"Wait, you're serious?"
[...]
"..."
"Do you want me dead?" Blake squinted his eyes.
[Negative]
"Then what is the use of surviving if I get killed at the end?"
[Once the trial ends]
[Host's soul will be preserved and sent to the host's chosen world]
”So I'll get shred into pieces by vicious furries until my soul leaves my body?"
[...]
[Affirmative]
Blake looked at the empty air, pondering his life choices. *Sigh*
"I've prepared for so long and gone so far, If I back up now because I'm afraid, then I would be insulting a whole century of hard work."
Taking a deep breath, he asked the system.
"Alright, where am I." His wrinkled face showed his never lost determination and expectation
[Host is actually in Zek'nir, an ever expanding realm hosting billions upon trillions of demonic beings.]
[Each known area is managed by demon generals which are again split in various areas and managed by demon chiefs]
[But the whole realm is solely owned by a demon king, whose throne is constantly challenged by newly risen demon kings]
Quicky digesting the new information, Blake asked the system.
"Where do I find demon chiefs"
[There is one just in front of Host]
Answered the system and host could almost feel that it was ridiculing him.
"You mean the werewolf looking furry?" Asked the dubious man.
[Affirmative]
"..Alright, let's try this." With a scary smile on his face, Blake quickly thought about a plan.
As the conversation between system and man was taking place, the ones between general and soldier was about to evolve into a beating session.
"Listen you punks, If I have to kill you a thousand times to make you into better soldiers, I will. Don't even think about escaping in another realm. I'll find you scums, and bring your sorry asses in this literal hel-"
*Cough* *Cough* "Excuse me?"
The passionate speech of the demon chief was suddenly interrupted by a shameless old man.
"Huh? Who dares? Who dares?!"
The demon looked at the entrance of the tent but did not find anybody, he then looked at the uninvited guest and saw him staring at him with clear mockery in his deep black eyes.
"I'm Blake, and I am here to die."
A wolfish grin appeared on the crazy looking old man.
Silence...
"Well, ain't you gonna kill me? I have a small favor to ask though, I would like to perish as I fight a huge number of you guys~."
Another silence ensued before being broken by the skinniest of the three demons.
"How dare you appear before the chief and asking to die, if you want death so much, come out of your bubble and let me take your worthless life."
The bipedal wolf madly looked at the fool who seemed to have lost his mind, but there was also wariness and curiosity in his beastly pupils. After all, he would not have been able to retain his current position if he was all brawn but not brain.
"Who are you and who sent you? Are you a spy from another territory?"
"Nope, I just happened to have found and performed a ritual that brought me to this place. And now that I have no way of going back to my old world, I can only fight demons like you and miserably die in your hands."
Said Blake as he looked at the demon wolf playfully.
The wolf looked at Blake for a while before Valk whispered,
"Chief, no matter how I see it, there's something wrong with him. Is there even a way for humans to come in our realm?"
The werewolf pondered for a moment then said, "Then why don't you come out of your barrier and face all of us, maybe you'll have a chance of living a little longer."
"Nope, can't do that, you seem very strong, you would instantly finish me, that'd be no fun for the both of us.
What don't you put me against your minions instead, it will be funnier to watch, don't you think so?"
'This human, his appearance would have fooled me if it wasn't for this barrier. I need more information.'
The bipedal wolf sheathed his sword and grinned, "Interesting, I accept your offer. Make sure to entertain me before you die, we don't usually have many activities in Zek'nir .
"But Chief Syg- " Valk was interrupted by a murderous glare from the demon wolf.
"Shut your mouth and go assemble the army, tell them to arrive at the arena."
"Y-yes," fearfully replied a running Valk as if escaping from death itself.
Snoring in disgust, the wolf man turned his head towards the suicidal elder and said,
"Follow me to the arena, this is where we'll be able to fully enjoy your.. performance." A grin plastered on his face as he began laughing like a cliche vilain in some story, which was then followed by the elderly also cackling like he was having the fun of his life.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
[...]
'Let's see if you will keep that positivity of yours in the arena' grimly thought Syg.
Under the watchful eyes of two demons and the curious ones of passersby, Blake was escorted towards the arena. He looked at everything with curiosity and wonder, just like a tourist on holidays.
Sometimes asking a few questions to the stoic Bor who reluctantly answered them.
"Why are your houses mostly made from bones and carcasses?"
"We don't have many materials to work on in Zek'nir. We're building with what we can.
"If you guys are demons, do angels also exist?"
"Of course, It's not really a big secret that demons and angels hate each other to the core." Bluntly replied Bor.
"Why most of you are red? I'm not racist, just curious.
"..."
...
As they arrived in front of a giant infrastructure, tourist Blake stopped pestering the poor Bor and observed the 'arena'.
Before him stood a literal flying mountain; with a whale like appearance, whose outlines were surrounded by long and pointy claws like objects. The 'living being', which gave off a strange feeling to Blake was of a mixed shade of Crimson and Blackish
Hue, and under it were humongous black "wings" encompassing each corner of the behemoth.
'System, what in the holy milk am I looking at.' A bemused Blake asked to the ever present system
[It is known as a klyntar. A living building used to transport troops during wide scale wars. It is capable of housing millions of demons using a sub dimensional pouch inside his body. Currently, the Klyntar is in standby, and has turned its interior into a giant coliseum like arena.'
'uhh they're so bored to even use a transportation fleet for entertainment,' the old man lampooned.
Walking towards the edges of a dark crevice, strange pentagrams surrounded the hole. Groups of demons were seeing standing inside of one pentacle and disappeared after one of them muttered something.
As the odd trio entered a pentacle, the demon chief proclaimed, "Klyntar, Bring us to the entrance."
And as if to acknowledge the wolf's order, the Klyntar let out a powerful roar.
*Uuuuuuooooooo*
And with a blink, the trio's point of view shifted, from a giant behemoth to a large arena. And encompassing the battlefield was a romanic styled stadium housing hundreds thousands of demonic beings, and more seemed to arrive. There was no sun
yet light brightly shined upon the demonic domain, a cozy warm and cool breeze enveloping any living beings in the sub dimensional arena.
"I didn't know demons also enjoyed calm weather like these," lampooned old Blake.
"This is a general misconception, even if we live in difficult environments, we would rather enjoy a tranquil and peaceful place. Fire and destruction would become annoyingly boring for anyone after a century or two." The imposing Bor, mace hanged on his back, replied with an unusually warm voice as he basked himself in the delightful atmosphere.
"Indeed, most of my people who are not in duty often come inside the Klyntar for a change of scenery."
"Kinky." An old man said.
"What."
"What." Blake repeated
"..."
"As I was saying, thanks to the Klyntar's ability, we can enjoy various scenery. And as its owner, I have the ability to control this majestic beast."
The demonic wolf proudly stated, his overinflated ego forcing a punchable grin on his face.
"Ohh and how does the majestic beast's owner control it?" A curious Blake asked.
"Simp-" but before he could keep blabbering, he shut his mouth and yelled.
"Enough! Enter the arena!"
"Ok ok no need to cry."
Walking towards the dusty gold sand, a feeling of trepidation engulfed both The intrepid tourist and the demons observing him.
A few minutes later, a powerful voice reverberated around the soon to be battlefield.
"I have called all of you today for one reason. A puny intruder dared to infiltrate our ranks! And today he shall be punished for his offense." The demon chief proclaimed, his bearing and expression dignified, finally looking worthy of his position.
"I will give you the chance to be the one ending this vermin's wretched existence.." As the humanoid wolf passionately spoke, a few demons muttered.
"Is he nuts? He wants us to fight a senile old man? A demon with hair like tentacles questioned another demon.
"Yeah, he probably lost it this time, ask Krod to smile, that should be enough to kill him, hehehehe." Said the other laughing demon, which had rows of teeth anywhere where holes for eyes, ears and such should be.
"And as the one giving the killing blow to this vermin," the chief pointed his finger towards old Blake, which he returned by erratically waving his arm with a grin plastered on his face.
"..Shall be promoted and become one of my guards!"
*Ooooooo*
Solemn expressions appeared one after another. A myriad of emotions were shown amongst the demons. Yet most of them wore shocked or questioning expressions
What does it mean to be a guard? In the Zek'nir realm, it is one of the most envious positions of all. Being a guard means to be near the chief's location, to protect and assure his safety, however, demons do not care about such thing. What they want is to benefit from their position. Guards like most prized positions get to enjoy exclusive benefits such as tasting bigger souls or even going on a rampage in a low level world chosen by the upper ups.
The reason is that most souls unconsumed during a war are collected by a special magic and given later to the ones who contributed the most, however, guards receive a good amount of souls even if they did not contribute much in a battle. Large, corrupted souls are especially the most attractive ones excluding demons' souls.
A heavenly delicacy for the hellish demons, so addictive that the weak ones would purely and simply lose their sanity from just smelling one of such delicious soul.
As most demons thought about the implications of such prizes, one got up and moved... then like a set of dominos, hundreds of thousands of demons madly rushed towards the arena.
"Fu*k Krod! I'll get that position even if I have to fart to kill that old geezer!" A tentacular demon yelled as he stepped on a dog like monster and leaped towards the arena.
While the mad rush was taking place, Blake asked the system, "You have something that will help me fight against those guys right?"
[Affirmative]
[For the duration of the quest, host's body will return to its prime]
[All unused stats will be restored]
[All changes will take place once the barrier disappears]
"Sweet, so this thing is your doing."
[Affirmative]
"Then deactivate it now, I'll see for myself if those years I spent grinding were worth it. "
[Barrier deactivated]
The conversation between man and system ended at the same time where innumerable amount of fiends pounced on old Blake. A cloud of dust rose up as fighters fought over the prized old man's body.
At that moment, three main sides were made, the ones purely focusing on achieving the kill and occasionally dodging or eliminating nearby competitors. The ones fighting each other so that they can eliminate the target later on. Or the demons who are just happy to be there and are happily slaughtering their fellow demons for fun, not caring the slightest about old Blake.
But while they kept fighting, someone or something was lurking in the dense cloud of sand, occasionally breaking skulls or twisting necks.
And by the time some of them noticed the abnormality, a half naked man made his way out of the cloudy sand while holding two heads in his hands, his bloody face scaring the nearby monsters.
"This..is..AWESOME hahaha!!" A demonic laugh escaped the bloodied Blake, making the nearby devils unknowingly shudder. His body gave off a domineering presence as his peak strength returned once more. The well-built physique that was refined through countless hardships unleashed death upon the unlucky fiends facing him.
He was Blake, a century old monster who fought and trained for a lifetime. As he lost, won and survived, the skills he learned and mastered turned him into a fearless berserker. And now with his fully unleashed stats, his body became even more tyrannical. With the ability to crush demons' skulls with his bare hands, the frenzied berserker became one of the most dangerous creatures in this sub-dimensional arena.
Exhilarated by the intense rush of adrenaline brought by his sudden increase in power, Blake was reaping lives while sowing fear and despair in the chaotic battlefield.
"System, can you add a killstreak count? I want to see how much of these guys I can bring down with me!"
[Affirmative]
The ever present system approved, a transparent and minuscule panel showing blue numbers appeared in the top right corner of Blake's vision. The screen effectively showing the lunatic's constantly increasing killstreak.
[Demons killed: 29]
[Demons killed: 32]
[Demons killed: 36]
And before anyone could react another devil perished, his heart mercilessly ripped out by the laughing lunatic, adding another victim to his seemingly never stopping killstreak.
...