Even the Demon King is worrying about another world today.

The magic circle engraved on the back of her right hand was exactly the same as the magic circle on Mikayi's left hand, and the contract magic had firmly connected the two.

“This is an equal contract, not a master-servant contract, and it’s a one-time thing. I help you fulfill your wish, and you offer your soul to me as a sacrifice,” Mikayi explained patiently. “It’s just like buying something at the market. You pay, and I give you the goods. It’s that simple. So there’s no such thing as a slave or a master.”

"I don't care. Until you grant my wish, you are my slave." The girl tilted her head, her long black hair falling over her shoulder.

"Didn't you just want to learn dark magic?" Mikael grinned like a devil tempting a child. "If you acknowledge me as your master, I'll teach you dark magic, how about it?"

"Hmph, no. As the demon I summoned, you have an obligation to teach me magic."

"Blue Flame".

Blue flames appeared at Mikayi's fingertips, chilling him.

A chill instantly began to permeate the entire room. The firewood that had been burning brightly in the fireplace grew weak.

"This flame gets colder the longer it burns; the cold can extinguish ordinary flames while also melting glaciers."

The blue flame at his fingertips went out, and Mikayi moved his fingers, drawing a circle in mid-air.

"Black flame."

The flames were switched. The faint black flames were so inconspicuous that they could not be detected unless one looked closely.

The overhead light suddenly went out, and the struggling firewood in the fireplace turned into a wisp of black smoke.

The girl shivered.

It was cold, not the coldness on the skin, nor the biting cold. It was a chill that seeped into the soul…

"The flames of the devil can burn the soul and drive away all light."

Seeing the girl's face turning pale, Mikayi knew when to stop and withdrew the black flames back into his body.

Mikayi gave the girl a wicked smile.

"How about it? Want to learn?"

The girl's excitement was hard to hide. Mikayi knew she had succeeded.

"Hmph." The girl snorted coldly, "I'll call you Master for now. Once I learn dark magic, I'll kick you, you devil, far, far away."

Ignoring the last half of the sentence, Mikayi smiled slightly and nodded: "What should you call me? Say it again."

"Master!" the girl raised her voice, repeating impatiently.

Mikayi's smile became even more pronounced after succeeding.

"So what's your name? My lovely little apprentice."

“Kuro,” the girl said, “Kuro Nek.”

"Okay, Kuro, I got it. Now I'll ask you two more questions."

"Don't push your luck! I'll answer one of your questions, and you teach me a dark spell. That's fair, isn't it?" Kuro said, dissatisfied.

"Don't rush, black magic can't be learned in a short time. I need to confirm a few things before that."

"Then I'll mercifully answer two more of your questions." Kuro put his hands in front of his chest, threw them back, and lay straight down on the soft bed.

056 The Apprentice of Black Magic

"What do you mean by destroying the world? Summoning a demon to destroy the world? That's impossible!" Mikayi asked the question that concerned him most.

No matter what, he had already made up his mind to protect the other world. Being suddenly summoned and asked to destroy the world like this is a difficult situation for a demon king.

"Hmph, of course a lowly demon like you couldn't do that. I know that the demon rulers can do such things."

"What if the ruler of the demons doesn't want to do such a thing? After all, if he really wanted to, he would have done it already."

"I don't care, I am the summoner, and the demons must grant my wish."

"Why must it be this kind of wish? If the world is destroyed, you won't survive either," Mikayi advised.

"I never wanted to live! Look at me, what's the point of living? You should know, I almost starved to death before you came along."

“And…” Kuro lay on the bed, an oil lamp relit above his head, “empires like this, ravaged by war, should all be destroyed.”

"Where are your parents, Kuro?"

This seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl shouldn't be experiencing such strong negative emotions. Unless...

"Both parents are dead." Kuro said calmly, which surprised Mikayi. "My father was an adventurer who died in the last quest. My mother was a mage of the Empire, and we lost contact with her several years ago."

When Mikayi changed Kuro's clothes while he was unconscious, he noticed that Kuro had many bruises and some scabbed wounds on his body.

Based on what Kuro said, we can roughly know what this beast girl went through.

Kuroro pulled his cloak tighter and tucked his neck into his collar. "Thanks for getting me such warm clothes. You must have been chased by the merchants for blocks."

Before he could even feel sorry for Kuro's plight, Mikayi was already speechless after the other party's next words.

"...This is what I bought."

"Huh? Do lower-level demons have the money to buy clothes like this?" Kuro asked, his round eyes wide with confusion.

The veins on Mikayi's forehead were practically bulging. As a poor demon, I'm truly sorry!

“First of all, you may have some misunderstanding about me. I am not a low-level demon.” Mikayi took a breath and continued, “Secondly, this money is what I got in exchange for a commission.”

"Hmm? Isn't the lowest-ranking humanoid demon just a low-level demon?" Kuro blinked. More than the man's demon rank, she was concerned that demons could accept commissions. "I've never heard of a demon becoming an adventurer before."

"Because I look almost exactly like a human, it's normal for me to be treated as an ordinary human."

"So you fooled all the teachers and students of the higher academy? And you even graduated smoothly? Impossible, you demon. A high-level mage could easily see through you."

"No, I'm not an adventurer." Mikayi shrugged, considering it lucky to find a quest that didn't require an adventurer's certificate.

"Are you kidding me? You can't take on quests if you're not an adventurer?" Kuro paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and jumped up from the bed. "Don't tell me you..."

The quest I accepted was the S-rank "Slay the Snow Mountain Monster".

“That’s right,” Mikayi replied truthfully.

"OK, GG, goodbye demon brother. I'm sorry I had to let you die before I could fulfill my wish."

Mikayi was stunned. For a moment, it seemed as if he heard a term from his homeland, the continent called 'Earth'.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. You signed up yourself, so don't drag me into it. My wish is to perish with the world, not to die under the feet of a snow mountain monster."

Snapping out of his daze, Mikayi frowned: "Aren't you coming with me?"

"No, I don't want to go and get myself killed."

"How far is it from here to the snow mountain?" Mikayi asked again.

After thinking for a moment, Kuro replied, "It's about three or four hundred kilometers. The Empire will send a special carriage to take you there."

"Just a heads up, the side effects of the demonic contract will start to appear once you exceed one thousand meters," Mikayi explained 'kindly'.

"As you know, a demon contract connects the souls of a human and a demon. To prevent the summoner from escaping after the demon fulfills their wish, the summoner's soul is bound by the contract. The demon and the summoner cannot stray too far; once a certain distance is reached, it will begin to affect the physical body and eventually the soul..."

The soft pillow, propelled by a strong gust of wind, slammed into Mikayi's forehead. Due to the excessive force, the pillow bounced several meters away after impact.

"You...you huge liar!!" Kuro stood on the bed, holding another pillow in his hand. "Do you even know how many adventurers died in that place?!"

“I did it all for you,” Mikayi said innocently. “If it weren’t for the ten silver coins it prepaid to save your life, do you think I would have gone?”

"The ten silver coins issued by the association are called 'funeral expenses' in our slums, and no one dares to touch those commissions anymore."

"It was all to save you."

"I didn't ask you to save me."

As Kuro spoke, he opened one hand and stretched it out in front of Mikayi.

Mikayi looked at her suspiciously, then rummaged in his pocket for a while before pulling out two silver coins and placing them in Kuro's palm.

Kuro calmly put the silver coin into his pocket and then reached out his hand to Mikayi.

"Hey," Mikayi protested, "you're not leaving me any silver coins, what if you faint again later?"

"Who asked for your money?" Kuro said sullenly. "I've called you master, and I've answered your questions. Shouldn't you teach me dark magic now?"

If it's free, why are you so calmly accepting the money?!

After a moment of silence, Mikayi's expression turned serious.

After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Are you sure you want to learn dark magic?"

Kuro stood on the bed, and Mikayi could only look him in the eye by raising his head. A pair of thighs covered in black stockings were less than two centimeters away from his face.

“I still have to remind you, this is a path of no return,” Mikayi continued. “Although I don’t know the specifics of the Lyon Empire, magicians who use black magic will not be welcomed in any human country.”

"You have to risk being corrupted by dark magic while also enduring the prejudices of the human world."

It wasn't so much persuasion as Mikayi telling the girl what the road ahead would hold.

057 The Black Cat is the Demon King's Nemesis

“Black magic represents misfortune, curses, and evil. Every black magician will be isolated by society.” Kuro threw down the pillow in his hand and sat down. “It’s the same as the prejudice humans have against black cats.”

Kuro's black cat ears twitched, and he wore a relaxed expression.

Mikayi was at a loss for words.

To be fair, he chose to become a dark sorcerer because he was facing such a desperate situation. It was by embarking on this path of no return that he ended up in this predicament.

Although revered by thousands, he is also hated by millions. If Mikael were given the chance to choose again, he would not hesitate to choose the dark magician once more, and then once again trample the hypocritical humans underfoot.

"Are you even capable? Are you going to teach me or not?" Kuro became impatient when he saw that Mikayi hadn't responded for a long time.

"Don't tell a man no." Without saying another word, Mikayi pushed Kuro down onto the bed and then dragged a blanket over her.

“Hmm, I understand. This is some kind of deal before the teaching begins.” Kuro didn’t resist, letting Mikayi do as he pleased. His cat tail swayed up and down as Kuro calmly said, “As expected, a perverted demon.”

“…I’m not interested in someone as small as you.” Mikayi glanced at Kuro’s flat chest.

"Having obtained my soul, you now desire my body? Ha, man."

Mikayi covered Kuro's body up, making sure to tuck in the corners where the wind would get in. To make sure the bedding was airtight, Mikayi walked around the large bed several times.

Let's take good care of this frail orc lady.

"Don't rush, I can do it myself," Kuro said, wriggling something under the covers.

“…I’m telling you, don’t think about strange things all day long!” Mikayi grabbed Kuro’s hand from under the covers, stopping him from moving.

"Huh? You, the one who bought me XX underwear, have the nerve to talk back to me?"