Mephisto watched with open curiosity as Evenson examined the contract.
"You’ve done this before," he observed with an amused smile. "You’re remarkably professional."
When Evenson had asked to inspect the contract, Mephisto hadn’t found the request unusual. People spent half an hour reading employment contracts that paid barely enough to cover rent. A bargain with the Devil deserved a little more scrutiny.
What surprised him was how Evenson inspected it.
The moment Evenson accepted the scroll, he instinctively started to unroll it.
Then his eyes drifted toward the unconscious Johnny Blaze.
He froze.
Just as quickly, he rolled it shut again.
He remembered exactly how Johnny had signed his own contract.
The instant Johnny fully opened the scroll, a hidden mechanism concealed inside had sliced his hand. His blood had fallen onto the parchment before he’d even finished reading the terms.
The contract had been sealed before he’d truly understood what he was signing.
His soul had been sold in seconds.
Evenson smiled faintly.
Whether Mephisto had hidden the same trick inside this scroll or not didn’t matter.
Caution had never killed a Warlock.
Recklessness had.
Rather than opening the contract himself, he gave it a gentle push with a finger.
The scroll floated into the air several feet away and slowly unfurled on its own.
Only then did he begin.
He ignored the text entirely at first.
Instead, he carefully erased every decorative border with magic, removing the elaborate flourishes surrounding the document.
Next came the blank spaces.
He methodically swept every inch of them with arcane energy, ensuring no invisible ink or concealed script remained hidden beneath the surface.
Then he inspected the parchment itself with psychic magic, checking for hidden layers or folded compartments.
Unsatisfied, he summoned the Eye of Kilrogg and floated it inches above the contract, searching for microscopic writing hidden between the lines.
Only after exhausting every magical inspection he could think of did he finally begin reading.
Once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
He even mentally inserted punctuation throughout the dense, uninterrupted text, making absolutely certain there was no room for ambiguous interpretation.
Only then did he nod.
"...Looks clean."
At last, Evenson signed his name.
Rolling the contract back up, he looked at Mephisto.
"I’m honestly surprised."
"You didn’t tamper with the wording at all."
Mephisto chuckled politely.
"I might occasionally encourage someone to sign a little faster..."
"But I don’t alter the contents."
Seeing Evenson’s obvious skepticism, he elaborated.
"Crude demons take what they want through force."
"Clever Devils twist language and exploit loopholes."
He paused.
Then a quiet arrogance settled over him, ancient and absolute.
"But I..."
"...have no need for such things."
"I am a Lord of Hell."
"What I desire will eventually become mine."
"Whether I resort to tricks or not."
It wasn’t empty boasting.
Mephisto genuinely believed it.
He could draft a perfectly fair contract, fulfill every clause exactly as written, and still achieve the outcome he wanted.
That confidence...
That certainty...
That was the pride of a Devil Lord.
His greed required no deception.
Evenson frowned.
"So what exactly are you planning to take from me?"
"And what methods are you planning to use outside the contract?"
"I won’t tell you."
Mephisto’s smile turned unsettling.
"You’ll discover it someday."
"When that day comes..."
"You won’t even want to resist."
Of course.
Evenson had expected hidden clauses.
Instead, Mephisto was claiming the real trap lay somewhere beyond the contract itself.
That was somehow even more disturbing.
"We’ll see," Evenson replied darkly.
"Hopefully by then, our positions haven’t reversed."
The eastern horizon had begun to brighten.
Dawn wasn’t far away.
Mephisto’s time on Earth was nearly over.
Sunlight wouldn’t actually harm him, but he disliked remaining in the mortal world after sunrise.
Breaking the silence, Mephisto asked,
"When do you intend to fulfill your end of the bargain?"
"After a while."
Evenson answered as though discussing weekend plans.
Mephisto frowned.
"Not immediately?"
"The contract’s signed." Evenson shrugged. "You don’t seriously think I’m going to run, do you?"
He gestured toward Johnny.
"Your Ghost Rider needs time to recover."
"So do I."
"My mana isn’t exactly full after tonight."
"And..."
"I have another matter that takes priority."
"I’ll deal with your contract after that’s finished."
"Another matter?"
That genuinely puzzled Mephisto.
This wasn’t an ignorant fool who didn’t understand what he’d agreed to.
Evenson clearly appreciated the significance of a contract with Mephisto...
...yet he still ranked something else above it.
"What could possibly be more important?"
"You haven’t noticed?"
Evenson looked genuinely surprised.
He raised a finger and pointed toward the distance.
"About half a month ago, something extraordinary fell onto this world."
Mephisto followed the direction of his finger.
Then slowly looked back at Evenson.
His expression was impossible to mistake.
Pure contempt.
He turned his head away without another word.
Evenson blinked.
...What did I do?
A sharp elbow suddenly jabbed him in the ribs.
Melinda leaned close and whispered through clenched teeth.
"Idiot."
"You’re pointing the wrong way."
"..."
"...Right."
Evenson immediately lowered his arm.
"See, that’s what I mean."
"My face still hasn’t fully healed."
"My head’s a little fuzzy."
"Easy mistake."
He forced an awkward laugh.
Mephisto stared at him.
Can this fool really be trusted?
The sun is literally coming up, and he still can’t tell east from west?
"That object..."
Mephisto finally spoke.
"Mjolnir."
"Yes..."
"That certainly qualifies as extraordinary."
Unlike most people, Mephisto immediately understood exactly what the hammer represented.
He also knew what it meant for Mjolnir to be lying abandoned on Earth.
A dozen possibilities flashed through his mind.
Stealing it wasn’t one of them.
Not because he lacked ambition.
Nor because he underestimated the weapon.
Quite the opposite.
He could already sense Odin’s enchantment woven through the hammer.
An enchantment even he couldn’t casually break.
Besides...
As a Devil, voluntarily wielding a weapon overflowing with divine lightning sounded like an excellent way to make himself miserable.
"What connection could that possibly have to you?" Mephisto asked.
Thor wasn’t an ordinary Asgardian.
Even setting aside his power, his status alone placed him far beyond someone Evenson should reasonably encounter.
Evenson answered without hesitation.
"I’ve been officially assigned to handle the matter."
Mephisto’s pupils contracted.
Assigned?
Assigned by whom?
Surely Evenson didn’t mean someone wanted him to retrieve a misplaced hammer.
There was only one being who possessed the authority to issue orders concerning Thor’s exile...
...and to grant someone complete discretion in carrying them out.
For the first time that night...
Mephisto looked at Evenson in a very different light.
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