Chapter 137: Summoning the 56th Demon God—Gremory
On the glowing crimson magic circle, a shadowy figure began to rise.
In the next instant, two enormous bat-like wings unfurled behind the shadow, evoking the image of a being from hell—a devil.
Witnessing this devil being summoned into the human world, Asia's face drained of all color.
Her role was that of a healer, so she had no combat abilities and had never received any combat training.
In other words, her fighting prowess was no different from that of an ordinary girl.
As for the others present, they were all ordinary humans with no chance of victory against a devil.
Even if it were the lowest-ranking devil, an ordinary human would be instantly annihilated the moment they engaged it.
That was why Asia immediately urged everyone to flee.
She intended to use herself as bait to lure the devil.
As a devil, it would naturally despise the Church, and her attire was that of a nun.
So, Asia picked up a stone and threw it at the devil.
Unfortunately, the stone didn't fly very far, but it was enough to draw the devil's attention. The creature turned its gaze toward her, eyes filled with malice, as if it wanted to devour her.
Faced with such a gaze, Asia was terrified, her legs trembling slightly.
If possible, she certainly didn't want to die—it was only natural to fear death.
But compared to her own death, she feared the deaths of others even more.
So, once she confirmed the devil was fixated on her, Asia turned and ran.
However, she had barely taken a few steps when the devil flapped its wings and instantly closed the distance, appearing right beside her. Its clawed hand reached toward her face.
"First, I'll gouge out one of your—"
Thud—!
The sound of flesh striking flesh cut off the devil's words as its face contorted before it was sent flying like a cannonball, landing over a dozen meters away.
"Mr... Mr. Renji?"
Incredible... Could it be that Mr. Renji wasn't an ordinary person either?
"Bastard!"
The devil roared in fury as it scrambled to its feet, raising both hands toward them.
A dark flash—black flames shot forward, making Asia's heart leap into her throat.
But in the next instant, a black flame twice as large surged forth, colliding with the devil's attack—only to scatter?
No, the larger black flame was the one that dispersed, while the devil's flames dissipated shortly after.
The one who had unleashed the larger black flame was Mr. Renji. Could he also use magic?
He really wasn't an ordinary person.
The devil, momentarily startled, then wore a strange expression.
"Hah? Are you an idiot?"
There was a hint of mockery in its tone.
"You actually used demonic magic directly..."
The summoned low-ranking devil sneered.
Demonic magic was designed to be wielded by the devil race.
Even though humans possess magical power, they cannot use the exact same magic circles as devils. They must analyze and construct similar spells, adapting them to the human body before they can be cast.
Yet this human foolishly used a devil's magic directly, which is why the spell failed to take form.
Moreover, such reckless usage is dangerous—one misstep, and the human body could destroy itself.
In other words, this human never underwent proper magical training. He must have stumbled upon a devil's spell somewhere and tried to use it as-is.
How idiotic.
And so, the lesser devil unleashed another wave of black flames.
He wasn't foolish enough to close the distance this time—this human seemed formidable in close combat.
For a moment, the battlefield was filled with the clash of black flames from both sides.
"Mr. Renji!"
Asia grew anxious. According to the devil, directly using a devil's spell like Mr. Renji was doing would lead to problems.
Ah, it seemed the problems had already begun. She could see black patterns spreading across Renji's hands—were those his veins turning black?
"Alright, time to die, human!!!"
This time, the lesser devil intended to unleash an advanced version of his previous spell, so the casting time would be slightly longer.
The black flames compressed within the magic circle in his hands writhed irregularly, gradually elongating into the shape of a spear.
Now, go—
"Boom—!"
A blast of black flames struck him directly, eliciting a scream.
What was happening?
At this distance, the flames the human had unleashed should have fizzled out long before reaching him.
His pupils contracted as he hastily dodged—another wave of black flames was already hurtling toward him.
"What is this?!"
The destructive force was nearly on par with the lesser devil's own.
This was bizarre. A human shouldn't be able to wield a devil's spell with such proficiency.
This—
"What?!"
He couldn't help but exclaim as he noticed subtle changes in the human's magic circle compared to the original.
Could it be… this human was analyzing and reconstructing the spell mid-cast to adapt it for himself?
Th-That's impossible!!!
"Damn it!!!"
The devil flapped his wings violently, soaring into the sky to exploit his aerial advantage and make himself a harder target.
From high above, he prepared another enhanced attack.
"Die!"
He hurled an amorphous black flame spear downward.
This time, the human was done for. There was no way he could intercept it with the spell he'd just learned.
Yet—
His pupils shrank again. The human was compressing black flames in his own hands, and the magic circle he'd deployed was identical to the spear the devil had just thrown.
A moment later, an even larger black flame spear was launched upward, colliding with and neutralizing the devil's attack.
"H-How is this possible?! Are you mocking me?!"
Every time the devil used a new spell, the human copied it, analyzing and reconstructing it right before his eyes.
Was this some kind of humiliation?!
Realizing this, the devil decided to retreat strategically.
The damn nun beside this human could heal, restoring his body. If this continued, he might actually lose.
Worse, he feared attracting the attention of the Church's exorcists.
"Hmph, humans, consider yourselves lucky—"
The voice lingered, and the expression of the lower-ranking devil froze.
The human below was about to unleash black flames at him again. The problem was, these weren't ordinary black flames—this guy had opened dozens, if not hundreds, of magic circles in one go.
In an instant, a barrage of black flames bombarded him, forcing him to dodge and defend with a grimace.
And then—
Thud—!
A charred-looking body crashed to the ground, but the devil was still alive, staring in horror at the smiling human approaching him.
His hands were already torn and bloody.
"Let me conduct an experiment," the human said as he reached out, one of the ten rings on his fingers glowing faintly.
What was he trying to do?!
"Stop! Aaaaaah—!"
The devil screamed as he realized his contract with his master was being forcibly severed, and a new contract was being reconstructed—with a new master whose name was—
No, this couldn't be!
"You—you, how is this possible?! You—"
"Shut up!"
"Understood, my master!"
Watching the now-submissive devil, Renji frowned as he examined another ring on his hand.
This ring was also glowing, activating a summoning ritual.
He hadn't initiated it himself. Rather, while casting magic earlier, some of the inefficiently used mana had flowed into this ring, triggering it automatically.
What was being summoned was the 56th of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods—Gremory.