The Tower Heart released her and she could almost pretend that she was okay. She wasn't close to dying anymore, but the after-effects of the Power Word still haunted her body. She could feel it slowly decaying, but the Tower Heart's powers have done their job well to reinvigorate her body and strength.
While ordinarily, Evil Magic was not capable of healing without sacrifice, and she had a sinking suspicion that this will be the only way to bypass the Power Word's curse, for one such as herself, whose body has been once remade by the Tower Heart, it wasn't impossible for the object to, once again, reconstruct the damaged parts of her. Such ability still astounded her to this day. The maker of the Tower Heart must have been a master of the Evil Arts indeed. Neither her, nor Gnarl, could ever even hope to come close to such mastery.
Or perhaps, and she dearly hoped not, this was more the branch of necromancy, the Magic of the Tower Heart keeping her shattered body alive, and messing with her senses to make her feel healed.
She breathed in, the air deadly cold to her recently remade lungs, and barely held herself from bursting into a coughing fit.
She was unconscious, mostly, while she was in the Tower Heart, but she was able to, nevertheless, ensure that it released her as soon as she was more or less stable.
She needed rest, she knew, and a far better health. Even a prospect of sacrificing someone else's health, an idea that would normally sicken her, began to sound like a wonderful idea.
Her glowing eyes frowned, and she bid the visual effects of the Evil Magic from her visage. There was not a single bit of that energy her semblance had provided. It seemed that the energy provided was temporary. The curse no longer seemed to proc her semblance. Perhaps it was because there was no enemy to lash out against. Or perhaps they were right, and the damage had to end first, and she was saved by its original activation, not its normal proc rules.
The whispers sailed around her again. They did not promise her power and fulfillment of her desires. They were not the whispers of the Infernal Abyss, not the whispers of Evil. She heard the dead, tortured as was the will of the Infernal God, and soon after she heard only their tormentors. She heard the Infernal Wraiths whisper, she heard them say she was 'marked for death'.
Anger did not rush to caress her like a constant companion, and instead she felt a cold determination. She had learned her lesson, paid the price. She banished the whispers. She would not give either the damned Lich or the Wraiths the satisfaction of seeing her succumb.
She will survive. She will persevere. She will strike down her enemy twice as hard as he struck her. And then, only then, she will have her revenge.
And, for a moment, she felt like herself again.
Her decaying body reminded her that she had a limited time outside the Tower Heart's caress. Hours if she wasn't lucky. Days, if she paced herself, and was lucky.
She focused her will and called Gnarl to her. She had many questions for him, and hopefully he could provide many answers.
It didn't take more than a few minutes for Gnarl to makes his way towards her, towards the Tower Heart.
"It is wonderful to see you well, Master," Gnarl pleasantly said, "though I sense that you have barely healed"
Yang nodded, and immediately regretted it, the body's woeful state sending a rush of pain through her.
"I wanted to get back up and running as fast as possible." Yang confirmed. "Once we find out how to solve my curse, I can rest plenty then."
"Hmmm…" he said, in thought, "I can still sense the effect on you. It is as if you were marked for death…"
He seemed to have more to say, but as he saw Yang's eyes widen in recognition, he paused and let her speak.
"Marked for death…" she slowly repeated, "as I came out of healing, I heard whispers from the Infernal Wraiths saying the same thing…"
"Hmmm…" Gnarl mussed, "that must mean your status is far closer to the status of the dead than we would like, Sire. The tormentors of the dead rarely contact the living, and far rarer is for them to give a warning. Though, perhaps it would be more fair to say that it is less of a warning, and more of a taunt, based in truth, that you are so strongly written for death, Sire, so strongly, that they are already prepared to receive you as one of their dead."
"Then let's get rid of it now!" she passionately said. "Bring me a sacrifice, or a few, and we'll throw off my curse on them!"
"As much as I delight that you are now so willing to delve into the Darker Arts, " he said with a delighted chuckle, "I'm afraid I don't believe that would work, Sire." seeing her confused expression, he elaborated. "As you now know, the Power Words are the highest tier of Magic a human can achieve. It is command to Magic, command which it obeys. As the Infernal Wraiths said, you were marked for death. You were supposed to die, but through luck and defiance, you persevered. That does not mean you are safe, however. You feel its effect on you too, correct, Sire?"
Yang nodded and he continued.
"You didn't shake off the effect of that spell, Master, and I don't believe a lesser tier of Magic could ever hope to remove the effect."
"So what, I'm just supposed to go around, leeching of the health of others for the rest of my live like some sort of damned vampire?"
"I can only hope it is that simple…" Gnarl said with a shake of his head. "Tell me, Sire, suppose your life has been rewritten for an early grave, by the highest tier of Magic mind you, what do you think happens to you?"
"I die?" she asked rhetorically and continued. "But I'm alive, and capable of being healed, so that's not the correct answer, is it?"
Gnarl shook his head.
"I don't believe so, Sire."
Yang thought and thought for a few minutes.
"Well, I can still feel it slowly destroying my body, so I'd say I can outheal it with the usage of the Tower Heart or some sort of sacrificial magic." she paused and continued with an accusatory tone. "But that's not the answer you want me to arrive to either, is it?"
He once again shook his head.
"Think deeper, Sire." he asked her. "I want to see if you arrive to the same conclusion as me. It could very well be that my paranoia is simply clouding my rational judgment."
"As if you didn't give me paranoia either." she thought, but didn't voice, and as asked, continued to think.
"Well, I guess, if I looked at it like fate, then, I guess I couldn't really dodge it, could I? The more I resisted it, the stronger the curse would get, the faster it would destroy me." she voiced her thoughts aloud.
"I thought so too." Gnarl confirmed. "And I would think, now we must test this theory."
Yang's face adopted a determined expression.
"Very well." she said voice calm and authoritative, though to one such as Gnarl, who has known her for many years, her displeasure and unease were visible. "Bring me a sacrifice, a prisoner sentenced for life, or something similar. I'll prepare the circle of power in the main hallway."
"Of course, Master." said Gnarl, and Yang could see clearly that he was pleased. "I will make sure the sacrifice is of good health."
In the half hour it took Gnarl to carefully select the best specimen, Yang's prepared a massive circle of power, the way Gnarl had once taught her, stretching from the pool of water above the Tower Heart, to her throne, and to all the space in-between.
The sacrifice, a man, pleaded on his knees, but Yang focused instead on Gnarl's voice.
"That's a larger circle of power than I had expected." Gnarl admitted, and though it wasn't worded as a question, Yang understood it as one.
"Bring him a sword." she simply said instead.
Gnarl frowned but gestured for a nearby Minion to find a sword.
"By its nature, a sacrifice will draw Evil Energies towards you, Master." he said. "Just because he's not defenseless, that won't change it."
"I'm not worried about that. I want to give him a chance to persevere."
What she did not say was that she could not force herself to kill someone in this way. Killing was nothing new to her, even such kills as would be considered immoral. Still, he did nothing to her, and honor demanded a fair fight besides.
Yang raised her hand, and an invisible hand raised the man to his feet at the same time as a Minion presented him with a simple longsword. Yang positioned herself in between him and the pool of water.
"Behind me is your freedom. You know that. You experienced it when Gnarl teleported you here from my office." as easily as ever she began to slip into her Overlord persona. "And so, I present to you an opportunity. Get past me, and you get your freedom. My Minions will not stop you, and I will issue a pardon to you for all your crimes. Fail, and I will cut you down. This, beneath our feet, is a circle of power. If I manage to kill you, your life will serve to bolster my own."
She mentally commanded her Minions to bring her sword to her. Gnarl, like always was there to advise her.
"I'd suggest using something else, Sire." he said and then elaborated. "A Holy sword like this one could do much to interfere in the ritual. I don't imagine it will approve of such Dark Acts."
She looked her sword over and considered Gnarl's words before dismissing them.
"He has saved my life multiple times. We have a good working relationship. I trust it."
Gnarl clearly didn't approve but did not press the issue for which she was thankful.
The man, a sacrifice now, rushed at her and swung at her with an overhead strike. She blocked it and winced. The man was neither particularly strong or fast, but she clearly was in a worse state than she thought if such a weak attach, one that she blocked, could pain her as it did.
Swing from the right, left, overhead again, and even a stab at her stomach. All of these she blocked, but as she continued to exert herself, her body deteriorated further and further.
Another overhead strike, she blocked it too, and as she was finally about to retaliate, he put his foot on her sword, and used it to spring himself over her, and began a mad dash towards his freedom.
Despite her condition, she laughed, the battle getting to her. She certainly hadn't expected that move!
She raised her hand and the man flew into her hand. While in this flight, he managed to turn around and attempted to use this momentum to stab at her.
She humored him, and the blade struck at her aura.
She felt great pain, and then twice greater rush of power. Success!
She laughed harder.
"Thank you." she said truthfully and she used the moment to punch him in the face with her gauntleted hand. "You helped me confirm a theory I had. Normal attacks don't trigger my semblance, even if they cause me strain or pain. It has to be an attack that connects with me and then deals damage. Blocked attacks don't fuel me, attacks that hit do."
The man charged at her again, his strike parried by her blade, and she then kicked him. As he fell, she pierced him with her blade, and then leaned into it, letting gravity push the sword deeper. The man had no aura, wasn't a huntsman or even particularly trained, and the sword easily went through him.
His body hit the ground, stomach completely pierced by her attack, the tip of her sword connecting with the ground.
The circle suddenly lit up in an eerie green color, and before her eyes all life was drained from the sacrifice. Soon enough he was nothing but a drained husk, and then, even that vanished.
Mad laughter filled the throne room.
She felt great! All of her felt as if she was renewed with life, as if every part of her body was healed, and then supercharged with energetic buzz.
The only thing that stopped her from falling to her knees was that the sword managed to serve as a sort of crutch. She coughed, and her blood littered the floor.
The moment of triumph, of greatness, had passed, and her ambition was punished. The curse ate at her body twice, maybe thrice as fast as before, and in one fell swoop, it undid almost all of what she managed to heal with the Tower Heart and the sacrifice.
"It seems we were right, Sire." Gnarl remarked, and nearby Minions rushed to support her. "Are you able to walk?"
She turned to him.
"Help me." she said, and though she had meant it as an order, it sounded more as a plea. Gnarl nodded.
"We, of course, have several options…" he said, hand on his chin as he considered the best one for this situation.
"Lich…" she stammered out weakly. Gnarl turned to look at her. "Lichdom…?" she finished her suggestion.
"A possibility, but a dangerous one in your current situation. As you know a badly done ritual could leave you almost worse off than if you had not done it at all."
She telepathically convened that she didn't particularly care about risks at this point.
"There is also something else to consider." he said, and after making sure he still had her attention continued. "We are in agreement that the curse seems to be after your body, correct?"
He got a mental push to continue, and did so quickly.
"I think you are betting on the curse destroying your Lich body, and then reviving yourself like the Lich you fought before did."
He knew her well, as this was exactly what she was thinking.
"But consider this, Sire. Would your phylactery not be considered a part of your body? There would certainly be a connection between your body and your phylactery, and I don't see the curse not following through, and ensuring that you truly die."
"And even if it doesn't, I can't really take the chance that it does, can I?" Yang telepathically said, realizing what Gnarl was getting at.
"I'm afraid not, Master." he said regretfully. "I see three options now."
"I will not swear my life to the Infernal God!" she snapped at him telepathically.
He chuckled.
"I knew you wouldn't, " Gnarl admitted, "but that leaves two then. With the power of the Tower Gate I could open a portal to the Infernal Abyss. You go there, you enter the land of the dead while marked for death, and then escape. You wouldn't lose your body whilst there, and being in the land of dead would, most likely, satisfy the criteria of you being considered dead."
"Can I really take that chance?" she telepathically asked, and then continued. "And besides, while in there, I'd have a hard time escaping, especially if I really would be considered dead."
Gnarl nodded.
"Yes, I foresaw that problem as well. That leaves one."
Yang waited for him to elaborate and he after a short pause, he did.
"If boundaries of humanity limit us, Sire, then who best to help than a Demon?" he suggested.
"You warned me, over and over again, to not do deals with Demons." Yang pointed out. "I have heard you drone on for days about all the dangers."
"For good reason," he said with slight annoyance in his voice, "but we have some time remaining still. If we take serious protections, and if you're strong enough, this could be just what you need."
"But I'm not strong enough." she pointed out. "And besides, can they really just toss Power Words left and right?"
"You are certainly not ready to survive the ones who could." Gnarl said firmly. "We will summon someone who can either strongly prolong your life and give us a bigger breathing room, or someone who can persuade a more powerful Demon to aid us." he waited for a bit, and then his expression turned deadly serious. "Now, Sire, what is the main lesson I taught you about summoning Demons?"
"To make sure they can't just take what they want by force or other means?" she guessed, as Gnarl didn't really cover the subject extensively bar numerous warnings to not engage in it.
He nodded.
"Exactly! They have no need to make a deal if they can just take what they want for themselves. That means we must choose, carefully, the right Demon race for you to have the best chance for cooperation."
"So, you're familiar with Demons, right, Gnarl? What would you recommend?" Yang asked resigned.
"A Succubus, Sire."
For a moment she strongly questioned in her mind if this was a serious suggestion, or if it was just Gnarl being a pervert like the rest of the Minions.
She sighed, and decided to place her trust in him.
"So, how exactly are big breasted seductresses supposed to help me?" she couldn't help if some sarcasm escaped her. She was tired, in pain, and stressed.
"That's just a bonus, Master, trust me." he said, and Yang started to seriously question her judgment seeing the look on his face. "But not the real reason you should summon one. What are the other things Succubi are known for?"
"Plagues and Necromancy?" she said before her face lit up in realization. "Necromancy! You want to make one of them prolong my life with Necromancy?"
He gave a firm nod.
"Succubi are masters of Necromancy, and many of them are far older than even me. The knowledge on that field alone they have is staggering. They hold many secrets, and while I doubt they'd be able to defeat the curse, their knowledge in this field, containing many spells unique to their race, would probably be able to prolong your life enough to give us a chance."
"Unique? That means that if I wanted to, I couldn't learn these spells?" she asked with curiosity.
"Some are merely secrets, I would guess. Others are a racial exclusive, similar to what the Elves have. I don't believe it was always the case, but many Succubus Queens had once formed a truce and allied themselves for one single ritual, to section off the heights of Necromancy for their own kind. Many millions of sacrifices were cast, all of strong Demons, and all the Queens then cast a Power Word to hold the spell in place. Magic of that magnitude was never repeated again, as far as I'm aware. Many tried, but treachery and greed dismantled such efforts before they could even really begin. Of course, should you manage to ever defeat one of the Succubi-kind, and had prepared a circle of power beforehand, you could, possibly, steal both the knowledge of their secrets, as well their racial exclusive spells."
"Like you once suggested I do to acquire the Elven powers." she said in reminisce. "Before we struck an alliance with the Elves, I mean."
"An alliance I am still unhappy with," Gnarl grumbled, "but yes, like that. But for now we should focus on the deal first. Greed and lust for power can wait until you are healed, Sire."
While Gnarl prepared the necessary procedures to summon the Succubus, Yang had few of the other Minions bring her a few more prisoners to the dungeons. The prisoners were restrained, and with distaste, Yang carved complicated circles of power into their stomachs. With a long incantation said, the prisoners screamed once more, male screams mixing with the female ones, as the circles burned themselves into their flesh.
Blob of what looked like ink appeared on her skin where her carpal bones would be. The ink-like substance then spread through the back of her hand, and it took the shape of the sacrificial circles burned into her prisoners flesh.
There was one difference, however, for this had three orbs labeled with the numbers one to three.
Yang smiled. She hoped she would never have to use this when confronting the Succubus but it paid to be careful. A voice in her mind objected, her morality pleading with her to not go further down this road, and with ease that grew simpler with each day, she cast her morality aside.
The voice returned, pleading with her again, only this time hoping she would instead heed the cautionary tales against making deals with Demons. Her morality whispered to her, trying to stall her hand, warning that she would not be able to go back, not if she passed the point of no return.
With irritation, Yang cast her morality aside again.
"I can't afford to be distracted…" she murmured to herself voice growing more and more resolute, "not now, no can't stop now…."
She went back to her throne room, and sat in her throne around which rested a complex circle of power, with unlit candles all around it, connecting via a narrow drawn path to a bigger summoning circle.
She would rather have more protection, but she was running low on time. That experiment with drawing life through sacrificial ritual had cost her greatly, and what she had done with the prisoners was a serious piece of Magic too.
She loudly began chanting the incantations, the process lasting a full minute, at the end of which she proclaimed "Appear before me! Succubus!".
The candles around her throne lit themselves and with a flash of light, and a thunderous boom, a Succubus appeared.
As smoke cleared, a figure of immense beauty appeared before her. She was dark haired, styled as a ponytail, glowing red eyes betraying her inhumane nature, but instead of scaring Yang, those eyes appeared enthralling and seductive. The face was crafted to perfection, and even the Elven-like ears, which normally would be somewhat of a minus considering she was raised to hate them, appeared to only add to the Succubus' beauty. She wore a golden necklace that formed into a diamond shape below her chin, before retracting into a spear like appendage that went in-between hear breasts. For clothing she wore only a red corset with black stripes, that served to highlight her sizable breasts, and connecting from it were black garter straps and stockings. Finishing her look were a pair of red draconic wings.
"You called, Human, and I have come." said the Demoness in a sultry and seductive tone. The voice made her light in the head and weak in the knees. Yang connected her mind to the Tower Heart and demanded it connect her minds with all of her Minions. Anywhere else, her mind would be shattered by the strain this task would place on it, but in the seat of her power, so close to the Tower Heart, she persevered. Her mind boosted by thousands of her servants repelled the mind tricks the Succubus' Magic played, though her knees remained weak. That result of her voice was all natural it seemed.
The Demon pouted, eyes pleading and seemingly close to tears, and the sight made her want to apologize and beg for forgiveness, her heart was full of regret…"No!" she loudly declared, and upon refocusing her determination she managed to remind herself that the Succubus was just playing tricks on her. Her unnatural beauty was as much of a weapon as was her Magical repertoire.
The Demoness' face switched to an amused expression.
"Resisting me are you?"
When it seemed that the Demon would be willing to listen to her, she opened her mouth to speak, and only the swift aid of her sword managed to block sizable orb of darkness the woman had thrown at her. Next two minutes saw Yang fight for her life, Minions stayed by her mental command, blocking numerous of the woman's attacks. A sword of darkness blocked by a wall of earth, a ray of sickening greenish energy blocked by her shock shield which launched a bolt of lightning at the Succubus in response, to which she simply distorted the space before her, making the spell vanish into nothingness, threads of dark power leapt from the woman's fingers, blocked by a mini fireballs coming from her fingers to meet the dark threads, Yang didn't want to risk absorbing that, fearful of any hidden effects, and so on and on, the power and complexity of each spell increasing without any visible effort on the Demoness' part.
Eventually, she waved her delicate hand sideways, and a greatsword of darkness shattered through Yang's hastily raised defenses, and a big ball of darkness imbued with silver mist from which countless souls seemed desperate to break through, smashed into her.
Her back hit the back of her throne harshly, but she remained seated, and most importantly alive. Burning sensation filled her right arm, and as she looked at it, one of the ink-like orbs burned away.
The Demoness paused her attack and chuckled bemused.
"Tethered Essence…Why…aren't you the devious sort?" she murmured to herself amused. "That's an impressive spell, little human, and shows a certain dedication to your life…Not all throw away life as easily as you…"
Yang recalled what she knew of the spell she had cast, while trying to ignore the delightfully addictive rush of power the Magic had given her. Tethered Essence was a spell that was aptly named. It was a powerful sacrificial magic, that she was neither desperate nor skilled enough to use before now, that allowed one to, with sufficient preparation, to mark one, or more, people as sacrifices, tying your own life to theirs. They would take any damage you receive, and if lethal, their lives would die instead of hers. It was an immoral and banned dark sorcery, far before the time of even the Second Overlord, but one Gnarl had taught her the theory of ages ago.
"Do I pass then?" Yang asked, trying her best to not let her voice betray her irritation.
"You've certainly proved yourself capable and resourceful, Little Overlord," the Demonic Seductress said, and the fact that she was now considered 'Little Overlord' instead of just 'human' was probably a sign that the Demoness did, indeed, start to think more highly of her, "especially in the state you are in…" the woman paused, in thought, and then resumed, "I don't believe you have more than two or three hours to live. Is this why I'm here? You want a memorable night before your demise?"
The Succubus gave her a seductive look, and Yang quickly looked away, fearful of falling for her charms.
"I want to make a deal, Demon." Yang said with as much authority as she could muster.
The Demon pretended to consider it for a moment.
"And, yet, I see you have only two more sacrifices remaining. Are you certain, then, that I cannot just take what I want by force?"
"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you could, or wanted to, do that." Yang pointed out. "There wouldn't have been that test either."
"Well then, Little Overlord, what is it that your heart desires?"
"Can you really not tell?" Yang asked almost sounding derisive.
"It is not within my power to reverse an effect of a Power Word." she informed Yang.
"Prolong it." Yang said instead. "As much as you can."
There was silence for a moment, before the Succubus carefully asked Yang for clarification, voice genuine and devoid of all charm.
"You want help from my Necromantic Arts?" she asked, and Yang thought, incredulously. "You are aware of what that will do to you? It certainly won't be a pleasant experience."
Yang nodded.
"I am aware and out of options."
"Desperate, are you?" the Demoness remarked with a laugh, and the seductive tone was back full force. "You must be if you would consider such a life worth living."
"I just need to buy myself more time…" Yang said in response.
"For what, Little Overlord?" the woman asked amused. "Do you intend to defeat and undo your Power Word's effect all on your lonesome?"
"I have plans." Yang informed her. "Plans that will succeed. One of them must."
"But you need time, you said? I can certainly give you that."
Yang felt ecstatic at the confirmation. Now the only thing remaining was…
"What's your price, Demon?" Yang asked, almost dreading the answer.
"Tell me, Little Overlord, are you truly as confident of yourself as you claim?"
"Of my Power-Word-defying plans, you mean?" Yang asked insightfully.
"Indeed." the woman confirmed with a small nod, even that simple action seeming like the height of grace.
"My current plan, which hopefully remains only a backup, will work." Yang said confidently. "I guarantee it."
"Well, color me intrigued then." the Demoness said. "Then how about this? If your plan succeeds, you win. No more curse, and at no cost from me. I, possibly, get a useful long term partner, and in addition I am guaranteed to receive the sort of influence, amongst my peers, that would come from helping you surpass this nigh-impossible task..."
"And if it fails?" Yang asked. Normally, others were bothered by such interruptions, but the Succubus didn't seem to mind.
"Then you die, and serve me as my undead servant. Either way, I win."
"I serve no one." Yang stressed. "If I wanted to be just a servant, I would have promised myself to the Infernal God instead."
"Consider it a gamble. Guaranteed servitude compared to a potential one." the woman then paused, and continued in her sultry tone. "And believe me, Little Overlord, you wouldn't be just an ordinary servant of mine. You would be my prized possession. A pet Overlord, and a capable Human besides, will certainly make my peers envious. But to the Infernal God, you'd be just one of many."
Yang considered it. She didn't think the Demon was right about the last one, and it certainly appealed to her pride knowing she'd be the jewel amongst her other servants, but with a shake of her head she then said:
"I'm no one's servant. And I don't want to be one either." Yang then paused and conceded. "But you're right about one thing, I suppose I should take that gamble. Better than the alternative anyway. But, before that…"
"Yes?" the Demoness prompted her to continue.
"I want two things," Yang demanded, "a contract, and a clear definition of the term 'death' "
The Demoness appeared perplexed.
"Have the Humans changed the definition to be more vague since I was last here?"
Yang shook her head.
"Special case. My backup plan involves storming the Infernal Abyss" Yang admitted.
The Succubus laughed, and the sound was music to Yang's ears.
"Oh, I'll love you as my servant, Little Overlord. " the Demoness admitted. "This particular brand of bold insanity can't be found anywhere else."
"Is it really insanity if our plots succeed?" Yang retorted.
The Demon adopted pensive expression.
"Impossible." the Succubus eventually concluded. "Your plan is doomed to fail. But…" she resumed thinking, and shook her head delicately, "no, it is certainly stupid and bold plan indeed. You would die…" then with a slow finality, and widening, of her pretty eyes, in surprise, "but that is part of your plan, isn't it?" she concluded.
"If I can't stop the curse, then I'll just die in a way that would allow for my escape."
"But your powers?" the Demoness began to ask, before she let out a surprised 'oh' and laughed once more. "But you'd have no exit that way!" she remarked. Yang opened her mouth to respond, but the woman spoke first. "No! Don't tell me! I want to see it myself. We have a deal, you crazy woman, I'll help out, give you time. If, in the Abyss, you are captured, and become, in everything, nothing more than one of their imprisoned dead, or if you do not escape for a week, I'll consider you to have failed, and to have died for the purposes of our deal. If you make it out, I'll consider it as if you had never died. Does this satisfy you?"
One of the Minions brought forward a long sheet of paper. After a nod from Yang that she was satisfied with the terms of their deal, the Demoness wrote out their agreed-upon terms alongside their agreed-upon definitions, and after signing it with her own blood, presented it for Yang to sign as well.
"Jaenica, huh?" Yang murmured reading out the Demoness' signature, before raising her voice to a normal speaking level. "I notice there is an oath of loyalty and servitude there on my behalf."
"Can't have you try and wiggle your way out of our agreement." Jaenica said with a beautiful shrug of her shoulders. "If you fail your plan, it will be as if you have sworn that Magical Oath to me. Just standard practice."
"I guess that makes sense." Yang mused to herself, and used her sword to draw blood from her hand, not before breaking her connection with the remaining sacrifices, and used that blood to sign 'Yang Xiao Long/de Ultimus'.
Soon enough, both of their signatures lit up in magical blue light, and in a flash, the document vanished. Yang could now feel a connection between herself and the Demon, a sign of the contract successfully having been made. Both of them snapped their fingers, and a copy of the contract reappeared before each of their faces. Confirming that they both could access it, they dismissed it once more.
Jaenica extended her hand towards Yang.
"Let's shake on our deal, then, shall we?" she proposed.
Yang's right hand clasped the delicate hand of the Succubus, and they shook one another's hand.
Coldness crept up her right hand, and seeped into her body. Soon there was an immense feeling of 'wrong', and when she tried moving her body, it obeyed, though nowhere as efficiently as before. It felt as if she was just a puppet on strings, and yet, at the same time, it felt like she was the puppet master as well. Her bodily senses were growing more and more dull, and she could barely even feel the warmth of Jaenica's hand.
She probably had a complaint list a mile long, but she did feel much more alive, as much as that definition felt like a poor choice of words to her, than she had ever felt since the Power Word was spoken at her.
Her body was now full of necromantic energies, and looking at the mirror, summoned by the Demoness, that much was plainly visible.
Her face was deadly pale, her beloved hair seemed to have lost its life and looked dull instead, and her eyes now constantly, she couldn't turn it off she realized with worry, glowed a eerie and sickening green color.
"How do you like it?" the Demoness asked, and that must have been mockery, for she surely knew the answer herself.
"Hate it." Yang said honestly. "But it does what I asked you to make it do. Thanks for that."
A brief nod in response was the only sign Yang got that her thanks was accepted.
"This will last you no more than a year if you're careful. Your new necromantic energies will not recharge, and using them will lessen your remaining lifespan." she warned Yang. "I'd also advise you against using your sword's power. I sense deep Holy Magic within it. At full strength it will likely burn through a month of your life in a few minutes, in about three, I'd say."
"A full year!?" she thought to herself. "That sounds almost too good to be true. Maybe it was."
"I'm not surprised," Yang said, and that was true. She had known that the sword's holy power would mess with the necromantic energies, "but is there anything else I should know about that year I've got?"
"The more time you spend, the more awful you will feel, and the more weak you will become. I warned you, remember? The last month or so, you'll only technically be alive. I doubt you'll be able to move by then."
"So, it was too good to be true!" Yang thought to herself and cursed. "Still, this deal had given me more than I could have ever expected."
"I'll be going then, my Little Overlord." Jaenica said. "I'll be keeping an eye on you. If you ever have need of me again, call my name, and I shall appear, ready to strike another deal. Though, I must warn you, I won't be able to extend your life any more while the Power Word's effect is still on you. And, hey, if you succeed, I'd be more than happy to appear for your company as well.
With that, and a dark mist, Jaenica disappeared.
She had half a year to find an alternative to the Abyss plan. She didn't want to siege it down while at her weakest.
"Gnarl, get all the lore on Magic and the Power Words that you can. We have work to do!"