Every morning guards convey me to the College of Diabolism in the University of the Wicked City. In the afternoon I return to the Vizier's palace.
The food at the palace remains acceptable. Massages from bathing attendants are a new luxury that I enjoy. When they're fully dressed in the local maid outfit, the rating of the catgirls rises to 6 out of 10.
But there isn't much more to life here that I expect to enjoy, even as a Wicked Empress? Cultured people go to hear musicians play, but it will be five hundred years before anyone here can play trance electronica.
I wonder if this world contains little that an Earth girl would want. There's no amount of golden coin that can buy a Playstation. I would seriously consider selling my soul to regain the Internet.
Still, the fact is that I'm here to stay, and being Wicked Empress is better than being a peasant.
Why am I pondering this? Because even if I'm already told that I'll become Empress with one hundred percent probability, staying on as Empress for a long time is a different question. Similarly, there's the question of whether the Wicked Vizier and his friends will try to control the new Empress behind the scenes. 'If they place you in power, they can remove you from power' is an obvious thought.
So, if I decide to be an Empress after all—then, I must gather advantages.
Which returns the subject to the College of Diabolism.
“The highest-ranked Demon that has ever been forced into a modern compact,” says the woman lecturing us, “is a Baron of Hell under Pride. But was that the most difficult Demon ever subdued? No, because there are more difficult targets than Demons under Pride. Being governed by the Sin of Pride makes a Demon more likely to balk at perversions. Thus, binding a Greater Demon under Greed is more difficult than subduing a Baron under Pride. Since compacted Demons under other Sins are rarer, their powers are in higher demand. However,” the woman's cheeks are flaming, but she forces herself to continue, “I warn you that to essay this, you must be so perverted that people wouldn't acknowledge you as a human being.”
Shy little Kiri is trembling at this, which is how it looks when Yugano Yuuki is trying not to laugh.
“There's one sorcerer who subdued a Greater Demon of Envy. After his death, his testament explained where to find his notes. The person who found those notes nearly burned them, but the method has been passed down to the instructors here.” The lecturing woman pauses. “Everyone in this room who thinks they can't endure this horrifying revelation should leave now. Before I, before I say it.”
Two-thirds of the students get up and leave the room.
“Kiri-chan… won't you go too? It's really not a thing you should hear. People sometimes become sick on hearing it.”
Kiri-chan shakes her head behind the veil.
“Then,” the woman swallows, “the truth is… that man had a desire to put his thing in the, the other hole. Not the mouth… the other other hole.”
This produces not so much horror, as puzzlement.
“The hole you… poop from.”
There are various reactions to this, but nobody faints.
Afterwards, the teacher congratulates Kiri-chan on enduring the class.
You. All of you. You all fail. You nobles of the Wicked Empire whose very souls depend on cultivating a twisted desire, I assign you all an E-rank in perversion. No, an F-rank. I'll have to invent new Roman letters after Z to describe you. This must be what it's like to live as a nuclear physicist, surrounded by people who can't do multiplication.
Clap.
“Yes, Kiri-chan?”
“Has anyone ever forced a Demon into losing their soul to a human? Tee-hee.”
“What do you mean?”
“Suppose that instead of making the modern bargain, you refused to annull the succubus ritual and kept requiring the Demon to do terrible things with you. Could you push the Demon to a breaking point where they just couldn't obey anymore, and collect their soul outright?”
The scholar tutoring me flinches. “Kiri-chan, that's an awful question… no, I'm sorry, Kiri-chan, I didn't mean it that way!”
Poor little Kiri-chan slowly lifts her head back up, having shrunk away from this disapproval.
The scholar speaks on. “Really, that's an excellent question! The answer is that nothing like that has ever happened in history. All Demons are accustomed to obeying horrifying orders from their superiors. We know perversions that Pride Demons would rather serve us than perform. It's not as if they gain nothing from agreeing to serve you. By serving under someone more degenerate than themselves, they'll increase in corruption and rise in the ranks of Hell. But if you offered them no alternative to your demand, they'd just obey you the way they'd submit to a superior Demon's orders. And then you'd lose your own soul, because you wouldn't have nullified the succubus ritual.”
“Then, what does it even mean for a human to collect a Demon's soul?”
“Nobody knows.”
Clap.
“Yes, Kiri-chan?”
“What's the highest rank of Lust Demon that's ever been captured?”
“E-eep! Nobody would ever try that! Even if it was a Least Demon under Lust, you'd lose your soul for certain!”
“What exactly happens to a human who loses their soul to a Demon under Lust? Tee-hee.”
“Nobody knows, Kiri-chan. It's not as if we can ask them.”
“Does the Lust Demon do perverted things with them forever after, or—”
“Nobody knows, Kiri-chan!”
Clap.
“Yes, Kiri-chan?”
“I know no Demon higher than a Baron has been subdued. But, what higher ranks exist?”
The woman tutoring me shows some relief that I haven't asked a terrible question this time. “The ranks are Least Demon, Lesser Demon, Greater Demon, Higher Demon, Knight of Hell, Baron of Hell. Above the Barons are the Counts of Hell, and then the Seven Dukes.”
“Seven Dukes for Seven Sins?”
“That's right, Kiri-chan. For the Seven we say, 'the Duke above Pride'.”
“Is there anyone above the Dukes?”
“Only the Devil.”
“And is there any rumor of something more powerful and wicked than the Devil? Like, the First Darkness from before the dawn of time, or anything like that? And if so, would it be an entity we could subdue by sufficient perversion, or would it be entirely alien to human desire—”
Clap.
“Yes, Kiri-chan?”
“Would more lustful people also be more powerful as Angelic mages?”
The lecturer looks puzzled. “Why in the world would that be?”
“Be-because… it's a holier sacrifice to repress a stronger temptation to sin?”
Somebody in the class giggles, and the lecturer smiles. “No, Kiri-chan. The Angels might still compact with someone like that, but it's purity of motive that increases our enemies' power.”
It seems I misunderstood a certain idea from the very beginning, but thankfully that isn't important any more.
By the way, for an institution that's devoted to making compacts with Demons, in the capital city of something called the Wicked Empire, this school isn't very evil.
People kindly treat that slightly touched girl called Kiri-chan. Well, I could pass that off as them currying favor with the Wicked Vizier. But to the extent I can see anything by keeping my eyes open, it seems other students aren't being bullied either. Senior students cheerfully assist junior ones. This must say something deep about human nature, but I have no idea what.
Most of the so-called curriculum is wasted on me, so it's the technical aspects of the craft that I study with the most eagerness. Using a ritual circle inscribed on stone. Memorizing the invocation to be spoken, the way the seven torches are arranged. This part seems straightforward to me. I think I can carry out this ritual.
Then, there's only one last decision to be made.
Should I summon the highest rank of Pride Demon, the Duke above Pride?
Should I summ
on a Count under some other Sin?
Should I become the first person ever to capture a Lust Demon?
Should I try to break a Demon outright with my perverted demands, and become the first human to own a Demon's soul?
O~r should I try to summon the Overlord of Hell above the Seven Sins, Satan Lucifuge Asmodei Ahriman Moloch Melkor Leviathan?
Let's list out the considerations pertaining to this key life decision.
First, it's possible that the Seven Dukes aren't to be mentioned in the same breath as lower Demons. There's some indication of that in older grimoires, from when diabolists made different compacts. Other demons have risen and fallen in rank, but the Seven Dukes have stayed constant for as long as anyone remembers. From the standpoint of a would-be demon catcher, there could be an unguessably large gap in difficulty between the Count under Pride and the Duke above Pride.
Or another question: A Greater Wrath Demon is at least as resistant as a Baron under Pride. How difficult then is a Count under Wrath? Maybe even I wouldn't be perverted enough?
Where does a Lust Demon stand relative to all this? Nobody knows, because nobody's ever caught a Lust Demon at all. A Knight under Lust could be equivalent to a teenage boy with Internet access! There's no way of knowing.
It's the same for revolting a Demon so much that they just can't obey you, in order for you to obtain their soul outright. It's never been done, thus, nobody knows where it stands on to the difficulty scale.
In all cases, it's the same dilemma at the core. These incompetent perverts have explored the space of diabolism up to a certain boundary. As a competent pervert, it would be a waste for me to only go a small step further. But when it's all unknown space after that, how large a leap should I try when failure means losing my soul?
And finally, consider Satan.
Technically, Satan is the Devil above Pride, and Pride Demons are the easiest to catch.
But Satan is also the Devil above Lust. A Least Lust Demon is higher in perversion than a Baron under Pride. The Duke above Lust must be far more perverted than anything a human of this world can imagine, though that's not saying much. Then, Satan should be more twisted yet—but also prideful.
I think if I hadn't been told my probability of victory was one hundred percent, I would play it safe and settle for a Baron under one of the other Sins.
But Yugano Yuuki is the Summoned Hero with a one hundred percent chance of victory!
Maybe! I'm more worried about relying on that now!
Trying to catch Satan might be pushing it too far!
It could upset the cosmic order or have unknown consequences if I succeed!
So I have to look myself in the mirror and ask—did the Summoning Spell assign me a one hundred percent chance of victory because I'm somebody wise enough to choose a safe course with margin for error? Or because I'm someone whose incredible corruption is more than equal to the most difficult task?
O~h, my answer to this dilemma will really reveal my character, won't it? What should I do~?
This life-changing decision has now become an urgent question for me! Whatever my answer, I'd better decide soon!
Keeping my Angel by not being sinful with myself—I can't bear it much longer.
9. Am I going to wimp out?!
“Kiri-chan… please remember, it’s not too late to back out.”
The Headmistress said no.
The Wicked Vizier said yes.
Guess who won!
Everyone except the Wicked Vizier is watching me head down to the Ritual Room. They’ve said farewells to me with trembling noses. Some even cast dark looks at the Wicked Vizier, if they’re from noble families confident of not being assassinated by him.
Everyone thinks little Kiri-chan is going to her doom.
About my decision: I’ve decided to be sensible and invoke a Count of Hell under a Sin other than Pride or Lust. I told the Vizier that, and asked him which Sin he recommended.
“Yugano Yuuki… do you really think you can do that? No, are you certain you can do it? To us, it’s all our plans at stake if you fail. To you, it’s your soul.”
“I am confident, Wicked Vizier-san.”
“Should you describe your perverse desires to a senior scholar in diabolism, to see if they agree that you could unsettle a Count of Hell?”
“I’m fearful that if I explain to anyone from this dimension, they will literally die.”
“Really?”
“Really.” I wasn’t exaggerating. People of this world shriek and faint when exposed to the concept of threesomes. They could experience actual heart failure if I explain something on the order of 'guro' that even most Earth people shouldn’t Google.
A grave nod from the Wicked Vizier. “Have the scholars of diabolism answered all the questions that you have?”
“They’ve told me all the answers that they know.”
The most important question I have is this: ‘If everyone in this culture is ludicrously innocent, does even their Hell reflect that innocence under some law of souls?’
But that’s not something anyone here would know. To them, this state of affairs is natural and they’ve never questioned it.
Oh, and I didn’t wimp out completely. I’m not telling this to the Vizier, but I’m planning to test the Demon to see how it responds to simpler perversions. If it seems shocked, I won’t offer it an alternative compact. Instead I’ll try to break its obedience and take its soul outright. I’m guessing a Count is the highest level of Demon where I could do that without cosmic repercussions?
Anyway, the Vizier advised me to choose a Count of Wrath.
That question itself had been a test on my part. I’d already decided that a Demon of military force was most suitable to support an Empress. So I’m relieved the Vizier also said Wrath? It means he’s okay with me wanting to wield real power.
Unless the Vizier is planning to betray me in an elaborate way that’s harder to understand.
That evening we went to the Vizier’s hidden library, where he took out an old Grand Grimoire from before modern sorcery. From that tome I learned the name of AMON AESMA, serving beneath the Duke above Wrath (called PUT SATANACHIA). The nature of AMON AESMA is ill-timed vengeance and righteous violence that defeats its own purpose. A bit scary, but the other Counts of Hell under Wrath sounded even worse? His insignia is supposed to indicate a claw mark over a ruined eye, but it looks like a poorly designed logo for an Internet company.
And now it’s time.
For a modern sorcerer to invoke a Count under Wrath is absolutely unheard-of. This is not a feat to associate with the identity of ‘Kiri’. Furthermore, the ritual requires me to speak my own name.
Therefore, the usual supervisors aren’t allowed to watch this ritual.
And the Vizier isn’t an experienced sorcerer himself, so he can’t come either.
In the end, I’ll be doing this alone.
Mid-night is approaching, the time exactly between sunset and sunrise, that here they call the witching hour.
The Ritual Room is a great stone chamber, domed and windowless, lit only by seven torches that flame with seven colors of smoke. When I summon the Demon under Wrath, the red torch will flare up. It might even burn all its fuel and go out, since the rank of AMON AESMA is so high. That's how I'll know that I've succeeded, even before the Demon manifests fully.
Upon the floor, a pentagram inside a circle inside a pentagram.
On the other side of the chamber is a door that goes into a bedchamber, where I’ll be staying for up to seventy-two hours after this.
Slowly, my heart pounding faster, I strip off my clothes until I am standing naked before the pentagram.
Then I don the clothes I had the Vizier’s seamstresses make for me. Stockings that go up to my mid-thigh, panties that are lacy and impractical. A short skirt that goes almost but not quite to the stockings, creating my absolute territory. A stiff corset, to constrain my belly and uplift my breasts. With this, I'm dressed to e
nter the pictures I've browsed for so long.
In this way I remind myself that I undertake this endeavor not as a hero from another world, but as a girl of Earth who’s been corrupted by the Internet. Any trace of decency I might have acquired in this dimension is something I should put behind me now.
The last preliminary is a golden-inked prayer strip that I press to my forehead. The blood-scarlet prayer strip that’s stayed there up until now, comes loose with a little ‘plop’.
I look at the Angel hovering over my shoulder, who up until this time has only been able to wail. I've kept him this long so that I could have sanctity to sacrifice to a Demon, and that's a bit…
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “For everything.”
“Don’t do it,” he whispers. It seems he’s now grown close enough to my soul to speak to me. “It’s not too late, Yugano Yuuki. You could make another choice.”
I believe that what I am doing will be for the good of all the people under the Wicked Empire. I send that thought to him, because I’m not sure it’s safe to say aloud even here.
“Don’t,” whispers the Angel. That tiny, bishounen face stares up at me like he’s watching the death of God. He has a look of hopelessness about him, like he knows he can’t talk me out of it. “You’ll lose your soul, and even if you succeed, you’ll lose your soul. There’s nothing good that can come of this for you.”
I swallow.
Then I stride to the middle of the pentagram and speak. “Ash. Dust. Desert. Emptiness. Death to fire, death to earth, death to water, death to air. In the center of all things there is a white flower. A drop of my blood falls upon the petals as a sign. The book of law contains protections for mortal beings. I forfeit these protections. I forfeit these protections. I forfeit these protections. I open my heart to the gaze of Hell.”
An actinic taste comes into the air, and the lines on the floor flare up into black fire. With those words spoken, there’s no turning back.