He is dead if he does not return with Asura by his side. Mel will kill him, then the old man, and maybe Ash too. In a panic, he hastily chased after Asura, screaming and trying to get him to slow down,

"Hey, wait, what are you doing!?! The captain will get mad!"

Wain began losing hope as Asura darted around corners, through alleys, and past houses. He followed him as best he could, but this ogre was too fast. It was like an athletic runner against a toddler. Wain headed down the road between the buildings, looking for any signs that Asura had passed through. Thankfully, Asura was like a toddler, leaving trails of chaos wherever he went. Garbage cans were spilled, and mailboxes were bent to their sides.

After heading down some alleyways, Asura stopped in front of a large factory. Digging his fingers into the concrete wall of the factory, he pulled himself up. Wain barely caught up to him as he watched Asura climb the tall wall like a spider. His four arms moved together seamlessly, easily pulling up the small, muscular monster.

Once up on the roof, Asura noticed light beaming upward into the sky from the middle where a dirty skylight was. Dirt was caked onto the glass, and some slimy residue covered the entire thing. "Gross," Asura thought. Running up to the dirty skylight, Asura peeked down into the factory to find the source of the quotidian mana.

Pressing his face onto the glass, he watched as a large room with rows of people stood and cheered for something. "He was right." That guy from earlier was a cultist like the ones who summoned him. Everyone lined up was wearing the same dark brown cloak. Right outside the perimeter of the people were monsters rattling cages, biting chains, and gnawing on the leashes that held them securely.

Conveniently, dirt blocked his vision from getting a better look at the monsters in their cages. Trying to wipe off the dirt and grime caked onto the skylight proved more difficult than he imagined. The glass cracked under the pressure, which made Asura freeze. Hoping no one would notice, he leaned forward to peer through the glass once again. Thrashing around in their cages, it was surprising that no one could hear such an event taking place. Asura then realized that he couldn't hear anything either until he got close.

He looked around to see an aura lingering around the building. "This aura was not like the holy aura humans produce." This one was far too sinister to be produced from quotidian mana, either. Usually, quotidian mana smelled more natural, like petrichor. The metallic smell of blood filled Asura's nostrils, reminding him that these cultists use more than mana to create spells. The aura must be a spell that prevents sound from escaping.

Asura noticed some of the monsters acting irregularly compared to the others. The beasts were recognizable from anywhere. Magmatic bears, large brown bears with jagged rocks protruding from their bodies. Traveling along their bodies were deep gouges leaking magma onto the floor. Like vomit, magma poured from the corners of their mouths, making Asura a little disgusted as they licked it back up. These beasts towered over the cultists. It was hard to believe they were willingly submissive. "Why didn't they eat the cultists?"

On the other side of the cultists were beasts that reminded Asura of tigers but were much more terrifying. Their feline facial features were almost identical to those of a tiger, except they had six eyes and a large jaw that was unhinged when devouring their food. The large beasts were difficult to fight due to their thick fur, which was hard to cut through, partnered by barbed tails that paralyzed the victims struck by them.

Most importantly, he couldn't forget about their acidic vomit, a very unpleasant experience with the stench and the slow viscosity. Asura shivered, reliving his memories of these creatures. Asura always forgot their name, so he just liked to refer to them as Hell's kittens.

Unlike the aggressive and loud behavior the others around them displayed, these beasts were much calmer and still. Almost as if they were puppets, they stood motionless, "almost dead," he thought. Their bodies had illuminated purple markings carved into their flesh. He assumed that's why most of the monsters bearing the markings had purple irises, some sort of mind control.

Looking towards the front of the large room, Asura noticed a man with glasses standing on an elevated stage. Studying the man, Asura figured he was a few years older than Mel. However, it was hard to tell due to the large scar going down the right side of his face from the top of his head to his throat.

His hooded eyes remained focused on something on the stage. His clothes were quite different from those of the others in the room. His ruby-colored robe screamed nobility, unlike the dull brown robes the others around him wore. Like the night sky, black hair crowned his head, complimenting his violet eyes.

In front of him was an altar with an old man tied up on it. The old man thrashed around, trying to break free from his confines. Tears streamed from his face as he squirmed to free himself, but with what little strength remained in his fragile body, it felt impossible. Muffled screams and pleas could be heard, but no one moved within the room.

Hearing panting behind him, Asura turned to see Wain climbing a ladder. Finally reaching the top, Wain pulled himself over to the side. Asura turned back away and asked,

"What took you so long?"

Wain grabbed his knees, panting from exhaustion. Managing to recover enough to speak, Wain replied,

"Not all of us are spiders! Why did you take off running here?"

Asura motioned for him to come over to the skylight. Wain walked over to the skylight and looked into it without a word. He was just in time to witness the man in the red robe stand above the old man on the altar. The cultists roared, cheering and shouting praises, urging him to kill the man.

"KILL HIM!"

"BRING FORTH THE MASTER!"

"GIVE US OUR SAVIOR!"

Asura, deciding to call the red-robed man Scar Face, watched as Scar Face reached up with a blade, preparing to strike the old man. Laughing manically as he chanted Scar Face, he looked up to notice Asura and Wain peeking through the skylight.

"ARISE MY MASTER, COME FORTH AND BRING US OUR SALVAT-"

Asura took this opportunity and jumped forward, plunging through the skylight, leaving little time to react. The ogre would not sit back and watch the old man die before him. To sit back and watch a bunch of young humans take advantage of the elderly was cruel even to him.

The glass fell around him with a loud crash as he struck the ground, landing on his feet. As he landed with a loud thud, the room went quiet momentarily. No one moved due to shock. The cultists were confused, "Why was a monster jumping from the ceiling?" Who summoned him? One walked forward pointing at the monster while looking around the crowd.

"Whose pet is this?"

Asura clapped his hands together, causing a loud boom and thunder throughout the factory. The large facility caused the noise to echo, amplifying the intensity of the thunderous boom. The cultists clasped their ears, writhing in agony as their eardrums burst.

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"I ain't no one's pet fucker."

Wain, in a panic, shouted after Asura from the rooftop.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Displaying a devilish grin, Asura looked up at Wain. Giving Wain two thumbs up, Asura grew more excited by the second and answered,

"Looking for a good fight."

Asura crouched down, ready to leap forward toward Scarface. Witnessing this, Scar Face pulled a crimson book decorated by a mosquito's head on the cover from within the scarlet robe. Behind his glasses, his once violet eyes turned a crimson red as sinister mana swelled up within him. "Oh, so it's you..." Asura thought. This excited Asura, knowing this could only mean one thing. "A better fight." Scar Face seemed unconcerned by the recent turn of events, as if all of this were expected. With a calm tone, he asked Asura,

"How are you, Asura?"

Asura stopped briefly, contemplating how this human knew his name. However, this pause did not last long. He was eager for a fight—a fight he would most certainly get. Ignoring his question, he smiled at the cult leader, wanting to begin the glorious battle that awaited him. Scar's face sighed disappointingly, realizing Asura was not going to respond.

"Well, I guess that doesn't matter. It seems like you are blinded by your desire to fight. All right, it looks like we have an uninvited guest, everyone. Why don't we wrap this up quickly."

With the wave of a hand, all the monsters began to growl. For a moment, Asura caught a glimpse of the monsters in the cages around him.

"Oh fuck..."

Dragons... Roaring in anger from being chained, the monsters thrashed in their cages. The unchained ones with the purple carvings also appeared to become more hostile due to his presence. Desiring to fill their bottomless appetite, they were more than eager to eat Asura.

Captivated by their primal instincts. They did not seem to care about their surroundings as they proceeded to advance towards Asura with only one thing in mind: food. In fear, the cultists began to flee from the factory.

However, the hungry beasts trampled over them, crushing their bodies without a care. Some monsters became distracted, devouring the flesh below their paws, but many still pursued the ogre. Asura maniacally laughed as they approached him. He tried to pinpoint the group's leader, knowing multiple races of monsters wouldn't work together willingly. Beasts and dragons especially hated each other. Neither could swallow their pride to work with the other.

However, Asura could not pinpoint the location of the higher-ranked monster. Asura scoffed, remembering the ranking system the old man stated the humans used for monsters. There were stronger monsters than these, but they could not be ranked by such titles as simple grunts. I mean, these guys were not impressive. Hell's kittens were not particularly deadly, but you try fighting while rank acid vomit was all over you. He put the thought aside, noticing the monsters beginning to encircle him.

Two beasts Asura had not noticed before suddenly joined the pack: Hell Hounds. With little flesh covering their bodies, large areas of bones and their rib cages remained exposed. Their bodies were engulfed in flames burning as hot as hell itself, or so Asura figured because, to be honest, he had never been to hell.

From their mouths, molten saliva dropped to the floor, burning holes in the concrete floor. The massive dogs were about half the size of the bears but still monstrously large. Their hairless skin grossed Asura out. He hated the rough texture whenever he was forced to touch them.

Asura noticed the two serpent-like monsters he managed to catch a glimpse of earlier appear as well. Long, slender, snake-like bodies covered in yellow scales were held up only by two muscular arms on their torsos. Their heads flicked back and forth quickly as they studied Asura with their amber-slit eyes. Banana Lindwyrms, well, he called them Banana Wyrms because who wants to say Lindwyrms?

The color of their scales always made Asura giggle because he thought of Bananas, but they most certainly found offense to this every time he called them that. Their original names were something like Topaz Lindwyrms or something, but he thought that was lame. To him, they were Bananas.

Finding their positions next to Scar Face, the Banana Wyrm's scales shimmered in the moonlight. Their scales began to glow and lift around their neck, emitting a red glow. Suddenly, a constant stream of red lightning burst from their mouths, crackling toward Asura. The bolts ripped through the ground and all the cultists that were in their path. Searing a few of the cultists in half, the bolts ripped through their bodies, causing them to fall to the ground without even a cry of pain. The bolts left trails of red fire and destruction as they traveled across the floor.

Asura was bored by this point, so he figured, "Let's spice it up a little." He would take the first blow head-on. Instead of leaping away like a coward, he would test fate.

"Let's see what you can do, mister bananas!"

He blocked the bolts of lightning bolts with his arms like he did with Mel, shielding himself from a direct blast to his face. Certainly an unwise decision, Wain thought as he watched in horror. The impact sent Asura back a few feet, but he held his ground. He noticed his arms were scorched, but most of the damage was done to the T-shirt, which now had holes burnt throughout it.

Eager for more, he dashed through the crowd of cultists, slaughtering them as he headed for the bears first. He laughed manically as he dashed through the crowd, punching his way through everyone who stood in his path. He thought maybe it was a little much to punch the fleeing cultists, but... "They were cultists after all, right? Scumbags that deserved to be punched. No one would blame him after, right?"

Cultists crumpled under the force of each blow, chests caving in, heads snapping back, then grabbing the remaining cultists and throwing them into the walls as he pushed forward.

The first magma bear charged at him, swiping with its giant claws, but was thwarted as he dashed to its side, easily dodging its attempt to strike at him. Their sluggish movements were too easy to predict for someone as experienced as Asura. What did they take him for? An Amateur?

Asura pulled his arms back and punched with full force into the ribs of the large bear with enough strength to send it flying into another. Colliding with one another, the two bears roared as they slammed against a nearby wall. Shaking their heads while trying to recover from the blow, they became enraged. As they looked for Asura, the two were met with giant chunks of rock slamming into their sides.

Their bodies became deformed as each rock smashed into them, piercing through their bodies and pinning them to the wall. As the rocks restricted their movements, they thrashed around, trying to escape. Magma began to erupt from their mouths slinging it back and forth everywhere as their rage quickly turned to madness. Their feral actions made their wounds worse as the rocks tore more from their body as they moved erratically.

Smiling and laughing in triumph, Asura beat his chest, taunting the others to come fight him. As he beat his chest unexpectedly, another bear from behind him charged forward, grabbing him in its large jaws and thrashing him around. Realizing his teeth could not penetrate Asura's body the bear dropped him and began to beat Asura into the ground with its claws. Slicing through his shirt easily, it left it in rags. However, Asura remained unharmed, and the bear became frustrated because Asura remained intact.

The hunger became insatiable, causing the urge to devour his intestines to consume his mind. The weight of the bear slamming into him stunned Asura. Every pound of muscle was used within the bear to crush the ogre. Asura lay motionless underneath while the bear continued to pound away at him.

Becoming more and more enraged, the bear channeled all of his quotidian mana into his lungs. Asura returned to his senses enough to momentarily witness the bear raise his head. Realizing it was too late to pull himself from beneath the bear, he exclaimed,

"Oh shit!"

The bear dropped its head down towards Asura, letting out a concentrated blast of fire, which was expelled from his mouth, and used all the mana it had built up in its lungs. Covering Asura like a river of fire, it burnt away his T-shirt and the top of his pants. The intense heat was like being stuck in a sauna fueled by a volcano. Sweat poured from his body but evaporated immediately due to the extreme temperature. All around Asura, the ground became scorched as the flames spread out from him like a flower onto the concrete.

Running out of mana quickly, the bear stopped its attack. His pants were not directly hit by the blast, allowing them to hold themselves together just enough due to being fire-resistant. He sighed in relief. He wasn't going to be naked again! Breathing heavily and nearly out of mana, the bear's senses became dull.

Its vision became blurry, causing it to shake its head frantically. The bear was suffering from mana exhaustion, which only occurred when a monster used all its mana reserves, leaving the creature feeling fatigued and in a vulnerable position. Asura laughed as he watched the bear struggle to compose itself.

Scar Face, witnessing this, was in awe. The stories were true. That bear's breath would have killed most low-ranking Paladins. To think he was alive and laughing... What vigor! Scar Face's eyes gleamed with excitement. This was the monster he needed to complete his plan.

Scar Face flicked his wrist, allowing the rest of the pack to attack. Hell's kittens were watching, studying their prey, waiting for their moment to strike. Licking their lips, they quietly approached Asura as he lay on the ground, unaware of their stalking.