With every beep, the number slowly counted down to one. Derek clenched his hands, controllers at the ready. Casey meanwhile had calmed herself down and was prepared to back her brother up with Garm.

The whirr and clack of the projector, the beep as the numbers slowly ran out…

Beep… three… beep… two… beep… one…

Then the screen went black before a famous logo with a lion appeared. The large carnivorous feline gave a roar and to Casey’s horror, stretched a paw out of the screen.

“This is not how I imagined breaking the fourth wall would be like…” Derek’s sword and shield were more visible in this dim lighting than in the brightness of the lobby.

“You still have time to joke around?”

“We just have to fight the beast, right? And what’s a lion against a hellhound?”

Derek spoke to soon as the lion transformed as it exited the screen. The tawny fur changed to a mix of grey fur and black scales. The majestic mane was now a darker hue and the glimmering, golden eyes had turned a sinister silver. And what was a demon without horns?

Casey eyed the creature with a sour look on her face.

“Can you please stop setting up flags?”

“Sorry. You can just hit me before I open my big mouth next time.”

Garm had already transformed and was standing in front of the new demon, his protective stance evident. Derek moved forward to assist when Casey raised an arm and held him back.

“Sis?”

“Tell me… is the lion or whatever that demon is, glowing to you?”

“… No…”

“Then I call dibs. I need more demons anyway.”

“Got it.”

Derek stood down and watched as his sister and Garm battled the beast. The stage and parts of the front row seats had been smashed. The claw swipe from the lion had missed Garm and smashed into the empty seats. Meanwhile, the lion had also avoided Garm’s tackle and Garm had crashed into the underside of the stage.

Derek decided to give the two large demons a wider berth. Garm was the size of a grizzly and while the lion demon was smaller, it was only marginally smaller. Compared to real lions, it was still a lot bigger.

 Casey meanwhile was issuing commands through her phone. She had to pay attention to the prompts but also be aware of her surroundings so that she did not end up being injured if the fight got too close. She dodged to the left and right and wondered how she was going to subdue the beast. The demon keyhole had been small and easy to catch. Now she had a demon larger than herself and there had never been any tutorials about catching demons. Frankly, she wished the wooden-faced ghost would come back and show her how.

But as she watched the fight, she noticed something. Garm was still following her attack instructions but at the same time, he was subtly driving the lion back towards the stage. Near the curtains to be precise. Casey smiled. She always knew that her demon was smart.

Casey crept towards the curtains. The velvet material looked sturdy. It would do; she just hoped that she had enough strength to bring it all down. She kept her eyes on the fighting demons, one hand on her phone and the other on the curtains.

As the demons got closer, Casey judged it to be the right time to tug at the curtains. But all she got was a handful of material and a face full of dust. The seemingly sturdy material had disintegrated at her touch.

“Shit!”

The dust was as bad as an attack from a pepper spray as Casey began to cough and sneeze violently, her eyes watering. The lion noticed her and with an angry roar, lunged at her.

“Sh- Achoo!”

Casey sneezed several times consecutively and clumsily dodged away from the lion aiming at her. Thankfully, Garm appeared in time and with a clever tackle from the side, sent the lion into the curtains. With the impact, the already fragile curtains gave way and crashed into the three of them.

Casey felt like she would suffocate from the weight and dust. She had already been knocked off balance when the curtains had fallen onto her. She held her breath and closed her eyes while she tried to worm her way out of the tangled, rotting net. She was getting nauseous from holding her breath but she forced herself not to breathe, not to open her eyes. The instant relief was not worth the torture she would suffer after that.

The sounds of ripping and roaring could be heard and Casey was slowly losing consciousness. She covered her nose and mouth and tried breathing through her hand but she used the wrong hand. She sent a handful of dust and material stuck to her hand straight into her lungs. Casey gagged and choked even worse.

Desperate now, she clawed above her, hoping that the material would break apart as she tried to find breathable air. There was more ripping around her. Even with her eyes closed, Casey could tell that the darkness had lessened and the weight above her had been removed. She felt a hand grab her outstretched one and she was tugged upwards.

“Sis!”

Casey staggered to her feet and her glasses that had been knocked askew were removed before she felt a hand wiping the dust from her face. She finally opened her mouth and gasped in relief, drawing mouthful after mouthful of the dusty air. It wasn’t as choking as it had been under the curtains.

She opened her streaming eyes to look at the worried face of her brother. Gasping and coughing, she gave a weak nod at him, indicating that she was fine now. Seeing that she was fine, Derek pulled her away from the curtains, which still contained the lion and Garm.

“Th- cough! Thanks…”

“Are you all right?”

“I cough! Think so… cough!”

Derek resisted his own urge to cough as he pulled his sister away from the struggling pile. He had to admit that he had been scared out of his wits when he saw the lion aiming for his sister and then all three of them disappearing under the curtains. He had scrambled over and then had to figure out which one of the lumps had been his sister.

Thankfully, he could hear Garm’s snarls and the lion’s growls in the larger lump so he had focused his attention on the smaller one to the side.

“What do you want to do now?”

Casey had finally stopped coughing but she was still gasping from her previous suffocation. Through her teary eyes, she tried to assess what was going on under the curtains and if she should assist her demon. After all, she had flubbed up with the curtains earlier.

But the curtains had been too fragile to contain the two demons any longer. It was soon shredded and Casey could see two black demons covered in red dust. That was when she looked down and realized that she was also covered in velvet dust. No wonder she still felt so choked.

“Sis, look.”

While she had been thinking about her next step, Derek had called out to her. She moved towards the back of the stage and was surprised to find some rope, electric wires and even a metal folding chair there. She had assumed that the back would be neat or empty.

“Don’t think too much. It’s both a dream and a game. There’s no way that they’ll leave us with a dead end.”

Derek had a point. Rather than waste time and ponder over the improbability of it all, she reached for the rope, paused and grabbed the wire instead before rushing back towards the fighting demons. No more natural material that can fall apart, thanks.

Keeping an eye on the demons, Casey started tying a slip knot in the wire. The rubber surface of the wire was smooth and made it easier for her to tie the knot. After making a noose wide enough, she grabbed the rest of the wire in her left while aiming with her right.

Casey never thought she’d have to play cowgirl and lasso herself a demon but she didn’t have a better idea. Definitely not the typical way to play the game.

“There has got to be an easier way to play this game…” she muttered under her breath.

She wasn’t confident she could do this. First of all, that creature was much larger, faster, and stronger than her. And she had never lassoed a creature before, not even her brother. She just really hoped that this would work.

Maybe beginner’s luck was at play but she got the lasso on the lion in one try. And then she was yanked off balance by the angry creature. Thankfully the slip knot worked and the lasso tightened around the beast. So even though Casey stumbled, she soon regained her balance. Then she started running around the creature, winding more and more wire around it.

Garm had cleverly gotten out of the way so it was not tangled in the cords as well. Once the lion was sufficiently entangled, Garm leapt onto the lion, pressing it onto ground. The demon roared and struggled but its limbs were not able to move.

Casey finally breathed a sigh of relief, the danger was almost clear. She crouched down and looked the demon in the eye as well.

“Are you going to behave?”

The demon stared at her balefully and hissed. Garm pressed it down even harder. Casey eyed the demon before she got up and went to the back of the stage area again. When she returned, she was carrying the metal folding chair. Without a word, she raised the chair up with both hands.

“Are you going to submit or not?”

The lion growled at her again. Without further ado, Casey brought the chair down onto the demon’s head. The chair was heavy after all and she couldn’t keep it balanced above her head for long. The demon gave a yowl and Garm flinched and whined.

“I won’t hit you, don’t worry. You’ve been a good boyyyy.”

It was amazing how Casey flipped the switch from ruthless to doting with just a whine from her demon. Derek, who had finally walked over, could see an overprotective, indulgent mother in his sister. To be quite frank, he was a little jealous.

He watched as his sister continued to intimidate and brutally hit the demon with a metal folding chair. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited his sister to watch wrestling with him that last time…

“Sis, you’re going to knock it out.”

“Nonsense. It’s a demon, how can it have so low a HP?”

“Yeah, but its level should be around the same as your starter.”

‘Besides, most pet owners use a rolled up newspaper, not a metal chair’ he thought.

“Hmmm… good point.”

Casey crouched down and looked at the dizzy demon.

“Had enough?”

The lion demon looked at Casey, a little cross-eyed. It shrunk its head back warily but it was unable to move.

“Submit or I’ll continue hitting you.” Casey threatened.

The demon looked at the serious look in her eye and bowed its head in submission. There was a faint glow and Casey’s phone buzzed. She looked around and realized that she had dropped her phone when she had been buried in the curtains.

Left with no choice, Casey held her breath and started digging through the material. Thankfully she found the phone pretty quickly. She turned on her phone and not to her surprise, she saw the notification:

You have subdued the demon lion Leonis. Give it a nickname?

“Leo will do.”

Congratulations! You have subdued enough demons to learn Talisman Arts. Would you like to learn?

Casey stared at the notification for a while before she clicked yes. There was a buzz and she received another notification. When she opened it. Casey realized that it was a word document. But the picture of the pen in it looked very familiar…