Evil Duchess Summons Me, the Heavenly Demon

Though things had gotten tangled in various ways, my foundation was still that of a martial world practitioner.

I had been a supreme being for a long time, hadn’t I? Seeking sleep in a strange land without preamble is the behavior of a half-baked expert wanderer.

Thus, I did not seek sleep. Of course, that doesn’t mean I rolled around in a room with some woman either (this is a figurative expression. I had no such hobby).

I roughly sat cross-legged, practiced breath cultivation, and slipped away when Ephre fell asleep. The branches opposite were densely covered with leaves, making them quite good for concealing my body.

To spend a night in a place with a gaping hole instead of a door would require a bold and rather unique taste, wouldn’t it?

Of course, there was about one-tenth of another reason for this decision.

Perhaps because of the commotion, the dormitory supervisor had come by, and Ephre had said something like, “Ah, I successfully summoned a summoned creature! Because of that… Huh? What? Hey! Where did you go? Come back!” Or something like that.

As a result, she received a skeptical gaze from the supervisor, poor thing.

Anyway, she too seemed to have sensed that I could appear and disappear at will, so I showed her a few instances of disappearing and reappearing as if being “unsummoned.”

Well, setting aside the brief reminiscence, there were a few things I discovered during the night.

This Summoner is divided into several zones, each so enormous that they are comparable to the capital cities of the martial world.

To put it simply, it was similar to places like Sichuan or Shaanxi… no, that might be an exaggeration, but at the very least, it was like several large cities packed tightly together.

For some reason, there were also places that were not easily visible, but when I focused energy on the acupoints of my eyes and looked, the island was even more vast than I had first observed.

Also, seeing how well-organized the zones within were, it might have been a deliberately constructed city. Perhaps even an artificial island.

Not everyone was on the level of Orlando or his spirit creature, Nodai.

Due to the late hour, not many people had their summoned creatures out, but nevertheless, I encountered quite a few strong energies.

And some individuals, even without having summoned anything, had impressively flowing energy in their physical bodies. Enough to pique even my interest.

I cannot indefinitely postpone the contract.

Right now, I’m breathing as naturally as through divine cultivation, continuously accepting this world’s energy to form and stabilize my physical body as much as possible… but someone of my caliber is several steps ahead of ordinary humans in foresight.

This state cannot be maintained indefinitely.

For that to happen, I would need to recover the energy that was considerably lost since crossing over to this world, and truly ascend to a realm like the Boundary of Life and Death, but that’s still a distant story.

Ascending to that level isn’t simply determined by force or accumulated internal energy.

Anyway, I’m in a situation where I can’t go back to that side either. I can’t even return to my original world.

To be honest, I think I might scatter into nothingness if I die. And frankly, I don’t want to gamble with my life without any reward.

‘I must observe.’

Though this child called Ephre is a very twisted woman who couldn’t even be used as a low-ranking member of the sect, the mere fact that she is connected to the supreme and noble me cannot be taken lightly.

After all, behind every predestined connection lies some great will… a flow called fate.

Day broke.

“Mmm… you’re all dead… all of you hanging your heads like dogs…”

A woman with dog-like sleep talk. I sighed and shook my head. Babysitting at my age.

But my lips were smiling.

The price being magical techniques and all sorts of mysteries I’ve never experienced before. This is completely…

♦♦♦

Ephre even had terrible sleeping habits.

Moving from one end of the bed to the other was commonplace, and she would spout curses in her sleep or swing her arms and legs in the air to hit someone; the servants in her family would shake their heads.

If that were all, it would be fine, but on days when she was under a lot of stress, she would even strip off her clothes.

It was due to the stress that accumulated from others who were desperate to devour her just for breathing. That stifling feeling remained in her subconscious, and when she slept, she would unconsciously take off her clothes. That’s also why she wore a buttoned shirt to bed, which was difficult to remove intentionally.

Of course, because she was terribly well-mannered and had a meticulous personality that avoided giving weaknesses to others, she had a habit of sensing someone approaching as if by instinct and fixing her clothes.

So no one except the people of her family knew about this.

—I heard her sleeping figure is just like a princess from a fairy tale.

—With such a beautiful appearance, that’s to be expected.

—Ah, it is my lifelong wish to see her sleeping face, if nothing else.

These were words she heard quite frequently.

“All… dead… mm. Jes, I’ll do what I wan.”

Ephre, who had been dreaming a dream reflecting her destructive desires and nasty temperament, suddenly opened her eyes.

Blink, blink.

The commotion from the night before flashed through her mind. Her heart sank. It was too surreal to be reality and too detailed to be a dream.

Checking a reality you don’t want to believe is cruel and frightening for anyone. Ephre slowly wiggled her fingers. She pinched her thigh slightly. Ouch. Thankfully, it wasn’t a dream… Huh?

Still lying down, she felt her body.

As she moved her arms, she realized that the blanket was neatly placed over her body. Secondly, despite the recent days being particularly stressful (though they always had been), her nightclothes were very neatly arranged.

“?”

No, some button holes were strangely misaligned. Could it be because she was too drunk with sleep? Come to think of it, the door was in shambles, so it would make sense…

“Uh oh.”

She reflexively raised her head. There wasn’t even the humiliation of chin fat folding. In her green eyes, she saw that the door had been restored.

No, looking closely, several hinges on the left and right were forcibly interlocked. They were dented as if someone had forced them into position with strength. It was amazing that it was functioning as a door.

Nevertheless, it definitely had the effect of separating the inside and outside and blocking the line of sight.

Who on earth?

Her gaze, naturally flowing at the surreal sight, stopped at one corner of the wall.

That man… the summoned creature who had fulfilled her dream was leaning against the wall, his head drooping. Even in sleep, his straight nose bridge and elegant jawline remained intact. Rather, his ebony-like hair had fallen, almost as if it needed to cover that brilliant light.

“Mukyeom… Muk-Yeom Heavenly Demon… was it?”

To strengthen the bond with a summoned creature, one first had to know its true name.

It was also to exercise control later, but from the beginning, calling someone by name shows mutual affection, doesn’t it? Even though he was still not opening his heart and deliberately ignoring her, Ephre knew.

That he would eventually succumb to her beauty and sultry charm, her radiance like the sun and beauty like spring wildflowers.

Isn’t it similar with animals too? As they say, animals follow well when a person themselves is attractive (of course, no animals were drawn to Ephre. Beasts would bare their teeth and growl, and even small animals would scamper away to hide somewhere).

Ahem.

Ephre cleared her throat to get his attention, then got up from her seat and approached him, pretending to have two spoonfuls of solemnity and three spoonfuls of gentleness.

“Muk-Yeom Heaven.”

“Cheon Sang-geuk.”

“Wha?”

“This lord’s name is Cheon Sang-geuk. It’s not a name that someone as lowly as you should dare to call, but I pity you and will specially allow you to call it. Always open your mouth with gratitude, respect, and awe, while prostrating yourself flat.”

Snap!

That was the sound from inside Ephre’s head. The thread of reason breaking. She was irritable from lack of sleep. Of course, while it was immensely satisfying to see Orlando get his comeuppance, just the fact that those damn bastards were talking behind her back, and having to comb through the forest at a time when she should have been sleeping early for skin health…

“Also, it’s not a posture befitting a woman. Always maintain proper deportment.”

“…Kyaa!”

“Feigning such a girlish reaction won’t earn you even a single hair from me. Child covered in lies. If only you lived a bit more truthfully.”

Misaligned button holes essentially meant exposing bits of flesh here and there. Ephre finally screamed and retreated backward, throwing things like pillows and dolls.

Of course, none of them reached Cheon Sang-geuk. Thump. Thump. Every time his fingers bent and straightened, the bedding intercepted in midair lost its strength and fell to the floor…

“Pufu, pufut!”

The goose down pillow, created for the evil desires of wicked humans, was liberated thanks to Cheon Sang-geuk’s finger flick.

In other words, goose feathers were flying all over the room.

♦♦♦

It took a few more hours for the commotion to calm down and for us to leave the room. About one shi-chen (two hours).

As someone greeting the morning shouted, “My wooorld!” loud enough to shake the dormitory, we slipped out of the dormitory.

With a face full of spite, Ephre said, walking naturally beside me:

“Act like a proper summoned creature!”

“Shouldn’t a summoner act like a proper summoner first? Besides, I haven’t yet agreed to that soul bonding or whatever magical technique, have I?”

As the two bickered, a well-paved road appeared, and before long, the main building of [Summoner] revealed its grandeur. It was like a mix of medieval and modern, structures that seemed like they could only come out of a cartoon.