A Deal

Days passed as Sylvia spent her time in the garden. She bathed in the fresh air and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. However, there was nothing to do! No phones, no games, no nothing. She who spent her entire life surrounded by technology was faced with the reality of boredom.

Thus, she found a new way to pass her time. She would often sneak away from Adam and Eve and would explore and taste the various delicacies in the garden. The taste of the fruits were near heavenly and every time she took a bit she would feel bliss. So, she began 'holding' the fruits for safe keeping.

In reality, she was stealing fruits, but nobody needed to know that. The taste was simply too addicting for her to resist. In fact, in reality Adam and Eve didn't really care about her taking fruits from the 'other' trees. As long as she didn't put a hand on the tree in the middle, they simply turned a blind eye and in their mind, the fruits were near infinite anyways and it wouldn't matter.

Filling her inventory the size of a backpack to the brim with various juicy fruits, she also spent her time thinking, away from the telepathic Eve. After all, if Eve were to hear what she was thinking, she would try to stop her with all of her ability.

Thinking so, she strolled down the river and was greeted with a clear and calm pond. Dipping her toes in the water, sending ripples across the pond. She looked towards the 'bracelet' and thought. 'I know you can hear my thoughts,' silence followed as the snake on her wrist was motionless as if it were sleeping.

'Hey, respond when someone is talking to you... Satan,' hearing his name being uttered by a mere child, the snake in her hand began to slither all the way to her shoulder as the small beady eyes of the snake stared into her soul. 'What are you?' The voice of Satan echoed in her mind as Sylvia clutched her head due to the mere pressure in his voice.

'My name is Sylvia Rose, and I wish to make a deal with you,' hearing her, Satan's curiosity was piqued. Someone dared to initiate a contract with him fully knowing his identity.

'Hmm, interesting, alright child, tell me more about this 'deal' of yours,' still feeling the pressure of his voice, Sylvia offered with all of her will. 'I will convince Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, in exchange, you will offer me protection from Him,' hearing her offer, Satan had a devilish grin in his mind. After all, she would be doing his work for him and on top of that, her requirement wasn't too hard to accomplish.

However, he was Satan and this wasn't his first time making a contract, so naturally, he would attempt to devour more. 'Hmm, and what's in it for me?'

Eve expected this to happen and responded, 'Who are you joking, I already know this is your main objective, what more could you ask for?' Satan, already guessing that she knew his objective and motive, became even more intrigued by this little girl. 'You may know my objective, but why would I need your help? I can easily do it myself.'

Taking a gamble, Sylvia responded, 'If you don't accept my offer, I'll tell them your real identity, I know how difficult it was for you to infiltrate here. It's evident by the fact you have to use this snake as a medium.'

'Interesting, you dare threaten me, Ruler of Hell? Amusing, very well, I'll agree with your little deal on one extra condition.'

'And what is that extra condition?' Sylvia said with droplets of sweat beginning to run down her neck.

'Nothing much, I just want you to make a blood pact with me.'

Sylvia froze in shock.

At first, she was just going to borrow his powers to escape the garden and have protection from His' judgment, but now he was demanding for her to be bounded with him. However, she didn't exactly have the luxury to decline, she was pressed for time and He would descend in two days while Satan had all of the time in the world to convince Adam and Eve to fall into temptation.

But she was still curious, why would Satan, the strongest overlord in Hell, want to make a pact with her? She was a child and she herself saw no benefit in making a pact with her. 'Why me?' she said with caution.

'Nothing much, your just interesting, that's all. I've never met someone brave enough to threaten me, on top of that you're special. I knew you were special, after all, it appears you've already eaten the 'fruit' with the way you feel shame. Also, you appeared out of nowhere, it was one of the reasons why I had my medium latch onto you in the first place.'

Sylvia at this moment truly felt stupid. Anyone who knew of the effects of the fruit would instantly be able to tell that she had already 'sinned' due to her running around everyone in clothes when everybody else was literally naked. Other than that, she accepted the words of the devil and agreed with his logic and reasoning. She too would feel suspicious if someone were to suddenly enter the Garden of Eden if someone like the Supreme Ruler of Hell was only able to sneak in a fraction of his soul.

She sighed as she realized she had no other choice than to accept these terms, 'In the first place what even happens when we form a blood pact?' She was curious as she had never heard about a blood pact before. In modern times you would use a mana contract if you wanted to make a deal with someone, however, she never heard of a blood pact.

'When we form a blood pact we would be connected through blood, meaning when I die, you will die. Of course, the opposite is not the same, I'll most likely fall into a coma for about 10 years at most looking at your current level. The contract will last until either one of us dies. Of course, there will be benefits for both of us. You will be able to utilize demonic energy and I will be able to descend onto your body once a year for an hour and do whatever I want.'

Hearing this she swallowed her rage, she just heard that she could die and it wouldn't even be because of her, but rather if this devil ever died she would be collateral without even knowing it. On top of that, she was extremely averse to the idea of letting this demon take control of her body. After all, how could she entrust her body to Satan himself?

However, even after all of these downsides, what stood out to her the most and made her somewhat willing, was the fact that she would be able to obtain power. To her who had no affinities, this was an opportunity. This was her first step in becoming truly powerful so that nobody could trample over her, even if it meant selling her body to the devil.

'Fine, I agree, now how do we form this contract.'

The devil had a large grin as she put up no resistance to his demands. Delighted he explained that she would need to draw a sigil on dirt and drop a piece of her blood in the center.

Using her fingers she meticulously drew the sigil under the instructions of the demon in her head and using her teeth, she bit into her hand as hard as she could. Doing so blood began to slowly leak out of her self-inflicted wound. Dripping the blood in the center, she asked for further instructions.

'Perfect, now all you need to say are a few magical words. 'Using my blood as a medium, I, Sylvia Rose, form a blood pact with his majesty, the Ruler of Hell, till death do we part.'

Sylvia cringed at what she would have to say. Till death do we part? It wasn't like they were getting married, though the saying isn't exactly false either. On top of that, she would have to call him 'his majesty' which was upsetting in its own right. And above all else, she would have to say these cringe words out loud.

However, as she parted her lips she had an idea that just might work. She was going to trick the devil. Of course, she willed all of these devilish thoughts and ideas to the depths of her subconscious to not alert the hideous devil.

She opened her mouth as her soft and heavenly voice broke the silence in the air as she quietly muttered, "Using my blood as a medium, I, Sylvia Rose, form a blood pact with his majesty, the Ruler of Hell, till..." Before she said the following words the pond was turning into a murky grey as the vibrant green grass soon followed. The clouds in the sky remained their fluffy white, however, the sky, too, turned into a dark gray.

Indeed, this wasn't a natural occurrence, after all this is the effect of her unique ability.

[Unique Ability: Pause

Rank: F

Rank F: Allows the user to pause time for 1 second.]

In this brief moment of time, she took action. Although she wasn't able to move her body, it never hurt to try, she thought that if the movements were minute enough, she would be able to speak a few critical words. Using all the energy in her body as mana began rising up as she willed her mouth open and managed to say a single word before time ran out.

Then time resumed...

"...death do we part."

As soon as she finished saying her part, Satan's laughter boomed in her head as he finalized the pact. 'I accept this blood pact and view Sylvia Rose as one of my own,' saying so, the blood and the sigil faded into the ground as if they were never there and the snake on her shoulder slithered back down to her wrist. Sylvia sighed a sigh of relief as the pressure faded from her head as she took a deep breath.

While all of this was going on, they never realized that someone was watching...