Summoning a demon was a time-consuming process.
Not because the summoning itself was difficult.
Most of the time disappeared into preparation.
Drawing ritual circles.
Layering containment arrays.
Charging every formation with enough magical energy to sustain the spell.
Once the ritual actually began, the result usually came almost immediately.
If the chosen demon accepted the summons, it was pulled across the Twisting Nether at once.
If it refused, or simply ignored the call, the spell collapsed just as quickly.
This...
This wasn’t either of those outcomes.
The ritual continued to burn with unwavering power.
The circles remained active.
The summoned demons had clearly answered.
Yet nothing arrived.
Neither success nor failure.
Just... suspension.
It almost felt like the spell had frozen halfway through.
If this were one of Ryan Mercer’s online games, he’d have blamed server lag.
Reality, however, didn’t suffer from network latency.
Someone was interfering.
Evenson’s expression darkened.
"Someone’s tampering with my summoning."
Sara’s eyes sharpened immediately.
"We’ve been discovered?"
At those words, the relaxed demons surrounding the ritual instantly shed their lazy demeanors, slipping into their true forms as they prepared for battle.
Evenson shook his head.
"No."
"My side of the ritual is functioning perfectly."
He could still feel every rune, every flow of mana, every soul crystal feeding the spell.
Nothing on his end had gone wrong.
Then there was only one possibility.
He gave a helpless laugh.
"...Looks like the demons I’m trying to summon have terrible luck."
He rubbed at his forehead.
"They’ve either been imprisoned..."
"...or another warlock has already enslaved them."
What were the odds?
The Twisting Nether contained countless demons.
Yet the two linked to the expensive summoning foci he’d purchased happened to belong to someone else.
That was spectacularly bad luck.
Fortunately...
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"...Their current master made a mistake."
Sara raised an eyebrow.
"They never forged a truly binding contract."
That changed everything.
A demon bound by an unbreakable pact couldn’t answer another warlock’s summons regardless of how powerful the summoning focus might be.
But if the contract was incomplete...
Then it became a contest of skill.
Whichever warlock possessed the stronger summoning technique would claim the demon.
Sara looked distinctly unimpressed.
"I still wouldn’t get your hopes up."
She resumed filing her nails.
With the threat clearly originating somewhere else, the assembled demons immediately returned to lounging around as though they were watching a stage play.
"Maybe you should cut your losses."
"Not happening."
Evenson didn’t hesitate.
He’d practically emptied his supply of soul crystals preparing this ritual.
Walking away now meant throwing all of that investment into the void.
Sara shrugged.
"What choice do you have?"
"If the other warlock can hold onto his demons even after they’ve answered your summons..."
"...he’s obviously stronger than you."
Without an absolute contract helping him, and with the demons already willing to answer Evenson’s call, the enemy warlock still managed to prevent the transfer.
That spoke volumes.
Whoever was on the other end was, at minimum, a master-level summoner.
Stealing those demons from him would be about as easy as walking into the White House alone and kidnapping the President.
"That’s why I need help."
Evenson’s eyes narrowed.
"I need someone who’s an expert in demon summoning."
"...Someone powerful."
Every demon under his command took one synchronized step backward.
The message couldn’t have been clearer.
Don’t look at us.
Evenson sighed.
"I wasn’t asking any of you."
Still...
A little moral support would’ve been nice.
A dry, mocking voice suddenly drifted out of the private dimensional space attached to his soul.
"My, my."
"So the little brat who couldn’t even read a proper grimoire has finally become a warlock."
"The profession really has lowered its standards."
A horned skull floated lazily into the air.
The moment it appeared, every demon present stiffened.
None of them underestimated the artifact.
The Skull of the Man’ari.
One of the three great artifacts of the warlocks.
Fashioned from the skull and spine of Sachiel, mentor to Archimonde and one of the earliest eredar to master demonic magic, it contained not only his vast knowledge but also his soul.
Even incomplete, it remained terrifying.
Its favorite pastime was draining the life from nearby demons before unleashing the stolen energy in a devastating blast.
"Finally decided to let me out?"
Sachiel drifted in a slow circle.
Then he paused.
"...Hold on."
"Something’s missing."
Evenson smiled.
"I’d say you’re missing quite a bit."
Sachiel ignored the joke.
"No."
"I’m not talking about all that soft flesh."
"I lost that tens of thousands of years ago."
"It was here just a moment ago..."
He spun twice more before suddenly shouting,
"My spine!"
"Where’s my spine?"
"Put it back!"
"I hate floating around like this!"
"Oh?"
Evenson folded his arms.
"And what makes you think I’m giving it back?"
Sachiel snorted.
"I knew it."
"You coward."
"You still don’t dare use my full power."
"You’re right."
Evenson admitted it without embarrassment.
"I don’t."
"But unlike certain legendary warlocks..."
"I’m still alive."
The artifact was incomplete.
Only when Sachiel’s skull and spine were reunited did the Skull of the Man’ari regain its full power.
Evenson had deliberately kept the spine sealed away.
Paranoia was healthier than overconfidence.
Sachiel sighed.
"I assume you didn’t summon me out just to chat."
"What do you want?"
He understood exactly why.
Without his spine, he still possessed formidable power, but not enough to overwhelm Evenson.
And even if he somehow succeeded...
The spine would remain trapped inside Evenson’s private storage forever.
Escaping alone wasn’t much of a victory.
Evenson pointed toward the glowing ritual.
"Take a look."
Sachiel glanced around once.
That was enough.
"Trying to summon a specific demon?"
He chuckled.
"When I still had a body, I never needed help with something this simple."
"I was one of the finest summoners the Legion ever produced."
His gaze swept across the elaborate ritual circles.
"I’ll admit..."
"Your formations are excellent."
Naturally they were.
Evenson had copied them directly from one of the finest textbooks ever written on the subject.
"Normally I wouldn’t need assistance."
He gestured toward the stalled ritual.
"But circumstances have changed."
Sachiel laughed.
"Your luck truly is terrible."
"The demons you chose were claimed by someone else first."
Then he fell silent.
"...Although..."
His tone shifted.
"What exactly are warlocks teaching these days?"
"Who forgets to forge an airtight contract with their demons?"
He sounded genuinely offended by the thought.
Evenson decided to interrupt before the ancient warlock launched into a lecture.
"So."
"You can handle it?"
Sachiel’s laughter echoed confidently across the empty field.
"Of course."
"Outclassing someone who can’t even remember the fundamentals?"
"That will be effortless."
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