"Congratulations, everyone, on our first successful Dungeon invasion!"

I was met with a harmony of cheers and raised glasses as most of the girls around the table celebrated with me.

After securing our new prisoners in the cells that Ed, Maria, and I had spent several days preparing, I had decided to let them sit for a while and instead opted to spend some time with my girls, celebrating our victory.

So everyone was in the dining hall, sitting around the single large table we had. Well, most of us were. Miku was at the stove, cooking, throwing pouts over her shoulder at us as she wished she could join in. Dia was going around and serving people food and wine. Most of us were too young to be drinking, legally speaking. All of us except for Dia, actually.

But the only two people who had enough morals left to protest weren't in the room. Asuna was getting the prisoners healed up and secured, while Saeko was trapped in a healing pod for the next twenty four hours. Asuna had healed her pretty much immediately, but she wasn't allowed out until a full day had passed, probably as a means of preventing me from just sending respawning elite units at my dungeon invaders forever.

So I indulged in good food and good wine without worry. Delinquent that I was, this was hardly my first time drinking, though I couldn't say that my pallet was refined. You couldn't be too picky when you couldn't just buy it directly. But I didn't need to be an expert to tell that the wine Dia poured for me was excellent.

I sat down after calling for cheers and my lap was immediately filled with a cute wolf girl. Lili had shifted during her battle but had never changed back. It was especially cute because her very good mood, which she had possessed since the end of the battle, was clear not only in her expression, but by the way her tail was constantly wagging.

Though it stopped as she pressed her back against me, the furry appendage trapped between our bodies. She didn't seem to mind though as she turned her head to look up at me with a grin.

"Lili did good, right?" she asked.

I smiled and put a hand on her head, petting her between the large furry ears now sprouting from it. "You did great," I praised her. Her eyes closed as she leaned into my touch. "Even Tabitha didn't suspect you. That's some impressive acting."

"Hehe, it was easy. Lili thinks she was suspicious at first, but the cover story worked, and the guy was talking about Dungeon stuff and she seemed to trust his judgment, so she didn't have a reason to think otherwise."

I kept petting her. "Even with Saito's assistance, it's still impressive. Good job with Kirche as well. Don't worry, I won't make you fight directly like that too often."

She opened her eyes and shook her head a little as she looked at me. "No, it's fine. Lili should learn how to fight properly too. Although…"

She turned to Ed, who was sitting and eating nearby. "Lili wants another taser thing! Or some other kind of non-lethal weapon. Trying to capture more adventurer bitches for Morgan-sama with a knife or crossbow is too risky."

"Gimme another week, I'll have it figured out then," Ed replied with a shrug. They had scavenged the one stun gun from Saeko's world, which Ed had taken apart and souped up a bit to improve its performance. But we were still limited to that one battery, and Ed was still working on being able to make one that was powerful enough with her alchemy.

Lili looked back at me. "Are we going to have any more invaders before then?"

I mulled it over for a second before shaking my head. "Probably not. No significant ones anyway. Maybe some low level nameless mooks, though maybe not even them. Depends on how busy we are, I guess. There's a lot to do."

She nodded and looked back at Ed. "Then a week is acceptable." Ed snorted in amusement, lips twisting upward into a smile. Lili was cute when she was bossy.

"Ah, but Morgan-sama should eat!" she suddenly declared. She grabbed a plate of food and turned so her back wasn't to me anymore and instead she was sitting sideways. She speared a bit of food on a fork and lifted it up to my face. "Here!"

"I think this is my first time being fed," I mused. But I certainly didn't hate it, so I opened my mouth obediently and let her place the food in my mouth.

I let out a groan as I chewed. Dia's food was just that good. Asuna was a good cook, especially when she was cheating with her SAO skill, but she was limited by ingredients. Dia could make delicious food from just about anything though, and she knew more recipes.

Lili smiled and took a quick small bite of her own, also letting out a soft moan. But she didn't let herself get too distracted, and as soon as I swallowed she had another forkful ready for me.

As she fed me, I glanced around at the rest of the table at the others. Dia and Miku were just sitting down to start eating, their task of making food done. Maria was watching us from across the nearby table, jealousy clear on her face. And Ed was absentmindedly eating and drinking her own food, hand twitching like she wanted to write something.

"So, Ed, how do you feel about our first Dungeon run?" I asked her between bites. "You were the one to design it after all."

Up until the end of their fight with Asuna I had been watching with my Mirror of Prospection spell alongside Ed and Maria, so Ed had seen everything up until then, and I had only sent her back to the living area as the invaders were walking through the hallway.

Ed shrugged. "It seemed to go fine. I wish I had more time to install some traps, but, well…" she trailed off and gave me a pointed look. "Asuna wasn't really in a state to decide what traps she wanted, was she?"

I let out a laugh. "My bad, my bad. The timing on that was a bit unlucky. We'll make sure to prioritize getting those up before our next set of invaders, alright?"

Ed shrugged, but her expression became just a little more happy. "I mean, it's no skin off my back. I just want to contribute, and I can do that in other ways. Ways that aren't fighting, I mean."

We had already had that discussion. I had purchased Ed for her crafting and architectural abilities, not her fighting ones. Oh, sure, Ed was decent at fighting. She could probably beat Saeko in a fight before either of them had a Falna, and probably still do so now. It just wasn't the skill set I wanted her to focus on.

And Ed had agreed easily enough. She wasn't the kind to back down from a fight, or to hesitate in the face of fighting, but it wasn't exactly a passion of hers. Just something she had been taught as necessary, which it was for her. If it wasn't necessary here, she didn't mind using that time to research and build instead.

The other ways she was contributing was the study of the magical metals that we could now spawn thanks to the Orario Dungeon Theme so she could make new equipment, as well as the design of the Dungeon itself, including the traps. Just that was more than enough to keep her busy and fulfilled.

"Don't worry, you'll get your chance to put up some traps," I assured her. "Even if Asuna doesn't cooperate, I'll override her and help you decide. But now that she's had time to recover a bit, I think you'll find her pretty cooperative."

Ed snorted. "That's for sure," she agreed. "And speak of the devil, here she is."

I looked to the door and saw Asuna, still in her ALO form, entering the room. "How are our new guests?" I asked as she approached the table.

She sighed as she sat down at an empty spot, Lili's previous spot, and started reaching for food. "They're secure, each in their own cell."

"Good job." I patted Lili on her back. "Alright, get up. I gotta go pay Saito a visit."

Lili pouted and leaned more into me. "Can't that wait?"

"Very tempting, but it's best if I strike while the iron is hot," I denied her. I took the plate from her and put it on the table before physically picking her up as I stood up, hands under arms. She went limp like a cat, not fighting but certainly not cooperating as she continued to pout. I rolled my eyes at her and sat her back down in my chair.

"I won't be too long," I promised her, and the others who were paying attention to me after I had gotten up. "I just have to do something with him real quick."

"Oh? What are you going to do, Master?" Maria asked, with interest. "Going to turn him into a girl? Ravage the others in front of him? Steal his powers?"

I thought back to the mission that I had gotten after the portal to Saeko's world had closed. I had read it enough times to memorize it.

A Deal with the Devil
We've seen the way you operate, the devilish deals and magical compulsions, and would like to offer you a chance to take your skills to the next level, should you prove yourself worthy of it.
Objective: Strike a deal with a Protagonist where they give you everything. What 'everything' entails depends on the Protagonist, but typically includes giving up their powers, dreams, possessions, and/or their very soul.
Restriction: The Bargain must be made in a manner befitting a devil
Other: The Bargain struck will act like a Pact, meaning both parties will be compelled to follow through with it.
Reward: The Pact is Sealed perk

"I'm going to make a deal with him," I replied with a grin. I then grabbed a plate of food and headed for the Throne room.

The mission reward was something that I had my eye on since becoming a Contractor, the start of the Infernal heritage that would transform me into someone who could make magical deals, like an actual devil. Aethermorph had caught my eye before that, as that would help a lot with becoming the master of all magic, but Infernal fit me better, rather than my goals.

The restriction was kind of vague, but I understood the intention. I had the means to force anyone to agree to anything, using Tantric Arts. But that wouldn't mean anything, would it? It would be boring, and wouldn't prove I was worthy of being given the Infernal heritage root perk. I had to earn it.

Thankfully, I was in the perfect position to do so.

I passed through the Throne room, which was still a bit messy from the fights, and made my way to the secret door behind the throne, where the prisoner cells were. It was originally just one when I had Ed make them, but we did some remodeling over the past week in preparation for this specific group.

When I went through the door, I wasn't in the cells themselves, but a hallway with five doors on the opposite wall leading to the smaller individual cells that I had prepared just for this situation. It had been annoying to undo the work we had put in before for the single larger cell, but I decided that for this group, I wanted to split them up.

The next time I expanded the space available to me I'd build a proper prison that had both group and individual cells, but that would have to wait for now. I use a quick spell to peek inside each of the cells and head into the one on the far left.

Each cell was pretty small, containing only a few pieces of stone furniture. A cot, a toilet, a small table, and two chairs. There was barely any room left to be able to walk, but that was where I found Saito, pacing back and forth with a confused expression on his face.

"Ah, you're awake already it seems. Good," I greeted him as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.

"You!" he said with an angry expression. "What is going on? Where am I? And why… why can't I leave?" He struggled with that last question, confusion replacing the anger on his face.

I placed the plate of food down. "You're being held prisoner after your defeat," I answered. "This is one of my prison cells. And you can't leave because there's a spell on the room that prevents any attempt to leave. It also prevents you from attacking me." Those had been interesting Arts to perform, though having to do two rituals for each cell had taken a good chunk of a day.

"That's… so messed up!" Saito protested. "You can't just mess with people's minds like that!"

I shrugged. "Would you rather be chained up? This is much more comfortable, isn't it?" I pushed the food closer to him and sat down at the table. "Here, eat up. I imagine you're probably pretty hungry."

He eyed it warily, though I saw the way he swallowed as the smell of it reached him. Dia's cooking was literally divine, after all. "It's not poisoned or something, is it?" he asked.

I sighed. "I suppose it's only natural that you would distrust me," I said. "I suppose I was a little rough on you. Sorry about that, I got a little too into my role I suppose. But I promise it's safe." I reached over to the plate and grabbed a piece of food at random before eating it myself. "See? Totally fine."

He didn't look totally convinced, but it didn't take long for his appetite to outgrow his wariness and he sat down to start digging in.

I sat there quietly as he ate, mind mulling over options and ways to take our conversation. Though my words to him before, where I invited him to come chasing me, were meant as nothing more than bait, they had inadvertently presented me with a foundation I could work off of. And I wasn't going to let my own hard work go to waste.

"Good job, by the way," I said as he finished eating. "When I told you to come find me, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

He paused, looking up at me with eyes full of wariness again. "I don't-" he started before clamping his lips shut and averting his eyes. He was about to deny knowing what I meant, but apparently it had been weighing heavily on him, to the point where he couldn't deny it.

"That's not why we came here," he said instead. His voice lacked conviction though.

"That's not why Louise or the others came here, no," I agreed. "But what about you, Saito-san? I meant what I said. I can give you your peaceful life back. I can free you from Louise's control. Wouldn't you like that?"

He would. I could see it in his eyes. But it was still just a minor desire, a small part of the storm of emotions he was feeling, and he looked at me with blatant distrust. "We came here to stop you, and arrest you."

"For what crimes?" I asked nonchalantly.

"For stealing the Staff of Destruction!" he shouted back. "And assaulting us! And doing whatever it was when you took their magic!"

"Well, in reverse order, I doubt that's a crime, and everyone recovered just fine, right? It certainly seemed like everyone was in tip top shape when you guys were fighting through my dungeon. Louise has come a long way too, she was useless before. If anything, our fight resulted in a net positive."

"Even I know that's a shitty justification," he grumbled.

I shrugged. "Legally speaking, I might have been in the wrong. But honestly, the only thing I really hurt was their pride, and is that really worth being arrested over?"

"Well, they are nobles, so probably?"

"Fuck that nobility crap, I'm from a modern day Japan and I reject such antiquated customs."

"No, I'm pretty sure even in today's day and age beating up a noble is a really bad idea. Besides, what about the Staff of Destruction?"

"That was for their own good. Did you see what the Staff looked like?" He shook his head, so I grabbed my phone and pulled it out, laying it on the table.

He stood up in shock and backed off a couple of steps. "That's… that's a rocket launcher!"

"It sure is," I agreed as I put it away again. "An explosive weapon from the modern world. Or close enough to modern. You're not the first person to isekai over to that world, you know? One of the people who came before you was a soldier in a war, and he had a couple of these. Ozmond locked it away… but imagine if someone else got their hands on it, and they studied it? If they realized it wasn't magic after all, but something that they could make? Imagine the chaos if they figured out how to mass produce rockets."

"I mean… they already have mages who are more dangerous though," he pointed out.

"And this would just be throwing oil on the fire. The mages are limited in number, and their nobility restricts what they can do as much as it empowers them. They're regulated, to a degree. But if the people who can't cast magic suddenly got the power that would put them equal with those mages… do you think that would go well?"

Saito grimaced. "Probably… not."

I was, of course, exaggerating. The world was probably not too far off from being able to develop rocket launchers of their own, in the grand scheme of things. They already had cannons and muskets, so it was just a matter of continuing down that tech tree.

But I was trying to downplay the severity of what I did and make myself look good, a stark contrast to my previous display of villainy.

"So yes, I took it, for the good of that world," I said. "Better in the hands of someone who will use it responsibly, knowing what it is, then to introduce a new kind of warfare into an already pretty unstable world."

He looked at me, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I don't really believe that you were trying to do a good thing. I also haven't forgotten the way that you stabbed me!"

"And I'm sorry about that, I really am. I just hadn't used that spell in our fight yet, and I was trying for this whole thing where for our rematch I only used spells that I used last time we fought." I shrugged. "Asuna healed you up though, so you're all good now, right?"

"No, I'm not all good!" he snapped back. But his expression was confused. "What… why are you acting so differently now anyway? What happened to the whole super villain thing?"

I smiled. "Saito-san… do you know what the biggest difference between us is?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Our gender?"

"No. It's that we're both multi-world travelers, but where I chose this, you were forced into it." I shook my head. "I just feel bad for you, you know? Here I am, living my dream to become a villain, and you are being used and abused by a noble with a temper as short as she is."

I saw his lips twitch in amusement as I made fun of Louise's height, but he pushed down the feelings of amusement. "Wait… you wanted to be a villain?" he asked.

"Well yeah, of course," I replied with a shrug. "Have you really never watched an anime with a charismatic bad guy and adored them? I have. I wanted to be that bad guy, free to do as I please."

"I mean… maybe a couple of times," he reluctantly admitted. "I usually preferred the heroes though."

"And there's nothing wrong with that," I lied through my teeth. "Beat the bad guy, get the girl, save the day… it's great right? It's just a shame that's not what you got, is it?"

"Hey, I'm sure I'll get it eventually!" he protested. "I'm just… in the early stages. You can't get to the good stuff right away. You have to put up with some suffering first."

"Maybe," I allowed. "But how much suffering? Is it worth it? For her? Because surely you realize who the heroine that you'll end up with is at this rate. The same little girl who abuses you, who degrades you, who thinks so little of you that she doesn't even see you as a member of the opposite sex. Isn't that awful? Do you really want to end up with a girl like that?"

"Well… no, not really," he admitted. "But! The other girls are nice! Kirche has an amazing body, and Siesta is… well she's maybe a little too enthusiastic sometimes but she's a good girl. Tabitha… I'm not sure about Tabitha yet."

"Sure, sure, but that's assuming you've entered a harem scenario. A real one, not a fakeout one. How many times does that happen? Where the hero actually gets with all the girls, and not just the main one?"

He opened his mouth but froze before saying anything. A look of concentration crossed over his face as he closed it again. Slowly, his expression turned into one of despair, and he held his face in his hands. "It was doomed from the start!" he wailed.

I moved over and patted him consolingly on the shoulder. "There there. That's just luck of the draw for you. That's what happens when you don't get to choose your own destiny. Besides, it's all moot now."

He lifted his head and looked up at me. "What.. what do you mean?"

"Well, I mean they're mine now," I said. "None of them can leave this Dungeon. Not for long anyway."

"You- you're not going to let us go?" he asked, once again nervous.

I sighed and shook my head. "Unfortunately, I'm still getting the hang of this. The idea of catch and release sounds fun, because I'd love to have you guys come challenge me again, but I might have messed up and accidentally linked them to the Dungeon."

"Isn't that too big to be called an accident?!" Saito protested.

"Haha, maybe," I laughed it off, downplaying it and acting like an airhead. "Good news though! I didn't do that for you! You still have a chance!"

"Hold on, if I go back without Louise and the others, I'll be locked up for sure! Or worse!" he protested.

"Hmm, I suppose that's true," I agreed. "But, as a fellow Japanese world traveler, I'd feel bad about keeping you locked up here forever… so why don't we do what I said before?" I leaned closer. "Why don't I set you free?"

He looked at me once again with wariness, but it wasn't alone this time. His expression also carried hope and interest. It was all I could do to not let my grin turn evil.

I backed off, giving him some room as I circled around the table. "Well, my options are a little limited right now, but I can mostly make good on my offer before. I can free you from Louise, make it so you're no longer her Familiar, and I can send you to a new place."

"...but not home?" he asked.

I shrugged and held my hands up helplessly. "Maybe eventually I could do that. But right now, my control over where I travel to is pretty limited. But, thankfully, there is one thing I can control." I gave him my warmest smile. "I promise that wherever you end up, it'll be your ideal world."

"...that's pretty vague," he said. But it was a half-hearted complaint. I could tell that I had him, hook, line, and sinker.

"It is. But it's a guarantee."

He mulled it over. "What's the catch?" he asked eventually. "Besides the vague randomness."

"Haha, well… it wouldn't be free, I admit. In fact… it'll cost you quite a bit."

He was back to looking wary. "How much?"

I shrugged. "Everything. Or close enough to it. Your powers, Derflinger, and your connection to those girls. The memories of your time with them, and your relationship with them. Everything you've gained since that portal snatched you up, you'll have to leave behind, in my hands. Consider it rerolling your character, or hitting the reset button on a game console. You hit a bad end, but you can start over fresh. That's not a bad deal, right?"

He looked down at his hands. "Everything, huh?" he whispered. I could see the Gandalfr rune inscribed on the back of his hand. He looked up at me. "And what do you plan on doing with all that?"

"I was thinking of giving your power and Derflinger to Saeko," I replied candidly. "She could use the boost. As for the girls? Well, they'll become some of my beloved dungeon minions, taking on roles similar to Saeko or Asuna. Don't worry, I'll treat them well."

I meant that too. After all, I wasn't the kind to break my own toys. Not while I could still use them.

"To Busujima-san, huh?" he mused. "She would be pretty scary with this power."

"Right?" I wasn't committed to giving it to her, but it was one possible option, and I had seen their fight, I knew he had connected to her, at least a little. "I feel a little bad for her, she's new to this whole thing you know, and she only had a few days of training before you guys showed up."

"Really? Does she even need the rune then?"

"Well, admittedly, she was pretty strong before she joined me, so she had a strong base to work off of."

"I was wondering about that, actually. Why she joined you. She seemed… loyal."

"Well… I did save her from a zombie apocalypse," I replied with a shrug. "That was the last world I visited, actually. A modern day Japan overrun by zombies. I found her, helped her out, and brought her back with me."

"Seriously? An actual zombie apocalypse?" His eyes widened.

"Seriously. It was definitely the end of that world."

"No wonder she didn't listen to us then," he muttered. "But wait, what about the blue haired girl? She didn't seem very happy."

I shifted my expression to a grimace. "Well… not to get too deep into her personal business, but the circumstances that led to her joining me weren't very nice. There was some… trouble, with her boyfriend. And I didn't exactly leave a good impression. We don't get along very well. Though we recently made some good progress in mending that rift, there's still some issues between us. But that's getting into some stuff that you really don't need to hear about."

"Ah, I see," he said, dropping the subject. I struggled not to smile. Everything I said was technically true, if interpreted a certain way. But most people wouldn't arrive at the truth from those words alone. Deceiving without lying was always fun. It just felt so satisfying to pull it off.

Time ticked by silently as Saito considered it. I didn't prod him. I didn't need to. At this point, it was as good as done, he just needed to realize that himself.

Sure enough, he looked up at me a few moments later. "You… Do you promise? That even when I'm gone, you'll take care of them?" he asked.

"I do. In fact…" I could feel something forming in the back of my mind, and my instincts guided me to twist something intangible. When I did, a sheet of paper appeared on the table. It was a product of Infernal magic, a demo of what the Heritage could offer to me, given free for the purpose of completing this mission.

I tapped the sheet. "This is a magically binding document. All you have to do is press your thumb on the sigil down at the bottom, and the deal will be made. We'll both be forced to follow through, that way you know you can trust me. That should be enough, right?"

Saito hesitantly picked up the document, like touching it would be enough to set it off, and his eyes scanned over the words. I didn't have to look at it myself to know what it said. It was essentially a slightly cleaned up version of everything I had told him already. In exchange for everything he had gained since his isekai adventure, which was everything of worth that he had, I would transport him to a place that was his ideal world, and I would take care of the girls and treat them well.

He hesitated as he read it, unsure. But once again, I didn't pressure him. That would do more harm than good at this point.

He finally looked back up at me. "What… what happens if I don't take this deal?" he asked. "Will I just stay a prisoner?"

I hummed as I pretended to think that over. "Well… we'd have to figure that out, I suppose." My answer was deliberately vague. "If I'm being honest, I don't really want any minions who aren't girls…"

"So it's a girls only club huh?" Saito mused as he looked at me. I smiled but didn't correct him. "You're like that then?" There was a faint blush on his cheeks.

"You'll have to be more specific, dear," I replied with a wink. He blushed harder, and I bit back a laugh.

I wasn't into dudes, but it was always fun to mess with guys who didn't realize that I had a dick.

"N-nevermind!" he replied hastily. He turned his attention back to the paper for another moment before sighing. "I mean… I really like Derf, and the Gand-whatever powers are pretty cool. But… maybe it would be better if I just started over."

"Who knows, maybe you'll get cooler powers in the place I send you?" I suggested.

"Maybe," he agreed, sounding a little hopeful. He was quiet for another moment before he nodded again, expression becoming determined as he looked up at me. "Okay. I'll do it."

I grinned. "Excellent decision, my friend. Just press your thumb against the witch's hat down there, and we'll officially have a deal."

My heart thumped in my chest as I watched him look back down at the contract. My excitement rose alongside his hand as he positioned it over the mark at the bottom of the page. And as he pressed his thumb against it, I couldn't help but to let my true feelings show on my face for just an instant, my grin widening to show teeth as I felt the Pact settle into place, binding the both of us.

Judging from his shiver, he felt it too. The document pulled itself out of his hands and curled up, a ribbon tying it closed before it disappeared without a sound. He blinked in surprise at where it just was before turning back to me. Thankfully, I had gotten my expression back under control by then, so he didn't notice it. Not that it would have mattered at this point.

"So… what now?" he asked.

"Now, I extract your payment from you, and then I transfer you to your ideal place," I said. I could feel a sort of pressure around me, pushing me to complete my end of the bargain. But, just as I had planned with my careful phrasing, it wasn't overly restrictive. It wouldn't stop me from doing what I had in mind.

I made my way back over to him. "I'm sure you remember my special ability, right? This will hurt a bit, but it's the only way I can get the Gandalfr rune from you." The Tome of the Night Sky appeared floating by my side as I raised my hand.

His eyes widened as he realized what I intended. "No, wait, hold on a sec-gahk!"

His protest was cut off as I pushed my hand into him, activating the magic theft ability of the Tome of the Night Sky. It took some fishing around, because he had neither a Linker Core nor the magic that the others had, but after a few moments I felt it. The pulsing connection between him and Louise, one that spread through his body like a system of nerves.

"Brace yourself," I warned Saito, whose teeth were already clenched in pain, and I started pulling.

The Gandalfr Rune didn't come easily. It was like the roots of a tree, or a vine, and it was intertwined deeply into his very being. But there was something else helping me, like oil that loosened its grip and allowed me to pull out the Gandalfr rune without ripping his soul to shreds. I was pretty sure it was the Pact. It wasn't advanced enough to automatically hand the power over to me, but since he had agreed to hand it over, it ensured it was possible.

Finally, after several moments that I'm sure were excruciating for Saito, there was a snap as the Gandalfr rune was entirely disconnected from him. What I had in my hands was a mass of blue-ish white light with drooping tendrils. I quickly pressed it into the blank page of the Tome as Saito slumped over, unconscious.

"Guess we won't get to say goodbye," I muttered, amused. Then I shrugged, and used a bit of magic that I had learned recently to telepathically reach out to Maria. "Maria, can you come to Saito's cell real quick for me?"

"Coming, Master!" she replied cheerfully. I closed the connection and shifted my attention to the Tome, where the page was no longer blank.

Rather than a detailed magical circle as was normal for when I absorbed a new spell, all that was on the page was a summary of the Gandalfr rune. I clicked my tongue in disappointment. I had been hoping I could absorb it and learn how to make it myself, so I could apply it to everyone. But it seems that was too hopeful. Rather than being translated into a spell I could learn how to use, the Gandalfr rune had been 'stored' in the Tome, where I could pull it out and give it to someone else.

I flipped through the Tome to another page and scanned the spell there. As I did, Maria entered the room.

"You called, Master?" she said. She then spotted Saito slumped over on the table. "Oh my, what happened here?"

"The process of taking his power was a little rough on him, he's all tuckered out," I joked. "But we've made a bargain. I need your help in fulfilling that by erasing all of his memories since he was teleported away from his home world." Those were part of the price he was paying as well. I had no way of taking those memories for myself, but so long as he no longer had them, it counted as paid.

"Hmm. How long ago was that? I'm not that precise, and I can't see what I'm manipulating. Best I can do is wipe a rough time frame."

I tilted my head. The timeline was a little fuzzy, but… "Let's be safe and call it six months." If I overshot a bit, it was fine.

"Okey doke, can do!" Maria replied as she made her way behind Saito. She placed her hand flat behind his head, almost but not quite touching him, and a small magic circle appeared in the air in that gap between them. It slowly spun for a few seconds, and I could feel the magic sinking into his mind.

Then it winked out, and some of the pressure I felt from the Pact disappeared, part of it satisfied. "There! All done. It's a good thing you took his power first though, that would have been really hard to do if he still had it."

"There's a reason I called you when I did," I replied in amusement. "But hey, stick around for a minute. Once I'm done here I'm going to go check in on the other girls and I know you don't want to miss that."

Her eyes gleamed as she smiled. "I certainly don't!"

I shook my head in amusement and turned my attention back to Saito. I had his rune, Derflinger was already secured in the storage room, and the girls were held in the cell next door. Now, with his memories of his time as Louise's familiar erased, his end of the deal had been paid. All that was left was for me to send him to the place that would be his ideal world.

"Absorption," I intoned. A magic circle appeared in the air next to Saito, glowing ominously. After a few moments of charging, it activated, pressing up against him. He disappeared in a flash, and a new page of the Tome of the Night Sky was filled with his information.

Absorption was one of the most important spells of the Tome. It was related to the means through which I could steal people's magic, taking it and storing it in the Tome, but it was modified to store people and living things instead.

I turned the page to the next spell, and I activated it. "Dream of the Tome of the Night Sky," I said, and I felt the magic start pulling at my Linker Core.

It was a heavy pull at first, as the spell created an illusionary world for the captured Saito to experience. A world that responded to his innermost desires, a perfect dream and paradise of his own making. The most ideal world he could imagine.

See, I was careful with my wording. I could lie to him all I wanted, but the actual bargain we struck needed to be the truth. I sent him to a 'place' that was his 'ideal world'. The 'place' in question was within the pages of the Tome of the Night Sky, and the illusion that was based on his own desires was the 'ideal world'.

The pull on my linker core died down as the spell started running, reducing to a mere trickle that I could barely feel. It did require constant upkeep, which was a downside, but it was an extremely small one. Small enough that, between my Talents and my Falna, I was sure I wouldn't even register after a few days as the constant passive use trained my Linker Core even further.

And if for some reason I couldn't provide that magic? Or if he for some reason realized it was a fake world and he struggled enough to break free? Well, that second option was pretty unlikely without any kind of special powers, but should he break free, that was fine. I had already satisfied my end of the Pact by sending him there. If he left, or if I brought him back, then that was a separate matter entirely.

Hell, I could sell him if I wanted to, though now that I had stripped him of his power, he was literally worth zero credits if I did so. All selling him would do is remove him from my control and my responsibility. And maybe it was my old gaming habits of hoarding things, or maybe it was my own control issues, but so long as there was a chance that I might still want him for some reason in the future, I didn't want to get rid of him.

So, for now, he'd stay tucked away in the Tome of the Night Sky, sleeping while having a happy little dream. Honestly, it was a kinder fate.

I couldn't help but to chuckle. "Poor Saito. He really should have pushed for more specific stipulations."

"Ah, Master, if you make an expression like that I'll get wet," Maria said, watching me with awe filled eyes.

"Then you'll love what comes next," I replied distractedly. With the completion of the Pact, save for the lingering requirement for me to treat the girls well, which was a pretty vague and loose requirement, I felt something else. Another piece of paper appeared on the table, this one made of a nicer material. Maria turned to look at it, and my eyes read the words inscribed onto it.

Congratulations, Morgan, on successfully making a Pact worthy of a devil. Sign your name below, and become an Infernal.

No signature, no terms, no nothing. Honestly, it seemed like it was nothing more than a formality, or perhaps even just theatrics.

But I didn't hate that kind of thing.

A pen appeared in my hand as I reached toward the paper, and for some reason this didn't surprise me. I paused briefly as I positioned the tip of it at the bottom of the page, wondering how I should sign it. But in the end, I decided not to worry about it too much, and just wrote "Morgan" in large flowing letters.

As soon as I lifted the pen from the paper, it disappeared, and the document itself lifted from the table. Like my contract with Saito, it curled itself up. But unlike the one with Saito, it didn't disappear. Instead, it floated at me, aimed directly for my chest.

It slid into my chest without any resistance, but it didn't bring any pain or cause any injury, instead slipping in like it was meant to be there. I felt a small kernel of warmth light up in my chest, right where my heart was beating, and it slowly spread that warmth through the rest of my body.

It wasn't a dramatic change, but I could feel the difference. I was just a bit more than human now, a bit beyond what was normal. I had been changed, upgraded, and given the ability to create Pacts without the aid of a special mission. That power was now mine.

My laughter echoed through the room as I was unable to contain my glee. I had achieved something I had long dreamed of, more than becoming a villain or a mage or anything, I had become a devil and a dealmaker, someone who tricked fools into disadvantageous deals.

"I don't really get it, but that was something good?" Maria asked. Her head tilted as she looked at me. "You feel… different."

I smirked. "Well, tricking Saito here was fun and all, but I also did it for the reward. A heritage perk. Surprise, Maria. You're not the only Devil here anymore." I flexed my hand as I felt the ardent heat flow through me.

Maria's eyes widened, as she was familiar enough with the Catalog to realize what I meant, before her expression shifted into something pleased and amused and she giggled. "Oh Master, don't be silly.

"No matter your race, you've been a devil from the start."

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AN: I've had this mission planned since before Infernal was officially released, because it felt like the most fun way to handle it. A sort of mantling, if you will. It gives him the perk and it also takes care of the post-chargen requirement of needing to 'activate' a new Heritage you purchase. Granted, the plan was to show off the mission well before he completed it… but it just didn't work out that way. Morgan has had barely any PoV sections since the HotD portal, and it was his actions with Saeko that 'prompted' the mission. I could have delayed Saito's bit until after the others, but that didn't feel right.

But yeah. As multiple people have said, Infernal is perfect for Morgan, and I have lots of fun ideas planned. He has all the basic pieces now. A Dungeon, Tantric Arts, and Pact magic. With those tools, there are so many things he can do, and I can't wait to explore them.

But first… we have some new girls to take care of. That'll be the next chapter, so be ready for that.