It's really quite amazing how much progress Mia Cabalis has been able to make in her research now that she's being properly stimulated.

Mia lets out a quiet moan as heavenly soft lips plant themselves on her pussy. Naomi's elongated tongue slips out, the supple pink appendage teasing every crease of Mia's folds, slathering Mia's sensitive clit with the love and care Mia deserves. She reaches down, fondly patting her junior on the head with one hand. With the other? Mia's scribbling ideas into her journal, penning them straight from the wellspring of knowledge that's been opened up in her mind – A mind that's working overcapacity now that Mia's lusts are being slaked.

"Ooh, that's – that's nice…" Mia breathes out as Naomi applies her tongue particularly inventively, gently lapping away at Mia's clit. Or maybe Mia's just praising herself and her work on this spell diagram. Summoning a demon into this world without blood… Blood…

"Hmm?" Mia blinks, frowning as Naomi starts to flag, the motions of her tongue growing weaker and weaker. Mia shifts her plump thighs – and forcibly squishes them against Heavenly Testament's head. The nun lets out a plaintive whine as she's forcibly asphyxiated between Mia's legs, and her tongue begins lapping again, running right over Mia's labia.

Ah, that's much better.

What was Mia thinking about again?

Oh, right. Demonic summoning. Dark, infernal rituals that Mia hadn't particularly looked into until she found her new inspiration. Mia's honestly wondering why she hadn't looked into demon summoning before – when you really think about it, summoning's a field tied pretty intrinsically to the fundamental laws of magic, a mix between intention, symbolism, and basic energy manipulation.

Intent is key here – It's always key when you're casting spells. There's a difference between casting a spell that makes a fireball, and casting a spell that makes a tiny fireball at a specific point in space. What you intend to do translates to what you actually do. More general spell-subjects require more juice, more zing, and more of a blood sacrifice. So if this summoning actually works, Mia will be able to prove one of her theories – that you can make the mana expenditure of grand rituals much less expensive if you clearly define your spell subject. In this case, not by summoning a generic demon, but by summoning a specific demon aligned with Mia's purpose.

The symbolic resonance of summoning is also fascinating. In that every other authority on the matter puts undue weight on the significance of symbolism, stating that you need to provide an elemental sacrifice to summon an elemental demon, saying that there's an intrinsic weight to the actual sacrifices you use, the actual dates, that you need to say the magic words and wave your hands just so to ward off possession – Rubbish. Poppycock.

It's such a shame that most of Mia's grimoire collection contains this sort of nonsensical hocus-pocus. This is another theory Mia's eager to disprove – You don't actually need grand sacrifices to summon a grand demon. You don't need magic words like alakazam or bibbidy-bobbidi-boo; or magic hand signs like that one ninja anime Mia watched that started strong but became boringly mediocre towards the end.

Not as long as your methodology's correct. Not as long as you clearly know what you want to summon. And there's another thing, another thing that Mia thinks she's uncovered-

Naomi's head lolls, and the little nun starts letting out gagging noises again. Mia blinks, pausing as Naomi starts drooling into her crotch in a decidedly unsexy way. There's far too much spittle and phlegm in her coughs, these are not sexy coughs…

Oh. Right. People do tend to die if they don't get enough oxygen, don't they? And right now… Mia shifts her thighs, squeezing them lightly against Naomi's head and neck, and Naomi's gagging noises intensify.

The brainy girl sighs. Sometimes, the frail shell of her poor, masochistic lab assistant? Is truly disappointing.

"Alright, alright, walk it off," Mia spreads her legs slightly, freeing Naomi, and the nun's shoulders heave as she greedily sucks down air, her entire frame quaking with masochistic bliss. Freed from her fleshy, plump prison, but still trapped betwixt Mia's thighs.

"Haah… Haaaaah…" Naomi lets out a delirious, incoherent giggle, and Mia rolls her eyes again.

"Please don't-"

"Harder…!" Naomi moans and Mia sighs again.

So needy. So greedy. Hmph.

"Walk it off, I said," Mia grumbles as she fixes her clothes, slipping her panties back over the cleft between her legs. "And maybe get some water too."

"Yes, mistress…" Naomi giggles again as she stands up on very shaky legs. Her sheer nun's habit clings to her slender frame, and Mia licks her lips at the delectable, delicious sight of her, ahem, 'research assistant.'

… It's too bad Mia can't indulge some more in bullying the masochistic nun. Really too bad that Mia can't break out the whips, chains, and candles, not when she's this close to her breakthrough. Such a shame.

Ah well. Mia's been left sated by the pleasurable, rolling orgasms she just received. Sated enough she's ready to test this ritual she's been concocting. Sated enough, it's actually managed to quell the itch Mia's been feeling ever since she ran into her first test subject.

Indeed, Mia's mind has gotten a lot sharper ever since she started having orgasms. Ever since she learned of the joys and pleasures in having test subjects to slake her thirst on, in having lab assistants to 'help' her think more efficiently…!

Mia Cabalis surveys the crude pentagram she's drawn on the floor of her candle-lit room, her eyes gleaming with feverish excitement.

For all intents and purposes, this summoning ritual is extremely unconventional. It's definitely not your standard demonic evocation. For one thing there's not nearly enough blood. For another, the sacrifices Mia's prepared are decidedly… Unorthodox.

"Kyuu! Kyuu, kyu. Kyuu!" The various fluffy animal mascots squeak, each arranged at each point of the pentagram in tiny cages. There's a tiny fox, a wide-eyed rabbit, a chubby little downy owl, and a fluffy ferret. Living, breathing, stuffed animal Contractors filled with magical fluff, covered in downy fur, and about to be some powerful demon's meal ticket.

"Oh stop it," Mia grumbles as she takes out the ritual knife she's prepared for this event – a black blade, forged from manasteel, engraved with runes that shimmer faintly in the dim light. "I've literally torn you things apart to see how you tick. You'll come back from this, you're nothing but cotton and mana anyways."

"Kyuu!"

Mia sighs. Is it worth stitching their mouths shut again? No, probably not. There's no point anyway, not when Mia's about to open the gateway and disprove decades of research in ritual magic.

One drop of blood should do the trick. Mia pricks her finger with the tip of her blade, watching that droplet of crimson bead up from the wound. Idly, she studies the little eddies and swirls, the tiny sparks of mana coursing through her own life-fluid. Then, with a languid flick of her hand, she sends that tiny droplet into the center of the pentagram she's crudely chalked onto the lab floor.

The effect's immediate. Threads of shimmering red light blaze up from the ritual circle Mia's drawn on the floor. The light traces down each line of the pentagram, connecting each of its points in a glowing network.

"Kyu! Kyu, kyu! Kyuuu!" The animal mascots yelp, throwing themselves at their cages desperately trying to escape – but it's too late. They've already begun to rapidly decompose into their constituent parts, cotton thread, and mana weave unwinding, being sucked towards the center of the pentagram where a gaping void's opened up.

Mia breathes out, feeling the air grow dense and hot, charged with dark magic. Wind begins to billow from the center of the pentagram, pushing Mia's hair out of her face. She watches with fascination as the hole in reality grows, pulses, and chimes and finds herself baring her teeth in a vicious smile. Dark, sinister, maniacal laughter begins to well up from her lungs.

It's working.

It's working!

Mia really is a genius!

The void Mia's torn open throbs and warps, jagged edges rippling like molten glass as something impossibly large and powerful presses against it from the other side. The last vestiges of the fluffy mascots coalesce around the portal. Mana sparks, crackling like lightning, pulling something through, something red, fierce, and deadly.

And finally, the rip snaps open, spilling a torrent of darkness onto the floor as a figure steps through.

Spoiler: Mia's Demon

Hmph. Whoever this demoness is, she's definitely tall, and sharp-looking. Her flowing crimson hair moves like liquid fire. Two wing-like appendages curl outwardly from her temples. Her eyes are a particularly fetching shade of blood-red, eyes that gleam with equal parts malice and amusement as she surveys her new surroundings with a languid, almost dismissive glance.

A glance that's got Mia a bit on edge. That's the gaze of a predator, right there. A predator that should be chained, if Mia's calculated correctly. But it's always better to be on your toes when you're dealing with a greater demon. This is no minor imp Mia's summoned, this being's got power so tangible it nearly chokes the air-

Mia unleashes her own mana, flaring her magical power, and suddenly, it becomes much easier to breathe. Tch. Demons. So pretentious. As if Luminous Libromancer could be intimidated by some demon that doesn't even have a name yet!

… At least, she shouldn't have a name. Mia should have pulled her wholesale, freshly born from the infernal pit.

The demoness locks her gaze onto Mia, her full lips curling into an amused smile. She takes a step forward, and the crude chalk circle dissolves underneath her heeled feet as she steps towards Mia.

"Oh my," the demoness says. "Aren't you an ambitious thing?"

Mia lifts her chin, folding her arms underneath her chest imperiously. "Of course I am. Why shouldn't I be? I'm the one who called you here, after all."

"You certainly did. I have to say, I applaud your… Ingenuity in sacrifices. From what I've heard, most Magical Girls wouldn't dare sacrifice their precious Contractors."

"Those Magical Girls are idiots," Mia scoffs. Please, as if those balls of fluff and mana are sacred.

"Mmh. Hmm. I will say, those sacrifices did taste good. It's put me in a good mood!" The demoness smiles sunnily, clapping her hands together. "So, why did you call me here? Knowledge? Wealth? Power…?"

"I just wanted to prove that my theory was correct. And it is. Though if you're offering, I could use a new lab assistant," Mia shrugs. "Or maybe a librarian."

"…" The demoness freezes. "… You called a greater demon up from the hells in order to use her as… A librarian?"

"No, I called you up because I wanted to prove that everyone else was wrong and being wasteful and sloppy when conducting ritual magic," Mia sniffs. "And I proved it. The lab assistant thing's just a nice bonus."

The demoness's crimson eyes narrow slightly, and for a moment, Mia swears she can feel the temperature drop—an odd sensation, considering she'd expected only heat from a being that literally radiates infernal energy. Still, Mia stands her ground, her chin lifted in defiance as she watches the demoness wrestle with this new information.

"A librarian," the demoness says finally, her voice flat, yet laced with something dangerously close to insult. "How quaint." She steps closer, her presence suffocatingly close, the faint scent of embers and exotic spices wafting off her. "And here I thought I'd been summoned for something… significant. You disappoint me, summoner."

"Well, if you'd prefer I use you as a lab rat for my next experiment, I'm sure I could find a place for you on my operating table," Mia shrugs. "Just because I called you here doesn't mean you get to determine your use in my tower. That's not how this works."

The demoness's lips curve again, but this time, the smile is less amused and far sharper. "Interesting. Very well, then," she purrs. "If it's servitude you seek…" She lets the words trail off, crimson eyes glinting with something dark and challenging. "But know this: every act of service rendered by a greater demon bears a price."

"Obviously," Mia says, brushing off the warning with a flick of her fingers. "If you're such a 'greater demon,' you'll know that I'm no fool. I haven't summoned you on a whim. You'll be bound by my terms as I've written them." And here, Mia pulls out a contract, and the demoness blinks.

"… An Infernal Contract? You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would. Read through it, then sign it and become my servant. Or, I activate the failsafe built into the ceiling right above you. You get turned to ash and sent back to hell, and I walk away with useful research data," Mia replies easily.

The demoness narrows her eyes. "You're bluffing. You're bluffing."

Mia snaps her fingers, and the ceiling opens up. A many-lensed bronze mechanical monstrosity lowers, positively thrumming as its mana capacitors discharge. An ingenious artifact, composed from many slumberless nights where Mia actually worked with Maxine Steele, splicing together circuitry and arcane mechanisms. "I assure you, I'm not."

"An Archimedean death ray?!" The demoness reels back, shocked. "Are you mad?! Foolish girl - If you fire that thing you'd vaporize half of your own tower with the sheer, concentrated power of the sun!"

"Probably, but at least I wouldn't have to sweep up your ashes. There wouldn't be any. Sign or die. It's your choice," Mia replies.

The demoness's expression shifts from indignation to a dark, simmering glare, her crimson eyes glinting with something closer to grudging respect than outright malice. She stares at Mia, jaw set, then glances back up at the death ray, her mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.

"Well played, summoner," she says, voice smooth but tight with frustration. "A solar death ray—truly, that's a first."

"Oh please, apart from the collective knowledge of your species you were embedded with when you took form, everything's a first to you," Mia sniffs, and the demoness chuckles.

"Fair enough," the demoness says, and with a final sigh, she shifts her gaze to the floating, glowing contract in Mia's outstretched hand, examining the runes scrawled along the edge of the parchment with a critical eye. "And you've embedded the binding runes on this contract so thoroughly there's no chance of wriggling free. You really thought this through…"

"I always do," Mia brags. "Now, if you're finished gawking…"

The demoness casts one last resentful look at Mia, then lets out a resigned sigh. "… I can't sign this contract. I'm nameless. I require a name."

Well. That's actually the one thing Mia hasn't quite thought of yet. Quite vexingly, it's also the most important thing. Naming any supernatural entity? That's not a trivial matter – it's an act of profound intent. The thread that weaves together the fabric of power and understanding – in many ways, it's also an act of creation. An act of empowerment, one could say.

The wrong name could make this demon stronger – potentially strong enough to begin slipping through the binding of its contract. The wrong name could make this demon more irascible, less prone to obedience. Give it a more unruly personality.

The right name, though? That could pay off in a number of ways – Mostly by giving the demoness a personality that's tolerable.

"Right. Your name," Mia hums, stalling for time.

… This is actually trickier than she was expecting. Ugh.