The Seven Demon's Tamer

"I am the first elite of the Falcon Guild, Captain Kyujiro Nakamura," the figure responded, his voice carrying weight. "I am going to be taking you with me to my master, black-marked summoner Ryder."

The way Captain Kyujiro spoke Ryder's name made it sound like he was making a declaration, and Ryder was quite taken aback.

"Oh, flashy name!" Ryder gave a thumbs up, his voice carrying an almost manic cheerfulness that seemed completely inappropriate for the situation. "I find it surprising why I feel less dread in the presence of your entire guild than before you all ever came."

I wonder if this is Luxy's doing again, Ryder wondered. But if it is his doing right now, I am in support of it. It should be enough to buy some time for master Sung and the others to get here.

He began walking left and right in front of Captain Kyujiro, his movements like someone who's rambling under his breath and deeply reasoning.

"You know," Ryder continued, his voice taking on the tone of someone making casual conversation, "I've been wondering something. Do you guys have like, any better way of transportation?"

He paused mid-step, turning to face Captain Kyujiro with genuine curiosity painted across his face. "The pod you came here by has a relatively hard interior and looks very unappealing."

"Are you going to surrender peacefully, or do you want to put up a fight?" Captain Kyujiro inquired, ignoring all Ryder's questions, his voice carrying the kind of patient menace that made it feel like he was giving Ryder one final chance to avoid violence.

"Surrendering is the last thing I'll ever do," Ryder said unwaveringly. "Let's negotiate."

Captain Kyujiro's patience, already stretched thin, finally snapped. "Oh, so this is how it is then," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper as he began to shift into a combat stance.

"You must be feeling cocky because you are a black-marked summoner."

*Vwoom.*

The sound that Captain Kyujiro made as he launched forward wasn't quite human—it was more like a sharp blade slicing through the air. The ground beneath his feet exploded into fragments of small rocks as he pushed himself forward with such incredible speed.

Ryder's eyes widened in genuine shock. He hadn't expected the captain to be quite this fast. He made the decision to be playful around Captain Kyujiro just because he was a red mark summoner—and red marked summoners should have never been able to measure up to black marked summoners.

The massive man moved like a blur of red, covering the distance between them in what felt like a fraction of a second.

Fortunately, despite how nonchalant Ryder had been acting, he had actually been on high alert the entire time, expecting the worst case scenario right from the start.

He threw himself to the side with desperate speed, his reflexes pushed to their limit. The wind from Captain Kyujiro's passing strike actually lifted him off his feet and sent him coursing through the air for some distance.

Even though he had managed to dodge the attack, Ryder could feel a burning sensation along his left cheek. When he touched it, his fingers came away stained with blood—somehow, even though he had avoided the direct impact, Captain Kyujiro had still managed to graze his cheek.

Captain Kyujiro wasted no time in continuing his assault. The moment his first strike missed, he pivoted with fluid motion that seemed impossible for someone of his size and launched into a continuous barrage of punches.

His fists moved with the speed of bullets, each punch carrying enough force to shatter boulders. The air whistled with each strike, and Ryder could actually feel the wind displacement against him.

Instead of jumping back to create distance between them—like most would do—Ryder did something completely unexpected. He stayed exactly where he was, moving his body with incredible precision just enough to avoid each strike by the narrowest of gaps.

*Swoosh.*

A punch sailed few inches past his nose, close enough that he could smell Captain Kyujiro's skin.

*Whoosh.*

Another strike missed his temple by just an inch, the displaced air ruffling his white hair.

*Whoom.*

A third punch passed so close to his ear that he could hear the captain's knuckles cutting through the air.

The action was almost mocking—as if Ryder were demonstrating that Captain Kyujiro's attacks, despite their terrifying power and speed, were nothing.

"You know," Ryder said conversationally, tilting his head to avoid another punch, "this reminds me of that old saying about how if you're going to do something, you should do it with all your heart and maximum capability.

I think whoever came up with that saying probably wasn't thinking about punching people."

*Whiff.*

Another strike missed Ryder by inches.

"Ryder, make some violent noise," Luxy suggested from Ryder's head. "It would make it easier for the others to pinpoint your location and track you."

Right, Ryder responded to Luxy with his mind.

Ryder locked gazes with Captain Kyujiro and continued, "This seems like a lot of effort for very little payoff. How come you haven't even landed a successful hit?"

Bending backward to avoid an uppercut that would have probably shattered his jaw, Ryder added, "Have you considered maybe taking up a hobby instead? I hear knitting is very relaxing."

Captain Kyujiro suddenly froze up, halting his movement instantaneously. His face was turning an alarming shade of red that almost matched his combat attire, and veins in his neck had become clearly visible; this was pure anger.

"Eclipse Tiger!" he roared, his voice echoing across the Sen district. "I summon you!"

The moment those words left his lips, the entire atmosphere around them changed. The casual, almost playful energy Ryder had been using to match up against Captain Kyujiro instantly shifted into seriousness.

The aura that erupted from Captain Kyujiro as he began his summoning was unlike anything Ryder had experienced from other summoners. But the familiar sensation of that level of power made Ryder's blood run cold.

He had felt this exact type of energy before—from his own summoning of Luxy.

"This could only mean..." Ryder realized. "A monarch."

The frequency with which red-marked monarchs seemed to appear around Ryder was starting to become genuinely concerning. Just how many red-marked summoners were there in the world? And why did they all seem to be drawn to him?

The number of monarchs are supposed to be so limited. Through the entire black mark section of the astral shadow plain, which was as great as an entire universe, there were only seven monarchs.

As the familiar began materializing from the crimson mist that exuded from Captain Kyujiro's shoulder, Ryder noticed something that made his heart skip a beat. The captain's summoning process was notably different from the majority he had ever witnessed—it took just a second.

Most summoners, even skilled ones, required several seconds to properly manifest their familiars—Ryder's summoning was even worse in terms of time summoning takes. He could go on for an entire minute if trying to summon Luxy.

But Captain Kyujiro had managed to complete the entire summoning in just a single second.

The entire summoning happened within just a single second.

The familiar that materialized from the mist was immediately recognizable as a creature of great strength. The Eclipse Tiger stood nearly five feet tall at the shoulder, its massive size covered in midnight-black fur that seemed to be indistinguishable from the darkness of the night.

Golden stripes ran along its body like veins of molten metal, and its eyes glowed with menace as if hell was burning in them.

The familiar positioned itself beside Captain Kyujiro, both master and creature staring at Ryder with identical expressions of bloodlust.

"That's just one," Captain Kyujiro muttered, his voice too low for Ryder to hear clearly, but the look in his eyes already transmitted the message perfectly.

The threat was clear: this was only the beginning.

Red mist began to exude from his body once again, and in no time, another familiar was being summoned.

"Blue Lili-Octopus!" Captain Kyujiro chanted. "I summon you!"

The same overwhelming aura that Ryder had felt during the first summoning washed over him again, sending ripples that flustered his hair.

The second familiar materialized at similar speed as the former.

The Blue Lili-Octopus was a creature of menace as well but of different make from the eclipse tiger. Its body was a bright azure blue, lighting the entire expanse. It had no eyes and countless small tentacles, crackling with lightning.

"These two creatures are undoubtedly red-marked monarchs," Ryder analyzed, his mind racing as he realized his situation. "And Captain Kyujiro is so strong that I have to use my maximum speed to dodge his attacks."

"I think this is enough violent noise," Ryder spoke inwardly to Luxy. "How do you suggest I manage this new situation?"

"Try to hold your ground," Luxy responded. "You cannot escape from this current situation—you have no other option but to fight."

"Are you sure about that, Luxy?" Ryder spoke inwardly again. "I have your trait of leaping through great distance; I might stand a chance."

Luxy remained silent for a short while before responding. "How many times have you stolen a peek at the sky since the beginning of this fight?"

That was right. Unfortunately, Ryder had been too focused on Captain Kyujiro and his fight to keep in mind the impending danger descending from the sky. The countless pods, falling like burning meteorites.

The heat around increased drastically as Ryder raised his head to stare above.

Pods collided with the ground seconds later—not just a single pod like Captain Kyujiro's had been, but everything that had been left in the sky. The sound was unlike anything Ryder had ever heard: a thundering explosion, shaking the ground like an earthquake and destroying everything.

The impacts weren't limited to the area around Ryder and Captain Kyujiro. The pods fell across the entire Red Eastern Guild base, their arrival haphazard with devastating impacts.

The number of pods wasn't a small force by any means, and Ryder could only watch in horror, unable to do nothing.

All it took was a short moment of consecutive impacts to devastate the entire guild. The Fan district, with its carefully crafted ancient artifacts and peaceful residential areas, was reduced to rubble in seconds.

The Luo district, where so many guild members lived, became a landscape of craters and debris.

The Tian district, housing the hardest structures, had fallen. Even the Sen district, with magical barriers, natural dreamlike landscape and floating buildings, wasn't spared from devastation.

***