Fire And Brimstone

Zero looked around, carefully examining the bas.e.m.e.nt while ignoring the words of the boy.

It seemed an abandoned house with cobwebs all over the place and the beams of the ceiling burned by an old fire. The inverted pentacle on the ground was drawn with cheap paint, but it was still accurate enough not to leave him any possibility to escape. Aside from this, the demon could not find anything else noteworthy.

"...And then, you'll kill her," the boy finished his sentence.

"What?" the demon asked in puzzlement.

"Were you listening? I want you to kill my teacher," said Isaac.

"Now?" Zero asked once more

"You didn't listen what I was saying, did you? A small demon like you stands no chance against her even if she's a weakling! For now, just spy on her and tell me about the defenses she set up." Isaac said with a solemn expression on his face.

Zero rolled his eyes in annoyance. Then, he stretched out his clawless human hand and tried to reach outside the circle, but an invisible and powerful strength stopped him from doing so.

The boy carefully watched his every movement, slightly confused about the actions of this demon.

When he discovered that the demon had no intention of replying, he cleared his throat and said, "You're strange… all the Imps I saw summoned were acting like crazy and trying to get out of the pentacle… are you already aware of having no chance of getting away?"

"The Imps you 'saw' summoned? Does it mean that I'm the first demon you're summoning?" Zero evilly smiled, while Isaac blushed with shame.

Just as Zero expected, this guy was nothing but a rookie. However, he had yet to understand how they both ended up in such a situation. Then, he asked while grinning and showing his pointed canines, "Master, can I see the contract you used to bind me?"

Without replying, the boy unfolded a scroll he was hiding behind his back and showed it to the demon while keeping it at a certain distance.

"Relax. I'm already here, and only you have the power to release me. Right now, that contract is nothing but a worthless reminder. So, let's see… blah, blah, blah… just like in the aforementioned clause… like established by the Act of Babylon… blah, blah, blah… everything seems in order…" Zero muttered.

"Of course it's in order. I wrote it personally." Isaac replied.

"This explains the bad handwriting." Zero sneered.

Isaac snapped his fingers, and another electric discharge hit Zero's brain, forcing him to kneel. The demon clenched his fists tightly and shut his mouth as to avoid worsening the situation further.

"It seems I'll have to train you properly before making use of you!" the boy said in disdain.

After saying this much, he opened his bag and took out a magnifying glass with a handle made of light wood and several arcane runes drawn upon it. The outer metallic layer of the lens was extremely shining, as though it was radiating light, and the demon immediately recognized what this gadget was from its magical aura… a talisman!

"Hey, what are you planning to do with that thing?" Zero asked.

Isaac pointed the lens toward the entrapped demon, making sure that his twisted figure was right at the center of the lens. The metallic on the outside shone brightly in the instant the young wizard recited its chant. His words were from the world of spirits and full of magical power.

"Ebeteza edeo gimli!" (Shrink this monster!)

Golden light flashed, and a ray of light shot from the lens, hitting the imprisoned Zero right in the c.h.e.s.t.

After a crackling sound of bones, the demon felt that the young boy was getting bigger and bigger, but when the spell finished, he noticed that he was the one that got smaller. Right now, he was around the size of a mouse.

"Hey, that's going overboard!" the demon lamented.

Even Zero felt his high-pitched voice somewhat embarrassing, wishing he could tear apart his own vocal cords.

"Hmph, look who's talking! You're a demon, and someone as cruel as you don't have the right to criticize me!" Isaac said.

While throwing away the now useless talisman, he took out another gadget from his bag, a jar of glass.

Then, just as though he was a spider or some annoying insect, Zero was forced to enter the jar and sealed within. The lid of the jar was of black-colored plastic and had a pentacle engraved on it with several other magical symbols.

The demon knocked on the glass, trying to attract the attention of his new and young master. "How am I supposed to breathe in here?"

"Demons don't need to breathe!" Isaac said coldly.

"But some of us do!" Zero replied.

"In that case, I'll take the risk." Isaac shrugged.

After refusing to get distracted by the demon further, Isaac pushed the jar inside his bag, placing it next to his notebook. Then, he closed it tightly as to avoid the demon seeing what was happening outside.

After completing the ritual, Isaac erased the traces of his presence there. He covered the pentacle on the ground with some dust and blew off the candles one by one. After covering up his traces, he climbed on the pile of boxes place on a huge trunk, and after reaching the top, he moved the curtains away, making the light of the setting sun enter the room.

The red sun highlighted the shapes of the terraced houses in the outskirts of London, coloring all sides of the courtyard Isaac was in of an orange color. The whole city seemed to be ablaze. After turning his head around and looking at the old and burnt mansion, he wondered how it was possible that it didn't crumble already.

The boy shot a glance at his watch, it was already 6:30 PM. Luckily, the old mansion was close to his home. With that, he would be able to return for dinner without looking suspicious...