D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

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*Hmm… I might want to use my water transformation when I escape from this. Bang doesn’t seem to be aware of my advanced regeneration so I can use that to surprise him at some point.* Kat’s thoughts were interrupted by Bang continuing to rant, “They won’t be able to piece you back together if I kill you first!”

*Does he really think he can kill me? I thought Meng and Bang, which… yeah I’ll just call him Bang. Meng was remarkably tight-lipped about his real name. But what was I saying? Oh yes, he seems to think for some reason that he could actually kill me. Not only am I ridiculously durable but there’s no way D.E.M.O.N.S would let someone die on a summon. I guess Bang really is the junior partner in this.*

“I find myself unimpressed by your bosting Bang. I simply don’t see a world in which you manage to kill me. In fact, the only reason I got hurt is because I didn’t want Meng to waste any qi. I already said it, this is a minor thing at worst, and you just seem like a braggart at this point. I mean really? Using a child as a hostage? Guess you’re just a scared little rat,” Kat said with a grin, letting a bit of fire appear behind her teeth to give them a slight glow.

“Oh? A rat am I? Well if that’s the case I might as well own my rat traits. I’m willing to do what I can to take you down… so I’ll make you an offer. If you don’t move… I’ll let Feng go. Just ten seconds. Ten seconds of not moving, not using your energy, nothing. Do we have a deal?” said Bang with a wicked grin.

*Hmm… I mean why not?* “As long as nobody else is getting hurt during those ten seconds I don’t see why not,” said Kat with a shrug. Bang grinned as the snow underneath her started to glow. Kat didn’t know why it was glowing, but suddenly chains appeared connecting her to Bang. Her frown deepened as they curled around them both. *What the heck?*

“It seems you’ve agreed to my little challenge. WONDERFUL!” said Bang with a sneer. Then Kat felt the ice in her wing start to move. The qi was pushing itself into her veins and Kat could feel it squirming around through her wings. It would be simple to force it out. Kat could already feel her demonic energy chipping away at the qi without any effort on her part…

But Kat could also feel herself being bound by that contract. If she moved, Kat could tell that Bang would be free to act against Feng. *Dammit. Why did he have to be Bing’s brother. I don’t really care what happens to him after all his disrespect to Bing and Meng, but fine. Whatever I’ll suffer whatever this is for them. I just wish I knew how he managed to set up the contract. I’ve agreed to stuff before without starting one.*

.....

Kat did nothing. She waited, and just as the ten seconds was up, Bang activated his trap. Spikes of ice exploded out of Kat’s body. Most of them were focused around her wings and back, but he had managed to get a few as high as her neck, and down her arms. Kat found herself rather uncomfortable at the moment. The pain was quite intense, and she decided to make a move. Kat let herself explode into water, the ice crystals that had been inside her body falling in place as Kat reformed a moment later, whole.

Kat did wince a bit at the cost of her little display, but it was worth it. Bang no longer had a hold on Feng but… odd… he still looked like he was holding something. *Wait a minute…* Kat didn’t dare glance around, but she had a guess, “What are you doing Bang?” Kat gave her voice just a bit of demonic growl to make it seem like she was angry rather than just confused.

“Well, I only agreed to let Feng go… not that I wouldn’t simply grab him again while you were reforming… nice trick by the way. Really, what did you expect? If I let the little shit get away, Meng would jump straight into attacking me… and we can’t have that right now. My reinforcements aren’t here yet!” said Bang with a grin, not realising that Meng had already got one over on him.

Kat hadn’t been paying attention, so she couldn’t be sure where Feng was without looking around. Her current guess was that Meng had pulled him to her side, but that was just a guess on Kat’s part. The real Meng was standing behind her, hovering over Bing, and Kat didn’t want to give the impression she was looking around for something. As long as Bang knew she had True Sight, and she kept up the charade, Feng should be fine.

*The real question is, when, or if I should fight him. He’s waiting for reinforcements, he said as much which means part of me doesn’t want to drag this out… but Bing and Feng are too close. This whole place is covered in ice and I bet that if he got a bit more serious he could attack them from a distance. He’s probably keeping that as a trump card… so do I stall? I can’t see Meng right now so I don’t know what’s she’s doing.

How close does she need to be to maintain an illusion that Bang can’t see through? Apparently Meng is the more powerful of the two… but I don’t know how easy an illusion is for normal people to break. It just hasn’t come up. That is something I really should’ve talked with Meng about. Do I just keep stalling? Meng might not be able to send messages just to me because I’d need to be focusing on seeing the illusions again and I really don’t have the safety to focus on that right now.*

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised considering your profession,” said Kat with a sigh.

“Why? You trusted Meng easily enough didn’t you? I’m sure she made sure to tell you about all the people she’s murdered before you teamed up,” said Bang with a grimace.

“She did in fact warn me that she’s not a good person,” said Kat easily.

“Not a good person? Not a good person? She’s got the highest kill count of anyone on the continent!” retorted Bang.

“I resent that. I likely have the highest body count among professional assassins, but I partook in NO genocides, and that really pads the count for quite a few psychos. I’ll accept that my count is high, but not the highest!” hissed Meng.

This was a mistake on her part, as Bang hurled an ice lance straight at the sound of Meng’s voice. Apparently in her anger she didn’t manage to properly maintain the illusion around her voice. Meng did manage to bad the icicle away with by pulling out a hammer, but Bang wasn’t letting up. Wave after wave of spikes flew at her, covering the area nearby as well. Kat went to rush forward but Bang shook his head and jerked down towards his empty hands.

*Oh right. That’s probably why Meng isn’t flinging them back at him. He’s supposed to have Feng captured. Shit… what do I do then? Meng can’t you give me a sign or something? It’d be really useful to know if I’m meant to go on the attack!*

The rain of icicles ended abruptly when one strayed over towards where Bing had been hiding and Meng shot that one back at Bang. Bang, being the asshole that he was, simply raised what he thought was Feng up into the way. Of course, Feng wasn’t there to take the blow so it sliced through the air, impaling Bang in the stomach. “Ah… cheeky shit. I should’ve known better… well… my mistake. I guess I’ll just have to ATTACK YOU ALL!”

A wave of power exploded out of Bang, and then a moment later the snow started to freeze together, turning into an icy sheet even as the wind picked up and the snow seemed to triple in quantity. Kat looked around, and noticed it creepy towards Bing. Shit. Kat dashed over, slamming the ground with a fist and letting her demonic fire explode around the two. Bang’s ice was diverted around them both, like high pressure water meeting tougher steel. The ice did continue past Kat, but it wasn’t a major concern at the moment.

Meng had moved to protect Feng, pulling him up into the air where she’d left the two unconscious cultivators. Kat had to supress a wince at that. *Woops. I seem to have forgotten about Bodeir… eh it’s fine. My contract didn’t start complaining before now so it’s probably fine… probably.*