The Seven Demon's Tamer

Ryder was quite surprised at the situation unfolding right before his eyes.

He knew there was something up right from the time he got into the room. The muscular size and strong presence of the disguised workers made him already know that he might be having a problem.

Furthermore, he was most certain of the fact that they were all interested in him from the moment he noticed their piercing gaze on him.

It was like being watched by a pack of wolves, acting slow and cunning.

Every time he glanced up to stare around, at least three pairs of eyes would quickly look away, busying themselves with random tasks that seemed comically out of place.

One particularly large man with scars peeking from beneath his rolled-up sleeves was delicately arranging chopsticks with the precision of someone disarming a bomb.

He never expected this situation he had found himself in as the outcome of being unable to pay for his meal. But before attending to all the workers there, Ryder couldn't get something off his mind.

Ryder couldn't get the words uttered by the worker fetching water before him out of his mind, not like it would be possible even if he wanted to.

"Go Ryder, go Ryder," Luxy cheered in a sarcastic manner from Ryder's head. Ever since Ryder stepped into the room, those words kept echoing in Ryder's head.

"Excuse me?" Ryder narrowed his eyes. He still couldn't tell if his ears were playing tricks on him, so he requested, "Could you please come again? What did you refer to me as?"

A smile extended on the man's face as he rubbed his red hair backwards, his aura betraying years of hard training on subduing it, especially now that it was poorly masked under his humble clothing of a noodle shop worker. "I just called you trash. I know that is almost like praise for someone like you who isn't worth a..."

Swoosh

Ryder's movement was so fast that no one in the room was able to react as he grabbed onto the worker's neck.

One moment, he was seated calmly at the table; the next, his fingers were wrapped around the red-haired man's throat, lifting him several inches off the ground, effortlessly. The young man's feet dangled uselessly, his eyes widening in shock.

"Knock it off," Mo Fan, who was being held by Ryder, attempted to knock Ryder's hand off with as much strength as he could muster from the cloned strength he had derived from his familiar.

His arm swung in a powerful arc, striking Ryder's forearm with enough force to shatter the bones of an ordinary human.

Deep down, he was confident that such an attack would break Ryder's hand and didn't even feel the slightest bit of remorse; that was the exact reason why he swung it in the first place, after all, but to his greatest shock, Ryder didn't even budge.

It felt like he smacked a concrete pillar.

"What the hell?" Mo Fan's eyes widened, genuine fear flickering in them for the first time. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

He was Mo Fan, a red marked, a B-rank familiar holder from the Red-Eastern guild. People feared him; they couldn't manhandle him like a misbehaving child because he wasn't weak. "How is this possible?"

Mo Fan is an official member of the Red-Eastern guild. He is one of the rare possessors of a red mark that signifies that his power level is at its peak, as proven when measured by the Gamma scale machine—the same machine that Ryder used to test his power level back at the FSG base... and exploded.

Mo Fan's power level was B rank—the highest rank only a handful of humans have attained from the public disclosed information, excluding Ryder.

Wham!

Mo Fan sailed through the air, his red hair dancing like a streak of flame, before crashing into a stack of ceramic bowls. The sound of shattering plates echoed through the shop like an alarm of destruction, topped by Mo Fan's groan of pain as he lay amid the shards, dazed and humiliated.

Mo Fan's familiar wasn't weak either; it was a humanoid familiar—an orc, to be specific—a massive, tusked creature with strong red skin like leather and muscles like steel.

The shared strength from Mo Fan's familiar should have made Mo Fan's strike devastating, capable of shattering stone. But rather, it had been as effective as a child slapping a mountain, and moreover, he was flung by Ryder like a ragdoll.

"I'm done playing cool; I'll be leaving now," Ryder concluded after he had flung Mo Fan towards the pile of ceramics.

As he attempted to walk out, he noticed that everyone in the room was slowly moving to block his path—a total of 14 able-bodied men and one lady present. They had formed a semi-circle around him, their faces carrying various expressions ranging from anger to excitement.

It seemed the pretense of being noodle shop workers had been abandoned entirely.

"Young man, you have disrespected the Red-Eastern guild in the worst way," someone spoke to Ryder. It was an older man with a scar running from his left eye to his jaw.

His voice carried the weight of authority, suggesting he held some rank within the guild; however, Ryder couldn't care less.

"I see no suitable punishment for you apart from execution." From the speaker's left arm, red smoke began to flow outward, materializing in the air as his familiar beast manifested.

Out of the red mist, a mantis formed—a lava mantis, a red mantis. Mo Fan wasn't the only one with a B-rank beast; everyone in the room was a red-mark bearer. Their beasts were mostly rank C or B.

Standing before the mantis, unfazed, was Ryder. His posture was relaxed, almost bored, as if being faced by fifteen hostile familiar users was nothing more than a minor disturbance for him.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I'll give you a chance to end this madness now," Ryder spoke with his head down, clenching his fist.

He was quite hot-headed back then, only reserved to staying at home and pretending like an introvert to mask that version. He just couldn't understand what had changed about him.

For some strange reason, he didn't recognize this version of himself.

"Is that what you intend to be your last words? I don't approve; say something brave, will you!" Someone commented while the others in the room laughed mockingly at Ryder.

They all saw what Ryder did to Mo Fan, but still, they weren't afraid—not even a bit. Everyone there knew how powerful Mo Fan was, but they didn't really take it as a big deal that he was taken down so easily. They were Red-Eastern members after all.

"Mo Fan never summoned his familiar." That's what most of them thought, exchanging glances of reassurance.

Familiars are beasts that all have affinities, and without summoning them, even powerful summoners may seem weak. It was a reassuring explanation for Mo Fan's embarrassing defeat they had formulated, one that preserved their pride as members of the Red-Eastern guild.

What is meant by affinity is something extraordinary that also contributed greatly to how familiars were different from animals.

It wasn't just about strength or size or ferocity—though those qualities sometimes didn't really make familiars seem too special. What set familiars apart was something far more special in them.

Affinities refer to magical abilities, such as fire which the Dracogon possesses; lava which the red-marked Red-Eastern guild member threatening Ryder possesses; and many others—and also blood energy manipulation, which Mo Fan's familiar possesses.

"Seems like you guys are really testing my patience," Ryder spoke through his cloak, his voice carrying a note of finality. The air around him seemed to thicken.

It was as if the atmosphere was responding to his rising rage. And then he raised his head upwards, revealing his red, glinting eyes.

Those eyes—like twin crimson orbs—sent a collective shiver through the room. For the first time, a flicker of doubt passed across the faces of the guild members. "Those weren't normal eyes. Those weren't the eyes of prey."

"I won't be giving you guys any more chances; leave this room if you don't want to get caught up in the mess that is about to unfold," Ryder concluded.

Despite the seriousness in Ryder's voice, his warning fell on deaf ears.

The most dangerous of emotions, Pride, had taken root too deeply in the hearts of the Red-Eastern guild members.

They had come too far to back down now, especially in front of their peers. Retreat meant shame, and shame was worse than death in their warrior culture.

With their advantage of numbers, they were confident. Ryder had a terrifying aura for sure, and they could guess he was probably a red mark as well, just like them, so they shouldn't be too scared.

Everyone, all at once, ripped off the cloth on their left arm, revealing their shoulders with red marks. Their red marks began to glow, pulsating like beating hearts, casting the room in an eerie crimson light.

The air grew thick with power and a suffocating aura that extended throughout the vicinity in an instant, charged with the gamma energy of multiple summonings occurring simultaneously.

Their red marks on their shoulders began to glow, emitting red mist. What they were all doing was clear: they were summoning their familiars.

The first creature to be summoned was a mantis-beast-like familiar, standing ten feet tall. The already summoned mantis launched at Ryder, who stood at his spot, unafraid.

Its movement was blindingly fast—a streak of red across the room and behind its wake—with its forelegs extended like twin scythes. It was eager to taste the flesh and blood of its supposed prey—Ryder, under its summoner's intention.

As the mantis closed in, Ryder raised his head, allowing light to reflect off the lower part of his face that wasn't blocked by his cloak, revealing his smile. It wasn't a smile of fear, but one of the crazed—the smile of a predator who had just spotted prey.

Bang!

A hole was formed in the wall right beside Ryder, with wood chipping outward as the mantis's foreleg missed him by a hairbreadth and planted itself into the wall due to Ryder's maneuver.

"What a pain—I was hoping that this was a brick or block building, not a wooden shelter," Ryder thought, aware of the outcome of the battle he was in.

Wham!

Ryder flashed out of sight and appeared in front of the nearest summoner still in the process of summoning.

His movement wasn't just fast—it was impossible, a blur of motion that the human eye couldn't track, as if he had teleported rather than moved.

The summoners managed to notice him due to the fact that he wasn't just an ordinary human; however, still, he was too fast.

With a heavy kick, he was sent tumbling into three of his fellow comrades and crashing into more ceramic plates and utensils. They never got up after that.

"You know the downside about summoning I've noticed?" Ryder started, his voice conversational, as if he were discussing the weather rather than engaging in serious combat.

His posture remained relaxed, his hands gesturing while his eyes were fixed on the clouds outside through the freaking window. "It takes too much time."

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

The sounds echoed through the shop like explosions, each one marking the fall of another Red-Eastern guild member.

Ryder only delivered hits to four other Red-Eastern members in the room, and yet, there was no one standing anymore.

His movements were smooth and calculated—a jab to the solar plexus here, a chop to the neck there, a sweep of the legs followed by a palm strike to the chest.

His attacks were precisely focused on knocking down multiple people by striking just one person, colliding the receiver of his attack with those on standby.

Turning around to walk away, Ryder realized he was face to face with the mantis he had flung away a bit earlier. It had extracted its foreleg from the wall and now stood before him.

Its mandibles were clicking in what could only be interpreted as rage. Steam rose from its exoskeleton, the temperature around it rising to uncomfortable levels.

'Oh, I nearly forgot about you.'

"You really want to fight, huh?" said Ryder. "Even when your summoner is down?"

Ryder turned to the mantis's summoner lying unconscious among the debris, a trickle of blood running down his forehead.

By all rights, the familiar should have dissipated back to wherever it came from, its connection to this world having been severed with its master's consciousness. Yet here it stood, ready to continue the battle it had begun.

'I like its loyalty. I wonder if my familiar is as loyal.'

"RYDER!!!!" Luxy screamed inwardly, causing Ryder to burst into laughter. "I can't believe you would even question my loyalty! After everything we've been through!"

Ryder could nearly picture Luxy standing on two feet dramatically and holding onto his waist...

Bang!

Suddenly, like a flash, the mantis could be seen at the spot where Ryder had been standing about half a second ago, its foreleg sticking to the ground from an offensive attempt.

"That was quick," Ryder commented as he slid on the ground behind the gigantic lava mantis, finally halting his lightning-fast reflexes.

Despite the fact that Ryder was distracted, the mantis was still unable to deliver an attack to catch him off guard. His body seemed to move of its own accord, instinctively avoiding danger even when his mind was elsewhere.

Swoosh!

Ryder moved again, now could be seen behind the lava mantis, rubbing its abdomen playfully. His hand lay bare against the heat of the mantis's exoskeleton.

Normally, it would have burned on contact if anyone dared, but not Ryder.

He stroked the creature as one might pet a cat, seemingly immune to the heat that had already started to scorch the surrounding floorboards.

"What? I'm being honest: these beasts don't have intelligence, nor are they capable of communication like you," Ryder spoke, continuing his internal dialogue with Luxy while externally taunting and increasingly enraging the mantis even more.

The creature whirled around, its forelegs slashing at empty air as Ryder maneuvered away from its attacks again with almost insulting ease.

Swoosh!

"Does that give any reason for me not to be loyal to you?" Luxy retorted. "Do you know how hopeless I felt about contracting a potential summoner before you came?"

"If you knew, then you wouldn't have uttered such nonsense."

Angrily, the mantis spread its wings and flew around the area where it stood in a clockwise rotation with an unpredictable surge of speed, expecting to trap Ryder with surprise.

But surprisingly, Ryder was already at the corner of the room, watching from his cloak. Almost as if he had vanished.

The mantis screeched in anger—a sound like metal being torn apart—and then, from its mouth, red, glowing liquid began to bubble up, increasing the temperature of the entire shop.

The air wavered with heat as the wooden beams of the shop began to smoke, tables and chairs scorching where they stood. It was preparing something big, something devastating.

Outside, everyone had successfully vacated the entire vicinity, unbeknownst to Ryder but not for long.

Inspecting properly with his other senses and eyes closed, Ryder confirmed, "There are no humans within a 100-meter radius apart from the unconscious summoners I've taken down in this shop. They must have noticed we are fighting here."

His senses, far more than those of ordinary humans, could detect the absence of heartbeats or breathing within that range—all thanks to the shared senses he had with Luxy as far as he focused deeply.

The shop had been evacuated, or perhaps the commotion had scared away customers from it. Either way, it meant he could stop holding back quite so much and kick this overgrown mantis's butt.

Extending his hands outward, Ryder took a bit of his time before he clapped. The moment his palms collided, a gust of wind blew out all the unconscious bodies of the summoners far away, out of the building.

Even destroying the building and sending the wood that was once its foundation coursing through the air, scattered.

Bwoooooooom!

The mantis spat out red molten lava in a massive quantity that Ryder never expected the next moment.

It wasn't just a stream or a spray like one would expect to come out from this familiar, but a genuine tsunami of liquid fire that surged across the remnant of the destroyed shop, consuming everything in its path.

Tables, chairs, utensils—all turned to ash in an instant, the very air seeming to ignite as sparks rose.

Half of the noodle shop was reduced to nothing in an instant. Where once stood wooden walls and a thatched roof made of palm fiber, now there was nothing but ash.

Beyond, the street could be seen, mercifully empty of bystanders who could have been caught in the crossfire. It was as if the entire vicinity had been evacuated.

If there was an evacuation, then all of this was quite quick.

Ryder still dodged it perfectly, though, and he was quite amazed at how much damage the mantis could cause with its lava. His movement was like a blur, his body dancing through the destruction, predicting the paths of destruction before they fully formed with the grace of someone with true fighting talent despite that he lacked that.

Vwoom!

The mantis flew into the air and toward Ryder with its forelegs ready. Its wings, translucent and glinting with red heat, flapping at such a speed that they were nothing but a blur as they carried the creature through the air like a missile.

The impact of the caught attack sent shockwaves through all the surrounding buildings, collapsing and blasting them away.

Ryder stood his ground, feet planted firmly, arms extended as he held the mantis's forelegs at bay. His cloak billowed around him, burnt at the edges but somehow intact, much like Ryder himself.

Zzzzzzzzttt.

The mantis's wings accelerated with blurry speed, and once again, it zapped backwards, then rotated clockwise around Ryder. This movement caught Ryder in the middle this time.

The mantis's speed kept increasing and increasing until extraordinary, creating a spinning vortex around Ryder that contained not just the mantis but also superheated air that left behind a red trail and small debris.

In short, this was a miniature tornado of destruction.

"You are happy now, aren't you?" Ryder commented as he stood at his spot, trying to follow the mantis's movement with his eyes.

From its body pores, lava began to flow out, surrounding its body and coating it in hot red molten lava.

After gathering just enough momentum, it descended to strike Ryder.

Readying his hand, Ryder clenched his fist, and then the mantis launched towards him. He waited for the right moment after it got close, then threw a punch towards it.

The two forces—between the mantis of molten destruction and the other, a being of incredible raw strength—collided toward each other, causing a loud collision that seemed like the final blow of a catastrophic battle.

Booooooommmmm!

The explosion and shockwave that erupted as they collided blasted everything away within their vicinity.

As the dust began to settle, two figures could be seen from the haze—one standing tall, the other barely standing on the ground with lazily bent knees.

The mantis stood on the ground, its intimidating form now hurt and smoking.

Its exoskeleton, previously gleaming like polished jewelry, now cracked in several different places, revealing the body beneath its outer body. Still, it struggled to rise, refusing to succumb to defeat even in the face of Ryder's overwhelming power.

Ryder's body, on the other hand, didn't even get a tiny scratch. His skin, which had been exposed now without the cloak he had been wearing, showed no signs of burns or damage—not even the slightest sign of redness from the extreme heat could be seen on his body.

He stood, despite the destruction of the vicinity he was in, like a statue come to life, uninterested in the destruction he had partially caused that had claimed everything around him.

"If I go all out and kill this familiar, then what next?" Ryder's gaze was cold as he asked Luxy.

The mantis slowly got up from the ground, and this time, Ryder wasn't playing around like he had been doing. His serious expression proved it.

"Why the question? Do you plan to kill it?" Luxy asked. If Ryder were to fight without holding back in this city, Luxy was more than aware that there wouldn't be much left of the town, not to mention the mantis.