Chapter 47: Contract with a Demon

The battle inside Grimstone did not last long, at least not compared to a traditional siege.

The dwarves fought to the last breath, defending their home with their lives and blood.

But from Koda’s view of the war, their resistance looked rather foolish, even laughable.

Koda, who took joy in war, found them even less entertaining than the centaur warriors from before.

’They aren’t weak, just predictable,’ he thought, with a faint sigh.

So these "boring" dwarves made him decide to end the battle early.

* * *

"Heavens, what happened here?"

Bilkin, who had barely escaped with his life, stumbled out onto the street.

He was not truly safe, though. Behind him, several impatient imps were herding him forward on Koda’s orders.

He was not the only one. Many townsfolk of Grimstone were being driven out by demons, one after another, until they were all gathered in the square.

Only when they arrived did they see it. In the center of the square lay over a hundred garrison soldiers, or rather, their broken corpses, scattered in every direction.

"Oh no, my poor Sabo!"

In a corner of the square, Bilkin spotted the body of his distant relative Sabo and threw himself onto it, crying.

Half an hour ago the man had been alive and kicking. Now he was unrecognizable after the fall from the sky, his body in pieces, mixed in with the other soldiers’ corpses.

You might ask how Bilkin recognized him if the body was in pieces.

The answer is not hard to guess.

Bilkin saw an expensive dark-gold ring on the corpse’s finger, and from that moment, whether it was Sabo or not, the man was Sabo.

Bilkin pulled off the ring while he sobbed.

"My poor Sabo, I swear in the name of diamonds and gold, I will avenge you!"

"I will never rest until these cursed monsters are dead!"

The greedy, cunning Bilkin meant every word, and he spoke for every dwarf present. Though they had lost the power to resist for now, that did not mean they had bowed. The fire of revenge burned in each of their hearts.

But that was about to change.

What changed it was a few special demons Koda had just hatched, the Taskmaster Demons!

Taskmaster Demons were mid-ranked demons, and each one was extremely costly to create. They were towering things, no slimmer than Karolith, each gripping a thick whip. Their upper bodies were vaguely human, but their lower halves grew in a tangled mess.

Some had a crocodile’s thick limbs and long tail. Some had the twisted lower body of a deformed centaur. Some had no limbs at all, only countless thick tentacles that carried their fat bodies forward.

Yet their ugliness was not what made them special.

What made them special was their unique power to rule and enslave!

Each Taskmaster could govern an entire territory on his own. He could command hundreds or thousands of slaves and drive them to carry out his lord’s orders.

Mining, farming, or deadlier work, any servant under a Taskmaster worked far more efficiently than the servants of other demons.

And it wasn’t just fear of death. For many, death was only a release.

The true terror of a Taskmaster was that he was a master of human nature, or rather, he knew how to use other people’s desires.

* * *

"Dear friends, I need your help with a small favor..."

At that moment, a Taskmaster with a snake’s lower body slithered in circles around the dwarves, under the gaze of the many demons.

He spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage, though it was still cold, and swept every dwarf with eyes that seemed to see through souls.

"Before I left my warm, damp nest, the great lord I serve gave me an order."

"He told me that once I took over this town, I was to find everything of value in it, to feed his never-ending conquest."

"So I need to find everything of value here for him. Food, weapons, armor, and perhaps some secrets and information that few people know."

"Of course, I won’t ask you to help for nothing."

The Taskmaster chuckled and smiled at the dwarf civilians in front of him.

"To anyone who helps me, I will give favorable treatment for all the endless time to come."

"Favorable treatment? Ptoo!"

A dwarf spat on the ground and glared at him.

"We would rather die than be dogs to a monster like you!"

"That’s right!" "He’s right, we won’t be your dogs!" "Die, you scum!" "Don’t try to divide us!"

These stubborn dwarves showed unmatched unity. Though they had nothing in their hands, the pride of their race still made them resist the Taskmaster’s temptation.

The Taskmaster did not seem angry. He simply stretched out a thick finger and sent the loudest dwarves to the imps as food.

Their screams rang out, and the rest fell silent.

Demons’ methods of torture were among the cruelest in all the worlds. No one wanted to be the next to speak out, at least not now.

’Pride makes a fine lock, but every lock has a key,’ Koda thought, watching through the Taskmaster’s eyes.

"Hehe, my friends."

"Don’t you want to live? Life is so precious."

"Don’t you want to live more happily in the days ahead?"

"I promise you, the lucky one who earns my favor will live a better life than ever before."

"Whatever he desires, I can guarantee it."

The Taskmaster’s gaze swept over everyone. He had actually picked his target already. He was only waiting for the man to cross his own limit and join his side.

"Look, any beautiful girl among you, he may choose freely."

"Anyone who has a grudge against him will be dealt with."

"He will eat fine food, while the rest fight rats for scraps."

"He may even keep his wealth. The great lord I serve does not care about that."

Many dwarves wavered. But only wavered. A few hours ago they had been people of a civilized world, and morals and honor still bound them. No one would sell his soul easily.

Until...

"Oh~"