I grabbed his collar and yanked him forward, dragging his face close to mine until our foreheads nearly touched.
My eyes bore into his, unblinking, dark, swirling with madness, a silent promise that I could end him at any second.
"Did you forget?"
My voice was low, sharp, every word dripping venom.
"You were planning on making us your slaves. You thought you could break us, chain us, parade us around like trophies. And now—now you think you get the right to protest?"
I laughed.
Not the laugh of someone amused, but the raw, jagged cackle of someone teetering on the edge of sanity.
"You don't get a choice. You never did. I'm taking them all—every last one of your precious peerage. They're mine now. Mine to work, mine to command, mine to grind down until they forget what freedom ever felt like."
I twisted my expression into something wild, teeth bared in a deranged grin as I spoke faster, my tone climbing into madness.
"I'll keep them awake until their bodies beg for sleep, until their minds unravel from exhaustion. I'll make sure they dream of working even when their eyes shut for a second. Every breath they take, every second they live, they'll remember it's only because I allow it."
I tugged his collar tighter, jerking him closer like a predator about to rip out its prey's throat.
"And you? You'll get to watch, Riser. Imagine them breaking. Imagine them suffering. And regret. Every. Single. Second. That you ever thought of making me your enemy."
My grin widened further, almost splitting my face in two, eyes gleaming with mock insanity.
"Doesn't that sound fun, Riser? Hm? Heheheheh… HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
Grayfia, ever composed and efficient, stepped forward and extended a neat stack of parchment toward me.
Her voice was crisp and formal, as if she were discussing nothing more serious than routine paperwork.
"These are the slave contracts for them. Please keep them safe, as these documents bind their loyalty and prevent them from acting against you. To activate the contract, you must drop a single droplet of your blood upon each. Their side of the process has already been completed."
The papers glowed faintly with magic, a testament to their authenticity.
Even without reading them in detail, I could feel the weight of the enchantments woven into every fiber.
Though I still read all the documents carefully, not to let the devils scam me.
I accepted the stack, letting out a small breath.
"Guess it's time to seal the deal."
Taking out a small pin, I braced myself—a sharp sting.
"Ouch!"
I hissed as the pin pricked the tip of my little finger.
A bright red bead of blood welled up instantly.
One by one, I pressed my bleeding finger to the contracts.
A faint ripple of magic ran across the paper each time my blood touched the surface, as if the parchment itself was drinking it in.
First drop.
Sizzle.
The symbol glowed faintly, then dimmed.
Second drop.
Third.
Fourth.
By the seventh, the tiny cut was already closing.
With an annoyed grunt, I had to prick it again to keep the flow going.
"Seriously? Fifteen people, fifteen contracts, fifteen blood drops?!"
I muttered under my breath as I continued the process.
"Feels like a scam to turn me into a human pincushion."
Rias tried to hide a smile, and even Koneko's lips twitched slightly, but neither said a word.
Akeno, thankfully, chose not to tease me this time—though I could feel her amusement in the air.
At last, with the fifteenth drop seared into the parchment, the stack pulsed with a final surge of energy before settling down.
The contracts were complete.
I straightened my back and exhaled, relieved.
"And just like that… they're mine."
With a flick of my wrist, I stored the glowing papers safely into my inventory, where they would be beyond reach of tampering.
Grayfia gave us her customary bow, her silver hair gleaming under the dim clubroom light.
Her tone was as formal as ever, but there was a faint edge to it—like she was already exhausted just from dealing with everything that had happened today.
"Then, Lady Rias, Lord Zevion, I shall now take my leave."
She stepped toward Riser, who was still trembling in silence, his pride utterly shattered.
Without even sparing me a glance, she seized him by the arm, activated her magic circle, and in a flare of crimson light, both of them vanished from the room.
The atmosphere instantly grew heavier.
I stretched my back casually and let out a sigh.
"Well… looks like I've got fifteen slaves now. Lucky me."
My words were light, but the reaction wasn't.
All fifteen girls from Riser's peerage—each one bound by the contract—stood in a stiff line, their expressions pale.
Their bodies trembled ever so slightly, and I could see it in their eyes… that mix of fear, humiliation, and despair.
None of them dared to speak, but they all looked like they could burst into tears at any moment.
I let the silence hang for a beat, then decided it was time to start.
"Giratina," I commanded, my tone dropping into a serious register, "remove those Evil Pieces from all 14 of them first."
A ripple passed across the ground as Giratina's shadow swelled beneath me.
Several dark, claw-like hands emerged from it—ethereal yet menacing.
One by one, they phased through the girls' chests.
Gasps echoed in the room as the shadowy fingers pierced through without leaving a single wound.
From each chest, a glowing fragment was drawn out—shards of crimson light shaped into the devil's Evil Pieces that bound them to Riser.
The girls winced at the sensation but didn't scream.
It wasn't pain they felt—it was the suffocating weight of their servitude being ripped away, leaving them strangely hollow.
Fourteen luminous pieces floated in the air, suspended in Giratina's shadowy grip. Each one pulsed faintly, a symbol of chains now broken.
I narrowed my eyes at them.
"Crush them. They don't need that anymore. They don't belong to him… or anyone else."
Without hesitation, the shadow-hands clenched.
CRACK.CRUNCH.
The Evil Pieces shattered like fragile glass, dissolving into a mist of scarlet sparks before vanishing completely.
The room grew eerily quiet, the weight of what had just happened sinking in.
The moment the last fragment disappeared, their bodies glowed faintly—like a seal had been broken.
Others blinked in surprise as their auras shifted, no longer radiating the distinct signature of devils.
One by one, they changed.
Some of them collapsed to their knees, gasping as their wings vanished entirely—their figures returning to the shape of ordinary humans, stripped clean of devil-kind influence.
Others began to radiate a different kind of energy, one I recognized instantly.
Their bodies shimmered with natural magic, tails, ears, or faint spiritual nya~' screaming looks emerging.
Cat Girls.
They had reverted to their original bloodline, freed from the devil's forced transformation.
And yet, a few still retained their devilish nature—their horns, their wings—but their eyes no longer carried the brand of Riser's control.
They were still devils, but ones without the Evil Piece's chain, standing on their own for the first time in who knows how long.
The room filled with the soft sounds of their disbelief—murmurs, choked gasps, a few sobs.
Some of them clutched their chests as if testing their own existence, touching their faces, their limbs, as though afraid it wasn't real.
I crossed my arms, staring at the scene with a small smirk.
"See? You're not his anymore. Whether you're human, cat girls, or still devil… at least now, you're free."
I cleared my throat, letting the heavy silence stretch just a little longer.
I put on my best serious expression, puffed out my chest, and declared,
"For now… You all are my maids!"
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