My Demon Pet System

"You'll see, brat. In a few minutes, you will thank me. You will feel the true energy of the dark Emperor flood inside of you, and thanks to his power, you will become unstoppable!" Ogai exclaimed. A simultaneous gesture of both his hands followed those words.

As he had done a few seconds earlier with Shioko, the Void Summoner let the Blackblood, or black mud, slide over his legs to his arms. The slurry gathered on his hand and thickened into a single small sphere.

In all likelihood, the process called 'regeneration' that Ogai was talking about consisted of bringing a small amount of sludge into the host body. Once ingested, the black sphere would suddenly increase its size, easily entering the blood and nervous systems.

Through that process, the man with the hidden face had increased his powers. After his story, another name was added to the 'black list' of Yoichi and his companions: that of Lady Tamiko, Emperor Gonshiro's trusted counsellor.

"Your body looks quite fragile to me, and your musculature is not well developed. I've seen men much bigger than you dying devoured by the power of the Blackblood," Ogai added, staring at the black sphere hanging over the palm of his hand.

"Well, not too bad. If you live or die, it doesn't matter. I will find other warriors stronger than you and subject them to regeneration. Also..."

"Don't you ever stop talking, you son of a bitch?" – Shioko's voice interrupted Ogai's speech. Despite his wild dog appearance, the Void Summoner was obviuolsy attention-seeking, as if he wanted at all costs to show his superiority to the three warriors of Tentochu.

When Ogai stopped talking, he continued to look at Yoichi. "Do you think summoning stupid rock hands will stop the strongest tamers of Goldhaven guilds? Hahah... HAHAHA!" the archer burst into a big laugh.

Laughing loudly, Shioko moved her neck backwards and then forwards, making fun of the enemy. Ogai continued to remain silent.

"My master could kill you before you can even see him. You talked about your Emperor's powers, darkness, emptiness, blah blah blah. Bullshit! The only certain thing is that you don't have the stomach to face me on a level playing field. You're just a hooded loser!" continuing to shout words of contempt, Shioko spat at Ogai.

The archer's saliva fell near the bare feet of the Void Summoner. As if Yoichi and Enatsu were suddenly disappeared, he turned his face hidden in the shadows in Shioko's direction.

The cold emitted by the Kamakiri's warlock increased its intensity in direct proportion to the anger he was feeling against the archer. The dark mud sphere floating on his hand began to vibrate.

Every particle of that mysterious sticky material seemed not to escape the gravity of that sphere as if it were a small planet and there was a dense nucleus inside it. Was all the mud that had invaded the south of the region really been Gonshiro's blood?

"Um... Shioko?! What are you doing?! I don't think that's a good idea!" Enatsu gulped. The merchant kept turning his gaze towards Ogai and then towards the tamer, moving his head compulsively.

The three demons were still behind him, motionless as statues.

"Tell me one thing, Ogai!" Yoichi spoke suddenly. Those words drew the sorcerer's attention. "What happened to all the Komoerus who inhabited the cave?" the young tamer inquired.

"Um?" distracting himself once again, the summoner seemed astonished by that curious question.

"I mean... that colossal demon... does this have anything to do with the disappearance of the bat demons we fought before?" – after asking yet another time-buying question, Yoichi looked absent-mindedly at Hyobe's corpse.

The dead body of that desperate man was half-submerged in mud and was already in an advanced state of decomposition. It was as if he had been exposed to weather agents and decomposing organisms for weeks.

The whole thing was surrounded by a thin and almost invisible greyish gas.

"What kind of question is this? Why do you want to know?!" the tone of Ogai's voice suddenly changed: the Void Summoner slowly realized that Yoichi's curiosity only served to mask the plan he was processing in his mind.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" Shioko shouted, beginning to talk again. "Guys, stop it! Fuck, I knew coming here without the right backup was a mistake! We had to be accompanied by Sada-sensei or someone else from the Nightblades!" Enatsu added.

Like the constant hum of a fly flying near the ears, the voices of the three tamers rumbled into Ogai's head. The warlock seemed to suffer all that chaos and the temper he had shown up to that point reached its limit.

"Enough! Stop talking! Silence!" Ogai shouted, raising his foot and slamming it forcefully to the ground. The room floor vibrated dizzyingly for a few seconds, and the ceiling seemed to collapse under that light earthquake.

"Oh, fuck!" Shioko and Enatsu gasped in chorus, hoping that the stone base under their feet would not come off the floor.

"I'm tired of your stupid tricks! I have an important mission to accomplish, and I will not give you any more time, useless kids!" Ogai spoke angrily, snapping closer to Yoichi.

With his left hand, the Void Summoner tightened the young tamer's cheeks, using the pressure of his thumb and middle finger to force him to open his mouth. The scales on Kenji's body singed off at that instant, and the little dragon demon began to growl once again.

While with his left hand, he held Yoichi's face, with his right one, Ogai supported the energy of the dark sphere: it became smaller and smaller, compressing its mass towards the centre and vibrating more and more.

"Yoichi! Be careful!" Enatsu yelled in panic. Suddenly, something unexpected happened in the boss's room. The tremors caused by Ogai's wild scream had widened the narrow fractures already present on the rocks that trapped Shioko.

Taking advantage of the enemy's moment of distraction, focused on watching Yoichi, Shioko activated one of Nobu's skills: the butterfly demon quickly flew towards her, stopping in mid-air and vigorously flapping its wings.