The Cosmos' Journey (Obey Me! x OC)

Chapter 37: Looks Can Be Deceiving

Ivy knocked on the door and heard Satan's voice. "Come in."

Now that Ivy was granted access, she entered the room of the wrathful demon. He glanced up. "... Ah, Ivy. It's you. Did someone tell you to come here to stop me? Because if so, you're wasting your time. Although, none of those guys would send you here to stop me. They all think it's funny. Anyway, I'm trying to decide which of my books to take with me, since I can't take them all. So, you interested in books?"

Books had knowledge. Ivy craved knowledge. "Yes."

"Huh... I guess you're not so bad after all. Hey, watch your step. A lot of my most precious books and documents are over there. Every one of the books in this room belongs to me. They're all part of my collection. That shelf there is full of books having to do with magic. And these are all ancient manuscripts. Here we have astronomy and physics. And that right there... whoa, be careful with that. Actually, don't even touch it."

Ivy looked at the book. Satan continued to speak. "That's a forbidden book... if two or more people touch it, they'll swap bodies. ... Books are knowledge, and all of the knowledge from these books, it's all inside me. Knowledge is power. People respect someone who's well-informed. No matter who you are, no matter the circumstances of your birth, if you're smart enough, then people can't dismiss you. ... I'm guessing that my loose-lipped brothers told you about me, right? About the circumstances of my birth?"

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "You mean about how you're the fourth eldest?"

"Hmm... I suppose it isn't wrong to think of the order in which we were given our demon names as the order in which we were born into the Devildom. Our names were given by the Demon King. The old guy gave us our names based on our power as demons, from most to least powerful, you see. I was the last to be born into this world, and the fourth most powerful. The fourth..."

Ivy went silent. Her eyes were looking around the room. Satan noticed the enormous scar that covered most of the left half of her face. The bang was drawn back by a crescent moon barrette. Satan continued to speak as though he hadn't noticed. "I mean, I was born from Lucifer himself... right? Ugh, it irritates the hell out of me. ... All right, enough chitchat. I've said too much already. But whatever. Come on, let's make this pact. That's why you're here, right? Well, I said I'd do it, so I will."

Ivy had a flashback to the conversation in her room.

-Flashback-

Asmo hummed. "I'm not surprised Satan decided to make a pact with you, then. He'll do anything if it means upsetting Lucifer."

Beel frowned. "... Still, I don't think that you'll earn Lucifer's respect that way, Ivy. Not if Satan makes a pact with you for a reason like that."

-End of Flashback-

Ivy surveyed the magic side of the bookshelves as she let the defiance that had been drilled into her skull by Leo and Aries take over. "I'm not making a pact with you."

If Ivy turned her head, she'd see Satan giving her a hard stare. "... What did you say?"

Ivy turned to him with a bored look. That is, until she felt the power surrounding him and saw the anger on his features. "I told you I'd make a pact with you. You can't seriously be planning on rejecting me? You, a human... reject me? ... Don't you dare trifle with me. Do you think I'm called the Avatar of Wrath for nothing?"

Ivy took out her barrette as she tried to map out an exit. Satan continued to speak. "I usually work to contain my anger so it doesn't show. But I will make you suffer if you cross me, and it will be much more cruel and much less humane than anything my brothers would ever do. I'll slice off your nose and ears, rip off your arms and legs, and feed you to the lower-level demons...!"