The Devils of Jujutsu

Chapter 22: A Curse For A Curse

(Liebe's p.o.v.)

Asta stopped from teasing the queen and her entourage further, and said, "Alright, we'll remove your curse." That shocked me and the other three. "You will?" The queen asked. Asta then stated, "Only if you accept our conditions." 'Oh, I see. He's gonna use a binding vow on the queen and the others.' I thought. A binding vow, or pact, is one of the key factors behind all jujutsu. You set conditions, and to all they affect they must abide, otherwise there will be uncanny repercussions to the one who the agreement. They're usually placed on yourself in order to help increase your level of cursed energy, but they are also used for cases such as this. The queen asked, "What are your conditions?" Asta pointed to the jujutsu crest on his headband and said,



"First, if you ever see someone bearing this crest, you'll ignore them completely. Second, when we leave this kingdom, you'll completely forget you saw us. And third, all three of you must agree to these conditions." 'Those conditions would definitely benefit us in the future.' I thought. Gaja replied, "That's sounds rather shifty. The first condition would make it so you could assassinate anyone you two would wish, I can't accept that." Asta added, "During our time here, we won't kill or injured anyone. Is that enough to address your concerns, sparky?" He then scoffed and I swore I heard him mutter, "Jackass." Undine stated, "Why should we believe someone who travels with a devil?" I responded, "It's not about whether you believe us or not. This is a pact, a geas. The one who breaks it, will be the one punished. It's something we developed during the last 3 years.

Anti magic: Cursed Treaty."

That was a partial lie, of course.

The queen asked, "So, I'll be trading one curse for another?" I answered, "The pact follows the same principle as a curse. However, unlike the curse you currently have, this one will not bring you harm as long as you keep your word. That's more preferable to having your life snuffed out, is it not?" The queen said, "Please excuse us for a moment, we have to discuss this matter." She then told Undine and Gaja to come with her into the forest so they could deliberate in private.

(Loropechka's p.o.v.)

I asked Gaja and Undine, "Well, what do you two think?" Undine answered, "I honestly don't like it. You said it yourself, you'll be trading one curse for another. You'd be right back where you started." Gaja concurred, "She's right. And besides, there's no way to be sure they'll actually remove Megicula's curse from you, My Queen." I replied, "You both maybe be right, but still, this is an offer I can't refuse. Besides, these two foreigners have come all the way here to defend us from a threat unknown to us. Also, they are insisting that we stay out of their way for this fight. I believe their willing to do anything to make sure we're safely away from this enemy, even making a deal with the type of people they despise. So, I believe they will keep their part of the bargain." Undine nodded. Gaja answered, "I still don't like this, but there's no other way around it. Very well, Your Highness. I'll accept their conditions." We all came to an agreement. We would accept Asta and the devil, Liebe's conditions.

We walked toward them again and I said, "We've decided to accept your conditions." Asta replied as a black aura surrounded his right hand, "Alright, first put the pact into affect. Grab my hand." I grabbed ahold of his hand like he said and suddenly these black chains appeared and wrapped around both of our bodies. I was surprised until Asta explained, "That's part of the spell, don't worry they turn invisible after they tighten a little." He was right, the chains disappeared after I felt them tighten lightly. After Asta did the same with Gaja and Undine, he pulled a curved-tipped sword out of his grimoire, and he said, "This is the Demon Destroyer sword, it removes even the effects of a magic spell. I just need to touch you with the blade to remove the curse. Now, lift up your shirt and show me the mark." I did as he asked. He touched the curse mark with the tip of his sword and tendrils of the same black aura from before began rising from the blade as the curse mark on my belly started to fade away. After a minute, Megicula's curse was gone. When it was, Asta put his sword back into his grimoire, and Gaja and Undine quickly came over to see how it went. They saw that the Megicula's curse had been lifted, and Undine was cheering in celebration, which was rare to see, and Gaja let out a big sigh of relief and said to me with a smile, "I'm so glad that it worked, My Queen." I smiled back and nodded in agreement. Then, we all turned to Asta and Liebe, and I said to them, "Thank you so much for saving my life, and I wish you both the best of luck in your upcoming battle." With that, we turned around and headed back to the palace.

(Asta's p.o.v.)

The queen and her escorts had finally left and we were finally able to continue preparing for the upcoming battle. Liebe said to me, "I'm still surprised that you would willingly help a royal, even if you only did it to form a pact. Why did you choose to help her?" I answered, "It was the best way to get them out of our way, I mean we couldn't kill them after all. That would only cause bigger problems down the road." Liebe answered, "Good point, and with the terms of that pact, we won't have to worry about them interfering with future missions." I nodded in agreement. After that, we began training for the event that would later be know as, "The Night Parade of 10,000 Demons."