"Devils affiliated with Bayer's power should be forced to sign a contract with specific empire citizens, so that the recipients can gain the power of hell."
It was this article in the "Alliance Treaty between the Empire and Devil Bayer's Forces" that allowed the devil to keenly catch the loopholes.
This article seems to require Bayer to spend his hell power in vain to give power to the citizens of the empire, but in fact, the room for maneuver is too large.
I don't know if it's an oversight by mortals, but the "contract" written here has no special requirements and no annotations, so the devils can completely let it play out.
According to the ordinary devil's contract, the price that the party who obtains the power of hell needs to pay is their soul.
The souls of the elite warriors of the Ember Empire were a valuable asset to Bayer. Giant dragons usually focus on matter and body rather than soul, and few dragons care about where the souls of their descendants go.
The more citizens of the empire who signed a contract with the devil, the more souls Bayer earned.
Thinking of this, the corners of Bayer's mouth raised slightly, and an imperceptible smile appeared on his fair and extremely deceptive face.
After all, they are still country bumpkins from the main material plane. They do not understand the nature of the contract like they do the devil. When Bayer takes away the souls of the citizens of the empire, the empire that has signed the contract has no way to fall out.
But agreeing too simply would make the other party suspicious, so Huber read it carefully several times before speaking again.
Bayer pointed to the papers filled with words, took out a pair of glasses and pushed the beam.
"Your Majesty Cassius, judging from my thousands of years of work experience, some conditions in the contract still need to be discussed. Look at these seventy-six, one hundred and twenty-one, and one hundred and thirty-four. ”
However, the red dragon did not respond. He just nodded to Trump, and the ogre quickly took out his communicator.
Suddenly, dozens of players in suits and briefcases appeared neatly in the palace, coming menacingly, and they had obviously been prepared for this for a long time.
The player at the front with sparse hair and thick dark circles stepped forward, with a polite smile on his face, and extended his right hand to the big devil that ordinary people avoided.
"Hello, Mr. Bayer, I am Yun Danfengqing, the specially appointed legal counsel of the Burning Ember Empire. It is an honor to discuss with you."
"This"
Even the devil, who had lived for thousands of years and had seen a lot, was a little stunned, and the expression on his face became a little stiff.
After rounds of discussions, the palace was still extremely noisy. The players took out various documents and argued with each other, and Cassius finally felt a little irritable.
"Enough."
Cassius said impatiently: "I said that before you became the Lord of Avernus, the Empire was the leader of this cooperation, so let's avoid these meaningless arguments.
Mr. Bayer, you have only two choices, agree or refuse. Any attempt to misinterpret or distort the contract is meaningless. ”
Bayer sighed and said in a low tone: "Well, Your Majesty, since this is your request, I can only agree. After all, I am just a down-and-out person in hell, and I am not qualified to negotiate terms with you. .”
"Then let's sign the contract."
Cassius was condescending, looked at the former Hell Lord with a scrutinizing gaze, and said in a deep voice.
"Yes, Master."
Rumple waved his staff, and the hundreds of pages of contracts were immediately neatly stacked together, and the last page was placed on top, with the words [Cassius Claudius Norrie] The signature of "Xixius".
Bayer took the contract and took out a black quill that exuded the aura of hell from his robe.
"So."
The extremely delicate [Bayer] appeared in the blank space of the contract, which was purgatory text shining with fire.
Suddenly, an essential, invisible force came from the underground River Styx, connecting the two parties to the contract - Cassius and Bayer, binding their souls, and forming a natural law between them. An unshakable bond.
This is the contract of hell. Any party who violates the contract will pay an extremely heavy price. Even the big devil cannot afford it.
Bayer raised his head, looked at the red dragon from a distance with his deep, dark eyes, and then bowed politely.
"Good cooperation, Your Majesty Cassius."
“A pleasure to work with.”
Cassius nodded again and stared into the big devil's eyes with his golden vertical pupils.
Under the gaze of the red dragon, Bayer pulled out the hellfire as a cloak out of thin air. With the fierce flashing of the six-pointed star formation, sparks and ashes surrounded his body - this was just an incarnation of the great devil.
The devil Albert, who was trapped in the goat's head, couldn't help shouting: "Lord Bayer, you haven't taken me away yet!"
However, Bayer turned a deaf ear to it and didn't even pay attention to it, so it gradually disappeared into the main material plane.
Rumple added calmly beside him: "Albert, I'm afraid Lord Bayer won't pay anything for you, let alone interfere with the cooperation with the master.
So, feel free to be the head of the Chimera King, and hope you can make him smarter. ”
The Chimera roared softly and left the palace with its newly acquired "wisdom", while the devil trapped in the goat's head was dejected and in great pain.
Will I have to be controlled by this beast in the future?
Cassius ignored the interlude next to him and just lowered his head, quietly looking at the gradually dimming six-pointed star formation.
After all, he was once the lord of hell. Even if his status has plummeted, he is still a bit difficult to deal with. Just the incarnation that appears in the main material plane has a legendary status.
If he were in Avernus, the opponent's home court, Cassius might not be able to defeat the big devil, at least he wouldn't be able to kill him.
However, looking at the magic circle that had completely lost its light, the corners of Cassius's mouth raised, revealing a smile that showed his plan had succeeded.
As a big devil, Bayer understands contracts far better than Cassius, and even better than the large number of lawyer players who have learned contract law in reality.
——But Bayer did not understand the players, a special group that had just emerged in Erezege.
Players have no souls.
To be more precise, the players do not have souls that can be recognized by the rules of Erezegai's world, so they are also called "soulless ones" by the devils in later generations.
To use a saying from the earth, this group of players "jump out of the three realms and are not in the five elements."
After several years of research, Imperial scholars were surprised to find that the player's body is just a carrier to carry consciousness, and their consciousness is just some kind of projection from another world. Even the contract with Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells, cannot bind the souls of these beings who stray outside the rules.
Therefore, the clauses in the contract that seem to be loopholes are actually traps specially prepared by Cassius for the devil. The purpose is to use the power of hell for nothing.
The big devil Bayer, who has never understood the player group, stepped into the trap like this. He will soon find that these magical contracts can not provide him with even a soul except consuming his power.
Due to the constraints of the contract, Bayer was unable to forcibly get rid of these annoying "leeches" and could only let them absorb the power of hell.
By that time, even if Bair regains the position of Lord of Avernus, he will not be able to win the bloody battle with his own strength and resist the demon's attack on hell.
At that time, Cassius will be able to take the lead again, use his players to negotiate with Bayer, grab benefits, and even occupy a place in Avernus to compete with the Five-Colored Dragon Queen who is also trapped here.
"It doesn't sound too far away. Bayer, the future Lord of Avernus, prepare to enjoy our cooperation.
By the way, how many players should be sent to prostitute the power of hell for free? How about fifty thousand? ”
Cassius rubbed his chin with his paw, the corners of his ferocious mouth continued to rise, and the smile on his face became more sinister.
In this way, in the confrontation between the two sides, the red dragon and the big devil, who had their own evil intentions, started their cooperation with Zariel, the current Lord of Avernus, as their common enemy.
And this "Alliance Treaty between the Empire and Devil Beyer's Forces" became notorious in the records of the good camp in later generations, and was called the "Evil Alliance".
Gedani Island, this is a demiplane that was opened up by the spell casters of the Burning Ember Empire for several years. It is specially used to imprison and exile powerful beings from other planes.
Because the empire's technology is immature, the environment here is extremely harsh, with reddish-brown scorched earth, cross-flowing magma, and moody scorching winds everywhere.
But for the devil, facing this harsh environment is as welcoming as returning home.
The only peaceful and peaceful place in this demiplane is the Gedani Island Office officially established by the empire. Because of the blessing of the empire, order can be maintained.
In the spacious office, the arrested devils were sitting upright in their respective positions, looking nervous. Some weak little devils were still trapped in narrow cages.
"This is such a scary place, they are hunting devils!"
"Yeah, I thought I successfully seduced that damn mortal, but he actually reported me back?"
"When I get out, I will let these mortals taste the pain!"
"Keep your voice down, do you want to be whipped? The half-dragon jailer here is no joke."
Noisy, harsh sounds filled the surroundings, and the devils caught here were whispering and complaining to each other.
In this mighty "demon-eliminating storm", more than five hundred demons were arrested by the special operations team led by Metrolash and imprisoned on Gedani Island.
"Quiet!"
Ogre Rumple stood in the center, holding the imperial scepter in his hand, tapping the ground, and his deep voice echoed in the hall.
"Devils, now that you are in prison on Gedani Island, I just want to ask - do you know what you have done wrong?
As long as you can answer this question, I will grant you your freedom, in the name of Imperial Prime Minister. ”
Suddenly, the devils imprisoned here exploded and rushed to speak and answer, and even began to flatter the ogre.
"Luring mortals toward evil and corruption?"
"Trying to defraud mortal souls?"
"Lord Ogre"
However, Trump shook his head, struck the ground with his scepter again, and said in a sharp voice: "Your biggest problem is that you have offended the supreme Majesty Cassius!
He also broke into the territory of the Ember Empire without permission, disrupted social order, and made a living by doing these illegal transactions! ”
Suddenly, a devil realized the omission in Trump's words and asked cautiously: "So, soul selling and hell contracts are allowed within the empire?"
The ogre's expression suddenly softened a bit. He nodded meaningfully and replied:
"We are a country ruled by the great red dragon. There are dozens of races in the country, not those pedantic human countries.
As long as you pay sufficient taxes to the empire, obey all laws, and obey the unified arrangements of the empire, there is nothing that cannot be sold, even if it is——"
Trump paused for a moment and continued word by word: soul and life. ”
In fact, this is indeed the case with the current Ember Empire. To put it bluntly, the prosperity of the empire was built on the remains of the people of Fadland. The continuous war destroyed their homes and also brought a source of resources to the empire. Continuous wealth.
The steel behemoths in the city are constantly breathing thick smoke, producing weapons day and night, and selling them to all parts of the world. There are even arms dealers from the empire who deliberately provoke wars and intensify disputes in the south in order to make their products more popular.
The empire's light industrial products also refused to give in. Cheap textiles and handicrafts were dumped southward like a tide, causing many small traders and handicraft workshops to go bankrupt.
And beneath the brilliance on the surface, in the huge shadow of the dragon wings, there are also tens of thousands of imperial workers who have become parts and components of the huge machinery of the empire.
They lived in a narrow pigeon house, ate tasteless organic sauce, endured the harsh environment, and worked for more than ten hours, working day and night.
Trump said something like this in private to his confidants: "Only by exploiting the whole world, including the people of the empire itself, can the empire continue to prosper."
In Trump's view, everything is fuel for the empire to realize its great blueprint.
Even a devil who is heinous in the eyes of mortals can only be regarded as a vicious dog that can be used in the eyes of Trump, the imperial prime minister.
Soon, the devils in the cage stretched out their hands, showed flattering expressions, and began to express their loyalty to Trump.
After all, for these lawful evil devils, the so-called face and dignity are just disposable things, and the order of the empire does not seem to do them much harm.
"Lord Trump, we are willing to submit to the empire's management!"
"We even pay taxes"
"Yes, you are knowledgeable and should know that we devils have always been an elegant and orderly race. We accept the unified arrangements of the empire!"
"Very good."
Trump looked around and nodded slightly, with a satisfied smile on his ugly face.
In this way, even the devils of hell were included in the system of the Ember Empire and became part of this behemoth. (End of chapter)