The Author's POV

"It looks like another talented one has arrived."

His gaze landed on a human girl with long, glossy black hair and thin lips. By demon standards, she could be considered quite beautiful, though the Prince had no interest in her.

There were other things that piqued his interest, and that was not one of them.

The fact that her powers affected a large area was one of the things that piqued his interest and was something he could not allow to continue.

She needed to be disposed of before she became a serious problem for his plan.

In fact, everyone who belonged in the group she was in need to be taken care of.

"Let's see."

His eyes swept over the three women before pausing on the elderly man. He was the strongest of the group by far. His strength was comparable to that of a young Prince, and he posed the greatest threat.

He was not a significant threat to him, but he could still affect his plans, so he had to be dealt with first.

Swoosh—!

Prince Konjak was a decisive individual. The moment he figured out what he needed to do, he set himself into motion.

Taking a step forward, he appeared right before the group.

"Humans."

He called out in a soft voice. His sudden appearance startled them, but not significantly. They appeared to have somewhat anticipated his imminent arrival.

This was good…

"There's no need to panic. I mean no harm… as of yet."

The Prince's voice was amicable.

With a calm smile on his face, he addressed the four people in front of him.

"If possible, I would like to avoid killing you all. You are all incredibly talented in your own right, and it would be a shame to kill you all, so I am here to propose an offer officially. One, I'm sure you won't be able to refuse."

Bringing his hand forward, three contracts appeared in his hand.

"I'm certain I don't have to explain to you all what these are, so how about it? Will you join my side? …I really don't want to kill such talented people."

While he brought the contract forward, the others gazed at the contracts before turning to face him. The shortest of them, the woman with orange hair, spoke with a frown on her face.

"I don't think you've done the proper math."

She turned to look behind her.

"There are four of us, but only three contracts. Do you seriously believe you will be able to recruit all of us if you cannot even count?"

"About that…"

The Prince smiled.

"It wasn't a mistake."

"What?"

"There's no mistake in the number of contracts that I'm offering."

The Prince repeated himself, his gaze falling on the elderly man.

"In the end, I've decided to offer three contracts to the three of you, excluding him. He is already past his prime and has reached his limit. I have no use for a person whose limit only amounts to this much. There are many other demons with more talent than him that I can recruit."

Demons lived for a very long time.

in front of him seemed to at most

but it certainly wasn't very much

had reached the peak of what his powers could

or bringing to his side. He had many other subordinates that were of his caliber, if not even better than he

"Don't worry, humans."

a noticeable change in the

you care for him, so I'll keep him alive. Though he's useless, he's still

Boom—!

force. The force was powerful, shattering everything nearby, but the

the corner of his eyes, he could see a faint reflection of himself on the blade that had struck

"Hasty, aren't we?"

gaze fell on the

expression was menacing, and a strong surge of mana emanated from her sword, which

"You're not bad."

commented, feeling the power contained

"However…"

Flick!

the sword shut up, and he appeared before the orange haired girl. With his hand pressed against her abdomen,

it when

Boom—!

the closest dunes with a muffled thud, and sand flew into the

all out, she was

Woom—! Woom—!

"Oh, my."

the Prince was confronted by a series of formidable forces, which he also

arrow, a whip, and a complex spell

the perpetrators while observing each of the attacks

Xiu!

space behind him began to tremble, and the arrow that had been floating in front

"Uh?"

to react to the unexpected situation, a figure

orange-haired girl whom he had thrown

Swoosh—!

her, the prince frowned and veered off

pose a threat to him,

"Your struggle is meaningless."

the side of the blade that was heading his way, the blade's direction changed,

Twamp!

"Akh!"

advantage of the opportunity and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying through

over, he felt a gentle force beside him, and an amethyst hue surrounded

"Stop it."

even touch him. His eyes wandered toward the woman with

don't understand. I offered you a good deal; why won't

deal was rather

his life, he had never mistreated his

front of him were doing was, to

the Prince didn't like stupid

quickly dissipated, and his eye flashed with

in taking the lot of

contracts that floated in the air beside him dispersed into thousands of particles, and the Prince's terrifying

and opened his palm. The very air around him came to a sudden

the need to keep you

Rumble—! Rumble—!

shake violently. Not only slightly, but the entirety

"What's going on?!"

by the situation, as evidenced by the serious expression on

is it his majesty? No, but he can directly go in… just who in the

wait for long to

Cr…Crack—!