From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 454 Hell Contract
How to deal with the Blood Armor Demon Yug is indeed a question worth considering.

If Yug is killed on the spot, he will be reborn in hell as a demon and bound by Raphael's contract. This is one of the reasons why Raphael wants the adventurers to kill him.

Releasing Yog and allowing him to remain in the Temple of Iron Hand, or helping him fulfill his pact with Raphael, would clearly increase Raphael's wariness of the adventurers. This is because Raphael's elaborate scheme was designed to build trust between them. The adventurers' willingness to forgo learning the method to reverse the Black Mass ritual behind Asdalon's back, rather than fulfilling a verbal agreement with Raphael, clearly demonstrates their deep suspicion of him, Cambion.

Since his methods of building trust with his clients had failed, Raphael had to consider other means to obtain what he wanted. The Supreme God and the Crown of Karthus were the focus of attention for all factions. While Raphael, a Cambylon, was not a figurehead, he was far more agile than other powerful figures who couldn't directly confront the situation. Whatever schemes he plotted in the shadows, it would undoubtedly increase the unpredictability of the adventurers' journey, which was precisely what Ivy least wanted to see.

From this perspective, killing the Blood Armor Demon or letting it go becomes a dilemma.

But Ivy has extensive experience in handling dilemmas. Generally speaking, if both options A and B have obvious problems, then choosing "or" will always solve the problem.

“The Nine Hells Court doesn’t stipulate that a devil can only sign one contract at a time, right?” Ivy already had a plan in mind. He looked the Blood Armor Demon up and down, his bulging muscles and skin resembling blood-red armor. “Otherwise, Raphael wouldn’t be able to subcontract this job to you through a contract while taking on the business of the Serene believers, Yog.”

"What do you want to do?" the Blood Armor Demon asked in a gruff voice.

"If you leave or die before killing all the Night Judges in the Iron Hand Temple, you will become Raphael's slave, but I don't think he's added a time limit to your continued slavery, is he?" Ivy didn't answer the Blood Armor Demon's question, but continued to ask.

“I heard that his Mansion of Hope is full of mortal slaves. If he could get a demon slave, especially a Blood-Armored Demon like me, he would definitely want me to serve him for all eternity. You’re right, he didn’t add a time limit to the contract.” Yog stretched his shoulders and put down the giant crossbow in his hand. It seemed he had given up on solving the problem by force. Of course, this was also a form of weakness on the part of the demon.

“What if Raphael dies?” Ivy continued, “Will your bond of enslavement be broken?”

"You want to kill him? That would indeed break the contract. But I think before that, he'll use the contract to pull me, the Blood Armor Demon, into his trap." Yog had already realized that the human who had previously suppressed him with magic had an irreconcilable conflict with Raphael. Not wanting to be a slave for life, Yog naturally began to consider all the possible scenarios.

Although Blood Armor Demons tend to use force to solve problems, a devil is a devil after all, and Yogg will use his brain when necessary.

He had pretty much guessed that the mage in front of him was considering signing another contract with him, to force him to help deal with Raphael and incidentally help him gain his freedom, or to enslave him with another contract with a shorter term.

But signing a devil's contract is not an easy thing.

The devil's act of making contracts stems from his desire to control mortal souls. However, a devil's contract is not something that can be made effective simply by words; it must be completed under specific conditions or circumstances.

The simplest way is within the Nine Hells. The birth of the Devil's Pact is thanks to the Order, one of the four ultimate forces in the D&D universe. Therefore, only in the hierarchical Hell can the devils more easily guide the power of the Order, turning the Devil's Pact from a piece of paper into a powerful clause bound by the power of the Order.

In other words, if the demons are too far from their homeland, they will be unable to successfully complete the contract.

Although the continent of Faerûn in the Prime Material Plane is not in such a distant realm, the dimensional power gathered on the land of Resven is by no means small.

Previously, Ivy had learned from Halsin's communication with the Nature Spirit Senir that the so-called Shadow Curse was a large area of ​​manifest energy, with the Fairy Wilderness, the Prime Material Plane, and the Fallen Underworld tightly stacked together like a sandwich, and in the middle there was a nail called the Night Song and a nail called the Nature Spirit, which firmly fixed the three together.

In this situation, there is clearly no room for the forces of order from hell to intervene.

Not to mention the location for signing the devil's pact, it could only be within the Iron Hand Temple, where Shar's influence was greatest.

Therefore, the Blood Armor Demon only needed to think for a moment to guess that the contract the mage in front of him wanted to make was nothing but a rootless chaff, completely ineffective.

Although the binding force of the contract no longer exists, Yog still believes that he is very likely to gain his freedom.

The mage who could suppress him instantly was a powerful figure. If he could truly kill Raphael, and then spare him—who might serve him—because of the contract, then in the absence of any binding force under this new contract, the Blood Armor Demon Yog would gain complete freedom.

Therefore, Yogg now not only has to do his best to facilitate the mage's signing of the contract, but also has to help him come up with a way to survive the future conflict with Raphael.

Dying in the material plane is fine, but if a demon dies in the Nine Hells, then the demon is truly dead.

Yug believed there was less than a one-in-three chance these people would break into the Nine Hells and kill Raphael, even considering the large collection Raphael possessed in the Mansion of Hope. Even if the chances were lower, Yug wouldn't gamble. Last time he'd almost lost everything due to Raphael's trickery; it was best to learn from that experience this time.

“You need a spell that can instantly control me and prevent me from being affected by Raphael’s contract magic,” Yog said proactively.

"Ah..." Ivy sighed, it seems the devil's mind works pretty fast. "Looks like you already understand what I want to do? Very good, I like talking to smart people."

This statement has a second part: "Especially those who think themselves clever."

“It’s not hard to find magic that can control you, but it’s worth the effort to find a way to activate it instantly.” Ivy pulled out a tattoo needle that gleamed with a cold light. “Magic tattoos can use your skin as a carrier to imprint magic on it. As long as the pre-set conditions are triggered, it can achieve an instant activation effect. However, the only problem is your skin, which is almost like armor. To be honest, I haven’t tattooed Blood Armor Magic Tattoos on you yet.”

Any living being will instinctively feel fear when it sees a long, thin, needle-like object; even the devil is no exception.

“This tattoo needle was crafted from mithril. To ensure its reusability and prevent cross-infection between different clients, I also micro-engraved several sterilization spells on it.” Although Ivy described it as micro-engraved, the mithril tattoo needle didn’t actually have a slender structure; instead, it was thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, resembling a cone. At the thicker end, many small, currently unactivated magical runes were emitting a soft glow.

“Mithril…” the Blood Armor Demon swallowed hard. “That can indeed pierce my skin… You’re well-prepared, human. Come on, fully demonstrate your contract!”

“A spellcaster must prepare in advance and be ready to use their abilities at the appropriate time.” Ivy smiled slightly and began to explain to her companions, most of whom were still confused. “To prevent the Blood Armor Demon in front of us from interfering while we are dealing with Raphael, I plan to bind him with a new contract. Although it is unwise to make a contract with a devil at any time, this guy in front of me is an unlucky fellow. If he doesn’t cooperate, he will become a prisoner of Cambion. That’s why he is cooperating and trying to subdue me.”

Seeing his somewhat clueless companions' half-understanding expressions, Ivy didn't waste any more time. "Then this contract will officially take effect after the Blood Armor Demon Yug becomes Cambyon Raphael's slave." Ivy snapped his fingers casually, and the Grimoire of Destruction, which hadn't appeared for a long time, shared a page of its own. Ivy's [Mage's Pen], an ability characteristic of the [Scribes' Guild Mages], also appeared out of thin air, rapidly dancing across the pages of the Grimoire of Destruction.

—Hell Contract—

1. The parties to this contract are the legendary spellcaster Ivy Doom (hereinafter referred to as Ivy Doom or Doom) and the Avnars Blood War Officer, Blood Armored Demon Yogg (hereinafter referred to as Blood Armored Demon Yogg or Yogg).

2. Without Ivy Doom's permission, Blood Armor Demon Yogg will not disclose this contract to any third party or any other person or thing in any form or by any means.

3. This contract shall take effect after Yog becomes a slave of Cambyon Raphael.

4. Upon the entry into force of this contract, Ivy Doom shall undertake to make every effort to ensure the death of Cambyon Raphael.

5. Upon the death of Cambyon Raphael, his slave contract with the Blood Armor Demon Yogg will be immediately terminated, and at the same time, Yogg's service contract with Doom will immediately take effect.

6. The service contract binds Yogg-Saron as follows: First, Yogg-Saron must not harm Avi-Doom, or stand idly by while Avi-Doom is harmed; second, Yogg-Saron must obey Avi-Doom's orders, unless such orders contradict the first clause; third, Yogg-Saron must serve Avi-Doom without reservation; fourth, all of Yogg-Saron's actions must be based on Avi-Doom's interests, and he may transfer decision-making power to Avi-Doom when necessary.

7. In order for the service contract to take effect, Ivy Doom must ensure that Yog, the slave of Cambyon Raphael, is in a helpless and powerless state in the battle between the two (this state is guaranteed by the tattoo magic that Ivy Doom has inscribed on Yog's skin beforehand).

8. Once the service contract between Doom and Yogg takes effect, its maximum term is one hundred Toril years.

9. Upon the expiration of the service period, Ivy Doom shall provide Yogg-Saron with one opportunity to amend this contract or renew the service contract.

10. Signatures of both parties.

Contractor: Ivy Doom
Contract Bound Person: (Empty)

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The colored quill pen that had finished writing the contract slowly turned into a string of light and disappeared, while the freshly printed paper contract text fell into Yug's hands.

He checked each word with his thick fingers, looked down and read through all the contents, then flipped the text over and over in his hands several times before confirming that there were no additional clauses.

“Unexpected fairness…” Yug muttered to himself, then drew a short sword from his waist and pierced the skin of his index finger. Thick demon blood immediately dripped down the blade.

Yug, who had spent years fighting on bloody battlefields, paid no attention. He extended his index finger and, with the viscous demon blood, began to write his name in the empty signature space of the contract.

To fit the style of the Hell Contract, Ivy wrote the entire contract in Purgatory, even spelling his own name in Purgatory letters.

Yog, who uses the blood of demons as ink, is no exception.

However, just as Yog finished signing and showed it to Ivy, the legendary spellcaster from another world laughed.

“What I want isn’t your signature in Purgatory, Yogg,” Ivy’s smile was devoid of any warmth. “What I want is your true name as a demon, the evil rune!”

If the devil is too far from his home in Hell, the Hell Pact cannot be successfully executed. Does this mean that for spellcasters from other planes, making a deal with the devil is inherently an unreliable endeavor?

of course not.

Even in Earth's stories and legends, demons are subject to restraint. As long as mortals loudly proclaim their true names, these omnipotent demons, capable of anything from heaven to earth, will immediately have no choice but to obey.

The same setting exists in the D&D universe.

As long as the spellcaster knows the true name of a demon, they can make a pact with the demon without leaving hell.

The true name evil talisman certainly has more than one use.

Besides making a deal, a spellcaster who possesses the demon's true name and evil runes can also use teleportation spells to summon the demon at any time and place, or loudly pronounce the demon's true name to temporarily render the demon unable to resist, or use spells such as otherworldly binding to force the demon to serve them.

Knowledge about true names is kept secret throughout the multiverse, and all spellcasters who know how true names work tend to keep this secret.

Therefore, real names have never been something known to the public.

However, as a legendary spellcaster who had a face-to-face conversation with Ilúvatar, the creator god of the world of Arda, and received some knowledge of creation, Ivy's feat, "Word of Creation," happens to include knowledge related to true names.

He had never considered using this knowledge to study the true name of a powerful otherworldly being before, because Lovecraft's example was still fresh in his mind!
Why does Ivy, who could have simply traveled directly to a safe other world, have to waste time and effort researching the true names of the otherworldly creatures like a child trying to catch a fish in troubled waters?
If you catch some small fish and shrimp, it's fine, but what if you catch a giant squid or a sperm whale? Wouldn't that be a joke?
Out of caution regarding the giant octopus Cthulhu, Ivy never proactively used her knowledge of researching the true names of otherworldly creatures.

But for a demon who clearly harbors ulterior motives and whose true form is right in front of him, Ivy has no burden whatsoever in using the [Word of Creation] to study his true name.

(End of this chapter)