29

I contacted Dodo and summoned him for the cleanup and to help wipe the scarlet guard out. we wait a while and when we don't see anyone else showing up I make our presence known by activating the circles I spread all around. a green mist spreads out and they all start falling one by one, most are asleep some weaker ones died instantly. this is my first time using Stolas in such a way, it is a venom that targets the lungs. it is pretty odd but who am I to complain about it, it's one of the few attacks I have from my traits. I can't wait to get something like Bael, I could have just erased all of them in one go.

"Alright Dodo you are up buddy." he jumps out and grows to a ridiculous size and the bodies disappear without a trace. Dodo is the best clean-up crew there is, if I had allied with Gundam a corpse necromancer I would save the bodies for him to build an army but he's still in Paglio's treasury sealed inside. plus even if it's a small amount Dodo is getting stronger as he eats and I haven't even got him black potions and he has gone from low devil king to middle devil king. if he had higher-tier food he would grow faster, I will keep that in mind.

"YUCK! Dodo can taste the dirt on these guys. not as good as the sweet ice cream!" I decided to take them back before I save Naliyi, I have no way of explaining how I know of her. but I can grab the tree now and set up an illusion of it still being there. the only one who is allowed to go see it up close is the mayor and he wouldn't waste the time so long as no one says it went missing.

"Let's head back after I grab something from this Valley." they follow after me as I fly up and over to the field where there is a single tree.

"What is it, Nova?" Athena lands next to it and looks up at the fruit not fully ripe. they don't have long with the aura they're exuding if I had to guess. most fruit wouldn't broadcast themselves if they're still far off from done in my opinion.

"Should be a devil pomegranate." I grab all the fruits and the tree decays. the only way to grow one of these is through the seeds after they lose their fruit they die. I store all but three and eat one after giving the others one each. I also throw up an illusion of the tree with dragon script so it looks like it was never gone. if someone was high enough level they would see through it almost instantly. but low tiers would see it as normal and that's what I am going for. "pass the seed back to me so I can plant it." I pocket the seeds and then send them to the garden and plant all of them. in roughly five days I will have more and then it will repeat till I have a full plot of trees of them.

Mentally looking at the garden the devil fruit and the fruit of temptation are both almost ready for harvest. I will keep half the fruit of temptation and plant the rest for more trees since I can't buy more fruit from the shop.

"Let's head back and get some ice cream we are done here, there are no more bandits to squat in the mine." they both stand beside me and we teleport back to the dark moon to round everyone up for a celebratory feast.

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"So the red one is a mix of two fruits one of which had a very mild toxin in it but I neutralized it with the other fruit that has an antidote effect." I show off a new flavor of ice cream, they don't seem impressed.

"Are you sure it's neutralized? I mean you plan to sell this in that sweet shop you are opening right?" Shea questions with a look of concern.

"Yea it's fine, try the taste it's pretty good, also I have managed to convince all the people around the area to sell their property to me so the southeast district of the dark moon is almost entirely mine." it's easy to buy when you use a little demonic energy the rates are at an all-time low, almost free to be fair. "The casino is underwork so I hired some people and they recruited some help and are getting it all in shape based on my designs. its got a huge basement and also multiple stories tall and the best part is the bottom floor is almost entirely open floor concept so no walls had to be removed, just had to decorate the pillars that support the ceiling and I reinforced it all with magic so it will survive an earthquake."

"That's good news Nova, do you have any ideas of employees for working the floor and dealing cards and games and stuff?" Kia sneaks some more vanilla ice cream as she asks.

"Yea I need to hire some ' pretty faces ' so that they attract people to their games and then get them making mistakes as their served drinks. the best part is I make most of my Alcohol so I can serve it for free as long as they're playing games I make a profit. going to have Dodo and some others kick people out if they're not playing and just drinking though, he will be able to switch appearances and make people think I have a lot of strong employees, the rest will be strawmen just there for show and to keep an eye out. " though I might lose a little with Dodo snagging drink's when he can, I will just deduct it from his pay.

"I can help with the day-to-day if you want." Alice offer and to be honest it's not a bad idea just got to watch her for skimming, she is too smart for her own good sometimes.

"Alright when it's built I will walk you through it if you want to." she nods

"Nova what about the other entertainment like the arena, how do you plan to compete with Joseph he won't take it lightly if one of his last moneymakers starts losing money." Shea has a good point I should have already tried to steal that from him. I can find Royce and promise him to help him pull Vasasha from Joseph and he would work for me, all three of Josephs's best subordinates would make good pawns.

"I will get it handled I got a plan but I need to find Royce." she raises an eyebrow but then Alice speaks up again.

"Royce is almost always in the magic shop Joseph own's" guess I know where to find him, it's odd last time I went there to rob some fluorescent stones it was a succubus at the counter.

"Thanks, Alice that's a big help." she smiles and scops more of the unnamed red ice cream.

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-- Royce pov --

My shift is over and I head out and lock the door and arm the defense system before stepping off the porch of the magic item store. I wonder if Vasasha would like to go eat tonight, ah who am I kidding she will just ignore me as usual. damn, Joseph stole the love of my life and then forced me to serve him or never see her again.

"Hello there." Who the heck, spinning around I see a masked man standing behind me.

"Who are you?"

"Who I am isn't important right now, what I offer you is what is important." looking around I don't see anyone else, and from this man I don't sense anything. what is going on, this feels like some kind of trap. "No need to worry about anyone else if I wanted you dead you would be." when he finishes talking I feel his power unleash and press down on me, similar to how Joseph does when he is angry but this is vastly more than joseph has. I need to be as careful as possible or he can just erase me.

"What can I do for you?" he nods and the pressure that was on me before disappears.

"It's simple, I need you to help me acquire Joseph's things such as the arena and a few of his shops. I plan to cut him out of the dark moon, and if you assist me then I will help you get Vasasha back." he knows about my situation with Vasasha. if so this guy's means are terrifying, everyone knows I love her but not many people know she was originally my fiancé before Joseph stole her to keep me in line and by extension Arux my best friend.

"What do I have to do?" this could work out for me perfectly since Alan and Joseph have fallen out Kanita has been making bold move's and Joseph is on death's door as it is already. I might as well join this guy if it lets me survive and bring Vasasha.

"I need you to help me get the arena from him at the very least, there are a few way's but I don't want his brother to step in and cease it before I can take possession of it." so just killing him is out, guess that's why he is even bothering to recruit me to help him. if Joseph died his brother would fight tooth and nail for his brother's belongings and as the new heir of the red spirit estate he would have a lot of weight to throw around. "Also come here for a second." I approach and he grabs my shoulder all of a sudden we are in a clearing next to a lake.

"Where are we?" I guess it doesn't matter where we are but still, it's surprising to be able to teleport this great of a distance without any detectable magic. at least I couldn't detect anything which is admittedly not that high with me only being a higher demon.

"Blue lake, now here agree to be my pawn and I will help you get Vasasha from Joseph as long as you can help convince Joseph to trade the Arena to me." A glowing red crystal of some kind appears in the air. looking at it I feel a certain kind of subconscious pull, quickly shaking my head I look back at the mask.

"What is this before I agree." this thing feels dangerous.

"This one is like a Slave contract but it will change your body to be like mine is the best I am willing to explain. in the future, if you show results I can upgrade it to servant if that will put your mind at ease, but for the point of this operation, I need one hundred percent assurance you won't speak out against my interests." that makes sense I guess, never heard of a slave contract like this though.

"I agree to be your pawn." and just like that the crystal flew into my chest and I feel rocked with pain momentarily before I fall and start to fall asleep. as I drift off I think of Vasasha, anything is worth it to have her back.

-- Nova pov --

This Simp jumped on the deal after hearing Vasasha. I guess I am not any better as far as that goes, but still, he didn't know how he would change from the piece just that he would. what if it made him a girl or he lost the ability to think? always get the details when dealing with a devil, this slave pawn is different from Dodo's servant one I feel in full control over Royce. with Dodo I feel as if I am his boss he really likes, and with Athena, I just feel closer to her.

"So what the heck did you do to him?" Paglio appears to the side of me, it's been a while since I've seen this old man. taking out some homemade drinks and some good food his eyes light up and pulls out a chair I brought him.

"I made him into a devil." Paglio's eyes go wide as he munches on some chips I made.

"You can make people into your species?" I nod and he goes silent.

"I can turn you into one too, it will make you gain some power, and also it will make you live longer than you already will as a dragon. you don't lose anything as a dragon you just gain all the devil's attributes and weaknesses. kind of like pouring the devil drink into your dragon drink instead of pouring out your dragon and giving you a devil drink, if that makes sense." he continues to eat.

"Let me think about it some, will we still have our equals pact?" I nod and he laughs as he rips open some wine.

"Alright I will let you know once I get out of this damn lake." speaking of him being stuck I probably could go to his treasure, but I am waiting for Delia to go when the wards at the treasury are weak. her family artifact was stolen by Paglio and kept in his treasure and Delia can sense it and needs it to combat the effects of the soul shackles her brother Brock put on her.

"Oh by the way when Royce wakes up we need to help him learn his new demonic energy so he can pass as a higher demon still if Joseph senses he lost his power because he can't sense it he might kill him for being weak."