Draugzel
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Chapter 81: Monsters
🕑 Added 2023-01-02 20:13:18 +0000 UTCA/N: Sorry, guys. No chapter next week. I am currently moving cities because of my job, so I won't have internet or time in general to write for the upcoming week. Also as some might have noticed, I am now usually uploading after 6pm, which most likely will remain that way since its at that time I come home after work.
Anyway, I see you on the 27th. Have a good one.
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The next few days were rather quiet. Of course, the heroes of the world had some villains to fight and even the Titans were regularly fighting on the streets, but that didn't concern us. Even Raven didn't seem to find it necessary to help them out. She was busy meditating and turning the power she had stored inside her black crystal and her claw into her own.
If the power remained stored, who knew what would happen if someone else got their hands on it? It would take time for her to convert all that power, but she was making good progress already.
With every bit she became stronger, she could convert more energy at once. It also seemed that the energy of this universe, despite being as vast as the energy of our universe, wasn't as potent. The quantity was the same, but the quality varied.
Her increase in strength was as minuscule as it was for me, so she didn't grow as strong or as fast as she would have been if she used the energy from our universe. Of course, it didn't mean she didn't want to grow or couldn't have the same growth as in our universe.
After all, she had absorbed Trigon's Heart of Darkness and it was enough for her to grow for a long time. Currently, she had lots of time since she had nothing else to do besides reading, occasionally helping the Titans of this world, and getting some guidance from Raven-2 to better her control.
Though more often than not, she would return to Hell for a trip to practice absorbing different types of demonic energy. Usually, I would follow her since I could let loose a bit. The damage done in Hell and its inhabitants weren't really my concern, so there was no need for precision. It was quite fun to just wreck things. Obviously protecting her was another reason I followed her. I didn't want her to get arrogant and fell victim to some demon shmock even if the demons of this universe were lackluster.
As for the rest of the time she spent training with the titans and Raven-2, I couldn't really care to follow her there since I was occupied with my own training. I could have trained with them right now with the ability to divide my attention through clones, but I would hardly sacrifice my growth to supervise some kids in their training.
My progress had been going smoothly after I created 5 different autonomous clones. It had even been faster than it would have been with my time-slowing device. It was probably because the clones' thought processes would change once separated due to different insights in certain techniques. The change in perspective had an exponential effect on my insights into the techniques I used.
It was probably the greatest gain I had from this trip to another universe. To use these clones as a learning tool was certainly worth a mint. Not to mention the second advantage using these clones had on me, or rather what they made me realize. I wasn't sure quite what it was, but every time a clone's ki returned to my main body, I felt like it was easier to use my ki in this world.
It was like a portion of the ki that had left my body had gained part of the approval of the universe or it had adapted to its rules of it. Either way, after messing around with this, I could feel that the suppression of my powers was less than before. It hadn't been quite noticeable at the beginning, but after I continued my exercises with the clones and added more and more of them, I noticed a pattern.
Every time my ki returned I felt it easier to move and my strength would increase. After I realized that, I dismissed my clones and went to Saturn to create a [Supernova] and reabsorb the ki. The result had been obvious. With a new method to grow quickly, I would go out regularly and release as much energy as I could before reabsorbing it again.
It took some time to let my ki adapt as much as I already had. I didn't know the exact mechanism, but not all my ki that would return to my body could be moved as easily. Sometimes the increase I gained differed from the day before. It made me question whether the new ki generated didn't inherently absorb the qualities of being free of suppression?
I had even released almost all ki and let it stay outside for several minutes, as long as I could, before reabsorbing it again. With that method, I was able to speed up my adaptability by a lot. My ki seemed to change as well. It was flowing faster and more efficiently in this universe. It was adapting.
Though I wondered why the ki adapted to its environment at different rates from day to day. I didn't know the answer to that question, so I just ignored this aspect and continued to empty it out, only to reabsorb all my ki several times in the hope that my body would adapt and create ki that would be free from suppression. After several tries, it had even worked to some degree.
The access to my power had grown tremendously in just a few days, to where I was at half my strength. From 1% to 30% access to my full power. That was an increase of 30 times compared to when I first arrived here. It was like I was a False Super Saiyan in comparison. The gain was tremendous. However, I could almost feel that I was approaching a limit.
It wasn't like I couldn't unlock more of my strength, but I felt like I should avoid doing so. It was just based on a feeling, but my feelings would be proven to be correct when I had transformed into a Super Saiyan right now. I could feel that I would know after I had transformed.
The wind stormed past me at incredible speeds, certainly lethal for any human on earth. Even the harshest tornado on earth paled in front of the average speed I was currently floating inside. Arcs of lightning surrounded me and tickled my skin as I adjusted my technique to breathe in this hostile environment.
The lightning of this gas giant was then met with the lightning created by the dense pure ki aura surrounding my body. I increased the intensity and my aura rose like a flame as my strength soared. It was then that I noticed it.
The surrounding dark clouds that were illuminated by my energy were now bending around me. Several meters around me were arcs of lightning twisting around me. It became a distorted sight as space folded underneath my power. I knew if I powered up even further I might break space, puncturing a hole into the universe, so I let my power calm down.
Letting my powers settle as the surrounding space remained bent, though this brief experiment left me wondering why I couldn't unlock my full strength here. After all, even if I reached my full strength, it would only triple my strength. Although it might mess up this reality if I went to the limits of my Super Saiyan then, I could just adjust my Super Saiyan power to a tolerable degree, right?
Still, I couldn't put that feeling away that something bad would happen. I trusted my gut instinct. It was seldom wrong when it came to warning me of danger. After going through my usual routine, I headed back to earth.
As I sat down on my favorite spot on this little island pointing at Jump city, I let my prepped meal from inside the Tower fly towards me. Though it seemed like my movements weren't undetected by the Justice League and they had finally come to question me with the full squad. As I went to open my Tupperware, it was snatched away by Green Lantern.
I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow. "What do you want?" I asked before breaking apart Green Lantern's hold on my Tupperware with my telekinesis.
Green Lantern was quite frustrated with my casual disregard for his 'powerful' barrier or whatever. "You know what we want to know," Batman said as he stepped forward.
"You want me to train you?" I asked as I dug in the curry rice with chicken. Batman growled at me before he held his forearm parallel to the ground. A hologram appeared above it showing the data of energy disturbance around Saturn from a few days and from a moment ago. As well as the light streak dividing the sky into two as it exited the earth from the Titans' tower at concerning speeds.
"Yeah, that's me." Shouldn't be too hard to find out it was me, I hadn't really kept it a secret. "I was training... or do you want me to do it here and accidentally blow up Jump City?" I was certainly not going to cancel my future trips there, especially since it was boosting my powers in this world this quickly. There was still some experimenting to do, after all.
"We had detected similar energy from deep space. There were some concerns that a planet had been destroyed by said energy..." I glanced at them. They didn't seem too confrontational.
At least, most of them seemed more dragged into this than they were because of their suspicion. Despite this, they were prepared. I could feel several life forces popping up around us.
I finished my meal as I listened to what they had figured out from their connection with the other Green Lanterns. After they were done, I placed the spoon into the Tupperware and placed it on another pile before looking at the other filled Tupperware. There were all filled with different meals, after all.
I smacked my lips before glancing at them. "Yeah, I blew up a planet." Technically, Raven absorbed it, but whatever. Didn't really make a difference… I said before grabbing another Tupperware. There was a spoon inside since I was never sure if I had time to grab cutlery when I was in a hurry to leave, much to the frustration of the Titans. Not my problem that they wash their dishes so rarely to rely on those that I cleaned...
"Explain," Batman growled, and I looked back at the heroes and found surprised faces and tension among them.
"Yeah, I had mentioned to Superman that I suspected Cyborg had a back door for Darkseid since he was using a motherbox-"
I was interrupted by an exclamation, "What??" A glance at the others made me realize that some knew and some didn't, though more importantly, Batman was completely pissed if his glare was anything to go by, while Superman was running damage control to keep Cyborg quiet, though he also didn't look happy with me revealing this information.
"Anyway, I wanted a rematch with him, so I searched for him and took him and his planet out… Where did you think I got that motherbox I gave to Star Labs?" I asked, causing the surroundings to grow eerily silent as they looked at me, stunned. Even Batman was visibly surprised for several moments before he reined it in again.
"You fought Darkseid?" He quietly asked, suspicious.
"Fight him? No, I killed him and erased the rest of Apocalypse." The ensuing silence was telling. I hit my open palm with my fist as I remembered something. "Right, I never told you - not that we had interacted much -, but I had already taken care of Darkseid in my universe. I had grown much stronger since then, so I figured I would take him out here as well. You're welcome by the way... Was that it?" I asked as I placed another empty Tupperware on the side.
They looked at each other in disbelief. "You took him out on your own?" Superman asked with skepticism, clearly not believing my victory. Was it such a surprise that I could deal with someone he couldn't?
"Well, Raven was with me as well, but you seem to underestimate me. I am the strongest even in my universe by far. If I wanted to, even if you teamed up with my Justice League, I could still defeat you by a long shot." With a click, I opened the next Tupperware and ate. Even if it had been quite lax lately, my training makes me hungry. I couldn't help myself.
One could say much about the dark knight, especially with him just being a human, but he had an adaptable mind. "… Right, the process with the motherbox had shown results and we should be ready to send you back in a week." He then turned around and left.
"Although he is dead, Cyborg, I might still want to check if you can still be hacked or monitored." The young man nodded absentminded before he left with the others as they said their goodbyes, though not giving me wary looks.
I wasn't sure if that was the end of it since I was sure that Batman wouldn't enjoy having nothing to counter me. However, given his last words and reminder... Perhaps he would try to quicken the progress to send me away? Should I scare him next week, saying that I wanted to stay and rule the earth?
His face would be hilarious, though he might have a self-destruction button that would cause me to be sucked into the space between universes or some insane shit like that. Probably should avoid giving him a reason to go nuclear. We had barely been here for 2 weeks. I shouldn't trust him to take a joke.
...
Lord Satanus had been powerful even among ancient demons thanks to his lineage of being a child of the wizard Shazam and a demoness. He was feared by all who knew him and had ruled over a vast territory in Hell. He was the ruler of Earth's Dark Realm, a place filled with torment and suffering unimaginable to the human mind.
He had always been driven by his desire for power and was always looking for ways to grow stronger, willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals until he could finally dethrone Neron, the current ruler of Hell. The entirety of Hell was for his taking. To his surprise, his chance arrived sooner than expected.
Neron had been away for several weeks now and some other of the thousand demon lords had been getting antsy. His absence was an opportunity most demon lords couldn't resist, which was why they were ever so careful.
Satanus had waited for his suspicions to be confirmed. He had found out that it was likely Neron had been trapped by the Tower of Fate, so it would take some time for him to escape. With that in mind, he had contacted his sister, Lady Blaze, to take over Hell together since he knew that even with his might, he wouldn't be able to remain in position for long, especially with all the other demon lords vying for the throne.
He would need to share it and there was no better ally than his sister. Together they could best most demon lords. Of course, until she finished her business, he had kept an open ear for the movements of the other demon lords. His minions had been spread thin among the demon lords and Neron's army.
To be honest, it would have been too much for his subordinates to keep informed, but after some demon lords went up against Neron's army and failed, it had been easier to track them as they grew fewer in number. Satanus was still accumulating his strength, growing his army by absorbing the survivors of fallen demon lords. Soon he could launch his attack. At least, that was the plan.
At first, he heard some whispers of some demons disappearing. He thought little of it, as death among demons was a common occurrence. Hell was a place of eternal suffering and violence, after all. It was not a surprise to hear of thousands of demons vanishing or being slaughtered by a wizard, demon, or even an angel.
However, the whispers grew louder until the rumors of Trigon's death reached his ears. Although Lord Satanus despised the non-hellion demon, he couldn't dismiss his power. It wasn't without reason that Trigon could carve out a realm among the thousand demon lords.
Just like Satanus himself, Trigon was feared by his peers, so to hear of his death was concerning. If the rumors had stopped there, he would have dismissed the news as a falsity. The common demon thinking of Trigon's disappearance as his death wouldn't be the first case. However, when the rumors mentioned his realm had vanished as well, he couldn't help but think there might be something to it. However, he wasn't ready for the next news.
The rumors grew more exaggerated as the days passed and were only reaffirming Trigon's death. Belial, an ambitious Arch-Duke of Hell and a son of Trigon, vanished from one night to the other, with only darkness replacing his former realm. Of his realm, no one had survived. His half-brothers and all loyal demons were devoured by this darkness.
Next was the Lord of Avarice, Demon God of Wealth, and publicly the wealthiest demon in Hell with many connections to demons and wizards alike was slain as if he was a common demon. His death had an arguably greater impact than Trigon's and his sons', as it influenced the soul business of too many demons. It was then that almost all of Hell perked up, sensing the destruction as the darkness continued to creep further in all directions of Hell, like a plague out to devour all of Hell.
Satanus send out his subordinates to find out more only to hear of more demon lords being devoured. He listened carefully to these reports as the darkness was approaching his realm quickly. His ambitions of taking over Hell were ever present and his thoughts circled on how he could use this encroaching darkness to take what was his to claim. Of course, he also wanted to ensure that he wouldn't fall victim to the other demon lords.
It had been only a few days and the spies he had sent out were growing fewer as they were killed in the aftermath. A pattern slowly showed itself. This darkness was stopped by the demon lords' realm until something happened inside it, causing it to continue its path of absorption.
Satanus first believed that the darkness was trying to take over Hell, but when it was reported back to him that a barren hellscape was left after it retreated from some spots, he knew what was happening. This darkness was cleaning up Hell from all demons and their influence.
Even at this point, many demon lords would be hesitant to give up their realm, a part of their being, foolishly believing that they could withstand this new threat, but the truly powerful ones in Hell knew they could rebuild what they had lost. Hell would remain for all eternity, so its power would come back.
He fled to a distant dimension, separate from Hell and reality. Even if someone found this place, it would be an impossibility to break through the natural boundaries around it without him noticing. It was a place where he could wait out all dangers in mind. Even this natural catastrophe, this darkness, couldn't harm him in here.
Satanus had lived for millennia, so waiting for a few months to gather more information wouldn't be a big deal. Given the increasing pace of this darkness, it seemed to grow more powerful as time went on and it might only take a few weeks until it swept through all of Hell.
It was regretful to plan anew, but circumstances like these were also opportunities. He glanced at the few dozen thousand demons he had taken with him. It might not be enough to take over Hell afterward, but he was sure his situation would be better than it had been.
"Hm?" He could feel his realm being ground against. Something was scraping away minuscule layers of his realm. He observed how it clashed against each other, trying to figure out how he could take this power for his own. If he couldn't, then he would just have lost a realm, something that he could rebuild.
Suddenly, the feeling disappeared, and he could sense a presence just outside this realm. He glanced at the spot and found two shadows standing in front of it.
"How... how can anybody survive out there?" Outside of this realm was a storm of space and time, ripping through anything that dared to step into it. He placed his realm into the eye of the storm, a natural boundary that few would dare to cross without preparation. Even those powerful demons that could control time and space to some degree would be wary to go unprotected into this field. Suddenly, a crack sounded out as if an egg impacted the edge of a plate.
He looked at the two hands that were inserted into the boundary as if it was a physical thing. Space warped around his arm and twisted the boundary until it cracked underneath the pressure. The hands pulled the space between the cracks apart, creating an entrance into his realm. Outside, two young individuals were peering inside.
Satanus had long blocked out all the surrounding noise, so he didn't even register his generals' panic. He looked at the woman that gave off the same aura as the darkness. Was she the darkness personified or was she just controlling this power? His gaze was attracted to her hand, which was covered in a claw that was ominously glowing black-reddish. He could feel the familiar energy of a few hundred demons he knew of contained inside. Though the energy was changed, fragmented, broken down...
One thing he knew for certain, the woman radiated a similar aura as Trigon, and her features only underlined this feeling. Perhaps a spawn of his? The man on the side glanced around indifferently until he locked eyes with Satanus. A shiver ran down his back and he experienced what he thought he had forgotten. Fear.
When this conclusion came to his mind, he wanted to deny it immediately. How could he fear what appeared to be a mortal?!
The man was radiant. A golden aura around him, with space bending as if it was submitting itself to his power. He had only blinked, and the two hovered above his castle. The man's golden aura vanished and was replaced by a green one that seemed to be less impressive as space returned to its normal state.
"Can you take care of the small fries?" The man said as he still looked at Satanus.
"Sure." The woman responded, monotonously. Their conversation was casual but foreboding. He reacted quickly and ordered to attack the two immediately. He would take the time gained from them, distracting the two to flee. Although he felt indignant about fleeing, he had enough clues to not try anything stupid.
His trusted subordinates reacted to his call and attacked, unknowingly setting out to throw themselves to their deaths. In the meantime, he turned around. Raised his arm, ready to let his magic take him away.
A crushing pain coming from his wrist caused his mind to go blank. The man had grabbed his wrist. He pulled and tried to free himself, to no avail. It was only when the man let go and he fell on his butt that he was free. The man's shadow cast over Satanus' face, made his inner sense of impending doom rise a notch.
This feeling only grew when the previous growls and shouts were replaced by the screams of dying demons. The man kicked him and he was sent bouncing over the hellstone before impacting the side of his castle's tower.
The pain that came with the impact was hardly worth mentioning when he saw the battlefield- no the massacre. The woman was surrounded by a lake of darkness with the demons desperately trying to escape it, but they could not as this tar-like darkness stuck like glue, pulling them back to the ground and into the lake.
To make matters worse, each body was pierced with tentacles coming from her claw. The demons' essence was being visibly drained out of them as their bodies shriveled up and then dragged into the darkness.
He didn't even register when the man picked him up by the throat. Not even mentioning fighting back, even fleeing, seemed to be an impossibility. These two weren't what they appeared to be. The look the man gave him as if he was vermin to be crushed underneath his foot filled him with indignation.
Even if he begged, he doubted they would let him live. The woman was a void that seemed to consume everything in its path, while the man had long turned into a giant beast in Satanus' eyes. A massive, terrifying creature bloodied with the countless demons he had torn apart prior, wandering around with a woman that consumed his slain souls.
He could practically feel the many demons they had slain. It was appalling to think that he, Lord Satanus, would fall like the many demons before him. He pushed himself off the indent of the tower and flew at the man.
He punched out with power that could wipe out the entire life inhabiting a planet. The impact was loud as he landed his shot at the young man's chin. The mortal's head turned to the side and took a step back, but he wasn't done.
He followed up with an uppercut, causing his opponent's feet to leave the ground before he kicked him in the stomach. He flew for a meter before he stopped and looked back at Satanus with his chin slightly lifted upward as if he looked down on him.
He was infuriated but immediately turned around to flee. The moment he turned, the man stood in front of him again. He lashed out, trying to land another hit, but the man suddenly became slippery and dodged all of his attacks. He unleashed a flurry of attacks, hundred punches in a single second, all dodged by the man with ease.
"Could you finish? I feel slightly bloated already." The woman's voice had surprised Satanus, as he had forgotten about her existence during his desperate search for a way to get away from this man. A demon-devouring woman that had been undetected by him during his fight with the disguised beast.
Was this how they had trumped the other demon lords? The man would distract them before the woman killed them? As this thought arose, he was immediately searching for the woman before finding her still rooted where she had devoured the other demons.
The surroundings couldn't have been any more different. The darkness that had spawned from her feet was already devouring the castle and the land beyond it.
"Fine. This guy doesn't seem to have any trump cards, so I guess we can finish this." As soon as his voice fell, the man appeared in his vision again.
A brown blur from his waist and a whipping sound caused Satanus' vision to suddenly blend into a bunch of colors. His ears were ringing. If it wasn't for the impact, he wouldn't have known that he had crashed into the ground again. He looked into the sky and felt that he lost control over his body. He tried to stand up, but his body didn't seem to follow his commands.
Above him, the man appeared again. At least, he thought it was the man. The blurry contours raised its arm and a blue light appeared in its hands. "... weak ass... boring..." The monster said something before the light grew bigger. It was the last thing Lord Satanus would witness.
Comments
Anthony Maxwell
I was just thinking 🤔 wouldn't John Constantine here these rumors about hell being cleansed and report it to the Justice League???? Also wouldn't heaven and the angels take notice of two mortals doing what the entirety of heavens armies could not? Or maybe they can but they don't because balance or some shit reason. Anyway it was kind of nice to get a secondary perspective part in the chapter.
Tarlock
Nice
