Chapter 132. Name and Agreement.
The sight that greeted me was horrifying, and not what I was expecting. I was looking at the throne room of the keep, a room that had once been elaborately decorated, but now looked like a war zone. Seated on the garish throne wasn’t the king, it was a monster. Given the booming voice and the damage done to the guards, I had expected a hulking beast. Instead of a hulking beast, my gaze was met with a being that couldn’t been much over four feet tall.
It was red-skinned, potbellied, and had long, gangly arms and legs. A pair of glowing, red, beady eyes were positioned over a bulbous nose. Ears that were as long as my forearm topped off the creature. It wore only a simple loincloth and had no weapons or other items visible. Coming upon this creature in a dark alley, I wouldn’t have thought twice about fighting it. The only thing remotely terrifying were the eight-inch-long claws that topped each hand.
Looks were deceiving and I could see the little monster had a man dressed in elaborate robes and wearing a crown by the arm. The man in the monster’s grasp must have been the king, and no amount of squiggling or pulling against the creature’s grip seemed to budge the monster a single inch. Standing around the throne were a half dozen guards armored in plate mail, each holding halberds or swords and shields. Scattered around the throne were a couple of dozen dead guards who bore the same types of wounds as the other victims I’d found.
“Ah, it looks like we have impartial witnesses for the final adjudication of our contract,” the creature boomed with a voice that didn’t match his body in the least. To me, the thing looked like an imp from a video game, but it was far more powerful than any imp I’d fought against digitally.
“Save me and I’ll pay you each your weight in gold,” the king squawked.
“Settle down, Your Majesty, these people cannot stand against me any better than your guards have done. Come out, let’s get a look at you,” the monster demanded.
My summoner had given me the order to delay this thing, and the longer it wanted to talk, the more time I was buying for the others to escape. I stepped out from the doorway, taking a few steps into the slaughterhouse that was once a throne room. Now that my vision wasn’t obstructed, I could see the imp had killed not only the guards, but also a gaggle of courtiers who were piled up near another sealed door.
“Come closer, I’m not going to bite,” the imp taunted, waving me further into the room with its hideous claws.
“You may not bite, but you sure can slash if this is all your handywork,” I said, motioning toward the dead.
“Guilty as charged, may I have your name young man?” the imp asked as he met my gaze. I could feel his presence press against my mind, but I refused to let him in.
“No, I think I’d like to remain anonymous for whatever this is,” I replied. Some instinct told me that this thing wasn’t something you’d want to know your name, or much of anything about you.
“As you wish, for the purposes of our little discussion, your name won’t be necessary,” the imp acquiesced.
The imp seemed chatty and the longer I could drag this out, the better my rating at the end of the summoning would be. Guilt washed over me, as I realized that the king and all his guards were about to die a horrible death and I was only worried about my rating. It was too easy to feel like none of this was real, and those I was dealing with weren’t living, breathing people. Before I could say anything else, the imp shivered in delight and continued to speak.
“Mmm, delicious. I may not be able to peer into your soul, young man, but that wave of guilt you just felt was like waving a finely cooked meal in front of a very hungry man. Let me guess, you're feeling sorry for this lot?” the imp asked, giving the king a shake that caused him to whimper.
“Perhaps, maybe I don’t want someone to die a horrible death if I can help it,” I argued.
“An understandable response for a mortal such as yourself. What about if the victims in question deserved it?” the imp asked his eyes glowing brighter for a moment. I could feel a sense of dread build inside me, this thing was dangerous, and not just to my summoning rating. I had the horrible feeling, looking into its eyes, that this thing could easily track me down, even to Earth if it desired to do so.
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“Who am I to say if someone deserves death or not,” I replied weakly, not quite sure how to respond.
“You’re in luck today, you don’t have to render judgement, you merely have to witness it,” the imp said with a happy smile on his face. It’s ability to shift back and forth from a friendly creature enjoying himself to the face of utter evil threw me.
“And If I try to stop you?” I asked, tightening my grip on the warhammer as I readied my team to attack if need be.
“You can’t win and, at best, you would gain this wretch what, maybe another few seconds of life? Now, if you stay here and act as witness to the contract’s enforcement, you’ll be extending his life much longer than a few paltry seconds. What say you, young man, will you stand as witness to this?” the imp asked.
“What happens after I witness this whatever it is you plan on doing?” I asked.
“Why, I kill you all, of course. I can tell you’re not of this world, are you. A summoned being, how quaint. Most of the summoned things are just mana constructs you know, just like your companions. Wait, one isn’t a construct, is it. Now that’s a bit of a fashion accessory I can appreciate, your little companion there,” the imp said, glaring at Melvin.
“Don’t look at him Melvin.” I sent through our link. He replied in the affirmative, but I could sense that even Melvin was a bit terrified.
“Is there any way that ends with them going free?” I asked gesturing toward the king and his loyal guards.
“Highly unlikely, though, if you feel so attached to him, I might be willing to offer him lenience if you’re willing to make a deal with me,” the imp said.
“No, I sincerely doubt that would end well for me. Rumors of your kind are well known to my people,” I said, figuring this thing was a devil, demon, djinn, or whatever you’d want to call the evil entity.
“Very well, if there’s no new deal to be had, we return to the task at hand, despite how entertaining our little conversation has been. Do you wish to stand as witness, or should I just kill you now? Those are your only options,” the imp demanded.
I needed to buy time, and if some kind of show trial was the way to do that, I would accept his offer. Back down in the basement were over a score of people trying to escape. While the imp played with the king and his guards, I would hopefully give them the time they needed to reach safety.
“I’ll witness what’s going on, but I’m only agreeing to that and nothing else that you might try to slip into the deal,” I said, clumsily trying to make sure I wasn’t somehow signing a deal with a literal devil.
“Perfect. As an added bonus, I’ll make sure your death is as painless as possible,” the imp said.
“Now, for your edification, young man, I’ll lay out the agreement. I agreed to provide the means for Lord Hamlin to become king of this realm. In return, I’d receive the soul of one of his offspring. Today, Lord Hamlin became King Hamlin, and I came to collect my fee. When I made my selection, he refused, trying to pawn off a child that he had fathered with one of his servants,” the imp argued.
“I gave you what you asked for, and you’re the one that broke our deal, not me,” the king whined.
“Again, Your Majesty, you didn’t bother to read the details. The choice of offspring was mine, not yours, and our fair, impartial witness can see for himself,” the imp said, snapping his fingers as a flaming parchment appeared in front of me. The parchment wasn’t consumed by the flames, and in fact, might have even been made of them.
Taking my time, and leaning into the role I had been given, I looked at the highlighted section of the infernal document.
Upon his coronation, a choice of offspring will be offered to *********** ******* ***** *********. Failure to provide the abovementioned remuneration will result in default, and the penalties outlined in the appropriate section of this document will be enforced.
“I can see where there would be confusion, and it appears that there is some text missing in this section,” I said, noting the asterisked words.
“That was a little gift from me to you, young human. The hidden text is merely my true name. For a mortal such as yourself to hear or even read it will result in madness and death. Here, let me demonstrate,” the imp said, reaching out and catching one of the halberds pointed toward him.
The guard holding the weapon stumbled forward, too slow to react to the lightning fast grab the imp made. A clawed hand pulled the guard closer, and it was disturbing to see the little creature manhandle a huge, armored man. The imp released the king to grasp onto the guard with both hands, pulling his neck at an awkward angle so he could whisper in his ear.
“You may want to cover your ears for this, I wouldn’t want any unfortunate accidents to occur,” the imp said with a smile. I followed his advice, covering my ears with my hands and humming to block out any sound.
The imp leaned over and I could see his lips moving as he whispered his name to the hapless guard. Releasing the guard, the imp sat back down and watched as the man began to scream and claw at his ears. Babbling incoherently, the man’s eyes filled with madness a moment before he collapsed to the floor and began to convulse.
“There you go, I’m sure you can understand my reluctance to show you the printed version of my name. With that little demonstration out of the way, do you agree that the contract clearly states that I was to be offered the choice of offspring?” the imp asked with a friendly grin, oblivious to the guard who gurgled a final time and died at his feet.