Chapter 47

「Haa, haa… We made it just in time…」

『That was close… Even I was starting to get nervous.』

On the day of the exam, we stood in lines by group in front of the transfer gate that would take us to the mountain owned by the Devil Academy.

However, unlike everyone else, I was already out of breath before we had even started.

At times like this… Ow!

A little searching, and I found Hera, radiating a divine aura. She was already lined up with her group, and perhaps because of the exam, her dignified appearance instantly restored my energy.

The reason I was tired was simple: I was almost late, so I had to run here.

In the end, I barely made it in time.

“By the way… Why did my best friend arrive so last minute?”

“Well… I had some things to deal with…”

I glared at the worthless Kurt, who had arrived earlier, in a way that no one would notice. Kurt flinched and hurriedly showed me the broken magic tool—a mana generator that muddles the consciousness of spirits and devils.

『This is the real deal, right?』

『O-Of course! If you want, you can show it to Lord Zeus! And besides, what could someone like me, who has the Great Demon Leviathan hostage, possibly do?』

『Well… I suppose so.』

After that, I forced the scum Kurt to fully summon Leviathan, and Zeus captured him. Leviathan is still trapped in Zeus’s unique spirit world.

There is one key difference between devil contractors and spirit contractors.

That is—if the devil disappears, the contractor also ceases to exist.

Moreover, while devils can revive after a certain amount of time, contractors can never be revived, no matter what magic is used. According to Zeus, this is because their soul is obliterated, vanishing from both this world and the next, as well as from all observable realms.

In other words—Kurt is incapable of betraying me.

Honestly, I wanted to kill him on the spot, but that would have complicated things, and I needed to learn how to stop the magic tool. So, I’ve taken control of his life, holding the reins of his freedom.

The reason I was almost late was because I had to destroy that magic tool. Kurt had made dozens of the same tool and placed them all over the place, so I had to hunt them down and destroy them.

『This really is the last one, right…? Don’t forget, your life is at the mercy of my mood.』

『Y-Yes, sir!!』

At my warning, Kurt nodded his head frantically.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s focus on the exam first.”

“…Right! Besides, he’s always been a bit crazy anyway!”

“I’m a little curious, though~,” Mireille teased with a seductive smile at Kurt.

After briefly glancing at Mireille, I threatened—no, I intimidated Kurt not to say a word, and then I stepped through the transfer gate.

———

“Now, I will announce the exam’s details!”

Once everyone had been transferred to the forest, the teacher from Devil Academy raised his voice.

“From now on, you will defeat monsters living in this forest. Points will be awarded based on the monster’s strength, and you will compete by the total number of points. Each of you will wear a wrist-mounted device that measures your points. This device not only tracks points, but also deploys a barrier that protects any student who receives fatal damage, and immediately transfers them to a teacher.”

With that, we all put on the wristband-shaped point meters that flew towards us by magic.

“This thing is annoying. Don’t you think so too, best friend?”

“Well… It’s a lifeline, so maybe you should just put up with it?”

“There’s no monster in this forest stronger than me.”

It was an arrogant statement, but the truth was, there were no monsters in this forest that could match Wilhelm’s strength. In fact, most monsters would probably die from just one of his light punches.

However—if a spirit or devil were to go berserk, that would be a different story entirely.

While the magic tool doesn’t have enough power to make a Great Demon or a transcendental-class spirit go berserk, if they do, their strength would temporarily skyrocket like a sudden surge of adrenaline.

Moreover, spirits exist in large numbers, so even Wilhelm would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Well… I already destroyed all the magic tools, though.

But that doesn’t mean we can relax.

After all, with the reincarnated fan of the original work who can interfere with this world, there’s always the possibility that even without the tools, the spirits or devils might be forced to go berserk by some other means.

For now, I don’t sense any suspicious presences… but it doesn’t hurt to stay cautious.

“Now then—begin the exam!!”

At the teacher’s signal, the students rushed into the forest—and the hellish exam began.