"Fill it up, fill it up, fill it up, fill it up, wait, was that four times? Ah, damn… guess I missed one. Oh well, just one short… right? Hm…"
In a dimly lit living room, the serial killer Ryunosuke Uryu hummed softly to himself as he chanted the summoning incantation, dragging blood-soaked fingers across the floor to draw a crude magic circle.
Perhaps the ritual was meant to be solemn. Sacred, even. But that kind of suffocating seriousness simply didn't suit Ryunosuke's style.
He much preferred feeling good over getting things "right."
To his surprise, the summoning circle had taken shape exactly as the book described, on the very first try.
"If I knew today would go this smoothly, I wouldn't have wasted all that time prepping!"
After all, he had gone to the trouble of killing the father, mother, and eldest daughter of this household for the blood.
Yes, this wasn't his first time.
Before today, he had already "silenced" three others in the city in an attempt to draw the summoning circle described in the tome. But every time, he had failed, never enough blood.
"Fill it up, fill it up, fill it up, fill it up, fill it up, there! Five times! OK!"
He artistically smeared the rest of the blood across the walls, then placed the so-called "Demon's Bone" in the center of the summoning circle.
Perfect. The ritual was ready.
Turning away from his work, Ryunosuke approached a young boy cowering in the corner, alive, gagged, and duct-taped from head to toe.
He leaned in to observe the boy's face. The child's eyes were locked on the mangled corpses of his family, with tears of fear and agony silently streaming down his cheeks.
"Hey, kid. You think demons are real?"
Ryunosuke tilted his head theatrically, pretending to ponder the question.
Of course, he didn't expect a reply. The kid's mouth was sealed. He just wanted to savor the deepening fear in the boy's trembling body.
"The papers and magazines always call me a demon, y'know. But doesn't that seem weird to you? I mean, the number of people I've killed? A single bomb could easily outdo me."
Kids were the best. Ryunosuke loved kids.
Adults were pathetic when they cried, disgraceful and disgusting. But when children did it? It was innocent. Adorable. Even bedwetting was forgiven because of age.
"Ah, whatever… Let them call me a demon. But if real demons do exist in this world, then isn't it kinda rude to them? I mean, calling me a demon is like false advertising, don't you think? It's unfair to the real thing. So I figured, why not try to summon one and let it decide for itself? That way, if there's truly a demon out there, I can step aside respectfully."
He grew more animated as he spoke, almost as if he were bonding with the terrified child, though of course, it was entirely one-sided.
Normally quiet and expressionless, Ryunosuke only became talkative when surrounded by blood, especially the blood of those near death.
The only reason he'd spared the boy was because the previous victims had produced enough blood for the circle. Nothing more.
He figured he'd come up with a more artistic way to kill the child after the ritual succeeded.
"Honestly, I never believed in demons before. But this one time, when I went back home, I found something weird in my family's old storage: a so-called 'Demon's Bone.' Looks like a chunk of jagged black glass, but it's got this black flame inside… and when I hold it, I can feel pure hatred and bloodlust pulsing through it. If this thing isn't demonic, I don't know what is."
"And then, I found this book. A real summoning ritual. So I figured, why not try it for real?"
"But y'know, if a demon does show up, we can't just sit here and have a tea party, right? So, kid… if Mr. Demon actually appears, how 'bout you try getting killed for us? Just to test the waters."
"...!"
Even a child could understand what he meant.
The boy shook violently, eyes wide with terror, unable to scream. Ryunosuke chuckled, thrilled by the reaction. His entire body buzzed with a sick, euphoric excitement.
"I wonder how demons kill people? Do they eat you whole? Tear you limb from limb? Either way… it'd be such a unique experience! Totally worth seeing, OW!"
A sudden jolt of pain snapped him back to reality.
His right hand stung, as if it had been plunged into acid, even though nothing had touched it.
The pain faded quickly, but the burning sensation left his skin tingling.
"The hell…?"
When he looked at the back of his hand, he saw it, an eerie, tattoo-like mark he hadn't noticed before.
"Whoa!"
But instead of fear or confusion, Ryunosuke admired it.
He had no idea what it meant, but the symbol, a trio of serpents coiling around each other, was hypnotic. It looked awesome. Cool. Like a piece of art.
Just as he was admiring it, a wind stirred behind him.
A breeze…?
In this sealed, windowless room, air movement was impossible. And yet,
The stillness shattered. A gust turned into a gale, which spiraled into a roaring whirlwind, tearing the living room apart.
The magic circle on the floor began to glow with a soft phosphorescence. Ryunosuke stared, wide-eyed.
Instead of fear, he felt excitement.
"Mr. Demon… Are you actually going to show up?!"
The whirlwind intensified. TVs and vases smashed against the walls. Lightning flickered at the center of the glowing circle where the Demon's Bone had been placed.
Ryunosuke stood watching, like a child at a magic show.
This was curiosity, pure, electrifying curiosity.
He once felt that same thrill toward death, but over time, through countless murders, that fascination had faded. But now…
Flash.
Then, BOOM!
A deafening thunderclap shook his body, as though lightning had struck through his chest.
In that moment, the strange bloodline magic long dormant in Ryunosuke's family, something called a "Magic Circuit", awoke inside him.
The external energy channeled through him, activated his circuit, then flowed back outward… toward the summoning circle.
That was what should have happened.
But at the last second, the Demon's Bone, which had merely been intended as a catalyst, changed everything.
A massive pull surged from the artifact. It devoured all of the magical energy that had just flowed through Ryunosuke.
Without that energy, the entity trying to cross over from another world lost its anchor, and before it could fully manifest, it was engulfed in a sudden black flame.
The flame flared, fed by what it had consumed. The Demon's Bone cracked, split apart, and from it, black smoke billowed.
The smoke and flames twisted together, forming the shape of a humanoid figure.
A body made of bandage-like wrappings. No face. No features. Two flaming wings unfurled behind it.
It looked like a demon born from despair itself.
"Bea… beautiful! So beautiful!! Is that really a demon?! A real demon… is this stunning?!"
Ryunosuke had no idea what had just happened, or what he had lost.
All he saw was a being that perfectly matched his dark sense of beauty.
Eyes gleaming, he stepped forward and pointed to the cowering child.
"Mr. Demon, this is my offering. A gift for you. I hope it pleases you!"
The being turned, looking from the child to Ryunosuke.
Then-
It screamed.
A mind-shattering roar ripped through the air, and the black fire that had once burned calmly exploded.
"Demon… KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!!!"
The figure lunged forward. Its massive four-fingered claw seized Ryunosuke's throat.
The fire surged.
There was no time for him to scream. No time to beg.
The flame melted his vocal cords, snapped his spine, and reduced his entire body to ash before he could blink.
And then, the fire returned, flowing back into the "demon."
Something had been satisfied.
The black flames dimmed. The smoke condensed, thickening into shape.
Bone formed first.
Then muscle. Organs. Skin. Hair.
And slowly, from the black fog…
A naked human body began to take shape.
The Ajin boy once named Yuuki Sato, after surviving the destruction of a world and drifting through the void…
was reborn in a brand new one.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters