Chapter 18: Blood and Demons

I was being marched across a wheat field, towards the waking demon, struggling to figure out how I might save Dante, when something in the ambient mana changed. It took me a moment to recognize the feeling. I last experienced this years ago, when I had been studying aquatic buffalo - in hopes of uncovering how they seemingly parted the water while running across its surface. I had discovered the phenomenon was not a continuous spell on their part, but a natural effect that happened when they ran as a group. The mana around me now, felt not like a stampede of water creatures, but of ones of blood abominations.

“On guard! Prepare for battle,” I shouted in a long forgotten commander's voice. The veterans were easy to spot amongst the townsfolk as they didn’t hesitate to draw knives and bludgeons, looking around warily. The others followed their lead and soon my head and body were at the centre of a circle of cautious men. Dr Winwick was inside the line, eyeing me suspiciously, but to his credit, he had taken out his healing supplies, prepared to tend any wound.

We didn’t have to wait long. A dark cloud came sweeping across the night sky from the direction of the forest. It boiled with blood mana stoked by anger. This was practically natural magic, the most dangerous and powerful kind. Its shadow covered the moon, sweeping across the field from the tree line, in its wake came twisted limbs and shrieking fangs. I had to turn down my mana vision to see through the miasma of blood that surrounded us. This was no stampede of water buffalo, this was far worse.

“Vampires,” I called, in the same confident tone as before. Pendants of a variety of deities were revealed by the militia, most however, seemed to venerate the Light. A few brief prayers resounded in shaky voices before the night air fell deathly silent.

A scream broke the quiet as a claw tore a gash in a woman's arm, she, in turn, tore that claw from the monster. It was the first of many. More than a dozen feral vampires, that felt far more dead than Mrs. Sanguis, attacked our group, unfazed by pain or regret. My body was discarded to the ground and the man who had held my cane-mounted skull dropped it to fend off fangs. My head rolled. Up, I saw blood and carnage; down, and I saw dirt. Up, I saw guts and gore; down, and I saw earth.

I thumped to a stop against a discarded pile of coats, not my body thought I could sense it through a strange connection. Like letting go of one's bladder, I tried to release the boney bonds. In an environment as full of tension and turmoil as this it was hard to relax. But I had pissed in worse conditions, so it wasn’t long before the solid mass of coats behind me collapsed. Focusing on the bones from the head down, I was able to reconnect them; one by one. Each floating over to my skull with the power of Bone Articulation. By the time I had pulled myself together, the lines of battle had blurred. A once unified front had turned into scattered brawls between the survivors of both sides. I crawled out amongst body parts and ash, aiming for the cabin. One of the living spotted me and tried to intercept, but they were, in turn, stopped by a one legged vampire, which clawed at their face. Plenty of vampires saw me as I retreated from the battle but to them it was as if I didn’t exist. They completely ignored me.

Once I had cleared the carnage, I got up and began to run, holy-water in hand. More had been spilt in the fight but I was still left with just over half. The moist surface of the glass scalded me as I ran but I gave it no mind.

Bursting into the cabin, the scene was much as I had left it. Mr. Pools twitching in a pool of his own blood and Dante beginning to twitch as well. I didn’t have long.

As screams and wails of fury and pain filled the night I began my demonic working.

Using Bone Claws I carved a summoning diagram into the dirt floor of the hut, surrounding Dante. I strengthened it with some salt and then added the components. A bag of silver was placed atop the possessed’s head and a ruby, pried from its fitting, rested on his tongue.

I could feel the binding magic weaken as Mr. Pools drew closer to death. I began to chant the second layer of the spell as my hands worked the first. Nearing the end of the magic Mr. Pools finally kicked the bucket and the spell, holding Dante, began to unravel. It wasn’t immediate, but slowly he began to move.

“I smell blood!” A booming voice said as it took in a deep breath. “This is quite the welcome you have given me, mortal mage.” The voice tried to sound strong and intimidating. My spell completed halfway through his sentence and the voice of a powerful demon was replaced by the annoying nasal squeak of an imp.

The horns, red eyes, and fangs slid out sideways from Dantes body as they formed a new form. With red skin, sharp teeth, and wings coming out of its back, it might have been intimidating if the creature weren’t all of two feet tall.

“Great, all that effort for an imp,” I mumbled under my breath as the two separated. Unfortunately, although the demon was buzzing about, striking the sealing circle, Dante remained unconscious.

“I heard that!” Squeaked the imp indignantly, “I am no mere imp, I am the great and powerful Sqwent,” It declared, after bouncing off the barrier for the third time.

“Ah, great, it’s stupid too,” I complained to myself. Before the creature could blow its top I continued, “Sqwent I command you, stop trying to escape,” I said, tiredly.

He was pulled back from the edge, every time he tried to ram the barrier he was restrained by his own body. One of the peculiarities of demons is, if someone with more magical power than the demon commands them, using their name, they have to obey. It was how demon armies were controlled.

“How are you doing that! You’re not even a mage,” it screeched.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh right,” I mumbled, my exhaustion making me forget. To help recover from the mana sickness I had shielded my core so no one could see my mana. Demons had an uncanny sense for magic and if this one was even a little more powerful it would likely be able to see through my defences. Since I had been cured of any remaining symptoms, I released the hold on my core.

The response was immediate, mana pulsed out of me, stilling the chaotic blood miasma for a second. Sometimes, I forgot how impactful the mana of an Archmagus could be on the environment; since my tower and the surrounding valley was warded against such interference. The pulse reached up to the heavens, and they opened. Lightning crashed and thunder boomed as the cabin was suddenly assaulted by falling water.

Sqwent prostrated himself as the sudden change in mana had a more profound effect on the magical demon. His insides boiled to the surface of his skin and he vomited out offal as he gently keened. Whether in fear or admiration I couldn’t tell, demons seemed to mix the two. Once the ambient mana calmed, the demon returned to normal.

“Please forgive my impertinence Defiler, If I had known I wouldn’t have behaved so rudely. Please, spare me from your experiments,” the demon squeaked, the last said with a shiver.

“Defiler?” I asked, mildly surprised.

“Please forgive this lowly imp,” the creature wailed as if about to be stuck. “I do not know your almightyness’s true name. I have only the name they whisper in the darkest corners of the netherworld,” it blabbered.

“I don’t understand. Why do you know me?” I asked, genuinely confused. None of the other demons I had summoned ever seemed to recognize me and right now I looked completely different.

“Rumor of your vile power and twisted enjoyments had been circulating for centuries but when a Prince reincorporated bearing a mana scar, matching your powerfulness’ signature, none could deny your existence,” Sqwent jabbered on, rubbing his hands and trying desperately to ingratiate himself.

“Zorthal was a prince?” I wondered aloud, “Seemed a bit weak.” Sqwent shivered visibly at my words.

“Wait,” I said, my questioning half taking over. “I was in a different world, is this world connected to the same demon realm?”

“Yes, your unholiness,” the demon sputtered promptly, “there is one demon realm, it connects to all other worlds, realms, and planes. Save those of a celestial alignment of course.” When I didn’t react, taking the time to ponder the implications, Sqwent gasped and added, “Demon king save us.”

“What was that?” I asked, narrowing my eye holes at the little annoyance.

“Nothing, your allpowerfulness,'' the imp squailed, smashing its head back into the dirt.

“Answer me Sqwent,” I commanded, knowing you had to be extra judicious around demons. It muttered something into the floor, “Answer me clearly and with detail Sqwent.” At my words it’s back straightened, with fear marring its features, it answered:

“I said, ‘Demon King save us’,” it repeated, unwillingly; seeing my confusion, it was compelled to elaborate. “I said this because we are in the world, Cosmo-Osto,” it hissed through clenched teeth. Before I could ask, it went on, “it is said your scariness hails from Cosmo-Vivra, a world that was disconnected from the plane of magic,” finally succumbing to my command it added, “there were never supposed to be any mages there, let alone ones of your strength. Now that you can cast spells directly, I fear for all demon kind!” it finished, unable to meet my eye.

His explanation only raised more questions but the sounds of relief from outside returned my focus to the immediate problem. It would appear that the town's reinforcements had arrived.

I thought of just banishing this demon, its constant flattery was wearing. Now that the two were separated, I could see that the imp was tying Dante’s soul to his body. Even being parted like this was slowly eroding his soul, nothing that couldn’t self repair in a few hours, but I had to hurry nonetheless.

Withdrawing my notebook I drafted a contract: wherein Dante would be the controlling party and any powers their union might grant them, would be solely under his control. Sqwent was only too eager to sign, Dante on the other hand was still unconscious.

A few slaps to the face remedied that, he awoke bleary and seeming hungover. I had to explain several times to get him to mark the contract with his blood. Then it took even more convincing to get him to accept the red System-prompt. The cabin filled with an ominous light as the imp was sucked back into Dantes skin, leaving it almost imperceptibly, more red. His teeth were also slightly sharpened and his blue eyes seemed purple. After the ordeal was over, Dante gasped and sank back to the ground, passed-out.

I was slinking away from town, further into the country, when the heavy storm was momentarily parted at the site of the battle. A beam of holy light illuminated the night sky for miles around and from three miles away I could just about make out a golden figure at its heart. The shock stopped me from holding back the system messages that had built up.

Congratulations:

* Quest complete: Murder at the Vicarage 2500XP

* New Title gained Detective

* You have reached Lich Lv.22

* Bone Articulation has reached Lv.10

* Bone Claws has reached Lv. 7

* Identify has reached Lv.3

* Life Sense has reached Lv.9

* Wind Breath has reached Lv.5

* Shocking Aura has reached Lv.3

* New skill learned Detection Lv.1

* New spell learned Illusionary Skin

* Perception increased to 11

Warning: you have 46.3 hours to choose class skills/spells before they will be assigned for you.