Eldritch

Of, fucking, course!
As if one night of rest wouldn't be asking for too much.

"Oh, great Iori! Hear my plea, and answer my humble request! I invite you to my world, so your presence may bless it."

The first thing I note is that I don't know this voice.
It's male, sounding older, a bit rusty, with a distinct rasp to it.
As if they were either a heavy smoker or just now choke on a lot of dust.
What strikes me odd about this is that this isn't Alyssa, which boils down the number of probable callers down to "I have not the slightest idea".

"May this sacrifice guide your path, being a beacon within the ocean of stars and darkness!" (old man voice)

Huh?
Now that I look into it, I realize that I don't even know this address.
It's not my dream, nor any other place I went to before and would recognize.
There's not just the speech, but actually, I feel lifeforce fluctuating in a way that makes itself known to me.
It's basic, the dimensional equivalent to a Morse code, but entirely different on a more complicated level.
Usually, if someone would call me like that on my phone I would dismiss the number and ignore the call entirely.
However...

"May you grant my wish, so your glory will be known!" (old man voice)

God, can this guy please shut up?
Ever had someone shouting constantly into your mind?
I tell you, that's pretty hard to ignore.
I could possibly push him far into my aftermind to ignore him, but I can't completely blend out its existence.
Like a mail folder with deleted files that aren't truly deleted, but stay contained in the spam or trash folder, one I for some reason can't completely delete.

"I beg of you to answer my plea and come forth!" (old man voice)

Okay, now it's bordering on getting pushy.
I get kinda inclined to answer this if only to tell them that I'm not the kind of being you can call a favor from.
Heck, I don't even know this guy!

So I figure out where this is coming from, and when I draw closer, there's truly something like a path laid out.
Or rather a draining sensation, leading me to a gap between dimensions that makes it slightly easier to pinpoint where to aim.
It's not like I couldn't waltz in any way.
Though, when I almost got it retraced, the next message comes.
This time sounding even more impatient.

"Come forth and bring your reckoning over those who dared to offend me!" (old man voice)

Okay, someone get a really wrong impression of me.
Since when am I the spirit of vengeance?
Okay, now I wanna tell them off!

I push my body tendril through the opening that was provided and start assembling it on the other side.
Before my body is even fully formed, the shape builds out a multitude of eyes and ears to give me surveillance of this room.

I find the location to be a huge hall, with terrible lighting conditions.
All candles, no windows.
The air is stale for that reason, yet contains something... magic!
It's some kind of mana element.
Not quite the same as in Soralia, but close enough.
It certainly would allow one to do magic.
Maybe even more complex forms than what elemental magic allows one to, says my gut.
And I'm inclined to believe this one, as accurate as they usually are.

Around me, there's some shape scribbled on the ground and I notice the presumed caller.
As I thought, an elderly man, with a grey-white beard, in a heavy black and violet robe, holding both arms wide out.

"It works! Something answered! It's coming! The summoning was a success!" (old man)

Damn, I guess I need to give him that.
If I don't apply the online game definition of a summoner class, where they just cast them as spells and directly have some loyal helpers, I need to admit that I apparently just got summoned.
Seriously, that is a weird situation to find myself in.

"Muahahaha! Magnificient! Come forth! Enter this realm, and do my bidding, Iori!" (summoner)

Aside from his weird inclinations, I really need to ask myself how this guy got my name to use it like this.
I certainly didn't give it to him and never had any connection to this realm to begin with.

"Yes! Come in Mother of Nightmares! Eternal Horror! Come in and do my bidding!" (summoner)

Those titles.
Damn, that's Switchy's doing, isn't it?

He said he would spread my name!
Seriously?!

I fully manifest.
My body taking my usual human form.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Only my eyes remain void black, as I'm slightly on edge right now.

"What the heck is going on here?!" (I)

He seems a bit confused when I address him.

"A girl!? No, that can't be quite right. It doesn't look like in the illustrations." (summoner)

Illustrations!?
They got pictures of me?!
Who's peeping here on minors?!

"Hell, I don't know what you're thinking, but I'd very much prefer not to be dragged here for whatever reason you come up with. Given the space this hall covers, I'm inclined to believe you're not even that bad off in case you didn't just lease it for this gig." (I)

No idea what this guy even expects from me.

"No! I wanted the Devourer of Worlds! Not just any demon!" (summoner)

"Well, consider yourself lucky, you got her. Though, I'm not exactly sure what that gives you. I'd like to be on my way again." (I)

Not like lying would actually help me here.
That guy already got my name, has an idea who he wants to summon, and seems very intent to keep on trying until he succeeds.
So rather than ignoring twenty more of his calls, I'd rather simply shut him down now.

"No, this can't be. The illustrations don't describe such a form." (summoner)

"Because I can shapeshift, duh! See?" (I)

It only needs a thought for me to switch into my usual demon form.

"You, you are genuine?" (summoner)

"As much as I can be myself. So yes, I think I am." (I)

Seems rather moot to argue about my own identity.

"Then, if you truly are Iori, the great chaos of the end, I ask you to take down this country! Too long did the royal family oppose me! Scatter their armies, erode their cities into dust, feast upon their souls!" (summoner)

Ehm, okay. If he's asking me like this, there can only be one possible answer to this.

"Heck, no!" (I)

"N-no?" (summoner)

"Of course not! Why would I attack anyone simply because you tell me to?" (I)

"B-because they're my enemies." (summoner)

"And that would matter to me in what way?" (I)

"What kind of destroyer even are you?" (summoner)

"I have absolutely no idea where you got this 'destroyer' thing from. Would you mind telling me what even would be the issue? All I get is that they somehow offended you. Yet killing everyone sounds a tad bit extreme for my taste." (I)

Even more so, as he basically demands that I drag in innocents as well.
That in itself doesn't make him the most appealing character to me.
This only adds to the fact that he was the one dragging me here without any incentive on my side to help him in the first place.
Yet it doesn't quite seem as if he's getting that part.

"As your summoner, I order you to raze this country!" (summoner)

"You order me? Seriously, I think you very much misunderstood how this is supposed to work." (I)

"You have to! You have no choice! Not after taking the sacrifice!" (summoner)

Who makes rules like this?
If you one-sidedly call me, you certainly can't claim that...

"Sacrifice?" (I)

I was so occupied with everything else and only had more than my normal eyes at my disposal for a moment, but now I turn around and see that the symbol around me is in truth trickles of blood, running through prearranged channels, and the source is lying right there, behind me, on a table... with a dagger embedded in her chest.

"Oh damn!" (I)

This lunatic stabbed this poor woman to summon me!?
Since when do I make the kind of impression that I'd demand this?
No, I need to help her!
That's all that matters now!

Yet before I can reach her.

"Wham"

A barrier!?

There's a barrier around this summoning circle.
Should probably be the 101 of summoning.
Yet right now it's preventing me from reaching that person.
The extra magic in the air makes it quite sturdy.

"Hah! You won't get your sacrifice if you don't agree to my terms! This barrier will keep you contained until you agree!" (summoner)

How can anyone misinterpret a situation so crassly?
I'm not even here enough to be trapped.
Also, of course, I can break through this.
It's just that I'd first need to pull more of me into this dimension first.
Yet the summoning seems kinda linked to the lifeforce of this woman.
The barrier as well, it appears.
This means, I need to be careful with it, or I'm going to cause serious damage to her.
Well, more than a dagger in the chest already does.

Shit!
I really do have no time.
However, there's one certain path I can take.
My idiot summoner got a blood sigil around me and my eldritch mind tells me I can use this.
It's already attuned to my person, so a short link and...
Yep, I hacked it.
Like a wave, my influence spreads through the lines of blood, turning it black-purple in its wake.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Stop it!" (summoner)

Sure, if you're asking so nicely.
Yet first, I'll deactivate this barrier.

"Whosh"

Now that the way is free, I rush to the poor young woman.

"Stop it! You can only have her if you do as I say!" (summoner)

I ignore this incessant stammering and concentrate on the one in front of me.

She's wearing a light grey robe.
Apparently not her own, but sacrificial garb I'd say.
Further accentuated by the shackles on each of her limbs.
Also...

Damn, she's already dead.
Not surprising with the accumulated blood loss.
If I hadn't already been so accustomed to all this craziness, this would be the moment for me to despair.

However, the soul is still within her body.
This means I don't really have anything that hinders me to pull the dagger out, close the wound, force the heart to pump again, and maybe restore any form of brain damage that occurred in the meantime.
Hm, the latter seems more important than the wound, as I'd have to start right over if I let this brain damage spiral any further.
Still, it's no problem.
I mean, brain surgery is still ridiculously complicated, but if your body has the ability to provide a bazillion supercomputers to take care of this for you it's merely a thing that can be done.

Once I reattach a certain connection, my patient's eyes quickly flutter open.
Seems like there was still a bit of lingering rest-consciousness that got her awake.

"Hello. Please, stay calm. Let me help you." (I)

I see the rising panic in her eyes and decide to add:

"I'd ask you to abstain from sudden movements. Wouldn't be good for you." (I)

At least, it would make healing her more complicated and certainly hurt like hell if she rips anything half-closed.
Though, for now, there's only a wide-eyed stare.

"What are you doing?! You, you can't! The contract!" (summoner)

"Oh, shut up!" (I)

As if I have the patience to deal with his crazy!

Yet now it seems like he's conjuring some kind of death lance.
This guy really didn't do his homework.
While I'm still doing my thing, I let a tidal wave of flesh growth gush at him.
The death lance merely puffs out against the stream that directly replaces what little damage he did and crashes into him.

I don't quite know what to do with him, but I guess I can leave him buried for now.
He's not going to die down there.
Maybe I'll hand him over to the authorities later on.
He's at least guilty of murder, as the victim in front of me shows, which for me means he had it coming for him.

Though, now it's the question of how I proceed with my patient.
An issue might be that she just saw everything I did there.

"Ehm, hi. My name is Iori." (I)

Hopefully, I didn't freak her out too much.

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.

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"Seems like she's breaking out of her shell. This means we'll have to become active." (?)