Summoned into a fantasy world! With a demon lord for a system!
Author: Lavalord115© WebNovel
Tales of Astaria: Chapter 1: Deadly summons
"How did this happen?"
"I don't understand what's going on, so much blood. So much.
-Screams all around-
"What the hell is that thing?!"
-Blood suddenly spraying all over-
"ARRHHHGGG!!!"
Earlier that day...
-Alarm clock ringing-
"Ah shit, I'm late!"
I pulled the covers off and jumped to my feet as quick as I could, throwing my clothes on just as fast.
The day started like any other. Late, as usual, rushing to get ready and running out of the house before my parents could even say have a nice day. Nothing was out of the ordinary other than my cardiovascular system, which was utterly shocking. I had only been running a few minutes and already needed to stop. "I really need to work on my fitness," I said, struggling to catch my breath.
My name is Lucian by the way, currently 19 years old about 5 foot 10 inches in height with blue eyes and medium-length brown hair. Nothing special about me, just another male college student trying to arrive on time.
"Late, as usual, eh Lucian?"
I turned to see my friend Alex. Unlike me, he was athletically fit and quite popular. Taller than me, complete with blond hair and blue eyes, what wasn't to like?
"You know me, Alex," I said, still trying to catch my breath.
"Well, come on." He said, pulling his rucksack over his right shoulder and turning on his heel.
I smiled at him and quickly matched his stride as we walked towards our school.
"Sorry, I was up all night playing that new game, have you tried it yet?"
Alex was too busy texting on his phone to respond, so I just carried on talking.
"I already hit level 15 and unlocked a load of powerful abilities. This one ability lets me..."
"Yeah yeah, what have I told you about staying up all night playing video games," Alex said, not even taking his eyes off of his phone.
I slowly poked my head over his shoulder to see just who he was texting, "Ah now I see why you're so glued to that thing."
"Hey mind your own business!" Alex said, pulling his phone away so I couldn't see.
The two of us started to wrestle over me seeing the phone, but of course, Alex was too strong for me to get around him.
"Pack it in Lucian!" He said laughing as he held my head with one hand and his phone away from me with the other.
I tried to push past him one last time in a final struggle to see. However, he moved at the last second, causing me to fall forwards.
-Lorry beeping its horn-
"Watch out!" Alex shouted as he grabbed the back of my collar, pulling me out of the road.
Not a second later a large lorry soared past the driver leaning out of the window shouting all sorts of insults at the both of us.
We each turned to look at one another, and after a moment of silence we burst out laughing.
"Man, that was close!" I said, falling back on my ass. Alex even put his phone away and offered a hand to help me up.
"I think that's enough fun for one morning. Let's try to get to college in one piece, shall we?"
I nodded in agreement and took his hand standing back to my feet.
"That sounds like a good plan," I said, rubbing the back of my head.
Not long after we arrived at college, safely I might add; my first class was mathematics. None of my friends were in this class with me. I didn't mind though. Next was a free period that all of us had, and I was looking forward to it.
Numbers were one of the few things that I was actually good at other than playing video games. My goal was to become a video game designer and math was one of the subjects I needed to reach that goal.
After class, I made my way to the coffee shop on site. My group and I had our own table (Well it wasn't our table we just sat at the same one every time).
I could see that I was the last to arrive and all the others were already talking amongst themselves. Alex of course, was on his phone, no doubt texting one of his girlfriends. To the left of him was David. He was tall and thin with short black hair and glasses.
He was talking to Aron, who was the short one of our group. No doubt they were talking about the new game Tales of Astaria. It was the latest RPG on the market complete with magic and monsters and boy did I love that kind of thing. To the right of Alex was Jonny. He was also good looking and popular, if not a bit arrogant, but a friend never the less.
I pulled out the free chair and slapped my hands on the table.
"I have arrived!" I shouted as if I was the group commander. The others looked at me and laughed, apart from Alex, who never took his eyes off of his phone.
"It's about time you got here Lucian. Please tell me you have played Tales of Astaria!" David blurted out.
I nodded in excitement and crossed my arms, a broad grin forming on my face. "I reached level 15 last night."
"What! How in the hell did you do that?" Aron spat out. Between the five of us, myself Aron and David were the nerds. We had all been friends since a young age, but now we were getting older Jonny and Alex had started to become less interested in games and more interested in other things, like girls.
"I swear all you guys talk about are games. Aren't you guys ever going to grow up?" Jonny said as he ran his hand over his slicked-back black hair.
"Let them be Jonny," Alex said, still not taking his eyes off of his phone. Jonny sighed, looking at Alex and then back to us, he stood up slapping his legs and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"I'm gonna grab a coffee any of you nerds want one?"
"I'll take a mocha," Aron said with a big grin.
"I second that," David said.
"Looks like this round is on you, I'll take a latte," I said, leaning back in my chair getting comfy.
"Fuck me, why don't I just buy the whole coffee shop," Jonny said sarcastically.
"I'll take a latte too," Alex said, taking the time to actually look away from his phone for once.
Jonny frowned and turned around, heading to the barista to place the order when suddenly all five of us were enveloped by an immensely bright light. The light was so powerful that it pulled all of us out of our chairs and Jonny off of his feet into the air.
"What the hell is going on?!" Jonny shouted.
The rest of us were equally scared and puzzled by what was happening. What was most strange was that everyone else around us didn't seem to be affected, nor did they even seem to see what was happening.
David suddenly started to dissolve into thin air, leaving no trace of him.
"David!" Aron shouted, reaching a hand out to try and grab him before he disappeared.
"What in the hell is going on!" Alex shouted as Aron also started to dissolve.
"H-Help me!" He shouted in desperation before he too vanished.
"Take my hands!" Alex shouted as he looked over at me and to Jonny.
I wriggled through the air and was able to grab Alex's hand, clutching it tightly. Jonny did the same thing with Alex's other hand, the three of us bracing ourselves as we started to dissolve the same way the others had.
"AARRHHGG!" we all screamed as we vanished into thin air. I was enveloped in darkness, unable to see or hear anything, unable even to feel anything.
As swiftly the sense of feeling nothing started it was over as I landed hard on my back, pain signals firing the sensation all too real. I opened my eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the dimly lit tomb I now found myself in.
"What in the world was that?" I said as I slowly got up to my feet, taking in my surroundings.
The others also mumbled and slowly got back up. We were all here together in what seemed to be a large stone tomb lit by large fire pits along the perimeters.
"Is everyone alright?" Alex said taking charge.
"Alright, just what in the hell is going on?" Jonny asked.
Before anyone could say anything else, a massive explosion shook the tomb. One of the walls suddenly erupting, shaking the ground, knocking us all over. Vast chunks of stone and rock were flung crashing hard into the ground, the impact whipping dust into the air masking our sight of what was happening.
"ARRRGGHHH!!!"
I tried to look over to where the scream came from, but while the dust still settled it was hard to make anything out. I pushed my way through, coughing a little as the smoke irritated my lungs. I made my way towards the screams as they got louder and louder. A large stone slab had landed on Jonny's leg crushing it completely. The dust had settled now and everyone could see what had happened. Frozen in fear, we failed to move as Jonny wriggled and squirmed in pain.
"Now hero's! Take up arms and let us defeat this demon lord! It cost me a lot of mana to summon you here, but with your help, we shall defeat this demon!" A mighty voice bellowed. We all turned around to see a large shining man dressed in golden armour. His hair was long and gold, and he was glowing in what seemed to be a powerful aura.
"Who the hell is that!" David shouted through mumbled words.
Scared and confused, I did the only thing I could at this moment. I turned around to look at my friends. "We have to help Jonny!"
"What are you waiting for? We have to help him!" I shouted, trying to get them to move.
My words fell short as a colossal blade cut David and Aron in half right before my eyes. The shock wave from the swing sent both Alex and me flying through the air. My back crashed hard into a piece of debris, bouncing off of it and landing hard onto the ground.
All I could hear was a ringing in my ears as I hit the floor. I managed to look up to see half of Aron's mutilated body laying on the floor in front of me. The sight physically made me sick as a mixture of blood and vomit left my mouth.
"T-This can't b-be real?"
"Heros what on Astaria are you doing! We must band together to defeat this demon!" The golden man screamed at us. His gaze turned cold once he saw that three of us had already fallen.
"How can this be?" He said to himself.
Alex quickly ran over to me, ignoring the stranger and helping me up.
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but we can't stay here!" He screamed as he pretty much started pushing me in the opposite direction of the golden man.
It was then that in the distance its form caught my eye. A massive beast with large horns curling over its head stood on two legs, digging its hooves into the stone floor. Its body was large and muscular, black fur covering its dark blue skin. Its head looked like a goat and humans mixed. The kind of monster that would haunt your worst nightmares.
"W-What is that thing?" I said, almost failing to get the words out as I felt my knees go weak.
The beast snarled so loud that I could feel my body almost give way to the pressure of its voice. It moved at speed my eyes struggled to follow and I watched helplessly as the golden man and monster collided in vicious combat, shockwaves from their swords clashed causing the tomb around us to start collapsing.
"We have to go now!" Alex shouted as he grabbed my arm, pulling me with him.
I struggled to get my legs working but tried my best. Just as they started moving, I caught my foot on something and tripped. It was a human leg, one of David's from the look of the shoe.
I felt my stomach twist in horror again and looked at Alex receiving a grim expression.
"Come on Lucian we need to run!" He shouted, trying to help me up again.
The monster had gained the advantage in the battle and struck the gold man a hard blow which sent him flying over our heads crashing through one of the walls of the tomb.
"Look out!" Alex shouted as he pushed me out of the way of some falling debris, saving my life again.
I recovered. franticly searching for Alex.
"Alex!" I shouted, trying to see through the dust.
His scream gave away his position, as did the crash of the monster landing in front of us. I fell back from the shockwave, coughing as the dust of the broken brimstone filled my lungs yet again.
"A-Alex!" I shouted through my cough.
I watched the beast scoop him from the ground in his massive hand. His eyes fixed on Alex as if he were studying him.
"No! Let me go!" Alex screamed as he kicked his legs, trying to get free.
The monster smiled at him and licked its lips. "You are supposed to be the mighty heroes summoned to defeat me?" It said giving a deep and sinister laugh.
Alex tried with all of his might to get free but to no avail. As he wriggled around franticly his eyes made contact with my own. His face filled with terror as the monster's grip around him became so tight he could bearly breath.
"R-Run Lucian, save yourself!" He spat out using the last of his breath.
The beast didn't waste any more time and ripped Alex's head off with his fangs, letting Alex's blood spray from his neck for effect.
Time slowed down as I watched Alex's body hit the ground next to me like a ragdoll. The vision of his headless body etched into my mind in a mere second. And I knew it would never fade.
"How did this happen?"
"I don't understand what's going on, so much blood. So much..."
I remained still for what felt like forever. Jonny's dying moaning in the distance snapped me out of my trance and the monster turned to look at him.
"I take it that was one of your friends?" It said through its razor-sharp fangs. Its voice deep and demonic.
"You are no heroes." The monster said, turning to look at me with its blood-red eyes. It drew its massive sword from its back, letting the weight of the blade crack the stone floor under it before pointing the tip at me.
This was it. It was all over. I was going to die just like my friends had before my very eyes.
"David, Aron, Jonny, Alex... I'm sorry, I couldn't save you." I said softly to myself.
The demon raised its sword, ready to end my existence. "Time to die little hero."
"TAKE THIS!!!" A mighty voice bellowed from behind me.
A substantial white beam of light hit the beast in the centre of its chest, clearly taking it by surprise. The light left a gaping hole, dropping the creature to one knee, leaving it severely weakened.
"How could I let my guard down!" It growled as it clutched at the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Blast divine magic!" It roared coughing up black blood.
The golden man leapt into the air, his sword glowing in the same bright light that had just punched a hole in the beasts chest.
"My divine magic will stop you from regenerating! Thanks to the failed summons I was able to catch you off guard." The mighty hero said as he turned to look at me for a mere second.
"Time to finish this!" He shouted, plunging his sword into the monster's shoulder down into its heart.
The monster howled in pain as its black blood sprayed all over the place, everything it touched started to melt as if its blood was some sort of acid.
The tomb was shaking violently now and seemed as if it was going to collapse any moment. The golden man pulled his sword out of the beast flicking the blood off the blade onto the ground.
He took only a moment to look around at the bodies lying on the ground before he walked over to me.
"I thank you, human... If not for you and your friends I would be the one dead now. You are clearly no hero... Just a scared child who wants to go back home."
He turned his back on me and started to levitate in the air.
"I am the god Khazotz! and I do not summon failures."He said as his mighty aura exploded, giving off a blinding light.
The power of his aura caused the tomb to shake, and it started to collapse around me.
"I'm afraid you will die here. You see... The others would never let me live this down."
"W-Wait! Please!" I shouted, desperately reaching out my hand. But the golden man simply flew higher into the air turning his gaze away from me.
"Fear not mortal child. It will all be over soon." He said before he disappeared in a flash of white light.
That asshole really left me here to die. How could he... He's the reason. It's his fault they died. What kind of God would just leave you to rot?
"Fuck you..." I whispered under my breath. "FUCK YOU! I SWEAR YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!" I screamed with all of the air in my lungs. Stone slabs started to land all around me as I became buried in the crushing weight of stone and earth.
"...."
-Sound of large rocks hitting the ground-
Time passed slowly; each breath I took was getting harder. I could feel pain in my arm. I think it was broken. Fueled by nothing but rage as the memories of my dead friends played in my mind over and over.
I would trade anything for a chance to see that so-called God on his knees, begging for forgiveness. Even then that would never be enough.
"...."
Flashing images of Alex and the others continued to fill my head as I could feel it getting harder and harder to breathe. Deaths fingertips once again crawling up my spine, ready to take me.
"Do you want revenge, little hero?" A deep voice echoed in my mind.
I didn't need to see who spoke to me, the deep voice still fresh in my mind.
"I can grant your revenge..." The voice spoke again.
"What are you!" I shouted using the little oxygen left in my lungs.
"Allow me to introduce myself formally... I am Satan. One of the seven demon lords and destroyer of worlds!"
"Y-You killed them... You killed all of my friends, you bastard!"
The voice gave a small chuckle.
"A demon lord by nature... But ask yourself, who summoned you here? Who is really the cause of all of this? Who made you fight? Who allowed your friends to die so he could live? You yourself know the true culprit!"
I tried to shake my head still trapped in the rubble. The memories flashing over and over.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" I screamed.
"This is your only chance to survive. Your only chance at revenge..." The demon said, slowly letting the word sink in.
I took a moment and soon realised I had run out of air. I was starting to suffocate and had a minute at most.
"How?" I asked softly.
"You must fuse with me and allow my soul to enter your body. The damage from the holy magic is preventing my body from regenerating and I will soon succumb to my wound. If you allow my soul to enter you, you will gain all of my powers and abilities. And together we will escape death!"
This was it. Time was pretty much out. What choice did I have? Die trapped beneath the rubble, or allow the soul of a demon to take over my body?
"Ok... do it!" I said gasping as the last of my air had run out.
Suddenly the rubble around me was blasted off, freeing me. I fell to my hands and knees, breathing the free air, gorging on it.
"There is little time. Quickly human, we must complete the merging if we are to survive."
The demon was right. Time was running out; the disruption of the rubble had caused the tomb to shake once again. I scrambled over to the massive demon's body.
My left arm had been broken and crushed from the imprisonment of stone; I did my best to avoid any more injuries and fought through the pain best I could.
"What do I do?" I asked frantically.
I stood clutching my arm next to the demons head. The falling debris had crushed most of his body, but his right arm and head remained free.
"You must ingest a part of my mana into your being for the merger to begin."
I looked at the demon confused. "Just how in the hell do I do that."
"You must consume my flesh. Quickly there is no time!"
I understood, only taking a small pause before the crashing sound of stone on stone forced me to move. Opening my mouth slowly, I sank my teeth into the demons exposed flesh, ripping as much as I could off starting to chew.
It tasted foul and I could feel the blood burning my mouth. It felt as if I was trying to eat fire itself. Forcing myself to swallow the flesh, letting it slide down my throat. Blood spilling out of my mouth as the flesh burnt my gullet all the way to my core, suddenly I felt my body go into spasm.
"ARRGHHHH!" I howled.
It felt as if my body was being ripped apart from the inside. Never in my life had I felt pain like this. My insides were burning and I felt as if I was melting from the inside out. I Collapsed to my hands and knees blood splatting from my mouth, covering the cold stone floor beneath me.
"What is happening to me!" I said, looking at the demon, my vision becoming blurred.
"Your soul is mine!" The demon hissed letting loose an evil chuckle.
"No... You. I... You tricked me!" My world was becoming black once more as my body continued to eat away at its self.
"You really think I would allow a pathetic human to control my power! Once my soul fully enters your body, it will belong to me."
The pain was too much to bear. I could feel my consciousness fading rapidly; all of my hopes and dreams fading along with it.
-Sound of crashing rocks-
"Your time is u-"
The demon was interrupted as a large stone pillar landed on his face crushing the beast's skull killing him. His blood oozed covering my body, burning the flesh from my legs. I was in too much pain already to even feel my flesh melting from my bones.
My eyes grew so heavy that I could no longer keep them open.
"Looks like neither of us will make it out of here..." I said using the last of my breath, a small smile forming on my lips before the cold stone from above crushed me once and for all, turning my world dark once more.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone