First Invocation

"I am not here to redeem these people or bring them salvation", Eliza stated.

"You came at an opportune time though", she said in a grateful tone.

"What do you mean? Are you hibernating once again?", Aster asked slightly peeved.

She simply nodded as a magic emblem apparated under her and began to encompass her.

Alerted by the magnitude of the situation, he covertly asked, "What happened to the second one summoned? Did you kill it?"

She shook her head and said, "There is no second", which caused Aster's expression to stiffen.

He then began to ponder as the spell sent her away.

Briefly glancing at Atlas who was currently entranced by the miraculous effects of a recovery spell.

'A single human summoned with the same amount of magic required to destroy an entire kingdom. Can it even be considered a human?'

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Squelch. Squelch. Splat. Once he started, he couldn't stop it. The overwhelming urge to destroy. It utterly consumed him. Discarding the weapon, which was the catalyst to this conclusion, he did not intend for her to have a swift and painless end. With his fists, he then struck her already bloodied visage. Each strike compressed the flesh further and further until there was a hint of white. He pounded the skull again and again, even after his knuckles began to take on a purple complexion and only stopped when the gore no longer resembled any conventional shape.

In the end, it didn't matter. She still got the last laugh. As the contract with the slavers had been decided long before he was notified. They came for him and he was unable to retaliate. With a bruised complexion, he was forcefully pressed against the ground and growled in disdain as a hint of that damned house remained within his line of sight. From then on, he was beaten for the mere act of thinking, even if it was to benefit those who owned him. There were those that could lose themselves through exhausting their bodies and life force from excess manual labor, there were those that found decent owners which covertly treated them with appreciation, and there were those that were constantly in danger so they had less time to consider who they were and only thought of survival. He had none of these. Without mental means to escape his bitter reality, he could only ruminate on his past and cursed his fate. Not fit enough to work and easy enough to torment, his self-pity and hope finally dissipated. And his ambition to destroy the world sprouted. Grasping the still-beating heart, he called upon what others considered heretical.

Waking up from the deep sleep, the apostle felt incredibly disoriented.

"I am alive?", he said to himself in astonishment as the memory of the all-encompassing frost was seared into his memories.

Remembering his objective, he then took out the demonic core. It was completely shattered.

'The Demon General was defeated…', he thought while internally heaving a sigh. A single person stood between him and his goal. Understanding the extent of his ability, he was impressed. Perhaps if he was a less spiteful person, he would have been inspired by the strength shown by the Sage and believe that there was a chance for this world to change. However, because of who he was, he grimaced. So much strength that could've been used to change this shitty world, yet it belonged to a pacifist lacking perspective.

He then began to inspect the ice he was encased in. To the back of him, it was slightly thinner and even if he went further into the ice, it would be fine as he was curious of the intense magic which began to emanate there. Casting a flame spell combined with a magnify spell, the ice gradually melted until he could step out of his frozen prison.

To his amazement, upon exiting, he entered the kingdom. It was perfectly preserved as if nothing had ever happened to it and the only oddity being that it was now enclosed in a cocoon of ice. As for the people, he couldn't find a single corpse. Then he felt a presence greater than him start watching him.

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On a field, he calmly sat as if meditating while the wind rushed through him. The breeze slightly lifted his hair and ruffled his neat robes while providing a gentle cooling sensation, but he did not notice. In deep concentration, he removed all thoughts and ignored all unnecessary sensory information. Instead of focusing on the present or trying to achieve enlightenment, he sought to connect with the nature around him. Then it naturally came to him. Sensing the abundant mana rushing towards him, he immediately acted. Abruptly he stood up and then channeled the energy through his hands.

"I beckon to one which embodies fear, one which stands at the apex, one which can raze on my behalf!", he shouted as the magic began to coagulate.

Seeing the outstretched hand being used as the conduit, Aster cringed. It was a rookie mistake as an outstretched hand was an easy target for an unyielding summon to exploit. However, he remembered that first summons almost always failed and even if they succeeded, rarely brought forth a formidable creature so he decided to inform him afterward.

A magic circle formed through which a shape then began to emerge. The entity brought forth was enormous, but it was still enveloped in the mana used to summon it. The entity then started to shake, and the radiance of the magic began to dim.

'As expected', Aster thought. That was the sign that the invocation had failed.

Suddenly, the magic circle and the magic contained within shattered like golden luminescent glass shards and the process ended.

Instead of sighing at his failure though, he calmly looked on as his outstretched hand was engulfed in the creature's maw. The 7-meter tall lion with golden fur stared menacingly at its summoner with a loose jaw that threatened and seemed tempted to close.