Failed potion, Lusted demon (English version)

Chapter 1

Today, I'm going to lose my soul.

This fatal destiny has pursued me since I was eighteen. In other words, ever since my teenage ego saw fit to play with esoteric forces it had no control over.

All it took was a crumpled old parchment - found at the bottom of one of the garbage cans I used as a larder - and an invocation session in the gutter of a seedy district, for the die to be cast.

After almost dutifully following the seemingly insane instructions written on the old-fashioned piece of paper, Cobel, a pactizing demon, appeared in all his magnificence... Well, magnificence is an understatement. Because you have to see the beast before you can find anything attractive about it.

I don't know what scares me more, his perfectly sharp set of teeth that he likes to stick under his victims' noses; the deadly, dark aura that constantly surrounds him; or his long, sharp claws that leave little mystery as to his propensity for sadism and evisceration... Not to mention his blood-red irises that probe right into your soul - the famous one.

Well, I guess when I summoned a demon, I wasn't expecting a jolly, pot-bellied Santa Claus physique, but I definitely wasn't prepared for a monster of this ilk when I played demon apprentice.

Would finding myself in the presence of an amalgamation of the bogeyman and a three-metre-high werewolf have prompted the barely legal version of myself to be cautious? Not at all!

If my memory serves me right, the Lily Brown of the past merely uttered an "Oh! Delirious!" when the horror appeared. Followed by an "Of course!" to Cobel's question as to whether I wanted to make a pact with the Devil.

How stupid can you be when you're young...

And so I found myself bound to this dangerous specimen, by demonic contract, for a period of ten years. At which point, the monster plans to come and get me, to make me pay my dues... In other words, to send my soul straight to hell and my physical body to the dustbin. Or into the stomach of some diabolical creature, I suppose.

Of course, the deal wasn't all bad. After all, a contract means at least two parties benefiting... Whether the deal is fair or not is another matter.

In exchange for my soul, so precious to... my existence, in fact - one and the other are inextricably linked, it turns out - I was able to benefit from a serious advantage to start my working life. Which was no luxury for a street urchin like me, orphaned and left to fend for herself since she was fifteen.

At the time, I was really into the paranormal, so it seemed a good idea to ask for magical powers or their equivalent when Cobel asked me about the compensation I'd like to receive.

To his question, "Wealth? Fame? Beauty? Love?", I replied, "All of it!".

The demon found himself limited in his movements, so he opted for a parry that was attractive to me... that is, if you forget about the whole dying-before-you're-thirty thing.

A few drops of my blood later - to seal our agreement - I found myself in possession of a grimoire containing the secret of making magic potions, as well as the unusual ability to prepare them as I pleased, provided I had the right ingredients and followed the recipes to the letter.

Fortunately, most of the ingredients can be found in herbalists' shops or on the Internet. And it's fair to say that I gave it my all to gather the raw materials I needed to make my dreams come true.

The day after my debut as a witch, I already looked like a goddess to anyone who met my eyes; within a week, I had pockets full of cash, just like my brand-new bank account; and after a month, I was off the streets and owning a luxury apartment in the city's most exclusive district.

All in all, I'd spent eighteen years in hell and ten in heaven...

A clear improvement in my standard of living. But no matter how many times I do the math, I always come up with the same result: it's not there. I'm at least eight years short of maintaining a certain balance between good and bad. I'm a big loser and I'm certainly not ready to kick the bucket.

Which brings us back to D-Day.

Tonight, Cobel is coming for me.

Am I going to let him gently drag me into the Evil One's lair without trying to knock out his teeth in the process? No way! That monstrosity on legs isn't going to get his sharp claws into me that easily.

I've got a plan. And it's a great one!

In a few hours, Cobel will have nothing left but his bulging eyes to cry into, and his big slobbering mouth to croak out...