The throne room of the Demon Queen was interesting. The walls were black stone that had been polished to a mirror sheen and they reflected the light of the pale violet flames that burned in iron sconces beside the throne.
The floor beneath his knees was cold enough to seep through his jeans and he shivered.
The demon Queen, Givelle, sat on throne watching him with a bored expression.
Kaito had seen beautiful women before, but none of that experience had prepared him in the slightest for the creature who was watching him with an expression of mild interest.
She was dressed in a dark gown and a back crown with horns sat on her head. She licked her dark lips. "You are the one they call Kaito Mura,"
"Where am I?" Kaito replied even though his throat felt dry.
"You've been summoned by the hero to zero system". She replied.
"What's that?"
Givelle sighed. "I am the demon Queen and I rule over this land but my land is about to be taken away from me."
"A hero has suddenly arisen and he is marching through every kingdom, killing the rulers, it's only a matter of time before he reaches mine. The problem with this hero is that no matter what we do, we cannot defeat him,, his skill makes him immune to all demon magic. But you are a 'Zero,' a being from another world with no destiny. Only you can break the Hero's skill and defeat him."
Kaito's head was spining from all her revelations. So he had been summoned by the demon queen to kill the Hero of this world, wasn't it usually the opposite? He had read lots of webnovels and usually the mc would be summoned to be the hero and kill the demon king or queen.
"Just my rotten luck". He muttered.
And the other part, so he was truly a nobody in life, to the point where he fit the zero to hero system's criteria. Kaito almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
The Zero-to-Hero pact was the oldest binding in the demonic texts. It could only be offered to one who has nothing, no power, no title, no destiny already written for them and it works because the mirror cannot reflect what does not yet exist. The hero could repel strength, but he couldn't repel potential.
"Now dip your hand in that bowl. So it can give your system." She said and pointed to a bowl at the corner of the room.
Kaito walked to the bowl and looked into it for a moment, at the way the dark liquid moved with a slow, syrupy patience. He really didn't want to dip his hands in a bowl containing mysterious liquid but what choice did he have really?
So he swallowed, and then he put his hands in.
It was cold, and then it was not cold at all, and then it was something else entirely, something that moved up through his palms and along the bones of his wrists and forearms like a current finding a new channel.
Kaito made a sound that he was not proud of and gripped the edge of the bowl tightly.
A blue interface suddenly appeared in his vision and text appeared.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[ZERO-TO-HERO PACT — ACTIVE]
[SCANNING HOST… COMPLETE]
He blinked at the pale blue text that hung in front of his eyes.
*Status*, he thought, and the system obliged.
[KAITO MURA]
Level: 1
Class: F
STR: 10
AGI: 10
VIT: 10
INT: 10
Mana: None
Skills: 1. Hidden, 2. Mana Acquisition
He read it twice, and then a third time, because the numbers did not improve with additional scrutiny.
Kaito wasn't sure what the power system was in this world but he was certain his stats would be poor regardless when compared.
He tired to open the hidden skill but he couldn't check it no matter what he tried.
He then opened the second skill.
[MANA ACQUISITION — PASSIVE]
[The host possesses no innate mana pool. Mana may be acquired through sexual contact with a mana-bearing individual, each instance of consummation will transfer a fraction of the partner's total mana to the host permanently.]
Kaito sat very still for a moment and read it again, trying to understand it. He had read of systems like this before where the mc got stronger through sexual acts with women, but he hadn't expected to get a system like that.
Immediately his sou jumped for joy and his perverted mind began to conjure up many fantasy scenarios, he looked at Givelle… could he have a chance with her perhaps?
The Demon Queen suddenly stood and the moment she reached her full height, her aura filled the room. The air itself seemed to become aware of her in a new way, and the violet flames in their sconces shrank and were pulled toward her.
The cold that had been sitting in Kaito's knees since he arrived suddenly deepened and spread and settled into his chest, and then his arms, and then his hands
He immediately dropped to his knees with a groan.
Kaito started to feel fear for his life, maybe the queen had read his mind somehow and seen his immoral thoughts about her.
However Givelle simply pulled out a collar and in the same bored voice said. "Forgive me, what I am about to do is not a reflection of distrust in you personally. It is a matter of… insurance"
"Wait.. what are you going to do to me?" Kaito managed to croak out against the pressure of her aura pressing down on him.
"This is a binding collar," she said, "Once clasped, you won't be able to resist my commands." She lifted the collar and settled it around his throat.
As she pressed it closed, he suddenly got a notification
[HIDDEN SKILL ACTIVATED ]
[REVERSAL — PASSIVE]
[All binding spells applied to the host are reversed in their target.]
Then there was a bright flash of light that almost blinded Kaito, and by then time he opened his eyes, the pressure of her aura was gone.
So was the collar.
As Kaito reached his around his free neck in surprise, a groan sounded to his side and he turned.
What he saw almost made his mouth drop to the ground.
The demon queen was on her knees and she had a frantic expression on her face.
Around her neck, fitted snugly against the pale skin above her gown, was the binding collar.