บท 301: Burning Welcome #301
Author's note: There will only be one chapter updates from now for this fic, but the word count will be double to fit the new release schedule.
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Hell
The Selvage
"Well, if this isn't a warm welcome, then I don't know what is..." I muttered as I walked through the flaming portal and noticed the army of demons waiting for me on the ground.
I turned around and couldn't help but smile as the portal closed behind me with no signs of Marzel. "Figured as much..." I said with a chuckle as I scanned the horde of demons and found the one in charge.
He looked like your typical demon lord as he towered over the lesser fiends with his light brown skin tone, the jagged protrusions on his shoulders, and the two black horns sticking out of his head.
"You there..." I said, pointing the antique rifle at the towering demon. "I'm guessing you're waiting for Marzel...?" I said and received no reply as the creature merely glared at me.
"You can find her in the Nightshade Dimension. I'm just passing through," I added, and the demon didn't seem impressed by my words. "So if you can stop staring at me like you want to eat me, we can part away amicably, and no one has to get hurt..." I concluded as I rested the rifle on my back.
"Someone will get hurt, alright, trespasser," The demon growled. "And it will be none other than you..." He added as he raised his hand, summoning a giant sphere of hell flames and flinging it at me.
"Don't say I didn't warn you..." I calmly said with a sigh as I retrieved the Leviathon Axe and split the flaming sphere with a crescent blade of concentrated blizzard before it was even halfway through.
"Kill the human, and bring me his soul!" The demon bellowed, and at his words, the lesser fiends surrounding him began roaring and shrieking as they charged toward me.
I merely shrugged as I reached into my inventory and took out an army of my own, flying into the air as thousands of Sentry Drones materialized on the ground, meeting the demons' charge.
"You don't outnumber me, pal. That's my thing..." I said with a grin as I swung the Leviathan's axe, unleashing a tornado of freezing wind that decimated scores of demons before they even had a chance to fight my drones.
"Arrogant human... I will show you the error of your ways..." The demon growled as he took to the air, clearly angered by my words as he charged straight toward me.
The demon swung his fist at me once he closed the distance between us, and I met his fist with my own, slightly staggering back as he managed to overpower me, albeit barely.
"What is your name, human..." The demon said with a frown as he looked down at the blood seeping out his slightly scratched knuckles. "It has been a while since I've seen my own blood..." He added with a grunt.
"The name's Grayson and you'll see more than just blood if you don't move out of my way..." I said with a scowl as I threateningly brandished my axe and prepared to attack.
"I am Asmodeus, The Deceiver, a highborn demon and an archduke of hell," The demon, Asmodeus, said with a growl as he looked at me. "I will carve my name into your very soul as I torment it for the rest of eternity," He added, his claws rapidly growing as he charged me.
"Good luck with that..." I said with a chuckle as I met the demon's claws with the sharp edge of my axe. "I reckon you'll need it..." I added, channeling my energy into my eyes and blasting his face with a heat beam that sent him staggering back.
Asmodeus didn't reply as he quickly gathered his bearings and opened his mouth, unleashing a giant wave of hell flames and sending it flying straight toward me.
Frowning, I equipped my Starheat ring and phased through the attack, activating my phantom belt and disappearing in the air. Activating the Motherbox, I teleported behind the demon's back and swung my axe at his neck.
Much to my surprise, Asmodeus instantly turned to face me with a blank expression and caught the axe by the shaft before the sharp edge could connect to his neck.
"I am a part of hell as it is a part of me. You can not take me by surprise here," The demon said, his grip tightening over my axe as he tried to pry it off my hand with force.
"We'll see about that..." I said, unfazed by the demon's words as I moved my energy into the axe, freezing his hand stuck to its shaft. "I bet you didn't see this one coming, though, did you..." I added as I stored the axe in my inventory and materialized a miniature gravity machine energy construct with the Starheart Ring.
Asmodeus seemed confused at the sight of the complicated machine. But his confusion only lasted for a moment before it activated and sent him crashing into the ground, taking out hundreds of lesser fiends by the force of the impact alone.
Before he could recover, I raised my hand, channeling my will into the Starheart ring as I summoned every weapon known to humankind behind me, be it cold or modern, meant for personal use or mass destruction.
I said nothing as I brought my hand down, and with a barrage of death on the demon as the energy constructs came to life, raining arrows, bullets, missiles, hydrogen bombs, and everything in between.
I didn't even wait for the smoke to clear or the constructs to stop firing as I pointed my ring down, using up all its charges as I unleashed a wide green beam of pure destructive energy.
Soon enough, the beam disappeared, and the green constructs dissipated as the ring ran out of energy. I swung the Leviathan's axe, clearing the dust and smoke with a fierce gust of wind.
Once the air cleared, I smiled as I looked down at the demon, bruised and ridden with wounds all over his body, as he kneeled in the center of a crater deeper than the grand canyon.
The scene didn't take me surprise. The archdukes of hell were not what I'd call pushovers, but I was confident I could take one of them head-on and beat him fairly quickly. I wouldn't have been here if that wasn't the case.
If I had to face someone like Neron, Blaze, or Stanus, I wouldn't be so confident, nor would the fight end in my favor, but archdukes like Asmodeus wouldn't pose a problem. Not for me.
In any case, I heaved a sigh of relief as I slowly levitated down to the crater, intent on finishing off the demon with a swing of my axe as soon as possible so I could move on to find a way back home.
"You may have bested me, but you've yet to win the day, human..." The demon said, struggling to raise his head and look me in the eye. "Come to me, my champions!" He exclaimed, spreading his hands wide as three embers materialized around, growing as they formed three humanoid figures.
"Well, shit..." I couldn't help but grimace as I recognized the three figures that materialized around the demon. "Out of all the fucking people..." I added as I stared at the faces of Black Adam, Isis, and Mary Marvel.
The three former champions of the gods still looked the same, with almost no changes to their appearances besides the fiery aura surrounding them, their stiff body language, and their eyes that seemed hollow, devoid of any signs of life and free will.
"I had intended to keep my toys a secret, only to reveal them when I faced Belial for the throne, but you forced my hand..." Asmodeus said through gritted teeth as he sent me a dirty look. "And for that, you will suffer," He concluded, and the three champions instantly charged me once he stopped talking.
"I fucking warned, didn't I? You fucking asshole!" I said, barely holding back a scream of frustration as I flew into the air to dodge Black Adam as he flew toward me at an incredible speed, already swinging his fist.
Once in the air, I rallied half my machines and had them fuse together and from four Sentry Titans that instantly attacked Isis And Mary Marvel as I turned my attention to Black Adam.
"Shit! How did you even get the wizard's champions to do your bidding?" I asked with a grimace as I took a punch to the face from Black Adam and responded with one of my own.
"I was wizard's most bitter enemy for the longest time..." The demon said as he slowly stood up, still nursing his wounds. "I've battled him and his chosen many times over the centuries and millenniums..." He added with a grunt.
"The bond between the champion between the wizard and his champions is nigh-unbreakable..." The demon said, faintly smiling as he watched me battle Black Adam. "But as the wizard chose to forsake his toys, banishing their souls to eternal confinement..." He added with a chuckle.
"I only had to guide their souls to my realm and claim them as my own, empowering them with the flames of hell rather than the wizard's lightning," He concluded.
"You? The wizard's bitter enemy...?" I asked, unbothered to hide my doubt at the demon's words. "You're full of shit, and that's all you are..." I added with a scowl.
Though strong, Asmodeus was in no way remotely close to the might that the wizard commanded. There was no way he could even stand up to him, forget about taking the souls of three former champions from under his nose.
"You dare mock me, human?!" The demon said, clearly angered by my words. "No matter... my toys will make quick work of you..." He added as he took a deep breath and calmed himself.
"Bring me the boy's soul once he's dead..." He concluded, addressing the three former champions as he flew into the air, clearly intent on leaving. However, he didn't go far before a yellow-skinned demon appeared and punched him straight back into the ground.
"An archduke of hell, lacking courage and grace..." Said the yellow demon as he stared down Asmodeus. "With his tail tucked between his legs, he wished to flee from death's cold embrace..." He added as he slowly floated toward the ground.
"Then came along the rhyming demon Etrigan..." The yellow demon, Etrigan, continued, a savage grin splitting his face. "And with a mighty fist, he foiled the unworthy fiend's cowardly plan..." He concluded, raising his fist much to the archduke's shock.
"The rhyming demon, a hellspawn, and the mightiest of them all..." Etrigan said as he menacingly approached the fallen archduke while the latter tried to crawl away in a panic. "Today, he claims the soul of one fool, and the others soon enough shall fall..." He added as he kneeled next to Asmodeus and gripped his head.
"You can no longer crawl..." He concluded, opening his mouth and unleashing a wave of flames that instantly devoured the archduke's towering body starting with his head, leaving nothing but ashes.
"Now mightier than ever, the young human stands tall..." Etrigan said, turning to me after he finished Asmodeus. "He did not ask for help, but the rhyming demon is here to answer the unspoken call..." He concluded as he flew into the air, charging straight toward Black Adam.
"Surely, the young human sees the wisdom in joining forces against common enemies to win the war..."
...
Hell
Pandemonia
Helltrhone Castle
"My lord Belial..." Said a lesser fiend as he kneeled in front of a towering yellow-skinned demon with red eyes and fin-like ears resting atop an equally sizeable throne of stone adorned by skulls of various humanoid creatures.
Belial, the demon sitting on the throne, nodded as he turned to the lesser fiend, and the latter instantly spoke. "Archduke Asmodeus has fallen in battle, slain by the rhyming demon Etrigan and a mortal from Earth..." He reverently said, his eyes glued to the ground.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time before that fool hot himself killed..." Belial calmly said. "He was powerful, but arrogance has always been his biggest weakness..." He added, seemingly talking to himself rather than the kneeling fiend.
"And? What if my wayward son and his new-found ally, this mortal you speak of...?" Belial asked as he turned his attention to the kneeling fiend. "Where are they now...?" He added with a thoughtful expression.
"Much to our great shame, we do not know, my lord..." The fiend said, lowering his further toward the ground. "They were last seen in The Selvage where they slew lord Asmodeus..." He added, his tone apologetic as he spoke.
"Hmm... Etrigan has always been most excellent at covering his tracks. It matters not..." Belial said with a shake of his head. "He will come to me eventually..." He added with a sly chuckle.
"Until then, inform the scouts to scour every inch of Pandemonia and report to me once you find traces of my son..." Belial said as he turned away from the lesser demon. "Now be gone," He concluded as he gestured the fiend to leave, and the latter obliged without hesitation.
...
Hell
The Selvage
Marzel's eyes couldn't help but widen as she exited the flaming portal and looked around, finding nothing but the corpses of lesser demons littering the barren grounds.
"That brat actually did it..." She muttered in awe as she surveyed the area, her shock growing more pronounced as she witnessed the destruction wrought by the battle.
Her surprise instantly turned to cheer as she spotted a strange necklace on a pile of ash amidst the carnage. "So you finally bit the bucket, dear father," She said as she kneeled on the ground and picked up the amulet.
The demoness didn't think that the human boy could defeat her father or even come close to achieving such a feat, for that matter. Marzel had sent Grayson to what she assumed would be his death to act as a distraction while she traveled to another province of hell.
"Humans... so full of surprises...." Marzel said with a chuckle as she put on the amulet and summoned another flaming portal before calmly walking through it.
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Hell
Masak Mavdil
"Mind telling me what the fuck we're doing here...?" I said with a frown as I turned to Etrigan, who was walking ahead of me. "This place gives me the creeps..." I added with a grimace as I surveyed the area, which looked like a din of fire and death for the lack of a better description.
"As it should..." Etrigan said with a grin as he stopped and turned toward me. "Masak Mavdil is an exile, a place for demons to banish their own..." He added with a chuckle.
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