* * *
When the sacrifice’s wrists and the corners of his lips, scratched by the leather, began to redden, Lucifer, seated in the center, finally spoke.
“How noisy.”
Dark black hair, blood-red eyes, a low, arrogant voice, and muscles visible beneath the semi-transparent crimson gown.
The man, clad only in trousers and a gown, was clearly the one who had spoken with Liefel earlier.
Hayden strained the veins in his neck and forcibly chewed on the gag bar.
Lucifer let out a small, hollow laugh, as if amused by the image of a snarling kitten.
His red eyes suddenly glowed, shining even more intensely.
Kneel.
Whoosh!
“Ugh.”
An invisible force strongly restrained Hayden’s body.
It started as a tingling sensation from his fingertips and soon spread throughout his whole body.
Hayden resisted until the end, but he ultimately knelt, his upper body dipping low enough for his chest to touch the ground.
Information flowed into Hayden’s mind without delay as his eyes widened.
[Word of Power]
Caster: Lucifer (Lord of Pride).
Lucifer’s unique ability, a command imbued with magic power. Since it is activated by a concise command word carrying intent, the subject acts according to the caster’s will contained within the command, not the command word itself. It is a dominance magic that controls the target as desired; only a possessor of stronger magic power than the caster can be free from the restraint. However, spiritual aspects like thoughts or emotions cannot be controlled.
‘Incredible.’
His body trembled.
Hayden intentionally did not nullify the so-called Word of Power.
The force exerted on his entire body made him shudder after a long time.
The pleasure of being dominated by the unique arrogance of a demon, this sensation of being crushed by a command he couldn’t escape or refuse, made his heart pound ferociously.
‘Lucifer, he was called.’
Mulling over his name, Hayden could roughly guess the names of the Seven Demon Lords.
He had a hunch from the moment they were called the Seven Demon Lords, but it seemed their motif was the seven entities commonly known as the Seven Great Demons.
Hayden’s mouth watered even more.
Demons are generally a race that is permissive of sex. Regardless of the setting and story, their cruelty and sexual prowess shone brightly in BL novels.
Hayden’s goal was to somehow bring that out and enjoy it.
Hayden expertly hid his desire for pleasure and looked up at Lucifer, the Lord of Pride, with a face contorted with shame and anger.
Lucifer looked down at Hayden with an emotionless face.
His lazy, bright red eyes pierced Hayden as if he were a trivial bug or animal.
Hayden suppressed the urge to climb onto him and instead chewed on the bar gag, glaring up.
“Mph!”
Lucifer narrowed his eyes, a small crease forming on his forehead.
Even the wrinkle on his flawless forehead was beautiful.
“You’re the first human I’ve seen dare to bare his teeth at me.”
A seductive baritone flowed from his red lips.
It was a terribly sexy and languid voice that seemed to ensnare a person from their toes to their voice.
A voice one would smile at, captivated, even while surrendering their whole body to thorn bushes.
“Is he wearing clothes because he doesn’t yet know his place?”
At Lucifer’s remark, Liefel, sensing the cue, snapped his fingers.
Ssssshhh.
Hayden felt something strange as gray Magia wrapped around his body and his eyes rolled.
“…!”
His naked body began to tremble from an emotion he couldn’t distinguish as anger or shame.
“…!”
Hayden felt something strange as gray Magia wrapped around his body and his eyes rolled.
The uniform that had been draped over his tightly bowed body instantly vanished, revealing Hayden’s bare white skin, which broke out in goosebumps from the cold air touching his skin.
Hayden, who bit his lip, his eyes shaking slightly with shame, seemed to lament his predicament, unable to move due to Lucifer’s Word of Power.
“Tsk. How filthy.”
Leviathan frowned, his sky-blue eyes behind his monocle narrowed.
With his dark green hair neatly tied back, he slightly turned his head as if disgusted, yet kept his gaze fixed on Hayden’s forearm.
Ah, that’s right.
Liefel muttered briefly to himself and quickly cast a healing spell on Hayden.
The forearm, where clotted blood was stuck, became clean, and the wound disappeared.
As his face and body, which had been stained with dirt, became clean as if he had bathed, Leviathan’s stern face finally relaxed.
“He’s quite pretty for a sacrifice.”
Mammon covered his mouth and smirked.
With his black hair partially swept back and his greedy, deep purple eyes finely crinkled, he stared at Hayden’s eyes with a look that was high and mighty, extremely greedy, like a gem appraiser or a treasure hunter.
He looked like he wanted to pluck out Hayden’s eyes, which shone like beautifully cut jewels, right then and there.
Lucifer seemed to have caught the hidden meaning in Mammon’s words, frowning and then smoothing his face before commanding Liefel.
“Remove the mouth cover.”
At Lucifer’s command, Liefel snapped his fingers, and the strap of the bar gag lengthened.
The saliva-soaked gag dropped to Hayden’s chin but did not come off entirely, only hanging around Hayden’s neck like a collar.
As if more humiliated by this, Hayden firmly bit his red lip.
“Are all demons like this? What pleasure do you get from looking at another’s body?”
A clear but slightly trembling voice echoed through the audience chamber.
A rare sparkle appeared in the Demon Lords’ eyes at the sharp retort.
All previous sacrifices had been met after being trained, so none had resisted to this extent.
It was a novelty after a long time.
Moreover, wasn’t the sight of him trembling so fiercely while baring his teeth a little cute?
“Your courage is commendable.”
Even when facing the blood-red eyes, Hayden was not cowed.
Instead, he raised his eyes even more fiercely and stared at Lucifer.
Lucifer seemed intrigued, carefully observing the pale violet eyes.
“I repeat, I have no intention of becoming a demon’s plaything. If I have to live with such humiliation, then kill me here instead.”
“I see.”
Lucifer, with an indifferent face, tapped the armrest of his throne with his finger at Hayden’s clear voice, which articulated each word distinctly.
“All previous sacrifices begged to be spared.”
‘Of course’, they would.
Under this level of intimidation, who wouldn’t beg?
Hayden turned his gaze to look at the other Demon Lords and then fixed his eyes back on Lucifer.
Although there was some distance, there was clearly no anger in Lucifer’s red eyes. His tone was even cheerful.
An indifferent face that was yet intrigued, fierce eyes with no hint of rage, and a cheerful tone.
The other Demon Lords were also looking at him with similarly interested expressions.
Hayden, who was skilled at discerning others’ emotions through various clues, made his first gamble.
The gamble for the first step is always thrilling.
“Because I am different from them.”
Hayden took a breath and continued.
“I’d rather die as a human than bow my head to a filthy demon or anything like it.”
A lowly human dares to say that.
Hayden’s words not only touched Lucifer’s pride but the pride of the other Demon Lords as well.
As soon as he made a statement insulting the Demon Lords, Liefel put the gag back in place.
“Mmm!”
Hayden struggled sharply, as if he hadn’t finished speaking.
Satan, who had been watching with folded arms, spoke up.
“Did you say he hasn’t been groomed yet?”
“Yes.”
Satan, with his brilliant blonde hair, orange-tinted red eyes, short, rough hair, and furrowed brows, ground his teeth in annoyance at Liefel’s reply.
* * *
