Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 138: Demon Summons

Percival couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

⸢Your undead army widens into the land of darkness, the depths of Purgatory. You can now enslave the children of the Oldmother⸥.

Out of nowhere, out of nothing, he had just unlocked a Skill—a Skill that gave him the power to enslave and summon Demons.

Why? What did the undead have to do with Demons?

It was something he couldn’t wrap his brain around, especially not at that moment when the tension was high and death was in the air.

Nonetheless, it was a question he couldn’t ignore.

Skeleton and Soul Summons. Those were the minions his Class had initially claimed were available to him. So why was a Demon swirling inside his Summon Space, trying to break free?

Why could he sense the ⸢Summon Demon⸥ command waiting for him to activate like it did for his Skeletons and for Mercius?

Ding!

The Necromancer screen blinked to life in front, promising answers to all his troubling questions.

⸢By enforcing your will, you may subjugate beings of pure dark mana, converting their demonic energy to serve the Lord of Death⸥

"Sir Hero!"

Percival turned his head from the screen, snapping out of his thoughts. He saw Lewis gazing at him with questions written all over his face.

"Are you alright?" Lewis asked.

Percival nodded once. "Yes."

He looked at Mercius and then around the library. "Are they all dead?"

Mercius nodded. "Yes. But another wave will be coming. I must destroy the Demon Source now."

He turned and started to approach the flesh-bound grimoire.

"Wait!" Percival commanded. The Soul Soldier stopped on his tracks, then he pivoted, armor creaking.

"Master?"

"Don’t destroy it yet," Percival said. "Wait for the next wave."

"What?" Lewis panicked. "Why?!"

Percival looked at him with a plain face. "I could use the EXP," he lied. "We have no idea what awaits in the next Encounter Zone. Best to farm as much as I can here."

Lewis frowned, looking between the ghost of the Brackenbutcher and its master.

"Doesn’t it help you too?" Percival asked him, a piercing look on his face. "You’ve been sharing the EXP with me because you’re assisting in the kills. I’m only trying to make up for the EXP I’ve lost."

"Okay," Lewis said with a nod of his blonde head. "I’ll start reading the ambient mana again so I’ll be prepared before they show up."

He shut his eyes and entered into the darkness once more. Then, he opened the eyes of his mana core and read the signatures in the air.

Once again, he traveled to where Percival looked. He peered at the lights in his chest region.

Undeniably, there were two spheres of mana glowing there. That was impossible. The Hero had two Classes?!

Pretending to not have seen anything, he looked toward the library, waiting for more Nightwraiths to filter out of their hiding places.

Percival, meanwhile, returned to the floating screen before him. He was yet to decide if he truly cared about this recent development. How beneficial was it to him truly?

For that, he had to study the Demon Summons.

⸢Demon Summons: Demons are different from your customary undead. With no bones to animate and no souls to contract, they only share a similar lineage of existence and a type of mana. But unlike Skeletons or Soul Summons, they are entities forged entirely of pure, hostile dark mana⸥

Percival selected for more details, starting from how to actually claim a Demon. He didn’t assume that he had to wait until every Demon tried to phase through him before he could then subjugate them.

⸢To claim a Demon, you must push your Necromantic energy outwardly, corrupting them and enslaving them by the mere force of your willpower⸥.

⸢By catching their essence and forcefully injecting your Death Mana into their core, you overwrite their native energy (Green) with your own Necromantic energy (Blue). You do not resurrect them; you enslave them⸥.

’So my ⸢Awake⸥ Skill wouldn’t work on them since I’m not raising them from the dead?’ Percival thought. ’What is the command word then?’

⸢Auto Command Word: Enslave⸥

⸢Rename? Yes / No⸥

Percival, not in the mood for vanity, chose to leave it as it was.

⸢Enslave: When activated, a wave of excessive Necromantic energy is spread clashing with the Demons in a particular AoE. Time slows down, creating a concept space where the Necromancer can exert Charisma and Constitution to pull numbers of Demons into his Summon Space, binding them as slaves but never as subjects⸥.

⸢Charisma, Constitution and Mana cost increase the larger the number of Demons and the higher the Demon’s level⸥.

Percival’s brows creased in thought. It seemed simple enough but he had never had to worry about Charisma and Constitution cost when awaking Skeleton or even Soul Summons.

He calculated that the reason was because of the forceful subjugation. The Skeletons and Souls already accepted Percival as their Lord. For these Demons, their Lord—or Goddess—was Asmodea.

To be able to overpower the magic of the Goddess of Creation, and claim control over her minions, a respectable ton of willpower, mana and Constitution was going to be needed.

He understood why the system was specifically warning him in this instance.

However, there was still more Percival hadn’t explored. And this was the most important part.

What did the Demons offer that his Skeletons and Souls didn’t?

The system answered in the next interface.

⸢Demon Summons are entirely mindless. Unlike Skeleton Summons (your loyal, physical grunts) or Soul Summons (your intelligence and tactical minions), Demons cannot comprehend complex strategies or specific commands. You cannot order them to retrieve an object or hold a formation⸥.

Percival wasn’t necessarily sold so far.

⸢They possess a more unique yet functional design. They are biological weapons of chaos⸥.

It continued.

⸢They excel at crowd control, inflicting severe debuffs, and shattering the composure of overwhelming enemies through pure, untamed aggression⸥.

Percival’s eyes widened. ’They’re like Skeleton Soldiers but with powers. Powers that can turn the tides in a difficult battle.’

Percival could issue broad, violent directives such as Swarm, Terrorize, Consume, or Break.

Depending on the Demons he sent, his enemy would surely be distracted, affected and harmed in ways that could allow him to take control of the fight.

They were his wildfire.

Intrigued now, Percival investigated further.

⸢The Cost of Binding: Because they are forcibly enslaved rather than contracted, they constantly resist your control. Summoning and pointing a Demon at an enemy taxes your Charisma and Constitution heavily⸥.

⸢If your concentration breaks, the subjugation may fail and your Demon Summon can break free from your control⸥.

⸢Important Note!⸥.

Percival stared at the red exclamation mark on his screen.

⸢Demon Summons are highly volatile and for this reason, temporary. Once unleashed, they burn hot and fast, fueled by their own chaotic nature. They will eventually fade back into the Summon Space once their directive is fulfilled or their energy is spent, despite your mana⸥.

⸢Current Demon Summons: Nightwraith (1)⸥

"Hero Percival!" Lewis shrieked. "The next wave is here! Get ready! I’ll protect you this time!"

Percival lifted his head as green ghosts spilled into the dark library yet again, vanishing one by one as they prepared for their stealth attacks.