Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 108 The Origin of the Demon

[Kel'Thuzad: Sorry, I want to confirm again. The item you wish to consign anonymously is the summoning ritual for high-level demonic sacrifice. The target of this summoning ritual is... you?]

When Harvey typed these words on the button of the "Magic Brain" instrument, he couldn't believe it.

This devil from another dimension wants to sell the sacrificial ritual to summon himself in an anonymous consignment on the forum?
Is this how all of you demons play?
While waiting for the other party's reply, Harvey couldn't help but start thinking about what the meaning and purpose of his actions were.

All the members of the Magic Network Forum are powerful high-level spellcasters, which is different from the ordinary people and foolish nobles who are easily tempted and corrupted by the devil as rumored.

What's more, there are many arcane spellcasters among these members who are skilled in summoning magic. Even if they really try the sacrificial ritual, they will most likely counter the summoned demons on the spot.

This Mr. Inner Demon was in the magic network space and couldn't even do anything to a mid-level spellcaster like himself, let alone deal with other members of the forum.

[Mind Hunter: Please rest assured, there is no malicious intent in this transaction, nor is there any so-called conspiracy.]

Mind Hunter: Perfect! In return for your introduction to the forum, I'm willing to share some of the demon clan's secret knowledge with you...

Harvey immediately perked up and even sat up straighter.

[Kel'Thuzad: I am very interested in the ancient knowledge of the demon race. This is a very fair deal.]

……

Over the next hour, Harvey heard from the inner demon codenamed "Mind Hunter" all the history and knowledge about the ancient race of demons that completely overturned everything he had learned and known in the past.

When Harvey was still studying at the Academy of the Undead, he was very interested in ancient races such as dragons, demons, and giants when he was studying the general education course on the continent's extraordinary races.

The disappearance of dragons and giants on the continent was partly caused by their own internal struggles and partly due to the joint resistance of humans and short-lived species such as demons, elves, and dwarves.

The only difference is that demons are not a native race that originally lived in the north and south continents, but extraordinary creatures that invaded from another space dimension.

This kind of invasion is not completely unlimited, but requires people to actively perform a summoning ceremony and open the connection channel between the two planes of the world through sacrifice.

The various sacrificial summoning rituals circulating on the continent basically target lower-level demons who are unable to communicate, chaotic and bloodthirsty in nature. This results in most of the rituals ultimately ending with the summoner being unable to control the summoned target, resulting in horrific tragedies.

This is also the main reason why all academic spellcasters are repeatedly warned and reminded not to try summoning and sacrificial spells lightly.

But the inner demon told Harvey that the essence of all the summoned demons was not to play with human nature, lure mortals into corruption, or enjoy bloody sacrifices...

What they really need to obtain from the summoner is actually the strong desire that the summoner actively generates when the sacrificial summoning ceremony is held - something called "willpower".

Demons are actually a supernatural race that feeds on "willpower".

This is why most of them will use temptation and promises to stimulate the summoner's deep desire for certain things, whether it is wealth, power, strength, beauty... Harvey feels that the answer to this question is very credible. Taking the inner demon of this original body in the magic network plane as an example, it can be basically confirmed that demons do not really need to feed on those evil flesh and blood sacrifices.

Because there are no living entities in the magic network space, all wanderers exist in it in the form of mental power.

As for why he took the initiative to trade a sacrificial summoning ritual involving himself, the answer is actually even simpler.

Due to the dual suppression of the Church and the Federation in the real world, few people would risk trying to summon powerful upper-level demons. Even if there were occasionally corrupted spellcasters with less firm positions, at most they would summon some easily controlled lower-level demons to drive them.

This resulted in the upper demons obtaining less and less "willpower" through summoning and sacrifice, and they could no longer use "willpower" to maintain their activity in the alien space, and were forced to fall into a deep sleep.

The frequent loss of control and evil deeds of lower-level demons in the real world, in turn, confirm the evil and danger of the demon summoning ritual, and ultimately lead to the double collapse of the reputation and survival of the demon clan.

"This is clearly a case of bad money driving out good money, haha." Harvey couldn't help but complain when he thought of this.

……

Even among the special higher-level demons like the inner demon, the "Mind Hunter" is considered a unique outlier.

He loves observation and exploration, and is unwilling to give up easily on collecting and absorbing "willpower". Therefore, he frequently travels through the magic network space, constantly contacts wanderers of other races he encounters, and carefully obtains the "willpower" he needs from them.

However, this method of collection was too covert and cautious, and to a large extent could not arouse the other party's strong inner desire, so his gains had always been only able to maintain basic mental activity, barely enough to prevent himself from falling into a deep sleep.

The "Mind Hunter" originally took the initiative to contact Harvey and successfully joined the Magic Network Forum, which made him think that he could obtain a large amount of "willpower" stably from then on and would never have to worry about food and drink again.

Who knew that this spellcaster forum would completely block his innate perception? No matter how he tried, he couldn't absorb any of the "willpower" inspired by the forum members.

When Harvey heard the inner demon complaining to him about this reason with a hint of grievance, he couldn't help but find it funny. He also realized that the other party had no idea how the Spellcaster Forum operated.

With the terrifying "spiritual anchor" of this time traveler as the firewall of the forum, any positioning and perception from the magic network cannot reach the forum itself.

Thinking of this, Harvey pressed the typing button of the "Magic Brain" and planned to respond to the transaction request of the "Mind Hunter".

Kel'Thuzad: Mr. Inner Demon, I believe you no longer need to trade your summoning ritual anonymously. If you don't mind, I am willing to make this deal directly with you. I will personally perform the ritual to summon you...

[Mind Hunter: I commend you, a kind and curious human spellcaster, Mr. Locator. I wonder what price I will have to pay in exchange for your help this time?]

Harvey raised the corners of his mouth slightly, pressed the typing keys, and typed out the transaction requirements he had prepared long ago.

Kel'Thuzad: This is simple. For this summoning ritual, I need you to bring a creature along with you... I want you to personally capture the creature you mentioned earlier... a creature that lives in the Weave like you—a demon spirit.

(End of this chapter)