The Greatest Sinner

Evan was an experienced demonologist and was adept at harnessing the power of many demons. As a price for their power, demons demand the life force of the person summoning them. When Evan first harnessed the power of the 72nd demon, Count Andromalius, he spent almost all of his energy on it, but he didn't need to give up years of his life as payment. It took Evan several days to regain his energy back then.

However, when Evan became a magician and broke through several "Barriers," he could already use Count Andromalius' power using only a certain amount of energy. It became more like a spell that required a lot of mana and stamina. But after using it, he could still continue to fight.

The same was true of all the other demons. When Evan fought against Reinier in the "Half-Dead Forest," he resorted to the help of the 70th demon, Prince Seere. Evan was able to win but gave up 20 years of his life for it. But if Evan had tried to use this power when he wasn't yet a magician, the cost would have been not 20 years but his whole life.

It's worth noting that Prince Seere and the other demons whose power Evan used weren't the real ones. It was only a small part of their true bodies that could give Evan only a fraction of all the immense power. For the same reason, Reinier was able to destroy the Count Andromalius snake. If Evan had used more of Count Andromalius' powers, Reinier would not have been able to get rid of the demon's weapon so easily.

...

Immediately after Evan left "Nirvana," he began drawing two sigils at once. It only took a master like him a few seconds to do it. Each demon's sigil was unique. There were many details in it, each of which the mage had a duty to know.

He put his hand to one of the sigils and shouted: "Sigil of 71st Demon, Duke Dantalion - activation!"

Whooosh!

At the exact moment, an old, battered book appeared in his "Nirvana." It floated serenely in the middle of the vast expanse. Last time, Evan had had to pay fifteen years for Duke Dantalion's help. But a long time had passed since then, Evan had grown much stronger, and now his request was not so complex.

The young man quickly walked into "Nirvana" and said: "Increase the "Awareness" of my two spells to the second stage: "Ice Veil" and "Magic Missile."

It would have been impossible for any other person to do such a thing, but not for Evan. Duke Dantalion could teach almost any knowledge in the world. It all depended on the price and the question.

In order to increase one's "Awareness" in any spell, one had to spend several years training. Geniuses and particularly talented magicians could do it in a few months.

But, with Duke Dantalion, Evan could gain the necessary knowledge and experience in just a few moments. He just had to pay.

The book opened, and the price was written on the page. Evan was satisfied.

<Sounds like I've underestimated the power of the "One-Pointed Star" magicians compared to those who haven't reached this level yet. This is really impressive.> 

Evan thought the demon would ask for all of his energy, but the price turned out to be considerably less. Only 50% of all his energy and mana. It was a clear indication of how strong Evan had become.

Of course, the price would have been many times higher if Evan had demanded to increase the "Awareness" of these two spells to the third stage. Moreover, the price was so small only because they were zero-level spells. Evan was going to choose the new spells soon, so he would rarely use those ones.

"I agree," Evan said calmly, and the book closed.

The next moment, mana and energy began to drain from him rapidly. It was a rather unpleasant but tolerable feeling. By the end of the procedure, Evan felt as if he hadn't eaten all day, but it wasn't anything critical.

The book reopened, and hundreds of symbols flew to Evan's glabella. It was a necessary knowledge that Evan would have to acquire over months or even years of training. But, in addition to knowledge, the experience was also necessary.

After all the symbols got into Evan's consciousness, the spirits emerged from the book, and they flew to Evan's glabella. It was the experience that would have taken a long time for Evan to receive in any usual case.

Evan's head was splitting from the information he received. The volumes were truly incredible. It was pretty difficult for him to cope with so much information, but compared to the day he had forcibly got a talent for magic, it was a drop in the ocean.

After a few seconds, Evan came to his senses. He didn't ask for knowledge and experience to increase the "Awareness" of the "Summon Thorny Ivy." This spell was completely fine with him at the moment. Although it could only hold his opponent for a fraction of a second, it was enough at the moment.

Once Duke Dantalion had gone Evan immediately activated the second sigil. The monsters were already approaching, and he urgently needed a weapon to deal with them.

"Sigil of 72nd Demon, Count Andromalius, the second level - activation!"

Evan said loudly and re-entered "Nirvana," where a demon was already waiting for him. Each demon had its own sigil, but sigils also had variations with slight differences. The higher the level of the sigil was, the more of the demon's power a person could use.

While being in "Nirvana," Evan was looking at a snake floating in the air.

It's worth noting that this snake and the old book were not real demon bodies. They were only images of them, as it was only a small fraction of their power.

The snake didn't listen to Evan. It had already known what he wanted. It stuck out its tongue and slowly whispered: "One year."

<Surprisingly... such a small price to pay...>.

Under the circumstances, it indeed wasn't much because he was in a dangerous situation.

He had just reached the "One-Pointed Star" and still hadn't fully mastered all the power he had gained. Evan understood that he would not be able to handle several monsters of the first rank right now. Moreover, among his opponents were those who had evolved, so he decided to resort to the power of a demon.

Evan didn't summon the 70th demon, Prince Seere, as it was a different situation now than in the "Half Dead Forest." Evan was pretty strong himself now. Of course, if Evan were to summon Prince Seere now, the cost would be much less than 20 years, but it would still be about 3-5 years.

Evan nodded and felt the life drain out of him again, but to his surprise, the feeling wasn't as unpleasant as the last time. It was as if this year was less meaningful to him than before.

After the price was paid, the snake disappeared, and a long sword with a gold snake guard appeared in Evan's hands.