SON OF SATAN
He inhaled deeply after currently fighting the massive dragon in front of him, drowning in his own sweat as he readied himself for an incoming attack.
"Is that all you've got?" Great Red mocked. "Seriously, I thought you're better than that."
Noctis was trying hard to stand up straight after fighting the gigantic dragon for nearly 10 hours. His legs were shaking and it felt like it was spaghetti. "Water break?" He asked.
Great Red disagreed and dashed to Noctis' direction like a bat out of hell. "Not after you injured me. Even a small scratch is enough." He laughed.
The Great Red had been training Noctis for over a week and every second is another token for Noctis since he learned a lot these past few days. Great Red even explained his theory on how Noctis went to the Dimensional Gap. A week is enough for him to awaken a small portion of his power, which seems large enough to notice.
Even though Noctis found it a suicide for fighting the Apocalypse Dragon, it is also a pleasure and honor for him and he'll make sure that he will treasure the additional knowledge and the strength that he awakened with the help of Great Red. Sometimes, the dragon shoots fireball to Noctis for staring too much at him, which is unavoidable since it's just the two of them in the Dimensional Gap. He even received a battle uniform from the dragon which is a dark, leather jacket with red linings with some metals on the collar.
Noctis gathered dark magic on both hands like a fireball and tossed it in the Dragon's direction. Great Red avoided it with one swift. "Time to get a little bit serious…" Noctis mumbled. He's body slowly disintegrated in the thin air, meaning he turned invisible. Once he made sure he's out of sight, he lowered his aura, matching to the aura of the surrounding so that no one can really sense his presence. Not even Great Red managed to sense him to his delight.
"Turning invisible and matching the aura with the surrounding…" Great Red said. "Pretty good."
There were a lot of restrictions that Noctis musn't do. One, never use the Dark Magic or any kinds of Magic because it will appear and can be seen since it wasn't invisible and using it will blow his cover and reveal his location. Two, he can't talk since Great Red will heard him thus knowing his location, the reason why he didn't respond. Three, he can't just go near the dragon and attack him physically since it's useless due to the size difference between them.
Noctis' only choice is to fight within a distance that can't be seen.
And that time, a new power has been awakened.
The Great Red suddenly felt like something was lifting him, actually like controlling his actions. Within a second, Great Red was thrown down having a solid impact on the unseen ground. That caused the dragon to switch into his human form.
"A powerful yet a tiring one." The man said to Noctis. "Telekinesis… for you to lift me and to throw me, must've caused you too much."
Noctis slowly appeared and was about to fall down and luckily he managed to stand up, sweats dropping down from his forehead like a rainfall after using too much energy. Telekinesis needs mind control over things and will surely risk a lot of energy.
"We're not yet done, you haven't scratched me yet." The man said. "Now fight me, man to man."
Now's not the time to give up for Noctis, it was not in his vocabulary and giving up was never an option. Then something happened… there's a huge burn on his right arm. It happened all too fast that it was left unnoticed until they saw the burn. Great Red just shot a fireball at him.
"Gahh!" He screamed in agony, feeling a sharp pain all over his right arm. Before Great Red could react, he saw something strange happening. Noctis' wounds slowly healed itself and within 5 seconds, and the burn and pain was already gone. Everything was back to normal.
"Regeneration." Great Red said amused. "You've awakened another power at nearly the same time." He said gladly after seeing how his training with Noctis turned too good.
The leather jacket that Noctis have was burned on the right side, making the right sleeveless. He readied himself for an attack and when he noticed the man in front of him didn't attack.
It's time to be on offensive.
He stretched his right arm on Great Red's direction, using his telekinesis to throw him and the man was thrown for about 10 meters. Great Red in his human form stood up from the sudden force that throws him, a fire surrounding both of his arms. "Flame arms!" He ran to Noctis' direction and attempted to punch him but Noctis jumped in the air to avoid him but Great Red kicked his feet that caused the spiky, black-haired teen to fall. "Show me your skills in Martial Arts."
Noctis leveled his hands on his head, like readying for a push up, and pushed himself up and kicked Great Red in the face but the dragon in his human form caught his feet, and kicked him downwards in the head. Not so good…
He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth so much that it almost pushed down to his gums as the man's foot was placed on his cheek. Meanwhile, Noctis' hand, readied itself on a telekinetic punch and it hits the man in the face causing him to stumble down. It wasn't enough to knock him out but it was enough for Noctis' to give him time to stand up.
There's no time to waste some breath.
Before Great Red could stand up, Noctis' unleash a funnel of black-hot fire by his left hand and used his right hand to keep the man in place by using the telekinesis. "There's no escape."
Once the dark magic was at mid-distance between him and Great Red, he felt his telekinetic grip loosen up and figured out that Gread Red was gone. He then sense that he was behind him.
Great Red flashed his flamethrower, aiming at Noctis' back. The teenager didn't have to look back at the fire that was sent to him. He felt some strange power awakening.
Surprisingly, a wall of light magic emerged behind him, blocking the flamethrower that was released. "Light Magic?!" Great Red said, mixed of shocked and amused. Noctis turned around and saw the same thing, wide-eyed. Before, he was contented at the answer of him being a devil, since he felt relieved that his question was answered. But now another conflict arises?
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"I don't know what I just saw." Great Red answered. "If you're a devil, and you can also use Light Magic… does that mean you're a half-blooded Angel? It's impossible."
Noctis didn't know how to reply. He's too stunned…
"I know how to answer this conflict." Great Red said. He simply walked behind Noctis and patted his back. "This will absolutely work. All you have to do is to spread your wings."
"Spread my wings?" Noctis asked and the man simply nodded. He just thought that something will come out of his back and it did. He felt strange as he felt the wings on his back and he looked back to see how it looks like. There are two different types of wings: a bat-like wing and a crow-like.
"Fallen Angel wing." Great Red muttered. Noctis suddenly remembered what Rias said when she reincarnated him as her [Pawn] piece. "You know them right?"
He nodded and flapped his wings. He never knows how it felt to fly so he tried it, his feet slowly floating above the ground and he felt the wind as his wings moved.
Great Red fixed his general clothes. "Want me to enhance that Magic of yours?"
"Why not?" That time Noctis felt that he can be a better fighter than he was before, and he thought that he can finally scratch Great Red.
Great Red just smirked, "Don't get your hopes high, I haven't used even a thousandth of an inch in my prowess during the fight." And he said it that turned Noctis down. But being a positive person he is, he took it as a challenge accepted.
Of course, they take a break for Noctis to be able to practice swiftly. After that, they trained continuously, not all of them are matched between the two because some are just a battle between Noctis and a bunch of Gogmagogs and others are physical training. He never let tiredness consume him even though his body experienced fatigue already and just shook it off since he can rest later.
After the suicide training that Noctis had with Great Red, he felt a lot better and stronger despite the body ache that he experienced.
"So your regeneration can't regenerate your body back to its normal state. It can't even heal your fatigue." Great Red laughed. Noctis fell down on his knees, his body was already lumping, knees buckling, and his legs weren't ready to support his full weight. "Relax yourself for a while, I know you're exhausted. Take a good sleep if you want if necessary."
He closed his eyes for what feels like a second but sure is longer than it seems. He can tell that he really dozed off. His eyes opened themselves, "How long was I out for?"
"Enough for you to hear what I'm about to say." Great Red now in his dragon form answered. Noctis released his wings and flew all the way up to level with the dragon, which is also a part of their training. "Now listen to me."
He nodded.
Great Red cleared his throat reminding Noctis that what he will say will be a serious one. "Based from my observation, you grew so strong starting from day 1 up to now. You have learned a lot and you're a fast learner. I'm sure it's time now for you to stay independent."
That small speech that the dragon said was large enough for Noctis to process. Once his brain understood what the dragon is saying, he looked at him wide-eyed. "You mean you're going to send me to the Underworld?"
And the dragon nodded. "It's time for you to make your own decision. You will know yourself a lot better there, devil." Noctis just stared at the dragon. "Don't make this one emotional, you can always come back here if you want a fight that will burn your lungs." He smiled.
"Thanks a lot. In fact I don't know how to pay you."
Great Red patted Noctis' back by the end of his tail. "Don't have to kiddo." Then the portal opened behind Noctis. Great Red pointed his horn to the portal and said "It's time for you to go."
Before the saying of farewell, Noctis hugged Great Red's head. Because for the first time in his life, he felt like there's a father image in front of him, and that one is that dragon. "Farewell… Dragon."
Noctis slowly reached out for the portal and waved his hand to the massive dragon, guess even the Apocalypse Dragon have a soft side in him and it's up to you to imagine his face. Noctis didn't look back as he entered, not wanting this to be an emotional one like what Great Red said.
I owe you a lot for this one, Dragon…
He closed his eyes as he felt the aura of the surroundings changed. He's currently floating above the whole underworld. It's been so long since he felt that he was home, and the thing that relaxes him was about the Night sky above even though it seemed artificial. When he looked down, there he saw different places and the one that attracts him the most is the vast number of crimson palace located in a hexagonal pattern beneath him. So the first thing he did was to turn invisible to avoid attracting some devils. He didn't plan to go down to that place, so he floated down slowly like autumn leaves in which seems like another territory. Once his feet touched the ground he hid himself first before going visible. He got out of his hiding spot and the first thing he need to know is where he is right now.
He tried to get the closest devil near him and touched the devil's shoulder lightly with a finger, a little hesitant at first. "Uhh-umm… Can you please tell me what this place is?"
He can't clearly tell what the devil reaction has looked like because the one he asked have a mask covering its face. "You don't know this place? Are you lost or something? This is Lilith, the capital of Underworld."
"Lilith…" He muttered. He didn't have any plans yet on what he will do in a place like this. "Thanks." He said and saw the devil he asked turned around. "Wait!"
He suddenly grabbed the devil's shoulder. The devil looked back. "What's it?"
Noctis suddenly turned curious about this mysterious devil. "From the looks of it, you must be going on a match." He said as he saw the devil has a sword on its waist.
"I'm going to join on a tournament here in the Underworld, known as the 'Underworld Tournament: Devil Circuit' and it will be on broadcast as the whole devils in the Underworld will be able to watch it." The devil explained. "The whole Underworld with watch it as the tournament will be held here in Lilith as its capital and the winner will have a chance to have a dinner with the Four Satan. It's a pair match and those who lose shall lose because of death or KO." The devil said and turned its head at Noctis' direction. "Are you done now? You just waste five minutes of my time that was supposed to be used for my training and my partner is already waiting." He said bluntly.
The devil left and Noctis was pissed off by the devil's actions towards him but he kept himself cool. It's unlikely for him to be pissed off, so he decided to take his leave.
Just before he could take his leave, a dog suddenly came to him. A beagle exactly and there's a roll of paper in its mouth indicating somebody sent Noctis a letter. He knelt down and rubbed the dog's forehead which seems to like the action. He took the roll of paper and read the note.
WATCH OUT!
He read and after reading the first line, he didn't bother reading the rest anymore after feeling someone was after his life. He then felt someone far away from him aiming an arrow at him, and once the arrow was released he caught it with his one hand. Another arrow was released on the other side and that was stopped by his telekinesis. He looked at the devil with a bow on his hand, he shot the man an angry glare and he threw the man by using the telekinesis. He knew he got stronger because he didn't need to use his hands, he just think about him being thrown away and it worked. He looked at the opposite side to saw another man that aimed at him and threw the arrow back at him by his telekinesis.
Noctis was surprised because even the Underworld is somewhat cruel as there are still some devils that commit crimes that can remain unseen by the Devil Police or something. He laughed at the term.
What are their intentions to kill me? Somebody was after my life here? What are the reasons behind it?
Numerous questions revolved around his head. He looked back at the message and saw the dog looked at him in awe. He smiled at the dog and patted its forehead before he read the rest of the note.
WATCH OUT!
…GLAD YOU SAW THAT COMING AND CAUGHT IT.
He stopped reading for a while and looked around once more. Like he knows what will happen, and he felt strange after knowing he's being watched.
I KNOW YOU MUST BE FEELING STRANGE AFTER FEELING THAT YOU'VE BEEN WATCHED.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, I'M NOT A THREAT FOR I'M HERE TO GUIDE YOU AS LONG AS YOU MAKE A DEAL WITH ME AND HELP ME ALSO.
YOU CAN CALL ME "WATCH' IN THE MEANTIME AND I'LL BE WATCHING YOU AS ALWAYS.
He looked around him, feeling really weird as what the message said by WATCH. It's like that WATCH predicted what will happen. He looked at the dog once more, and he just turned away to go to the largest Library to search if there are anything about him like what Great Red said in history. He turned to the Central Park and saw the dog following him, which he didn't know was WATCH's shape-shifting familiar sent to guard and guide Noctis.
"You wanna follow me?" He asked the dog who seemed to bark as a sign of approval, its tongue out and its tail wagging. He checked the dog lace if there are any names and figured out it was only a sign written as "KS"
He smiled and walked as KS walked beside him.
Just who are you, WATCH? Do you know why my life's in danger here? No matter what… I'll find you to know the answers.
13
