The Seven Demon's Tamer

Luxy simply stared; that is all he could do right now. He stared, puzzled and surprised at the new information he was gaining from Hollow, his crimson eyes reflecting a sincere surprise.

The revelation hit him pretty hard, learning that a human could be marked right from birth, and more shockingly, Ryder was marked by the Dracogon.

To be honest, just like Hollow stated, he had no clue about why he suddenly changed.

For eons—literally eons, because time in the Astral Shadow Plain moved differently than in the human realm—he had been just like the other obedient servants in the Dracogon's plane.

A good little devil-viper bunny, following orders, keeping his head down, never questioning the natural hierarchy that placed him as a mildly useful servant.

And then, suddenly, one day, something inside him had snapped like a twig. The urge to resist, to push boundaries, to see what would happen if he disobeyed the most feared entity in his district.

He believed he did this due to boredom, living for so long with no purpose and no successful contract with a human. He believed he wanted to have fun and earn the Dracogon's attention even if it meant his boring life could be ended in the snap of a finger.

However, after listening to Hollow's revelations, he understood the real reason with crystal clarity.

It wasn't boredom or a sudden courage to resist against the order of the land. It was because of Ryder.

'Who are you, Ryder!' That question echoed in Luxy's brain.

'I had the aim to steal the Dracogon's attention, but still, the Dracogon never paid me any attention,' he thought inwardly, his gaze fixed on a spot.

"I was guessing the Dracogon didn't notice me all this while, but that wasn't the case. The Dracogon knew all I was doing but didn't punish me because of the shared connection we had with Ryder from the moment of his birth."

Meanwhile, Ryder stood frozen, his human mind struggling to process what he was hearing.

'The Dracogon marked me since my birth! How come I only received my mark at eighteen?'

Besides, the casual way these demons discussed his life—as if he were someone's belonging rather than a person with hopes, dreams, and a perfectly reasonable desire not to get caught up in any clash between supernaturals—was deeply insulting.

Hollow raised his snow-white furry arm a bit upwards, just a few inches above his head, the gesture somehow managing to be casual, but unsettling.

"You see, Ryder," Hollow began, his voice carrying the tone of some sort of advisor. "Dracogon made a very silly mistake the moment he alerted us about how much interest he has in you."

"All the monarchs keep secrets from each other, especially the vital ones, and what the Dracogon did was expose something that should have been his big secret." Hollow's expression shifted into something resembling a smile.

"You see, we seven monarchs of the Lord-Demon Plains have what you might call... trust issues. Imagine seven hungry predators sitting around a dining table, each one convinced that the others are trying to eat and also wants to eat the others but are all waiting for the right time."

Luxy couldn't help but let out a small snort of nervous laughter, despite the seriousness of the situation. If he was trying not to appear intimidated, he failed woefully.

"Despite the fact that I don't know what is special about you," Hollow continued, turning his attention back to Ryder with intense focus. "I still will be choosing you as my summoner as well."

"I trust the Dracogon's choice; that is why I will be snatching you from him." Hollow again, broke another revelation in a casual tone.

Ryder's mind raced, trying not to process the situation but deceive himself he misheard. The Dracogon was already quite a massive problem on his plate, and now another demon monarch wanted to bind with him.

"You want to bind with my soul!?" Ryder said, stepping backward instinctively.

Despite Hollow's wolf-like face, he was still able to express a terrifying smile. It was the smile of someone who had just drawn four aces while their opponent was a sitting duck.

"That's right." Hollow responded, his malicious smirk remaining unwavering.

Ryder took another step backward, his heel catching on a stone and nearly sending him tumbling.

"I don't think that would be possible. I already have a familiar!" he protested, gesturing wildly toward Luxy. "And the Dracogon too is coming for me."

Hollow didn't give a damn about Ryder's protests, his objections, or his reasonable concerns. Hollow's answer was given in action rather than words, which was typically how demon monarchs preferred to handle their issues.

The air itself seemed to freeze as Hollow raised his claws, all noise narrowing into silence.

And then, a sudden wave of ripples traveled through the air, distorting everything they touched.

The ripples passed through every single place in the entire district—through the ethereal plants of Hollow's strange dwelling, through the flowering mountainsides they had admired earlier, spreading out across unimaginable distance.

Unlike with Luxy, there was no need for permission. A monarch does not need permission to enter a host. It simply was, inevitable and unstoppable when they set for it.

Ryder's body slowly lifted upwards, rising to a distance above the ground as if invisible strings were pulling him toward the sky. He hung suspended in the air a few meters above the ground, his limbs dangling uselessly while a blend of purple and red crackling energy flowed into him from Hollow's outstretched claws.

"No!" Luxy's eyes widened as he watched from the ground, his paws scrambling against the stone as if he could somehow climb the air itself to reach his friend. But he was unable to do anything meaningful to stop what was happening.

More than anything, he was afraid to intervene. What could a relatively minor devil do against a monarch in the midst of claiming a host?

The futility of his position reminded him again that he was exactly what he had always been: a very small bunny in a very large, very dangerous universe.

Slowly, methodically, Hollow's body began to disintegrate into dust particles. Dust particles that were oddly plain like sand without carrying much magical presence.

The particles flowed towards Ryder in spirals. As they made contact with his skin, each particle sank through his flesh as if he were made of water rather than solid matter.

The air settled shortly later, like nothing had ever happened. Ryder returned to the ground on his feet, landing with gentleness.

"Ahhh, my head," he moaned lightly, placing his palm over his head.

The headache was like nothing he had ever experienced—not painful, exactly, but overwhelming.

He didn't need anyone to tell him what just happened. A monarch—a being of such power that is grouped among the seven most powerful in the entire black mark division of the astral shadow plane—was now residing inside his body.

Looking downwards, he could see Luxy staring at him with a locked gaze carrying sincere fear and concern.

For a whole long while, their gaze remained unwavering, neither of them uttering a word but rather feeling the breeze that traveled through their hair.

"I guess he is in you now," Luxy finally broke the silence, his voice carrying the weight of emotions. "My time with you is over, isn't it?"

"No, it's not," Ryder replied back with surprising firmness, his voice carrying a determination that surprised even himself.

Luxy walked forward, away from Ryder, then halted after a few steps.

"Really huh, what can you do? Nothing!" His words came out harsher than he intended.

"I see no reason to cast down my gaze, when you were never meant for me." Luxy turned his head slightly to the side and completed. "I stole you, remember?"

"A monarch is in you now after all; you do not necessarily need me now." Luxy smiled sadly. "I was always meant to be temporary, wasn't I? A stepping stone on your path to greater things."

"Not like I am blaming you or anything."

"You are my friend," Ryder said firmly, surprising himself with the emotion in his voice. "You have saved my life, and there is a connection between us."

Silence stretched, as a long gust of wind flushed through Ryder's hair and Luxy's fur, before he continued.

"You said the soul can contain limitless familiars, right? I want you back now." Ryder's declaration was made with fierce determination.

"No... I... I don't think it will be possible now." Luxy's voice crackled. For some strange reason, finding Ryder convincing.

"I believe you have noticed a difference in our binding. Other than the fancy lightning, Hollow didn't ask for your permission before binding with you."

"Demon monarchs can enter your soul without permission, but binding is a different story, aren't I right?" Ryder explained his logic, causing Luxy's eyes to widen in realization.

"He separated you from me by simply flicking his hand." Luxy tried to protest, the volume of his tone rising. "This is a monarch; he is in control now. The rules that applied to our partnership—the equality, the consent—none of that applies to him."

"If there is going to be a chance for us to be one again, you will have to negotiate and talk things out with him from the inside." Luxy added, the volume of his tone falling back to resignation.

"If he doesn't see eye-to-eye with your negotiation, then it's goodbye." The finality in those words was absolute, Luxy had concluded.

Ryder nodded with firm determination etched on his face.

"Right!"

It was, objectively speaking, probably a terrible plan. Attempting to negotiate with a demon monarch against binding with someone like Ryder who was viewed as some sort of treasure... Was not very convincing.

Unlike how he conversed with Luxy—all casual statements and easy familiarity—Ryder instinctively understood that he would need to approach Hollow differently.

Sitting down on the flower-covered stone floor, Ryder closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself for what was likely to be the most important conversation of his life.

The scent of the strange luminescent flowers filled his nostrils—sweet but with supernatural properties that reminded him this wasn't his world.

Suddenly, he felt his whole consciousness being jolted into his soul space with a sharp motion of being shot out from a cannon blast.

He couldn't even tell if it was his consciousness alone that was brought into this space or his senses and presence, but right now, it didn't matter.

Looking ahead, he could see the horizon right before his eyes, stretching into infinity.

This space he was in was a vast expanse of plain surface with red natural lighting that seemed to emanate from the ground itself, enabling him to see properly despite the absence of any visible light source.

Everything was visible, but the light that made vision possible seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, casting no shadows and creating no depth in the traditional sense.

On the smooth, leveled ground, stagnant water could be seen rising just a bit off the ground surface. This water was the oddest Ryder had ever encountered; it wasn't cool like it should have been, nor could it make him wet despite his feet being buried in it.

The entire environment had a dreamlike quality, as if it existed in that strange space between waking and sleeping. But most importantly, it carried nightmarish dream quality.

A short distance away from him, he could see a figure in particular: a humanoid wolf-like creature with snow-white fur that seemed to glow softly.

The fur moved in a swaying pattern as if there were wind blowing, however Ryder couldn't feel any breeze.

Its body was standing about ten feet tall, and its muscles were well defined.

Judging by its body appearance alone, no one would be able to guess that this was a demon beast. It looked more like some sort of divine guardian, a protector deity carved from marble and glitter.

Only that, the peaceful impression would be instantly tossed out of the window if its eyes were seen.

A pair of deep red eyes and the most menacing glare it gave out made Ryder tremble slightly.

"Is this why it had its eyes closed most of the time!" Ryder whispered to himself, finally understanding why Hollow had seemed to keep his gaze averted during their earlier conversation.

"This is interesting; it is my first time being in a soul dimension," Hollow said, his voice echoing strangely in the space between them. He licked his claws with a tongue that was long and flexible, then rested on a throne made out of bone behind him.

The throne was a work of art in its own unsettling way—countless bones of creatures fused together into a throne of bone corpses.

"There haven't been anyone who is capable of contracting me or any other demon monarch since our existence." He settled deeper into the bone throne.

"I am not interested in your blabbering," Ryder fired at him.

Hollow didn't even pause for the briefest moment, continuing to speak as if Ryder's interjection had been nothing more than a particularly loud insect buzzing.

"The moment any of us demon monarchs mark a human, they instantly die. Bearing our mark alone is hard enough." His voice carried the casual tone of someone discussing something insignificant.

"Then comes you. You do not even seem pressed, so you might just be able to hold another demon, maybe the Dracogon!"

"The Dracogon and I can be in one body! This thought alone is making me excited." Hollow spoke with odd enthusiasm, that was nothing short of scary.

"He will clearly not be in approval of this arrangement—demon monarchs aren't known for sharing with each other after all. He might go as far as trying to force me out, but rest assured, I will not be leaving." Hollow's confidence was absolute.

"Hollow! I am not interested in these!" Ryder started, his frustration finally overcoming all other fake emotions he was forcing in.

Hollow paused briefly, tilting his massive head with the kind of predatory curiosity towards Ryder.

"I'm not in a bad mood right now," he said, which from a demon monarch probably counted as generosity. "So tell me what you are interested in right now, or make a wish if you want!"

Ryder had just two words to say as his wish: "Get out!"