TESWKM 28

The beings of Pandemonium—the only refuge in the underworld—formed contracts with those who possessed dark power and could use dark magic, lending them their strength.

In return, they took the dark power that served as their sustenance. Because of that, summoning itself consumed an enormous amount of energy for a dark mage.

Especially in my case—since my dark power was unusually strong—when I first learned summoning, I ended up calling forth the King of Pandemonium. Ever since, every time I summoned that guy, almost all my dark power would be drained, and I would inevitably collapse.

Fortunately, I usually fainted only after the dangerous situations had already ended, so I’d never been in real danger because of it.

“What… is that…?”

Teor, who had been fighting the ancient monster, stared at Pandeum with wide eyes and asked me.

Knowing his personality, he would definitely tell me not to get in his way, so I forced an awkward smile and replied,

“A summon that doesn’t listen to me.”

“A summon?”

Teor whipped his head toward me, clearly startled.

“Yes. Dark magic includes summoning… Ah, there’s no separate summoning for the darkness attribute here, is there?”

“What is summoning?”

He looked at me with confusion.

Come to think of it, summoning must be unfamiliar to the nobles of this world.

Still, even if it wasn’t exactly the same as dark magic, there was a dark sorcerer later in the original story who summoned the King of Monsters—so it wasn’t an ability that didn’t exist here at all.

Taking this chance, I decided to explain summoning in detail to Teor, hoping it might help him even a little when that dark sorcerer appears in the future.

Of course, I couldn’t tell him about Pandemonium being an underworld where beings live by feeding on dark power, so I kept it vague and easy to understand.

“It’s a summon I came to know by chance. It’s a being that lives by consuming my dark power.”

Though his real sustenance was something else, all living beings crave delicious food—and Pandeum apparently liked feeding on dark power. That was how our contract began.

“Anyway, I feed him my dark power, and in return, he fights for me.”

“I see.”

“So don’t worry—just watch. He’s the strongest in the world he comes from, Pandemonium. The one and only king.”

At my words, Teor’s eyes widened slightly.

He seemed surprised that I could summon the King of Pandemonium.

Someday, when I can reveal that I’m a transmigrator… I should tell him just how powerful I used to be among dark mages.

With that thought, I watched as Pandeum battled the ancient monster.

But something felt off.

With his strength, he should’ve subdued that monster instantly and turned it into an ancient magic stone—yet for some reason, the fight kept dragging on.

Teor seemed to notice it too and asked with concern,

“That… Pandemonium king. Are you sure he’s the strongest? At this rate, he might die.”

‘What’s going on? Is it because this isn’t my original body?’

Clicking my tongue in irritation, I drew attack and defense spells one after another with my bloodied finger to assist Pandeum.

Seeing this, Teor also rushed forward, fighting the ancient monster with his long shadow blade.

Pandeum’s pride seemed slightly wounded by our interference, but perhaps realizing he couldn’t handle it alone, he began coordinating with Teor.

Fortunately, the combination of me, Teor, and Pandeum managed to defeat the ancient monster.

I quickly picked up the golden ancient magic stone left behind and slipped it into my inner pocket instead of my bag.

Teor glanced at me, and I smiled reassuringly.

“I’ll sell this separately and split it with you, so don’t worry.”

“Keep it. I don’t mind.”

“[Just where did you summon me, Master?]”

At that moment, Pandeum landed on the ground, folding his massive black wings, his face twisted into a deep scowl.

“Oh, I’ll explain. A lot’s happened.”

“[Your appearance has changed.]”

“Oh, uh… really? Did I get prettier while you weren’t looking?”

I glanced at Teor and began speaking to Pandeum in my mind.

‘I transmigrated. I died.’

‘What?’

At the mention of my death, Pandeum’s expression hardened.

I explained how my close friend—a fellow dark mage who had a contract with Demohim, Pandeum’s right-hand—had betrayed me.

After dying at their hands, I woke up in this body. Thankfully, I could still use my dark magic, which was why I could summon him.

Pandeum replied that dark power originates from the soul, so even if I died and entered another body, it wouldn’t disappear.

That made me visibly relieved.

‘That’s good to hear… But you seem weaker than before?’

At my question, Pandeum’s face twisted immediately.

He was handsome, but with that scowl, he looked more like a thug. Maybe it was because Teor—who was the textbook definition of handsome—was standing next to him.

‘Are you asking because you truly don’t know? It’s because you summoned me from another world.’

‘What? That made you weaker?’

‘Of course. This is not the world where I made my contract with you. Even if I can be summoned, I cannot use even a quarter of my power here.’

That hit me like a bolt from the blue.

“What? Then what do we do?!”

I shouted out loud without realizing it, causing Teor to stare at me in surprise.

‘Ah.’

I awkwardly smiled at him as he looked like he was about to say something.

Then Pandeum frowned again and said,

‘Why are you asking me that, Master?’

He snapped, saying I was the one who summoned him here.

Thankfully, we were still communicating mentally.

‘No, explain properly. Does that mean there’s no point in summoning you?’

‘What do you mean there’s no point?’

‘You’re ridiculously weak right now. Weak enough that I don’t need to summon you.’

At my blunt words, Pandeum’s expression stiffened.

Well—it was true.

As I raised an eyebrow with a “So what?” look, Teor watched us curiously.

To him, it probably looked like we were just glaring at each other.

‘Anyway, since you dragged me into another world, it can’t be helped.’

‘Then go back. Stop nibbling away at my dark power.’

‘However, there is a way for me to regain my strength.’

‘Really? What is it?’

My eyes widened as I stepped closer to him, but Pandeum took a step back, raising his hand.

“[Stay there. Talk from there.]”

Flustered, he ended up speaking out loud—just like I had earlier.

Teor glanced between us in confusion.

So I reluctantly spoke aloud,

“What, am I going to eat you?”

“[Make a second contract with someone in this world who possesses dark power.]”

“A second contract?”

“[Yes. Fortunately, I am the strongest king in Pandemonium, so even if summoned here, I can exist without issue.]”

“Uh-huh. But that’s probably because I’m the strongest among dark mages.”

“[No, it’s because I’m the strongest—]”

“So what’s this second contract with another human?”

I quickly cut him off before he could start bragging again.

At my question, Pandeum explained seriously,

“[Exactly as it sounds. Form a second contract with someone from this world.]”

‘But I’m the only dark mage here.’

At that, Pandeum turned his gaze toward Teor.

I followed his gaze, and Teor blinked in confusion at the sudden attention.

“[This one smells… delicious.]”

“What?”

Teor frowned instantly.

Pandeum looked at him with complete sincerity.

“[He smells far better than my master. He must possess dark power several times stronger.]”

“That’s not dark power, it’s—”

‘—an attribute unique to this world.’

“It’s called the darkness attribute… similar, I guess.”

I carefully filtered my words so Teor wouldn’t hear anything he shouldn’t.

“[Then I can consume it. Let’s make a contract, human.]”

“Wait—you’re jumping straight to that?!”

I quickly grabbed Teor’s wrist and pulled him behind me, shielding him from Pandeum’s greedy gaze.

Even though Teor was much taller, and Pandeum could still see him clearly, at least I stood between them.

That should prevent any accidents—like Pandeum losing control and devouring Teor’s darkness attribute.

…Though the way Pandeum licked his lips didn’t exactly make him look harmless.

I stared at him seriously.

“Hey. You’re not eating anything. Wait, Pandeum.”