Morgan observed the girl in front of him as carefully as if she were a museum exhibit. His hand rubbed his chin as if he had a beard. Marie waited quietly, her eyes full of hope.
Finally, Morgan turned his face away with a sigh, as if looking at a failure.
"W-What?!" Marie felt a little offended.
"You... your body is very weak. I guarantee you can't run around this place more than once."
"But I can give myself an enhancement... and I might be able to do it more than once."
"Set that aside for now. If you keep using enhancements on yourself constantly, your mana will eventually run out quickly, and you'll tire easily sooner or later. Your enemy could use that chance to kill you."
"So, should I start with physical training first? Like push-ups and such?"
Morgan chuckled softly. "Heh, no need. That would take too long. I have a quick method," he said, full of confidence.
"How?"
"Okay... have you ever heard of someone making a contract with a demon?" Marie nodded.
"Well, demon summoners usually summon demons to gain power from them. The summoner gives the demon what it asks for as a price, and the demon gives them power. Usually, this power will have attributes similar to the power of the summoned demon."
"So you..."
"That's right, I will give you a little of my power. But I won't ask for a price. The contract sigil on your palm can be the medium to channel my power."
Marie looked at her palm with great curiosity. Who would have thought that tattoo had uses other than being a decoration.
"Now, contact me through that sigil."
Marie was silent for a moment. Then she put her palm to her ear. "Hello?"
"No, not like that. I mean, try channeling your mana into the sigil and try to activate the magic circle."
Marie tried to follow his instructions. Mana flowed inside her body like shimmering liquid gold. It flowed from her heart, which pulsed like a star. She felt it travel through her veins, flowing like a calm river. The river met a dam, but it opened easily.
The sigil on Marie's hand glowed in a deep crimson hue.
Suddenly, Marie felt something from within her—a cold chain wrapping around her soul, connecting her to an ancient and terrifying presence. Its presence was so heavy, as if every breath could awaken that monster.
That must be Morgan's soul. It was so terrifying that Marie didn't know how to describe it. The soul was like an impenetrable colossal darkness, with five large vertical red eyes. On its dark surface were hundreds of faces of living beings. Not just humans, but also demons, monsters, and other creatures Marie didn't know. Each of them looked deeply sad, angry, and tormented.
Marie felt a chill run down her spine. It felt like looking at a pile of living corpses forced into a single entity. And she was chained to that soul. Her body froze, her pupils trembling violently.
She was too afraid to move, too afraid to make the chains jingle with even a small movement and draw that being's attention. However, the five eyes suddenly turned towards her. Then they averted their gaze, as if indifferent to a small creature like her.
"Control your mana, Marie!!" Morgan shouted.
He could see Marie's soul was unstable and chaotic. This must be because Marie saw his demonic soul. Marie's soul was like a small star with bright light, while his soul was like a monster. She must be very frightened, but Marie had to overcome her fear. To become stronger.
Marie was instantly reminded of the feeling of helplessness when she watched her knight die before her. Just standing still, not daring to make a sound, and letting him die. This was the feeling that disgusted her; she had felt it too often until she was sick of it.
Morgan, her seemingly friendly demon servant, turned out to have a soul this terrifying. He was the master of this fearsome monster. It wasn't her who was bound to Morgan; it was Morgan who was bound to her.
Suddenly, Morgan felt their connection growing stronger and stronger. He could see the activation of the sigil on Marie's hand becoming more stable. Morgan smiled with satisfaction. Now he just needed to channel his power through that connection.
Abruptly, Marie could feel power flowing from her palm throughout her body like a raging river. Her body felt stronger and more resilient, but she also felt light as a feather. She felt every muscle, every bone in her body grow strong as steel. Her heart beat like a war drum. The world, which was once vague, suddenly snapped into a focus that was almost painful.
Marie felt she could smash the wall of the room with a single punch.
'Is this what demon worshippers feel?' Marie grimaced. 'No wonder they are so strong.'
But that feeling of joy vanished when she looked at the tattoo on her hand. This power was obtained from a contract with a demon, a creature that should be her enemy. Even though she knew he was sent by the goddess for her, and Lord Abraham acknowledged it too, Marie felt a little... strange.
Clap, clap.
Lazy claps echoed in the quiet room. Morgan smiled proudly, looking at the overflowing energy from Marie's body. A beautiful, magical holy aura... mixed with the evil energy of a demon.
"Good, Marie. Now you might be able to face a lesser demon alone. That is, if you can actually kill it."
"This is... demonic energy?"
When someone receives power from a demon, that person receives the demonic energy from the contracted demon, because the power they carry isn't purely their own, but belongs to the demon.
Marie looked at her not-so-holy holy aura with mixed feelings. The light was still beautiful, but within it pulsed wild flashes—an alien demonic energy, like black ink dripping into white marble. Marie wondered what Lord Abraham would say if he saw her possessing this aura.
"Why? Are you afraid of people's perception of you as a Saint? Don't think about that. Do you know what the Chinese say? Where there is good, there is evil; where there is evil, there is good."
"What's China?"