Long before Yamato and Yuki entered this world, the town had already been corrupted as it was known today. Being born into such an environment was not easy, especially if one was not of aristocratic blood. Like many families, his was one that fell victim to the poverty that spread across the regular people. Everyday, he would watch his father work, learning the craft of a blacksmith. He was proud of his fathers work, and despite not having much money or food, it was just barely enough to make it not all that bad, as he had his family. One day however, he bumped into the person who would become the Baron in the present time, them being about the same age, they became friends. However, the young Baron was only outside the castle walls because he accompanied his father to leave town. So their friendship, although quickly formed, shattered as they never had the chance to meet besides occasional meetings. Foolish as he was, but a natural act for a child, he talked to the other children about having connections to the castle, which was overheard by a man who was on the verge of starvation, holding his wife who seemed to be in the same condition. Plagued by hunger, the man thought, since the child had connections, they must have much food to spare at home. And with that in mind, he followed the child home, and carried his wife with him. The next day, as young Mateo went out early in the morning with his father, he was as motivated as ever. Little did he know, it was all about to take a drastic turn. Not being able to think clearly, the man broke into the home, where only Mateo's mother was still sleeping. He was on the verge of death, and his wife already lost consciousness last night, barely alive. It was then, when the man fell into an even greater despair, not finding a single edible thing in the house. They would only eat every second day, as they did not have enough money for more. And as fate would have it, today was one of those days where they would have nothing. Being forced to make a decision, the man decided to safe himself and his wife, by committing an unspeakable crime, one that would allow him and his wife to life to see another day. As Mateo and his father returned, they were shocked to see what had happened in their absence, not even knowing what to do or how to react. Not being able to eat anything ever again, his father starved himself to death in the following weeks. Leaving Mateo all by himself, though he would not give up like his father did. Though he never blamed him for that. He would eventually find his way into the church, where his friendship with the soon to be Baron would grant him influence and status that helped him climb the ranks. Though he would forever be deeply troubled, and never be the same again.
Back in the present time, Mateo was faced with yet another struggle, Yamato just could not seem to die, no matter what he did. All the past battles he fought, the sacrifices he made, had they all been for nothing? No, he could not allow that. He would not let this human, over which he had already transcended, decide his fate. He channeled all his will into the orb, mana flowing through his entire body, reaching a state that could rival Yuki in sheer mana quantity.
Something arrived on the scene.
"You… You all are nothing! You would not have survived what I've been through, and neither will you survive what I will put you through!"
The ground started shaking for a moment, but Mateo payed no attention to it.
He shot another attack, a beam of pure mana, which directly aimed at Yamato. After the impact, no red lightning could be seen. Only a cloud of dust remained.
"Ahahahaha! That's right! Not so high and mighty now, are you?! I stand alone, and victorious, and—"
Mateo's voice disappeared with a squeak, a snapping sound being the only other thing they heard. As the smoke disappeared, Yamato and Lucy emerged unharmed. What the two saw was surprisingly unexpected. In front of them was a tail, which had blocked the last attack from Mateo. Said tail led to Iky, who sat full sized where Mateo had been standing, only a pool of blood remaining. He shrunk down to his usual size, and crawled downwards Yamato across the uneven ground, with something in his mouth. Like a trained dog, he placed the mirror shard in front of Yamato on the ground and climbed on his shoulder. Yamato picked up the shard and walked towards the pool of blood, making sure Mateo was indeed gone, which he most definitely was. He looked at Iky, who had seemingly no issues with eating a Unicum and immortal priest. At Iky's expectant look, Yamato pet him a little. Though Lucy was not as comfortable with Iky, and took a step back.
"…Good boy."
"…Yeah, good job, Iky…"
They then turned to the demon, who was still on the ground and witnessed the whole thing. Despite being unable to move, he made great attempts to crawl away after he saw Iky. However Yamato easily caught up with him just by walking.
"Demon, I have a preposition for you… Let's form a contract."
"W-what?", the demon said while spitting blood.
"You heard me. I was interrupted earlier, but I think the point that I know how it works with your kind came across. I offer you an antidote, for a lifetime of servitude."
"That's… Ridiculous…"
"Is it? Serving me for as long as I exist, or dying right here and now… For an otherwise immortal demon, the decision should be obvious, no?"
"…"
The demon wished he was more appalled by the idea. However, the truth was, even if he were in a less forcing situation, he would probably agree to Yamato's terms. After the time he listened to Mateo, his pride and status felt like they had been lowered immensely. However, after what Yamato displayed today, and seeing as how a literal angel was following him as well, the decision really was not hard at all.
"A verbal agreement will suffice, as you know, obviously."
"…If you give me the antidote… I, archdemon Marneras, will agree to your terms…"
"All I needed to hear… Lucy, your turn."
Lucy pulled out a metal pen, which when the lid was taken off, was revealed to be a syringe. Before injecting the demon, she hesitated.
"Uhh… Are you sure, Yamato? How can you know he won't attack us?"
"Contracts are binding forces for demons, as I already vaguely explained earlier. Once they agree to the terms or a contract, they are physically bound to oblige. But if you still worry, just remember Iky is here now too."
"Alright then… Here I go…"
As Lucy injected the demon with the antidote, his condition immediately improved. And only after a minute, he was at full strength again.
"Wow… That regeneration sure is something. I wonder who has stronger regeneration, you demons or Yuki."
"If Yuki was the angel that was with you at the beginning, it would be her without a doubt. Which prompts me to ask… Where is she? And has she killed Petrisha, the demon that I was with?"
"Would that be a problem for you?"
"Not at all. I have no ties to that woman whatsoever. In fact, I'd be glad if I never had to see her again."
"Uh huh… Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but it doesn't look like Yuki killed her…"
As he said that, Yuki could be seen carefully stepping through the ruins, while pulling Petrisha along. However her demeanor had changed completely, appearing almost shy behind Yuki instead of the previous arrogant act.
"Woohoo, Master, look, I return victorious to claim my promised prize!"
"What prize…"
"Whatever I want~!"
"There was no such agreement…"
"Anyway, loom what else I got! I did it your way this time! Instead of killing her, I asked her to join us! Luckily my charm and skillful arguments had her easily convinced! Isn't that right, Trishy?"
Petrisha took a small step forward and looked at the ground. Then bowed her head down apologetically.
"Y-… Yes… I apologize for my… For my earlier statements… I've been deluded by ignorance and was unable to see how worthless I am compared to… Uh… My god and savior… Which is why I humbly come before you to ask for forgiveness… W-was that good?"
"Shut up. You are not supposed to ask that. That's a minus. Otherwise acceptable though."
"I-… I'm sorry…"
"I… Forgive you…?", Yamato said slightly taken aback.
"Thank you… I will just… Stay silent until you need me then…"
"…Okay. Anyway, thank you for saving me, Yuki."
Yuki shoved Petrisha aside, who did not even complain as she fell down and simply stood up again. Yuki grabbed Yamato's hand and pulled it toward her.
"You're absolutely welcome, Master! I'm here to support you in any way I can, after all! Just for clarity though… What exactly is it you think I did?"
"When my magic was turned off by Marneras, you blocked his attacks when I couldn't, did you not?"
"Uhh… You magic was turned off…?"
"If I may interject, I was not the one that prevented your usuge of magic. And I can say quite certainly that Mateo had nothing to do with it either. It honestly confused me until now why you did not use any during our fight. I just assumed you were unable to in general.", Marneras said.
"Well, I also had nothing to do with blocking any sort of attack, I think…"
"How come I did not get injured by direct hits from Mateo then? Or when Lucy tried to give mana to me, the same incident occurred… Some sort of red lightning was there too."
"Never heard of it. Sorry, Master."
"I too have never seen or heard of it before today."
Just then, Iky threw up from Yamato's shoulder, it would have hit Yuki but she pulled Petrisha in front of her, so only she got hit. However it was not puke, but a book. Still, covered in saliva.
"Eww, gross! Mistress Yuki…?!"
"What? Don't drop it! Good job, Iky! That's exactly what I wanted!"
"It is…? Uh… Right. Sorry."
"What are you waiting for? Clean it or something. It looks important, so I want it."
It did look important. The edges being covered in pure gold, with a large purple gem in the center of the front cover.
"I'm afraid I don't have anything to clean it with…"
"Urgh, do I have to do everything around here?"
Yuki grabbed part of Petrisha's dress and used it as gloves with which she touched the book and smeared everything over the dress to clean the book.
"There… Here you go, Master! It's your wedding gift!"
"…Thanks."
Yamato took the book with two fingers, realizing it was indeed completely dry. As he opened the book, the pages moved on their own. With text just appearing on the pages.