Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

Frits! The moment Angelica had the tiara in her hand and she lifted it off its ornate display, an alarm blared. “Master, I have the tiara. Cast Return please!” A moment passed and nothing happened. “Master, Return please. Lustre, get me the hell out of here!” All pleasantries were gone. She needed to evacuate immediately.

Gelic glanced back over to the guard in the corner and found his eyes staring back at her. Assuming he was just looking at the vacant display, she jumped down, but his eyes followed. Frits! He can see me?! That was bad. The guard had Magical Proficiency—a Summoner? Well, instead of sicking another Demon on her, he instead pulled out a gun that had been hiding from her point of view behind his body, and a big gun at that, looking more like an antique blunderbuss, likely to better match the museum’s chic.

Scuff it! Return! She wasn’t asking for one this time, no Angelica was making her own call as a Summoner herself. So what if she ended up in her country thousands of miles away? She’d rather make the long ass journey back to Migrore than get shot full of holes. It would be Order Obligation’s problem to make her fulfill it at that point, or Lustre could stop being an absolute dungspawn and use the damn spell if she got impatient.

And yet, nothing happened. The shot rang out from the long rifle, but she went nowhere. Well, she went somewhere, bouncing forward once to try and save herself. A sharp pain surged through her back. One of her nubby wings had been clipped by the shot, and when she looked back grungy ichor was leaking onto the floor. “Friiiiiiiiiiitttttssss!”

Gelic bounced forward again, completely dodging the next shot. There were no more pauses after that. Bound after bound, she hopped her way out the room, but the firing pursued her. The guard was out for blood, or whatever she had inside of her body since it certainly wasn’t the usual vibrant red. Each movement pained her, but it eased up faster than she expected.

She tried to clear her mind. What should she do, just keep bolting toward the exit? Maybe she should try to find somewhere to hide? While her Demon body wasn’t exactly small enough to hide behind any crevice, certainly there’d be a good spot, somewhere, right? Trying to find one might be a bit problematic since the guard was hot on her teeny tiny tail.

Oh, maybe she should turn into a human? If Angelica could just shake him for a moment, she could activate Transfiguration, don the same guard’s uniform, and then act like she had heard the alarm and was also checking things out? That sounded pretty risky. Dammit, no, she’d still have the tiara in hand, and no Demon corpse that she could claim to have pried the piece from.

That raised a point—the Quillaced Tiara was the problem. If she chucked it, maybe she’d stopped being pursued. At the very least, it would give her a moment to get some distance. To hell with Lustre and her stupid Order! Gelic turned to the guard and attempted to pelt the treasure right at him. But it went nowhere, not leaving her grasp in the slightest. Since she had it in hand, the Contract wouldn’t let her just throw it away, because it was a completely unsound decision, according to the will of her master.

This made the Imp panic once more, getting a bit more erratic in her bounces. That actually worked well, allowing her to build up more momentum. She managed to round a corner and into the maze-like gallery without being fully watched. It gave her a moment to hide, choosing to wiggle herself by the butt of a statue that was sitting on a rock just about her size, squeezing between it and the wall.

Angelica didn’t know how long that hiding spot would be good for, so she quickly pulled up Scrying eye. A quick glance at her Skills showed that only Stab had any remote usefulness in this situation. But even if she could get something to attack with, she wasn’t about to bring a stabbing utensil to a gun fight. So she quickly shifted over to the Skill Weave. Surely there had to be something there that could help her.

Of the Skills she knew about, there was Toxic Imbuement. That could actually work really well, poison the guard to death or disablement, assuming she could get close enough. Since the man wasn’t her master, she’d feel worse about taking such measures. However, he was trying to kill her without remorse, so there’s no reason she should have any either. But it cost 3 GP, so it was no good.

New to the Weave, connected to Poison Eater now that she’d unlocked it, was Poison Kiss. Gelic didn’t really want to time reading all the Skill details, so she nixed the idea from the name alone. It sounded like a worse version of Toxic Imbuement, limited to kissing. Plus, it was 2 GP, so worthless for her right now. That, and why would she want to kiss the man trying to hunt her down?!

Angelica mentally backed out of the Pestilence Attunement section entirely and diverted to the next closest gap she saw in the clouds. Apparently that was Famine Attunement, her eyes landing on Hunger Resistance. It also had two branching skill cards, but one cost 4 GP, which she was now checking first, so she didn’t even bother reading the name. But the other was 1 GP! Yet… Second Stomach? That was a weird name, indeed. Again, she didn’t want to waste time reading what it did, and didn’t see how any sort of stomach or eating skill could help her right now. Maybe she’d come back to it if there was nothing else.

Ah, here we go! Branching from Stab in Destruction Attunement were two 1 GP skills. Except… they were disappointing. Her options were Bash and Swipe, basically the blunt and slashy alternatives to Stab. All close-range, all useless. There was actually a third card connected, that cost a whopping 6 GP. Despite the urgency of her situation, Gelic couldn’t help but take a peak, curious what sort of Skill would cost so much.

[Hybrid Skill: Seeking Projectile | Unlock: 6 GP | Projectiles will automatically seek a target until they hit]

There was a bit more to the description, a lot more, actually, but the thief didn’t have the time to spare. A damn shame, though, because it would be an ideal skill for this situation. All around, there were multiple things she could throw at the guard, including many ancient-looking weapons, but anything would work, really, just enough to knock the guard down so she could get away. Alas, maybe in the future, assuming she could get out of this alive. She’d lost a decent dent of Health from her wing wound, not enough to be life threatening, but it made her fear what a more critical injury could do.

Hang on… this could work! Angelica felt a washing anxiousness and anticipation when she moved over to Glacial Attunement. There was only one skill tethered to Cold Resistance, but it met the cost requirement.

[Active Skill: Frost Touch | Unlock: 1 GP | Any objects touched are coated in a layer of frost. Cost: MP Drain. Frost intensity and application rate scale with Skill Level and Glacial Attunement. Growth scales with Might and Creativity.]

At first glance, it didn’t sound too impressive. Angelica already had cold hands, but this would just make them extremely cold hands. For warding off her hunter, she could give him frostbite, or maybe gunk up the gun so it didn’t work. Both of those options would require getting close, though, so they weren’t really options. However, an idea came to mind of a completely other way this could help her. It was definitely risky and chaotic, but since it scaled with Creativity, the one stat she was actually proficient with, she was a bit more confident.

Still, was it the best option? She hadn’t checked every clearing in the foggy Weave yet. It was doubtful that she could get anything immediately useful from Gnostic Attunement, but both Fraud and Fabrication could have potential. Gelic heard the steps of the guard getting closer, so she poked her head out to check, only to be faced with the blunderbuss pointing straight at her. It fired, forcing her to duck back. The shot clipped her horn, causing a chunk to break away, and another hit to her Health, though a minor one.

Screw it! There’s no more time to hesitate.

[Frost Touch Lv.1 unlocked]

[Might increased]

[Creativity increased]

[Glacial Attunement increased]

The Demon leapt from her hiding spot, narrowly dodging another shot that pierced into the statue. She hit the ground with a thud, landing on her butt, but that was what she wanted. Activate Frost Touch! She had actually turned on the ice-maker while still in the air, exuding it from every part of her body, and as soon as she touched the solid floor, a layer of frost spread all around her on the ground, creeping out a few inches from her body.

Coupled with her momentum, the lower-frictioned floor became a slippery slide, and she scooted forward on her own. Angelica shot forward, moving faster than ever, having to hold back a giddy laugh as she zoomed down the hall and out of the maze with startling speed. The next blast of bullet shrapnel missed her wildly, since she was moving too fast, and the guard had to start sprinting to catch up to the Demon that was sledding her way to freedom.

Sadly, despite the near non-existent friction, she did eventually start to slow about halfway down the hall. So Gelic tried to jump, bounce once more to get the momentum going, but since her Frost Touch was still active, she didn’t get any form of footing, and her attempt at a hop just made her slip forward and start rolling, sending her rotund body careening straight down the hall like a bowling ball.

Strike! She crashed into the fancy suit of armor that was stationed against the wall where the hall ended, where anyone in control of their body would have turned down the perpendicular corridor. Even if Angelica had been able to see it coming—basically blinded due to her face spinning like a washing machine—she was moving too fast to have ever stopped in time.

The armor came apart immediately, falling on her like rubble. It felt heavy, crushing her, but it very well may have actually saved her life. The next shot was a direct hit. Bits of shrapnel went straight into the Imp’s body. Her Health plummeted, down to dangerously low, but she wasn’t dead yet, since some of her shielding had stopped her from taking the full blast. It hurt, though, damn it hurt. It hurt, it hurt so bad, and her head felt woozy from the pain and whatever sort of vital fluid she was leaking. The Demon Growth System even gave her a warning.

[Health: 14% | Situation Critical | Escape Recommended]

I’m trying! One more good hit and she would really be dead. And from what she understood, as a Demon, there’d be no second chances, no after life, just nothingness. All for a piece of gaudy jewelry she was now convincing herself that she didn’t really like that much. Would she really be able to escape? Yes, Frost Touch could definitely be the key, but since she had virtually no practice with it, could she really learn fast enough to keep out of danger?

That was when Gelic realized she was being stupid. She didn’t need to be adept with her Skill. If left to her own devices, yes, she might be screwed. But she wasn’t alone. No, she had her Summoner self. But how to give the Order? It would have to be a named one to survive, but she didn’t exactly want to start spouting her true name in front of someone trying to kill her.

Instinctually, she knew that Orders had to be spoken. The Summoner couldn’t just whimsically think them and expect their Demon to obey. But… what about mental words, the telepathic link through Bound? Would that work? Lustre had given all the orders verbally, yet it felt possible. But then there were her special circumstances. Would the command count as a thought or a transmission? Well… there was no harm in trying.

Angelica, utilize Frost Touch to escape from this museum alive!

[Order accepted without resistance | Current Contract: Escape alive]