The Daily Life of the Demon King

Chapter 348 - 348: The Day the Conversation About Summoning Magic Went Off the Rails

That same day, after Alex, Claire, Moira, and Recca conducted an experiment testing three different viruses on demons, they witnessed a shocking event — a group of people performed a summoning ritual and called forth a prince of Hell into this world. The demon turned out to be quite talkative and, without realizing it, indirectly revealed Alex's identity, hinting that he wasn't a mortal at all.

Alex had no choice but to tell the three girls the truth — who he really was and why he had come to this world. However, upon returning home, he was met with equally sharp reprimands. Each of the girls in his family, as if in agreement, said the same thing: "It's your own fault! You let the enemy talk too much again instead of finishing him off right away!"

Surprisingly, the girls were barely interested in the results of the viral experiment. What intrigued them far more was the summoning ritual of the prince of Hell itself. They were curious whether the viruses developed by scientists could truly work against demons. Once they got a firm "yes," they quickly lost interest in that subject.

However, Alex's story about the ritual sparked genuine excitement. The girls bombarded him with questions, eager to know every detail. After all, up to that point, they had only seen such things in movies and TV shows like Supernatural, and now they couldn't wait to find out how reality compared to cinematic fantasy.

Fortunately, Alex could project memories using magic, which made telling the story much easier. However, when the girls saw that the ritual looked painfully cliché — with pentagrams, incantations, and sacrifices — they sighed in disappointment. Demons were summoned exactly the same way as in movies. The banality of the event was written all over their faces.

But the next day, during dinner, a question was asked that made everyone pause mid-bite.

"Is it possible to summon Alex through a ritual too? I mean, he's technically a demon," Shizuka said thoughtfully, placing her finger on her chin.

All eyes immediately turned to her. Even Alex froze for a moment, staring at the girl intently. As he pondered the question, silence fell over the room.

The girls' faces grew thoughtful — each one now wondering if it was truly possible to summon Alex. And Alex was no exception. He rubbed his chin, deep in thought. On one hand, he was the embodiment of the concept of destruction. On the other, he was a demon — the very first one, created by the Creator himself.

He tried to recall which powerful beings could be summoned through rituals. The answer was simple: many. However, the essence of summoning was always the same — creating a channel between the summoner and the entity. Simplified, it was like calling a deity on a cellphone and hoping it wouldn't kill you just for bothering it — all thanks to your little "containment spell."

But there was one problem — all known summonable entities had existed for a long time, while Alex was relatively new. That meant one thing: no summoning ritual for him should exist.

"Good question, Shizuka. And I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about it now..." Saya said as she adjusted her glasses. "If Alex is a demon, then in theory he can be summoned. But he's the first demon — that adds a whole different layer of complexity."

"Ugh, Shizuka! There you go again with your headache-inducing questions! Now I'm curious too — can you even be summoned, Alex?" Rika groaned, pinching Shizuka's side.

"Hey! I just asked a question! Why the pinching?!" Shizuka pouted, slapping Rika's hand.

"You 'just asked,' but now we're all going to be obsessing over it! How do you even come up with stuff like that?!" Renka huffed, clutching her hair.

"Who said all your nutrients go to your chest? Clearly none of them stick around in your head!" Koko muttered, shooting an annoyed look at Shizuka.

All the girls nodded in agreement. The question Shizuka raised was now stuck in their heads, refusing to let go. Now they truly understood why Alex got so frustrated when he couldn't find the answer to something that intrigued him. And even though they threw irritated glances at Shizuka, the truth was — they all desperately wanted to know the answer too.

Even Brunhilda couldn't resist. She, too, was intrigued by the question. Even Rory, who had a connection with a deity and served as its apostle, became curious: was it really possible to summon such a powerful being as Alex? Zero Two and Lucy, on the other hand, got lost in the conversation and decided to ignore the topic entirely. Red and White, however, decided to gather as much data as possible "for the future."

"What about you, Brunhilda?" Yuriko turned to her. "You're the oldest and most experienced among us, and you've spent so much time in the realm of the gods…"

"Even I'm stumped by this question," Brunhilda sighed. "I want to say it's possible. But Alex isn't just a demon. He's the embodiment of destruction. So I can't give a definite answer…"

"Girls, aren't you forgetting something?" Ada suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention at the table.

"What exactly?" Saeko raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Just ask Daddy. He's right here. If Daddy can be summoned, then he'll definitely know whether or not he can be summoned," Anya said with a wise seriousness, nodding solemnly as if she'd just revealed some great truth.

"That's true…" Rei murmured, nodding as well. "Why rack our brains when we can just ask Alex himself?"

All the girls turned their eyes to Alex, who was still staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, stroking his chin. His thoughts were still wandering, trying to find an answer to the question Shizuka had asked. He didn't even notice that the girls were practically burning holes in him with their stares—they were watching him that intently.

Alex was deep in thought: was it even possible to summon him? From what he remembered, John Constantine had supposedly managed to summon Lucifer a couple of times to strike deals. That was where he began his line of reasoning: if even Lucifer could be summoned, then it was logical to assume he could be too. However, even this thought hit a dead end—he didn't actually know how those kinds of rituals worked.

He had summoning spells in his arsenal, but they all dealt with creatures like dragons, godly vessels tied to specific concepts, or divine weapons. The question Shizuka had asked turned out to be interesting even for him.

He knew that beings from the Chaos could be summoned using the Necronomicon, demons through rituals and sacrifices, and angels and gods through prayers and by creating a suitable vessel capable of containing their essence. And even then, it all depended on the power of the specific being and the form it existed in.

"Cupcake, you still with us? Or do you not have an answer to Shizuka's question either?" Becca snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Actually, Shizuka's question really did catch my interest. I've been thinking about it... But I can't give a clear answer," Alex admitted, finally lowering his gaze to the girls.

"But still, do you have any ideas or at least a theory?" Cammy asked, gesturing animatedly. "After all, you're the one closest to all this magical nonsense."

"She's right. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even know magic existed," Beatrix added, nodding enthusiastically.

"Well... First, you have to understand what summoning really is. It depends on the type of being you're trying to summon. It doesn't matter if they're good or evil. For example, you can even summon a person from another world without making them go through the standard procedure… you know, the isekai thing from anime," Alex said, drawing a circle on the table with his finger.

"You mean like in those mangas where high school kids get summoned to another world to defeat the Demon King?" Miu clapped her hands excitedly, as if she'd just solved a riddle.

"Exactly. The essence of that kind of summoning is pretty simple: the spell

"You'll see soon enough," Alex replied calmly without turning around. "Wolf, connect to the satellites and target the designated area. We need a full picture."

"Connecting... Targeting... Demonic presence detected... Target locked... Ready to fire," the Wolf responded in a mechanical voice.

Alex nodded and took out a spear from his inventory — the very one he had once used to defeat Hercules during Ragnarok. A crack was visible on its tip. Alex sighed. It was time to say goodbye to an old friend.

Shino watched the scene in confusion. She couldn't wrap her head around why Alex had pulled out a damaged spear. She thought he was going to… shoot it with the bow?! But that was madness!

Alex took a deep breath and, as if not noticing her, placed the spear into the bow like an arrow. At that moment, it began to glow and slowly change shape, transforming into something more like a giant arrow. He drew the string to its limit — his eyes narrowed, and his face grew focused. A moment later, he released the string.

A strong gust of wind instantly swept across the hill, making Shino squint and step back. When she opened her eyes, she saw the arrow soaring into the sky, leaving behind a sparkling rainbow trail. People in the settlement looked up, thinking a shooting star was passing overhead.

Shino watched the retreating arrow in fascination… and then, on the horizon, a brilliant flash lit up the sky. A second later, a powerful explosion rolled through the area, and its thunder echoed back to the settlement.

"Target destroyed. All sources of demonic energy eliminated," the Wolf reported in the same emotionless voice.

"Well, that was a piece of cake… Hey, Shino, you can close your mouth now. A fly might fly in," Alex said with a smirk, turning toward her.

"W-what?.. Damn it… How did you do that?! What was that even?!" she blurted out, still unable to believe her eyes.

"Magic," Alex answered calmly, spreading his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Shino could only nod in bewilderment, unable to fully comprehend what she had witnessed. Alex chuckled softly, watching her expression, and gave her a moment to collect herself. Then he lit a cigarette and glanced toward the place where the explosion had just subsided. Chuckling to himself, he just shook his head — another one of the demons' plans ruined.

Patting Shino on the shoulder, he began to descend the hill, pulling the still stunned girl behind him. She kept looking toward the destroyed demon lair but gradually came back to herself. Like everyone else in the settlement, she silently repeated the familiar phrase: "If Alex did it — no need to be surprised."

After seeing Shino safely to her home, Alex said goodbye and headed back to his own.

To be continued…

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