Chapter 4

I wonder if weaponising Demon Acid would be useful. Part of me thinks it would, but equally there's probably a reason it was never used in the setting.
Perhaps not strong enough for the effort required? It would make sense, for the demons that would be smart enough to conceive of such a plan, simply using argent would be far more efficient.

The possessed were still down there, growling and clawing at the base of the rock.

A few had made an attempt to climb but they lacked the limb coordination to actually climb. Some would get about a foot off the ground, before fumbling over themselves and falling again.

Another topic of interest were Lost Souls, I had actually seen a few flying around. I wasn't really sure...what they were doing, but apparently if they had any interest in us possessed, it wasn't enough to engage in the suicidal assaults they would attempt on the Slayer in the games.

It's possible they act as scouts for the fort some distance away, but it doesn't concern me too much.

If that fort holds any interest in this small gathering of possessed, they'll probably just send imps, which is exactly what I want.

...I wonder how they form. I know possessed are basically soulless husks, their spirits having been used in creating Argent, but what were Lost Souls? Perhaps they were the tattered remains of the soul after all useful material has been ripped out? I wasn't sure, and dwelling on it wouldn't be useful in the short term.

Yet another interesting topic is the possessed themselves. I have now found out that they arrive around hell through those argent lightning bolts that flash out from the vortex in the sky. The bolt will strike the ground and possessed will be lying there. I can only presume then, that this is some mechanism designed by the Makyrs so that the poor souls being tortured for argent production get properly distributed around the dimension.

I found this out when one struck at the edge of the pit. Three possessed appeared. Two of which fell into the pit while the other wondered off. I haven't bothered attacking the two extra possessed in the pit, if imps will be drawn to my little commotion those two extra wont make much of a difference.

And speak of the devil

An Imp, It couldn't be far, the screeching was close-by, and chances are it would hear the growling or smell the blood.

It wasn't long before my theory was proven correct, as the imp appeared at the top of the pit. It seemed to examine the pit before running off again.

It was probably running off to find its buddies.

Yet another wait, but thankfully it wasn't long.

Though I have to say I wasn't expecting a group this large

There were...eight imps, assuming there weren't more behind them.

After only five seconds or so of screeching, and growling they all jumped in, attacking the possessed.

I expected this out come but I was no less impressed by the massacre. Fireballs blew apart zombie limbs, and claws tore them apart. Apparently these imps had no intention of keeping these corpses in as good condition as the first imps I had witnessed.

Claws tore through corrupt flesh and bone, jaws bit through skull and flesh and demonic flame roasted what was left.

The smell was highly appealing to my new senses, as much as a good barbecue had in my first life. But I had to hold myself back. I needed to wait for the right moment.

I watched from my vantage point as the imps began to feast, this party of sorts having none of the restraint the imps I had first seen had.

By the time the imps had ate their fill there were only three corpses left. This was when my opportunity revealed itself.

They clearly decided to take the remaining corpses with them as they left, and being demons they weren't really...the considerate types. There was a fight. One imp, the one who was clearly the strongest and largest covered in large spikes, made off with an entire body. The rest had large sections of other corpses that they had ripped off of others in the fight.

With one exception, the weakest imp. It was scrabbling with the only other imp still in the pit, who had a large section of an upper body.

It barely managed to rip a forearm off the body, which it then dropped, when it was beaten off by the larger demon, who without any further consideration left the pit with its prize.

This was this moment I needed to capitalize, I couldn't waste time. The imp had recovered, and was retrieving the arm which it had dropped, and it wouldn't linger.

So I did the best move I could in that moment.

I leapt down from above, hands clenched together and slammed them down onto the imps head. This did not kill it, and thankfully I had anticipated the difficulty.
I gripped its body with my legs to try and grapple the lesser demon, locked an arm around its neck, and used my other fist to beat on its skull.

It's attempts to screech were strangled by my arm, as much as the other imps had no love for this runt, I had no doubt they'd come back just to identify what caused it distress.

This was however still an imp, weak but far superior to my own current frame, and while I maintained my position long enough to cave in part of its skull, it managed to rip off one of my legs and pull me off itself. I had a weird sensation, I could...feel the pain? But it didn't have that debilitating effect it had on humans, where they found themselves frozen in pain, needing to scream out in agony.

Fucking bastard

But this was bad, the imp might be a runt but I'm only a possessed. A strong one maybe, but that's not much in the scheme of things.

Thankfully the imp didn't play things smart and use fire from a distance or I would've been toast.

Instead, perhaps out of pure rage, it leapt onto my body and began to try and rip me apart. I think the extra strength from eating other possessed was the only reason I didn't immediately die right then.

Instead I tried to fight back, blocking claws where I could, resulting in the loss of most of the flesh on my arms.

It went to bite, and I tried forcing its head away with one arm, but it was stronger and forced through, biting into my neck and ripping flesh out. I beat back as hard as I could, but it didn't back off until my fist impacted it's head injury. The imp flinched back and I slammed my head into its face.

As it recoiled I quickly looked around and grabbed the nearest object, a large stone.

It recovered quickly and jumped at me again, only to have me smash the rock into its skull, downing it.

I quickly crawled onto its prone frame and began to wale on the creatures head and neck slamming my fists into it over and over. Though it was clearly getting weaker, the imp began to claw out my chest in it's death throes. It attempted to screech but the damage to the neck made it incapable of releasing any meaningful sound.

Having enough of this, using both arms I grabbed its stronger limb, and using my one remaining leg began to push against its chest.

It tried its best to claw at my remaining leg, but it wasn't able to stop the loss of it's arm, which ripped off with a wet tearing noise, along with a crack as the bone snapped off.

Using the remaining arm, it attempted to rise, but its strength was leaving it, gripping the stolen arm, I dragged myself onto the imp again, then taking the arm in both hands, rammed the broken bone straight through it's chest.

If it's neck weren't fucked up it would have probably had a dying scream but instead it just made a gurgling croak sound, then went still.

...i did it… YES I DID IT, FUCK YEAH!

...I have lost a leg and most of the flesh on my arms is gone but I DID IT.

Now what did the wretch say? Eat an imp.

I mean… may as well? Now that I'm having time to think, the smell is reaching me, and it smells...better than possessed.

I pull out the arm I used to stab its chest, and simply bite into the flesh. And honestly I felt like I wanted to cry. The taste was wonderful, the difference was like eating a burger after only having bread. Sure the burger didn't have any cheese, or sauce but it was still far superior to the far plainer subsistence I had experienced beforehand.

This was great news! I could eat something delicious without the pseudo guilt of eating what were once human beings.

I mean the imps may have been too once upon a time, but they had changed drastically enough that I felt no need to associate them any longer.

I also felt something I had never felt before, a strange itch at the back of my head, like there was something id forgotten and was on the tip of my tongue.

It wasn't a bad feeling though, I could tell that much.

I continued to feast on the imp, the more I tasted the more I couldn't stand the idea of feeding on possessed, why do imps stick to that trash? Maybe it tastes better when cooked? I couldn't be sure.

You Have Completed Task

Yeah it was rough, got a leg torn off but…

It seems like all the injuries have already mended themselves. Apparently eating imps is far more effective for my regeneration than possessed.

It seems i'll be good

Will Not Be Good

You Will Be Better

Better, yeah you said I would get stronger. But even after eating the imp I don't seem to be all that much stronger than I was after eating those possessed

You Already Felt It

Familiar Yet Never Known

That sense at the back of my head. As though I'm trying to remember something.

Sink Into That Feeling

Allow It To Spread

...So all I have to to is clear my mind and concentrate on that feeling.. or something like that.

As You Have Said

Hmm...fuck it

I decided not to do mysterious meditation in such an exposed location, so grabbing what was left I brought it with me up into the alcove and threw it into the corner.

Getting into my spot, which I had waited for demons from I began to relax, trying not to be distracted and instead tried to focus on that felling in the back of my head.

As I did so the feeling began to spread and as it began to fill my thoughts I felt like..like I..was

I was now back in that nebula I had awoke in before my body came-to.

The slight demonic whispers where still there and I once again had no body.

I wasn't worried, this is probably going to be like the first time where ill wake up again.

Yes You Are Correct

So why did you bring me back here?

This Your Greatest Weapon

Your Seat Of Power

Here Create Your Form

Shape Your Entire Being

My entire being? What do you mean, what's so great about this place.

Reach Out And Take

What do you mean?

Reach Out And Take

...He...It? Hadn't steered me wrong thus far, so I figure that if he needed to be more specific he would be.

Reaching out with a hand that did not exist I grasped at the part of the nebula, and as I did so it gathered together into a figure. One I recognised, because it looked exactly the same as the reflection I saw in the Acid

This is..Me?

Yes That Is Correct

...So I'm meant to do...something?

Already Have Taught You

Reach Out And Take

Reach out and take, huh?

Reaching out once again into what was left of the nebula, most of the remainder condensed into the form of an imp, hovering over my hand.

All Of This Yours

Here Create Your Form

Shape Your Entire Being

Shape my being?

The Imp form remained the same no matter what I did, but the possessed one was different. Trying to change it resulted in the body shifting in a similar manner to what I had seen when I first ate a possessed…

So what if..

Using the Imp as a...template? I tried to copy it changing the possessed shape into an Imp. And...It worked. The possessed form took the shape of an imp. I could even sense.. something in the arms. Was that what allowed them to focus argent? I could tell but it was the best assumption I could make.

Could I…

Reaching into the Nebula once more and retrieving what remained I now had the Imp Form, the Possessed Form and...well.. My Form.

Using the Possessed Form as a template I was able to change my own form back into a possessed once again.

Wanting to see if this ability was a bit more variable I tried to only transform the arms into imp arms but after a few more attempts to use the templates to make a hybrid, I found that when using the templates they always completely changed my form.

Hybrid Form Changes Possible

You Need More Essence

That makes sense, I probably need a better understanding of how these creatures work before I can just bash them together.

Still..

Using the Imp as a template I once again changed my form.

How do I leave.

Same Way You Came

Focus On The Feeling

I see.

This Is Last Conversation

After This I Leave

Cannot Offer Further Aid

You Must Grow Alone

I...see.. damn, I'd kind started to get used to the idea there was potentially someone to talk to.

You Hate Being Alone?

...Yes...yes I do

Then You Grow Stronger

Till You Can Leave

Till None Can Restrain

Then Find Your Company

Thank you for this wretch. I know you have your own reasons that I can't hope to understand, but this...i thank you for this.

Rarely Experience Such Appreciation

I Wish Your Success

As Offer Of Encouragement

Seventeen Means Complete Victory

And Overcoming The Enemy

Go Live To Name

Thank you.

After this the Wretch spoke no more. And I was left floating in the nebula, with what looked like three magic figurines.

Well time to see how this works

I did as the Wretch had advised before the farewell conversation and focused on the feeling at the back of my head.

I felt my consciousness begin to return...to..

Aaaaaand, I'm back.

Looking down at myself I could easily see a difference.

For one thing I was orange, my arms were a purple colour, my claws very clearly sharper.

I could feel a clear difference in agility as I took a stand. My limbs felt smoother and more springy than normal. They felt more..powerful. I slammed my fist into the wall and my entire fist buried into the rock and my knuckles weren't even bleeding.

With my now superior agility I now leapt from my perch down to the bottom. Barely even felt the landing. Jogging over to the Acid pool (and I'm so glad I can jog again) I looked once more into the liquid and could see my reflection was clearly that of an Imp. So I'm a shape shifter huh? That's fucking awesome!

"SCREEEEECH"

Oops, I mean THANKS WRETCH!

Apparently I have a functioning voice box again, but I cant seem to form anything other than a screech. That's fine though, cus' now I can Ree autistically at anything I fight and it's socially acceptable.

Still… there's something else I want to try…

Reaching out an arm I tried to focus on my hand, to see if I could call on a fireball but I couldn't quite get it to work?… lets see… it needs argent.. so I need to find where my argent is?

Could it be from that itch in my head?...i mean it wouldn't hurt to try..

I tried to mentally...drag, for lack of a better term, the feeling in my head through my body, down my arm to my hand. And as soon as the connection was made, it was like I had rediscovered a lost muscle. Something in my hand that I could just flex and..

FFWWOOSH

I was holding a flame in my hands. A flame that I knew was about as hot as the sun.

And it just..didn't hurt me. I wasn't sure if this was some argent bullshit, where my own spells wouldn't hurt me or if Imp's just had an unnaturally high resistance to heat or flame.

Turning to look across the pit I chose a random rock and decided to throw my flame. I loved the feeling of having limbs that could fully respond to my intentions. The orb of flame was launched in an arc, nailing the rock and immediately exploding. Apparently whatever argent fuckery held the orb together mid flight collapsed on impact releasing all the contained energy at once.

I could also feel the loss of some energy.

Energy that would require feeding to restore.

Technically as a demon that could use Argent, I could feel more ambient Argent entering my body on its own. But not fast enough to rely on.

Thankfully I had some leftover imp.

Climbing back up to the alcove was easier than it would have ever been for me before.

Though calling it climbing would give the impression that I was crawling up a rock face rather than simply bounding up in three leaps.

Sitting back, munching on leftover imp was actually quite enjoyable.

I had come to the conclusion that if imps were impervious to flame it must be the pseudo exoskeleton rather than the innards, because they cooked easily to the argent flames. A lot of it burnt but this didn't surprise me. I had been a decent cook in my first life, but even then I had no experience cooking with open flame, and while it still took around the same time to cook imp meat as normal temperatures cooked steak, the flame didn't lend itself to cooking things through, rather than just burning.

But still, burns aside, the meat was delicious. I have now decided that outside of my main objective to kill Olivia, I now had side objectives. Find a way to make people like a demonic being, and eat every type of demon or maykr.

I don't know if I can turn into maykrs, but i'm assuming I can. After all Wretch said I can turn human after a manner and I suspect that eating one would allow me to change into one. This is of course why I want to find a way for people to like a demonic being. Unless they absolutely deserve it I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with the idea of eating a human being.

As for my other goal, eating all the demons and maykr's, while a rather silly goal, also comes with the major benefit of giving me their forms. After all some of the demons are insanely powerful. I mean the Icon of Sin could drag the entire world into hell through his mere presence. Could I even take his form? I didn't know, but even if I can't I still want to know how tasty he is.

Back to the topic of the cooked imp, the bone was good too. Gave something crunchy to chew on.

But now I don't have any more Imp

Sadness… But wait...i know how to fix this problem.

I just need to kill another Imp

I found myself perched on the top of one of the jagged rocks waiting. Using bait was no longer strategically advantageous. Before I needed the imp to be right where I wanted them. Now? Now I could stalk them. And my advantage now was that they would be unlikely to immediately get aggressive. As far as they should be concerned, I'm just another imp searching for a meal.

And they would be right.

I was sitting there waiting for maybe twenty minutes before spotting my quarry.

I had seen the group of imps that attacked my pit earlier, but I wasn't eager to tango with a group yet.

The group I chose were a pair of weaker imps. They had no spikes, admittedly much like myself, and were..lacking in size. Which is a good thing. Makes things easier.

It took a further ten minutes of running to catch up to where I had seen them, and relocate them without the vantage point.

By the time I had found them, each were carrying a pair of corpses each and were running roughly in the direction of the fort. Not directly, so presumably that's not where they were headed.

Having said that, wherever they were headed wouldn't matter. I was running up from behind, I was faster and quieter than them as I had no cargo. One of them, the bigger and stronger one began to notice me at the last second, but unfortunately for him his reaction speed wasn't enough to stop the impact of an entire imp, impacting his back, sending him to the ground immediately. Placing my foot on his neck I grabbed his head and pulled till I heard a snap, and his neck was a very uncomfy angle.

The other began to react the moment his friend was downed and had formed a fireball during the moment I snapped his neck. He probably hadn't anticipated the fireball being intercepted mid air by a zombie corpse.

I ran towards it, the fireball exploded halting the corpses momentum, but at that moment I had caught up with it, grabbed it by the legs, used my foot as a pivot to turn and launch it again at the imp, it being unable to react in time and receiving a zombie to the face, flooring the demon.

It hurriedly removed the body, but I was already on top of it, fireball forming in my hands, it tried to claw at me, and decided to screech at me.

Which is exactly what I wanted. The imp soon found out how unpleasant having a mini sun in your mouth is. I held its mouth shut until its head exploded.

So there I was, standing in the middle of nowhere with two imp bodies, and four possessed bodies.

I started off by quickly feasting on as much possessed as I could. I had no intention of coming back for them so I decided to eat as much as I could right there…

I needed a way to carry more stuff. Ill sort that out later though.

Halfway through the third corpse I had actually started to grow some small spikes around my body, and the 'exoskeleton' began to extend in certain areas, but I didnt have any further time to wait.

There was a handful of imps closing in, though thankfully they were trying to be subtle. So I decided to abandon the bodies. Quickly grabbing the two imps and sprinting off as fast as I could.

I managed to make it back to my pit without incidence.

I took the time to cut the imps into pieces…

Hmm, perhaps I should build a barbecue?… nah the only materials to pull that off would be around the fort. A spit then.

Thankfully hell seemed to have weird dead looking trees everywhere. I don't think they were actually dead though. I figure its likely they are feeding on something other than sunlight, so leaves aren't really necessary.

Getting a pair of straight branches just took a bit of lookingI also retrieved some smaller more flexible branches for tying, and a bunch of thicker ones to burn.

Two holes were dug for fires, and I used rocks to build the supports for the sticks.

I put the thick logs in the holes and set them alight.

Lastly I tied the imps to my crude spits and placed them above the flames.

So there I was. In hell, turning two imps on spits over a flame burning off argent and some kind of hell wood.

Yep..definitely not human any more. If I wasn't before, I'm definitely a monster now.

But you know what? Being a monster isn't all that bad. In fact, It's Really Fun.

Oh Satan below, well-done demon flesh is divine!~

Should probably save some for later though….nah if I want more I can get some.

My verdict is that cooked demon meat is, as expected, superior to raw demon flesh. Why do demons just eat it raw or burn it rather than doing it right?...Of course, its hell, naturally they wouldn't have any appreciation for even basic culinary skills.

Shame. Perhaps if they just realised how tasty other demons were, the earth invasion wouldn't happen.

Or perhaps they were more big-brain than me. If they pull in earth there'll be a whole other world's worth of demons to eat.

Not worth the crushing moral guilt personally.

Also these two imps powered me up a significant amount, the spikes from my shoulders were almost, if not, just as big as the largest imp I had seen, the one from the eight imp pack.

I already had a plan in mind too. For hunting them I mean. Because believe me I want seven well done imp dinners.

I would probably venture closer to the fort. It was bound to be surrounded in all kinds of junk. No doubt I could smuggle a few useful things from there. Perhaps I could find some kind of fabric to make a sack out of? I needed something to allow me to carry more than what my arms can hold.

Something to think about tomorrow I guess.

Hopping back into my alcove I was also inspired in another way.

And if I could find some source of fabric I would definitely make it a reality.

I really want a proper bed…

A/N Here we go, things are ramping up now.

I'm hoping that people don't mind that several of the next chapters will probably continue to be "Some dickhead with demon powers fucks about in hell".