"I am Zagan, the great demon ranked 61st among the 72 demons."
The moment she heard the name, all color drained from Leina's face.
The demon of resonance, Zagan...
Before executing the plan, she had pored over countless books on demonology.
While reading records of upper demons, she had come across Zagan's name in the hierarchy of the 72 demons.
61st place. Right below the supreme demons, the highest among the upper demons.
Even fools could gain sage-like intelligence by contracting with Zagan, but that was merely a fraction of his true power.
True to his title as the demon of resonance, Zagan could dominate surrounding areas by resonating various magics, and even transmute the essence of matter through alchemy.
And the most terrifying part...
Was that Zagan was notoriously savage even among the 72 demons.
Kairun, oblivious to how the plan had gone awry, kept shooting her glances, but Leina's mind was already consumed by extreme terror.
Only one thought endlessly swirled in her head.
We're dead... everyone is dead...
"I've given you my name, so speak your reason for summoning me, you fools."
When Leina showed no reaction even to the demon's voice, Kairun frowned.
He had no choice but to pivot the plan and attempt a contract.
I don't know why Leina's acting like that... but seeing her tremble in fear like this, it must be a powerful demon for sure.
"Lord Zagan, I am Kairun, lord of Greenwood Territory in Haven. I wish to form a contract with you."
"Oh... a lord of Haven... A place well-known even in our demon realm."
Zagan stroked his massive chin. A strange smile crept across his lips.
"But it displeases me greatly."
"Eh...?"
Before Kairun's bewildered voice could finish, Zagan shot up into the air.
The instant his fingers pointed skyward, hundreds of magic stones hidden throughout the forest erupted in blue light and soared into the heavens.
The stones found their positions in midair, and in an instant, the entire sky was blanketed by a magic circle.
Countless massive magic circles formed by the stones layered atop one another, filling the night sky with eerie geometric patterns of blue light.
"To summon me, the demon of resonance Zagan, not with human flesh but mere stones infused with life force... From gravestones at first, and now these magic stones."
Zagan spoke in a voice swallowing his rage.
"It reminds me of when I was first summoned millennia ago by tombstones. Paying with the faint life force etched into stones, just like back then..."
A dangerous glint flashed in Zagan's eyes.
His gaze alone seemed to stop everyone's breath.
"Congratulations. You've just stirred my most hated memory."
It was common knowledge that a sacrifice's quality determined a demon's rank, so being summoned by lowly gravestones fit for lesser demons was a humiliating past for him.
The hundreds of magic circles filling the sky emitted a sinister glow and danced at Zagan's gesture.
"You damn... demon!"
Was it courage born paradoxically from utter terror?
Seized by momentary madness, Kairun cast magic at Zagan.
Kairun had been hailed as a magic prodigy since childhood.
His supernatural ability allowed him to wield blue mana.
Unlike ordinary mages' mana, the pale blue mana rising from his fingertips was dense and intense, almost tangible.
The spells he crafted with that concentrated mana held several times the power of other mages', and it was this ability that elevated him to lord of Haven.
"Die, you demon bastard! Hell Spear!"
With Kairun's roar, a blue flame in the air morphed into a massive spear and hurtled toward Zagan.
In that split second, the spell's power vibrated the surrounding air.
"Pathetic... To hurl magic at me."
"What are you doing?!"
Leina cried out in horrified shock at Kairun,
but the blue spear had already struck Zagan, exploding in a deafening blast that shrouded the area in thick smoke.
"Hahaha! Not so tough for a demon! I'd rather grow strong on my own than borrow power from trash like you!"
Kairun's arrogant laughter echoed from the smoke.
That idiot...
Leina's heart sank coldly.
The fool who didn't even know why the demon of resonance was called that had made a fatal mistake.
Against Zagan, the demon of resonance, magic like that... wouldn't work.
The thick smoke slowly swirled and cleared.
What emerged was Zagan, standing unscathed as if nothing had happened from the start.
"Is this your magic? Arrogant beyond your skill. To think you could kill me with such feeble magic... Another insult."
The smile curling on Zagan's lips froze the spines of all who saw it.
He raised his hand to the sky once more.
The hundreds of magic circles overhead began rotating in unison, and before each one materialized the Hell Spears Kairun had just unleashed.
Most shocking was that every single one of those hundreds of Hell Spears pulsed with Kairun's unique pale blue mana.
"H-How... my mana..."
"Feel the gap in power. And despair at your own pathetic helplessness."
The moment Zagan's hand descended,
the Hell Spears raining from the sky poured down like merciless torrents.
The instant the hundreds of Hell Spears fell, the world was dyed pale blue.
Massive trees exploded into splinters, ancient trunks ripped from their roots amid horrific screams.
"Aaaagh!"
"S-Spare me!"
"Retreat...!"
The knights' screams erupted, only to be swallowed by the blasts.
The forest turned into hell in an instant.
Knights' bodies littered the fallen trees, the earth groaning with deep fissures.
Only after the dust and wood fragments settled did the gruesome scene reveal itself.
Dozens of knights had long since stopped breathing, and Kairun lay collapsed in a pool of blood, his right arm gone entirely.
Leina's body was covered in wounds too, but she was barely clinging to life.
Why wasn't I targeted...?
All her injuries were from wood shards and blast debris—no single Hell Spear had aimed at her, which was bizarre.
"Curious?"
Zagan's voice from midair sent chills down Leina's spine.
"Of course. The mana I sense from these magic stones—yours..."
A cruel smile spread across Zagan's lips.
"I won't let humans who exposed my shameful past off easily. I'll make you writhe in agony, very slowly."
The gruesome corpses of knights scattered around came into view—bodies pierced by pale blue spears, crushed remains under explosive debris...
Zagan's words that even their ends were merciful compared to her coming torment made Leina's body quake with terror.
"P-Please... spare me! It was... all him who made me..."
Leina's voice trembled.
What does he plan to do to me...?
Unspeakable horror enveloped her entirely.
"Yes... Let's deal with that arrogant fool first."
The magic circles that had unleashed blue-mana Hell Spears now gathered around Zagan's fist, spinning wildly.
"Die, you arrogant wretch."
Kairun, crawling on the ground with blood pouring from his severed arm, mustered his last mana for his strongest defensive spell.
But his shield shattered like glass before Zagan's fist.
Boom!
The instant the fist slammed down, Kairun's body crumpled like crushed paper.
Witnessing the sight, Leina crawled away in terror.
"I don't want to die... please, I don't want to die...!"
In extreme fear that choked her breath and numbed her reason, her hands frantically groped the surroundings.
She grabbed stones, branches, anything, hurling them as she crawled, but Zagan merely dodged with mocking ease.
"Run... run more if you can."
Cruel delight laced Zagan's voice. He flicked away a stone Leina threw and approached slowly.
Leina, scraping the blood-soaked earth with her palms, finally hit a wall.
There was nowhere left to go.
"No... no... please..."
Her voice had devolved into unintelligible sobs. Her body shook uncontrollably with terror, tears streaming endlessly.
A vicious smile spread on Zagan's face.
"Yes, that expression—the despair in those eyes... that terrified face... exactly what I've longed to see."
Red magic circles began drawing around Leina, patterns like drawn in blood slowly rotating to constrict her.
"Now, let's enjoy your end... How beautiful your screams will be..."
"Kyaaaah—!"
The moment skin-tearing agony pierced her body and her scream sought to rend the night air,
Whoosh—
A streak of intense silver cut through the darkness.
"Don't move another inch, demon."
A voice like cold ice echoed.
It was Astra, riding Fenrir.
Zagan's eyes narrowed warily for the first time.
"Do that, and you'll die."
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