Origin of the ritual

Adam and Emily immediately noticed a mana residue in Adam's old apartment, seeping out from under the door like a black odor. Adam, with his mana vision, instantly saw something inside: a human-shaped anomaly made of mana. As Adam opened the door, a burst of mana flowed past them. Emily instinctively drew her dual swords from her chest, ready for whatever was coming, while Adam gripped his black armor core.

Before them stood a dark figure, taller than a human, slouching to barely fit the room. The figure turned to look at them, then disappeared like a black mist. Adam, using his mana vision, searched for its location, but the residue ended abruptly within the apartment. There were no traces of the black figure leaving.

"Let me go in first, Adam," Emily said, stepping into the apartment with her dual swords.

Adam prepared to transform and protect Emily if any threat arose. As Emily entered, she noticed the apartment had been recently cleaned, and the scent of floor cleaner permeated the air. Adam switched on the light as Emily moved forward, looking around, but found no one inside, no creatures.

Adam, still using his mana vision, gravitated toward the drawer of his old computer. Emily, sensing no threat, sheathed her swords, which seamlessly disappeared into her chest as if stored in a personal dimension.

Adam pulled out a paper covered in symbols. "This is how I was transported to the other world," Adam told Emily, showing her the paper.

Emily examined it, trying to decipher the symbols with her centuries of knowledge. "This symbol dates back thousands of years ago. How did you know to write this?" Emily asked, shocked to see ancient scripture.

"I found it online, as I was searching for inner peace and a meaning to life. It showed symbols and an incantation that meant to be 'saving souls and bringing peace'," Adam explained.

"Adam, these symbols and the incantation are a summoning ritual. It's a sacrificial ritual of one's life, in return for blissful life reborn. It's basically letting your body be harvested by a demon!" Emily explained, her voice filled with worry. "Your body shouldn't still be here. It would have been burned and disappeared," she added, an uneasy expression on her face.

"Then how come my body still existed and was in a coma instead?" Adam asked, wondering what truly happened that night when he was reincarnated.

"I'm not sure either. From what I saw in the past, the humans who used this summoning ritual burned to ashes. Their souls were then reincarnated to another location. However, there's no confirmation of where their souls went after," Emily stated. "Some speculated that they went to hell, which is why their bodies burned to ashes, but it's just speculation. Hundreds of people did this for decades until the king declared an order to erase this summoning ritual. If you're wondering who it was, it was King Solomon, as many such magic and dark powers were sealed to prevent humans from using them again," Emily concluded, recounting the history.

"So if it's a summoning ritual, then who is the demon that was meant to be summoned?" Adam asked.

"The name was erased. There's a reason why it was erased," Emily stated. Adam had never seen Emily, a powerful phoenix, this afraid of a demon before. Her fear was unlike her usual character.

"Emily, what's happening to you?" Adam asked, waving his hand in front of Emily's face, which still showed a profound fear stemming from her own knowledge.

Emily snapped out of it. "Oh, it's nothing. I believe I may have been mistaken about the demon. He is no one important." Emily then proceeded to burn the paper with her phoenix flame. Adam knew Emily was lying, but he chose to trust her decision.