The roar of a Manticore reverberates throughout the whole swamp, sending fear through of the small animals nearby. Apollyon stands in front of the Manticore with his arms wide open, as offering to give the Manticore a hug. The Manticore's muscle flex and its wings flap as it pounces on top of Apollyon. Apollyon is now face to face with the massive creature and it has him pinned. With Apollyon pinned, the Manticore uses this opportunity to lick his creator in the face violently.

A hearty laugh erupts into the air from Apollyon as the massive Manticore licks his face all over. Apollyon is rubbing the head of the Manticore with his bony hands. Being about 11 feet long and about 7 feet tall, the Manticore is a massive Lion-like creature with enormous bat wings on its back. Its tail is that of a scorpion's and is very venomous.

The Manticore jumps off of Apollyon and prances around, acting like a dog who wants to play. Apollyon is still laughing with pleasure as his creation seems to be enjoying itself. Apollyon wipes the slime off of his skull and can tell that the Manticore had licked the moss off of him, which is good. Apollyon pats his knees as to say 'Come here' and the manticore walks up to him and nuzzles Apollyon's chest.

'What a beautiful creature.' Apollyon thinks to himself. Apollyon knows that Manticores are extremely intelligent so he decides to find out more about the creature.

'What is your name young one?' Apollyon says into the mind of the creature.

'My name is Catoline.' The Manticore replies while bowing to its Creator. Apollyon puts his hand on the fluffy head of the Manticore.

'Rise, Catoline the Manticore. You will be my Hero from now on. I will watch over you as long as you watch over me.'

After hearing Apollyon say this, the Manticore makes a humbled expression and plans on protecting its Creator till the bitter end. Seeing that the Manticore has accepted being his Hero, Apollyon looks off into the distance and can sense who is watching them now. He has been searching for them and he has finally found them. He decides to act like he doesn't know and continues on with his journey.

'Our first step in our journey will be going to our home. Do you mind if I ride you and lead you to it?'

'I do not mind, hop on.'

It is a truly bizarre sight to see a humanoid skeleton riding on a giant lion with bat wings but Apollyon rides the Manticore like it is a daily occurrence. He used Manticores a lot when he first started to cause Chaos throughout Earth and he knows everything about them. With the wind blowing in his skull and a view of hundreds of miles, Apollyon uses his sharp eyes to find a landmark he remembers. Leading the Manticore North, Apollyon is surprised to see the exact place he was looking for so soon.

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Looking through the sea of clouds, the peak of a mountain can be seen in the distance. Apollyon tells the Manticore to head there and it doesn't take long for them to reach their destination due to the expert flying from the newly born Manticore. They circle around the peak of the mountain and Apollyon sees a rock jutting out of the side of the mountain. 

'There, land there.' Apollyon commands Catoline while pointing at the rock with is bony fingers. The Manticore lands softly on the rock and Apollyon jumps off of its back. He walks up to the wall that the rock is connected to and puts his hands on it. Apollyon's eyes flash brightly for a few seconds as he checks the illusionary magic on the wall and the wall begins to shimmer.

Seeing that no one has discovered his illusion, Apollyon looks over his shoulder and sees he is still being watched. The creature is still invisible but they are definitely there. Annoyed that they are so persistent, black ooze forms on Apollyon's back and levitates into the air. His eyes are shining extremely bright as it shows that Apollyon is focusing hard on his magic. 

Twenty black balls levitate around Apollyon and he can sense whoever is watching him begin to move closer and closer, maybe to see what he is doing. Taking his chance to attack, the balls turn into small spears that shoot at the levitating object at insane speeds. The black spears disappear but blood is sprayed into the air by the invisible object. A creature comes into view as it falls to the ground, spurting blue blood from twenty small holes riddled throughout it.

Apollyon walks up to the creature and sees that it a giant flying eyeball. Knowing that he is not being watched anymore, Apollyon walks back towards the wall and dispells the illusionary magic which reveals a room inside of the mountain. As for the eyeball creature, Apollyon ordered the Manticore to eat it and Catoline is doing so. The Chaos Spears return back into black ooze balls and slowly roll their way back into Apollyon's body. 

The room inside of the mountain is empty except for a purple portal in the middle. Apollyon walks up to the portal and turns around to see the Manticore still eating the eyeball.

'Bring your food with you, we are leaving now.' Apollyon tells the Manticore. It listens and grabs the giant eyeball with its mouth and walks into the room. As it enters the room a wall reforms where they came in and the purple portal expands to 10' wide and tall. Apollyon nonchalantly walks through the portal and so does the Manticore. Their eyes are met with darkness except for the light coming from Apollyon's eyes. Neither the Manticore or Apollyon can move as Apollyon needs to say his old password to leave this trap dimension.

"It doesn't matter if Good beats Evil or vice versa, there will always be Chaos."

With saying this, the darkness around them is torn away and a spacious room lined with bookshelves and old furniture comes into view. Apollyon walks towards the wall opposite to the two and puts his hand on the door. Before going into the next room, he looks back at the Manticore.

'You can stay here and do whatever you want Catoline, I will be out eventually to tell you what we are doing next.'

With hearing this, the Manticore lays down onto the ground with a loud thud and continues to chew on the squishy eyeball. The texture is weird to the Manticore but the taste is absolutely tantalizing. In the next room, Apollyon can see his old bedroom. He walks to a podium that sits in the middle of the room and there is a book floating above it. He picks up the book and can feel the familiar weight of his Magi's Articulium. 

"Finally, the real fun begins."