"Partner, what do you plan to do with me now?"
Ddraig's voice came from within the orb of light: "Now, my life is in your hands."
"What, are you afraid?"
"Of course not."
Ddraig laughed freely: "Through battle, you can determine what kind of person someone is. And you, partner, are definitely no villain."
"You're quite good at judging people."
Ayato was pleased and smiled: "Don't worry. I'll first put your soul to sleep."
"Then, I'll find you a body with boundless potential, one that might allow you to regain your prime form."
"Really?"
"Of course. There's no need for me to lie to you."
Ayato wasn't lying.
Even now, he could make Ddraig into another Imperial Arm.
But that would be far too wasteful.
It would be better to wait until the technology improved and let Ddraig work like a workhorse.
The next few days, Ayato became busy.
Besides continuing to read the remaining magic books, he studied the Boosted Gear.
Most importantly, he had to fight on multiple fronts.
Fuyuki City, Kuoh Town, the Empire World, Rias's villa – running to four places.
Fortunately, he was a Campione, otherwise his body would have given out long ago.
"Sigh, time is never enough."
Stretching lazily, Ayato rubbed his chin and muttered to himself: "But lately, that girl Asia has been acting strange, hasn't she?"
Almost every time he came back from outside, her eyes looked like she was about to cry.
He thought about it, but didn't think further.
Because, there was another contract summoning from another world.
"Hmm, what a coincidence, it's that world again?"
Ayato raised an eyebrow and decided to find CC first.
Luoyang.
Vermillion Forbidden City.
Imperial Palace.
Jiang Lihua looked at the azure sky, her eyes full of hope.
"Why did they choose me as the Empress?"
Hugging her knees, she curled up on the ground, slowly withdrawing her gaze.
"Hmm, what's this?"
She blinked, picked up a flyer from the ground.
It had a delicate magic circle printed on it, as if it wanted to draw her spirit in.
"A Devil Summoning?"
Jiang Lihua murmured softly: "Can it grant my wish?"
She instinctively looked outside, her heart pounding a couple of times.
'If I could gain freedom, what would it matter if I made a deal with a Devil?'
She thought this.
Finally, she spoke: "Mr. Devil, please grant my wish."
Jiang Lihua stared at the flyer without blinking, even holding her breath.
Although she knew that Devils and such were far too unreliable...
She truly hoped the legend was true.
Even if it cost her soul, it would be better than being imprisoned in Vermillion Forbidden City as this puppet empress in name only.
One second... two seconds...
The light in Jiang Lihua's eyes gradually faded.
'Indeed, beings like Devils were completely nonexistent. How could they exist?'
Thinking this, the flyer in her hand suddenly shone brightly.
A magic circle spun into the air.
"Th-this... this... this?"
Jiang Lihua instinctively stood up, her eyes growing wider and wider.
"You summoned me?"
"Judging by your attire, you seem to be from the Federation."
As the voice rang out, the figures of a man and a woman walked out of the magic circle.
"Ar... are you Devils?"
Looking at Ayato and CC, Jiang Lihua blinked.
'So handsome, so beautiful?'
'Weren't legendary Devils supposed to be very ugly?'
'Could I have been tricked? Was this someone's prank?'
'No, that's not right. The other party appeared out of thin air.'
'So, they really were Devils.'
Her eyes grew moist, and she almost cried.
After all, she was just a little girl.
Devils and such... were far too scary.
Looking at her, Ayato said helplessly: "You summoned us, so don't be so scared."
CC smiled: "Yeah, we Devils will at most just eat you."
'Huh?'
'Eh? Eh? Eh?'
Jiang Lihua's knees went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
'Ea... eat?'
'That's right, legendary Devils ate people.'
Her entire body trembled uncontrollably, her eyes full of fear.
'It's... it's over.'
'I hadn't even seen the outside world yet.'
Ayato looked at CC with some reproach, 'Was it fun scaring a little girl?'
CC raised an eyebrow, as if saying, "It was just interesting, who knew she was so timid.".
"Don't worry, we Devils don't eat people."
Ayato smiled and said: "CC was just lying to you."
"Re... really?"
"Of course. Trust a Devil's integrity."
"Wouldn't that mean they have no integrity?"
Jiang Lihua was about to cry.
Devils and such were best at manipulating hearts and deceiving others.
She knew this clearly, so why had she inexplicably summoned one?
Ayato tugged at the corner of his mouth, then finally said solemnly: "Silence."
"Yes!"
Jiang Lihua immediately sat up straight.
"No crying."
"Yes."
"No trembling."
"Yes."
"Then why are you still trembling?"
"Be... because I can't help it."
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."
Ayato shook his head helplessly and said: "Now, state your wish."
Jiang Lihua instinctively said: "I want freedom."
"Alright, very easy to grant."
"Ah?"
Jiang Lihua's eyes widened.
'Mr. Devil agreed just like that?'
'Could it be that Mr. Devil was a good person?'
'If so, that would be wonderful.'
She calmed down a bit and said somewhat nervously: "But Mr. Devil, I am the Empress, under house arrest here. Leaving would probably be difficult, with many people trying to stop me."
"What's so hard about that?"
Ayato raised an eyebrow: "Whoever dares to stop me, I'll just kill them."
"If it comes to it, destroying this entire country wouldn't be a big deal."
Jiang Lihua: "..."
'It's over!'
'Such behavior... is exactly that of a legendary Devil.'
'What had I done?'