The Scumbags Guide to Enslaving Demon's

There was no throne.

The throne room had no throne.

Vharra stood on a circular platform of polished black glass surrounded by hundreds of severed contract chains sprouting from the floor around them like roots. Maelis’ ember fire crackled through the archway beyond the throne chamber’ s far wall. The Queen had brought them close enough to witness her rescue, but far enough away that they could still be useful.

Austin Veyron did not step any farther into the room.

”You offered me a pact.” he said. ”Declare the terms.”

Vharra smiled. ”You accept the sovereign function of your Devour seed. And in exchange, I open every claim path under my control.”

”You may free forced contracts,” she continued, gesturing at Elena who had fallen behind her teammates and back towards the contract vines. ”Sever false ownership. Decide which territories deserve freedom.”

”And my team?” Elena called out.

”They remain yours.”

Elena laughed once, not amused in the slightest. ”That isn’ the point.”

”I will decide who they become.” Vharra stated.

Assets.

Elena wasn’ sure how she should take that. Was Asset meant as a punishment or a...promotion? But before she could press further, the lines running down Vharra’ golden chains brightened with energy.

”They become assets of your sovereignty.” Vharra said. ”No lesser lord may lay claim to them.”

Assets.

The word cut deeper than any overt threat Vharra could have given them.

”No.”

Austin Veyron said flatly.

The room around them shifted.

Contract vines burst up from the floor around six shadowy humanoid shapes made of black, liquid metal. They weren’ faces, just mirrored skulls with arcane symbols glowing beneath where eyes might have been: ’GUARDIAN. LIEUTENANT. WITNESS. CUSTODIAN. WEAPON. ASSET. ’

Vharra stepped back behind her wall of shattered black glass.

”If you disagree with my offer,” she said calmly. ”Then free them without claiming custody.”

The construct labelled ASSET charged forward at Elena.

Austin Veyron intercepted with Root-Grab, wrenching a pillar of black vines from the ground and shoving Elena behind it. Chain claws shredded through the vines like paper. Elena didn’ duck behind her guardian though. She slipped underneath the constructs arm and yanked the glowing word off its wrist with Tessas silver knife.

The construct froze.

’ASSET’ blinked and ’PERSON’ replaced it.

It vanished.

Together Rin and Veyra dove onto the next two constructs, wrestling them to the ground.

Rin swung her sword through GUARDIAN’ glowing chains, freeing it from the archway. At the same time, Veyra cut the contract lines tethering LIEUTENANT to the floor of the throne room. Sarielle kept WITNESS at bay with silver fire.

Nahlia stared at the symbols floating above them heads. ”Its trying every classification the Ledger gives people when it turns them into assets.”

”Break the classifications,” Austin Veyron said simply.

WEAPON slammed into him with a spear made out of chains. It sliced clean through Austin’ torso. He could hear it now, thanks to being injured enough to notice. His seed offered to empower him with every possible title, right now.

[ACCEPT SOVEREIGN FUNCTION.]

[COMMAND ALL COURT ASSETS.]

He could accept right now and walk away from this fight victorious. Every construct chained to that palace, every warden guarding its hallways -every claim route on this continent would answer to him.

If he accepted...

Every person beside him would become an asset of his court.

Bodies.

Property.

Austin grabbed WEAPON’ spear shaft and cut its control line with DEVOUR. It froze mid-motion, and Austin ripped the spear free with his other hand.

Planting it deep into the floor again, he slammed WEAPON’ chain form against the throne room wall without touching its core.

”Choose.” Austin said matter-of-factly.

Its mirrored skull cracked.

The word returned to ’FIGHTER.’

WEAPON backed away from the spear shoved through its back, staring up at Vharra’ throne room wall with glassine eyes before turning and walking out of the chamber.

Vharra leaned against the wall behind her like nothing happened.

She hadn’ moved since before the fight started, but she looked...changed.

”You keep freeing people,” she hissed. ”One day that’ going to leave you vulnerable.”

”That’ fine with me.” Austin replied evenly. ”But it also means I know who’ going to have my back when things come down to that.”

The last of the constructs, designated CUSTODIAN wrapped chains around the archway leading back into Maelis’ holding cell, wringing itself tighter around the ancient stone.

Elena sprinted forwards.

Austin stepped after her, ready to protect Elena’ back as she attacked. But she raised a hand to stop him.

”Help me,” she said. ”Don’ take my place.”

He understood.

Austin held off the construct’ grasping chains while Elena snagged the transfer book from Tessa’ hands and flipped through it looking for some clause in her own contract that might override custody. Maelis’ ember blasts punched through the archway behind her in steady bursts, setting Elena’ breathing pace.

Elena found it.

’CUSTODY REQUIRES CONTINUING CONSENT.’

She read the line aloud.

The ember-user behind her called out, voice echoing down the hall, ”I revoke my consent to custody.”

Flames punched through the archway.

They blasted it outward until Elena and Austin were back in the throne room where they’ started.

Behind Elena, Maelis pulled three adult prisoners out from underneath the remnants of the holding cell. Her wrists were bloodied but she still had the shard of glass. And she had a stupid, brilliant grin splitting her face that told Austin she knew exactly what she was doing.

Vharra stepped forward, furious.

”You broke our bargain.” She spat.

”You could have accepted my offer to join the network.”

Austin looked at every person now standing beside him. At the broken constructs kneeling at his feet. At his team, where they’ chosen to stand together.

”I don’ want your protection.”

The room erupted.

A circle of black glass rose high above their heads into an arena. Everything above the floor was chains and shards of reflective metal except for...

The arena floor split into thirds.

One section bore Vharra’ court emblem.

Another pulsed with the corrupted sigil of the Devour seed.

And the third ring in the middle was empty.

Nahlia translated aloud the lines of court text scrolling around its circumference. ”Three rounds: authority, territory, and witness. Looks like Vharra thinks she can trap you into abiding by the system’ rules.”

”Can we decline?” Tessa asked.

”We can,” Nahlia confirmed. ”But Maelis claim will return.”

Veyra crossed her arms and stared up at the arena’ walls. ”And what happens if Austin Veyron accepts?”

”He names a territory,” Nahlia finished. ”And a court. Basically that is what accepting is. She can forge a claim against him with that title.”

Austin stared down at the empty circle at his feet.

The seed thrummed under his skin.

[DECLARE SOVEREIGNTY.]

Beside him Maelis took a deep breath. ”You don’ have to fight this alone.”

”I know.”

Down the hall, more wardens filed into the throne room from deeper within the courts chamber. Some were chained together. Others had forcibly removed their chains or even broken free of constructs.

The constructs Austin freed from Vharra’ sovereign trial stood among them too, curious if the court would entertain another alternative to its issue.

Vharra raised both hands high into the air.

”Declare your court, Devourer.” She shouted down at them. ”Declare everyone that you own.”

Austin felt every conversation he ever had with his team scream at him to name everything he cared about.

Grand Meridian.

The Freehold.

His routes.

His friends.

If he named them, he could protect them. He could keep every person here safe with authority granted by court itself.

But if he named them...

”Nobody owns them.”

Including yourself , Austin almost said. But he clenched his jaw and bit back whatever restraint kept him from screaming that word into the stone walls.

The assembled court gasped.

Vharra swiped a hand through her hair. ”Then you have no right to defend them.”

He stepped into the blank circle.

”My court consists of everyone that chooses to stand with me.” Austin Veyron said. ”As for territory. Territory is anywhere anyone can say no to a contract.”

Light flared beneath them.

Not Vharra’ twisted red- gold light. It glowed bright white, like the light in Sevens eye.

Round three of witness had begun.

The arena asked every member of their group the same question.

’DO YOU STAND HERE OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL?’

One by one they answered.

Veyra.

Elena.

Rin.

Tessa.

Nahlia.

Sarielle.

Seven.

Maelis and the three adults she freed from captivity.

With every yes the circle of light expanded until it was so bright even the wardens high up in the balconies began to murmur.

Vharra snapped her gaze away and wiped that stupid smirk from her face.

”You weaponized consent,” she accused.

Austin looked down at where chains would soon materialize for round one of their combat tribunal.

”No.” he replied flatly. ”You weaponized chains. We are just telling everyone they don’ own us.”

Round one began.

The arena conjured a massive construct in the judges likeness. Vharra’ face plastered across its mirrored skull.

It bellowed across the throne room. ”DECLARE THE AUTHORITY YOU WILL CLAIM.”

Austin felt every possible mantle the seed offered him screaming in his mind.

Devourer.

Lord.

Sovereign.

Executioner.

He looked around the ring at his team.

”I claim nothing but responsibility for my actions.” Austin Veyron said.

The judge lifted a chain bound gavel high into the air. ”That is unacceptable.”

And with that, it dropped the weapon into the pool of light where every person in the room lunged forward to intercept it.

Not as property or servants. Warriors.

Every person who came together in that throne room chose to stand there, united against Vharra and her perverse interpretation of law.