The Seven Demon's Tamer

"Do not interrupt or question me." Master Sung's tone dropped low and cold. "And do not interject me while I speak..."

"Wait," Master Sung suddenly realized, his voice trailing off as confusion crept into his tone, "how did you know his name was—"

It was at that exact moment that Master Sung turned to look at the person—or rather, the creature—whose arm was wrapped around his shoulders with such casualness. His eyes, which had been scanning the sky and the surrounding area for any sign of their vanished opponent, finally focused on the pale, scaled form that was standing directly beside him.

The realization struck him like a freight train. It was the one-eyed creature. The thing they had been searching for was standing right there, had been standing there for an unknowable amount of time, close enough to kill him a dozen times over without anyone noticing.

"Koi!" he called out to his familiar in pure panic, his voice cracking with the strain of sudden terror. The Thunder Whisker Koi responded instantaneously to his summons, materializing in a flash of electric energy and slicing through the air with lightning speed.

Its powerful form aimed directly at the creature that dared to stand so close to its summoner.

But just as the familiar's attack was about to connect, just as the Thunder Whisker Koi's formidable power was about to make contact with its target, the creature simply disappeared again. Not dodged, not blocked the attack, not countered with its own offensive—simply ceased to exist in that location, leaving the familiar's strike to pass harmlessly through empty air.

Immediately, everyone in the group leaped away from each other, creating distance and space as they also realized what had just transpired. They moved with calm composure evident in their stance, despite the outrageous panic they were facing internally, spreading out into a defensive formation that would prevent the creature from targeting multiple members simultaneously.

Nervous sweat dripped down their temples despite the cool night air, and their breathing had become rapidly increased. Each member of the group was fighting their own internal battle against the intense panic that threatened to overpower their tactical thinking.

One statement was running through everyone's mind at that moment, a question that they even found hard to think: "How did it come so close without us noticing?"

Not even the Sen had been able to detect its approach, and these were individuals who were at supernatural levels in all aspects and superior to everyone, including their fellow summoners.

They were the elite of the elite, the ones who could detect the smallest disturbances in gamma energy, who could sense malicious intent from miles away. Yet this creature had moved among them like a ghost, undetectable.

Only Leo... had seen it.

"It has the ability to vanish," Master Sung announced to the group, his voice steady, being the best at masking his panic completely at this point. "Be careful, everyone. Stay alert and don't let your guard down for even a second."

"Guys," Leo interrupted, gulping down a breath of air as he corrected Master Sung's assumption. "It isn't vanishing."

His blue-silver eyes were darting back and forth, tracking something that the others couldn't perceive. "It's moving. Moving so fast that it appears to vanish, but it's actually relocating faster than we can follow."

"My silver gaze technique allows me to see residual energy left by moving objects, so I could track its trail." Leo pointed to the side, toward a seemingly empty area of ground near a damaged building, then completed his explanation with growing dread. "It's standing right there. Right now."

Everyone simultaneously turned their gaze toward the location Leo had pointed, following his pointing finger with hope that he was wrong and the creature was actually vanishing. But their hopes were immediately dashed—the creature was indeed standing exactly where Leo had said it would be, as still and patient as a statue.

Its presence was next to nonexistent even though they knew for certain that this creature was way beyond their league in terms of power and capability.

This lack of detectable presence shouldn't have been possible given the tremendous power they knew it possessed as a black marked beast.

Everyone quickly took their combat stances, the Sen merging and transforming into their familiars, and the others taking their stance with techniques readied.

They slowly moved again and formed a rough circle around it, each member covering different angles to prevent it from disappearing and reappearing in their blind spots.

And then they halted.

No one wanted to make the first move, because everyone understood instinctively that making the wrong move could result in instant death.

This beast could kill them but hadn't since, so they didn't want to make him do so too soon.

The creature didn't flinch at their tactical arrangement; it stood perfectly still in the center of their formation with no urgency in its posture, that terrible single eye scanning them from face to face, with barely any interest in all of them except Leo and Ryder.

The creature waited patiently, allowing them to have the time they needed to formulate an attack if they wanted. But eventually, it became clear that they weren't going to make any aggressive moves.

They were just too afraid, which made the black marked familiar sigh in humanlike disappointment. Then, it began to speak.

"My name is Valachi," the creature announced with formality. "I am a Devil Core Beast from the black-marked plain of the Astral Shadow."

"I would at least like to know the name of my first victims on this foreign planet," Valachi continued, its tone remaining conversational. Then it took a long, deep sniff of the air around them, then exhaled with relaxation.

"Make your introduction and step forward for your death," Valachi instructed with the same polite formality it had used for its own introduction, that devilish smirk spreading wider across its irregular features. "One by one, please. No need to hurry yourselves."

"After all," Valachi concluded with obvious amusement, "everyone will get their turn. I am nothing if not fair in my approach to these matters."

As if the presence of Valachi wasn't terrifying enough, wasn't enough of a threat, the portal above suddenly let out another violent wave of thunder. The sound and display both carried with it an aura of pure evil, just for Valachi.

Another creature's limb suddenly burst through from the other side of the portal—another appendage just like Valachi's was making its way into Planet Terra. The limb was followed by another, then another, as something even larger than Valachi began to force its way through.

Mia gulped nervously then spoke. "Master Yuki, isn't this overkill! How many do you plan to summon out!"

Turning to stare right into Mia's eyes, Master Yuki responded with pure malice. "Just four."