The unexpected summoning of a horror writer, part 2

These demon lords were toying with him. Tricking him somehow.

Shin knew how demons worked. They were evil by nature and treated humans as both food and entertainment, based on their capricious moods. They never offered anything for free.

Especially anything good—like a Contract!

A Contract was a magical pact between a human and a demon, which blended a part of their souls into one. As a result, the human got some of the demon's strength, and the demon could hide and recuperate inside the human's body.

This was a convenient way for demons to live in the human dimension, and the easiest way for a human to gain power. Demons were invaluable allies, and when Contracted, usually loyal.

They shared any harm taken with their host, after all.

Usually only a few people could summon a demon in the first place, but Shin was given a unique opportunity.

Met with the nightmarish reality of his situation, Shin knew he had to take everything he could. So far, everything Shin saw fit the world of his horror stories, and it was a very cruel, dangerous world.

He will deal with the strings attached later.

Shin looked around at all the demons, who rose in search of his attention. They stared at him with hungry eyes, and Shin knew they were hungry here, stuck in the demon dimension and depending on sacrifices from humans for food.

"Do all of you want to Contract me?" Shin asked the demons.

They began shouting immediately.

"Yes, yes! Pick me!"

"No, me!"

"Don't listen to them! I can create flame, I will burn everyone! Pick me!"

Shin winced at the noise, but didn't flinch when the demons drew closer and surrounded him.

"Hungry, so hungry…"

"Pick me! I will serve you well!"

"You smell really sweet, human…"

Shin ignored all these voices, inspecting the demons instead. Most of them looked too similar to each other in their grotesqueness.

'Alright… Whatever happens later, I must survive. For that, I must choose the strongest demon I can find, since it will be extremely hard to change my demon later. I need a good protector. But who?'

Shin pushed away the closest demons and walked through the crowd, looking at the demons. It was easy to determine their strength, since he knew what to look for.

Every demon had their full true name written on and inside their bodies. It was like a poem that described their entire power and personality in a language that only the demon itself could understand. The longer the poem was, the more powerful the demon was.

All Shin needed was to look at the amount of markings and count the Verses of demons' names. The demons at the thrones all had nine Verses, the highest possible amount. But the lesser demons below had only three Verses at most.

Shin stopped near one that seemed promising—at least it didn't paw at Shin's clothes.

"What can you do?" Shin asked.

The demon grinned, showing three rows of shark-like teeth. "I can catch anyone if they stand near water. Not even a lot of water, just a bit of water."

Shin shook his head and walked away. The power of the demon was good, but after another look, he saw that the demon itself was too weak. He only had three Verses in its name.

'This demon will not stand against any serious danger, much less an ascending god. And its power… it won't do much damage to an enemy.'

But he walked, and walked, and saw no one stronger.

He was getting desperate, and the demon lords were growing irate. Shin felt their heavy eyes on him.

Finally, Shin stopped near a demon with three Verses, whose power of conjuring lightning seemed promising.

'If I have to choose, then this is probably the best of what is there.'

Still, he hesitated.

"Human, hurry! Our patience isn't limitless," the horn-crowned demon said, making Shin jolt.

The young man's gaze turned to the massive creature. His eyes widened, and a smile stretched his lips.

He found the solution to his problem.

Shin pointed at the tallest horn on the demon lord's head, where a living demon was impaled like a trophy. A demon that Shin remembered from his writing!

"I want to make a Contract with that one! The one impaled on your horn."

The lesser demons gasped and went deathly still when the horn-crowned demon glared down at Shin.

The pressure rose, and Shin's knees buckled under him, but he knew he couldn't stop now. Demons, no matter what they said, didn't care for human social pleasantries or politeness. But they liked to appear that they did when it suited them.

It was more important to keep his chin high and not show weakness.

Shin bit his tongue, letting the sharp pain and the salty taste of blood give him strength. 

"You said that I can pick anyone here who's willing," he added.

He didn't lower his eyes even when the demon lord stood up.

"You want to make a Contract my trophy? Are you sure, human? It's a useless, pitiful wretch at this point. Always has been!"

"I'm sure."

The demon glared at Shin for several more seconds that felt like an eternity.

"Fine… But maybe it's unwilling. Are you?" the demon lord asked, probing its living trophy with a single claw.

The demon whined weakly. Although it was alive, it looked barely conscious. But to Shin's surprise, it lifted its head enough to look at the human.

"I… I am willing," it groaned in a high-pitched voice. "Please…"

The demon lord clicked its tongue with disappointment and pulled the wounded demon off its horn. It threw the lesser demon at Shin, and the man jumped away just when the creature landed in a heap where Shin stood a moment ago. Although it was now much closer, the demon was so covered in blood and dirt that it was hard to say how it looked.

The demon groaned, and Shin knew he had to hurry and Contract it before the creature really died. Demons were resilient, but not immortal.

Shin kneeled near the demon and reached for its hand. He knew the words he had to say—without all the ceremonies they were very simple.

"Will you help me?"

The demon lifted one bloody eye. "Will you… let me?"

"Yes."

"Me… too. Yes."