"Who's there?"
Raijin's left hand instinctively formed the swirling vortex of chakra creating Rasengan.
Silence stretched before Raijin, thick and suffocating, drowning out even the sound of his breath. Only the faint, rhythmic hum of his chakra answered, buzzing softly in the pitch-black.
A deep unease settled into his gut. He took a slow breath, trying to steady himself, but it was too quiet and still.
His senses sharpened. Eyes scanning the abyss, he searched for any movement—any sign of life—but the shadows remained undisturbed. And yet, the silence itself felt... watchful.
His instinct told him someone was there.
Then, his breath hitched. A realization struck him like a blade to the chest—his chakra reserves were dangerously low. Panic flickered at the edges of his thoughts. He forced it down, his pulse quickening as his gaze darted across the consuming blackness.
And that's when he saw it—the darkness was no longer still. It was shifting. At first, it was subtle—a faint undulation in the air, a trick of the eye. But as he focused, it became clearer.
Something was moving within the void.
The darkness didn't brighten; it shifted and warped—as if something was stirring just behind it. He couldn't see it—not yet—but he could feel the darkness changing.
Raijin reacted on instinct.
With a snap of his fingers, a white-hot spark crackled to life at his fingertips—sharp, wild, and violent.
Electricity flared through the shadows, carving jagged streaks of light against the suffocating darkness. The sudden flash flickered chaotically, too bright for his eyes to fully process—
But he'd seen it.
A small, blurry glimpse. Something was there.
The spark faded, plunging everything back into stillness—only now the silence felt heavier, pressing against his chest like unseen hands.
For a heartbeat, all was silent.
Then—claw?
Raijin's breath caught. His fist clenched tighter, static energy buzzing faintly beneath his skin. Another spark flicked to life at his fingertips, casting a brief, searing glow.
And this time… he saw it. Clearly.
A claw.
Enormous. Reptilian.
Its curved talon gleamed beneath the flickering light, edges razor-sharp—close. Too close.
If he'd taken even half a step forward... he would have walked straight into it.
The shadows coiled around the creature's limb, concealing the rest of its form. But Raijin could feel it—a massive presence—towering just beyond the reach of the light, watching him through the blackness.
The leg—the claw alone—was enormous, rough, and scaled like a weathered stone.
Raijin staggered back, heart hammering in his chest. His mind raced. A summon—?
Before he could finish his thought, a deep, resonant sound rumbled through the air—low, vibrating through the walls, like the earth itse*lf shifting beneath him.
It wasn't a growl.
It wasn't speech.
It was breath.
A slow, rhythmic breath pulsed through the air—impossible to pin down—coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
Then—
"Human…"
A voice struck—jarring and unnervingly deep—as if the shadows themselves had spoken. It didn't merely echo in the air; it reverberated through him, shaking him to his core.
Raijin staggered back at the deep voice. The voice... it had to belong to the creature looming just out of sight—the owner of that terrifying claw. He was certain of it.
His heart slammed against his ribs, each beat loud in the suffocating silence. Forcing down the rising panic, he lifted his gaze—scanning the darkness for any flicker of movement, any trace of the presence that seemed to coil around him.
The shadows remained unmoving. Yet the air felt thicker and heavier, like the entire room held its breath.
His fingers twitched, sparks flickering faintly at his fingertips—but even the crackling glow felt fragile beneath the unseen weight pressing down on him.
Then—
It moved.
A massive silhouette began to stir within the void, emerging from the blackness like something ancient clawing its way into existence. What little light remained traced its outline—as large as a drake—its sheer size making the air shudder around it.
And before Raijin's mind could fully process the creature's colossal form, it began to shrink—rapidly, unnervingly—folding into itself as if shedding its own shape. Yet the presence behind it didn't diminish.
It remained immense and predatory.
The creature's form flickered—warping between fur, scales, and horns—its very existence refusing to settle as if reality itself struggled to define what it was. Every breath Raijin took felt thinner, the crushing atmosphere making his legs feel like lead beneath him.
The ground trembled, faint vibrations crawling up his feet—each movement carrying the silent threat that the creature's presence alone could split the world open if it willed.
Then, out of the suffocating dark, two piercing eyes snapped open.
Glowing. Cold.
They locked onto him, twin orbs of fiery yellow-orange burning low like embers beneath ash—silent, patient... and utterly inhuman. The flickers of lightning at Raijin's fingertips sputtered, fragile against the creature's crushing presence.
It did not roar.
It didn't need to.
Its gaze alone reached into his soul—peeling past flesh, chakra, and bone—down to the core of what he was.
For a fleeting moment, Raijin felt insignificant—felt that he wasn't meant to be here.
Raijin swallowed hard, fighting the rising tide of fear. Every instinct screamed at him to reverse summon, to flee. But he didn't. Waiting for the right time.
And the sense of failure held him rooted to the spot.
Then, the darkness brightened, not with shadow.
But with light.
Sparks flickered into existence along the creature's outline; thin, jagged veins of electricity pulsing beneath its shifting shape. Slowly, the shadows peeled away—revealing the beast's massive body woven from pure, crackling lightning. Its form refused to settle—fluctuating between the massive silhouette of a drake and something smaller, leaner—its edges flickering like a mirage caught between worlds.
Yet through every pulse of red and purple lightning—those burning eyes remained constant—watching.
Raijin's throat bobbed as he forced the words out, steady despite the knot twisting tighter in his gut.
"What... what are you?"
The creature's massive body shape shifted—its outline bending and folding—until Raijin heard the low, wet creak of its jaws unfurling.
The mouth stretched open—slow and deliberate—revealing a maw lined with gleaming white fangs.
Too perfect. Too clean.
Unnatural.
As if the beast had never bitten into flesh—only waited to taste something worthy.
Raijin's breath caught. He couldn't tear his eyes away. How could something woven from lightning… something bear such pristine, immaculate teeth?
The creature could have spoken then—growled with the same jarring voice that had thundered through the void.
But it didn't.
Instead—
"You came. You seek. You ask."
The voice rumbled low, not loud enough to shake the earth, but heavy—each word dripping with judgment. The air itself seemed to bend around its syllables.
Raijin's heart thudded. The creature's eyes narrowed, glowing brighter with an intensity that made Raijin's skin crawl.
The crackling light around the creature's shifting form pulsed brighter—hotter—until the air shimmered with raw static. Every hair on Raijin's body stood instinctively in response.
"I— I didn't expect... this," he muttered. He had never anticipated such a weird presence. But he forced himself to meet its gaze. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice quiet, but firm.
The creature's eyes flared even brighter, the fiery orange intensifying until it seemed to burn with a life of its own.
Jagged red lightning stretched across the ground, distorting the space around them. Its voice rumbled once more—a deep, resonant sound that seemed to reverberate inside Raijin's very mind.
"What do you want?"
The words sliced through Raijin. His thoughts scrambled beneath the voice.
A contract. He had come for a bond, a pact to gain its power. But now, standing before it, with its presence bearing down on him, the gravity of his request felt more daunting than ever.
"I…" he hesitated, weighing his words carefully. "I wanted… a summon–to form a contract—"
"Contract?"
The creature's voice cut through him—low, curling with something between curiosity and disdain. As if the very concept was... foreign. Its massive form shifted, and the red lightning rippled across its crackling outline—reacting to the word itself.
"Yes, a contract... The Summoning Contract. The bond between summoners and summoned creatures allows the summoner to summon a summoned creature as an ally."
His voice sounded small—fragile against the oppressive silence—but he pushed on.
"The Summoning Contract would allow humans and summons to fight together, to share their strength."
The creature's glowing eyes narrowed. The silence stretched unbearably long. Then—
A growl.
Low and deep.
Not deafening—but sharp.
"Human. Why are you here?"
There was a hint of anger behind the question—just enough to make Raijin's instincts scream at him to step back.
Raijin froze at the edge of the creature's fury.
For a split second, frustration flared beneath the fear. I just told you why. But he bit down the words before they could leave his lips.
He had come too far to back down now. "To form a contract with you… the great one?" His voice came out strained, the weight of the situation pressing down on him.
The creature's burning eyes bore into him—peeling him apart, layer by layer, as if stripping away every pretense, every shallow desire buried beneath the surface.
Another low growl echoed through the void—deeper this time, vibrating not just the air, but through the very earth itself.
It was no longer merely sound—
It felt like a physical force.
Raijin's bones rattled beneath its weight, his legs buckling as the tremor rolled through him. He staggered back a step, breath catching in his throat. The walls groaned under the pressure, loose dust trickling from unseen cracks above. It felt like the entire space might collapse—crushed under the creature's raw, unrestrained presence.
Sweat slicked down Raijin's forehead. His heart pounded against his ribs—too fast—too loud. He wiped the dampness from his brow, forcing himself to steady his breathing.
The sheer weight of the creature's existence threatened to break him apart—
And yet, it hadn't moved.
The only thing holding him down was the creature's will.
His mind raced, flashes of every scroll and manga panel he had ever read on summoning contracts flickering through his thoughts. The technique had always been painted as something straightforward—perform the technique, sign the contract, offer blood, forge the pact, and summon the creature and gain its aid.
But this... this was far more complicated.
"Do you think a human can control me?"
The voice cut through his thoughts—mocking, low, and layered with something darker beneath.
Rage.
Quickly, Raijin straightened his posture, forcing his voice to remain respectful despite the storm of emotion surrounding him. "I'm not here to control you. I want us to work together. Maybe help each other."
The creature's glowing eyes narrowed.
"Help?"
The single word dripped with derision.
"Humans often speak, 'I need your aid.' Yet your kind is among the most dangerous of all—binding the very forces you claim to seek aid from... until they serve."
While the creature's anger was evident, no malice was aimed directly at him—not truly. It felt more like frustration, something old and festering, finally breaking free after decades of being held in check.
Could this work? Raijin wondered. The weight of the creature's presence pressed down on him, making him question his every step.
For a long, suffocating moment, neither spoke—locked in a silent standoff. The creature's gaze burned through him, stripping away every false bravado, peeling him down to whatever truth lay at the core of his soul.
Then—finally—it spoke again.
Softer this time.
Almost... pitying.
"You might..."
Raijin's breath caught. His throat tightened. Desperation clawed at the edges of his voice as he muttered, barely louder than a whisper, "I just want to sign a contract—"
"…die, child."