Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

Gelic transferred three more batches of food to her stomach, making her want to barf since it was way too much. But having more in her gut provided more healing, so she’d bear it. And regrettably, that was the last of the food she had stored. Ever since the heart matter with Grahj where she’d been forced to dump her stockpile, it felt like a waste to keep too much, especially because she hadn’t been using it.

Another, smaller assault header her way of just a few fish this time, one she could hopefully defend against more thoroughly. Maybe she couldn’t take out all the piranhas, but hopefully wouldn’t end up with a Health deficit again. Damn it, gonna miss three, she realized halfway through her Bash. Except, they didn’t make it to her, skewered in the air, popping out of existence mere inches from her skin.

“Try to keep them from getting too close, Gelic!” Sperado called out to her, brandishing his rapid-fire crossbow. “Can’t risk hitting you too.”

“Thanks!” She responded gratefully, actually seeing genuine value in the man for the first time. “Cover for me a second while I get sorted.”

Eh, sorted? She’d said those words randomly, following out of her mouth without willing them to exist, meaning her Named Order had made her speak it for some reason. And her nagging power wasn’t done yet, taking control of her body, making her basically faceplant against the ground. She had told herself to do whatever it took to stay alive, which the Order took as getting her hands dirty… and her insides.

Since she had no more poisoned food to eat, apparently that meant she was to rely on nature as a last resort. Surely there would be something better, like leaves, oh or some poisonous mushrooms for double the healing power! But nope. There wasn’t time to go out for a pleasant stroll and harvest. Armful by armful, Gelic shoved dirt into her mouth, casting Toxic Imbuement with each scoop. Thankfully, it was all going to Second Stomach, filling it up to the brim, because her real belly couldn’t take anymore at the moment.

Angelica tried not to think how this must look, hunching over and feasting on filthy forest dirt like it was some real gourmet scuff in the middle of a fight. The Order packed her full, and apparently it wasn’t done with its assistance just yet. While it didn’t force her next course of action, the power provided a suggestion in the form of a flashback to her museum heist, a lovely memory of her running around with a big helmet covering her body.

Yes, armor, she needed armor. Good idea, me! But where would she get armor? Well, obviously she had to make it. Frostbite! Gelic’s circumference expanded a few inches, surrounding herself in a nearly full sphere of ice. All that was fully clear was her bottom so that her feet nubs could still cleanly touch the ground, and she’d left a few holes in front of her face for breathing and seeing. There were also openings on each side for her arms to stick through, but currently she had them retracted, so only her hands were outside, barely sticking out an inch.

And the armor didn’t just protect. It also attacked! Protruding from all angles were long pointy spikes, making her look like a giant bur ready to latch onto someone's leg. Though with the ice ball’s slight toxic sheen, it also sort of made her look like an ornament someone would hang from a tree. But that was fine. She could look silly, as long as she was safe. What was a bit of an issue, though, was how damned cold it was to wear. Fortunately, that tapered away quickly, likely in the form of some Cold Resistance levels she’d find about later.

Another slight disappointment was that this amazing ability didn’t come in the form of a Combo Skill. It felt so creative, surely worthy of being its own entity. But in the end, it really was just Ice Manifest, comboed into Frostbite, taking the form of a ball instead of a weapon. So fine, it could just be cool in its own way without needing a special label. She’d just have to come up with her own name, none of which immediately sprang to mind since she was dealing with perpetual brain freeze.

Actually, okay maybe one wormed its way to her mind. Coat of Arms! Because she was wearing a coat of armor that also armed her. Though more like a shell in shape. And it was kind of the opposite of a coat, providing the cold instead of warmth. And maybe it would do better as a pun with someone like Himpo whose whole ass existence was arms. Well, whatever, it sounded cool, and would work better when she was in human mode and could make a literal coat.

Ehehehe, yes, yes, it works! The stupid Malignants continued to bombard her with attacks, skewering themselves against her armor spikes. And no matter how many died, they just kept coming. Clearly they weren’t so bright. Plus, for whatever reason, they really insisted on targeting her and her alone, having shown no interest in the rest of her party. Maybe they saw her as a delectable treat, or perhaps they just hated blondes. It was hard to say what went on in the mind of a monster.

Gelic tried to pick up her hammer and swing it to speed up the process of this fish freezing massacre, but found it a bit too unwieldy with one hand. With her armor, she couldn’t really grab the weapon with both, at least not without risking poking herself with poison. And even then, if she could, her range of motion would effectively make the attempt worthless. That didn’t matter, though, because the Malignants continued to forfeit their lives as they slapped against her until none remained.

[The Demon Growth System has elected to ignore your filter to inform you that you have earned an achievement since it has deemed it relevant to your current situation]

[Achievement unlocked: Scourge-Cleanser - Rank 3 | 50 Malignants murdered by your own hands. You’re turning into quite the little killer, aren’t you? Your persistence should be rewarded. And what better way to do that than by giving you the means to slaughter even more. Next reward at 100 kills and a Lv.50 or higher Malignant killed as the primary contributor]

[Passive Skill: Malignant Bane unlocked | For every rank of Scourge-Cleanser, you do 10% more damage to Malignants. This Skill does not grow]

Honestly, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d cheesed that Achievement just a bit. She had been swarmed in such numbers that it was practically handed to her, without actually doing the damage herself. Basically, she’d been an icy bugzapper. But she absolutely would not complain about the freebie, a delightful one at that. 30% more damage to Malignants out the box, and it would only grow stronger.

That invigorated Gelic, really amping up her fighting spirit. Sadly, her easy kills seemed to have dried up, and Rastille was doing too good of a job of letting any others slip by. Meaning if she wanted more progress, more Essence, more glory, she would need to join the fray directly.

Three test bounces, that came first to make sure Multi-Bounce wouldn’t be impeded by Coat of Arms. After that, she took off, bounding from the ground, over Rastille, straight toward the oncoming horde. She extended both arms out of her icy shell and triggered Frostbite once more. In each hand, a lengthy rapier spawned, ready to skewer.

Stab. Stab. Airstrike. Airstrike. Stab. Airstrike. Airstrike. Airstrike. Frostbite: Caltrops. Airstrike. Starvation. Airstrike. Airstrike. Stab. Jump Good.

The icy ball of death tore through the battlefield, surging through Malignants like she was the mighty ocean, crashing down with waves or power, and they were helpless driftwood caught in her wake. As a spot of randomness and curiosity, she’d thrown a Starvation in there to see what it would do to one of her foes. Turns out, nothing. Each Stab or Airstrike was more effective, hitting at least a few of them, quickly upping her killcount. It wasn’t nearly enough to bring her close to the next rank of Scourge-Cleanser, but she did her part, carving trenches through the monsters. There were plenty more, but it was enough to give the Summoners a breather.

And that was why she had stopped, landing back behind the safety of Rastille to take a quick break. The toll of all those rapidfire Skills had winded her physically and had undoubtedly done a similar number on her MP. As a spot of relief, despite having Hydration equipped, Gelic pulled a water bottle out of Second Stomach into her wide mouth, leaving it there since she couldn't actually pull it out because of the ice armor.

After biting through the bottle with her teeth—she tried unscrewing the cap with her tongue first, but no good—she let the water pour down her gullet, quenching her metaphorical thirst, also aiding the digestion of the way too much food in her stomach. As for that matter, it looked like the regeneration had stopped, bringing her Health back up to the sixties, so she went ahead and dumped the contents with Starvation. She immediately felt better and less bloated, leaving plenty of room for poison dirt later that she hopefully wouldn’t have to eat. Plus her Coat of Arms was just a might bit less snug in her gut area.

“Tch, they’re taking advantage of your paths,” Sperado commented from a nearby tree branch where he’d taken up residence for better shots. Gelic bounced up to get a good look too. Demons were surging through the temporarily Malignant-free trenches to dive into the hole, undoubtedly to get the jump on the monsters still inside, or maybe even to get an early scope of the fresh Runestone mine. Should she do the same? Her companions made no indication of wanting to partake in that course of action, but they could just still be adamantly following Vystal’s orders.

The Apprentice did have one additional bit of snark to add, however. “Should have just cleared our area, and left them to fend for themselves.” His words were a bit harsh, but there was no actual annoyance in his voice, as if he, king of laziness, had any right to judge people for the acts they took. Plus, her assault had sort of been a mad dash where she fired off attacks blindly at whatever looked vulnerable to hit, not really thinking about the overall composition of the battlefield.

Just when Gelic was thinking about bouncing back out there for a second round of mayhem, the ground suddenly shook again. This time was longer than when the land had erupted, more constant, more powerful, growing in intensity with each passing moment. “Uhhh, can Malignant Geysers erupt more than once?” she inquired loudly, hoping they’d forgive her ignorance.

“No.” Rastille’s eyes widened, clearly having a better grasp of the situation. He dropped his hammer immediately and rushed over to the Ghoul box that had been laying around unmoving during the early altercations. “Sperado, it’s time. Undo the seal! Something big is coming!”

“R-right.” There was clear hesitance in the man’s voice, but he jumped down and prepared himself regardless. This was his only real duty after all, what he got to lounge around all day for. His moment, his time to unleash the Ghoul.

But would it be enough? Because what came from that hole didn’t seem like it could be felled by even a single mighty Ghoul. No, Gelic’s immediate thought was that they’d need an army of them.

[Malignant Lv.189]

Spoiler

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