The transition between dimensions was very disorienting.
Hell dissolved into a vortex of crimson and purple energy, and for a moment I existed in a state between worlds—neither fully spiritual nor fully material. Then, with a final push, reality solidified around me.
I opened my eyes.
I was in an underground chamber. The walls were made of stone, covered in moss and dampness. Torches floated in the corners, illuminating the room. The air smelled of mold—and blood.
And in front of me, at the center of an elaborate summoning circle glowing with complex runes, stood my summoner.
A middle-aged man, perhaps around forty by his appearance. Dark hair streaked with gray, sunken eyes that spoke of many sleepless nights. His hands trembled slightly as he held an ancient grimoire, his fingers stained with ink and blood.
An academic. A researcher. I could see it in his eyes, that particular mix of arrogance and desperation.
"It worked! Hahaha!" he gasped, his eyes widening with a mix of triumph and absolute terror. "It really worked! I summoned a Primordial Demon!"
I took a moment to assess my situation. The summoning circle was impressive by human standards: complex, multilayered, designed not only to summon but to contain and control. The runes glowed with active power, trying to wrap me in chains of binding magic.
Trying being the key word.
The magical chains touched my aura and simply... dissolved. Like ice against the midday sun.
"Interesting," I said, my voice echoing unnaturally through the stone chamber. "A Class-A summoning ritual, triple restraint circle, integrated obedience runes." I tilted my head, studying the trembling mage. "Someone did their homework."
The man straightened, trying to project authority despite the fear I could smell on him.
"Demon! By the power of this ritual, I command you to—!"
I raised a hand, and his voice was cut off as if the words had been ripped from his throat. I didn't do it directly—I simply let a fraction of my aura leak out, and the weight of my presence silenced him more effectively than any spell.
"No," I said simply. "You will not."
His eyes widened. He tried to speak again, invoking the ritual's words of power, but every time he opened his mouth, my aura pressed down harder, gripping the very thing he was trying to use.
I moved—not walked, but slid through space—and crossed the summoning circle's barrier as if it didn't exist. The runes flared frantically, trying to contain me, to force me back.
I extended one finger and touched one of the main runes.
Annihilation Magic.
The rune simply ceased to exist, erased from reality as if it had never been written. The rest of the circle collapsed in a cascade, all the carefully crafted restraints disintegrating into dying sparks of light.
"How disappointing," I said, genuinely disillusioned as I approached the frozen mage. "You spent years studying demonic rituals, didn't you? You learned the runes, the circles, the words of power. You thought you understood how all of this worked."
I stopped in front of him, close enough to see the sweat rolling down his forehead.
"But you failed to understand the most fundamental rule of all: no matter how perfect your ritual is, no matter how ancient your grimoire—if you summon something orders of magnitude more powerful than you, the restraints are just suggestions." I smiled, and watched him shrink at the sight. "And I am a Primordial Demon. Your runes are like paper trying to contain a storm."
"P-please," he finally found his voice, broken and trembling. "I—I just—"
"You wanted power?" I finished for him. "Knowledge? Protection from something that scares you?" I tilted my head, studying him with genuine curiosity. "You're in this abandoned dungeon, covered in blood that I hope isn't yours, holding a grimoire you probably stole from some forbidden archive. Let me guess—disgraced academic, running from something, desperate for a way out."
His eyes told me I had hit the mark.
"So," I continued, circling him slowly, "you tried to summon a demon powerful enough to solve your problems. But you also tried to make sure that demon couldn't betray you." I laughed softly. "Ambitious. Stupid, but ambitious hahaha."
I stopped in front of him again, considering my next move.
I could kill him. It would be trivial. One thought and he would cease to exist.