The door leading onto the rooftop of the restaurant known as The Cracked Flagon flung open and a ginger-haired elf stepped out into the night. The sun had already set a few hours ago since Boxxy’s ransacking of the Honeydew Cartel’s hideout hidden beneath this place had taken longer than expected. There were a lot of crates and boxes to rummage through - too many to fit into the monster’s house-sized Storage. It therefore had to decide on the best bits to bring along, which was what took up most of the time.

In the end it mostly loaded up on all the decent arms and armor it could find. The intel Xera had gotten out of that dwarf called Tubbs claimed they could be sold for a good price across the border, unlike the shipments of illicit substances. The monster did end up taking two crates’ worth of Honeydew-filled glass jars, though. Not because it was going to sell or eat them, but simply because they were shiny. The narcotic substance had a radiant golden color and glittered dazzlingly when bathed in light, so the Mimic happily added the 4 dozen jars of it to its collection.

It still had extra room so it took this opportunity to raid the Cartel’s food supplies. A big part of them were eaten, while the rest were stored for later. Boxxy also made a point of taking 6 kegs of ale due to Fizzy’s input. According to her, this high-quality dwarven-brewed ale was immensely valuable.

And now that the looting was over, the Mimic looked up at the night sky, but as expected there weren’t enough moons in it. Boxxy had managed to get a tip around town saying that a night when all three of those giant glowy things appear in the sky simultaneously happened only once every few months. This event, known as the Lunar Convergence, would only last for about 5 or 6 hours at most, and the next time it would occur would be 20 to 25 days from now.

So as things stood, the monster was going to be unable to attempt the Unholy Wealth ritual for quite some time, which was disappointing. Gathering and preparing all the necessary components and tools for that ritual just so it could proceed with the ritual at a moment’s notice turned out to be for naught. At the very least, that particular ceremony required a material sacrifice rather than a living one, so the monster merely had to wait patiently until the opportunity presented itself.

Tonight, however, it be performing the Offering to Liusolra. This ceremony, much like the Offering to Nagnamor, would allow one of the four demonic Overlords to manifest itself in the physical realm in its true form, albeit for a very short time. And the reason it wanted to do this right in the middle of town was simple. It had found out months ago that the proper way to gain Demonology Proficiency involved not only performing the rituals, but also utilizing them fully. If the ritual was to call forth an unbound demon, then it had to convince or force that demon to do things.

That is, other than punching itself in the face over and over again.

In other words, as long as it could get the being called Liusolra to run wild in this town, then it was sure to gain a lot of proficiency. Of course, it also had to make sure it wouldn’t get stomped flat by an irate Overlord. That’s why this wide-open rooftop served as the ideal ritual site. Not only was it flat and large enough to house the demonic markings, but it also meant that Boxxy would be able to make a run for it by jumping off and using the buildings for cover. Well, that and summoning a gigantic, powerful demon underground was counterproductive when the goal was to have it go on a rampage.

Come to think of it, would this Liusolra really be like that? True, Punchy did try to squash the little box into goop almost immediately back then, but maybe that was because it was the most powerful fiend. Which would also make him first-class when it came to irritability, aggression and violence. The monster turned around to face its minions that had followed it onto the rooftop.

“What’s Liusolra actually like?” it asked curiously.

Kora, who was busy carrying a bound and gagged dwarf under three out of her four arms, simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Dunno. I’ve heard of the name, but nothing about what they’re like.”

“How can you not know about Liusolra?” asked Xera incredulously. “Did you have your head up your ass the whole time you were in the Beyond?”

“Well no, it was just that-”

“It was a rhetorical question you idiot,” she interrupted while shaking her head. “I don’t actually want to know.”

“Snack, do you know him?”

“I know about her,” replied the succubus. “Liusolra is the eldest of the Overlords and the most reclusive one. Very few demons have actually spoken to her, even among her peers or kin.”

“And what type of demon is she?”

“I don’t know her exact species, but she’s said to be the first Stalker.”

“Oh, one of those, huh?”

Stalkers were an arachnid species of demons that were anti-magic specialists. The lore gleaned from Demonology said they were rather cold and calculating and just wanted to devour and feed on magic for their own enjoyment. They also enjoyed skulking around dark places and didn’t appreciate being seen, so it made sense that Liusolra would be like that, based on what Snack had said so far.

“Think I can reason with her?” it asked curiously.

“I would advise against it, Master,” answered Xera. “Her kin can be just as violent and selfish as any other demon.”

“I see… So summon and run would be the best, huh?”

“Indeed.”

“What are you two nodding about?” asked Fizzy.

As someone not privy to their telepathic communication, she had no idea about the rather ominous conversation that just transpired.

“Nothing important,” stated Boxxy out loud. “Just be sure the prisoners don’t die until I need to sacrifice them”

The only conscious dwarf that Kora was holding started groaning and struggling against his bindings at the elf’s words.

“Yo, Titty McTitface!” called out the fiend. “One of these guys woke up!”

The succubus calmly turned around and placed a hand on the unfortunate dwarf’s cheek, then put him to sleep with magic. It’s not that they could break free from the fiend’s grip, it’s just that they might hurt themselves or do something stupid like bite off their own tongues. It was her duty to make sure they wouldn’t throw their lives away like that, not when her Master had a better use for them.

“By the way Boss, why don’t you just make an appo?” suggested Kora.

“A what?”

“An appointment. For a summoning.”

“You can do that?” asked Xera with a curious look.

“Now who has her head up her own ass?!” said Kora with a sneer. “That’s how things are normally done, aren’t they? You know, I heard the main reason uncle Naggy was so mad that time was because you pulled him away from the bi-annual 5-dimensional Tic Tac Toe Tournament. Probably would’ve gone down better if you scheduled it beforehand.”

“Wait, is that the event Queen Shridiaphrial managed to win a while back?”

Shridiaphrial, the strongest among the succubi and their self-proclaimed Queen, was also one of the four demonic Overlords. Boxxy recognized the name since the Offering to Shridiaphrial was also one of the rituals it knew about, but had no intention of performing. That particular ceremony was basically a gigantic orgy that demanded a literal cartload of semen to be prepared in advance. It was just too much work when compared to the others.

“That’s the one,” confirmed Kora. “Having lost to the Queen Bitch herself was bad enough, but she won’t shut up about it. As if finally breaking Uncle Naggy’s win streak of 362 victories in a row by winning on a technicality was something worth bragging about!”

It would appear that the two Overlords have some sort of rivalry going on. Although Boxxy had no idea what this ‘5-dimensional Tic Tac Toe’ was, it sounded rather complicated to say the least. The fact that the Archfiend was apparently good enough to rival the ultimate succubus sounded strangely impressive. As expected, Punchy’s performance really was top-of-the-line.

Still, this provided some rather interesting insight to the young Warlock. It made sense that Punchy would be pissed off if he was pulled away from something he found fun. Then again, he’d probably rampage all on his own regardless of when he was summoned, so Boxxy didn’t particularly fret over it.

“How do I make an appointment?” it asked.

“Just give Carl a call, I’m sure he can set it up.”

“Oh! Great idea, Arms!”

“Now there are 3 words I never expected to hear,” mumbled the wide-eyed Xera. Then again, the two simpletons always were on a rather similar wavelength. One of violence and not thinking things through properly, but a wavelength nonetheless.

“Okay, I’ll be busy talking to Carl so don’t bother me unless it’s an emergency,” commanded Boxxy out loud for Fizzy’s benefit. “Keep watch on those three, especially the one on the left. He’s awake and pretending to be asleep.”

The three girls then set about keeping a watchful eye on the prisoners as Boxxy mind-dialed Demons ‘R’ Us.

1-800-7355-9687-7685

*Ring-ring*

*Ring-ring*

*Click*

“Hello, you’ve reached Demons ‘R’ Us. My name is Carl and I’ll be- Oh, hey Boxxy!”

“You knew it was me?”

“Yeah, I asked the boss to install some Caller ID so that I know when it’s you on the line.”

“What’s a Caller ID? Is it tasty?”

“Kind of, yeah,” answered the demon without a drop of hesitation. It would appear Carl had also become somewhat of an expert on Mimicanese.

“So, what can I help you with today, buddy?”

“I want to make an appointment.”

“An appointment?!” asked Carl without even trying to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m about to summon an unbound demon with a ritual.”

“Ohhh! Right, of course! Sorry about that, it was an unusual request so it caught me a bit off guard.”

“Really? Arms said this was normal though.”

“Well, it’s proper procedure, but it’s hardly common practice,” he explained with a sigh. “Mortals usually avoid calling us once the contract is set up, you know. That bad habit of theirs gets them into all heaps of trouble.”

“I see…”

“Alrighty then, who is it you want to make an appointment with?”

“Liusolra.”

“Another Overlord, huh?” mumbled Carl.

*Tak taktak tak takatak*

“And how will you be performing the summoning?”

Boxxy briefly pondered why that was a question. Were there perhaps other ways to call forth the four demonic Overlords? That did seem to be the case now that it thought back on the time it made the deal not to summon Punchy ever again.

“I’ll be doing the Offering.”

“... You’re not using your familiars as collateral, right?” asked Carl in a rather stern voice.

“No.”

“Okay, good. Just checking to make sure you didn’t forget.”

*Tak tak taka-ta-tatak*

“And when will you be planning on performing this Offering?”

“Right away.”

“Hmmm, the short notice might be a problem… Hold on, let me check her schedule real quick.”

*Takatatak taktak tak-tatatak taka-tak*

“Ah, you’re in luck. Overlord Liusolra is available for the next 6 hours. If you miss that window, then the next opening is 4 days from now.”

“... What is it that you guys actually do over there?”

The Mimic just realized that these Overlords were surprisingly busy considering they spent every waking moment inside a realm of naught but thoughts and dreams. It was under the impression demons were perpetually bored and mostly just lazed around telling stories when they were over there.

“Afraid I can’t tell you,” answered Carl. “It’s classified. Plus, you seem the type that wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

“Yeah, probably not,” admitted Boxxy.

It was still hard for the monster to grasp concepts and ideas through words alone. That’s why it needed so much practice with its shapeshifting and infiltration.

“So then do you still want to perform the ritual right away?”

“Yes.”

*Takaktak taktak tak*

“M’kay, you’re all set. Just have to wait for her assistant to respond to the D-mail I sent and- Oh, nevermind. She’s already agreed to the summoning. As expected, huh?”

“So I can just carry on with the ritual?”

“Sure, go right ahead.”

“She won’t try to eat me when she comes out, right?”

“Ah, can’t say for certain, but probably not. Just, uh, make sure you don’t have any magical items of terrible power lying around.”

“I see. Thanks, Carl.”

“Anytime, buddy. Will that be all for today?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then. I’m looking forward to seeing how this one turns out! Buh-bye!”

*Click*

“Wait! What did- Oh.”

Carl hung up before Boxxy could question him about what he just said. Come to think of it, he mentioned something about observing the Mimic the last time they spoke, too. Perhaps Demons ‘R’ Us was keeping a special eye on it to make sure it didn’t violate its amended contract? That certainly seemed plausible, though Boxxy somehow felt that wasn’t the case. Well, the Mimic seemed to have a good working relationship with Demons ‘R’ Us for the moment, so it didn’t worry too much about it and began its preparations.

The monster opened its Storage and pulled out several items in order to prepare for the ritual. A wooden bucket, a large brush with some dried blood on it, four vials of blue-tinted mana potion and a bottle of clear alcohol called vodka. That last one wasn’t looted from the Cartel’s pantry, but taken from the restaurant the organization used as a front. Boxxy had very little interest in alcohol as it found the taste to be rather disgusting, but this bottle wasn’t something it was going to drink anyway.

It poured the vodka and mana potions into the bucket, then used the brush to stir and mix them together. It then held out its human-looking hand over it, morphed one of its fingers into a steel razor and slit its wrist open. Copious amounts of dark red blood bordering on black flowed out of the wound and into the bucket. It would have gladly used one of the dwarves’ fluids, but this part required ‘the lifeblood of the summoner,’ so it really had no choice in the matter.

Once Boxxy was sure the mixture was equal parts alcohol, blood and mana potion, it reactivated its Mend Flesh Skill to seal the wound and continued stirring. The various fluids mixed together and had some sort of reaction, as the mixture adopted a rich purple color and became rather viscous in its consistency.

Now that the ‘paint’ was ready, the Mimic set about preparing the actual ritual site. First, it made a large circle that was about 5 meters in diameter, then drew a equal-sided triangle inside it so that its three angles were up against the edges of the circle. It then added another circle inside the triangle, making sure its circumference touched each of its three sides.

Satisfied with the concentric geometric shapes, it then proceeded to draw three demonic sigils in the wide spaces between the triangle and the outer circle. As expected, they were quite squiggly and complicated, even more so than the ones it used to call Punchy. Boxxy quietly pondered how come this ritual was so much more complicated than the other one, but it sort of made sense if this Liusolra really was the eldest of the demonic Overlords.

After finishing the sigils, it ordered Kora to place the bound, gagged and sleeping dwarves inside the demonic formation, warning her to be extra careful not to step on the still-wet mixture. A sacrifice was placed in each space between the triangle and the inner circle. Their unconscious bodies were made to sit, although their upper bodies naturally lurched forward. It was an awkward posture, but it was good enough since their heads were within arm’s reach of the middle of the formation.

Making sure everything was in order, Boxxy thought back on Carl’s advice regarding magic items. Stalkers were supposed to quite literally feast on mana, so it was likely they might suck the enchantments out of its priceless staff, curse or no curse. An alternate dimension would probably be good enough, so it opened its Storage and put Voidcaller inside for safekeeping. It then took out a few sets of plate armor in order to make room for Fizzy.

Well, even if the Left Hand of the Forsaken Sentinel was a part of her body, it was still an Artifact-grade magic item. And since it couldn’t be removed, that meant the golem herself had to be put inside its Storage, much to her disappointment. Not only was she loathe to go back in that claustrophobic space, but she was also extremely curious what the actual ritual would look like. Still, spending some time in Boxxy’s Storage was preferable to having her left arm eaten by a demon, so she begrudgingly accepted it and crawled inside the swirling dark portal.

With all preparations complete, the elf-shaped monster stood in the center of the formation while gripping an iron dagger in each hand and cleared its throat. Now was the time to perform the actual ceremony. It rested its arms against its sides and reversed the grip on its weapons so they were pointing backwards. It then started bouncing lightly in place by using only its ankles and knees, causing its entire body moved up and down to some unheard rhythm.

Once the elf had reached a frequency of about 2 or 3 bounces per second, it started shaking its hips in a rather exaggerated manner. They swayed left and right in time with its bounces, much to Kora’s amusement. Boxxy then lifted its arms over its head and pressed the handles of the two daggers it was holding against the top of its skull so that the blades were pointing upwards. Its wrists started twisting slightly shortly after, causing the weapons to tilt forward and back up, also in time with its strange movements. Overall, they gave off the strange impression of irresponsibly sharp rabbit ears that bobbed and swayed along with their owner’s movements.

The elf then opened his mouth and started chanting while bouncing in place.

Morbi aliquet eu dolor amet,

Nulla auctor enim non foncet.

Rhoncus el…

Portus cora fore alet!

Boxxy’s strange words took on an oddly melodic tone which, combined with the deliberate timing, made it clear it wasn’t just chanting, but actually singing. It was a strangely upbeat and energetic song.

Nectum felis magna, wah-ah-ah!

Ovika era helftum, lah-lah-lah!

Yo sol mi…

Til deu la melodi!

The elf made a smooth crouching motion with its lower body while its upper body leaned forward with arms stretched out. The two iron daggers it was holding easily pierced the top of a dwarf’s skull, relieving him of his life in an instant. The weapons were immediately withdrawn as the elf spun around with a little pirouette, turning to face the sigil opposite the sacrifice before resuming its bounce-assisted hip swaying.

Dans sal melous, klappar ena handen,

Yors, onleyors, tora sindel dansden,

Misslao lye, meesa inda clansen,

Leek nari haradi caramelltansen!

The purplish paint on the ground started pulsing with a soft pink light that flashed for a split second every time Boxxy finished a downward motion. A strange mist started gathering over the arcane sigil as the intensifying flashes from below cast a vaguely humanoid shadow within the off-white vapor cloud, even though nobody was there.

Det blir ensensat yon verfelt stoss,

Puester komm erala slip alloss,

Kom igen…

Nu tar vi stegen om igen!

A thumping noise with a steady beat could be heard coming from below, as if accompanying the strange dance and song that the Mimic was performing. The figure in the mist became more and more defined until it became a solid, feminine shadow that was mirroring the monster’s bizarre movements.

Nectum felis magna, wah-ah-ah!

Ovika era helftum, lah-lah-lah!

Yo sol mi…

Til deu la melodi!

The Mimic repeated the second verse, along with the spinning motion that pierced the second dwarf’s skull. It then once again performed a light spin on one leg as it turned to face the next arcane sigil.

Dans sal melous, klappar ena handen,

Yors, onleyors, tora sindel dansden,

Misslao lye, meesa inda clansen,

Leek nari haradi caramelltansen!

The odd mist had spread itself throughout the rooftop, obscuring the view of the town around it. A second feminine figure appeared, which was also mimicking the Mimic’s movements.

Curabitur mattis, diam a rutrum,

Quisque id pellen vestibulum.

Yo portus…

Nulla vitae auf lectus!

Its voice had been steadily rising in pitch this whole time, and by now it sounded like something one would expect to hear out of a chipmunk. The strange colors that flashed within the inexplicable fog became brighter and more varied as it carried on unperturbed.

Nectum felis magna, wah-ah-ah!

Ovika era helftum, lah-lah-lah!

Yo sol mi…

Til deu la melodi!

The third and last dwarf’s life was severed in a fluid motion as Boxxy tended to the final sigil.

Dans sal melous, klappar ena handen,

Yors, onleyors, tora sindel dansden,

Misslao lye, meesa inda clansen,

Leek nari haradi caramelltansen!

It now had three shadowy backup dancers. It kept going for a few more minutes while letting out shouts of “Ooh, ooh, oowah, oowah!” every now and then. The three dwarven corpses rapidly deteriorated until all that was left of them were bleached bones, at which point both the thumping and the lightshow suddenly subsided and became much weaker. Boxxy took its cue and stood perfectly still with both blood-soaked daggers crossed in front of its face. However, judging by the shadowy dancers that kept bouncing, the ritual wasn’t over quite yet.

“Sed ornare dolor erat! Quis placerat augue dignissim et!”

Boxxy’s high pitched voice rose to the heavens as its MP rapidly started decreasing. The simple iron daggers in its hand glowed with an intense neon-pink hue that spread across the mist like ink in water.

“Praesent ultricies Liusolra!”

It shouted the final part of the incantation as it threw the daggers upward with all its might. The two objects exploded in an impossible flash of light accompanied by an overwhelmingly loud bang. Boxxy didn’t waste any time and had already leapt off the side of the building. It landed onto the street and tried to execute a forward roll to redirect its momentum, but slipped on the wet ice that had started melting due to the morning sun and fell on its ass.

“Wait, what?”

The confused Boxxy looked around in a panic and hurriedly made note of four inexplicable changes. The first was that it was now apparently morning. The second was that the street and the surrounding townscape had been entombed in clear, slightly blue ice. The third was that its Demonology Skill had gone up to Level 7. The final, and somehow most bizarre thing, was that it had been stabbed through the chest with a large, sword-shaped icicle.

And stuck to that icicle was a piece of parchment. The monster unhesitantly pulled out the sharp object and looked at the note that had been pinned to its body. As expected, it couldn’t read a single word of it. Since its familiars had apparently been killed during the… whatever happened last night… it opened its Storage and brought Fizzy out of it.

“Finally!” complained the golem. “I was stuck in there… for… for…”

Her words trailed off as she beheld the out of place winter wonderland she found herself in.

“Read this,” commanded Boxxy while thrusting the parchment into her face.

Fizzy, whose thought processes were currently busy… well, processing, ground to a halt when she saw the note. She knew many things, but how to respond to what was written there was not one of them.

Dear Boxxy,

Sorry for freezing you in time like that, I’m a bit shy you see! I appreciated the chance to come out and play though! It was a lot of fun ♡♡♡! Call on me again if you need something else put on ice, kay!?!

XOXOXO

~Liusolra of the Endless Swarm