Magic flowed down Shin's veins, pouring into the words he wrote on paper and etched into the world itself. The concentration required to push that magic through his human body put sweat on Shin's temples and made his fingers shake.
A spark of life lit within the talisman. A wall of ghostly flames two meters tall burst in a circle around Shin's house. After a moment, it lowered until the fire became almost unnoticeable behind the grass on the lawn—even though it was almost night outside, and any light stood out.
Shin wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat right on the ground. His legs felt weak, and he felt that Tetsu was just as tired as him. Maybe even more—after all, all that magic came from her.
But the result… Shin smiled and put his hand over the ghostly flames, and they clung to his palm like affectionate kittens.
'Great job, Tetsu,' he said. 'This Firewall Formation will make sure that no one attacks us in our sleep. At least, from the outside.'
Tetsu extended her arm out of Shin's and repeated his movement. The Firewall caressed her, too, and Tetsu's mouth opened slightly in fascination.
'Oh, that's so… cute! I didn't think spells would be so cute. It's already so loyal, isn't it? Created perfectly to serve us. That's just how all the things should be.'
She stretched out more to play with tongues of flames. Shin watched her with a slight smile. Firewall Formation just acted on instinct, trying to seek energy from its creators, and wasn't sentient enough to possess emotions. Only purpose.
'We will have to feed it like any other demon,' Shin said. 'But as long as Firewall doesn't fight anyone, a human a month should be enough. Or we can feed it with pure magic energy.'
'Of course, of course,' Tetsu nodded. 'Maybe it can eat our intruders!'
Tetsu played with the Firewall for a bit longer. Eventually, she left Shin's body to catch insects in the grass and feed them to the smaller demon's flames.
After he felt like he wouldn't fall after taking two steps, Shin stood up too and went inside the house. This was a long day, and he was expecting a longer night ahead.
He could forget about those beings during the day, but gods and demons were unlikely to forget about Shin.
***
Shin's nostrils filled with the stench of sulfur as he opened his eyes on the desolate plain of the Court of Words. Tetsu stood there next to him, and he felt her shock quickly change with hatred.
When Shin turned around, he saw that all the giant thrones were taken by demon lords—except for one.
The horn-crowned demon who usually sat in it instead was standing and sneering at Shin and Tetsu from its full height.
"What audacity," it hissed menacingly. "You refused my generous opportunity to be rewarded for your efforts and instead crossed me. Did you foolishly think that you would get away with it, hm?"
Several other demon lords smirked or even snickered quietly at the sight.
"That's just the first thing we will get away with! Just you wait!" Tetsu snarled back with a wide grin. Her armor stood up in spikes, and she pointed a clawed finger at the Horned King. "I'm going to pull your fucking guts out of your asshole and make you choke on them—"
"Tetsu—" Shin began, trying to stop her so he could speak for himself.
"Enough, trophy!" the Horned King growled.
With the speed so quick that Shin could barely see the movements, its hands shot out and grabbed Shin and Tetsu.
The grip was so tight that all the breath was squeezed painfully out of Shin's lungs. He couldn't even cry out, and he felt Tetsu experiencing the same. Her spikes didn't even pierce the Horned King's thick skin.
"You should remember your place, toys. When a toy stops being amusing and becomes a nuisance, is when it is thrown out," the Horned King said. It was so close that Shin could smell the demon's terrible breath.
Which was also because Shin could breathe again. The demon has weakened its grip on him slightly.
Shin looked into its eye with defiance. Despite his situation, he barely felt any fear. After all, this was still just a dream.
"I—" Shin paused and glanced at Tetsu, who was trying to claw and bite her way free of the Horned King's grasp. "WE are not your toys, demon. We didn't plan on playing your games from the start. And what are you gonna do about it? You are stuck in the demon world. A massive amount of power is necessary to summon a demon of your power in the human world where you could actually kill us. And who's going to do it? No one. No one alive and willing has that power, or you'd be there already."
Other demon lords snickered louder and talked among themselves.
"Oh, the human has some guts!"
"And some tongue. It must be delicious… Too bad he's in the human realm, right?"
"Finally, someone's knocking the horned one down a peg. It's been a long time coming—he even made some humans call him their king, like he's better than us!"
The Horned 'King' sneered at these remarks, but when it turned to meet the eyes of the other demon lords, a few even stared back at him with unapologetic smirks.
The demon lord's hands clenched tighter on its prisoners. Shin's breath was cut off again, but despite the pain, he smirked too.
The horn-crowned demon wasn't as powerful or influential as it was trying to appear.
It turned its eyes to Shin again.
"Even if I can't kill you in your dreams, I can still torment you in the ways you can't even imagine. Your defiance only brings you more punishment!"
The demon clenched its hands even tighter.
Shin gasped wordlessly in pain, as he heard something in his ribs crunch. His body was being slowly crushed, and Tetsu was experiencing the same pain.
But through the pain, Shin stayed calm. His eyes focused on the Horned King's in a silent challenge.
'Go on. What can you do to me—to us—that hadn't been done already?'