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❝ 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀?   ❞
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"What the?" Sila could only stop and stare as other children attempted to get out of the current and were apparently under attack. However, before she could think further someone grabbed her arm and brought her out of her thoughts. And of course, it was none other than Lydia, who was panting and seemingly ran from one side of this place to the other within a few minutes. "Lydia! What's wrong?-" the music magic-user didn't even let her finish her sentence and grabbed her hand and pushed her flute into it and as key as well.

Lydia then looked up and tries to stop panting, and in a serious tone, she said, "Get to the West Tower now, everything you'll need will be there. I'll stay here and get more time but I ask that you end it quickly" Lydia mouthed an "I'm sorry" and smiled, giving Sila a small hug, and then ran off and Silalynn could only look at her back in shock. There's only one thing in the West Tower,

The Devil Bune and the ritual room.

"She wants me to become a devil host...." Sila only realized what Lydia meant after she had started running to the tower and making her way up many, many stairs. Once she got to the door she hesitated to open it, her thoughts were screaming at her. "I don't want to be a devil host- I'd practically be a monster! But...hold on a second! What's making me hesitate?! I have no reason to do this-...." her voice trailed off. She was right, there was no reason for her to do this. Lady Vanica hadn't even forced her to contract a devil. As yet here she was, opening the door and still not knowing why she was doing it.

Quickly, Sila locked the door once again and looked around the room, and immediately backed up to the point she hit the door. "Oh, has Megicula's host finally sent someone" Out came the devil's slightly gravelly voice making Sila jump a little. The devil was all black with long black hair, green eyes, four horns, two dragon wings with inverse colors, and a dragon tail.

Bune stared at Silalynn and appeared to be bored, with a disappointed sigh, "Tell me human, are you truly the strongest that woman trained? This is honestly so disappointing". Sila gulped and tried to calm herself but her hands would still shake no matter what she could do. The royal then answered, "No I'm not the strongest, however..." Sila brought out her grimoire and narrowed her eyes as she forced herself to step into the circle drawn on the ground, "However if I am to survive I have to make sure I'm the one who controls you"

Bune didn't look fazed at all but instead dawned a smirk. "Well in that case" Bune stood up, "We'll fight until you defeat me, or until I kill you" the devil's green eyes darkened, "Well then let's begin, shall we?" Bune asked with a taunting voice.

Sila glared, "Hah, as if you need my approval-"

Within a second Bune was right in front of her and was ready to attack with a punch which she barely managed to dodge. "Mercury Creation Magic: Silver Blades!" Sila formed multiple blades made from mercury and aimed them at Bune, but most of them missed with the few that hit barely doing anything. "So a devil doesn't have vital spots in the legs or the arms? Wait does a devil even have vital spots?" Sadly, Sila didn't get much time to think about it as Bune grabbed one of her mercury blades and used it to stab Sila in her leg.

While Sila got shallow stabbed she kicked Bune away. In retaliation, Sila managed to get up and conjure up more of her "Silver Blades" and hit other spots to see if it did anything, which it didn't. "Well human I'm given you enough chances to attack me" What? "So I believe it's my turn"

Wait hold on, there have been openings?!

"Nightmare Fuel: Eyes of Hatred" Bune recited. Sila formed her mercury into a shield and prepared for the devil's spell to hit her but nothing came. Bune was doubt absolutely nothing, is this an opening? "No, I can't use this as an opening," Sila thought as she created a giant mercury dome around her and separated herself from the devil. "Come on, I even gave you an opening to attack and you didn't take it, I'm offended" Bune muttered a spell that Sila didn't catch and punched the mercury dome, managing to create some cracks. "Tch, as if you would give me an opening without attacking me!"

"Oh? So you actually have a brain in there?" Bune chuckled darkly, "This is getting interesting, you better hope it stays that way!" Bune made another crack in the dome and Sila quickly tried to fix it. Bune continued to punch and kick the dome, making Sila panic and wonder what else she could do. "I'm wasting my mana with this dome, but if I take it down I'll be directly hit!" Sila's mind was running in circles. "Should I create more Silver Blades? No, that does nothing if I can't get a vital spot and they can use it against me if I miss! What about-" another crack was made and Sila cursed under her breath, "God I hate this devil! They're so frustrat-" Sila paused for a moment. "That spell earlier, it didn't hurt me so it wasn't offensive, but it still did something so....wait..does this devil's magic feed off of my hatred?" The light bulb in her brain finally lit up. Sila winced as she heard the ceiling start to rumble. "Well, that's the only lead I have so I have to use it!"

Sila dispelled the dome and immediately ran away but Bune's attacks still grazed her skin and the Silver Blade in her leg wasn't making it easy to move, but if she pulled it out she'd lose a lot of blood. "First keep the devil distracted" Sila created various objects from her mercury ranging from shields and spikes to straight-up random lumps of mercury. Bune ran at Sila and managed to punch her in the arm and a kick to her knee, throwing Sila off balance. "Seriously why are you trying so hard, I'm a highest-ranking devil, you can't defeat me" Bune threw more punches but Sila (miraculously) dodged most of them but the ones that hit sustained bruises if not breaking her skin so she bleed. Sila let out a puff of air, "Mercury Reinforcement Magic: Metal Hunt"

"She's going on the defensive? That's strange" Bune narrowed their eyes and went in for another attack. "Nightmare Fuel: Takeover" and with that Bune ran towards Sila ready to punch her. Meanwhile, Sila had a desperate expression on her face, "Come on, come on! Mercury is a natural element so it has to be somewhere!-" right as Bune was about to land a punch Sila quickly made a small wall of mercury and was immediately cracked. "Ah! There, there it is!" the royal then, as fast as she could, pulled put mercury from the earth, recycled the mercury from the wall, and combined the mercury from the earth with her own.

Now, whenever Bune attacked Sila used the Mercury as a makeshift whip that she could also use to block son attacks. Whenever Sila's mercury whip hit Bune when they punched or kicked, Silalynn tried to make her mercury go into Bune's skin. "Just a little longer!...and now!" Suddenly, Bune had been forcefully pulled to the other side of the room. "And now...!"

"Mercury Creation Magic: Metalwork!" within seconds, from the ground, sprouted sharp spikes of mercury that kept growing with even more spikes sprouting from them.

"Huh?" Bune mumbled and both of them stopped for a moment. Silalynn's spikes had immobilized and stabbed Bune in the chest, arms, and legs. Suddenly a chain flung out from the floor and wrapped itself around Bune's neck and pinned the devil down. Sila panted nd fell to her knees, staring at the devil in front of her. "Impossible..." Bune muttered. "That's impossible! How could a lowly human like you defeat me, one of the highest-ranking devils!" Bune shrieked in anger as all Sila could do was stare at the devil before her who looked at the royal with hatred in their eyes before that hatred suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a smirk. "Well I suppose if you were able to defeat me then I must acknowledge you"

Sila coughed a bit as she attempted to take deeper breaths and calm herself. "So, are you going to finish the contract? Or are we going to be here all day?" Bune asked. Sila glared at the devil before speaking, "Devil Bune, I am now your host"

"Yeah, no shit" Bune rolled their eyes which the silver-haired girl ignored.

"And the contract I create by becoming your host shall entail this," The Royal's eyes darkened. "I will have full control over you, you will do as I command, and use your power to serve me" and with that, the contract was sealed. "Great great, you now have a total control contract. Now could you get the earrings over there and put them on, or at least keep them with you" the chains around Bune's neck disappeared allowing them to stand back up. Sila quirked a brow as she struggled to stand up, eventually making Bune help her up. Sila walked over and examined the earrings trying to figure out why she had to wear them.

"It's my devil artifact genius, you need that so that I can stay manifested in this world," Bune said immediately figuring out what Sila was thinking. And with a bit of hesitancy, she put the earrings on. Bune then became much smaller and like a shadowy figure and sat on her shoulder. "For an artifact, it looks more like expensive jewelry that only nobles and royals can buy" Sila made eye contact with the devil on her shoulder

"What can I say, I'd like my artifact to be fancy and expensive-looking-"

The ceiling was now falling apart even more. "Right!" Sila forced herself to run out of the room and attempt to find Lydia. Just as she got out of the room the Royal spoke, "Bune I'll explain what going on on the way, but I need you to tell me how your magic works" Sila then ran out of the room and down many stairs.

Bune frowned since it felt like an unfair deal but couldn't do anything about it. "Nightmare Fuel enhances one's abilities and becomes even stronger when feeding off of someone's negative emotions"

"So that explains why your punches and kicks were so strong, your magic was enhancing it" Sila almost slipped on a stair but managed to stay up. Bune nodded, "I can enhance things like your senses as well but no matter what I enhance it'll have repercussions" the devil explained.

"...Can you somehow give me some mana?" Sila asked trying to follow the direction people were running from. Bune blinked in confusion, "You drained all your mana?!" The devil exclaimed, making Sila cover her ears. "Geez you said it yourself! You're one of the highest ranking devils! Of course, I'd be drained!"

Bune sighed, "I can't enhance the amount of mana you have, however, I can enhance a person's mana reserves. But that either gravely injured them or can even kill them" Silalynn sweatdropped and decided it was best that at least a little bit of her mana would regenerate by the time she finds Lydia.

"Damn why are there so many stairs and floors on this placeee" Sila mentally whined.

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"My dear dear Lydia, must you make this more difficult than it has to be" There stood the music magic-user covered in blood and injuries and struggling to stand up. Lydia let out a shaky breath, "Lady Vanica, I truly don't see how I'm making this harder, if anything I'm reacting like a normal human being"

Vanica narrowed her eyes for a second before frowning, which was a rare sight. Usually, she would always have that heartless smile. "You told her to become a devil host"

Lydia's eyes widened for a moment but quickly returned to normal. "I did" she answered. Vanica smirked, "I guess Halbet was right! She would do anything for you, and she has!". The music magic-user mumbled out a small "What?" making Vanica laugh. "Nothing here happens without me knowing, Lydia. Your precious Silalynn has now become the host to our devil Bune"

"Then that means..." Lydia immediately prepared herself if Vanica were to attack.

"I no longer need you"

Meanwhile, Sila finally got to the same floor as Lydia and Vanica and was rushing trying to find the periwinkle-eyed girl. "Has any of your mana regenerated?" Bune asked, Sila shaking her head as a response. "Some, but not enough for me to cast a single spell. It's probably just a drop of mana that's regenerated" Bune sighed but then pulled on Sila's shoulder to make her stop running. "Geez! What is it?!"

Bune pointed to their right, "I sense fear coming from there, it might be your friend-" Sila didn't allow Bune to finish before running in that direction. As she ran she heard more and more of the ceiling and ground crumbling and spells being casted and when she finally she was able to hear voices. When she got there her world became silent as she was barely able to process anything.

All she could process was, "Curse Magic: "

And then watching the spell strike Lydia in her chest. Without thinking, Sila ran, she ran without caring about what Vanica could do to her, up to Lydia who had now fallen to her knees with a hole through her chest. "Lydia!" just as Lydia almost completely fell Sila managed to catch her.

When the royal turned to Vanica she watched as the elder devil host was still smiling. "I see you've become a devil host," Vanica said as Sila attempted to move back. Suddenly Vanica turned away and started walking in the opposite direction, "Become stronger and we'll fight again. So until then, use the death of your friend to strengthen yourself"

Sila couldn't remember what happened after that. All she could remember was preserving Lydia's (now dead) body with mercury until she could give her a proper funeral, struggling to get out of the winters of the Spade Kingdom, and through the Grand Magic Zones. After a while (she doesn't even know how long it's been, she's stopped caring), the silver-haired girl came across a village, but before entering she allowed herself to sleep at the edge of the forest right next to it.

On that day, in her hands were maroon rivers.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. Also, I just realized I never showed what Lydia looked like, so here you go