"What is this?" Katrina tried to catch her breath after the sudden teleportation. "Is this the guild?"
"Yes, it seems Krito used that thing he was tinkering with at night," a familiar voice greeted Princess Rumy.
"Rumy, so we really were teleported here from the square?"
"Yes, he used the remnants of the contract's power to move all of you. But here, you'll be safe."
"What does it matter? He's left alone there against the archdemon!"
"And so what?"
"How can you say that! We must help him!"
"For one, you won't be able to leave here until the threat subsides. And secondly, he doesn't need our help."
"What nonsense! I'll go anyway."
At that moment, a fiery ball smashed into the gates in front of the guild, and flames covered the entire sky.
"Aaah," Katrina crouched, expecting the flames to reach her, but it never happened. "What is this?"
The demonic flames tinted the sky crimson, revealing even hexagonal patterns within it.
"This barrier..."
"Exactly," Rumy casually scratched her shoulder with her sword. "I didn't know it before either, but it seems he managed to protect this place quite well. Because of it, you won't be able to leave until there's a threat of this scale outside. The barrier will keep us inside and also keep enemies out."
"But such power, it's..." Katrina stammered.
"A Crystal Barrier," the rector chimed in. "You're right, young lady. Magic capable of halting the force of an archdemon can only be of this level."
"Rector, did you create this?"
"Ha-ha, you overestimate my abilities. I could never have created it alone. A much more powerful mage worked on this. The one who used the residual energy of the previous owners of this place as the foundation for the barrier. The one whose magical strength and its replenishment speed are far greater than mine. The one who is connected to all four dimensions. Only one person could do this, someone possessing a truly unique gift."
[Demons lurking beneath the earth—Nigrael.]
Little flame once again ignited in the center of the square, drawing a magical circle.
[Angels watching from the heavens—Uriel.]
In the sky, dark clouds began to gather, and lightning strikes outlined their pattern above the demonic circle on the ground.
"This is a spell!" The archdemon nervously exclaimed upon hearing the opening lines. "I won't let you finish it!"
In the monster's hands appeared a blade made of pure flame, and he unleashed its power on me. Or at least, he tried to, but he was stopped. From the center of the arena, from a partially formed circle, another demon's hand emerged. It was a more refined hand with dark violet skin, and following from the flaming crevice came an angry female voice.
"You always forgot to pay attention to the details. Thanks for leaving an unclosed portal behind. And don't think I'll let you harm the master."
"You!" The demon tried to overpower his opponent, but the demoness firmly held his blade over me. And I had to hurry with the spell.
[Death lurking in the shadows—Thanatos.]
In an instant, all shadows disappeared, as if the entire army of golems, the archdemon, and I ceased to cast any shadows, although the lightning flashes continued to illuminate the area brightly. But then all shadows reappeared, converging at one point and rising above the ground, taking on the form of a perfect oval mirror.
[The elements that shape this world—Leviathan, Sylphida, Ifrit, Ramuh, Titan.]
At the apexes of the pentagram outlined in demonic flames, small whirlwinds of elemental magic began to swirl, growing larger with each passing second.
[By the power of the ancient covenant, I summon you into this world, to fulfill the vow given by you.]
The spirits summoned by me started to take form in the portals.
The demonic flames once again illuminated the pentagram beneath the square, and from beneath the ground appeared a demoness with violet skin and rather intriguing curves. She was significantly smaller than the archdemon, as her physical form was sustained only by my magic, yet she was still several times larger than a human.
In the sky, lightning formed a magical circle with a six-pointed star in the center, and from it emerged a figure in white attire. The snow-white wings emitted a warm, pleasant glow, seemingly lending strength.
The black mirror began to warp, and from it emerged a figure in a black hooded cloak. Only a bony hand holding a scythe, much larger in size than Rizel's, was visible from under the cloak.
The whirlwinds at the apexes of the pentagram formed five figures resembling humans, but created from their respective elements.
"Haha, you've summoned them all. Could you have acted any more foolishly?" The demon merely smirked as the last of the spirit rulers appeared in our world. "They are here, feeding on your magic, and you've wasted it trying to break through the barrier. How long do you plan to keep them here? A minute or two? In that time, you won't even manage to injure me!"
"Heh, if you were truly my brother, you'd know not to underestimate a true summoner," the demoness taunted with a sly grin. "Master, have you finally decided to accept our offer?"
I had been refusing them for a long time under various pretexts, but I had nowhere else to run.
"I accept your oath. Serve me as your ruler."
"Yes, master," all eight rulers kneeled, and I felt their power flowing into me.
"What are you doing? What is this?!" The demon raged but couldn't understand where all this power inside me came from. "You've only just summoned them, and they've already made a contract with you, and who are they!?"
"Even after coming to our world and deceitfully making a pact with my brother, you still don't understand what it means to be a summoner. When he makes a contract with us, all the power of our worlds becomes his."
Magic filled me, filling the void that had formed after using up all my reserves. But it was incredibly taxing; I felt all the negative effects of every type of magic at once, burdening my body even more.
"Heh, I can see it's not easy for you to handle all this," the demon looked at me with irony. "The human body isn't built to withstand such power, which is why many of our predecessors perished, using all their might. That's why I gave up my human form, and that's why I took this body to fulfill my plans. And you... what do you hope to achieve with such pitiful abilities?"
"I will do everything to stop you. And this strength will be enough for that, at least."
Finally, I absorbed all the magic I could control, and something else happened. Something woven from pure magic enveloped my body—it was a robe. A simple mantle, like the one worn by the rector and many other mages, but it exuded the power of the elemental rulers. I saw waves of magical energy coursing through the black fabric. And there was something more. I felt wings sprouting from my back—angelic wings, but black like a raven's. They didn't grow out of my back; I simply felt them as part of my body. And these items filled me with an incredible strength.
"Maybe it won't last long, but let's see who can endure longer!"
I gathered as much magic as I could in my hand and infused it into a water spell. A powerful geyser struck the demon directly, even managing to push him back. Although the magic dealt him only a slight damage, I hardly felt it, as if I had released just one fiery arrow. All the magic spent on this spell instantly replenished, and I no longer had any trouble forming incantations. I didn't need weapons or staffs; I could easily conjure any magic with my bare hands. It was an astounding feeling.
"Uriel, Thanatos, go to the guild. There are still many people there who will die without your help. He managed to drain a lot of their life force, and they won't recover without you."
"As you command."
The archangel and the Mistress of Death headed towards the building, where flames were still raging. No one could stop the life force drain caused by the wounds left by the golems, except Thanatos, and only a true angel could heal them.
"Elemental rulers, deal with his army. I don't want any small fry bothering me."
"It will be done!" Sylphida exclaimed with a ringing voice and summoned a tornado, sweeping away the entire horde of golems to the southern edge of the Academy. All the elemental rulers followed her.
"Nigrael, it seems you wanted to avenge your brother."
"Yes, I'll gladly help you rid the world of this scoundrel, defiling his name!"
The demon was enormous, and his power was immense, but now he was facing a summoner and a true demoness ruler. Now it was his turn to fear us.
Two figures passed through the crystalline barrier and descended to the apprentices huddled on the guild's rooftop. At first, the young people were scared, especially by the sight of the Mistress of Death, but their fears were calmed by the joyful exclamation of the necromancer.
"Lady Thanatos!" Rizel rushed forward to the figure in black.
"Oh, hello, young necromancer. Finally, we meet in the real world."
"And don't you want to explain something to me?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," it was almost amusing to see the world spirit trying to evade the conversation with the girl.
"I seem to recall something..." Rizel continued. "And you lied when you said you didn't know who the summoner was, didn't you?"
"Well, back then he hadn't agreed to become the summoner yet, and he asked no one to tell anyone," Thanatos skillfully evaded the question. "Besides, I have more important matters to attend to right now than listening to your complaints. You've been benefiting from my power for so long, and yet you still haven't figured out that your friend's healing can't help this audacious old man."
"I hear everything!" The rector weakly interjected while lying on his granddaughter's knees.
"I know you hear," Thanatos responded. "You should stop pestering my apprentices. You've already overstayed your welcome in this world; I could just take you with me."
"First, grow something more appealing on these bones."
"Perhaps you should stop arguing," the Archangel interrupted the dispute between the two bickering oldsters. "And you, Michael, could explain to the necromancers how to heal these wounds."
"I'm afraid even with my knowledge, they wouldn't have enough experience to perform it."
"But in this condition, you wouldn't be able to complete the healing either."
"Alright, it's good that I'm here," Thanatos walked to the center of the rooftop and lightly struck her scythe against her own shadow. The shadows quickly spread across the roof and crept towards those who were wounded in the previous battle. Of course, this frightened the apprentices, and they tried to brush the shadows away, although they couldn't even touch them. "Don't be scared; this is necessary to heal you. These golems were enchanted to attack not only your bodies but also your souls. Even if the angels' power can heal the body, the demon will continue to drain your magic through these wounds until there's nothing left. I'm simply closing off that possibility."
The shadows quickly spread across all the wounds, big and small, left by the golems' weapons. And as soon as they covered a wound, they dissolved, stopping the bleeding.
"I think that's it; now you can finish healing them," Thanatos said, stepping aside and giving way to the Archangel.
The angel spread her wings, and their radiance began to fill the surrounding space. Warmth spread through the bodies of the apprentices, healing their wounds and even restoring color to the faces of those who had been on the brink of death.
"Hmm, it seems you didn't do everything," the angel turned towards the group of earth mages.
"What are you talking about? Let's see... very strange," Thanatos approached Grayn, whose wound still hadn't closed. "It was supposed to help... but it seems the demon took care of you particularly seriously. This wound won't close easily, and it will continue draining magic from your soul as long as you live."
"What? But can't you do something?" Levris stood up for the mage.
"Hmph, don't talk back to me. I am the Mistress of Death, and of course, I can help. But it will take some effort."
Thanatos leaned over the mage and extended her bony hand towards his wound. At one moment, not a shadow, but a part of her mantle slipped down and began to wrap around the mage's injured arm. The spirit clenched her hand, and the black fabric tightly sealed the wizard's wound.
"Hmm, it should hold."
"Hey, you haven't healed him," the Archangel snorted dissatisfied.
"I'm afraid it's difficult to do while he's alive. But if you don't mind killing him temporarily and let me delve into his soul, I can provide more serious treatment."
"You know I don't want to resort to resurrecting the dead."
"Then don't be surprised. As long as my power holds his wound, he'll be fine. And his connection to Titan will restore his strength."
"So he'll be fine?" A glimmer of hope flashed on Levris' face.
"Well, as much as one can consider a fleeting human life in order," Thanatos scratched the place where her chin would be, and the teacher's face turned pale at her words.
"Why are you unnecessarily scaring her? He'll be fine, just let that manacle not touch him again."
"Thank you for your help," Katrina thanked the great spirits, "but you shouldn't help Krito. He's fighting such a monster."
"Help him? Ha," Thanatos only smirked.
"They've already helped him," the Rector responded to the princess's indignation. "They bestowed their regalia of power upon him. And with them, he's stronger than any archdemon."
"What are you talking about?"
"When the summoner makes a contract with one of the rulers, we give him a symbol of our power, through which he can use all the magic of our world," Uriel continued the story. "I bestow angelic wings; they not only allow him to fly but also bless him with heavenly grace. He replenishes his strength and heals wounds as quickly as possible as long as he has a connection to my world."
"Yes, it's true that because he also made a contract with the demons, your wings turned black," Thanatos decided to tease her colleague. "Another gift is the mantle of elements, which five elements created from particles of their own spirits."
"Usually, it's challenging for mages to use different elements, even if they possess more than one; they need to concentrate them in something," the rector continued. "Even Leira, though she was good with wind and lightning, could only use both elements on a very limited scale. She wouldn't be able to summon a hurricane and a thundercloud simultaneously. But if she used staves with different stones, she would be capable of that. However, this mantle allows one to simultaneously use all elements without any restrictions. Since it contains the essence of the five rulers themselves, the wielder can direct their magic as they wish."
"Another regalia is the blade of infernal flames. But he cannot possess it right now," Uriel pointed to the Archdemon's hand. "The sword still recognizes Agrael as its owner, even though his soul is now subservient to another person. So he brought Nigrael with him to the battle to neutralize its power."
"But isn't infernal flame just a very powerful fire? He could've overcome it with dragon's fire or simply nullify it with elemental magic," Seleria shrugged in confusion.
"Not quite so. Just as celestial blessing can grant strength, infernal flame can take it away. As long as the demon wields this sword, he can strip Krito of his power. Your wounds, by the way, were inflicted using this power. But Nigrael, being the highest demon, can also control this power and neutralize the blade's effect."
"And what about the last one? Lady Thanatos, what is your gift?" Rizel turned to her mentor.
"That will remain a secret for now. My regalia will be the most useful in this battle."