Chapter 99: 96- A deal with the Devil.

Artoria tensed after hearing Lucifer´s question. Having spent her fair share in politics made her feel that there were words within words in that it and do did I since I more or less knew about her personality from the game, but still even with the prior knowledge it isn't hard to realize that this question was a test for Lucifer to lure out the idiots. 

 

I always asked myself when I played Helltaker, why did Lucifer accept Helltaker in the game? Although I can't be sure of the real reason, I can make a couple of guesses with the more reasonable one being that long lived people simply lack entertainment since they've seen the most thing repeat thousands of times during their long lives which ends up making everything monotonous and boring, making new and unexpected things more appealing. 

 

So someone like Helltaker who comes and makes a mess out of hell for a very absurd reason is that, something new, unexpected and interesting. That is most likely the reason for her to accept the offer to join his harem of demon girls at the start. Though Helltaker definitely did a great job since Lucifer still remembered him even after such a long time passed in the next game. 

 

Well, that and some luck since pancakes and turn-based strategy games are Lucifer's favorite thing. In short, this invitation to be her favorite is a trap trap as she expects people to be infatuated with her and to blindly accept such a deal making them predictable and thus uninteresting. 

 

Yet, I wonder how many had fallen to such a simple trick. I probably would if I didn't know her beforehand and didn't spend a lot of time near the girls making me less vulnerable to her beauty.

 

I let out a chuckle and asked her about it “Has someone ever been dumb enough to take that offer? “ 

She seemed satisfied with my answer and decided to take a seat, patiently and with elegance while savoring the smell and taste of the wine that was offered to her. Her entire body language went back to her normal prideful one and answered me with a smirk ever present on her face. 

 

“You'd be surprised. “ 

 

Yeah, I can guess how many people would jump at the offer and more so when she knows how lethal that charm of hers is, and how to make use of it.

 

She is quite a nicer Lucifer all things considered, not being the ‘Me bad, me evil’ or the usual daddy issues and identity crisis one. No, she is quite a capable leader and commander for the Demon race and that makes her way more reasonable and manageable than the others. For one she is not a fighter and prefers to watch things fold from the back but on the other side she is way smarter and trickier to deal with. 

I have to think fast on how to make her stay.

She may scam me out of my money but wont straight kill me and rob me is what i'm trying to say, unless I make her mad. Pancakes are known to be her weakness alongside her pride over her status as the ruler of an entire race. She is 40% Pride and 40% Gluttony, among other sins, if I had to guess. 

 

“That aside, as you seem to know, my name's Lucifer, the CEO of hell " Her focus seems to be on the taste of the wine but I can feel that she is paying considerable attention to me. 

 

At least I did a decent job at catching her interest.

 

So now is the time to introduce ourselves. "Ahm, I represent the seat of Libra which makes me take the role of a judge in this place" 

 

Next she looked at Artoria who answered doing her best to not fall behind in 'presence' against her despite their difference in strength. At least the strength she can show on this vessel made on Ink.

Wait, how can my Ink host someone of her level? That is impossible… which means that what we are looking at is not all of it but a fraction as she needs to be careful to not break the body that she is using… 

 

I was brought out of my thoughts by Artoria introducing herself, reminding me where I need to focus.

"Artoria, Seat of Leo "

 

Even Artoria herself seems to realize that she is lacking in many ways, but that is also expected from someone that has surpassed her in both experience as a ruler and strength. Not that it discouraged Artoria from fighting back, her stubbornness is one of her charms. 

 

She even refused to become an 'otherworldly being' like Uther when Merlin suggested it to her so she won't suffer from what was going on during her rule filled with hardships. 

 

She ruled during the end of the Age of Gods which is the same as a Modern Earth suddenly starting to lose all electricity making things like lack of food from due to the lower growth of crops a common and growing problem since the world wasn't the same anymore, and that was only one of the problems she had to face. 

She was loved, praised and respected by all her people yet she failed. Merlin wasn't wrong when he said that she was destined to fail… 

Artoria's introduction was short and dry as she still seems to be wary of Lucifer but I can feel that something in her did manage to catch Lucifer's attention.

 

"I will also extend my offer to you girl, I won't mind having such a cutie around " She indeed caught her attention, way too much. Is it her pride, wish to taint that noble side of her, her beauty or maybe something else? I really don't know since Artoria has too many good points.

 

"I will have to refuse that offer, Lucifer" There wasn't even a trace of doubt or temptation in her answer which isn't a surprise since Artoria is well known for being a hard nut to crack. 

 

"Unfortunate." Lucifer's gaze moved towards the last person in the room but only for a moment, as Ciri was already far too lost in her charms. 

 

"You may call me Lucy then, I'll allow it. " A friendly gesture from her, a gesture that implies her willingness to establish some sort of connection or trade which is a good start for us as we do need someone of her strength. She represents that there is more to learn before we can even start considering matching someone like her.

 

"You mentioned a little about this place but I'm curious about what it is exactly? " 

 

I guess there is no harm in explaining what this place does to her and it's one of the most tempting things we can offer to someone like her who seeks something to entertain herself.  "It's meant to summon people from different worlds, 'wish' seems to be the key part for the summoning " 

 

Lucifer nodded her head, she deduced most of it aside from the wish part. "An interesting concept, and an even better application, after all it did manage to summon me, even if I was the one who let it do so. " She looked at her body, we both understood that there isn't much time as I can also feel how much the Ink is struggling to keep itself in shape. 

 

Her eyes then wandered in on us and then focused for a while on Ciri with some interest probably trying to find the difference that comes with her being from another would, she seemed to be looking at something inside her. Knowing Lucy's job, she may be looking at Ciri's soul. 

It does make one wonder if all souls look the same or is there a difference between souls from different worlds? I will try to find the time to ask Lucy later.

 

Knowing that there isn't much time to play around Lucy decided to go to the main point of this whole thing. "But that does raise a question, why did you summon me? " 

 

Knowing the key behind the summoning, I asked her instead."That question goes both ways, doesn't it? Why were you called here? "  

 

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When I looked into her eyes, I understood what she felt. The pure and simple excitement when you finally get what you have been waiting for a long, long time. Even her voice carried "Entertainment, The life of a CEO can be quite dull sometimes. So tell me human, can you give me what I desire?"

I've known her for a very short time but it is hard to miss the slight but noticeable change in her eyes and voice. A burning passion for wanting to know what is to come, something lost forgotten for someone that lived for so long.

 

"As you can guess this place connects different worlds and maybe even different realities, I can't promise anything but what better place to find what you desire than here? It's bound to be on one of them. “  

She had to maintain her image, to not seem too eager. "It is tempting, indeed. It is hard to reject such a favorable deal. "

 

I pressed for an answer. "Should I take that as a yes? I don't think you have anything to lose on this if you stay other than a little of your time." She is most likely immortal so this much time she would spend with us should mean very little to her.

 

I will also try to tempt her with a gift since the Pancakes are ready but what else can I use? Thinking about it, there is a piece of information that she is likely to be interested in. 

 

The idea that formed in my head gets better the more I think about it, after all who wouldn't be curious about their other selves? Especially someone whose concept is so present in so many worlds, even mine.

 

It's not that hard to tell that she is only dragging the matter so it isn't necessary to give more in this deal but at the same time I lose nothing from telling her.

 

"Also, I have some gifts if you decide to accept. " 

 

I can feel that I did manage to grab her interest with the gifts, at this point she may have realized that I know a couple of things about her so she understood that they suited her tastes. 

 

"Oh? And how confident are you about these so-called gifts? " 

 

She is going to love the pancakes but the information is still a risk. "It comes in two parts, I can be sure you will like the first one but the second one…it's a little complicated… "

 

"You sure seem confident about what you got there… " She must be thinking that as I said, she really has nothing to lose out of this and she understood that very well so there wasn't a reason to reject such an offer especially when she is already interested in what this place has to offer to begin with.

 

"You are lucky, I can't help but to accept such an interesting and favorable deal… but that was exactly what you were aiming for, right? I'm really interested in seeing what made you want to make me stay. " A deal she couldn't afford to reject, a simple and clear honey trap yet she can't help but to fall into it. 

 

A deal to keep her close.

 

I couldn't help but to smile victorious, regardless of how this ends up. She is the 'beyond' that I'm looking for, the proof that we still have so much to improve. A goal.

All I need to do is to be careful and hope I didn't unleash hell upon our world with this deal. Literally.

 

"How unfortunate, for our first meeting to be so short… " Lucifer looked at her own hand that was melting back into Ink, unable to keep working as her vessel. 

 

I'm too weak and she is too strong, it's a miracle that my Ink lasted this long acting as her body.

 

Lucifer… I can feel that she still had questions to ask, things to observe but both of us knew she couldn't stay here much longer. She is too strong for me to hold in this place and there was a limit on how long she could stay even when forcing the substitute body that I made when summoning her to not break. 

This is probably the first time she does something like this and yet it looks so skillful… I will keep that Ink for later in hope to learn something from what she did.

"A wish, a desire to return…" She is excited and expectant of what is to come out of this, she let herself fully into this trap. "Well done human, we will be meeting again. Soon I hope." 

Only silence followed her departure.

 

"And this was supposed to be my time to relax… “ As soon as Lucifer banished from this place I heard a relaxed but mentally tired Artoria complain. 

 

I'm still shocked by what we did, mentally revising the entire talk to see if I missed something. “That was truly unexpected “

Artoria agreed with me on that one.  “She sure is formidable… “

A third voice answered, sounding a little dazed still. “Yeah, she was amazing… “

 

Who? Right, Ciri is still with us. “I forgot you were there “

 

The charmed Ciri answered back without thinking.

 

 “Me too… “

 

Artoria, Ahm: “??? “

 

Thankfully she realized what she said and tried to fix it. 

 

“I mean. I… She.. “ 

 

We both smiled at the flustered teen, at least her being flustered managed to clear the heavy atmosphere Lucy left behind. 

“So little Witcher, how was your week ? “ 

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