"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't use salt for something this important," Lionel admitted while carefully checking the circle one last time. "A proper containment seal should be drawn with specific ritual materials so the boundary can withstand much more interference, but I wasn't exactly expecting five people to walk into my bookstore and ask me to summon a demon tonight. Salt is what I have, so salt is what we're using." He waved the bundle of incense over the circle and made sure none of the grains had been disturbed.
Once everything was ready, Lionel suddenly remembered something important and turned toward the others. "One more warning before we start. The Book of the Dead was created an extremely long time ago, which means the information recorded inside may no longer perfectly match the demons connected to these summoning spells. Random summoning incantations still work because they simply call lesser spirits, but using a specific demon's name and contract is different."
Young Ash folded his arms. "Different how?"
"Demons apparently aren't frozen in time." Lionel tapped the book. "Some grow, some change, and some can die just like other living things. Hell doesn't exactly sound peaceful from what I've translated, so there's always a chance the demon tied to an old summoning contract was killed centuries ago and nothing will answer."
He turned another page before continuing. "There's also the opposite problem. A demon might have been young or weak when this book recorded it, but if it survived for hundreds or thousands of years, it may have become considerably stronger. So don't assume an old illustration is still accurate."
Older Ash frowned. "Please tell me you picked something weak."
"That was the idea." Lionel carefully stepped away from the salt boundary and opened the book to a marked page. "There's a lesser demon here named Eligos. According to the text, it can conceal itself from ordinary sight and read or manipulate thoughts."
The Book of the Dead contained many different types of incantations. The one older Ash had drunkenly recited earlier was a broad summoning spell that released lesser Kandarian spirits capable of possession, but the book also contained individual contracts tied to particular demons. Those specific incantations worked more precisely, calling the named entity directly to the location of the book rather than scattering spirits somewhere throughout the surrounding area.
Lionel had deliberately searched for something that appeared relatively manageable.
Young Ash leaned closer to the illustration. The creature pictured on the page had long, emaciated arms, an oversized rounded head, and barely any recognizable facial features aside from an enormous split mouth. Its lower body faded into smoke rather than legs, giving it the appearance of some malformed infant spirit rather than a powerful combat demon.
At least it looked less threatening than the creature illustrated on the opposite page.
That thing towered over a human figure while attempting to swallow the person whole.
Young Ash studied the scale for a moment. "That one looks twelve feet tall."
Older Ash immediately pointed at Eligos. "Then we're summoning the creepy little mind-reader."
Lionel nodded. "The text also says Eligos prefers emotionally vulnerable or psychologically weakened victims."
Young Ash raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like the Boogeyman."
Kelly looked at him. "The what?"
"A demon I killed not long ago. It also targeted traumatized people and messed with their heads." Ash looked back at the illustration. "If Eligos is around that level, this shouldn't be difficult."
Pablo visibly relaxed. He had never liked the idea of deliberately summoning another demon after everything they had already survived, but young Ash's confidence made the plan feel slightly less insane. Older Ash revved his chainsaw once and grinned. "Good. Let's invite our little friend over for a conversation."
Lionel rubbed his hands together, partly nervous and partly thrilled, then began chanting from the Book of the Dead. The words sounded wrong in a way ordinary language never could, each syllable carrying an unnatural vibration through the room. Almost immediately, the atmosphere inside Books from Beyond began to change.
The lights flickered.
Loose papers shifted despite the absence of wind.
Books lying open on nearby tables began flipping through their own pages, while a low electrical hum spread through the building. Outside, clouds gathered with unnatural speed above the store and blotted out much of the night sky.
Pablo looked around uneasily. "This seems like a lot for a weak demon."
A wooden decoration suddenly tore loose from the wall and dropped directly toward him and the containment circle. Young Ash reacted instantly, caught it before it could strike either target, and threw it across the room. The board crashed harmlessly against a distant shelf.
Ash looked toward Lionel. "You sure you picked the right page?"
Older Ash frowned as the lights flashed again. "When I accidentally summoned Deadites, there wasn't anything like this. Everything was perfectly normal until people started getting possessed."
Amanda tightened both hands around her shotgun. "Maybe the picture is outdated. What if we're summoning the demon after it spent a thousand years leveling up?"
Young Ash glanced at her and gave a reluctant thumbs-up. "That is unfortunately a very good point."
He immediately turned toward Lionel. "Stop the spell."
Lionel looked up with an apologetic expression.
"It's already finished."
Ash stared at him.
"Of course it is."
Black fog began pouring upward from the center of the salt circle.
A familiar sulfurous odor spread across the room.
Red light pulsed inside the smoke, growing brighter with each passing second until something suddenly materialized in the center of the containment seal with a deep, distorted roar.
Young Ash stared at it.
Then at the illustration.
Then back at the demon.
"Well, Lionel was right about one thing."
The demon standing in front of them had the same grotesque facial structure shown in the book. It had no visible eyes or nose, only an enormous vertical mouth splitting much of its face, but the rest of its body was completely different from the thin spirit pictured on the page. Eligos now possessed a full humanoid form covered in blue-gray flesh and stood close to six and a half feet tall.
Ash tilted his head. "That picture was definitely taken before you finished growing."
Eligos ignored him completely.
Its blank face turned directly toward older Ash.
The huge mouth opened.
"Ash Williams."
Young Ash glanced toward the older man.
"Well, congratulations. You're famous in Hell."
Older Ash looked less amused. "Wouldn't be the first place."
Ash considered how Eligos knew him. Perhaps older Ash's reputation had spread among the demons driven back to Hell after the cabin incidents, or maybe entities contracted through the Book of the Dead could somehow observe the person carrying it. Either explanation was plausible enough that he decided not to waste time on it.
Behind them, Lionel hurriedly warned, "Whatever happens, don't break the circle!"
Older Ash waved without looking back. "Relax. We've got it."
Then he faced Eligos. "First thing, buddy, you might want to update your picture. Second, we need information. How do we send all the demons I accidentally summoned back where they came from?"
Eligos remained motionless inside the circle.
"Release me."
Older Ash narrowed his eyes. "Then you'll tell us?"
"Yes."
Young Ash silently raised the shotgun.
That was such an obvious lie that even Danny probably would not have believed it.
Ash aimed directly at Eligos. "How about you tell us first, and then I decide whether you walk away."
Eligos slowly turned toward him.
Its mouth stretched wider.
"Here is your answer."
The demon's voice dropped into a furious growl.
"Die."
BOOM!
Ash fired immediately.
The shotgun blast struck Eligos squarely in the head, exploding blue fluid across the inside of the containment circle. The demon's upper body snapped backward and then vanished completely from sight.
Older Ash caught most of the spray across his face.
He stood there dripping blue blood.
Young Ash lowered the smoking shotgun and casually blew across the barrel. "Good advice. You first."
Older Ash slowly wiped his face. "Junior, could you maybe give me a warning before you redecorate me with demon guts?"
Ash did not answer immediately.
His expression had already changed.
Older Ash noticed. "What?"
"It isn't dead."
Pablo looked toward the empty circle. "You blew its head off."
"I know."
Ash had received no strengthening whatsoever.
No physical increase.
No spiritual surge.
Nothing.
More importantly, his Demonic Power could still sense something inside the salt boundary, and Prey Tracking confirmed that the target had never actually moved away.
Young Ash raised the shotgun again and stared into the apparently empty circle.
"Eligos didn't disappear."
His eyes narrowed.
"It turned invisible."