As a witch, Echidna quickly sensed something was off.
"A familiar contract?"
"So what you're saying is… you've turned the Witch of Greed into your personal property?"
"That's right. So, from here on out—please take care of me, Echidna-san."
Hayashi Maki waved with a bright, cheerful smile. No matter how scheming you are, once you're my familiar, you're mine!
Puffing out her cheeks, Echidna put on an act of anger and glared at him.
"You actually did this to a witch?! I'm angry!"
With that, Hayashi Maki was kicked out of the space.
Standing in the corridor of the Sanctuary Trial, Hayashi Maki let out a helpless sigh.
Even though he'd been booted out, he could go back in whenever he wanted.
And he could also watch what was happening on Echidna's side from a "god's-eye view"—including the fact that the Witch of Wrath was currently chewing her out.
The Witch of Wrath was a gorgeous blonde with a ponytail—and a generous chest, too.
Among the witches, she was one of the beauties Hayashi Maki appreciated most.
Mainly because she wasn't as twisted as the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne, or the Witch of Pride, Typhon.
Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, also knew Emilia's mother and had a special connection to Emilia.
Anyway, that dream space would be accessible anytime later. If the chance came up, he should probably contract Minerva too.
After kicking Hayashi Maki out, Echidna revealed a delighted smile.
Clearly, she wasn't angry about becoming Hayashi Maki's familiar—if anything, she was pleased.
Because it was exactly what she wanted.
Form a contract with Hayashi Maki, witness the wonders of other worlds, see all kinds of possibilities—this was precisely what the Witch of Greed craved.
Sure, the contract meant she couldn't do anything harmful to Hayashi Maki anymore, which limited how much she could "educate" him—but the Witch of Greed was proud.
She believed she would eventually break free of the contract's shackles. For now, she'd simply use that man to get what she wanted.
"Echidna, you're way too sly! How can you just contract with someone like that?! We're coming with you too!!!"
Minerva pouted as she glared at Echidna, her ample chest rising and falling with agitation.
Echidna just shrugged indifferently.
"Weren't you watching the whole time? He was the one who forced the contract on me—I didn't even get the chance to refuse."
Minerva snapped back, annoyed, "That's only because you seduced him with your looks! That's why he did it!"
Echidna was speechless.
"So it's my fault for being pretty?"
Minerva clenched her small fists and stared straight at Echidna.
"I'm going to keep an eye on you, so you don't do anything dangerous."
"Heh~ suit yourself."
Echidna curled her lips, a hint of amusement in her smile.
"Compared to whether I might do something dangerous, isn't the Witch of Wrath's very existence the real danger? At least I can choose what kind of things I do, what kind of person I become. But you?"
"Instead of watching me, maybe you should worry about yourself, Minerva-sama."
"Hmph. You don't need to comment on my business!" Minerva snorted, crossing her arms and turning her head away.
That tsundere act made Echidna's mouth twitch.
But Minerva wasn't feeling good inside either.
Because Echidna had hit her sore spot.
Minerva's power healed people through beating them—more precisely, she "healed" them by warping reality through violence.
But the consequence was that after she twisted the world to save someone, greater disasters would erupt elsewhere—earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and the like.
The more people she saved by punching, the more the world broke apart.
Regardless of witchly nature, Echidna could at least choose to do good.
But Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, had no such choice.
If she couldn't stand seeing someone she cared about get hurt, she could only use her power—and cause even bigger harm in the process.
She'd once dreamed of saving the world and ending war, but the enemies only multiplied. In the end, even her allies grew afraid of her and joined her enemies to try to eliminate her.
Minerva's life was like a joke—she couldn't use her Authority to make things go her way.
In the hands of the kind-hearted Minerva, Wrath's Authority was basically a curse.
Watching the two witches' exchange, Hayashi Maki found it fascinating.
Gossip was human nature.
Even if he was a demon, he couldn't escape it.
Seeing Minerva appear also made Hayashi Maki pretty happy.
After all, the ones he admired most were Greed and Wrath.
The Witch of Gluttony, Daphne, was a bottomless pit—someone who could never be full—a cursed, sickly loli.
The Witch of Lust, Carmilla, was basically an ordinary village girl. If not for her Authority—automatically seducing others by becoming the image they most desired—she'd be completely unremarkable.
Simply put, Hayashi Maki was a looks guy. He liked pretty women, so he wasn't very impressed by the Witch of Lust.
As for the Witch of Pride, Typhon—she was a loli ruined by how her executioner father raised her.
She'd been taught warped values as a child and would indiscriminately judge others' "sins" by her own standards—until, in the end, everyone around her was executed by her.
And the Witch of Sloth was a pitiable witch. Because of her past, she didn't want to deal with anything—she just wanted to sleep forever.
But she was also a kind, gentle older-sister type.
If nothing was urgent, it was better not to disturb her.
Sleeping forever was what she needed.
The witches hadn't even all shown themselves yet, and Hayashi Maki was already planning how to "arrange" them.
He really was a greedy, arrogant demon.
But that was normal.
Once someone holds great power, not everyone becomes Superman.
Most people become Homelander.
This time, Hayashi Maki's gains were huge: he'd contracted the Witch of Greed and obtained the status of a "Greed Apostle."
By drinking Dona Tea, one could become an Apostle of Greed and thereby gain authority to command Ryuzu Bilma.
And that mattered, because although Ryuzu and Ryuzu Meyer had already become crystals at the core of the Sanctuary to provide energy, the Sanctuary's artificial spirit-creation magic was still running.
So once enough mana accumulated, it would create a new Ryuzu clone with no consciousness.
These Ryuzu clones—like Ryuzu Bilma and the others—had bodies made of mana, similar to artificial spirits.
The difference was they had no intellect; they would only obey Ryuzu Bilma's orders instinctively.
Even ordering them to self-destruct would be no problem.
Just imagining countless suicide-bomber squads made up of cute "spirit girls" was already a national-destruction-level force.
Without preparation, even the Sword Saint could be repeatedly injured—or even killed—by continuous self-detonations from a swarm of those adorable spirit girls.