Chapter 44: A New Master

Upon hearing the ensnaring sorcerer's furious roar, Great Lakralas felt a rush of joy in his heart and quickly ran to hide in the distance. He didn't want to tempt fate at this moment. But less than three seconds later, he suddenly heard a long, mournful scream from the ensnaring sorcerer, followed by an eerie silence. The little demon's ears twitched, and emboldened, he tremblingly walked to the doorway of the hall, peering inside to witness a bizarre scene.

The ensnaring sorcerer lay on the ground, a hole pierced through the center of his head. The little demon paused for a moment, then his mouth twisted into a pout, and he burst into tears: "Wuwawa... Master, how could you die? ... No, I should be happy, haha!"

This ugly and cunning demon cried first and then laughed, arousing a strong sense of annoyance in another creature in the hall. It held a half-chewed cat's eye stone in its beak, its head protruding from the ensnaring sorcerer's dimensional pocket, its sapphire eyes glaring disapprovingly at the "laughing and crying" little demon.

The little demon was astonished to see this strange-looking creature that seemed neither rabbit nor mouse. Clearly lacking coherence, it felt it necessary to make a sarcastic remark: "Oh? What species has Great Lakralas spotted? A mouse, or a rabbit?"

Then he saw the creature's sapphire eyes emit a light that only he could perceive — invisible and colorless. Then, with a thunderous roar in his mind, he lost consciousness. His last thought before blacking out was: "Psychic blast! How does it know Master's skills?"

In truth, Belen couldn't understand Abyssal language at all. The reason it knocked down the little demon was twofold: first, it was too noisy, and second, it was testing out a technique it had just learned — the moment it appeared here, the ensnaring sorcerer attempted to use this move to defeat it.

Belen didn't know that this psychic ability was an innate racial instinct of the ensnaring sorcerer, but it learned it in an instant upon witnessing it, as if it should have known these things all along. As for the reasons behind it all, the mouse couldn't be bothered to delve into it. After knocking down the little demon, it crawled into the sorcerer's dimensional pocket and flipped out all the magical books inside. Most of these books were written in Abyssal language. It spent several hours reading and gained a rough understanding of Abyssal language, then began to meticulously search for information about spatial teleportation.

The current top priority for Belen was to return to the primary material plane. Its intelligence was extraordinarily high, and comparing some of the ensnaring sorcerer's research notes, it quickly understood that as long as it passed through the high-level positioning teleportation array underground in the tower, coupled with dimensional coordinates, it could reach other planes.

Understanding the method to activate the device, it then swallowed the ring from the ensnaring sorcerer's left hand — the gemstone on it was a coordinate locator, which allowed the holder to activate the teleportation array of this tower in other planes, pulling the holder back from other planes in reverse. In this way, the mouse could return here if the teleportation went awry, serving as an extra layer of insurance.

After completing the preparations, it surveyed the surroundings and suddenly felt a bit lazy — this was also one of its living habits. Perhaps not long after its new soul emerged, it was like a newborn baby, spending most of its time sleeping every day. Previously, Panini would take it on travels, pampering it with delicious food and drink. Now, in order to continue enjoying such a life, it needed to find a new servant.

The mouse's eyes shifted and landed on the unconscious little demon.

...

The great former Balor demon, Raklakras, woke up feeling a small sharp object touching his head. Impatiently, he waved his claw, squinting as he opened his eyes, seeing the big-eared rat gazing intently into his own. Suddenly recalling what had just happened, he alertly took a step back, "What kind of creature are you? Answer the questions of the great Raklakras!"

The mouse, of course, couldn't be bothered with him. It leisurely circled around the cunning demon twice, resembling an old farmer inspecting livestock. This gaze made the cunning demon Adi feel uneasy. Seeing the nearby corpse, he felt a twinge of fear, lamenting inwardly, "Oh, great Abyss, how you mistreat your subjects. Just as one cursed tentacle-head dies, another strange creature, neither rabbit nor rat, appears. When will I be able to restore the dignity of the Balor demon?"

In the midst of his tearful breakdown, he saw the mouse produce a piece of parchment seemingly out of nowhere. With its forepaws dipped in ink, it swiftly scribbled for a few minutes before the paper floated in front of the cunning demon Adi.

"Slave Contract:... This contract is secured with the signer's soul as collateral and cannot be altered once established.... Party A's authority: the power to command Party B at any time, the authority to determine Party B's life... Party B's obligations: must unconditionally obey Party A's commands, never engage in activities detrimental to Party A's interests at any time, must not disclose Party A's identity, must..."

Lines after lines of obligations without any rights drove Adi to the brink of despair. The contract was so airtight that even someone with an intelligence hundreds of times greater than his would struggle to find a loophole. What chance did he stand?

If he signed this contract, he would be devoid of any hope of turning the tables in the future. Summoning his courage, he exclaimed, "In the name of the great Raklakras... I refuse!"

The mouse yawned and stretched on the demon's head, using its claws to pick at its teeth, which seemed to be stained with some red liquid...

The demon immediately remembered that this mouse seemed to have the ability to kill him at any moment, and he became even more desperate. His newfound courage vanished into thin air. "W-well, I'll sign, I'll sign!"

Though chaos was the nature of demons, it didn't mean they enjoyed courting death. Adi was about to sign a fake name — as demons often did — when suddenly a dizzy spell struck him. He collapsed to the ground, and when he looked up, he saw the mouse holding another piece of paper, precisely the contract signed between demons and the previous master — the demonologist beneath the mouse. In the lower right corner, his true name was impeccably signed.

Adi felt his vision blur as he exclaimed, "You're truly cunning, utterly despicable!"

In the end, trembling, he signed his true name on the contract. Simultaneously, a powerful constraining force seized his soul through the thin parchment. He lamented his misfortune while reminiscing about the recently deceased demonologist — at least the previous contract wasn't as verbose as this one!

The mouse, seeing the demon sign his full name, sucked the contract into its stomach, as if it were an extradimensional space. It then hopped onto the head of the cunning demon, still savoring his pain and regret, and issued a command through their newly established mental link.

Adi, filled with suppressed emotions, descended to the lower levels under his new master's guidance. He rolled his eyes and cursed internally, but his target had shifted: "Damn new master, just hurry up and die already! When will the great Abyss stop playing with its lowly children?"

He seemed to forget that chaos was the nature of the Abyss.

The stairs of the mage tower extended to the outer layers, and by leaning half his body over the railing, Adi could catch a glimpse of the scene below. Suddenly, roars of monstrous beasts and the sounds of numerous creatures stampeding from the lower levels reached his ears, causing his pupils to dilate, and his heart to sink with dread.

He almost forgot that the magician, Smostipan, was not only a collector of interstellar rubbish but also an irredeemable enthusiast for ferocious beasts. Beneath the tower lay a large cage of monsters, brimming with ferocious creatures catalyzed by various abyssal forces. With the death of the magician, some of the restraints inside instantly crumbled. These beasts, presumably, had been famished for quite some time.

The thought of the consequences of these monsters rushing up made the cunning demon tremble with fear. All sense of composure was thrown to the winds as he danced in agitation, "Oh! Master, master, the tentacled monsters' playthings are about to surge forth! Let us flee quickly!"

The shadows of the creatures below the tall tower gradually gathered, mingling with the cacophony of the impish demons entering his ears. A silver-furred rodent-like beast opened its eyes, emitting a glimmer of intelligence from its pupils.

"Mr. Sean, the witch from the north has arrived and awaits your presence inside for a discussion," said a young female holy warrior clad in armor, approaching Penni, who was troubled by the disappearance of the mouse, near the shores of Lake Musantir. She lowered her voice as she spoke into his ear. Penni turned his head and was momentarily dazzled by a glimpse of pristine bosom. While Sela's armor had long been tattered by the mouse's bites, this particular piece was an old breastplate provided by a helpful villager from the Madier Outpost. It seemed the breastplate of the berserker was somewhat oversized, leaving certain things inadequately concealed.

"Sean, what are you looking at?" Sensing the magician's distraction, Sela frowned disapprovingly, straightening her posture. Penni hesitated for a moment before realizing, "Oh, a member of the witch's guild? Teleported here?"

The intense civil war has brought all the top echelons of the Witch Council to the town of Yulin. It is the true heart of the Leiseman witches, far away from here, and only accessible through magic.

Sela nodded. "Indeed, according to Captain Kamacho, those who have come this time are high-ranking figures of the Witch Council."

"High-ranking figures?" The village was small, and in just a few words, they entered the council chamber. Apart from the elders, Sallyfen, and the holy warriors, there were three middle-aged witches wearing masks. Two of them were engaged in a heated argument. "Nolida, you must understand that the enemies from the north could attack Yulin Town at any moment. It is unwise to disperse manpower to deal with the matters of Musantir at this time." The speaking witch wore a feather from an unknown bird on her head. Penni noticed that she paced back and forth while speaking, clenching her fists tightly, her arms trembling slightly.

"This is an impatient and stubborn individual," Penni evaluated in his mind, while the witch who responded remained relatively calm, seated on the other side. "Dear Babusha sisters, you must understand, the situation encountered by Elder Okloos indicates that the troubles in Musantir far exceed our imagination. Frandili has fallen, no wonder she has repeatedly rejected our summons. We originally thought that the power of the unwilling one only infected that rebellious prince, but the actual situation is much more severe than estimated. Babusha, if we do not address the internal issues first, the prospects of this internal strife are bleak."

"You're right, Lady Fourth Ouslobabusha." Okloos nodded. "Clearly, Lady Sixth Ouslo is engaged in extremely dangerous conspiracies in Musantir. We must stop her."

"Cease, venerable elder," the witch with the feathered headwear spoke with no hint of courtesy, causing the elder to reluctantly turn his head to scratch his nose. Penni furrowed his brow; he had long heard of the delicate position of the elders within the Witch Council, but now it seemed they had virtually no political sway at all.

"Speaking of our esteemed friends from the Witch Council," the leader of the Holy Knights spoke up. "We have come to the North not only to assist you in swiftly ending the civil war but also to investigate the activities of abyssal creatures. Lord First Ouslo seems to have captured the souls of those red-robed unwilling ones. I wonder... has he elicited any useful information?"

"This question is quite intriguing, esteemed Hand of Tyr," a deep yet gentle voice emanated from the witch who had remained silent all along. Penni's gaze shifted towards the calm eyes behind the gray wooden mask, and his heart skipped a beat.

This skipped beat contained a myriad of complex astonishment because he had been inside the room for several minutes now...

Yet only now did he realize that this witch, who had not uttered a single word all along...

Had been focusing her gaze on him the entire time.

And he, possessing extraordinary perception, had been completely unaware.

A sense of unease suddenly welled up in Penni Shawn's heart, his palms growing slightly sweaty. He began to regret entering this place.

Now, the witch locked eyes with Penni in a gaze fraught with inexplicable meaning, continuing to speak in her soft, melodious voice:

"In fact, rather than questioning the deceased red robes, I believe it would be more valuable to inquire about the apprentice mages from Sael."

Several pairs of perplexed eyes turned towards him, and Penni's complexion instantly turned pale.

...

In another world. Adi stood trembling before hundreds of ferocious beasts, covering his eyes, almost afraid to peek through his fingers at the menacing creatures opposite him. Meanwhile, the mastermind who had coerced him down the tower with mental explosions and sharp claws remained perched on his head.

Now, all he could do was helplessly pray, "Great Abyss, may your son have a complete corpse. Perhaps gathering the dung of these beasts together... oh, damn, what am I saying?"

His trousers had already begun to dampen, but when the next scene unfolded before his eyes, the urine he had halfway released retracted.

A ferocious giant bear, fifteen feet long and standing as tall as three men, roared as it charged. The bear was covered in festering pustules, from which toxic flames erupted, clearly indicating its corruption by abyssal forces, transforming it into an even more powerful demonic creature.

As this behemoth, estimated to weigh over ten thousand pounds, thundered forward, the ground trembled violently, cracks appearing, nearby earth and stones, even the bricks and tiles of the nearby tower, began to crumble.

Before its mountainous form, the great Rakras appeared insignificant, like a speck of dust, and as for the mouse perched atop the cunning demon's head, it was even less than a grain of sand.

The prey was within reach, and the ferocious Abyssal bear roared madly, its tremendous roar knocking the cunning demon over, sending countless tiles flying from the base of the mage tower!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the ferocious bear stomped its foot, causing the ground to sink instantly beneath it. Its eyes glowed with fire, and venomous saliva dripped from its mouth as it swung its huge paw, striking down heavily towards the demon's head!

It knew, it was a tiny white dot challenging its fury!

Adi, the cunning demon, felt a burst from his bladder, as if it had burst, but he didn't even feel despair in his heart!

Hundreds of ferocious beasts roared madly!

And then! The small creature, draped in silver fur, opened its eyes and faced the looming paw!

Swish!

A silver light flashed, and time in the multiverse seemed to freeze in that instant. The mighty image of the bear's attack seemed to be torn in half, and in just half a breath's time, the mouse was perched atop the bear's splattered brain.

Snap!

All the clamor ceased at once, and the surroundings fell silent. The cunning demon stopped breathing and thinking altogether, making no reaction to the scene.

Silence lingered for a long time...

The mouse squinted, its sword-like tail curling as it reached into its ear, pulling out a puddle of bloody brain matter, then casually flicking it away.

Smack!

That red and white earwax was flicked onto the stunned face of the cunning demon. Adi subconsciously wiped his face, realizing his life was spared. He immediately knelt down, crying tears and excrement, "Master! Master! You are truly majestic, magnificent, and..."

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Snap!

Another smear of earwax slapped onto Adi's face, and the cacophony of noise beside his ears vanished. The mouse looked around at the surrounding beasts, and various abyssal creatures stared fearfully at the mouse atop the bear's corpse. They began to retreat cautiously, emitting shrinking growls.

The mouse stared silently at the beasts for a while, until they averted their gaze from its intense mental pressure, and their roars gradually subsided, succumbing to its authority. Its eyes flickered, and suddenly an idea struck...

Originally intending to return to the primary material plane through the portal immediately, the mouse now felt no urgency. It suddenly realized that this place seemed even more intriguing than the primary material plane...

The Pale Forest lived up to its name, with thick snow perpetually blanketing the barren trees on the forest floor. Molten lava flowed quietly underground, while the background light from other planes cast an eternal white glow. In the distant silence, who knew how many lurking creatures awaited...

The mouse squinted its eyes.