, and placed it on George’s large hand. George tightly gripped Kima’s small hand. To her surprise, she felt a sense of security.
The power of the contract began to seep into Kima’s body. She felt a force forming chains, encircling her soul. It felt as though someone had put a collar on her neck; from then on, she would say goodbye to freedom.
A big person can tolerate and yield, Kima told herself. But as the slave contract was completed and she felt the ethereal collar around her neck, her face flushed with humiliation.
Lowering her head, she continuously cursed George in her heart.
It’s all his fault! Once I become powerful, I will definitely put a green hat on him right in front of him and train his girlfriend…
Kima cursed in her heart, but she didn’t forget that she was acting.
She needed to mislead George to think it was an accident. Otherwise, if he realized it was a plot, her fate would not be good.
She raised her face toward George, striving to appear pitiable. To add to her persuasion, she desperately recalled the day her harem was destroyed.
Thirty maids, all gone. Thirty green hats, here to stay.
Kima was suddenly overwhelmed with grief; tears fell from her golden eyes as her cherry lips parted, uttering a deeply humiliating word, “Master…”
“Ah?”
George suddenly realized that he had just signed a slave contract.
Almost simultaneously, the contract clashed with the divine power within him, and the pain from the backlash struck.
His heart ached; pain spread through his chest, and a holy paper with a warning written on it burned to ashes in front of his chest plate. George clutched his chest, feeling a sweetness in his mouth as blood appeared at the corners of his lips.
Recalling Kima’s actions from a moment ago, he became increasingly suspicious; she had deliberately lured him.
“Despicable, you—” George yelled in anger but saw a tear-streaked little face.
Kima’s small face was full of tears, struggling to smile, her eyes filled with worry and fear (the former demon lord worried about her acting skills), like an innocent little animal.
In that instant, George’s heart softened.
What an innocent girl. She had just been born; how could she have such a sinister scheme.
The way to unlock the magical barrier was to sign the slave contract; she must have misunderstood earlier, thinking he intended to enslave her. She must have been too frightened to speak up in front of him.
As George realized this, he clenched his fists, attributing all the wrongs to some lewd demon lord.
He took a deep breath, calmed down. Facing the innocent little succubus, he felt a wave of guilt, feeling that if he had been a bit more patient and not impulsive, he might have avoided enslaving her.
“I’m sorry, I accidentally signed a slave contract with you,” George said with difficulty, guilt flooding his heart.
But Kima was frightened, thinking George was about to make a difficult decision: to kill her and directly cancel the slave contract.
“Master, don’t you like me?” She desperately recalled relevant scenarios from her past life’s harem works. “Are you going to abandon me? Don’t want me anymore?”
“No, you’ve misunderstood. I’m here to deal with the demon lord for justice, to save you.”
“Then am I not your trophy?”
“No, we holy knights don’t do such bad things.”
“So…” Kima blinked her tearful eyes, tears welling up again. “… Are you going to throw me away like garbage?”
“I’m not a burden. Don’t overlook me just because I’m small; I will work hard to learn how to serve you and ensure your comfort. Please, don’t abandon me.”
George felt a headache coming on; this was even more exhausting than fighting the demon lord. He desperately explained, talking about his chivalrous deeds and fulfilling the teachings of the god of dawn, vanquishing evil, and so on.
“In any case, I swear I will help you break the slave contract; don’t worry.”
“Yes, Master.”
“From now on, don’t call me ‘Master,’ call me by my name, George.”
“But…”
“No ‘buts’.”
“Okay, Master George.”
“Call me George.”
“George… George,” Kima said.
“Alright.” George looked exhausted, feeling that this was even more tiring than battling the demon lord. “I will take you back to the sanctuary and ensure your safety.”
Kima sighed in relief. Things were easier than she had anticipated, mainly because George was even more foolish than she had expected, reinforcing her belief that enduring humiliation was worthwhile.
Now, such a naive idiot of justice was as rare as a giant panda.
Kima replied, “Okay, George~.”
As George unbuckled his cape from his silver armor, preparing to drape it over Kima.
Kima grabbed the edge of the eggshell with both hands, lightly leaping, and naturally stood in front of George. She extended her small hand, ready to take George’s cape, fully revealing her delicate body before him.
She didn’t do it on purpose; it was simply instinctual, and she had no intention of avoiding embarrassment.
George stared blankly at the bold girl, completely dazed, his eyes fixated on Kima and her swaying tail tip.
Kima suddenly remembered that she appeared as a little succubus. She was completely exposed to her enemy.
No, she couldn’t let this virgin take advantage of her. Kima instinctively wanted to cover her chest, but as her hand lifted, she realized it wasn’t just a matter of being exposed.
This was very serious political business!
Covering it would mean she was wholeheartedly admitting she was a woman. Real men weren’t that shy.
Not covering it seemed like she was giving her enemy a free show. That felt wrong.
In the end, her masculine pride took the upper hand. Moreover, perhaps to prove she hadn’t submitted to fate, she stubbornly lowered her hand and looked at George.
People always overestimate themselves. In just a brief moment, Kima felt a strange yet intense sense of shame. She regretted it, wanting to raise her hand to cover herself, but also felt embarrassed, resulting in a moment of standoff.
In the short few seconds, George hadn’t noticed much.
In George’s eyes, Kima was innocent and untainted, completely unfamiliar with human affairs. He felt an overwhelming sense of shame.
George turned his head and wrapped a brown cloak around Kima’s petite body.
“I’m so sorry; I didn’t realize in time,” George apologized. “As a girl, you shouldn’t casually show yourself to others.”
The phrase “as a girl” was extremely jarring, and Kima gently bit her lip, nodding.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Kima,” the former demon lord Kima replied honestly.
“Kima… what a coincidence, it sounds almost like the demon lord’s name.” George thought nothing of it. “Kima, stay close; I’ll take you away.”
Kima? That name is not bad… Kima mused over her new name, and as George turned away, a glimmer of cunning appeared in her eyes.
