Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 7 Prologue (section)

===Part 1===

The most majestic castle in the Demon Realm, its name was Lundvall.

The Current Demon Lord Faction that the young Demon Lord Leohart led, used it as its base.

Not only was this castle a primary military powerhouse, it also became a political center after the new Demon Lord had ascended onto the throne.

But however – the Current Demon Lord Faction’s decision-making power, does not consist of just Leohart himself.

That is because of the Council – the existence of the group of living history of high-class demons.

--In this night where the moon shone light this late into the night,

Alone, Leohart walked through one of Lundvall City’s silent corridors.

With every step he made, chilly sounds echoed over and over again in that spacious area.

His destination, was West Tower.

Other than Leoheart himself and those he had given permission to, no one else was allowed to step inside this place.

After being transferred into the central passage, the wall was replaced by a large window.

“………”

Under the pale moonlight shining through the window, Leohart continued walking forward with a long shadow following him.

Before the entrance to the West Tower, he stretched out his right hand and started the soul recognition, and after that he walked in after the heavy doors opened; after opening the double layer of protection which required the matching of soul and Demonic Power, the automatic elevating equipment began to start up, and a giant magic circle appeared on the ground.

The next moment, the magic circle began to rise upwards while supporting both of Leoheart’s feet. Although its speed was increasing, Leoheart’s long hair did not move even once due to the wind. The reason for that, was that a field to prevent winds was set up when the elevating device started up. Thus, Leohart closed his eyes, and began thinking deeply.

Today Leohart – had received orders from the Council to utilise the recently excavated spirits and attack the Moderates Faction’s Wildart City, which also happens to be the previous Demon Lord Capital.

Objective? To capture the sole daughter of the previous Demon Lord Wilbert, Naruse Mio.

The one who took command of the attack was Gardo who was once closer to the throne of the Demon Lord than Leohart and the high-class demon Nebula was sent by the Council to supervise the attack.

---However, the attack had ended in failure in the end.

As for how it had happened, Leohart had already received a full report on it.

Just like who the Moderates Faction had sent people to monitor the situation, Leohart too just in case had also placed a compatriot he trusted to take care of it – Lars, to keep himself updated on the latest developments of the battlefield.

Once he found out that Gardo had been taken captive, he ordered Lars to rescue him and thus sent out a final proposal.

The contents of it were, to have a decisive battle in this Lundvall City, to settle this once and for all.

Leohart firmly believed, that this was the correct choice.

Naruse Mio who had inherited Wilbert’s power, had already begun to awaken it. Toujou Basara’s fighting potential had exceeded expectations to the point of being able to rival Gardo. As for the rest, they would be enough to deal with the spirits army that Luca had prepared. Also, on the first time Ramsas had appeared on the battlefield, he had shown power able to eliminate a high-class spirits in a single attack.

Furthermore – Toujou Jin who had crossed swords with Leohart not long ago was rumoured to have also joined them.

Although his own side has the advantage of an overwhelming army, it would take too much to just defeat the Moderates Faction; even if he was able to cross the giant hurdle of defeating them, the enemy that was opposing Leohart wasn’t just the Moderates Faction alone, so there is a need to maintain their military strength. The Current Demon Lord Faction led by Leohart and the Moderates Faction led by Ramsas were simply just the Demon Realm’s two largest forces, so obviously there would be countless other smaller forces in existence that cannot be crushed all at once.

''…More importantly,''

There were still the annoying toxic roots known as the Council. Those old leeches were an even bigger obstacle than the Moderates Faction that needs to be removed as soon as possible to try to reduce sacrifices and losses.

--From Leohart’s point of view, there were two important things in this few-participant decisive battle between the Factions. Firstly, it was completely different from a large-scale fight where he could push the chances for the Council's intervention or a spy mixed into them right to the minimum. Secondly, this method would be more advantageous towards the Moderates Faction – for the Moderates Faction whose troops were inferior, a representative battle between the Factions would be preferred over an all-out war.

In other words, this was just to accommodate the Moderates Faction’s weakness – and in order to not let the Council do as they please, it was a necessary sacrifice. In order to create a battle where the Council could not interfere, this is the only possible way.

Hence, Leohart had made this choice, and had sent the message while Gardo’s rescue was in progress. Thereafter, he used a video recording crystal to record the proposal for the battle and used demonic energy to mark his official stamp on the crystal’s surface, and then used Wyvern to have it delivered to Wildart City.

As of now, the crystal should already be in the Moderates Faction’s hands and having its contents being looked through. Since his proposal would push the current war situation towards a better direction, they most probably would agree to it.

''…With that, I would say we’re now a step closer.''

Thinking that, Leohart then opened his eyes, and the elevating device also began to slow down. When it came to a complete stop, a heavy door was there before his eyes.

At around eye level of this door, there was an ornament which seemed out of place with the door’s solemn colours – a wooden board with a red-coloured heart shape. On the wooden board, there was something written in chubby handwriting<ref>go google it. It’s something similar to a person’s handwriting when he/she began to learn how to write</ref>:

『Be ready for a spanking if you forget to knock, okay? ♥』

Seeing the wooden board, Leohart smiled slightly, and knocked on the door as the sign told him to.

“………?”

However, there was no reaction from behind the door.

''It’s already this late, so maybe she’s asleep?''

Thus, Leohart tapped on the door a few more times, and after making sure that there was no response, he opened the door slightly and silently, and entered the room.