20 (20) Capturing the demonic summoner

Looking around the condition of the slum road, Nicokel understood why the priest or any native would not want to come here. 

'The priest went to a residential area instead, I guess they are still human in core. Making assumptions on them being inhuman based on the old tale would be a mistake.' 

Nicokel slowly turned towards the older knight, the scout. 

"Hide above the houses and follow us. If the demonic summoner tries anything, restrain or kill him immediately depending on the situation. If possible, keep him alive even if limbless." 

"Understood. I shall assassinate him in case he does something dangerous." 

Stomp!

The scout soared up to the roof of the houses and vanished. 

A few beggars sitting on the cornerstone of the road gazed at Nicokel, before turning away immediately. 

Living in the harshest gear of the societies, they knew who they could pick on and those they had to keep their hands clean off. 

The knight beside Nicokel gave them such a bad vibe, that some scurried away from the location immediately. 

"Young master Nicokel, I still advise you to stay near the carriage. We could have taken care of the demonic summoner by ourselves..." 

Nicokel frowned, hearing the same thing three times by now. His cold eyes glazed over to the knight, he didn't like nagging subordinates. 

"I won't stand hearing the same thing again. I will stay outside the house, so it shouldn't matter anyway." An apathetic voice left through Nicokel's mouth. 

He was worried that the demonic summoner might die — before he even got to learn anything about summoners. 

'I have recovered more than half of my mana too. I should be able to use my talent and understand the enemy's technique to an extent. Even the library holds no book teaching summoning. I won't get such a chance again anytime soon.' 

Nicokel was determined and motivated to learn summoning. The word 'One-man army' was just too sweet for him. 

Soon, both of them arrived before a worn down building. 

Along the way, Nicokel kept having the feeling that someone was looking at him. However, when he looked around, he didn't find anyone in the surrounding area. 

'Tch! Just what's with this strange sensation...'

Right that instant, Nicokel caught a strange object in the shadow. On closer inspection, his expression froze. 

A creepy black pupil's eyes could be seen floating on the shadow. It looked directly into Nicokel's eyes before vanishing. 

"Stop! Destroy the whole house immediately." Nicokel ordered the knight with a serious expression, he clearly felt the killing intent released by the black eye. 

Without any hesitation, the knight pulled out his sword and slashed the house diagonally. A beam of mana was launched straight at the house, demolishing it into two pieces. 

At once, a frenzied energy came out of the house. 

A boy came out of the debris before the house got fully destroyed. His whole body was covered in a blood red light. 

Nicokel could clearly see the strange pattern drawn on the collapsed house's wall. They were all drawn using blood, giving out sinister presence. 

'He knows his stuff being this young...Others might have fallen for such a trap. Well, I guess the priests who are experienced fighting these guys would have responded the same to me too.'

Nicokel turned to the roughly breathing demonic summoner. A smile spread across his face.

"I was thinking who it might be...you turned out to be a member of the barbarian kingdom." 

Brown hair and green eyes, it was the most famous trait of the barbarian kingdom netizen. The Same kingdom which was engaged in war with the Verskein family — in the southern border. 

The demonic summoner gritted his teeth harshly, listening to Nicokel speak. 

"...I am..."

Nicokel squinted his eyes, not being able to understand the demonic summoner's words. 

"Speak louder if you have something to say." Nicokel said while signaling the knight beside him with his eyes. 

Without anyone noticing, the knight began signaling to the scout hiding nearby. 

"I am not a barbarian...!" 

Hatred passed through the demonic summoner's eyes — who was a boy little more than 14 years old. Dim dark mana rose from his body, a circle began forming below his feet.

However, before the demonic summoner could even finish the first step — the guard of the sword hit his neck, Knocking him out instantly. 

Satisfaction crossed Nicokel's eyes, seeing his objective completed so easily. 

The target's reaction was strange but, does it matter?

"Huh...?" 

Feeling a strange fluctuation nearby, Nicokel turned toward the collapsed house. 

'Ah...So they connect like that too, huh? Well, it's a mistake on my part not having much knowledge about these circles.'

The summoning circles drawn on the wall connected to each other, like cobwebs. It had all happened in an instant, immediately a black light flashed out of it. 

"Move back with his body!!" 

Black flame at once poured out of the circle like a broken dam. 

'Damn...I won't make it...!' Nicokel covered himself in mana, but he felt that it wouldn't be able to guard against the black flame. 

Bracing himself to be imminently burnt to death, Nicokel's eyes widened in confusion. 

Two rays of mana and a crimson flame clashed against the flame before Nicokel. 

Boom!!

Nicokel was thrown back because of the powerful collision Almost immediately. 

"Kuuhh!" Nicokel felt his back crash against a house. He had protected his head, but his body was fully exposed to any kind of impact. 

'....Even with mana I can't make the damage fall to zero. I feel like my body was hit by a truck...' Nicokel got up, with a trail of blood falling from the tip of his lip. 

Without any prior notice, a portion of the slum blew off — covered in dark crimson flames. 

The pillar of flame rose so high that it was visible from the fortress, surrounding the city. 

Nicokel, who stepped out of the broken house couldn't but chuckle at the absurdity of the view before him. 

'....That fucker actually summoned a demon...I really didn't predict such an absurd situation. Sigh...nothing is impossible in this magical world. In the first place, aren't demons picky with whom they make a pact with...?'

Nicokel could only smile wryly at his lack of information. Such a situation was very rare back on earth, because of his huge bank of knowledge.