NOVEL NEXT Ch 45/Interlude III – Hey, this isn’t your story! Get lost, you jerk!
Melkar cackled as the summoning circle lit up. He’d already dismissed the ogre woman, knowing that sometimes their kind didn’t always get along together.
Summoning was an art. One few appreciated. You weren’t simply dragging some helpless being from another realm to do your bidding. Some likened it to a dance or a battle. For him, it was more like a romance. You had to offer a part of yourself and court the demon you were seeking. Regardless of how he felt about any specific demon, Melkar poured his soul into each summoning. To do otherwise seemed disrespectful somehow.
And thus far, he’d had much success.
A large gray hand reached through the portal from the Under realm, widening the small opening so that it could squeeze through. The creature’s nails were so sharp that it punctured through the thin fabric of reality that the summoning ritual had opened, a strange, dark mist leaking down to the floor like putrid fumes of death.
Melkar grinned.
He tended to prefer ogres. While it was best to only have one around at a time, he’d found they typically had rather simple desires. That being good fights and gaining power. The first was rather simple, though the second could be costly. Melkar’s pockets tended to stay empty. He’d surmised that those who accepted his summons did so because they struggled in their own realm. The Under was quite the brutal place, he imagined. Even to their own kind.
Succubi were one of the more difficult demons to get one’s hands on, often taking years of effort. It was all the more reason to take that student-turned-succubus for himself. Owning one was its own status symbol, at least to those who practiced the art.
And he would have her.
The ogre stood within Melkar’s demesne, a full head taller than his previous one. Proportionally, he could be mistaken for a human, if one ignored the pale gray skin, large horns, and tail. But no human stood that tall.
“You have piqued my curiosity, little human. What have you to offer?” Despite his words, he seemed, if anything, quite bored.
Melkar ignored his nervousness, and gave a nod toward Thamus. That he’d been able to bring both of Gellin’s former lackeys to his side still gave him no small amount of amusement. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Thamus opened the large chest, filled to the top with mana crystals. Each of them glowed with power, enough that it practically flooded the room in a soup of ambient mana.
It was by far the most Melkar had ever offered any one individual demon. Just getting them all had taken a number of favors and debts that he would certainly pay for later. Normally, he would never offer this much, especially for something as simple as kidnapping and owning a succubus. But after what she’d put him through, he’d make an exception.
“Is that all?” the ogre said, with a dismissive wave. “I have no use for such paltry gems. Do not mistake me for my lessers, human.”
Melkar blinked. He could tell the ogre demon meant it. This was unexpected. “I—well, there will also be quite a few fights. I—”
The demon held up a hand and Melkar’s jaw clamped shut, a force holding his lips closed. His eyes widened as dread swallowed him. It shouldn’t be able to use magic through that circle. Certainly not with such apparent ease. Taking a deep breath, Melkar’s panic was tempered by his greed. If he could contract this demon, he would be near-unstoppable.
“I will make this simple for you. There is but one thing you can offer me, though she is not yet truly yours to offer. I got a sense of what you wanted when you performed your little ritual. As did many others, though they stood little chance at beating me to you. I desire the little vyxa that you are after—the succubus, as you call her. Allow me to have her.”
Melkar eyed the demon. Giving him Ruby rather defeated the purpose of summoning a demon to obtain her. At the same time, this demon was clearly not fully bound within the summoning circle, if he was bound within it at all. If Melkar angered the demon, he would not survive its wrath.
“For what reason do you want her?” he asked, stalling in hopes that he could salvage this somehow.
“I suppose there is no harm in telling you. This is merely an easy means to add to my…what is it that you humans would call it? A harem?” He shrugged. “The word is close enough.”
It was not the answer he was suspecting, though it certainly made sense. Still. Demons had harems?
“Let me have five years with her, and then she is yours,” Melkar said slowly, hoping the offer didn’t offend him too much.
The demon laughed. “You jest. Quite bold of you, I must admit. But no, she will be mine, and in exchange, I won’t remove you from this existence.”
The words were so casual, that a chill went down Melkar’s spine. He briefly panicked before a stray thought entered his mind. If the demon could so easily escape the circle, why had he not already? Why do this sham of a contract with him? Why was it not already rushing through the halls to find the succubus he wanted? Perhaps the barrier was sturdier than he thought. Or the demon did not like the chances of making it through the school unbound.
Melkar decided to gamble.
“Three years,” he offered.
The demon raised a brow, as though to ask if he was serious. Then it growled. “Do not test me little mortal. I can kill you where you stand.”
Melkar felt an invisible hand grip briefly around his throat. He coughed, and said, “Four years,” shooting the demon a glare.
The two stared at each other.
“A week,” the demon finally replied.
Melkar smirked. The gamble had worked. “Three years.”
“One month.”
Melkar crossed his arms. Really? Just a month?
“Two years.”
The staring contest continued.
“I will allow you to have her for one year. Any longer is not worth my time. And there will be a few stipulations.”
Melkar smiled. One year was good enough. He would probably tire of her eventually regardless. And he could always search for another succubus the more traditional way, in the future.
Plus he would get to imagine the little succubus version of Gellin struggling in the Under, forced to serve this large ogre.
“Deal.”
