Cloaked inside a black hooded robe she bought for the occasion, Alice took a step back to take a good look at her work.
Finding demon summoning rituals on the dark web was surprisingly easy for the nerdy girl, and the ingredients for it were simple to get. Some sulfur, a few candles, goat horns, and blood of a virgin. Alice had about 5 liters of the latter at her disposal. It took her a few weeks to draw enough of her own blood for the ritual, and she felt like a vampire keeping so much of it inside her fridge.
The plump brunette stood in front of a pentagram, drawn in her blood and sulfur, large enough for two people to stand inside. At the end of each line, a candle burned and right in the center two severed goat horns awaited.
Alice chuckled at the efforts she deployed for all of this. She was attracted to the occult side of things, but had no doubts that all was gonna happen was her looking ridiculous, standing in her guest room repurposed into a demon summoning room. Still, she took one more look at the piece of paper with the summoning words, and started chanting.
"Quantus tremor est futúrus, quando judex est ventúrus, cuncta stricte discussúrus!"
The latin language could as well be alien language to Alice, so she probably butchered every single word.
"Tuba mirum spargens sonum per sepúlcra regiónum, coget omnes ante thronum. Mors stupébit et Natúra, cum resúrget creatúra, judicánti responsúra."
Halfway through the incantation, Alice couldn't hold her laughter back anymore. She laughed at how ridiculous she probably was, with her black robe and her butchered latin words. At least she had some fun, and working on this simulacrum took her mind away from her shitty life for a few weeks.
She sat down on the floor as she realized that she was sweating, the temperature in the room quite high. Then the pentagram started glowing ominously.
Wide eyed, Alice watched as a bright blood red light poured from the pentagram, and from it an humanoid figure emerged. Standing straight, the demon almost touched the ceiling of the room with the top of his horns. His crimson skin was covered with dark as night fur on his arms, legs and chest. Behind him a long thick tail whipped the floor. He was as wide as two men, and muscular enough to put the biggest bodybuilder in the world to shame.
His purple eyes found Alice's, and he spoke, his voice loud and deep enough to make the whole room shake.
"I AM BELIAL, THE WORLD ENDER! WHICH KINGDOM SHALL I RAZE? WHICH EMPIRE SHALL FALL TODAY?"
Alice hadn't really planned for this to really happen. So she just spoke the truth in her heart.
"Huh. I just want my bullies to stop."
Belial raised a massive eyebrow.
"HUMAN, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR WORDS."
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"They constantly demean me, for anything. They insult me, because I'm short, because of my freckles, because of my glasses, for anything really. And their words hurt, hurt so much."
Alice and her guest were sitting on her thankfully wide couch, as she took huge scoops of ice scream and stuffed her mouth with it.
"Every time we're in the locker room they call me a freak. One time they shoved me inside a locker and locked me inside. I was stuck for hours! And of course they had stolen my clothes by the time I got out."
"I'm shunned everywhere I go. I'm not invited to parties, I can't make any friends. No one chooses me when we're doing group assignments. All of that because of that bitch Jenna, she's the one leading all the other girls against me."
"I CAN RAZE HER HOME AND SEND HER TO THE DEEPEST HELL, SHOULD YOU COMMAND IT!" Belial boomed.
"No! Please don't raze anything. I don't want to hurt anyone."
Belial gently put his colossal hand against Alice's cheek.
"HUMAN, I AM A WAR DEMON. I CAN NOT HELP YOU IF I CAN NOT DESTROY THINGS."
"I know, I know. Thank you for the company, but I don't want to waste your time. I'm sure you have demon things to do right? How does it work, do I have to unsummon you or something?"
Belial laughed, shaking the couch and every furniture inside the living room.
"YOU SIMPLY OPENED THE DOOR, BUT I'M NOT BOUND TO YOU. I CAN LEAVE AS I PLEASE. BUT I WANT TO HELP YOU."
The improbable duo sat in silence as Alice finished her ice cream.
"I HAVE AN IDEA!" Belial shouted, jumping to his hoofed feet.
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Alice and her demon friend went back to the pentagram drawn on the floor.
"I CAN NOT HELP YOU, HUMAN, BUT I KNOW SOMEONE WHO MAY!"
Belial bent down and placed his hand next to the pentagram. Runes started to appear everywhere on the floor, filling the blood symbol and spreading around it.
"I MADE THE RIFT BETWEEN OUR WORLDS PERSISTENT."
Alice blinked, wondering if she had any control left on the situation and if she fucked up.
"DO NOT WORRY, I WILL BE BACK VERY SOON." Belial said loudly as he took a single step inside the pentagram, and vanished.
Alice was once again alone. She pondered what happened and how a 'war demon' could have been the closest thing to a friend she had in years.
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A few minutes later, the pentagram glowed again, and Belial emerged from it, but he was not alone this time.