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.

of him seemed to at

it certainly wasn't very

reached the peak of

put, he wasn't worth nurturing or bringing to his side. He had many other

"Don't worry, humans."

in the human's expressions, the Prince spoke

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

Boom—!

the Prince could finish his sentence, he was attacked by a terrifying force. The force was powerful, shattering everything nearby,

he could see a faint reflection of himself on

"Hasty, aren't we?"

on the

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

"You're not bad."

Prince commented, feeling the power contained within the

"However…"

Flick!

before the orange

it

Boom—!

into the distance, colliding with one of the closest dunes with

all out,

Woom—! Woom—!

"Oh, my."

confronted by a series

his hand, an arrow, a whip, and a complex

the perpetrators while observing each of the

Xiu!

the arrow that had been floating

"Uh?"

was about to react to the unexpected situation, a figure appeared next to

the orange-haired girl whom he had thrown not

Swoosh—!

she had previously demonstrated. Upon seeing her, the prince frowned and veered off to the

didn't pose a threat to him, catching

"Your struggle is meaningless."

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

Twamp!

"Akh!"

of the opportunity and kicked her in the

as he believed it was over, he felt a gentle force beside him, and an amethyst hue

"Stop it."

His eyes wandered toward the woman with

you a good

was

sparing them, they were going to work for him. In his life, he

were doing

didn't

them quickly dissipated, and

what? Nevermind. I'm no longer interested in taking the lot of you

contracts that floated in the air beside him dispersed into thousands

came to a sudden standstill, and

longer have the

Rumble—! Rumble—!

but the entirety of the structure shook, and as a consequence, several dunes dispersed in all

"What's going on?!"

startled by the situation, as evidenced by the serious expression on his face as

No, but he can directly go in… just who in the

to wait for long to get an

Cr…Crack—!