Suddenly, a black light began to coil around their necks. A low, vibrating noise could be heard, followed by a heavy *thunk*, as if something was being locked.
Two thick collars had materialized around Rem and Shera's slender necks. They appeared to be made out of a dull-colored metal, similar to iron. Rem's eyes opened wide as she touched her neck.
"This is... an Enslavement Collar!?"
Shera checked her own neck, and let out a scream.
"What!? Why!? Isn't this supposed to go on the Summon instead!?"
"...I am certain we performed the Enslavement Ritual necessary to have the Summon wear an Enslavement Collar." Alex tilted his head.
"Oh the Enslavement Ritual yea that didn't work on me." Rem nodded while making a puzzled face.
"Y-Yes... Um, well, we certainly...cast the ritual...you see..." Alex looked down at his body.
He was wearing the armor "The Ebony Abyss", and an extravagant cape called the "Curtain of Dark Clouds". On his head were two goat-like horns—"The Distorted Crown ". On the middle finger of his left hand was a ring that appeared as if it had been shaped from a flame, with an ebony jewel embedded into it.
He remembered seeing this pattern before.
The Demon King's Ring of Reflection. This incredibly rare item from Cross Reverie possessed the ability "Magic Reflection", an effect that had no equal when it came to battling with enemy Sorcerers, though it was difficult to use it since it also reflected healing and support spells.
"While Magic Reflection is quite a powerful ability... There is no way I can accept this situation. Not at all."
"Well, me neither! I don't want to be enslaved by a Summon that we should be enslaving!" Rem and Shera were shouting.
"You two. Can you not even release yourself from your own magic?" In the middle of bemoaning their predicament, the two turned to look at him. Rem's eyes narrowed.
"...If we could, we would have already done so. This isn't the kind of magic that you would normally need to undo, so we don't know how. If we head into town, we may find a way. Or... if the Master dies, then the enslavement magic will be undone."
"...That was just another method. If you were weak enough that we could defeat you, then there would be no point in summoning you. We understand...that we are no match for you." There was fear in her voice.
Thanks to his "Demon King" performance, as well as his ability to use Magic Reflection, it seemed that Rem and Shera took that as a sign that he was a powerful force to be reckoned with.
They must have taken the lack of emotion in his voice as a sign that he was angry. While his Magic Reflection ability had indeed activated, it was also a possibility that the other rings may have changes what it does.
Alex had reached the max level of 150 in-game over 6 times, and had mastered numerous kinds of elemental magic and Nekromantik, and summoning spells. He was the ultimate Demon King who used his countless battles as research to learn all there was to know. And the seemingly unending leveling he was able to get in multiple different classes of spell casters and weapon users.
This meant that he had to test his strength against something to check and see for himself. How much more stronger he was compared to monsters or other people than Takuma?
"Are there any monsters around here?"
"...Only the occasional beast that gets chased out of the forest. There are plenty near town, though."
"Hmph... So there are no monsters around here. What a dull place... No matter. Any kind of boulder will do for my purposes." With the staircase as his goal, he started to walk.
"Wait a minute! Don't just head off on your own! You're my Summon, you know!?" Shera called out from behind him.
"He's not your Summon..." Rem mumbled.
Taking short steps, Rem trotted over to Alex's side.
The small, cat-eared girl gazed up at him.
Well, technically they were panther ears. She was a Pantherian, after all. Though she didn't have any expression on her face, he sincerely felt that to be an adorable trait of hers. It was like she was a small, innocent animal.
The sound of Shera's footsteps approached them from behind.
Glancing behind him, it wasn't just Shera's golden hair that was swaying to and fro, but her voluminous chest.
Footsteps echoed off of the stone staircase.
Because everything had happened so suddenly, they were moving at a relatively slow pace. Placing his hand on the wall as he walked, Takuma descended the narrow spiral stairs of the tower.
The thin cracks etched into the stones, the coolness when he touched it Perhaps because the place had been built so long ago, fragments of the wall cracked and fell off near their seams. They exited the tower to the outside.
Alex squinted his eyes against the bright white light that washed over him. After his eyes adjusted, he began to get a clear view of the outline of this world.
While looking exactly like Cross Reverie, the feeling of reality from the landscape that spread out before him was incomparable to any game or amine.
The "Man-Eating Forest" sprawled out to the West. Though the dense overgrowth of foliage and trees was blocking it from view, there should be a dungeon in the form of some ruins near the entrance to the Man-Eating Forest.
To the East, ever-expanding fields of green stretched out as far as the eye could see. there should be a river just beyond these plains, with "The Border City, Faltra" As usual, Shera and Rem were back to arguing over who had summoned Diablo.
Alex turned around to look back at them.
"I believe you two are mistaken about something."
"...What are you talking about? Well, it is true that this useless Elf is mistaken if she thinks she's the one who summoned you."
"I'm not mistaken, thank you very much! I'm the one who summoned Diablo, okay!?"
"...You are being foolish. This was your first summoning, wasn't it?"
"It was, but I'm a genius! Everyone back home told me so!"
"...I have already made contracts with seven Summons. Even among the other Summoners back in town, this is a top-class amount... Put simply, I am an outstanding Summoner, while you are not. Diablo is an outstanding Summon, and therefore, the obvious conclusion one can come to is that I am the one who summoned him. Do you understand now?"
"What? Huh? So, um... what!?"
"...Elves should just stick with shooting arrows, you dumb Elf."
"Don't lump me together with the other Elves! And right back at you, kitty girl! Pantherians should just go sharpen their claws on a scratching post or something!"
"...It's because I am special."
Rem turned up her lips and looked the other way.
Listen well, for I want to be clear on this... I am no Summon!" The two looked at each other.
Shera opened her mouth to speak. "B-But you were summoned because of the summoning ritual, right?"
"I am a being who transcends conventional wisdom. Being compared to the likes of those one-trick beasts is nothing short of an aggravation."
"...So what you are trying to say is, you don't fit into the category of a Summon? ...Are you saying you have more than two abilities?" Summons in Cross Reverie came with a certain set of parameters, and only one special ability.
With a sneer, Alex twisted his face into an expression fitting of the Demon King. "Yes, that's right. As proof, I do indeed possess abilities outside of Magic Reflection." Elemental magic.
A face vastly different from the real-world Alex was reflected in the water. The light from his gray and blue eyes gave off a sharp gleam, and bluish-black tattoo-like marks covered his arms, chest, stomach, cheeks and forehead. Because of the effects of the Distorted Crown, he could also see two large rams horns growing out of his head.
There was a mocking smile plastered on his face.
He was savagely handsome: his Dark skin, his body toned and muscular.
Rem and Shera brought their faces together and started talking amongst themselves.
"...He isn't a Summon? It is true that I have never heard of a Summon with more than two abilities before..."
"But Diablo is supposed to be a Summon, right?"
"...Why do you have such a hard time picking up on these things?"
"Huh? Picking up on what now?"
"...Diablo just said himself that being treated as a Summon was unpleasant for him."
"But he was summoned from another world, right? Isn't that what a Summon is?"
"...I give up. Putting that aside, I wonder what other abilities he could have besides Magic Reflection?"
Rem had a pensive look on her face. Shera clapped her hands together, as if she had a brilliant idea.
"Why don't we just have him show us!"
"...It is true that, as his Summoner, it is necessary for me to have a grasp of his abilities."
Rem turned her piercing gaze toward Takuma. Eyes sparkling, Shera also turned toward him.
"Hey, Diablo! Show us those abilities of yours!"
"...Yes. If you really do hold multiple abilities, then I definitely would like to see them."
The reason he had come outside was for just that: to test his own abilities.
"Ha-ha-ha Very well! I will show you the true power of Diablo The Demon King!"