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I went towards Karua, but the three-headed man held up what looked like a lasso and tried to obstruct me with it.
That moment, an arrow pierced his arm, and I was able to get to Karua.

Mika had shot the arrow. It looked like he hadn’t hit me and was now pinned down with considerable power.

“Tch! …Hey, what the hell are you doing, you damn brat?” he growled. “Do you want me to do it with you that badly? Hm?”
“Bring it on,” Mika fired back, “but the one being done in¹ will be you, you’ll see!”
“Ha-ha! Even if you act big, you’re just a brat! You think you can actually win, you little sh̲it? Even though a female fighting me stands no chance in hell to win! No matter what you say, you’re pure… yet. That’s good, you know? I, Lord Asmodens… will destroy everything important to you!”

I was a bit concerned about what the man called Asmodens-or-something had said, but… For now, I should let Mika handle him.

I called out to the cowering Karua.

“Karua, Karua. Are you alright?”
“Huh… A… lim?”
“That’s right, Karua. We came to save you!”
“A… A… Alim!!”

Karua threw her arms around me. I held her close, in turn.

“…Uh…”

That moment, what looked like a rain of needle-like things flew at us from the direction of the other demon. It seemed as if they were all poisoned.

…However.

The needles were instantly transformed into “Gold”.
This is probably his work.

“Sorry, but I’m your enemy, y’know…” Bacchus told the demon. “Are you ready?”
“…!? …” the demon mumbled back.
“Hah… Y’know, I can’t understand what you’re saying. Normally, beating up women isn’t a parttime of mine… but you’re an enemy. I won’t go easy on you, y’know.”

I’ll let Mr. Bacchus take care of that demon. For now, I need to look after Karua, until we get out of here.
Afterwards, I should be able to link up with those two, shouldn’t I?

“Say, can you stand, Karua?”
“Eh… yes… It should be alright.”

I helped Karua up, lead her by the hand, and tried to leave this place. That moment, I sensed something swirling around us.
That smoke looks as if… it’s a living thing…

Again, I had the feeling, I had seen this somewhere before. The smoke-like stuff gradually spread out until it surrounded us. Then, one part massed up, took the shape of a gigantic sickle, and attacked us.

I blocked the sickle with a shield I’d created instantly. Because I didn’t have a very good mental image, it unintentionally turned out like a store-bought shield, but I thought it should suffice to defend against the attack. For now.

The sickle touched the shield.
Did the shield just fully transform into smoke from the point of contact? If that hit me, it might’ve been dangerous.

During that interval, the smoke massed up again… More and more, it took human shape… What appeared in front of our eyes then, was a man looking like a clown you’d see in the circus.

“What~?” he exclaimed incredulously. “I was sure I hit you just now, right~? Little Miss Red-Hair.”

He talked like one of those weirdly persistent salesmen.

As I thought, these guys seem know about me, don’t they?
If I assume that, then why do they know about me?

“Of course, the normal method doesn’t work, does it~…” the demon who had caught us said. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mephistophales. Henceforth, you’ll get to know me very well.”

So, he’s Mephistophales, the one currently ruling over the demons.

“Hey, why the hell do you know about me?”
“That’s right, no~? You see~, there’s a prophecy about you, my dear²! There’s a prophet among us, right~? He made a foretelling, 300 years ago. It said, ‘A little girl with red hair will create the tool to release the demon god’.”

I see, a prophecy, huh?
Rather, at that moment 300 years ago, was it already my fate to die and become Alim? Was my death decided like that…?

Well, apart from getting out of here, let’s hit these guys with the one thing they’ve forgotten about.
That I won’t cooperate with them, right?

“Then,” I asked him, “do you believe I’ll just work with you?”
“T-That’s right, you know!” Karua added. “Because Alim helping you to resurrect some demon god isn’t…”
“I do, you see~! I do.” The clown replied cheerfully. “It’s because of the power of ingenuity with this contract I hold…”

He was holding the giant sickle in his hand, aimed it at us and brought it down.

“First however… I will ask you to return the princess. With brute force.”
“Should I expect anything noteworthy? I’ll easily blow you away in an instant.”
“Oh~? Confident, aren’t you~… If this is the case, I wonder how much~?”

He turned into smoke again, and then regathered. …Now, there were 7 clowns.

“””””””Heh-heh-heh-heh, If I’m like this, I have no substance, you see~! Oh, and everything my sickle touches turns into smoke, and if I touch something by myself, no matter what part of me that should be, I can use the ‘Forced Contract’…”””””””

Forced Contract… I see, with that he plans to make me create the tool. Judging from the name, it’s a skill that forces you to do something. No matter who the other party is, this would certainly be an advantageous ability.

I can’t let any of those 7 guys touch me.
Of course, I can’t let them touch Karua either. If he forced her into a contract, I have no idea what he’d make her do, right?

Well, what should I do about this?

TL notes:
Looks like we have several big fights on our hands. The next 3 chapters will each focus each on one of the fights.

1. This is a play on words in the original: Asmodens uses the verb ヤる (to have sex) pronounced “yaru” while Mika uses 殺る (to do someone in) which is also pronounced “yaru”. Not sure if my translation properly conveys this joke.
2. This is a mistranslation caused by misinterpreting 貴女 as being in its “dear”, “darling” meaning. I decided leave the sentence as it was, since it serves to emphasize Mephistophales being somewhat patronizing.