Summoning the demon

As soon as he received the quest completed notification, Ryan immediately stood up and rushed back to the same restroom. Its location was isolated and better than this one if he wanted to remain unnoticed by the bizarre creatures and the transforming human beings.

Ryan luckily managed to get there without running into anything else. “Hey, it's me.” He announced first while opening the door. Inside the small space, the woman was still there, and her eyes widened in relief as soon as she saw him.

“Thank you for coming back.” Lily nervously mumbled. Unlike him, she hadn’t adapted to things and was shaking visibly as she still sat in the same corner.

She hadn’t moved an inch after Ryan left and would probably only be a dead weight if he moved out of there to head to another location.

Hmmm… Ryan sighed. He was tired, so this particular decision had to wait until he was able to think more clearly. For now, he wanted to take a look at this contract. His survival might depend on it.

“A lesser demon, huh?” Ryan took the small scroll from his pocket.

Even though he was scared and uncertain about everything that was happening around him at the moment, he couldn’t help but also feel a little excited.

“Now, what do I do with this?” He thought out aloud, not paying any attention to Lily, who was observing him curiously from the side. The scroll in hand seemed completely blank, with nothing written on it, not even instructions on how to use it.

But the next second, a system prompt appeared to answer his question.

Ding. Lesser Demon Contract

[Requires a drop of blood to activate; Contracts and summons a lesser demon to fight by your side; Demon can be dismissed and resummoned]

“Drop of blood, huh? Sounds about right.”

Ryan used the knife he was holding and nicked his hand lightly, letting out a few drops of blood on the small scroll. He only got about a couple of drops, but as soon as his blood touched the scroll, the entire thing became fully red.

The previously blank piece of scroll suddenly started revealing all sorts of weird engravings, and moreover, these engravings were shining brightly in some sort of blackish, dark red glow.

And before he could do anything, the scroll turned into ashes and disappeared right in front of him.

Ryan gasped as the next second he felt his heart tighten. He suddenly couldn’t breathe. Something was choking him. He clutched his throat in shock, but nothing was there. Whatever was happening was coming from within.

Lily noticed that something was off and quickly crawled next to him. “Hey, Ryan. What happened? Are you okay?”

Ryan looked at her, but he couldn’t get any words out. He struggled. He was being completely suffocated. He kicked his legs out and tried to fight whatever this was, but it was of no use.

He was simply locked. Paralyzed. Then it happened. An unbearable wave of pain swept across his body, and something started materializing in front of him.

Ryan’s mind also slowly started to clear. He gasped, taking big mouthfuls of air to fill his lungs, and stared at the small black sphere in front of him that was beginning to take shape.

What was this? A thought crossed his mind, followed by the obvious answer.

Ryan immediately scrambled back several paces, a look of dread appearing on his face. He did not think too much when he was using the scroll, but now he realized the weight of the skill.

A demon!

He was actually summoning a demon!

He knew not a single thing about a creature like this, and yet he had summoned it!

Something like a demon had to be powerful, right? What if it attacked him suddenly? How was he going to control this thing?

Suddenly, Ryan felt that he had been foolish. He was desperate and just went for the contract. Perhaps he should have considered it more and thought about it more before summoning something from the depths of hell.

But then again, what the heck was he even going to think about? He absolutely knew nothing about any of this!

The world had turned upside down, and he was merely trying to survive. How was he supposed to think strategically in this situation? And based on what knowledge?

Ryan felt his head get muddled as a storm of chaotic thoughts filled his brain. He felt completely drained, and he was unable to think of anything.

Sweat dripped down his face as he stared dazedly at the black dot in front of him that was slowly getting bigger and bigger.

This was a demon…

Ryan let out a deep breath, which came out like smoke on a cold winter day. Only then did he realize that the temperature around him had also dropped.

On the side, Lily was also confused as she whimpered, “Ryan… what is happening?” It seemed like she was affected more than him.

That’s right. Ryan suddenly obtained a moment of clarity. This demon was causing all of this. He needed to be strong, not muddle-headed. He needed to remain calm.

He grasped onto the single moment and clenched his fists tightly in an attempt not to let this concentration slip away like the last time.

The black dot in front of him also grew bigger, and without any warning, something purple and gaseous started seeping out of it.

The next second, a pair of red eyes flashed open from within this purple mass, and the black dot, which was more like a black tennis ball, now completely disappeared into nothingness.

Ryan watched everything happen in a daze, his eyes glued to the purple mass. The pair of eyes also stared right back at him.

Ryan blinked. The purple gaseous mass also blinked.

Lily, on the other hand, was completely frozen, staring at the entity with her mouth wide open.

After a few seconds, Ryan finally snapped out of it.

“What the… are you the demon?”