As Alex spoke, he seemed to recall memories he couldn't bear to face, and his body began to tremble.
"I was still small back then. I could only hide in the cupboard, watching with my own eyes as my parents and relatives took shotguns and crossbows, and brutally murdered that man right there in the hallway."
Sephirot's expression shifted slightly.
An entire family conspiring to hunt down a groom on his wedding night; it sounded insane.
"Is this some kind of initiation ritual for your family? Or were you performing some sort of sacrifice?"
Sephirot looked at him with a sharp gaze. This bizarre logic of behavior immediately made him think of demons.
"No... it was to stay alive."
Alex continued, "Our family's massive wealth wasn't earned through business acumen or luck at all."
"Generations ago, in order to make his fortune, my great-grandfather Victor signed a pact with a mysterious man named Le Bail..."
"What does this covenant have to do with the wedding tomorrow?"
Sephirot nodded and asked.
"The covenant has one inviolable rule," Alex said. "Any new member who marries into the Le Domas Family must draw a game card from a puzzle box at midnight on their wedding day."
"The entire family must play the specified mini-game on the card with the newcomer. Only by completing the game can the newcomer truly be accepted by the family."
He spoke with a hint of agony: "Usually, people just draw ordinary card games."
"But whenever I think of that tragedy thirty years ago, I get more and more terrified."
"I'm too afraid. Even if there's only a slight possibility, I cannot let Grace repeat that mistake."
Hearing this, a flash of understanding crossed Sephirot's eyes.
This absurd scenario reminded him of a horror movie he had seen in his previous life...
Ready or Not.
He couldn't remember the specific details clearly, but he vaguely recalled the plot's premise.
A newlywed who just entered the family must draw a card from a puzzle box to play a game.
And the man he mentioned, the Aunt's husband, must have drawn the bad card called Hide and Seek.
The rule of this game was that every member of the family had to kill the person who drew the card before dawn.
If the newcomer survived until sunrise, the game would be lost.
When that happened, the covenant would backfire, and the entire family would suffer a freakish, sudden death.
Conversely, if the newcomer was killed, their soul and flesh would serve as a sacrifice offered to the mysterious figure who had established the covenant with their family.
He dimly remembered that this mysterious figure... seemed to be a demon.
"Regarding that mysterious gentleman you mentioned, have you uncovered any useful information over the years?"
Sephirot asked.
Alex nodded: "I've searched the family's ancient texts and privately consulted some researchers of Occultism. The name Le Bail is just a pseudonym, an anagram." He took a deep breath and continued: "It is actually the sixty-eighth demon of the seventy-two pillars of Solomon, Belial."
Another Solomon demon?
Sephirot raised an eyebrow. Had he stumbled into a nest of Solomon demons lately?
Information about Belial flashed through his mind.
This demon's most prominent power was his ability to grant mortals wealth and status, using them as bait to bind them into various inequitable "covenants."
Sephirot's mind stirred.
The demon Valak, who had descended previously, not only understood human speech but also possessed a certain level of knowledge regarding various secret organizations within human society.
In that case, as a fellow member of the seventy-two pillars, Sephirot refused to believe that Belial had only signed contracts with the Le Domas Family over all these years.
He spent his time wandering through high society, signing contracts with humans by granting status and wealth; he surely held information on various powerful and wealthy families.
It just so happened that Sephirot was struggling to find a breakthrough in his investigation of these elites.
If he could take this opportunity to have a proper "communication" with this demon who loved making deals, he might be able to obtain new leads regarding "Darkness Approaches."
At this thought, Sephirot spoke in a calm tone: "I can take this commission."
"However, since it involves a Great Demon of Hell, the price will have to go up."
Hearing this, Alex looked as if he were clutching a life-saving straw: "How much? Just give me a number."
Sephirot held up a single finger: "Not much. Ten million."
"No problem," Alex agreed decisively, terrified that Sephirot might back out.
Seeing him like this, Sephirot sighed inwardly.
He had asked for too little.
He hadn't expected that a scion who hadn't even inherited the family fortune yet could produce ten million in cash so easily.
But on second thought, Sephirot understood the underlying logic.
There were so many ordinary game cards in the puzzle box; the probability of drawing the bad "Hide and Seek" card wasn't high to begin with.
Spending ten million for a top-tier bodyguard as psychological insurance was a mere pittance to the capital of the Le Domas Family.
And even in the worst-case scenario, if his fiancée was truly unlucky enough to draw the bad card, as long as Sephirot could keep her alive until dawn,
the elders and relatives of the family would all die from the covenant's backlash.
At that point, as someone on the same side as his wife, Alex would naturally inherit the family's entire massive estate.
A mere ten million wouldn't even count as pocket change then.
These heirs of wealthy families were truly ruthless.
—--
"To have and to hold from this day forward."
"For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."
Inside a luxurious guest room in the manor, a blonde, blue-eyed woman wearing a pure white wedding dress stood before a floor-length mirror, repeatedly practicing her wedding vows.
"Hey, on such a wonderful day, why are you talking about parting?" A voice tinged with laughter drifted from behind her.
She turned to see her fiancé, Alex.
"Hi!"
Smiling happily, she lifted the hem of her gown and stepped forward to give him a hug.
"You look absolutely perfect today."
After a tender moment, Alex looked upon his wife's face and spoke in admiration.
Grace was about to whisper something back when she caught a glimpse of another figure out of the corner of her eye...
A young man in a black suit, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe outside the room.
What piqued her curiosity most was his black hair, streaked with a few tufts of white that gave him a somewhat flippant air.
"...And this is?"
Grace asked, puzzled.
"Uh... Sephirot, a friend of mine."
Alex paused for a beat before quickly introducing her to Sephirot. "This is my fiancée, Grace."
"Se...phirot?"
Grace repeated the name, her tongue tripping slightly over the syllables.
She had known Alex for years and had never heard him mention such a strange friend.
Still, since he was a guest at her wedding, Grace offered Sephirot a polite smile and a slight nod of greeting.
Sephirot glanced at her, nodded in return, and then paid her no further mind.
*Take the money, solve the problem.*
As a bodyguard invited to attend the wedding and handle security, he felt that wearing this formal attire was his way of offering a blessing to the newlyweds.
Besides, this suit was something Alex had specifically paid a premium to have tailored overnight just to help him blend in.
His only concern was whether that Demon God would fly into a rage and descend upon the scene personally if he interfered with the game tonight.
If that happened, things would get a little messy.
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES — CROSSOVER GUIDE
Some references in this chapter come from source universes that may be unfamiliar to some readers. The notes below provide the context needed to understand them without leaving the page.
ANTAGONISTS
Belial — The sixty-eighth demon of the 72 pillars of Solomon (the same system that produced Valak, introduced in chapter 59). His true name is concealed behind the anagram "Le Bail." Unlike combat-oriented demons, Belial's domain is the granting of wealth, influence, and social status to mortals, using these gifts as leverage to bind them into inequitable covenants. He has spent generations operating through human proxies, recruiting powerful families rather than descending directly himself.