Kaleb tried to jump away from the taller demon. But his balance was still off and his legs were stiff. He stumbled backwards and raised his Cybar pistol. He didn’t like his chances of going up against a named demon by himself. Especially one that could screw with his mind. But for some reason, Typhanysor was just standing there. Glaring at him.

Kaleb cleared his throat and looked around. The Sludge Demon’s Nexus was still half buried in the dirt at their feet, and Kaleb briefly wondered what would happen if he grabbed the thing. But he remembered Typhanysor saying that if anything went wrong with the Nexus, then they both got a one-way ticket to the Infernal realm.

“Well…” Typhanysor asked slowly. “I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“Really? You don’t know? You just by happenstance invoked a demon’s True Name?! With no idea of the consequences or required etiquette?!”

Kaleb felt his eyes go wide. “You put your True Name on a damn pickaxe?! What the fuck? Why wouldn’t you use a pseudonym? What kind of demon dumbass uses their True Name? How vain are you?”

“VANITY Demon! I am exactly as vain as one would expect an embodiment of pure vanity to be. Besides, how was I supposed to know that someone would translate an old, runic language? I hadn’t even heard of that alphabet until it was traded to me.”

Kaleb rubbed his eyes. “So what are the consequences and the etiquette required when using a Demon’s true name?”

Typhanysor grimaced and seemed to grit his teeth. His whole upper body shook slightly until an explosion of words blasted from his demonic mouth.

“Once a Demon’s True name is invoked, an arcane pact is formed. It is assumed that the Invoker, that’s you, is attempting to bargain with said Demon. So the Demon may not attack the Invoker until all his demands are met, and he releases the Demon. Also, the Invoker can not attack the Demon or the pact is deemed void. The Demon must answer questions truthfully, but maintains the right to deny the request or bargain. The Demon may also negotiate with the Invoker about any requests or demands they have.”

Typhanysor leaned over, breathing heavily as the words stopped spilling from its mouth. Kaleb grinned as he leaned forward slightly.

“That would be the truth compulsion of the Pact, huh?”

“Obviously.” Typhanysor said through gritted teeth.

Kaleb nodded slowly. “Right. Well, I’m sorry to say that I don’t want anything from you other than a way out of here that will not kill me. So how about I simply request that you stay in the Frozen Wastes for the next one thousand years?”

“Pfft. No. I’m an Infernal Demon. That would be tantamount to killing me. I unequivocally refuse to go there. So that request is denied. As for the other…” The demon trailed off as an evil grin spread across his face.

“I also don’t want to be emotionally or physically traumatized by the experience of getting me out of here. Can’t I just wait for the demon to be defeated?”

“Bah! A little trauma’s good for you. Besides, your friends defeating Ole Sludgy will not affect this place. Either they kill him and his demonic essence is banished back to the Infernal. Where it will stay until he can reconstitute himself. Or they seal him away in something. In both cases, you’re stuck here unless you can punch your way out… magically, that is.”

“So there is no way for me to get back to the mortal plane.”

“I didn’t say that.” Typhanysor grinned, showing off all of his spiky teeth. “I can happily take you across to the mortal realm, no problem. We just need the juice to do it. Now, where do you think I could get the energies to accomplish something like that?”

Kaleb glanced back down at the black pearl. It was the physical embodiment of part of the Sludge Demon’s power. Even his nascent magical powers could feel the thing pulse in the ground. Typhanysor had been laser-focused on the thing as soon as they got here, and now he was outright asking to use it. Kaleb was absolutely sure that would never happen.

“Why do you want that thing so much? And why the fuck does it burn my eyes to look at it?”

“That would be pure demonic essence you're staring at. The burn means it’s healthy… and you're looking into absolute chaos. I could use that little bead there to triple my power. I didn’t know Sludgy was so strong, look how healthy it is.”

Typhanysor nearly cooed as he crouched down. Kaleb was still trying to get over the fact that Typhanysor called it a ‘little bead.’ The thing was still half submerged in the dirt. But even he could see it was the size of a basketball. If that was small, Kaleb didn’t want to see big. And if something that size was merely hurting his eyes, what would something bigger do to him?

“So you ‘eat’ that and you become a demon lord?”

The demon chuckled haughtily while brushing his long black hair out of his face. “Oh no, not by a long shot. But thank you so much for assuming I am that powerful. Vanity Demons thrive on attention and feed on admiration. But I’ve been chained to the sludge-fuck for so long that I’m weak. He would only let me out to talk to his ‘worshipers.’ I don’t even have a social media presence anymore. However, when I absorb that Nexus, I will be as powerful as I ever have been. I might even return to earth and become a celebrity again.”

Typhanysor got a cheerful look on his face as he recounted all the ways he would get famous and drain the admiration from his followers. Kaleb let him go on for a few seconds before he had to cut him off.

“Okay, that explains why you were just ‘hanging out’ in a basement. But seriously, if you drain that Nexus, you can get us out?”

Sneering at the ‘hanging out’ quip, the demon nodded. “Yes.”

Kaleb fell into thought as he tried to find the right wording for his request. If this demonic deal worked like others he had heard of, Typhanysor was going to screw him over. Or at least try to. Which meant that Kaleb had to be very careful about his instructions. He had to be overly pedantic about his word choice. He was carefully selecting the wording of his request when Typhanysor pushed closer.

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Kaleb took a step back and glared up at the demon.

“I’m just impatient. Wondering what you’re thinking about.” Typhanysor.

“I’m trying to think of a way out of here that doesn’t end up with your claws through my eyes. So give me a second.”

“Oh, you don’t trust me? I’m hurt?”

“You literally tried to kill me minutes ago.”

“Bygones. Besides, you NEED me to get you out of here. You really don’t have a choice.”

Kaleb glared at the demon for a full minute before he huffed angrily. Looking away, his eyes danced across the ground, trying to find a way to cut the demon out of the plan all together. That’s when his eyes landed on the vision-twisting orb of demonic energy. Maybe there was a way to get out that didn’t include the demon.

Kaleb knelt on the ground and put a hand out toward the orb. A titter over his shoulder made him turn to look up. It was a reprieve from looking at the damn orb, and he genuinely wanted to see Typhanysor’s response. The demon’s face was a flat mask of calm. His black eyebrows were slightly raised as he glanced between Kaleb’s hand and the orb. He tittered again and covered the laugh with the back of his hand.

“Oh please, do go on. I want to see what that much demonic essence does to a mortal. Besides, do you even know how to summon a portal?”

“No. But how about I request that you teach me and then stand there while I open myself a way out of here?”

Typhanysor’s titter was now a full belly laugh as he took in Kaleb’s face and discovered he was serious. The demon leaned over and clutched its stomach as it guffawed in derision. Kaleb just sat there until he grew tired of being mocked and reached a hand out to the orb again. His scaly hand just brushed against the surface when a wave of magic shot through him. Kaleb clenched his teeth as pain exploded down his arm and through his whole body. It felt like his veins were full of white-hot electricity. His entire body went rigid as he convulsed in pain.

Typhanysor’s laughter redoubled and Kaleb grit his teeth. The childish part of his brain wanted to grab the orb again. But he stopped himself and looked up at the demon again. Typhanysor was right, Kaleb couldn’t control the demonic energies within the orb. He wasn’t powerful enough, or the energy itself was toxic to him. The demon could contain that power, but Kaleb didn’t trust him enough to make the portal. So a plan formed in Kaleb’s mind as he painfully got to his feet.

“You were right. That was a stupid idea.”

“No shit! No, make the request for me to make the portal, and I’ll free both of us.”

“Yeah… No.” Kaleb said, wringing out his hand. “I’ll do you one better. You absorb that energy, convert it, and then pass it to me. I’ll use that power to create a portal and enter it. After I’ve gone, you can have what’s left of the orb.”

Typhanysor snorted. “Please, that would use up a portion of the orb’s power. Who knows how much of it will be left for me? Why would I do that?”

“Because otherwise we are not going anywhere and you’ll be stuck here. Just me and you, all alone. With no one to cater to your vanity. No one to admire you. Just me and you in this grey world until my friends come to get me and we kill you.”

The demon snorted at the last part. But he looked more than a little worried about no one worshiping him. His eyes scanned the horizon before turning back to Kaleb and wincing at the thought of being stuck here with him. Kaleb would clearly not worship or admire the demon. A thought seemed to occur to Typhanysor as he grinned down at Kaleb.

“You still don’t know how to create a portal. I’m the only one here who knows how to do that.”

Kaleb nodded. “Yes, but we have all the time in the world for you to teach me. Maybe if we take long enough, my friends will show up.”

“Pfft!”

Typhanysor huffed through his nose and crossed his arms imperiously. Kaleb could see the idea worming its way into the demon’s mind. And he took a seat. Typhanysor would either come to the same conclusion he did or continue to try to get Kaleb to trust him. Which was not happening. Kaleb would not trust the demon.

Instead, Kaleb turned his mind inward. Not for the first time, he had been left slightly behind when it came to helping his friends. Originally, he had chalked it up to spending too much time in the workshop. But he was still physically slower and weaker than the others. He had magic, but he hadn’t relied on it as much as he should have. Maybe there was a way to increase his physical attribute with mana that he hadn’t looked into yet. Something to give him an edge. It’s what he hoped his gadgets would do. But crafting such equipment would take him out of the field for an even longer period. In which his friends would reach a new plateau without him. He would always be behind. Unless he did something drastic.

Kaleb’s eyes traveled to the orb again, and he stared at it for as long as he could. Seconds ticked by as Kaleb felt his hand throb in remembered pain and his eyes watered. Thankfully, a cough from Typhanysor made him turn away. Blinking, Kaleb asked.

“What?”

“I’ll… Ahem…” The demon coughed, covering his words.

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

“I-ahem…it.”

“One more time.”

“I’LL DO IT!” Typhanysor screamed, looking pissed.

Kaleb nodded happily and sprang to his feet. He was brushing off his pants when the giant red demon closed into his personal space. Kaleb tensed and waited for something to happen. When nothing did, he looked up into the angry demon’s face. Typhanysor’s eyes were still mad, but his mouth was grinning.

“However! I do not have the time to waste teaching you about portals. We will have to use a quicker method.”

“Which method is that?”

Typhanysor continued to grin as he carefully reached out a claw to Kaleb’s forehead. Kaleb tensed again, preparing mentally for any traps. But the demon merely tapped him on his head and pulled back his clawed hand. Kaleb waited a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. But nothing came to him.

“What was that supposed-” Kaleb was mid-sentence when a plethora of information slammed into his mind.

It was an overwhelming cavalcade of formulas and magical scriptures. Numbers, runes, and magical knowledge rushed through Kaleb’s mind, looking for a home. A headache formed immediately and forcefully. Kaleb tried to bite his cheek against the pain, but it was all too much. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, his vision tunneling and Typhanysor standing above him, shaking his demonic head.