"L-let him go, you demon." Hilde mustered her courage to stare the horned woman down. "You won't gain anything from killing him, especially since you're trapped here!"

"That sounds a lot like you getting what you want when I get jack all of nothing." Vynx furrowed his brow; this one was a tad more agitating than he imagined. Granted, the only bits of succubi hunting he heard before were the more risqué parts. "How about you put the old geezer down first? Then I'll drop the symbol." He smirked a bit, though it was mainly a facade to try to force an opening. In the meantime, he nudged his pocket inhabited by a sleepy-looking bat.

A movement from under his jacket stirred as Sophia poked her head out. Silently, she crawled out of Vynx's pocket and into his sleeve, making her way down until she reached his wrist.  In the moment that Vynx let go of the necklace, Sophia flew out, whizzing past the succubus's face. In another split second, she reverted back to her full form and seized the demon's wrist, holding her in place with a surprising show of strength. "Do listen to them. We have you more than outnumbered, fiend," Sophia uttered coldly. 

The succubus flinched and snapped her head to glare at the woman behind her. Not expecting another supernatural being in the room, she relaxed her grip reluctantly to drop the man back onto the bed. "Tsk. How troublesome." She struggled against Sophia, but the vampiress only yanked her arm back and clasped a hand over her mouth. "Mmg!"

"She seems to be a potent caster, but with no motions and no words, I can keep her from using anything too dangerous," Sophia stated simply. "However, you may need to do more than drive a stake through her heart. Severing her connection with the man requires the demon to willingly break the contract."

Vynx drew his sword and kept it at the other end of the succubus' neck. "Checkmate. Quick thinking there, Sophia. Now…" The hunter glanced at his two holy companions. "Do either of you have something to break her hold on the old man? 

"I can certainly smite her…" Soleil replied, keeping her hand around the hilt of her sword as she awaited their next move.

"That might kill Lord Maurice too, depending on their contract!" Hilde warned. 

Vynx was familiar with the fickle nature of demons. They usually had some type of contingency plan when it came to binding themselves to a human, and it was clear that this particular succubus had their charge tightly in her clutches. "No way around it then? Goddamn it…" The nobleman was potentially still in danger, even if they had the demon at their mercy. "Okay, okay, okay, okay…" He washed his hand over his face. "Maybe she would be willing to leave without having to resort to that. Mind letting her speak, Sophia?"

Sophia nodded once the succubus stopped resisting and lowered her hand. "Speak, demon." The vampiress kept her fingers around the succubus' neck as a warning.

With her mouth freed, the succubus gave the hunter an irritated glare. "I'm sure you're all aware that killing me on this plane won't do anything. I'll return to the hells and drag that human's soul down with me." She smiled cruelly. "Not that he has much time left anyways. I promised him 90 days of bliss—before an eternity of suffering, of course," she said offhandedly. Such deals were hardly uncommon for devils. "So if you'd like to speed up his demise, then be my guest. It's his soul you're bartering for, not mine."

"I swear, I'm going to charge these nobles double," Vynx sighed to himself; he could already tell where this was going. "Yes, yes, you’re oh so very strong and verrrry powerful." The hunter knew all about making deals with devils, and this one was not going to turn tail and leave without compromise. He looked up at Sophia, offering her an apologetic look in advance, and then responded, "Then how about my soul in place of his? Surely this dried raisin of a man holds little value to you when the grapevine is close." He lowered his sword; despite his words and calm demeanour, Vynx knew he was gambling with more than just his own life.

Sophia raised an eyebrow at him before blinking in astonishment at his proposal. "Vynx! You can't just offer your soul instead!" she hissed. For a moment, she nearly forgot about his artificial nature and gave him a seething look. 

Hilde gawked in bewilderment at Vynx. "You can't do that! You'll end up the same way as him!" she sputtered. 

His paladin companion also looked at him incredulously. "Deals with demons never end well; even you should know that much." Soleil frowned in disapproval. 

The succubus tilted her head and analyzed him over again. "Mm, a monster hunter would really turn his soul over to a demon? I can't tell if you're extremely chivalrous or just extremely stupid," she admitted. "Still..." Licking her lips, she eyed Vynx up and down as if he were a fine cut of meat at a restaurant. "I could certainly be persuaded. It might even be fun having a pact with such a righteous hero," she cooed mockingly.

Vynx gave his party a smile that could only be read as just trust me on this one. "Don’t worry, I wouldn't make this deal if I didn't know what was in store. Besides, this takes care of the problem without any bloodshed…" He exhaled, then faced the demon. "Come on now, I don’t have all day." He impatiently tapped his foot against the hardwood floor. "Some of us actually have jobs, madam."

The succubus paused to consider her options: A nobleman who was set to expire in a few days or a fresh victim ready and willing to take her pact with pretty much any conditions she wanted. "Fine, since you seem so eager to sell your soul." She pulled her hand away from Sophia and held it out in front of her. A black book materialized into the air, filled with infernal scrawl across its weathered pages. A magic quill pen appeared beside it and hovered in front of Vynx in wait. "I will lay claim to your soul until you perish. In that time, I can do no harm to you, and you can do no harm to me. When you inevitably end up dying from whatever external cause, then your soul will be mine for the rest of eternity to do with as I please," she smiled. 

"Vynx, this is a terrible idea, and you know it," Soleil growled. She wanted to believe that he had some backup plan, but even then, finding loopholes in a devil's contract was nearly impossible for the average person. 

"Please, reconsider this! I would hate to leave our charge to die like this, but if he's already signed away his life, there's no reason for you to give away yours," Hilde pleaded and grabbed Vynx's sleeve as he took the pen. 

"Enough with the whining. Sign here, and I'll release the man." The succubus waved her tail excitedly behind her.

"And would my companions be exempt from your wrath?" Vynx questioned. "I would assume so, since you've left the poor sod's wife well alone."

"I have no interest in them. You may have guessed it already, but I can only form one pact at a time." The demoness rolled her eyes. 

"And you promise to null your contract with Lord Maurice?" Vynx waited for the demon to nod to his question. 

"I do swear it," she answered coolly. 

Vynx clenched his fingers around the quill as he wrote his name on the paper, silently cursing himself with every stroke of the pen. Dark red ink flowed from the tip in a shade reminiscent of blood. Once his signature was signed, he set the quill down on the glowing pages and pushed the floating book back to the succubus. "You might want to get used to holy artifacts, though—I tend to carry a few. By the way, do you have a name?"

The book lit up, glowing a magenta hue matching the succubus' aura as it drifted before her. "You can call me Laven. From today onwards, we have a pact," she purred in satisfaction. Content with his offer, she waved her hand dismissively, and another page from the book was torn out. A similar contract, one with a "Maurice" signed at the bottom, suddenly went up in purple flames. The nobleman on the bed groaned as a brand under his clothes suddenly gleamed bright violet. He jerked upwards, clutching at his chest until the symbol gradually faded back into nothingness. Then, like a doll that had been thrown away, Lord Maurice collapsed unconsciously back on the mattress. "Done, and done." Laven snapped her fingers, and the book shut definitively. 

On his chest, Vynx noticed a glowing mark starting to form in a design similar to the black tattoos covering Laven's skin. He could feel the tinge of dark magic surrounding his body and a secondary presence entering his mind. The hunter blinked as his surroundings blurred, and for a moment, Vynx was no longer in the nobleman's bedchambers but in a pure black void with only Laven remaining. The darkness swirled around him like a living entity, prodding at his mind as if looking for a way in. Vynx grasped his chest as the tattoo became searing hot and crawled across his skin like lava. Just before the pain became unbearable, he felt the sigil on his back glowing in response—and the demonic black tattoos forcibly retracted, leaving him with little more than a light burning sensation on his skin. When he blinked again, Vynx was suddenly back where he was standing. 

"..." The succubus squinted at him. "What in the hells—"

"You really ought to check the fine print," the hunter chuckled awkwardly. Having that near-possession episode was a smidge embarrassing, but he was relieved to know that his sigil had him covered as always. "I'm not exactly human myself, as a matter of fact—I'm nice and lab-grown. Sorry." He winked at the succubus as the ash that was the other contract dusted itself along the floor. "I’m what you’d call a homunculus, made by alchemists attempting to make a hunter who could go toe-to-toe with the night and come out of it better than most people would." Vynx brushed his hands off on his jacket, as if wiping away the infernal deed in its entirety. "That means I have no real soul for you to take, dear succubus. And in accordance with your contract, I cannot come to harm by your hands—though you're very welcome to try. I'm sure you'll just leave and find some new sod to play around with." He picked up Hilde's necklace and returned it to her with a grin. 

"A... homunculus?" Laven repeated, slowly piecing together why he seemed so incredibly calm for someone signing away his soul. "That's—that's not fair!" she huffed, wings flaring up behind her while Vynx laughed at her lapse in judgement. She quickly summoned her book again and flipped back to his contract. His name was still on the page, and though she could tear it up, the humiliation of being duped so easily only incited her more. Practically fuming on the spot, she slammed the book shut again and pointed at him. "How dare you—if I could strangle you right now, I very much would!" she hissed. 

Sophia released Laven, sighing in relief as the tension from the situation melted away with the raving succubus' protests. "Believe me, I was also quite astonished when I first found out. You won't want to take a bite of him either; he tastes absolutely awful," she added. 

Hilde looked between Vynx and the others, still at a loss for words. "Wait, did I hear that right? Y… you don't have a soul?" she asked and clasped her necklace back in place. The revelation shook the cleric more than anything else they had encountered so far.

"Not all living creatures have souls. The miracle of life is something alchemists have been studying for centuries. While Vynx does seem to be their most successful prototype so far, creating a soul from nothing is still only in the domain of gods," Sophia explained to the baffled cleric.

"Sad to say (especially about the taste), but it's true!" Vynx responded. "I'm not sure about the exact method—but to make one very long story short: it's best to assume anything created inorganically doesn't have a soul to begin with." He shrugged, then turned his attention back to the Laven. "Which means little miss wings over here can't drag me off to hell, and that she's signed herself to me foooooor… what was it again? Until the end of my days? Whenever that may be? Yeah, that sounds right."

Still grumbling to herself, Laven held her face in utter indignation. "You'd better at least have a working penis down there," she grumbled.

Vynx looked rather smug; getting one up on demons had this charm to it that the hunter couldn't explain. "If you're asking if I have a functioning body to work with, that is very much a yes. You could just ask the other three." Vynx withdrew his sword, putting it back into the sheath. "Though I suppose we have one last issue: the old man's health. Hilde, if you'd be so kind as to check up on him—I'm going to try and spring for at least 20% more than what was offered."

Hilde returned to the bedside and checked the nobleman's pulse and breathing. "He is still weak from the lack of food and proper sleep, but he should recover just fine," she nodded and offered the disoriented noble some water from her flask as he began to stir. 

Laven glared at the group as they resumed talking business, completely ignoring her presence now that she was no longer a threat. The succubus finally shook her head, resigning herself to the situation for the time being. "I've had enough of this. If you must summon me, just call." She snapped her fingers, and her form faded back into a dark silhouette. Her shadow retreated to the ground to merge into Vynx's own, and with that, the succubus in the room was gone from view. 

"Well, that's a bit easier than trying to explain the demon to his wife." Soleil admitted. "... Can't exactly say I'm thrilled to have a succubus with us, though." The paladin crossed her arms as she stared at Vynx, but at this point, every new otherworldly addition to their party hardly came as a surprise. 

"I didn’t plan for this, I assure you. Let's just hope she isn't one of those demons who care about gold." Vynx coughed. He already had enough mouths to feed, and while he was thankful for his companions' help on the job, he could already feel their scorn on the way out the door. Once Sophia transformed back into a bat and was neatly hidden in his pocket again, he headed out to find Lady Martell to inform her of the "good news." 

"This isn't over, hunter." Laven's voice echoed in the back of his mind.

"Having a roommate in my own mind is going to take some getting used to, but let's make the most out of it, yeah?" Vynx replied internally. He shuddered to think about what a succubus would have in store for him once they were alone, but he couldn't deny that a part of him was excited to test the limits of his new pact.