~Chapter 39~
[Ah… this sweet yet noble scent of blood. Finally…! Finally, you have called me…! It’s a little disappointing that there aren’t many offerings, but… just being summoned like this is an honor, an honor indeed.]
An overly excited demonic voice came from inside the summoning circle. Esther slightly frowned.
Her magic drained out of her body all at once, to a level she could barely handle.
‘…I’m going to faint.’
Not even 1% of her magic was left.
She had worked so hard to gather that magic…! For it to disappear in an instant. She had estimated she had around 10%, so she tried the summoning, but this was unexpected.
It meant the demon’s power was that great.
[…Should I cancel it.]
Esther muttered faintly through her blurring vision.
[…W-What? C-Cancel, you say…? Do you know how I felt when I sensed the birth of a soul with such a noble fate, how much I longed and waited for this day…!]
Just by his voice, she could tell how much he had been anticipating this, but all she could do now was barely move her lips.
[I have no choice. My magic isn’t enough. If I keep summoning you, I’ll die. I’ll gather a bit more and summon you again.]
[E-Even a humble offering will do. If you give me something, I can use it as a sacrifice to meet the missing conditions for the summoning…]
She could feel his panic beyond the circle. But what’s impossible is impossible.
[I don’t have anything. Not even an ant nearby. All the humans here are my prey.]
So don’t touch them…
Esther’s body swayed heavily. Her magic was almost at rock bottom.
‘…I thought only summoning a familiar would be like this.’
She didn’t expect to go through the same thing again.
[I cannot allow myself to be sent back like this! With your current magic, you cannot summon my physical body, but my soul alone can be summoned—and you’d still have magic left over.]
[…]
[Probably…]
…Wait, was she that short on magic?
She hadn’t thought she’d fail to summon a body. Even at 13% of her peak, she thought it was enough.
[Ah… but there is a rather suitable body nearby.]
[What…?]
[It’s human, so I’m not fond of it, but I’ll be satisfied with this for now.]
Something formless whispered within the red light.
[Don’t worry, I won’t touch your prey…]
Black smoke burst from the summoning circle, instantly wrapping tightly around Denver’s body.
“…What the hell is this!”
Denver quickly pulled out the small dagger at his waist and swung it, but it only cut through the smoke with no effect.
“Damn…!”
“You’re going to use that as a body?”
Ross, a curly-haired boy in short sleeves and shorts, tilted his head.
Even seeing such a shocking scene, he spoke casually, almost strangely.
Denver widened his eyes.
The boy clearly had no intention of helping.
‘I shouldn’t have trusted a beast…!’
Denver clenched his fist.
Thud—
Esther’s body tilted and she collapsed to the floor.
“Oh, Master.”
Ross rushed over and carefully held her in his arms.
Holding Esther, who was half his size, Ross looked up.
Denver’s expression twisted slightly.
[I don’t understand human language these days.]
[I asked if you’re going to take that as a body.]
Ross pointed at Denver.
[Ah… yes, Demon Beast.]
[Among humans, it’s a pretty decent body. Good, I didn’t like him anyway.]
Ross’s red eyes flashed.
Denver gritted his teeth and prepared to throw a hidden weapon to break the summoning circle—
[Think of it as a good thing. Thanks to this, you’ll gain power and youth that others can’t have.]
“You damn…! What are you saying…!”
[In short, it’s a blessing.]
Black smoke forced its way into Denver’s open mouth. His eyes rolled as it pushed down his throat.
His body twitched intermittently like someone having a seizure—then went completely still.
Slowly, his eyelids opened.
His once pale-gray eyes now glowed blood red, and his graying hair turned a faint gray-white.
The wrinkles marking his age were gone. Now he looked like a beautiful young man in his early twenties.
His skin was unnaturally white, his ears slightly pointed—almost like another being.
With all the signs of middle age gone, Denver had become a striking youth.
“Ah… I still don’t like a human body, but… it’s nice not having to study the language.”
He opened and closed his fists, smiling faintly.
Glancing at his outfit, he seemed displeased with the plain black tailcoat and snapped his fingers.
“No way I can serve a noble one in such shabby clothes.”
Black smoke swirled around him, and when it cleared, he was dressed in a pristine white tailcoat.
“I like it. Let’s finish the summoning before the noble one actually stops breathing.”
“My name is Uroboros.”
Ross grumbled in dislike.
The summoning circle now ran only on Ross’s magic—Esther’s was almost gone.
Two things were needed to complete the summoning: a soul and a body, and a name to exist in this world.
Esther had failed to summon the body, but by having the demon take over a human body, the condition was met.
Only the name was left.
Kneeling on one knee, the demon spoke to the half-dazed Esther:
“Noble one, will you grant me a name? A name that will let me stay here, by your side.”
“Ugh… my head hurts… so noisy…”
She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, her fingertips cold from the loss of magic.
“…Ah…”
The demon’s eyelids trembled slightly, and he came closer, kneeling fully.
“I know you’re tired, but if we don’t finish, I’ll be sent back for nothing. Please, noble one, a name…”
“Name… I don’t know…”
“Please… have mercy.”
“…Raksha.”
The single word she offered made the red light wrap around Denver—no, Raksha’s—body.
The light faded, and the circle vanished.
“I, Raksha, will devote myself entirely to serving you, noble one.”
He stood slowly, scanning the room. His white tailcoat was spotless.
“So… you summoned me with such strain because you need help. What do you want me to solve?”
“Master said she wants to save this human.”
“This one? He’s already dead.”
“…Hey, you know… he’s still alive, okay?”
Ross frowned. However weak, the man was still breathing.
“Ah… true. But can you call this alive? A touch could kill him.”
“That’s why Master wants you to try saving him.”
“…I’ve never seen a human this far gone into monsterization.”
Raksha narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin. The fusion was so far along there was little to do.
‘If I could use time-reversal magic, maybe…’
But only the most powerful demon kings could do that—and Raksha didn’t even have his full power, since his real body wasn’t here.
“Well… let’s at least peel off the outer shell.”
Gathering red magic at his fingertips, Raksha sliced through the crust covering Banshee’s father’s body.
Crack, crack—
With more magic, the hard shell shattered into pieces, scattering away.
Thanks to his control, it stayed just shy of touching the skin, making him look like a man with pitch-black skin.
“…Hmm?”
Raksha’s eyes narrowed.
Without the shell, he could sense a faint but strange magic—neither holy power, normal magic, nor dark magic. Something he had never felt before.
“I’ve removed the source of the miasma, so he won’t stop breathing for now.”
“So even you can’t fix it, demon?”
“It doesn’t look like normal monsterization. Especially this… thing rooted into his skin—if I remove it, he’ll die. If you want him alive, we’ll need to search for another way.”
“I see.”
Their eyes were emotionless as they discussed someone’s life.
“For now, it’s best to wait until the noble one wakes up.”
“Yeah, Master is weak after all.”
He bent down and took Esther gently from Ross.
