The High Priest looks around and descends to the cult members who survive. He smiles from ear to ear and has a wicked idea for the survivors right from the beginning.
"High Priest? No... You're... Are you the Dark One?" A cult member asks, and the rest of the survivors realize with the High Priest's massive Demonic power is from the "God" they worship, the Dark One.
The fifty cult members that survived the Dark One's requiem of souls look at the High Priest and are ready to give their life to serve this Demonic God. One by one, the cult members surround the Dark One, kneeling to show respect and loyalty.
The Dark One knows that members who use demonic energy will survive the explosion it caused and announces, "Only the true believers endure my demonic purification and you! My children will receive my blessing."
The survivors look up with admiration, believe every word of the Dark One said, and are willing to accept the Dark One's blessing.
Black heavy smoke comes out of the Dark One's body, covering the whole city in a matter of minutes. The knee-level smoke slowly moves inside the dead, and the fifty cult members gladly absorb the demonic energy that the Dark One provides.
"Today, you'll die and be reborn! My children," The Dark One announces as the fifty cult members' bodies darken and harden until everyone is stuck in the kneeling position like statues.
Dino realizes that his brother Jio went charging back inside the city and decided to follow him into the city even though he doesn't know if the place is safe, overflowing with enemies or if the enemies can recreate the demonic explosion. Dino's force saw Dino running and follow him even though he orders everybody to stay. Aera and Cloud, along with the allied force they're commanding, also advance into the city.
Bm looks around inside the city, hoping to find her master while Jio stands beside her.
"The Dark One might be planning something," Jio let out as he looks around and notices the dead absorbing the corrosive black smoke.
Bm looked at Jio and realized that he followed her, "Why are you here? The black smoke is very dangerous!"
"Dont worry, I have Jon to protect me," Jio replies and said, "The smoke can melt almost anything, but the corpse around seems to withstand it."
Bm is happy that she's not alone this time.
The fifty loyal members' bodies start to produce a cracking sound, and heavy demonic aura leaks through the cracks, and they come out one by one from their old skin like butterflies coming out of a cocoon. The hardened jet-black skin is like armor that can withstand serious physical and magical attacks, and the members' body attributes look horrifying. Their body releases demonic energy, and their eyes are filled with rage with a few body deformations like extra arms, horns, tails, a pair of wings, and random spikes around the body. A Body of steel with strength equal to five warriors class, quicker, doesn't get tired, and their claws and teeth contain demonic corruption effect.
"Good, Good, my little demonic fiends," The Dark One let out and commands them, "Go and fill your hunger!"
The loyal members might enjoy the new power they received, but the demonic energy on their bodies will slowly take over their minds and be a slave to the Dark One forever. The fifty members heard the war cry of every soldier outside the wall, and the hunger they experience is something like a hungry tiger who saw its long-awaited prey inside its territory. The cult members or the demonic fiends also gain the ability to control the dead around them with the Dark One's demonic power.
As soon as they enter the city, the dead slowly stands up with one to three demonic fiends to hold the allied force and control the undead. The first soldier to get bitten to death by the undead turns into a half-human and half-demonic fiend, making them mad and crazy as they attack anyone around them.
Demonic energy might be troublesome, but light energy neutralized the effect or countered the power of the demonic energy. Based on the allied force's information, the Blood Moon Cult are mostly magicians who practice dark magic or demonic energy and prepare for this great battle.
The magicians cast light magic protecting the soldiers from the thick demonic energy in the air. With Jio's soul weapon's power on his sworn brothers and sister's weapon, the demonic energy on the atmosphere gets suck to be used to their advantage.
Dino's left brass knuckle produces a demonic claw he uses to hold the dark fiend as he rips the body into two, while Mickey uses black lightning that instantly turns the undead to ashes. Kiba obtained the barbarian tribe's dragon tattoo as he transforms into a horse-size inky Giant Dwarf Dragon to kill the agile dark fiends while Aera and Cloud help control the crowd.
Jio can sense the intense demonic energy somewhere in the center of the city and thought that it might come from the Dark One, hoping they can track him and answer the question in Bm's mind why her master abandoned her and why is he working with human or the Blood Moon Cult.
Sitting peacefully on top of a statue, Bm's master looks at the approaching figure, surprised that the dark fiends he created fail to notice the two.
"Master? What happened to you?" Bm shouts as soon as she saw her master on top of a statue.
"Master? Oh... Right, right... I totally forget about these vessel's disciples. Well, your master is gone! It took me many years, taking my prisoners' soul one generation at a time," The Dark One let out and continue, "I should have kept their soul imprisoned, but the hate... And eventually ate their soul. Ahhhh, sweet revenge."
"Boring! Boring! Boring! You all talk! Dark One? Sound like a whining little pig!" Jio let out as he kicks a rock, looking away from the Dark One.
Bm looks at Jio and doesn't understand why he's trying to provoke her master or the Dark One.
Disrespecting the Dark One might be part of the plan as they feel the surge of demonic energy and saw the Dark One charge straight to Jio as he walks away.
"Arrogant fool!" The Dark One shouts with a demonic ball in his hand.
Before the Dark One hits Jio's back, multiple jet black spikes penetrating the Dark One's body coated with light energy or holy magic. The Dark One screams from the searing pain from the holy magic, but it didn't stop it from getting out of the spike even it cost its current body.
Bm stands stuck and doesn't know what to do because, in her eyes, this Dark One is her master, and she can't attack the person she once considered family. Seeing her master's body receive a life-threatening injury and the shadow inside his body repairs all damage back to his peak, this is not her master.
"Who are you? You manage to trick me; I always hated humans," The Dark One let out as he saw two rare holy stones in Jio's hands.
Before Jio can respond, the Dark One releases a soul he planted in the ground and exploded next to him. A surprise attack that they never expect possible, but in this world, anything can be possible.
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Jon's piece morphs into six skinny spider-like legs on Jio's back and rolls two blocks away, destroying buildings along the way. The spider legs help Jio balance, attack, and defense from the Dark One's ceaseless soul and demonic attack.
The Dark One charges towards Jio with screaming and howling souls in his hands as he raises the undead around him and commands them to attack Bm. It needs to deal with Jio first since he got potential and disrespected him when they met.
The Dark One doesn't know why but realizes that Jio's armor is slowly changing after the first explosion and asks himself how Jio continues to fight normally without getting weaker with the demonic energy in the city. He needs to finish the fight, or all his plans will be in ruined.
Jon can adapt to anything, but some energy or attack requires Jon more time to adjust fully, and Jon remembers like muscle memory which makes Jon change the next time faster. This soul weapon may be powerful, but when Jio decides to stop or rest, it will turn back to its original form. A regular space rock soul weapon.
Jio takes any opportunity and attacks, but the Dark One has a few tricks under its sleeve and turns to smoke before the spider-like leg hits. The Dark One reforms beside him with a demonic ball and souls in his right hand, ready to use it but Jio's spider-like legs help him evade the attack, and in the Dark One's surprise, the spider-like legs stab the demonic ball and the souls in his hand.
*Is he crazy?* The Dark One thought and realized that the spider-like legs absorb the demonic ball and the souls.
Before the Dark One grasps Jio's armor/weapon power, the spider-like legs disappear, and a sword coated with holy magic and souls cuts his body in half. Repairing the Dark One's vessel takes so much energy and soul and had it enough as it tears Bm's master's body from the inside out, revealing its actual appearance.
Bm shouts, failing to save her master, but the master she knew is gone for a long time, and the Dark One used her master's body to blend with the population. She angrily cuts all the undead around her and charges straight at the Dark One; vengeance is the only answer she knows and the only way to find peace.
The Dark One is a living being composed of pure demonic energy with an endless pit by its chest where the souls are trapped and tortured forever. It doesn't need feet since it can float, but the Dark One is eight feet tall with two arms and a tail with solidified demonic material around its body that looks like armor.
When Bm reaches the Dark One, she heard her master inside the pit, and the Dark One hits her and plans to take her soul away, but Jio swings his sword, hitting the Dark One's body armor and attention.
"You damn ant!" The Dark One shouts.
Demonic fireballs quickly form in the Dark One's hands, throw it at Jio, and randomly use souls as it explodes, destroying everything.
"Attack the Dark One's chest, and the soul will be free!" A ghastly sound is coming from the Dark One's chest said.
Bm looks at the Dark One and saw it holding a soul, and lets out, "Guess a gecko's soul can also adapt."
Bm remembers her master's voice, and it was the soul that the Dark One is currently holding.
"It's okay, remember your promise!" The soul let out as the Dark One devours Bm's master's soul.
Jio heard everything that the soul said and attacked once again, but this time, Bm is on his side fighting.
The Dark One keeps on using demonic fireball and soul explosion but notices that Jio and Bm take it as a regular punch. Jon gives the maximum protection, and Bm's body adapted and can withstand anything the Dark One throws.
Dark One's Nightmare comes true.
Using the holy magic stone to wrap around their weapons, the Dark One feels the burning sensation it causes to its body. If Jio and Bm continue to attack without stopping, they could defeat the Dark One today. Still, demonic energy surges and exploded like what happened before but on a much smaller scale, throwing the two far away from the Dark One.
Jio and Bm quickly get back to their feet and charge again, but the Dark One's demonic aura gets stronger as they get closer, and as the smoke clears, they saw the Dark One eating souls from the bottomless pit.
"You think you can stop me?" The Dark One menacing let out.
The Dark One's demonic power gets stronger, and it can avoid or block the attack coming from the two even with the Dark One's size. When the Dark One tries to strike Bm, it found its arms and body tied with Jio's burning holy line he cast when the Dark One was not looking.
"What is this? You're a magician?" The Dark One surprisingly said.
*WHY CAN'T I DESTROY THIS! His control is superb!* The Dark One though, and watch Bm with her sword glowing with holy magic slashing the chest, opening the bottomless pit so the soul can escape.
"Do you really think that the souls would escape after they experience my torture method? Besides, souls lose their memories over time until instinct only remains," The Dark One explains as it tries to get out of the binding from Jio's holy line.
"Funny, YOU HAVE THIS ONE CHANCE TO ESCAPE AND FIGHT! HELP ME DEFEAT THIS DEMON!" Jio suddenly shouts.
"You foul! I control them! I AM THEIR MASTER!" The Dark replies, laughing.
It's true what the Dark One said but Jio knows that few hundreds of souls inside the Dark One are recent and knows The Reaper. One by one, souls come out of the Dark One's chest, flying away as they disappear, while the souls of the people that Jio helped during the war went straight to his body, giving him strength temporarily.
"Noooo!" The Dark One screams and tries to absorb the escaping souls back to it.
By the time the holy stones are depleted, Jio and Bm found an opening to strike again. Jon constantly morphs to a sword, war hammer, dagger, whip, and anything or any shape to have the advantage over the Dark One.
The Dark One wonders why magic doesn't affect the two, forcing it to engage physically. The only advantage it knows and after eating a handful of souls gave it the power to fight the two equally, but with souls sacrificing themselves to help Jio is a different story.
The Dark One panics since Jio and Bm keep attacking its chest, and souls gradually leak out and escape while few went straight to Jio and Bm, making them stronger while the Dark One suffers every time a soul escapes from its grasp. Jio suddenly changes from a physical attack to casting fire magic supporting Bm since she can get close to the Dark One without worries, unlike Jio, which requires him to control the energy around him to protect his body open from the demonic energy in the air.
Jon might give complete protection from any danger, but Jio can not fully cover his body, or his movement will slow down, which means death.
*This is not meant to happen! I never heard of this human* The Dark One thought and wonders how all the people and resources it sends to the world to gather information and Jio slips.
"Your time is running out, Dark One!" Jio announces as the allied force marches to the altar after defeating the undead and all the dark fiends.
Noticing the demonic energy getting stronger as the allied force gets closer, the General decisively commands everybody, especially all magicians, to cast magic to the Dark One and support the heroes currently fighting the Dark One. Jio's sworn brothers and sister want to help, but the demonic energy in the air is not safe even with holy magic protecting their bodies, and the supply is limited at this point after dealing with the dark fiends.
Bm takes and persists whatever the Dark One throws at her and survives like it's nothing, thanks to her ability to adapt as she uses her sword to stab the Dark One's chest.
"FOR MY MASTER!" Bm let out, freeing more souls than before.
"Hundred years worth of souls GONE! I MAKE SURE YOU SUFFER FOR THIS! SUFFER WORSE THAN DEATH!" The Dark One shouts, looking at Bm and especially Jio for restricting its movement.
The Dark One saw the opportunity to regain its posture after Bm moved away and immediately realized all the upcoming magical bombardment from the allied force while souls escape.
*Fuck! If I must restart from the beginning, so be it! That fair lady's body might survive, and I will rise again!* The Dark One thought, and all the black smoke from the Holy Ground starts to move back to the Dark One.
The Dark One's chest closes and heals, and all the remaining souls inside melted in agony, making the Dark One on a higher level.
*Oh, no!* Jio thought as he warned everyone after realizing the Dark One's plans.
"RUN! THE DARK ONE IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE AGAIN!" Jio announces, but everyone is busy casting their magic to the Dark One.
While the Dark One laughs menacingly and the demonic energy surges uncontrollably, everyone eventually stops casting their magic after noticing Jio rushing toward the Dark One.
"Brother! What are you doing?" Dino and Mickey shout, not knowing Jio's plan.
Jio jumps on top of the Dark One, landing on the demonic shield, and destroys it with Jon morphed as a war-hammer with one hit after weakening the shield with energy absorption. Knowing that the Dark One can not stop what it's doing and confirming it's a Demonic Spirit, there's only one way to save everyone from the destruction that the Dark One plans to accomplish.
The Dark One knows that he losses, and to preserve itself from this world, it is willing to sacrifice all the hard work and restart from the beginning by creating a demonic explosion unlike before that would destroy three cities and take Bm's body. When the Dark One is about to release all the energy, it saw Jio destroy the shield, and his weapon morphs from a war-hammer to a sword, and it heard Jio say a word.
"DEVOUR!"
End of the first arc,