I Contracted a Demon, but It Turned Into My Pet

"Holy shit!" Lucian froze in terror. He didn't hesitate—he activated Swift Wind Technique and sprinted toward the cave in a frenzy.

Even with the spell boosting him, the beast behind him closed ground fast.

"Fuck! I knew it was coming for me!" Lucian gritted his teeth and sprinted harder.

If he'd ventured another hundred meters earlier, the monster would've caught him instantly.

Still, right now… he was in serious trouble.

The gap between them shrank rapidly. What had been over a hundred meters was now just a few dozen. Lucian could already see the beast's terrifying maw behind him.

An adult Furious Bear.

Fully grown and reaching Tier Five—on par with a Tier Seven in raw power. Getting caught would be a death sentence.

No lie: at this speed, he'd be caught in under a minute.

His mind raced as he ran.

"Iron Chain Bind!" he shouted, swinging his arm. A magic circle appeared behind him, summoning chains that wrapped around nearby trees, forming a makeshift barricade.

"Let's see you shrug this off!" Lucian called over his shoulder.

Lysera sighed. At least now you're taunting?

But the first Iron Chain only snapped under the bear's blow—its momentum undeterred.

Lucian clenched his jaw. One chain won't do—ten might.

"Tenfold—Iron Chain Bind!"

Chains flung out, covering the path behind him like a net.

"ROAR!"

The Furious Bear charged, smashing through chains and trees alike—but it staggered, forced to pause. Those precious seconds gave Lucian extra meters of distance.

But only for a moment—the bear roared again and chased down.

"Is Elvira Sol's aura failing?" Lucian gasped.

Lysera explained, "You killed her cub—her mother won't let you go. In its rage, the bear resists fear, so Elvira's mana repulsion barely works. You'll need to get within one kilometer of her for it to stop."

Lucian's chest tightened. He was over a kilometer out, and still had two more to run back to the cave. Another kilometer—possible, but brutal.

He fell silent and ran, casting barriers as he went:

Tenfold Iron Chain Bind, then Tenfold Earth Staircase, followed by Tenfold Sinkhole Swamp—anything to slow it down.

Each spell briefly stalled the bear, buying him sprinting room.

He wasn't fast enough to outrun it outright—but with zero-cooldown spells and rapid mana regen, he kept the advantage.

Sure enough, as Lysera said, once he breached Elvira Sol's one-kilometer aura zone, the bear began to falter. Its roars lessened, tinted with fear.

After another few hundred meters, it halted. It turned once, growled in defeat, then lumbered away.

Lucian collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. Just need to keep it at bay with Elvira's aura…

Shaken, he had no appetite for more monster-hunting. He returned to the cave—just eating, meditating, tending to needs and to Nobu—cycling like this for the next two days.

Elvira Sol still hadn't awakened. Her breathing remained steady enough that Lucian didn't think she'd died.

"Does she even need to pee?" he asked one day, sitting next to her.

Lysera came over, covering her face. "Really? We should discuss bladder function?"

Lucian shrugged earnestly. "Sure: looks aren't important, but holding your pee too long? Your bladder can burst—or worse. You could get bladder cancer. And that's deadly!"

Lysera just sighed.

Later, Lucian fanned himself and said, "Lysera… isn't it getting hotter in here?"

"I feel a bit warm—but in The Savage Wilds it's winter. It shouldn't be warmer in the cave," she replied.

Lucian rose and stepped outside. The air was cool. Back inside, though—it was stifling.

The cave was large and ventilated, fires were monitored… so why the heat?

He sat beside Elvira Sol and touched her forehead.

Zing! He yanked his hand back. "Shit, she's burning up!"

Not just fever—if normal human fevers peak at 40 °C, Elvira was easily 80 °C, maybe more!

This was beyond abnormal.

"Lysera—how bad is this?" he asked urgently.

Lysera frowned. "Your magic is being immediately sucked into her as soon as it touches her skin. Her left eye and heart regions devour the mana fastest. That means the demonic corruption inside is consuming it."

"She's fighting corruption with all her strength—but her mana reserves are almost gone, and her spirit is spent. With her control slipping, her magic is surging uncontrollably."

"That surge uses material-grade power—it's about to set off a firestorm. Her body temperature and the air around her will spike—turn into a raging inferno."

"And once her excess mana burns off, she'll run out of fuel—fail to hold back the corruption… and die."

Lucian's voice trembled. "What do we do?"

Lysera answered, "Feed her mana! She's starving for it. As long as she has mana, she won't spiral into the corruption surge."

"Right!" Lucian began pouring mana into her aura—but the cave was already thirty-odd degrees. His forehead drenched in sweat.

"This isn't enough," said Lysera. "Absorption by aura is too slow—and some mana is lost. You need direct contact—infuse mana directly into her."

"Directly?" Lucian hesitated. "Is… that safe?"

Lysera smirked. "Your handful of mana won't hurt a Sacred Rank. Besides, she's absorbing more than you're giving."

Lucian nodded and took a deep breath.

He gripped Elvira Sol's hand.

Yes, her hand. Because Lucian wasn't strange—or lewd. You think he'd go anywhere else?

Instead, he gasped, "Damn… her chest is scorching hot…"

Lysera just stared.

…

"Mmmn~"

As Lucian's mana flowed into her, Elvira Sol, who had been frowning in pain, suddenly let out a soft, breathy moan—one laced with unmistakable relief and pleasure.

Lucian raised an eyebrow.

"I don't get it… I don't get it…"

Her body temperature had to be pushing seventy or eighty degrees—and still climbing. Even though he was only holding her forearm, which should've been relatively cooler, it felt like his palm was on the verge of catching fire.

And that wasn't all.

The moment Lucian gripped her hand, his mana began to surge out of him at an alarming rate. At this pace, he'd be completely drained in under twenty seconds—even with his accelerated mana regeneration, he couldn't keep up.

"Meditate—right now! Accelerate your recovery!" Lysera barked.

Lucian blinked. "I can meditate in the middle of this?!"

"Why not?" she shot back. "As long as you can enter a meditative state, your body will handle the recovery. Do it now—if her mana intake drops, the violent surge will trigger instantly."

"And you'll be caught in the blast with her. Vaporized."

Lucian gritted his teeth. "Who said anything about running?!"

Even in this short time, his hands were already scorched. If not for his Tier Three physique, he'd have passed out from the pain by now.

But even so, the burning agony was unbearable. Waves of heat blasted against his face, and the mana drain made him feel like his core was freezing over. It was like being frozen and boiled at the same time.

He'd dreamed of experiencing the legendary "ice and fire duality" one day—but not like this!

"When you wake up, you'd better marry me, or you owe me for life," Lucian muttered through gritted teeth. Then, ignoring the pain, he closed his eyes and forced himself into a meditative state.

He'd hoped the agony would dull once he entered meditation. He was wrong.

It still hurt like hell.

But there was no choice.

While meditating, his mana recovery was three times faster—just enough to barely match the rate Elvira Sol was absorbing. His reserves had already been gutted to less than twenty percent, and from this point on, he couldn't afford even a second of interruption.

Pain… agony… burning…

I'm bad with pain… I hate pain…

It felt like his hands were being boiled alive. The searing heat made his whole body tremble, and he nearly broke out of his meditative state several times. Only Lysera's constant reminders kept him from losing focus.

But the pain just kept getting worse.

And then… he caught a whiff of something.

Smells… good? Wait a second—what the hell?!

"Am I… cooking?!"

Was that the scent of roasting flesh?

Should I add some honey? At least make it a tasty death…

But by then, Lucian had no room left for jokes or hesitation.

He couldn't feel his hands anymore—numbness had replaced pain—and now the burning sensation was crawling up his arms.

A sharp, acrid stench filled the air.

His palms were beyond burned—they were charred. Next, it would be his arms. If this kept up, they'd be cooked through too.

The agony made the veins on his forehead bulge. He was on the verge of blacking out.

"F—fuck! This hurts like hell!" he gasped, teeth clenched. "How the hell do firefighters handle this kind of heat…?"

"They're heroes. Absolute heroes."

Lysera: "…"

Is this really the time to be admiring firefighters?!