The Seven Demon's Tamer

"You should be careful about Leo," our guild master warned us about him.

The words hung in the air like a stagnant fog, settling into the mind of everyone present. Mo Fan had just finished delivering his report.

Suddenly, upon hearing all that Mo Fan had to say to conclude the conversation, Lucian's eyes lit up. They lit up particularly due to the name he heard, Leo.

Lucian, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his face a mask of carefully controlled facial reaction, suddenly straightened.

His eyes, previously half-lidded due to his internal monologue as he listened, now blazed with an intensity, his assumption must be right! For the fact that he wasn't the only one who guessed it was Leo.

He was about to mention Leo out loud, to voice his suspicions about the blue-silver eyed person and suddenly now, he didn't need to guess anymore, he found his hypothesis.

"Son of a..." Lucian's voice was barely above a whisper as he clenched his fist so tightly his veins bulged. The veins in his forearm bulged as though they might burst through his skin at any moment. "I knew we couldn't trust a street rat like him!"

"Relax," Elena said, quickly stepping forward to place her hands on Lucian's shoulders. Her touch was gentle but firm, a silent reminder of who he was and where they were.

Elena had never been intimidated by Lucian's temper—she had known him far too long for that. "He might be quite hard to keep in check, but we still can't let him become our enemy."

"And so what if he does," Lucian retorted, shrugging off her hand with a sharp movement. 'I'll simply pull him from any hole he is in straight to this base for proper punishment.'

Elena sighed, as she pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture she had developed over years of having to face stress. Lucian was hardly ever behaving like this since they had known.

"You are sounding like oblivious right now, you know that? Even the leader of the Red-Eastern guild warned his members about him, isn't that enough evidence that he would be a pain in the butt."

" We've sent various capable agents to handle him and they defeated them all. If we cannot beat him, we befriend him."

"Easy," Elena added with a casual shrug.

She made it sound so simple, so logical. But Lucian wasn't in the mood for logic. His mind was filled with images of Leo— that silver-eyed childish fool who was brought into the FSG base earlier to be recruited as one of the searching agents for the FSG.

The nonchalance in her tone seemed to reignite Lucian's anger and the absurdity of the idea to befriend Leo especially — tolerating such a disrespectful person would be a pain he didn't want.

"But he is a traitor," his voice lowered to a dangerous whisper that somehow carried more menace than his shouting had. "You know for sure that only Ryder has so much aura that goes beyond a red mark summoner. Don't you?"

Elena didn't respond, but something with any word as she stared at the ground while playing with the strands of her hair cascading around her ear— this momentary hesitation told Lucian she knew exactly what he was talking about.

'They were fighting alongside each other to defeat the beast they summoned to this planet from a porter that links the Astral Shadow plain, weren't they,' Lucian continued.

Lucian stepped closer to Elena from the wall and declared with authority. "As far as I know, he has taken sides with the enemy. You cannot convince me otherwise."

His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "My decision is final."

With that, Lucian walked off.

***

The next day...

"I can guess it's Tuesday now, isn't that right?" Brok stretched lazily on the couch where he had spent the night, his massive frame nearly made the furniture look like it belonged in a dollhouse.

His joints cracked audibly as he extended his arms above his head.

When no response came, Brok frowned, his bushy eyebrows drawing together like two caterpillars preparing for battle. "Isn't someone going to give me an answer?" he prodded, his voice thick with sleep but tinged with irritation.

Leo, who was sprawled on another couch across the room, didn't bother opening his eyes. "I do not see any need to answer something that is so obvious," he responded, his tone making it clear how he considered Brok's question.

Despite being the owner of the house, Leo had chosen to sleep in the living room with the others rather than retire to a more comfortable bed inside.

Just like always, Luxy was keeping his distance at the far end corner in the room. He didn't necessarily need to sleep like other humans and some weak familiars.

Brok shifted to a sitting position. His gaze drifted to the third couch where Ryder remained deeply asleep, his chest rising and falling in the slow rhythm.

Brok got up from his lying position to sitting and stretched. Unlike the others, Ryder was still asleep.

A soft smile tugged at Brok's lips as Ryder was sleeping like everything is fine. "Let's give him enough time to sleep to his satisfaction," he suggested.

"No." The reply came from Leo's direction, so quiet that for a moment Brok thought he had imagined it.

"Pardon?"

Leo's eyes snapped open then, revealing his blue-silver pupils that seemed to pierce through whatever they gazed upon. A slow smile spread across his face as he repeated, louder this time: "No!"

Bwoom.

Before Brok could react, Leo moved like a flash— he ceased to be in one place and simply appeared in another. One moment he was lounging on the couch; the next, he was standing over Ryder's sleeping form.

Leo's fingers wiggled in the air above Ryder's face, his smile made him appear like a gleeful crazy maniac. "Wakey wakey," he began, his voice deceptively gentle.

Then, with a speed that defied normal human capabilities, Leo's hands shot downward, grabbing and pressing around Ryder's throat with ferocity.

The sudden attack jolted Ryder from sleep, his eyes flying open in shock straight from sleep, bulging out as if they would fall off.

Ryder gagged and threw his legs defensively while Leo laughed like a maniac with his head bent backwards.

"Get your hands off him, dammit! You'll kill him." Brok quickly rushed to Leo and grabbed his wrist, attempting to pull him away but to no avail. His strength was inhuman.

Ryder's face had begun to turn an alarming shade of purple, his eyes bulging as he struggled for air.

Gag! Gag! Gag!

Ryder's saliva bubbled up inside his mouth before he finally threw his fist at Leo's face, connecting a punch with his jaw and knocking the daylight out of him.

"Ryder!" Brok quickly rushed to him and helped him sit upright, showing worry as he saw Ryder coughing and struggling for breath.

"What was that for, is that how to wake a fellow human being!" Brok barked at him.

"I was just having fun." Leo's mouth elongated into an exaggerated childish pout.

"Is that how you have fun, you creep!" Brok barked, scolding him. "Even gangsters and criminals from the tournament don't do such."

Ryder rubbed his reddened neck in annoyance, as he turned to gaze at Leo. "Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome!" Leo responded happily, which was completely inappropriate for someone who had just nearly strangled another person.

He gave Ryder a thumbs-up, grinning so widely it looked like his face might split in two. "You can count on me to wake you anytime, any day."

"What do we have to do today?" Leo asked.

"We or I?" Ryder questioned flatly. "I have to start searching for my father now."

"But if you wish to tag along, you can join me. Before that, I want to take my bath," Ryder concluded as he walked towards the passage of the house.

"Oh, that's right," said Brok. "I should brush my teeth while he has his bath. I believe you have spare brushes in this big house."

"You bet," confirmed Leo as he gestured for Brok to come with him.

Just as they were about to venture deeper into the building, Leo suddenly turned around to stare at Luxy, staring blankly from a corner.

"How about you, rabbit, won't you have your bath?" Leo inquired, noticing how quiet Luxy had been.

Luxy raised his head upwards and shook it. "Those activities aren't necessary."

"Why? Aren't you capable of washing your body by yourself? I can help you with that, you see— I have special techniques I make use of in brushing the butthole of little rabbits like you properly." Leo grinned stupidly.

Luxy's head instantaneously turned towards him with a glare that made Leo flee the scene almost instantly.

"Wait for me!" Brok hurriedly followed.

---

In just thirty minutes, they were all done and sparkling, heading towards the sitting room once more.

"So, what are we meant to do now?" Leo questioned. "Should we maybe visit a fun center, I have never been on a rollercoaster, you know. It w—"

"No." Brok and Ryder both chimed in simultaneously.

Leo's face fell while he sulked, folding his arms behind his back.

"I do not have time to waste on fun," Ryder stated firmly. "I need to find my father."

"I don't know where he was taken to, nor do I know who exactly took him," Ryder began. "But I need to find him and fast. He was abducted five days ago."

"I won't mind doing it alone, but I'd like to know if both of you will like to tag along."

Leo and Brok both exchanged glances then nodded at each other before echoing at the same time.

"I'm in!"