^^ Demon of Superbia ^^

— Assam —

My boots were silent, barely making a sound on the rooftops I sprinted across at speeds most would not see as more than a blur. My quarry was a hair faster, but that was always the case; thankfully, he was too busy trying to find something to run away at his full speed, which would have outstripped me thoroughly. 'What are you looking for, Leech?' I hissed to myself, furious with the creature's presence within my city; I had only recently been assigned to this city, and now there was a Spirit, -and more importantly, a Pride Spirit, the worst kind,- running amok! Terrible for my record, and for my chances at any sort of promotion any time soon. Still, at least it was too preoccupied to kill anyone, that was a bonus I was happy to accept.

It halted suddenly, arriving in the middle of the center square, and I crashed down beside it, drawing my sword and shooing the humans of the night-market away; they couldn't see it, but they could see me, now that I'd chosen to reveal myself. "Off with you! The market is closed for the night, or until this Spirit is dealt with!!!" I snapped crossly, and they began streaming out of the square, much too slowly for my liking. I hadn't built any rapport with them yet, and they didn't yet trust me, nor respect me, so there was a lot of grumbling and feet-dragging involved in the retreat. I kept my gaze on the chitinous being, it's barely-human eyes frozen in place but it's hands moving swiftly to draw something in the air; a Spell. I'd been right to remove the humans, I realized, because I wouldn't be able to halt whatever spell it was crafting, not in time. Most spells took between five seconds and one hour to complete, -though I'd only ever heard of the Hour-Long ones,- and it'd already been two minutes: this spell was likely going to level the square, at its current level, and I could kill the Spirit afterwards, when it was weak and without power. The loss of life was sad, but I couldn't hope to defeat it straight-up in its current state; even while casting the spell, its natural defenses would shred me in short order. No, evacuating the people was most important. Less fuel for the spell, less lives lost, and a weaker end-result, all good things.

"MOVE!!!" I galvanized the citizenry, irritated now and hoping to put some urgency in their step, and it received the proper urgency, as the air in the square began to spin, like a gale was centering itself upon us. "A Tempest? That's awfully... tame?" I muttered, confused, and snuck carefully forward as it continued to weave the spell. Immediately, I cursed my stupidity for thinking such a thing, much less saying it aloud; the twisting air suddenly focused into a single point, and the air seemed to almost Shatter, like a mosaic. All around it, the few humans that remained, stupidly hiding instead of running, the plants and fruits and herbs in the market, the stray cats and dogs and birds all around us, they all turned to dust, as payment for the spell. My wards prevented me from being payment for such a thing, but they all had no such protections, and they died instantly, painlessly. The one mercy of most spells was that the ones used as fuel died that way, instead of being tortured or rent into ash while they were still conscious. The spell complete, and paid for, the creature now stopped moving its hands, then dove through the shattered air, disappearing from my sight.

I blinked slowly, watching the... thing? Portal? Those were supposedly Higher Magics... a Spirit shouldn't have been able to cast such a thing, much less so quickly... "Fuuuck me!" I hissed as the portal started closing, and dove through after the creature, deciding to risk it. The creature would be weakened after a spell like that, and I could kill it with relative ease, now, and prevent it from doing anything even more dangerous.

—

I fell against stone, to my confusion; not normal stone, but a SandStone-type, a rough and porous material that scratched at my skin as I sat up slowly, my brain scrambled and confused. 'What happened? Where... am I?' I gasped silently, looking up at the monolithic castle in front of me; easily 20 stories tall, perfectly rectangular, with so much glass on the exterior that it was clearly the home of the richest king I'd ever known. That made sense, I realized; I was chasing a Pride Spirit, and Kings were prideful! I shot to my feet, sprinting after the trail of magic the creature had left, through the odd steel doors and into the disgustingly clean interior. The walls and floors and ceiling were all made of clean white material, absolutely devoid of decoration, besides a few pictures and signs, hung in preselected positions. The Humans in the picture were of many different ethnicities, giving me a bit of hope; a varied kingdom that didn't oppress minorities meant that perhaps this King would resist the Pride Spirit's Deal, after all!!! I quickened my steps once more, sprinting up stairs and down long hallways; on either side were small meeting chambers with odd mirrors, and rows of desks, like a clerk's offices, in a kingdom's treasury... perhaps this was the treasury? No... maybe a school, then? A university? No one was present, due to the deep twilight above me, but I'd have liked to see what they were doing...

My mind shook itself, refocusing; Hunt. Spirit. NOW! I cursed myself for being so curious, and sprinted with renewed vigor. I found four bodies, desiccated beyond all recognition, arranged as if they had killed one another with their bare hands, and hissed an irritated curse under my breath; it had found a group of weaklings to feed off of already. That would make killing it more difficult, but not yet impossible. At the top of the castle, I finally arrived in a room that was clearly some sort of Mad Mage's Laboratory; lightning played through everything, moving and clicking and shifting, mirrors displayed magical formulae I didn't dare attempt to interpret, and in the center of the room was a massive orb, metallic in nature, connected by several more metallic ropes, feeding energy to it from the mirrors, like a magical, metallic Womb, or an Egg. I worried, instantly, that it was a Golem Workshop; Golems were the fiercest of enemies for someone like me, who had no real magical gifts, because they were usually made of metal, and swords generally don't cut metal very well.

My eyes were then drawn to a massive, horrifying creature, looking over a woman of equally large proportions; she must've been three meters tall, a clear meter more than myself, with red-gold skin and gold freckles all across her exposed arms and legs, -which I noticed to be excellently toned and muscled, like a proper warrior,- red-copper hair with golden beads and ornaments braided in, and golden eyes framed by more gold paint of some kind around her eyes. (She clearly had a favorite color.) The creature, however, had... changed. Before, it had been diminutive, the same size as me, with humanoid features, if scarred and broken, but now, it stood three meters tall, with the telltale faun-like horns of a Demon, and a Superbia Demon, at that, the most dangerous type. It's skull was visible, but it's skeletal mouth was sewn shut with its own flesh, and its eyes were just flame and death given form. Within the skeleton, more fire brewed, and smoke drifted off of its body like it was becoming Incorporeal, which would make it a Greater Demon... but that didn't make sense; I'd been hunting a Spirit. A Greater Demon shouldn't have been so easy to-

My thoughts halted as he began to speak, his words completely foreign to me, at first, his mind slashing at my psyche with an oppressing Force I immediately understood was beyond me. I needed backup. I needed a Grand-Templar, or a Bishop, or even a party of Dragon-Hunters would do!!! But I would get none of those things here, and so I was doomed.

"I see your heart, Human Queen... it is empty, and clean, like this castle of yours. Pristine, unfeeling, and Ruthless. You are Prideful, but not Arrogant, and thus I think you worthy of my Bargain... I will give you Power, such Power as you have never seen, and Immortality, even, with the caveat that you work for me, from time to time... and should you die, some time in the future, your soul will be mine... do we have a Deal?" It extended a long, spindly, boney set of phalanges to her, breathing a soft gust of flame with every moment it waited; I noticed that the flame was dissipating, not returning to him, like it should have, and the smoke was doing the same... like he couldn't shape the magic here properly?

I slowly picked up the sword I'd dropped when he began speaking, and began pacing to the left, allowing the mirrors to get between me and them, obstructing their vision of me, but not mine of them. Once they were focused on each other again, I moved again, approaching the back of the Greater Demon with absolutely no sound, whatsoever, whispering a 'look-not-at-me', a cloaking spell that shifted your target's attention away from you, giving you hiding capabilities even from

"On general principle, I don't make deals without written contracts. I also don't make deals that are so vague. Lastly, I don't make deals with people who interfere with my work for ridiculous nonsense, and seeing as you fall into all three of those categories, my use for you is negligible. You may leave, and you would do well to make an appointment next time, Mr...?" The gilded lady raised a prim eyebrow, the absolute picture of cool indifference, unshakable even in the face of a Greater Demon; truly a Queen.

"A written contract can be negotiated, yesssss... a more specific contract can be negotiated, yesssss... and I assure you, Human Queen of this Metal and Glass Castle in the Sky, I am not offering Nonsense... perhaps a demonstration?" The creature chuckled darkly, the sound like oil spilling into a field, simultaneously dry and wet and slick and rough, a dichotomy of epic proportion, before waving a hand. My sword instantly began to heat up, burning my hands to a crisp instantly, locked tight around the hilt, and then a ghostly claw latched onto my throat, lifting and carrying me to the creatures side, kicking and choking as it shattered my wards with a pathetic, careless type of ease. "This is but one of the paltry tricks you can receive, from my Gift... have I demonstrated my power properly? Are you now aware of the Boons you may receive?" The Greater Demon asked her impatiently, the smoke coming off of him getting thicker.

She hummed softly, leaning her chin against a fist thoughtfully. "Curious... a telekinetic ability, then... and a Psychokinetic ability as well? Pyrokinesis confirmed, with a Pyroclastic body... most intriguing, it warrants further study... a few questions, before I agree to anything; If I have these powers until I die, but I am immortal, how do you expect to be able to claim your payment?" She asked calmly, remarkably unfazed by the situation.

"The lives of Witches are a dangerous thing... you Humans tend to gather Enemies like Flies to your Rotting Meat." The Greater Demon chuckled greasily.

"I see... and what if you die before I do? Do my powers then disappear? Is there a clause that states my contract must be taken up by another, so I don't lose... coverage?" She seemed amused by this unknown comparison, and the Greater Demon tilted its head slowly at her.

"Should I... Die... my essence will merge with my Contracted Ones, and they will be permanently fueled by the scraps of my soul. I am a New Greater Demon, and so I do not have any Contracted Ones yet, hence why I cannot remain corporeal for long... my Presence is too powerful for this world, flush with untapped Magic as it is... that I am even capable of Materializing so Completely here is a Curious Miracle." It explained patiently, regaining a sense of security now that it believed she was going to accept the Bargain.

"I think I understand... you are a Demon, which is a Quantumly Amalgamated Consciousness, a Soul, that is capable of interacting with the Macro Universe, what you might call the Material Plane... however, your Soul is so massive that it cannot remain in the Macro Universe for too long, or it may dissipate, and thus 'kill' you. Having Quantum Anchors, your 'Contracts', allows you to share the burden of appearing on this plane of existence, and appear more easily, and for longer periods of time. Absorbing the souls of smaller beings is much like sustenance to you, and you prefer to eat your meal Slowly, to better sustain yourself; the Contract will gift me an amount of energy slightly less than the amount of energy you take, meaning you receive less, but I recover over time, allowing you to continuously feed on me. However, the Anchors are Two-Way, and should your Soul Disperse, it will go to the other ends of the Anchors, and bond permanently to the creature in control of said Anchor, but there will be nothing remaining of your Consciousness, only your Accumulated Memories and Knowledge, as Articulated Quantum Storage of Data... how interesting... the ramifications for Quantum Computing are Massive..." she chuckled to herself, thinking and speaking aloud, but not making any sense at all, to me,

The Greater Demon, however, nodded as if genuinely impressed. "Quite Correct, and surprisingly so! A Human, having such a curious amount of understanding of the Arcane, you are surely worthy of being my first Contracted One, Human Queen!"

"Hmm... but what if you die, and you only have one Soul Anchor? Wouldn't your consciousness reconvene and restructure itself, bringing you back to consciousness?" She frowned, suddenly considering something, then looked at me, struggling to breath and glaring at her for her casual conversation while I was being choked to death. "Ah, you can release him now, I imagine he's of no threat to you, and he's turning a rather distressing shade of purple... how then would a Soul be destroyed, or Killed? Is it not Quantum Entangled? Separating things that are Entangled in that fashion shouldn't be possible..."

I was dropped with a casual flick of the Greater Demon's wrist, thrown to the ground hard enough that I saw stars. "The Soul is not Entangled, it is simply Bonded, and Contained within a Barrier, or a Jar of sorts. Smash the jar, the soul scatters; unless there is an Anchor, wherein the remnants are gathered and converted or translated to an understandable format, and then dispensed to the various Anchors. The Immortals are the only ones whose Souls are Entangled; they are best let alone, as their power is such that even a Greater Demon could not stand against them... and because they are Entangled, they can walk any Plane without fear of Reprisal or Scattering."

"Interesting... I think I understand... how, though, would you scatter a Soul, such as, say, this Hunter? Or a Rival Demon?" She asked casually, her eyes glinting a feral gold for a brief moment, but it was gone so quickly I almost missed it.

The Greater Demon was focused on me, and did miss it, only chuckling that same horrid, dichotomous sound. "For meat-sacks like him... simply crush the Meat, in whatever method suits you best... but for a Demon, you'd need a blade such as his, which is bathed in Soul Energy, and thus capable of interacting with the 'Jar', continuing the metaphor from earlier."

"So anything bathed in quantum energy would work?" She asked, pulling a small, odd item out of her jacket, making a soft, yet oddly metallic sound.

"That is correct... now, Time is short... Do We Have a Deal?" It extended its hand to her a second time, but this time she accepted, shaking its hand firmly.

"Yes. I agree to pay a tithe of my soul, which is non-lethal and sustainable for all parties involved, for the guarantee of an amount of Quantum equal to no less than 75% of the Quantum Energy I give to you through the Anchor, as well as all of your knowledge of this 'Arcanum' you seem to have access to, and assurance that my life will not end from Natural Causes, nor Mundane Threats; only Arcane Magic will be a threat to me. If you can facilitate these Demands, I will be your Anchor." She nodded seriously.

It chuckled again, and a thin, glowing line appeared, connecting her hand to its own skeletal palm; a brand appeared on her hand, a Greater Superbia Demon's Contractee Mark. Each type of demon had a different one, and every Rank of Demon had a different styling, which changed over time to match your general disposition as a Mage; given the stark-white of the contract, it proved she was pure-hearted, a White-Witch, who hadn't killed any innocents. Such a mark was somewhat common amongst even my kind, the Demon-Hunters, as they would make deals with weaker Spirits and Demons, and in return those who had made the contracts would be allowed to live, so long as they harmed no one. There were some Innocent and Kind Spirits, though they were very rare; usually Lust Spirits, though, and I'd never seen or heard of a good Pride Demon.

"Then, a Bargain is made, and sealed. You are my anchor; I will gift you a Grimoire, to better consolidate my power and knowledge for your perusal and study." It flicked a wrist, and some parchment from a nearby table flew over, then an odd metallic cylinder, and finally my armor, turning into base-leather and binding the parchment, while the metal cylinder slipped into the spine and disappeared. The Greater Demon, no longer losing power or mass, the fire and smoke now recycling through its body, sighed contentedly. "Now... where was I with you..." the flaming eyes slowly turned to me, chuckling evilly, and both of us flinched at the cacophonous 'BANG', as a hole appeared in the side of its head, it's 'brains' splattering onto the ground as it slowly slumped forward, dissolving into a cloud of smoke that swarmed the woman, absorbing into the grimoire she held protectively in front of her face.

I gazed at her, completely and utterly stumped as to what had just happened. "Did you just... kill a Greater Demon?" I asked slowly.

"I think I did... yes." She grinned, apparently regaining some sort of confidence at our both being alive, then flinched when a shatter portal, just like the one that brought us here, appeared on the ground, swallowing us whole.