The Engraved Family.
[Levian].
There were a total of 32 members in the Engraved Family.
And among them, only 10 possessed the ability of [Engraving] due to their awakened bloodline.
The Great Demon King’s family—the Berzette Family—claims to have allied with Levian, but in reality, it was no different than a slave family.
The 10 awakened Levian bloodline members couldn’t take a single step outside the vast territories presented by the Berzette family.
They were always under strict surveillance to ensure they stayed inside.
The remaining 22 non-bloodline awakened members were forcibly married off to the second and third-class demons of the Berzette Family.
Calling it marriage was just a nicer term; it was essentially rape.
The 10 awakened bloodline members were taking hostages with those who hadn’t awakened to ensure they wouldn’t betray them.
The Levian Family, a prestigious name in the demon realm, had established itself even as the [Demon King Family] 250 years ago before waging war against the Great Demon King’s Berzette Family.
Now, such a prestigious family had fallen to the status of mere slaves.
On the back of Jaymel, the youngest daughter of the Great Demon King Berzette, something was being engraved.
It shimmered faintly in a blue-green light.
The engraver was the palm of a girl’s outstretched right hand.
The member of the Engraved Family engraving the mark on Jaymel’s back was Yuren, the youngest direct descendant with an awakened bloodline.
With her purple skin and orange eyes, Jaymel slowly opened her mouth.
“This engraving is that of power, right? Yuren.”
Jaymel’s voice could be described as incredibly tender.
“Yes… Lady Jaymel.”
Yuren answered softly while concentrating on engraving the circular rune.
“Why can’t Yuren engrave higher-level marks like the Flash or Steel marks?”
Yuren’s eyes shook violently.
She knew that Jaymel was building a terribly low and sinister justification to torment her.
Jaymel’s soft voice pierced Yuren’s ear.
“I know, I know. Only your esteemed head of household can engrave such supreme marks. And that head of household’s marks can only be received by the Great Demon King and the prince, right?”
A moment later, Yuren’s palm fell away from Jaymel’s back.
“Ten years ago… and today, this makes the second time you’re receiving an engraving from me.”
Members of the awakened bloodline can only use the engraving technique once every 10 years.
It’s essentially a 10-year cooldown.
It was like it was the year zero.
Jaymel rushed towards Yuren with her brown hair flying.
“Hmm, the engraved power manifests the moment you vow to use it….”
Jaymel pinched Yuren’s pristine white right arm with her fingers. Despite the intense pain radiating from her arm, Yuren showed no change in expression.
She was trying hard not to provoke Jaymel, the 20-year-old female demon standing before her.
“So, if I make that vow right now, Yuren, your arm would get ripped off, huh?”
Yuren’s silver eyes hidden behind her blonde hair shook violently. Jaymel let out a mischievous laugh.
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
Jaymel removed her fingers from where she had pinched Yuren strongly.
The pinch had left a red mark, sinking deep into the skin. Yuren, despite the stabbing pain, showed no signs of discomfort.
The more she reacted to the pain, the more Jaymel would torment her, a lesson Yuren had painfully learned over the past ten years.
Jaymel drew a thin crescent moon with her eyes.
“Oh, I prepared a gift for Yuren, whom I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Jaymel took something out from an old brown pouch. It was a black bug. A corpse of an insect resembling a centipede.
There were over a dozen of those insect corpses.
“Ah—hey, it’s Karum, a bug rich in nutrients and delicious. A gift I prepared just for you, Yuren.”
Jaymel grinned wickedly.
“You have to chew and eat it all up. Not leaving a single bit behind.”
Jaymel lifted the pouch and scattered it in front of Yuren. Yuren looked at the bugs, Karum, sprawled on the ground with trembling eyes.
“Not eating?”
Slaaaap!
Jaymel’s open palm struck Yuren’s cheek hard.
Yuren’s head snapped around. Her platinum hair swirled as the upper body swayed.
It was a face-tearing pain. Her lips were already half-busted.
A fishy smell filled her mouth.
“Is it that hard to eat a bug when told to do so?”
The chilling voice of Jaymel seeped into Yuren’s ears.
“If you don’t eat that, I might just die? Huh? The Pact of Death—when Jaymel’s heart stops, so does Yuren’s. Sounds romantic and destined, doesn’t it? Of course, even if you die, it won’t stop my heartbeat. Hehe.”
Jaymel covered her mouth with her right hand and spoke like a shy girl.
The Great Demon King Berzette had a simple mechanism in place to fully control the Engraved Family.
To bind all ten members awakening their engraved powers with a death pact connected to the direct descendants of the Berzette family.
To make a death pact that connects all members directly related to the Berzette family.
That was the reason why the engraved family could not even think of betrayal.
“Not eating? Huh?”
Jaymel created magical needles at the tips of her long nails and poked Yuren’s snow-white arm.
Thud! Poke!
“Ahhh!”
Blood began to flow.
“I’ll eat… I’ll eat.”
Yuren knelt on the ground. Then she picked up a Karum, an insect from the demon realm that resembled a centipede, and ate it.
Crunch…
One.
Crunch… Munch…
Two.
She had to chew and swallow a total of eleven Karums.
Her self-esteem sank to rock bottom.
Her already worn-out mind was now shaken to its limits.
“Hehe, very well done.”
The twenty-year-old demon, the youngest daughter of the Great Demon King Berzette, Jaymel, said with a girl-like smile.
*
“Yuma, no matter how confident you are, if you approach simply by trying to kill the Great Demon King Berzette, even if you manage to kill him, the possibility of fully obtaining what you desire from the engraved family remains slim.”
The Great Demon King, Lilith, known by the title “Master of All Flames,” advised Yuma with her bright yellow eyes.
“Berzette could not possibly leave any pact unbound with members of the engraved family who can use engraved powers. Even if he dies, the probability is high that he has made a death pact ensuring that every member of the engraved family’s heart explodes. Of course, he wouldn’t have made such a reckless pact, but it’s very likely he has set up something similar. For instance, it’s probable that he has tied his life to the direct descendants of Berzette.”
Yuma agreed with Lilith’s words.
“I think so too.”
So, if they could make contact with the engraved family in advance, that would be the best choice.
“I will arrange measures so that you can liaise with the head of the engraved family. We are scheduled to depart tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
The night deepened.
Yuma and Bell were lying on the same bed.
Lilith had playfully suggested that she could give them two rooms, but even though Lilith was in a position to help Yuma, this was the demon realm. It was best to minimize risks as much as possible.
– Just trust me and sleep well, Master. I’ll wake you immediately if anything happens.
The night watch would be taken care of by Egosod and Balmung.
Fortunately, the bed was quite spacious, so there was no need for them to be close to each other.
The bed was pretty spacious, so there was no need to bring their bodies close together.
Bel glanced sideways. Without realizing it, she swallowed. She understood that they kept their distance out of consideration for each other, so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. But for some reason, it felt quite disappointing.
‘No… Stop those lewd thoughts.’
Bel thought this and pulled the blanket up to her neck.
After calming her heart for a moment, she slowly turned her head to the right, facing Yuma.
“You said this trip to the demon realm was for you to become stronger, right?”
Yuma also turned his head to look at Bel. Her pink eyes shimmered faintly.
“Yeah.”
“The fact that a really strong Yuma wants to get even stronger is because of the other evil gods besides Incrinew that might come down in the future, right?”
“That’s right.”
Yuma had mentioned earlier that there was a possibility of a few evil gods similar to the one he had killed, Incrinew, aiming for the Intermediate World.
“…On the day we returned from the city, there was that evil god who appeared before us in a nun’s body. You said that made seven, including him.”
“Correct.”
Brigitte, Cloney, Hestia. And Bel. These four, who could fully be considered Yuma’s people, were all aware of everything, even if Yuma had added ‘it’s just a prediction’ to ease their worries.
“I’m sorry, Yuma.”
Bel suddenly felt a strong sense of self-loathing and powerlessness.
Even now, the power of the god Incrinew, [Termination]. Just thinking of that dark world sent chills down her spine. Even though she had reached the pinnacle of humanity as a Grand Master, she didn’t think she could cut through that pitch-black world.
“I’m not really much help.”
Yuma looked at Bel’s downcast pink eyes.
“Don’t fall apart. There isn’t a single thing I’ve changed my mind about from the day I told you what I said.”
Bel felt she didn’t need to hear in detail about that day he was talking about. It must have been the day he killed Incrinew.
– You will become a greater swordswoman than me.
Bel smiled shyly.
“…I still can’t imagine that I would realize those words.”
“Believe it, because it’s something I said.”
Bel’s eyes widened.
“Okay, I’ll do that. My Lord. I must believe what my Lord said….”
Bel recited those words in her mind. Even if she couldn’t believe in herself, she’d decided to believe everything if it was Yuma’s words.
“Now, let’s put worries aside for a while.”
“Okay, sleep well, Yuma.”
After saying that, still with a faint smile, Bel stared at Yuma intently for a moment, then slowly turned her head.
And then she closed her eyes.
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