Chapter 2

Silfa raised an eyebrow,

surprised by the sudden hospitality of the demon, but he didn't quite have the option to question all that right now, so he let out a short breath and took the hand. The demon seemed delighted at that and pulled him up to his feet, taking half a step back before crossing his arms. He seemed to be waiting for Silfa to start speaking. So Silfa stood up straight, patting the dust off his clothes and straightening them so they looked tidy again before speaking calmly with his eyes still fixated on his clothes: "So I suppose we need to set some rules and so on, right? You probably have some stuff to explain too." He finished tidying up his clothes and looked up at the demon again, waiting for a response.

"Hm, first of all, I need a better explanation for your motive because it could be important later." The demon finished his sentence with a strange seriousness now, with a raised eyebrow. There would be nothing to lose when I tell him, right? I mean, we have a contract now—he can't hurt me. Silfa decided that there was nothing to lose, and so he started speaking: "You see, I come from a family of Soul Flame warriors, so of course we had some enemies, but about five years ago, my father went way too far." Shin noticed the anger and frustration in Silfa's eyes as he had seen it in many human eyes before, but he gave a faint smile anyways as always.Just another tragic human matter again. "Oh? How interesting, keep going.

"Silfa expected no big reaction out of the demon anyways, so he just ignored the smile and continued: "So, long story short, he tried to take on the Azure Thorn clan—" Shin interrupted, making Silfa narrow his eyes in slight annoyance: "Is he dumb? Everyone knows they have something fishy going on with demonic artifacts; even the demons find them annoying." Silfa was quiet because he couldn't deny that his father was indeed very bold, but seeing the demons confusion and slight mockery, he decided to not start any form of an argument and continued.

"So anyways, he took on the Azure Thorn Clan and underestimated them greatly, making him their main target." His gaze sharpened as he looked Shin in the eyes again with a dead look. "Then when my father didn't return, everyone already had pretty much guessed what probably happened to him, but no one would have thought the Azures would be so angered that they would target every last one of our clan." Silfa stood his ground steadily right after he said that, being careful not to show too much emotion to the demon. But the truth? He knew that he despised them for not doing anything about the shocking news back then even though most of them were capable Soul Flame warriors. Although Silfa thought that that information probably wouldn't be all too interesting for Shin, so he let it out.

After Silfa had finished, it seemed like the demon was debating something. Or well, it seemed like it until he actually opened his mouth. "So I'll make the great assumption and guess that they're all dead and you want to avenge their deaths by summoning me for power?" Silfa pondered a bit over the said words before nodding with confidence. "Yes, that's it." The demon now seemed to study him, searching and looking at his expression and reactions, as though he had realized something Silfa hadn't yet. What in the world is that demon doing? Silfa thought.

The demon snapped back from whatever thoughts he was in so suddenly that Silfa almost flinched…almost. "Alright, I will accept your reason for the summon, so let me explain some rules to you." The blue-haired warrior prepared his mind to mentally note anything and everything that demon was about to say. "So the most important stuff first. As a summoned demon, I have to follow three strict main rules regarding our contract," he started. Shin sorted his thoughts to speak in a way Silfa would understand the easiest. "As you probably know, there are three ranks of demons: imps, lesser Yokai, and demon lords…" Do I look like a kid to you?! Silfa blinked a few times, thinking that it's ridiculous to recite such basic knowledge, but before he could complain about it, the demon noticed his intention and interrupted him before he could say anything.

"But since I and the other three demon lords can have mood swings too, there is one last rank. And those are the high elders—they are very annoying but have the power to give pretty bad punishments...blablabla. " Shin kept complaining about the high elders, but Silfa sorted the noise out and was in his own world rethinking his thoughts from earlier. So that's the reason no demon lord attacks anyone just like that. They are being controlled, it seems. The demon seemed to finally get to the point, and so Silfa let his voice blend in again. "…and so they decided on three main rules that must be upheld at any cost. And those three rules are, first of all—" He coughed before seemingly imitating the court: "Demons may only kill mortals who harm them or are a direct threat to Yokaiya. Second rule: Mass slaughtering mortals or hurting a mortal on behalf of the contractor for any reason can bring a harsh punishment." The demon huffed out a faint laugh, looking upwards into the red sky, yet he somehow always seemed to have Silfa in his field of vision. "They say the worst punishment is something no demon would ever think of—me neither, because I'll never break such rules, but anyways, on to the last one." Shin corrected his posture to a casual one again with his arms still crossed.

It seems plausible till now, but if he can't hurt mortals, then how is he supposed to help me take revenge? Maybe he can give me powers or something like that? Before Silfa's thoughts went any further than that, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his forehead and flinched very noticeably. Shin had noticed the warrior's absent mind and had flicked his cold fingers against his forehead to get his attention back. And well he succeeded now, having Silfa scratch his forehead where he flicked him plus an angered gaze. The demon snickered at that but soon continued. "As I was saying, the last rule is: demons summoned by any creature must obey their contractor's commands at best unless it violates the rules above." The demon let his arms hang by his sides now, looking at Silfa, who still had his hand on his forehead but answered nonetheless. "Alright, I understand; I guess it won't be that difficult to uphold them." He lowered his hand from his forehead, looking at his palm and searching for any traces of blood, but let his arm down when he saw none.

"So then how are you going to help me take revenge?" Silfa raised an eyebrow, looking at the demon with a questioning look, who returned it with a smile. "Well, that is going to be a long explanation…" He stopped for a moment, taking a look around the dead lands, then turned his gaze to Silfa again. "How about we get out of here first? I'll tell you on the way." He walked a few steps to get down from the altar, his boots strangely quiet on the dark, sand-like ground as the soot ruffled through his black clothes, but he seemed used to it. It's a part of the demon realm that somehow went over to the mortal realm after all. He thought and followed Shin swiftly, landing on the ground with a loud crunch.

"We'll be going to a friend of mine first because he might have something to help you get power even without me giving you some of mine for the time being." Silfa just nodded and started to walk in the direction he originally came from: the mortal lands. He looked behind him, finding the demon following him.

 It seems that this is the right way for now.