Cipher had originally intended to exploit Beelzebub for her own gain and then discard him like a worn-out tool. But when Beelzebub offered her his very life, she hesitated.
She accepted the contract from Beelzebub and scrutinized it word by word, paying particular attention to the corners where devils often hid fine print. After thoroughly examining it several times, she found nothing amiss. The contract was remarkably straightforward: Beelzebub surrendered his life entirely to Cipher's control, a classic unequal master-slave agreement.
If Cipher accepted, she could decide Beelzebub's fate with a mere thought. The sheer power this entailed gave her pause.
Though Cipher casually teased Beelzebub, his strength was undeniable. As an Archduke of devils, he could crush Chaos City's local tyrants—the Black Hand, Aisha, Nathaniel, and the rest—with a single hand, let alone Aria and her companions. Acquiring such a powerful subordinate for free seemed like an undeniable boon.
This also meant that Cipher would now have firsthand intelligence on any future movements of the devils in the Nine Hells. Beelzebub had previously accused the Unnamed devil of being a traitor, but now he himself had become the biggest traitor of all. What difference was there between this and a king secretly colluding with the enemy?
Cipher finally signed her name, Cifera, on the Contract. Immediately, she felt a new connection form between herself and the devil before her. She could now clearly perceive Beelzebub's inner thoughts: humiliation, relief, and the lingering sense of narrowly escaping death.
One had to admit, Beelzebub's decision was undeniably correct. He had successfully chosen the only path that would save his life.
Cipher's tail swayed gently behind her as she crossed her arms. "Alright," she declared, "from now on, you're a good devil. Don't let me catch you doing anything evil again, or else..."
"Never! Never!" Beelzebub remained kneeling, frozen in place.
"That's settled, then. Disperse. Contact me if anything comes up." Cipher waved her hand dismissively. First, she dispelled her clones. With a series of poof sounds, the clones around her dissolved one by one into the air.
Cipher used Divine Speed to return to the battlefield where Aria and the others were fighting. The first thing she saw upon arriving was the Unnamed devil sprawled on the ground, clutching his head in his hands, while Nathaniel and Douglas took turns kicking him mercilessly in the rear.
During Cipher's absence, the Lesser Devils swarming the sky had been largely wiped out. Aria and her companions had managed to corner the devil himself, but instead of killing him outright, they were interrogating him.
Douglas delivered a particularly vicious kick. "There must be a way to prematurely dispel this 'Fall into Avernus' spell! Spill it! How do we undo it?!"
Nathaniel added his own kick. "Spit it out already!"
The devil was on the verge of tears. "Stop kicking! Stop kicking! It's a Ritual Magic! You have to let me get up first—I need to modify the Magic Circle!"
Douglas relented. "Fine, but hurry up and don't try any tricks!"
The devil shakily scrambled to his feet, but before he could take more than a few steps, Douglas kicked him again.
The devil yelped in agony. "Ouch! What was that for?!"
"Your right hand just twitched twice," Douglas said. "Were you preparing some kind of magic? Don't think I didn't see it!"
"It's because of the pain!" the devil retorted. "You broke my right hand! Of course it's trembling!"
The devil took a few more steps and was about to bend down to examine the magic circle when Nathaniel kicked him again.
"Not again! What did I do now?!" the devil shrieked.
Nathaniel grinned. "Nothing much. I just couldn't resist kicking that nice, round ass of yours."
The devil stared blankly. "???"
Douglas looked equally confused. "???"
Under Nathaniel and Douglas's relentless torment, the devil painstakingly unraveled the Fall into Avernus spell at the slowest possible pace, still clinging to the hope that Grand Duke Beelzebub would rescue him and exact vengeance on his tormentors.
Little did he know that Beelzebub now loathed him with a burning passion and would likely kill him on sight.
Meanwhile, Black Hand was tending to his wounds when he spotted Cipher's return. "Hey, sis! Where the hell did you disappear to without a word? You nearly got me killed!"
Cipher shrugged casually. "But you're still alive, aren't you?"
As she spoke, Cipher walked past Black Hand toward Feidric and Aria. They hadn't had time to rest while chasing the Unnamed devil, but now that the battle had subsided, Aria was staring in dismay at the Sword in her hands. The cracks on the blade had widened, spanning its entire length, and the sword looked as if it might shatter at any moment.
Aria's face was etched with worry. "This is the legendary Sword in the Stone... How could this happen?"
Cipher had never seen Aria look so distressed. She approached and asked, "What's wrong?"
Feidric glanced at her and explained, "The battle was too intense. Aria's sword... it's breaking."
It's worth noting that Black Hand's battlefield was some distance from Aria's. When Cipher left, Aria and Douglas were both engrossed in combat, too busy to notice her departure. Nathaniel, of course, was even less likely to notice. It seemed only Black Hand had realized Cipher had been gone for a while.
However, Feidric had been constantly monitoring the entire battlefield, ready to shield his teammates, Cipher included. Naturally, he had noticed her absence. Yet instead of questioning her, he simply explained the situation with Aria's sword.
Cipher looked astonished. "But I thought Aria's sword was the legendary Sword in the Stone?"
Aria had drawn that sword and, in that instant, become a Paladin. Leaving her homeland, she had gathered companions along the way and embarked on a Hero's journey to save the world. What a legendary tale!
Cipher had even wondered if the sword might be one of the twelve Divine Artifacts. But now she was being told that this legendary weapon had simply broken?
Feidric pondered for a moment before saying, "Actually... even Divine Artifacts can be damaged. It's not impossible."
Aria murmured blankly, "Is that so..."
Cipher still looked puzzled. "But..."
Before she could finish, Feidric pulled her aside and whispered, "Wait, Cipher. You didn't actually believe Aria's sword was some legendary weapon, did you?"
Cipher looked even more confused. "Wasn't it?"
Feidric sighed in exasperation. "How could it be? A legendary weapon appearing in some remote, little-known village in the Grand Duchy of Kandela, a small, backwater country? Does that really sound plausible to you?"
Cipher recalled Aria telling her the story of the Sword in the Stone countless times—how whoever drew it would become the Hero destined to save the world. That's why, when they first met, Aria had always insisted on calling herself an Apprentice Hero. But upon closer reflection, Cipher realized that the sword had never actually displayed any extraordinary qualities.
Wait a minute, Cipher thought. Aria had found Feidric shortly after setting out on her adventure, and then she'd picked up Douglas and Cipher. None of them were ordinary. Could this extraordinary luck be the sword's effect? After all, to save the world, a Hero would need powerful allies, right?
But that didn't quite add up either. As Cipher pondered, Feidric continued, "Remember when you first joined the party and thought we were a Hero Party? I told you back then that was just Aria's wishful thinking. And I was right."
"Aria isn't some prophesied Hero destined to wield the Sword in the Stone. The weapon she carries is just an ordinary, poorly crafted longsword—a real piece of junk!"
Feidric slowly began to explain, "Aria was born in a very ordinary, unremarkable village. Her days were spent helping her mother with household chores, living a simple life as she grew up. By the time she reached adulthood, her parents would likely find her a kind-hearted young man from the village and arrange her marriage."
"But one evening, Aria's father brought home a novel called Legend of the devil King and the Hero. It wasn't something he'd bought; a friend had given it to him. In his free time, he began reading the story to his daughter."
"Aria was completely captivated by the story. She fell in love with the characters, especially the Hero, and began to imagine herself becoming someone who could help others, just like him."
"Seeing the sparkle in his daughter's eyes, Aria's father hesitated for a moment. Then, using the family's savings, he bought a cheap, unwanted longsword from the nearby town. With considerable effort, he chiseled a groove into a large stone and wedged the sword firmly inside."
Then he told his daughter about a long-standing legend in the village: a mythical weapon that would bestow the title of "Hero" upon whoever could draw it.
In truth, the father's feelings were deeply conflicted. He was an ordinary man, lacking both worldly experience and grand ambitions. His sole desire was for his wife and daughter to live happily.
When he saw his daughter's dream written all over her face, he spent most of their savings on a longsword. Yet, fearing the dangers she might face on an adventure, he deliberately wedged the blade tightly into the stone, believing it would be nearly impossible for an untrained young girl to draw.
To his astonishment, Aria effortlessly pulled the sword out.
In other words, there had never been any prophecy, no legendary weapon. Aria had become a Paladin through her father's lie.
The reason Aria's sword had never broken before was that her power had always enveloped and protected it. Every time she appeared to be slashing at enemies, she was actually blasting them with Divine Smite. But this time, the Unnamed devil's strength far surpassed that of any foe she had previously faced.
After several brutal clashes between her longsword and the devil's weapon, her blade finally shattered.
Feidric explained, "After Aria and I met, completed our first quest, and earned our first money, she returned to her village to give the money to her parents. I went with her, and her father told me this story himself."
Cipher was stunned. A Paladin's power stemmed entirely from their own willpower. A broken weapon could make Aria blame herself. If she believed her failure had damaged the legendary blade, if she thought herself unworthy to be a Paladin, she might truly lose her divine power.
Aria stared down at the broken sword in her hands, murmuring, "This shouldn't be possible. How could a Divine Artifact break so easily? Is it my fault?"
"No, no, no!" Cipher quickly interjected. "This clearly isn't your fault! This... um..."
Cipher trailed off, suddenly at a loss for words. The truth about Aria's father's deception had just been revealed, leaving her completely unprepared to comfort her.
Should I use my Authority of Trickery? But how? Should I deceive Aria into believing I can fix the Divine Artifact myself, or concoct some other lie?
Cipher hesitated. Was it really right to use her Trickster Authority at this moment? To sustain Aria's father's lie with another lie? The very existence of Aria, the Paladin, was built upon multiple falsehoods. Wasn't that tragically ironic?
Just as Cipher was hesitating, Aria suddenly looked up, smiling reassuringly at Cipher and Feidric. "Sorry for making you worry. I don't know what happened, but... does it even matter?"
If I can't figure it out, I'll just stop trying, Aria thought. "If it can be fixed, we'll fix it. If not, we'll just get a new weapon!"
"What makes a Hero isn't wielding the previous Hero's weapon," she continued. "It's about what they do, how many people they save. That's what makes a Hero!"
Rewinding to a time long ago, how had an ordinary young girl, who barely exercised beyond helping with household chores, so effortlessly pulled out her father's firmly stuck sword?
The answer was simple: Aria didn't become a Paladin after pulling out the sword. The moment she stood on that stone platform and gripped the sword's hilt, she had already become a Paladin. Only then could she successfully extract the blade from the stone.