Jin woke up back in the Devil Realm and in the same spot as before. He looked around the hellish landscape, then down at the hole in his shirt from where King impaled him. He was filled with resolve to get back as fast as possible.
“Time to go hunting.”
Jin summoned his wings and took to the sky, he had only been able to practice with them a few times, but he was starting to get the hang of it. He flew past the city where he killed the Devil King of Power and looked for a new location that seemed like it’d house a Devil King.
The sky had shifted from red to pitch black, not a sign of light from anything resembling a star or moon.
As Jin flew further into this new area, he was unable to see anything and landed then summoned fire to use as light. But the light barely let him see more than 10 feet in front of him. The ground was not concrete or sand, it was loose dirt without any plants.
He continued walking forward through this uneasy darkness in silence, the only sounds were made by him. It was so quiet that he started to hear the beat of his own heart.
Hours passed by and it was starting to become maddening with every passing second. Luckily for Jin, he was still pissed off to fear what was hiding in the shadows.
A cracking sound stopped Jin dead in his tracks. It sounded like branches breaking, but he hadn’t seen any trees or other plants since being in the Devil Realm.
Jin took to the sky and threw down a flurry of Hellfire spears into the direction of the sound.
The spears lit the way as they traveled and came crashing into the originators of the noise. Before they were incinerated Jin caught a glimpse of what looked like human skeletons.
Jin flew down to their ashes and began to hear more cracking noises. He looked in their direction and saw a pair of 2 glowing blue eyes appear, then more followed.
Their number became so great that Jin lost count. He launches a spear into their direction and saw an army of skeletons, some wearing rusted knights' armor and some in torn robes. They were all carrying various weapons from swords to bows. It was like a nightmare at a Renaissance fair.
“I don’t have time for this.” Jin muttered and summoned his wings. As he began to fly up, a storm of arrows came towards him. He promptly landed and summoned a shield of fire.
“It looks like one funeral wasn’t enough for you guys, seems like you want another.”
Each arrow burned to ash on impact and left Jin unscathed. He then charged through the endless horde of skeletons, burning up each one that he touched.
As he began to battle them, Jin called his acid rain to help end this fight.
The skeletons movements were slow and clumsy, he was able to slay a handful with each well timed swing of his great sword of Hellfire while avoiding their attacks.
But it seemed that this army of Undead Devils was endless. As Jin set more of them on fire, the world began to light up around him and he caught sight of who was leading them.
A Devil with matte black armor with pearly white bones carved into it, its face was covered in a shifting darkness underneath a tattered black hood with a crown of bones around his head and a long battered black cape on its back. The Devil looked bored as it watched the battle. With its head resting on one of its hands and hunched over.
He sat on a black throne that rested on the back of a skeletal golem that was the size of a 2-story house. Its face was broken with Razor sharp teeth the size of a man. Its eyes had the same blue glow as the others. Both seem unfazed by the acid rain.
Jin imagined how horrific that monster would have been when it lived, but now it was just a shell of what it used to be. Jin stabbed his sword into the ground and ignited every skeleton within his immediate area as flames erupted from the ground.
He then threw a spear threw the head of the golem and it went up in flames like the other Undead. But as it burned, Jin noticed the other Devil was no longer on its back.
Then the Devil emerged from the darkness and its metal gauntlet grabbed the back of Jin’s head and slammed his face into the ground.
Jin got back up, but the Devil was gone. More skeletons swarmed Jin and he fended them off while keeping an eye out for the other Devil.
But as soon as he slayed them, the Devil reappeared out of thin air and plunged a dagger into Jin’s side.
When the Devil tried to pull it out, Jin grabbed hold of its wrist and threw it to the ground. But before he could finish the Devil off, the skeletons began attacking him again and the Devil had disappeared.
The shadowy Devil reappeared and attempted once again stab him, but Jin maneuvered to the side and grabbed the Devil’s cape as tight as he could and flew into the sky.
The Devil swung as Jin carried it away from the army of Undead. The Devil then took one of it’s daggers and cut away from Jin.
It fell to the ground and disappeared; Jin landed but could no longer see it in the small, illuminated space. Then out of thin air it appeared and tried to vertically slash Jin with the daggers in each of its hands, Jin narrowly avoided its attack and relieved only a shallow cut across his torso.
He tried to attack the Devil, but it avoided his attack and disappeared again. Jin held his breath and listened closely, he could hear the Devils footsteps.
When the Devil reappeared, Jin impaled it and set the Devil aflame.
As it burned to death in front of him, he heard an unknown voice whisper to him.
“Thank you.”
Then blue energy flowed into Jin’s body.
“So that was another Devil King.”
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Jin opened the notebook.
Spirit from Devil King of the Graveyard
Formerly the Hero Shadow who was blessed by the God of the Void. Grants the ability to turn invisible and resurrect a human once a year by focusing on the individual and saying ‘Return’.
Jin looked at the entry with horror, his eyebrows furled.
“Shadow?.... but how…”
Jin stood for a moment and looked at the hollow armor that remained.
‘To think I’d see you again in a place like this.’
Jim couldn’t believe that his close friend had become the thing they had spent years hunting together. He felt guilty for failing to protect his friend for the second time.
He knelt and picked up the armor then put it on. Despite having taken a tremendous blow from his sword, the armor was still intact.
Armor of Death
Armor made from the essence of Death, completely indestructible and negates all damage taken by half. It has the innate ability to shape to whoever wears it and turn completely translucent. It also provides an inherent boost to all the wearer's abilities.
Jin had equipped the gauntlets, chest piece, boots, and leggings. All of which turned invisible but could still be felt as Jin opened and closed his fists.
“Okay, now that’s cool.”
This time instead of falling to the ground and becoming exhausted, a portal opened in front of him, and Jin could see the Garden of Paradise on the other side
He stepped through and was greeted by the same 3 Gods, but this time a third was there. A tall Goddess with purplish skin and violet Neon eyes. She wore flowing dark blue robes with golden runic inscriptions across them. Her hair was barely down to her shoulders and a pale pink. Her lips were dark purple, unlike the other God’s she looked more human but just as beautiful as the Goddess of Creation. She was the Goddess of Magic.
The Goddess of Creation had a simple yet comforting expression on her face and welcoming aura, a stark difference to the other 3 Gods.
The God of the Void still nothing more than an uneasy never-ending man made of pure darkness. When Jin looked at him, he felt the abyss look back at him.
The God of War was still a colossal blood red constellation that looked to have red glowing red glass for skin and filled with countless stars.
Before when Jin looked at them, he felt as if he could barely perceive them. But now it was different, he was able to comprehend them.
Jim couldn’t help but get a proud smile across his face when he realized just how strong he had become.
The Goddess’s giggled when they saw Jin’s confidence, but the God of War was unamused.
“Remember who it is that granted you this power, young champion.”
Jin looked towards the ground and realized how rude his expression could have come off, after all it was thanks to these Gods that he has been able to get this far.
“Champion, we acknowledge your strength. But those who see victory first are also the first to fall.” The God of the Void warned him.
“Will I become a Devil when if I die without this?” Jin held out the amulet that resurrected him in the Devil realm.
The Goddess of Magic approached him and summoned 2 ghostly chairs and a table. “Sit with me and I shall answer your questions.”
Jin sat across from the Goddess in the glowing blue chair, the other Gods summoned their thrones and watched in silence.
“So do all heroes who die become Devil Kings?”
The Goddess shook her head and had an amused look on her face that was contrasting to the grim topic they were discussing. “The Devil Emperor takes the spirits of Heroes who catch his eye and distorts them into what you call Devil Kings.”
“Devil Emperor?” Jin imagined a giant man with horns and red skin.
“Yes, that’s what he has become, and others have called him. But to us, he is an abomination. The former God of Magic and Goddess of Creation.”
“The Devil emperor is 2 former Gods?!” Jin was baffled.
The Goddess laughed at his reaction, “Yes, the 2 Gods lasted for power and both Incarnated into a Hero they blessed. Then creating an abomination. The Devil Realm is one they’ve created to assemble their forces and mutate life forms from planets they’ve conquered. Your planet is just one of many stops that they have made.”
“So, who were you then?” Jin wondered how the Goddess of Magic and Creation stood in front of him now.
The Goddess stood and walked to Jin and sat on the table in front of him. He blushed; she was even more beautiful up close. He kept reminding himself that he was married, and she was a Goddess.
“The Goddess of Creation and I were former Heroes blessed by each God. To remain balance in reality, the other Gods ascended us to take their positions and received the Celestial gift. Do you have any more questions?”
Jin got the gist of it and only one question remained, “Where is the Devil Emperor?”
“He’s on Earth, leading his army from the frontlines.”
Jin knew exactly where he was, the one place that Devils had control of and the incarnates had refused to free.
“Now it seems you’ve been blessed by the other Gods here, besides me. Would you like to receive my gift next?” The Goddess leaned close to Jin.
‘Am I really being teased by a God right now? Lacey is going to kill me.’
Jin sat there speechless with his mouth open not knowing how to respond to the Goddess.
The Goddess of Creation laughed and said, “Come now, haven’t you teased the poor man enough?”
The God of War grunted and the Goddess of Magic kissed Jin.
Jin felt his spirit warm as he received a small gift of celestial energy.
The Goddess of Magic released Jin who had become completely stunned.
‘Yup, I’m dead. Lacey is definitely going to kill me now.’
“Consider that your payment for my blessing, all of your magic and strength will be dramatically increased with my Celestial energy even if it is only a miniscule amount.” The Goddess got up and summoned her throne to sit beside the others.
Jin felt like he was bursting with strength and vitality.
“Before you leave, I have a favor to ask, Hero.” The God of the Void looked towards Jin.
“I’m not sure how I can help a God, but I’ll do my best.” Jin stood up and knelt before the Gods.
“You recently returned one of my Heroes back to me and freed them from the Devil Emperors hold. I’d like you to bring them back when you return to Earth.”
Jin remembered the ability he got to resurrect the dead once a year. “You have my word that I’ll do it.”
“You have my thanks and in return I shall return something I took from you long ago.” The God waved his hand, and a black wisp left him and flew into Jin.
Jin felt a familiar sensation and removed his eyepatch, revealing his eye that he’d sacrificed years ago to the God in exchange for his teleportation ability.
“Now put a stop to the carnage being done by the Incarnates and Devils.”
Jin nodded and waited to be sent back to Earth.
The Goddess of Magic smiled, “You no longer need our help with that. From now on it is up to you, we’ve done all we can for you.”
Jin felt the celestial power in him and activated his teleportation ability then returned to Earth from the Celestial realm.
Kiss of the Goddess
Blessed with Pure Celestial Energy. You heal from all nonfatal wounds instantaneously and are more resistant against all forms of damage. All blessings and abilities are buffed and enhanced through Celestial Magic.
Blessing from the God of the Void
This blessing allows the Hero to travel anywhere he has seen or been in the blink of an eye and has been enhanced so that the blessed can even shift between realms and create portals.