Chapter 81 -Leoric's Manor
Slamming the doors behind him, Nico in his DC Avatar form surveyed his surroundings. His eyes cast their gaze about, noticing that he was in what remained of a grand hallway, with rooms on either side and a large staircase that split halfway at the opposite end. Throughout the Great Hall, Nico noticed there to be piles of rubble scattered throughout, mostly around large holes in the walls. Some lead back outside, while the others lead to different rooms.
'This place… now that I look at it, this feels kind of familiar…' the male thought to himself, frowning within his DC Avatar form. Thanks to it taking the shape of the Defiler, his mouth remained unseen like with his armour, the Form sticking with the lipless, toothy mouth that the Defiler once possessed. A mouth that refused to move yet still let his voice come through somehow. He knew this because he had checked before coming inside.
As his eyes cast their gaze across the hallway, they soon caught sight of something, something that roused his curiosity while his large form stomped its way along the corridors. The thing that caught his interest? A large portrait pinned to the back wall, looking significantly larger than the other portraits he'd observed in this ruined Manor. While the other portraits, which were lined up on the side walls in varying angles, and looked torn beyond recognition, this portrait remained in perfect health. A curious phenomenon, it was like whoever did this deliberately missed this portrait on purpose. Likely for some bigger reason, he figured.
But as he got a better look at the portrait, his eyes widened in pure shock, pupils trembling as a surge of familiarity overcame him. 'This… this is…!'
The portrait was of a man, a man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with eyes as clear as the skies, holding both wisdom and madness deep inside. His hair was a pure white colour, as was this great big bushy beard he had. The portrait showed him wearing regal robes, complete with a golden crown on top of his head while there was both a golden ornamental sceptre leaning on the left side of the throne he sat on, as well as a massive two-handed sword leaning on the Throne's right side. Nico's eyes showed shock at first, but then they narrowed as recognition flashed through them. 'King… Leoric… also known as the Black King…!'
He knew the story behind this man, and boy did it make his blood boil. Leoric was once a ruler of a small Kingdom, nothing compared to the Leanbox of current society, during a time where Leanbox was filled with rival tribes that warred against each other. This Kingdom was called Khanduras, and it had been west of a small humble town called Tristram. During the time, he had been known as a wise and fair King who gave a damn about his people, something that had been rare in those times. In the mists of war, hatred and anguish, genuine kindness and proper leadership was as rare as sightings of the CPUs.
In the beginning, Leoric originated from A place called Kehjistan in Lastation. At some point during Leanbox's tribal era, at the behest of rumour and speculation, Leoric came into the lands of Khanduras and declared himself to be king.
Leoric brought with him his family, knights and priests, the latter two groups forming his 'Order of the Light' which consisted of humans whom Leoric handpicked as his personal troops. Along with his advisor Lazarus, Leoric and his entourage made their way to the town of Tristram, appropriating the decrepit monastery on its outskirts as his seat of power. Although the people of Khanduras were not pleased with coming under the rule of a foreign king, Leoric served them with justice and might. Eventually, his subjects came to respect him for his purity of heart and deed.
Unfortunately, life turned out to be cruel and ironic. Apparently, there was a special Abnormal down in the decrepit Monastery called a 'Teufel', an underground based Abnormal that had the ability to possess and control those it saw as enemies… which was basically everything in a nutshell. It found a way to take control of the King through his advisor Lazarus. With him under its command, the Teufel infested the King himself when his guard was down, thus beginning his downfall.
For many months, Leoric secretly fought against the Teufel will. Sensing that he had been possessed by some unknown being, Leoric kept his condition a secret from those close to him, believing that his piety would be enough to exorcise the Abnormal's power. In this he had been sorely mistaken, and the Abnormal stripped away the core of Leoric's being, tearing away all honor and virtue from his soul. Lazarus, still under its control, kept close to his lord at all times, and sought to keep Leoric's condition a secret.
Despite this, Leoric's change in demeanour became known to his subjects. His once proud visage became rugged and deformed while his sanity slipped away. Becoming increasingly deranged, Leoric began ordering immediate executions of any who questioned his decisions or authority while he sent his knights to the outlying towns to bully them into submission. At the height of his madness, Leoric would evince his displeasure by pummelling courtiers, servants, and even foreign dignitaries with his sceptre. Horrified by his actions, Leoric's subjects began calling him "the Black King."
Lazarus, concerned of the suspicions Leoric's subjects had, convinced the now delusional king that another Leanbox kingdom called Westmarch was plotting to take over and annex Khanduras, manipulating him into declaring war, diverting attention as well as sending many troublesome knights into their deaths when the armies of Westmarch inevitably crushed those of Khanduras. Leoric's priests were meanwhile sent as emissaries. Thanks to Lazarus's words, Leoric even ordered the execution of Queen Asylla, his own wife, by guillotine.
Leanbox WAS a Nation that once favoured torture…
With the lack of inquisitive eyes, the Teufel had free rein to assert its will over his vassal. However, the Teufel found that a part of the king's soul still fought against it, and that it would still not be able to take full control. Thus, it abandoned its attempts to take over Leoric, leaving him broken and crazed as a result.
When King Leoric found that his son had gone missing, he went into a rage and had many innocent people executed for kidnapping the prince, slipping deeper into madness with each passing day. He was eventually slain by his own lieutenant, the knight Lachdanan, who returned from the quickly lost war only to find that he, too, was being accused of the kidnapping, and that the king was nothing but a raving madman who set his other warriors upon those returning. The knights came to blows and Lachdanan begged Leoric to explain his actions. Leoric simply spat at him, condemning Lachdanan and his men as traitors. Sorrowfully, Lachdanan struck down his liege, Leoric cursing him and all of his knights in his last moments.
Though, that would not be the end of that King…
Several pulses of power came to him through Absolution, and Nico interpreted this as a warning of sorts, that danger was coming. He broke himself from past memories, memories of a skeleton clad in black armour and legions of undead monstrosities, as he held Absolution at the ready. He felt the Devil Arm's power pulsate within him, eager to fight the next enemy.
An enemy that soon arrived from atop the stairs, firing fireballs at him while making their way down the stairs. His eyes narrowed as he swiftly formed a DC Wall in front of him, the organic defence blocking the attacks from hitting him. The male would have felt the searing heat the flames generated as they impacted all around him, but thanks to his current form that would be rendered an impossibility.
The attacks ceased, and the male lowered his defence to witness who he would be slaughtering. The enemy looked to consist of 10 Cultists, each of them snarling at him like demented animals. Their glowing red eyes shined with malice as they constantly chanted under their breaths and like IF, Nico heard it clear as day. Though also like her, he couldn't make out what they were saying thanks to the chants being that of runic speech. 'Ugh, Mages! They're always annoying to fight…' the male thought to himself, twirling Absolution while getting ready to strike.
Soon enough, Nico saw how they began firing a mix of fire balls, lightning bolts, and other spells his way. Some of them seemed like disarming spells, but Absolution shrugged them off and he swore he heard it chortle mockingly from within his being. Looked like a Devil Arm wasn't something a mere disarming Spell would work on, it seemed. 'Well, that's fortunate...' he thought to himself, before swinging Absolution and launching a DC Wave towards them.
The chanting changed its tone, Nico noticed, and a combination barrier was erected in front of them. it blocked the DC Wave, which dispersed into nothing on contact. The male growled within his DC Avatar form, before he decided to switch tactics by constantly sending DC Masses towards them, the masses coming at the Cultists by the Dozens. Each Cultist responded by making more chants however, creating individual defensive barriers in front of them.
As a result, the attacks only exploded against the barriers and kept them free of the DC.
'Tch, annoying…!' Nico thought, and he felt the agreement coming from his Devil Arm. 'Creating separate barriers slows the depletion of their Mana. Those that study Magic use Mana to power their Spells, not to be confused by Skill attacks though. The difference between these is that Mana is pure magical energy, the energy used for Skills is simply known as SP. People who have low amounts of SP go to study Magic, and if it's the opposite case they go along the Guild Agent or the Spec Ops Path.'
However, despite this fact, there was one thing that Mages sucked at, and that…
Was Physical ability.
Nico grinned within his DC Avatar Form as he raised Absolution and brought it down, sending a DC Spike Trail towards his prey, pumped with way more power than he did before to make them longer, sharper and deadlier. the Cultists chanted together to make a collective barrier, but that was what he intended for them to do. Right at the moment they were about to hit the barriers, Nico made his attack vanish, catching the Cultists off guard.
They were so surprised, that they lowered their barrier by mistake, a mistake that would cost them greatly. Stepping forwards, Nico broke into a sprint, massive stomping sounds echoing through the hallway as he closed the distance between him and 5 Cultists on the left side of the staircase. Before they could turn to identify the incoming threat, the male swiftly swung Absolution and decapitated them at the waists, 5 clean kills.
He then kicked them towards their brethren, using Absolution like a baseball bat to sent them flying with high impact force. With their surprised states, the Cultists had no time to react. These pieces hit the remaining Cultists, knocking them down to the ground below. Some even hit their heads on the railings, sending them into a temporary daze and rendering them unable to use their Spells.
The male then raised Absolution once more, and then thrusted it forth towards his enemies, launching DC Tendrils from the Devil Arm's blade. Each Tendril slithered through the air, like wild vipers before they impaled each Cultist through their chests or through their noggins, getting cries of agony from the ones without impaled heads. Nevertheless, they all died on impact, either slowly or painfully depending on where they were impaled, making the male sigh at the finished enemy. Not long afterwards, he retracted the Tendrils into Absolution, lowering it to his side.
'There… well, looks like we can safely assume this is the place we're looking for…' the male mused, looking around. 'It honestly doesn't surprise me that these guys made THIS place one of their hideouts given who its former owner was. I have to give credit to those that built this place all those centuries ago, the effects of time don't seem to have whittled this place down much. A sign of good maintenance on their part. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from this architecture…' the male hummed thoughtfully about that, shifting balance from one foot to the other before he shook his head in dismissal. 'Nah, that's probably a bad idea. Leave the past where it is, that's something I can get behind in this case… no need to drag Skeletons into this world.' He remarked with a scowl within his current Form.
Necromancy, the art of manipulating and controlling the dead to fight with you. It was an act that he had seen many Mages try to study for their own gain. Most cases revolve around extending ones' lifespan by sacrificing life to use it as energy for the craft. There have been cases where Mages would enter the arts of Necromancy for this very reason, or to take revenge on the world before taking over and ruling it in their images. Spec Ops Agents would be sent to hunt those evils to the ends of the earth, considering how dangerous it would be if Necromancers got too powerful. Nico himself had hunted more than a few Necromancers in his day, and each time was more horrid than the last.
His thoughts became broken when he heard the sounds of cracking. His eyes narrowed as he tried to find the source, only to see his DC Avatar form shatter into a million pieces, pieces that disintegrated into nothingness. He managed to land on his own two feet regardless, bending his knees at the point of impact, but nonetheless his surprised still remained. Plus, he felt considerably weak, falling onto one knee while he used Absolution's shaft as a makeshift walking stick for support. 'Huh? Wha?' was all he could think while leaning against his Devil Arm.
Fortunately, his Demon Persona had an answer for him.
'It appears that you have reached your limit with that form. Any more and you would have lost consciousness. Nevertheless, its impressive that Form lasted as long as it did, our demonic power must he recovering faster than I thought. Either that, or…'
While Biko trailed off there, Nico's eyes sharpened, he came to the same conclusion as well, and both of them didn't like it at all. "Demonic Energy… must be present nearby…" The male spoke through laboured gasps, his breathing uneven. Geez, that Form took a lot out of him, part of him wondered if the Defiler had to eat a lot back in the demon world cause the amount of energy he had expended unknowingly was just staggering.
Taking out a SP Charger from his Void Storage, Nico downed the contents and almost immediately afterwards he felt his strength return to him. A huge sigh of relief escaped him as he felt this, 'Ahhh, those things are a godsend for those of us on long term missions…' the male thought in approval. He'd like to meet and shake the hand of the one who invented those things, they must be filthy rich at this point. They quite literally save lives on the battlefield. Nobody wanted to run out of SP in the middle of a Monster Dungeon, no sir. Hell, he even heard rumours that there was technology being developed that'll provide automatic SP Regen abilities. That would definitely be something to behold, and something Nico could see a LOT of people trying to get for themselves.
They'd probably kill for that tech, and then kill some more…
Once the male felt like he could walk again, he stood tall on his own two feet. Glancing over to Absolution, the male decided to give the Devil Arm a rest, proceeding to put it inside his Void Storage for the time being. He'd given it a test run, and he liked it, so he would give it time to regain its strength from his Demonic Energy before drawing it again. Instead of Absolution, Nico decided to take out his signature Devil Arm: Rebellion, the very first Devil Arm to be added to his arsenal.
In the moment his hand grasped the handle of the Devil Arm, a surge of nostalgia filled him as the familiar feeling of metal and leather graced his fingertips. It had been a while since he last drew this sword, and even now he could feel the blade's eagerness to be wielded by its master once again. He went to strap it to his back, only to remember that he didn't have his Holsters anymore. 'Oh, shoot, now I can't… oh wait.' The male cursed his forgetfulness under his breath, remembering what he did with Harvester before he saved Vert from those men. He put the Sword against his back, and he felt the Devil Arm attach itself there with Demonic Energy Trails, a small smile settling onto his lips. The familiar weight on his back felt more than a little welcoming for the teen, and just as he made to explore the Manor further, he got another idea.
Why take out one Devil Arm… when he could have more?
Summoning Ebony and Ivory, the two dual Pistols with opposite colours, Nico strapped them to his Waist. Like Rebellion, they too attached themselves there through Demonic Energy Trails, so it looked like he had them in the places where his Holsters had once been. He once thought about adding Harvester like this but decided against it. He felt armed enough already.
Now that he was equipped with his weapons, Nico continued up the stairs and exploring the Manor.
This place was massive. That was his first thought while exploring this large estate, whoever built this must have had to pull in a LOT of resources, staff maintenance would have been abysmal… okay, he'll stop with those logistics to me. He found quite the few rooms in the place, as well as discarded weapons, armour, and items that, if polished, could be quite useful. It started to feel less like an adventure and more like an RPG where you get items from destroying stuff. Most of the rooms had been destroyed for a while, showing just how old this place truly was.
Along his little trek, Nico entered a room after going through a corridor attached to the left staircase. There, he looked about and found a pedestal at the closest left corner, one that had a report on top. 'That's a game mechanic if I've ever seen one…' the male remarked to himself, before heading to the Pedestal and taking the report. He then looked the report over, his eyes casting their gaze across the writing:
There are new players in the game. A Party of girls with one guy member. A Girl named Neptune is their leader. Intel says she is the CPU of Planeptune, thus she could make our lord's plans unnecessarily complicated. Like with the Leanbox CPU, we will have to 'deal' with her and her posse. However, among them, the one they call DEATHSTROKE will be the most difficult to dispose of, thus we must make preparations for our mistress Messenger.
MAGDA.
'Magda?' Nico hummed, caressing his chin as he deposited the item into his Void Storage. Where had he heard that name before? He knew he did, after all aside from Lowee ha had been to Leanbox more than a few times on missions. Though, the way the report puts strain on the word 'dispose' didn't fill him with good vibes. Did these people have something to do with the hole he and Biko sensed within Vert's body? If so, then these assholes had a LOT more coming to them.
Still, this Magda character…
'Wait a minute… I know I've heard that name before, but where…?'
Nevertheless, the answer just wouldn't rear its head inside his brain. It felt so close too, like it was right on the tip of his tongue. Great, now it will bug him for the rest of his days unless he remembers. Stupid brain, working the way it did. Deciding to think on it later when he DIDN'T have precious comrades to find, Nico continued on his journey, heading through another door that lead to this large hallway.
At the opposite end of the hallway, there was a single, wooden door, easily towering over the last ones by far. It had metal casing over it, and he could hear voices chattering away on the other side. 'Looks like I got some more killing to do…' the male thought to himself, sighing as he drew Rebellion from his back and held it in one hand. Despite the fact that he'd be killing soon, Nico couldn't help the excitement building in his chest at being able to wield this Devil Arm once more. It was his first one ever, after all, it had a special place in his heart, just like all his weapons.
Judging from what he could hear, there would be more than his last batch of enemies, so he mentally prepared himself. He made sure to deploy his Armour, his eye blinking as he got used to the lack of depth perception once again before he made his way towards the door. When he was right before it, the teen kicked the door open and jumped into the room, intent on ending this quickly.
Whelp, those Cultists were as dead as humanly possible, they didn't even pose much of a challenge. One use of PHANTOM BLADES, a few PHANTOM WAVES and a dozen or so Rebellion swings later, they were all dead on the ground. It honestly felt kinda disappointing, and he KNEW Rebellion agreed judging by the way it trembled in his grip. Honestly, Devil Arms were easier to understand than people…
The male shuddered when the smell of blood whiffed into his nostrils, fortunately he was in his Armour which filtered out the scent, mostly, so he didn't get bombarded by the urges he held deep inside. 'Though, thanks to using IT I'm able to rationalize a lot better…' the male admitted to himself.
Shaking his head, Nico focused on the task at hand. He had to figure out where IF was being held, and he had a gut feeling that those assholes wouldn't tell him jack shit. He went with his gut, and that resulted in them getting axed off like a serial killer claiming his victim's life. Oddly enough, Nico got the image of a silhouette with the kanji for 'killer' n his head laughing madly while chowing down on a white silhouette with the 'Civilian' Kanji like a shish kabab.
… Let's stop that thought.
A groan shook him out of his thoughts, making Nico's eyes widen in surprise. That… didn't sound like a Cultist, but it did sound like one's dying groan. Turning to the source, he saw a man in leather clothes, lying on his stomach before the bottom of a support pillar. His breathing was laboured, and he had various wounds all over his body. Nico swiftly jogged over to his side, kneeling beside him and pulling out several Healing Pods. "Here, take these, they'll help-"
"N-No… they won't…" the man breathed heavily as he tried to respond, coughing up blood in a vehement manner. "The… Cultists, they… did something to me… I can't be healed… I don't have much time left…" he barely spoke from his large gasps of air. Nico noticed why soon enough: one of his lungs was pinned to a wall nearby, having been violently torn from his back if the large hole there was anything to go by.
'He speaks the truth, Nico.' Biko's voice interjected. 'There is a powerful curse at work here, it functions like a Buff Skill but is a DPU-based variant. This curse appears to be killing him faster than healing items would be able to heal him. He only has about 30 seconds left.'
Hearing that made Nico grit his teeth, pure fury coursing through his veins at the frustration he felt inside. This was one of those times where he felt useless, a time that didn't happen often. It wasn't like he would be able to save everyone every time, no sir that was just unrealistic. Nico had failed plenty of people in his lifetime, people who'd relied on him to pull trough for them only for them to meet a cruel end right before they se the fruits of their labour.
One such example: an old man from Racoon City.
With a time limit now looming over him, Nico hurriedly made to get as much information as he could. "Sir, do you know where they keep prisoners here?" he asked urgently. "Do you know if any of them had brown hair with a leafy bow in it?"
"There… was some girl… like that… yeah… she's at the… Chambers of suffering…" the man replied, before he raised a shaking hand and pointed to a stone platform outside. "take that platform… it goes around the Manor… to an entrance to the Halls of Agony… get through that… you reach the Cursed Hold… then you go to the Chamber of Suffering…" finally, the man fell to the ground, dead. His eyes gazed up at him, the life they once had completely drained from them like a bath being emptied of its water.
A solemn silence passed as Nico stared down at the corpse of the man. He may not know his name, probably never would, but the fact that an innocent life had been lost, and he had been unable to prevent it, hit the male in the gut. It had gotten weaker over time, but even now Nico never could get used to failing someone. Now, this man's family would never again see their husband (he saw a wedding ring and concluded he was married) or father again.
Lowering his head, the male placed his hand over the man's face, closing his eyes to give him some manner of a peaceful expression. The teen mentally recited a prayer for the man, even though he didn't believe in any of the CPUs. It was only right to give that man a decent send-off. He deserved that much at least, that was what he felt. Plus, seeing him like this reminded Nico of every person he had been unable to save, every person he could have saved if things had been different.
In the end, it came down to something, something he'd learned long ago, though he had no clue as to where it came from. Probably from his forgotten memories or something:
All weakness in this world is due to lack of ability.
The strong will always be picking on the weak, preying upon them as if they were animals in a jungle. In order to stave those guys off, one had to have power, power great enough to secure your 'territory'. To say that 'if you mess with me, my power will overwhelm yours' to those that tried to trample on you. Strength meant a lot, borderline everything, in this world. No matter the ideals one has to be able to enforce those ideals otherwise people won't listen to you. It was basically known as 'the rule of the jungle.' It was something Nico believed in, wholeheartedly, hell he practically lied in it for years until he met Compa again.
Now then, time to go find IF. With the knowledge that the man provided, Nico stood up and looked to the outside stone platform. He walked out onto it, eyeing everything for signs of attack. Up in the skies, he could see storm clouds gathering, thunder echoing in the distance. Wasn't ominous looking in the slightest, no not at all…
Note the sarcasm.
Nico walked down the platform, and much to his happiness the man had appeared to be right. It went down the Manor at a diagonal angle before turning and leading towards another entrance. An entrance that looked like a large pair of red metal doors, each one having a portion of a human skeleton with a bandage over 1 socket holding the door handles, looking like they were peering out to see who was on the other side. 'Yep, definitely can see why this would be considered the 'Halls of Agony…' Nico thought to himself while walking up to them. Strapping Rebellion to his back, the teen swiftly pulled the doors open and walked inside, determination burning in his uncovered light blue iris.
The doorway had lead to a set of stairs leading downwards, and instantly Nico had the feeling that he was going to hell. Literally, because when he reached the bottom, the orange-reddish glow of what he assumed was called the 'Halls of Agony' greeted him. the glow illuminated the entire area, giving it a rather sinister feel to it, and lighting up the cobblestone used to build it. Long walkways, rooms and spiked fences greeted his uncovered eye while he could hear distant groans and screams. Most of them seemed eerily… haunting, like the dead themselves were still trapped here, never to seek salvation on the other side.
That wasn't all, either. The corridors linked prisoner cells and torture chambers from what he could tell, some still with torture devices in them. Some have their last victim, or what was left of them, strapped in. He could also see some strange gates throughout the hallways, some on the ground while others were built into walls. What their functions were, he didn't know. Nevertheless, Nico didn't want to find out, that much was for certain. The smell of blood, death and decay was so strong here that not even his Helmet could filter out the smell enough for him to remain comfortable, as Nico held the space where his nose would be with a snort of disgust.
'This place is full of hell fire and damnation…' he thought in anger, clenching his free hand into a fist. 'Leoric truly was a Mad King to have built this place… but the Overlord Faction are a bunch of scumbags for putting it to use.' After thinking that, the male raised his Bracer and began scanning the area, searching for the shortest route to the Chambers of Suffering, or at least the Cursed Hold. Neither of them sounded pleasant, but hey that's part of the job of a Spec Ops Agent, wasn't it?
'Nico, I can feel a major ambience of demonic power in the air. Whatever is going on here, it is much too heinous for mere mortals. This HAS to stop.' Biko spoke. His tone may be his usual monotone, but Nico could feel the animosity rising within his words and spilling out his mouth like a tidal wave.
'Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice…'
Making his way through the area gave Nico more and more reasons to despise the Black King for making this damned place. He went through one room after the other while his Bracer scanned for the entrance to the lower levels. He went into prison cells, torture chambers (sometimes cutting the remains loose and destroying them to leave nothing left. Felt more like granting them a small mercy than anything.) and above all he found out several things through looking through discarded notes on the ground, notes that were likely left behind by the tortured victims for people to find.
Everyone who came here had either been an enemy of the Overlord Faction, or just some random civilian going about their daily business. There was no discrimination between the victims, moreover there just didn't seem to be any clear preference to who was kidnapped. The only connection that he could find, was that they seemed to refuse to follow the Overlord's teachings and had to be 'punished' for their 'insolence'.
Geez, if this was what they did to their followers, then Nico would never believe in such a deity.
Not that he believed in any at all, he'd already made his feelings quite clear on that.
While he walked along a particularly narrow bridge-like section, Nico stopped dead in his tracks when his instincts were triggered. He'd been following the route that his Bracers had developed for him, looking over a Holographic 3D map of the level. Apparently, there was a second level before he got to the Cursed Hold, then he had to go through THAT to get to the Chambers of Suffering.
Now though, his instincts were telling him that something was indeed wrong, someone was here. But, he couldn't tell where. His senses didn't pick anything up, nor could he tell with his Motion Tracker. Nevertheless, thanks to his Instincts Nico knew something or someone was here, and THAT was enough to get him on guard. Deactivating his right Bracer's Holomap, Nico drew Rebellion and held it in a ready stance, slowly twisting his feet so he could look around for any signs of a surprise attack.
"Whose there?!" He yelled into the hellish surroundings. "Show yourself before I make you!"
Perhaps it would have been pointless to yell that out there, but honestly Nico just wanted to get this over with so he could continue on his way already. IF was down there, and he'd be damned if he didn't go down to the Chambers of Suffering to give her his support. He, thankfully, didn't have to wait long though, for what looked like an orange spell insignia appeared on the ground, glowing ominously while radiating pure demonic energy. While it was absorbed into his being to speed up his own demonic powers' recovery, Nico still remained guarded as a hooded man in robes slowly rose out of it like he was riding an escalator.
It was a Cultist, but… there was something about this one that was different to the others. The way he was slouching over was one thing, and another was how there was only one of him. Before, he had been fighting many of them, but now just one? Just what were they thinking? Perhaps they just weren't thinking at all, that could always be a thing. Nevertheless, the way he slouched over, head hanging low while he muttered incoherently to himself, honestly looked kind of creepy. Like when you see a stranger just staring at you intently from across the room, his eyes never leaving you even as you leave. You get a sense you're being followed, and the stranger is there. Looming over you like an oppressive shadow.
Knowing that he had to be on guard, Nico readied himself in case he attacked, but the man just stood there like a statue, muttering to himself. The long hat of his robes didn't let him see his face, so he couldn't tell any facial features. However, Nico didn't let that be a reason to drop his guard, and soon became thankful for that due to what happened next. His instincts suddenly screamed at him instantly, like a sudden alarm going off, to move and he did so, avoiding a dark red spike bursting out of a small insignia on the ground, similar to the one that the man had come out of.
'An attack…!'
'Nico, quick! Strike him down!'
'Don't need to tell me twice!'
Nico and Biko had a quick chat, before he focused on his prey. Quickly he charged forth towards the man, dodging the spikes that tried to hinder him as he closed in and slashed at him from the left shoulder to the right hip. However, the man, who hadn't raised his head at all, raised a hand and…
PING!
Caught the blade… inside his bare hand.
The Male froze, applying Demonic Energy to the blade and his hand to wrench it free as he stepped backwards, holding Rebellion defensively. 'Holy-nobody's done that before in this story! What the fuck is going on here?!' he mentally shrieked. He readied Rebellion and glared at his opponent, eyeing him for any potential weaknesses he could possibly exploit to end this fight quickly.
The man responded by groaning as he hunched over, muttering incoherently like before. Nico, even with his enhanced hearing, couldn't distinguish what he was saying, and before he could think of a response the teen's eye filled with horror when he saw the man begin a drastic transformation. His flesh darkened to the state of charred skin, several horns bursting out his head. Sounds of flesh being torn and set alight rung throughout the area as the transformation took place. He became what looked like a creature with burnt skin, horns coming out his head, twisted mutated claws with spikes in places, and the bottom of the robes got tattered by the transformation, showing demonic talons instead of feet.
'What the fuck?! That's no Spell, I'm sure as hell of that!' Nico shrieked, before he raised Rebellion and blocked a claw slash that would have sliced his head off. His opponent gave a loud screech as it reared back and repeatedly slashed away at his defences, Nico twisting and parrying the strikes. They were wild and unfocused, but the male found it hard to keep up with their movements. He had to keep an eye on its claws as even the slightest twitch was a warning of its next attack.
Finally, the male managed to find a small opening in its defences and slashed quickly, carving a long gash through it with Rebellion. The monster screeched in pain as it fell back, blood pouring from the gash. But almost as soon as it was formed it had begun to regenerate, to the male's displeasure. 'Looks like I have to cut off the head to kill this thing…' he thought in irritation.
The fighting that followed became even more brutal, this creature he had seen was as vicious as it was ugly. It hit hard, no enough to damage him thanks to his Armour's defences, but it was enough for him to feel the attacks. Nico parried several more blows before quickly shoulder rushing it, knocking it to the ground and hen jumping into the air. He brought Rebellion down on it, for the creature to thrust its right arm up, its claw not piercing his Armour but it did knock him off balance, allowing it to backhand him away.
In response Alex quickly righted himself in mid air and slammed into the ground on all fours, making the monster shriek in victory. It flew through the air towards him, intending on raking the hell out of him with its claws. However, the male merely raised his head, and a glint in his eyes showed it that he had a plan in mind. His right hand swiftly pulled out Ivory from his Waist, and shot a bullet through its head. He successfully stunned it, and with a swing from Rebellion, managed to behead the beast.
The Body was still for a moment as he strapped Ivory to his waist while keeping Rebellion out. But then it began to shake uncontrollably, twitching like it had some sort of spasm attack for a few seconds. Nico refused to find out the cause though, and quickly dove down holding his head with his arms. Fortunately, his Armour's plasma shields managed to protect him as the body suddenly exploded in a mass of gore and bone, splattering everywhere and painting the ground where it had been before red.
While it was short, the battle was over… and Nico emerged as the victor.
