I Don't Own Percy Jackson

"I will flay your bones! I will tear your soul asund-" I just sighed and reached out to the demon who's chest I was sitting on and just grabbed it's throat and squeezed cutting the words off quickly as the thing trashed about trying to throw me off. Demons are kind of weak to be honest, it's kind of low key disappointing in a way, as I reached over to my hip and pulled out a knife as I lightly tapped it onto the demon's forehead and said.

"Shush, I don't need threats, especially if you can't deliver on them, I'm not a big fan on empty words. So how about you answer my questions and we don't make this messy" The demon glared up at me, but I still let off it's throat to let the monster speak as it said.

"You think a child is enough to scare me? Girl, I've spent an eternity living in hell" Nico tensed off to the side as I took a small breath in, before looking back down at the demon and just stared into it's eyes. It was instant, watching a cold sweat break off of it's face as I continued to stare, then I frowned, and then I slowly began to glare as the demon began to shake and tried to look away, my hand reached down and forced it to look at me even as it shook in terror.

"You've been to hell and got broken from a small amount of torture, a Goddess older than the Earth has tried to kill me and I'm still alive, don't insult me by thinking you're tough. And I am a guy, you mistake that again and I'll get my answers after showing you just how easy it is to make hell on earth a reality" The demon was thrashing, the small brain in it's head was screaming out for flight, fight seemed to have long since forgotten. After another second of just enjoying the terror, I lessened my glare and said in a more gentle tone.

"Now, are you going to tell me what I want to know or are you going to be a problem I'm going to have to... deal with?" I lightly traced my blade across the demon's face as it winced as a light burning trial of smoke rose off from where it made contact. Divine metal touching a corrupted being, simple math as the demon twitched and seemed to try and hold back any sound and managed instead a nod as I just smiled.

"Good, glad we have an understanding, now, let's get to my questions. I have a few of them, so try to be patient, otherwise I might lose my own" It managed another nod as I smiled down at my new little information mule and got to work.

The questions were simple enough, I was just looking for some general information while I passed the time before me and Nico made our way over to Rome. After all, what's the point of having an insanely high Intelligence score if it doesn't give a person a much higher ability to recall memories, memories which just happen to give me more options for my plans.

"Are you sure this is the right way Nick? I mean... That demon didn't really say this is where we'd find any more demons just where it came from, honestly it was very vague"

"Have faith youngling, for I have faith in the force"

"What? What's the force?"

"We really need to have that movie night soon. Listen, the demon said that while it has become a lot easier for demons to come up to the surface, they still need a channel right?"

"Right? It did say that there needs to be some kind of summoner involved, to invoke a demon's nature or name or whatever key they're using. It's like how I can call on spirits, it's just for them anyone with a book can do it"

"Exactly, and with that comparison in mind, what can you figure out from how your own similar powers work?"

"Um... I mean, it takes a lot of energy to summon them... Uh, oh! It takes more energy to summon stronger ones right? So it's the same for normal people to, more even since they are just normal humans, so... They'd need to be really strong right?"

"Hmm, somewhat, remember what I said about normal people using magic?"

"Uh... They need channels of their own right? And that demon was actually really weak right? So it couldn't have taken that much energy to summon it, so... It's not important? Meaning... You need to find the summoner themselves to get more information right?" Nico was a smart kid as I just nodded.

"Yep, all we need to do is track the demon's path back to where it came from, track down it's original summoner if they are still alive and then just get the ritual off them, and then do it ourselves"

"Wait... Why do we want to summon a stronger demon?"

"So we can get more information of course"

"...Why do we need more information?"

"Because it's probably worth some exp"

"I... don't get it"

"I figured not, don't worry about it. I honestly already know the answer to be honest, but the system is kind of picky sometimes about what gives me credit or not, and showing my work is unfortunately important"

"What?"

"Dodge"

...

"You didn't even try to hit me this time? I just jumped for now reason you jerk!"

"Well let that be another lesson"

"What les- Ow!"

"That it could always be a delayed attack?"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Anyways! I also have a secondary plan that I thought would take longer to be able to do, but since the opportunity has opened itself up to us, I figured I'd take it before going on to deal with the other plans I had, since I figured this would happen in the opposite order to be honest"

"What... Uh, sure... What other plans are you talking about and why were you going to wait?"

"Because I didn't think I would be this strong at this point, I figured I'd need to do at least two or so many big things to be able to be strong enough to survive some of my planes to become godlike, but I kind of stepped the need for them by beating The Fates at being stubborn. I'm like, twice as strong as I thought I would be at this point, so there is no need for half my plans anymore outside of getting exp that wouldn't really be worth the time put in"

"I only really understood about half of that, but I think I get it... But if you don't want to put time in for small gains, which is what I think you're saying, then why go through all this demon stuff?"

"Because I want a pet, oh, and revenge... mostly revenge" Not everything I do has to have a logical reasoning behind it.

"Why... What kind of pet could you even get in hell? Why would you want one anyways? Are you gonna to summon it when we find these people?" Nico was very confused, which I liked, so I just hummed and walked on as he rushed to catch up with my longer strides as he tried to pry the information out of me, to bad for him, I'm immune to such tricks, being an expert on them myself after all!

"Why hello everybody!" A young and cheerful voice broke the chant that had been echoing off the walls of the sacred site... And by that, Max means the abandoned warehouse his... 'friends' and him used to worship their ever present and demonic ruler, Satan.

They all stopped, nearly turning as one, through their cloaks to look towards the source of the voice, and Max himself, as the one closest, when he saw the young looking teen, who honestly in the lighting of the moon peering through the dozen or so skylights, couldn't really make out a gender off, as they strolled on forwards, though he still pulled out a sharp, ornate ritual knife.

He wasn't really looking to stab a teenager, but it should have been enough to at least be threatening... That was his first and only mistake, as even in the dim lighting, as one of the cloaked ritualist, began to speak up, to say... something... Max was close enough to see the sharp rows upon rows of teeth, that created a long stretched out grin that pulled across their entire face.

The look made Max's blood freeze, his hands shook in terror at the inhuman sight, in such a simple gesture the teenager... thing terrified Max to his core, the knife in his hand dropping to the floor with a clatter that seemed to boom out in echoing waves, and if Max wasn't frozen by fear he would have jumped.

"Who are you-" That was all one of the others managed to say, though Max had no idea which, when the world itself vanished, in an instant the entire warehouse was plunged in total darkness, before, seconds later, a flaming burst of light and heat wreathed itself into existence around the teenager's form, as it forced the thing's being into total shadow, allowing them all to only be able to see that haunting grin, splayed on a outline of pitch black darkness.

And then it moved, it's stepped bounding off the floor as it moved closer, and with it's steps, Max fell, he didn't even have the time to scream, as the floor itself seemed to vanish into an inky black tar that he slipped into in an instant, as he found his body burned by a vicious coldness as his entire being was flung through the darkness, and then the imagines started, in the darkness in which he plummeted to something he could only imagine the terror of, as a sharp giggle like laughter bounded endlessly around him, along with those same foot steps.

All encompassing footsteps that at ever step somehow sounded closer and closer.

Then they appeared, imagines, flashes really, burned into his mind more than his eyes seeing anything, because that would mean any light of any kind could exist in this darkness, that were was some kind of salvation to be found against the biting cold night, imagines of pain and torture, of hell itself opening up to accept him, of beings made of light and dark that were so powerful it felt like his very brain was trying to melt to even understand them in the quarter seconds he was exposed to the weight of those thing's entirety, of what had to be powers beyond anything Earth could hope to think of.

And then it ended, as suddenly as it happened, as Max found himself gasping for air his lungs hadn't been able to get to in what felt like hours, as he realized he was laying on the ground, his entire being shuddering and aching in pain, as he managed to lift up his head just enough to watch as the... being, the thing that couldn't have been anything close to human for it's appearance, leaned down and seemingly studied the circle his group had been chanting to. It's eyes moving back in forth like it was reading the markings like words on a page.

Whatever the being saw, it seemed amused, reaching down and placing a hand on the pentagram that Max and his group had spent weeks meticulously drawing in hyper amounts of detail. It was a thing of beauty in terms of summoning, a pentagram that would require a hundred rituals to give power to the sigil to give it enough power to summon what they all wanted.

Max wasn't sure why he was surprised when the thing just tapped it, once, as the entire sigil burned and glowed in an instant activating from the sheer strength and power this thing that had hijacked their ritual must have been able to just give out.

None of the humans moved, to frozen in fear and pain by what had happened to them, like deer caught in headlights, the idea of moving, of drawing that things attention back on to any of them was to terrifying to even think of risking, as they were forced to watch as the entire circle burned bright red as the being cloaked in a flowing night black cloak moved away and seemed to watch with a mild interest down at the sigil.

Then it happened, the sigil began to move and shift, the lines moving and then forming into a form that rose up from the ground, a body covered and outlined by the burning red lines before it seemed to spread out, spreading and covering the beings body, as it shifted and writhed, before in an instant, a long limb like thing shot out and seemed to try and slam into the being that had summoned the demon in the first place.

The teen entity simply tilted it's head to the side, watching with mild boredom and from inside it's black coat shot out a thick long tendril of darkness, wrapping around and gripping onto the limb, and with a echoing snap, the limb was shattered and bent in more than one direction Max was sure it wasn't suppose to be bent in.

It was horrifying, watching the conjured and still forming demon try to snap another limb out as it let out a earth shaking screech, trying to at least hurt the black cloaked being as the thing didn't even have to move, as another inky black line shot out and bound the second limb, and in less than a second, the ground exploded in a writhing pit of black tendrils that lashed and whipped onto the demon, slamming it into the ground and holding it into place with apparent ease.

To see a demon that was powerful enough to take Max and all his company's energy dozens of times over just to bring it forth get manhandled and beaten down after being summoned single handedly by a single person, of some being, wearing the body of a teenager, was something that Max was never going to forget, as the black cloaked thing moved forwards to the demon that was still trying to move, trying to get away, trying to do anything, as fear set in in it's body so clear that Max could tell even without a face being on the demon's body.

Then the being lowered itself down to be on something close to face to face, as the two beings outside of this world's comprehension, seemed to just stare at each other for a long moment, until the demon finally stopped trying to fight, apparently to scared to even attempt to fight back anymore, as the being simply stood back up and moved away, the darkness moving at it's will, moving the demon along the ground in the same direction, off to... who the hell knows where.

Max's heart was pounding so hard in his chest, that he nearly couldn't hear one of his idiot companions managing to speak up in hoarse and nearly pained tone.

"W-wait.. What... what are you?" The being paused, just for a second, it's head tilting to the side like some kind of curious animal, before moving around to stare at the group of cloaked figures one last time, it's face, that of a cute young teenage girl seemed to ponder the question for a second, before saying.

"I'm King" It was a simple but terrifying proclamation as the being just smiled as the entire world was once more filled with darkness before in a time as fast as it had happened, it vanished, and with it, the demon and the King... King of what, Max had no idea, but he wasn't sure he cared.

To bad for him the others weren't quite as ready to accept that, as the same voice that had foolishly brought that King's attention back on them, spoke up again.

"The King... of Darkness... We need to spread the word!" Another one managed to croak out.

"What? Are you insane!"

"Shut it! We have to! A being far greater than any other just let us live! It even gave us it's title! We have to spread it's word!"

"What word! It said one thing!"

Max just slumped back on the ground, to tired to want to listen to the sudden and harsh divide in the group about what the hell they were going to do now.

King huh? A king of Darkness, of night... A being so powerful it could subdue a demon without even needing a wave of the hand, and without uttering a simple word... And it was real, he had seen it, had felt that overwhelming power, saw the scope of the King's domain, that being showed him that, showed him a glimpse of all that the King controlled, and then let him live...

Max's heart was pounding in his chest again, but it was no longer terror that was causing it, as a slow long smile pulled onto Max's face, as he tested out the words in his own head.

The King of Darkness... His King...

Max decided he liked the sound of that.

"Don't you think that was a bit much? What did you even do to them? They all looked so... bad" I just grinned to Nico who I had put on look out as the demon thingy I had summoned laid docile in my shadow cocoon.

"Nothing much, I just used the Mist on them, made them see what I wanted them to, I could have made it worst, but I figured I would try to scare them straight first instead of just scaring them insane" Of course I still had my fun, people really need to remember I'm an incredibly sadistic bastard who loves to hurt and fuck with people, the Fates only made that worse because now I'm all backed up and slightly more unhinged!

Anyways, I turned back to the demon and just walked on over, the thing was scared off me, which was good, it better be, I stared at it for like, five seconds after all and that's usually all it takes to terrify most things nowadays. Anyways, I started talking after that.

"Hello there! That ritual I used to bring you up here was meant to bring in some... middle management in, so I figured you would be best suited to answer some of my questions" The demon let out a long hissing sound for a long moment, before stopping, as I just waited until...

"What it is you want?" I just smiled and said.

"Just some information, as well as another ritual, I want to summon another one of your kind, someone much stronger so I can have... well, let's say I have plans" The demon just waited for a long moment before saying.

"Fine, ask me your questions" I grinned, this was going to be fun.

I got my answers quickly enough, and within about half an hour, I had everything I needed to know everything I wanted.

And since I didn't need anything more from the demon, I just banished it to Tartarus.

Well, I was in the process of it, as the demon tried to wiggle itself free as the ground opened up into a pit of all consuming darkness as the tendrils that had come up from the reached of the Underworld reached forwards and began to drag it down into the pits of damnation.

Nico of course had a few questions about that.

"What the fuck was that!" Yeah, those kind of questions.

"What?"

"Since when you can open up gates to the Underworld! I could sense it!"

"Uh, about a few weeks probably, I haven't actually had time to test out just how powerful my darkness is, but I've seen the opening to Tartarus before, and if I've been there then I can travel there, so I figured, what of instead of just sending myself, I just opened the path way and sent something else down it instead. I'm not that surprised it worked though, my magical control is, like, in a league of it's own for most mortals, the raw power needed to do that though is kind of draining"

It used most of my Mana, and that's with the cloak's and my perks boost, to send it down there, but since the level for my darkness control, is like, in the sixties and my magical control being in the literal hundreds, there is very little that I can't do with my control over the eternal darkness, it's just mostly a matter of creativity and having the batteries to be able to pull it off, which the latter is usually the biggest issue for my badassary.

Well, at least for right now, I have plans for fixing that up though, just need to finish up this project first!

"So we're actually going to summon a super high level demon... Are you sure this is a good idea?" I just shrugged, while I pulled out my own phone double checking the runes once more before saying back to Nico.

"Not at all, but since I'm the summoner, and actually highly skilled in magical control, I can just break the connection holding the being to this plane and just banish it back to where it belongs if it goes wrong. And if it's that bad, then I can just banish it back to hell, or at least, Underworld hell, I'm saving going to actual hell when I can probably kill Satan" Nico gave me a look, before just sighing, and nodding, accepting this was happening and just moving on with his life.

We've been traveling together for a solid few months now, and the kid was certainly both coming into his own in terms of strength, power, and as well as quickly getting used to my bullshit. I was so proud!

Anyways, we were standing in front of a massive sigil like pentagram enclosed in a circle that was about fifteen feet in diameter and was frankly covered in so many strange and occultic symbols that it looked more list a piece of street art, along with two more circle sigil things surrounding that both of which were quite big as well, it had taken me nearly three days straight of drawing and working on it to get this bad boy all set up and working properly.

"Alright, let's get this over with so we can do... whatever it is you're going to make me help you with next to call it training" See, Nico really is getting used to me!

"Cool, so help with the powering, and then I'll take care of whatever else is needed to summon the fucker, and then you go running alright while I handle the demon" Nico just nodded, though he didn't seem to happy about it, I did in fact want him to stay alive and not dismembered so fighting a demon that was ranked just below an archdevil probably wasn't something he needed to take part in until he was at least Percy levels of strong at least, and needless to say, he wasn't even at that point, much less close to my level in strength.

I wasn't exactly expecting for this to devolve into a fight, but I would be annoyed if I had to play keep away if this turned out to not go the way i wanted it to, which would be pretty unlikely, but on occasion my plans do bite me in the ass, so...

Better safe than sorry, at least when there is another person's life on the line... Well, another person's life that I actually care about.

All the same, Nico reached down and placed his hand down onto the sigils as I just watched as the divine magic spread out and filled the unholy ritual, normally this wouldn't work for a normal demon summoning, but as it stands... Well, I've read a little over a few dozen books on the demons and devils and other such beings in hell and had picked the one this circle was for specifically so divine magic wouldn't be an issue.

About half the circle began to glow as Nico pumped his thousands of points of mana into the thing, as I just moved forwards and tapped my foot onto the lines and just like that the rest of the pattern filled out and shone a bright vibrant white color as I spent about fifteen thousand Mana points to make up the difference, it probably would have taken more than I had if Nico wasn't helping out.

Yeah, that's the level of summoning we were doing here.

The runes of the sigils all glowed brighter and brighter, over and over, pulsing in waves of energy as I just hummed while Nico, who looked half exhausted already quickly rushed to get away, or at least out of the building we were doing this in, since it wasn't exactly a good idea for him to be around while exhausted and low on Mana, like I had already said. Sure, I was in the same boat, but, well, I'm me.

Anyways, the white glowing, almost floodlight bright lines that made up the ritual marks seemed to make the ground that wasn't covered in the white markings darken and deepen in tone until they were pure black, as from the darkness began to rise forth a beast of some kind.

It's form pulling and forming from the darkness that was covering the ground, as it rose and with a pull from the inky blackness, came a large thick leg of what looked like an animal. Then another came up, and then a head emerged, as the beast that now clearly resembled a wolf made of darkness of the same tone that I controlled myself, pulled itself forth from the now opened portal allowing this being to escape from the pits of hell to stand in front of me, as it stared forth with bright shining red eyes.

A huff of breath came from it's massive maw, releasing a breath of black and white flame that I just hummed at the sight of as I titled my head to stare at the massive wolf creature's eyes. They weren't quite as big as Lupa was in her base wolfy form, but they were still massive, easily standing at about five feet tall, which was massive for any kind of canine.

I just smirked, as I casually reached up and with a flourish pulled my hat off my head and gave a long exaggerated bow, as I held my cap to my chest before standing back up, saying with the grin still in place.

"Hello there, Marquess of Hell, Marchosias. Nice to meet you, I am Nicolas King, Son of Nike" I placed my amazing hat back onto my head, as I watched as the wolf moved forwards for a moment, before pausing as in front of both of our eyes a wall of powerful white mist sprung up as Marchosias tried to pass the second barrier, keeping this little doggy in place, just so I didn't have to fight them right away. I preferred to talk things out after all.

The wolf didn't seem to appreciate the idea of that though as within a second, a blast of force seemed to roll off their fur, as in a single motion a pair of thick wings burst from their back and with it the energy shot out like wind, the wall of white mist shone brightly for a moment, the mist solidifying to the point it was like a wall until it shattered like glass, like the incredibly powerful barrier fueled by my own holy might was nothing more than a minor annoyance. I just hummed as the wolf walked forwards, closer still, as I asked blandly.

"Are you going to say anything? It's technically my first time you know, and I'd prefer if my partner was a bit more active, it's not nice making me do all the work" I gave a mocking pout, mostly to see if I could bait a reaction, nothing happened as the wolf just moved closer, as they hit the third circle's edge, right in front of my face, as the mist appeared once more, as the two of us stared at each other through the thin wall we both knew wouldn't last even a hint of pressure from either of us.

Then they spoke, in a tone that was like rough gravel pounding into my skull from all directions. I didn't even act like it actually hurt as I listened to the curious wolf's question.

"Why have you summoned me little godling?" So they did know just who I was, not unsurprising, this being is thousands of years old, maybe even older than some of my own pantheon's gods, the idea they didn't know about each other after all that time would be ridiculous.

"Why does anyone summon a fallen angel forced to play the role of a demon lord? To make a deal of course" The wolf let off a long soft warning growl, clearly not liking the reminder of their status as a fallen little angel lost in the levels of hell, hoping to one day escape back to heaven.

"What is it that you want to ask of me then? More power perhaps? And answer for your future?" I smirked a bit at the idea as I leaned down just enough to be on eye level as I stared into the wolf's eyes and asked.

"Can you even manage that? See the future of a man not bound by even God's fate?" The angel just stared at me for a long moment, before it finally reacted outside of what was expected of it, stepping back, for just a moment, before saying.

"What are you? You are no simply godling, you are unchained by the forces of all Fate, impossible!" They sounded almost in awe at the very idea of such a thing as I just said.

"By beating Fate itself when they tried to interfere with my plans. Nothing, not even the future written in stone can stop my actions from breaking what has been set forth. Sounds inciting doesn't it for an angel bound to hell by a fate forced on you" Any being unbound by Fate was something special, and by that, I mean I am the only being with such a power, and therefore nothing could stop me from doing whatever the hell I wanted.

Even God's proclaimed 'Free Will' had no hold on me since I was only under the Greek's control, and now that I was free from them... Well... The wolf in front of me, even as it tried to not look to interested, failed to not show interest in the idea of what my existence could bring them.

"You speak of a deal? What is it you want from a nobleman of hell? My army perhaps?" I huffed at that, yeah right, I had no interest in thirty legions of demons that all were made up of horrible little shits made out of sin. No, all demons were much to disgusting for me to ever actually make a real deal with, but an angel... Well, they weren't all that spotless either, but certain ones were certainly a league above demons scum.

I'm hoping that Marchosias will prove himself as one of these angels, fallen or not, there was a reason they were the one I had summoned, I did my reading after all.

"I want you to become my familiar for the foreseeable future" It was silent for a long moment before the wolf finally spoke up again a dangerous sounding growl rolling through their body as the mist like barrier began to show strain.

"You want I, fallen angel of the Lord, and commander of the legions of hell, to lower myself to be nothing more than a battery for your own desires!" I simply shook my head, looking disgusted for a moment before saying.

"I don't want that kind of familiar, I want the more... arcane kind, old testament kind. Bind yourself to my soul to seal yourself to this realm while giving me access to your power and help in times that I need you, in turn you can have access to a portion of my own power to help me out as well" The biggest draw for Marchosias was that they weren't a liar and they were faithful to their conjurer, no matter what, until the end of the deal, he was the only one I could trust for an idea like this.

"And why should I? Why should a being such as myself allow you to take control of my life, to be forced to bend to your will to only live to serve you in battle" Completely understandable... but...

"Because you can get something out of it as well for helping me out. After all, you are one of the few fallen angels who wish to return to heaven, who truly don't want to be in hell, who doesn't want to serve a lord like Satan, or Lucifer or whatever he likes to call himself. With me you are unbound to that pit, and with my thread uncut from the string of Fate itself, if we come to an agreement, I'm sure I can help you out, once I'm strong enough, to be able to remove you from hell's grip permanently"

"And how do I know that a child like you would be able to even survive long enough to manage such a feat? You are powerful, but not close to your own gods, much less the Lord, unconnected with Fate or not, it has no meaning if you would simply die before I can get any use out of you" I just shrugged.

"Well then you better help me not die then huh? Because we both know this is your only real shot at being able to escape hell, you're surrounded by those who can know the future as well as the past as well as yourself. You know that this meeting was never suppose to happen for you, just like you know the idea of salvation is nothing more than an idea of faith in a god that has long since given up on you" Marchosias let out a long, deep, growl, that echoed off the walls for a long, long, moment.

Then, in an instant, the mist like barrier shattered and the fallen angel shot forwards at a near blinding speed straight at me, with a roar tearing through their maw, as their voice pounded into my skull.

"Then prove yourself worthy of my service!" I didn't have time to even think, it was just instinct, ironically built through a similar situation, down to the point of involving a powerful wolf being from mythology, that cause me to fling myself to the side just in time to dodge a pounce that shattered the concrete ground that had been hit, with long thick splits in the floor cracking out a solid dozen to two dozen feet out in all directions from the impact spot.

Right, we're doing this now...

Spinning and rolling up into my feet in a single motion, I just tossed a hand out and with a grunt of effort, as two pillars of the earth shot up and slammed into either side of the wolf as it let out a howl so strong the rocks binding them in place literally started to break apart within seconds. I didn't wait that long as with a long instant of focus, my hand burst into flame as I held it out, and with a shout of force, unleashed the Sun itself within the warehouse.

It was in a cone at first, coming from my hand in a blazing wave of divine flame before it exploded out with enough force that every skylight and window along the walls and roof shattered in an instant as well over half the entire warehouse was consumed in bright molten yellow and orange flames..

Half a second later the flames were gone, as I let out a soft huff of mild tiredness, that was about half my mana in one go which was a lot in one big burst, but I needed to show off, though I was probably going to have a sunburn after this, I wasn't exactly fire proof on my face where my cloak wasn't protecting.

Those thoughts went out of the window soon after as I launched myself back in an split second reaction time that might have resulted in my throat being ripped out as from the residue flames burst forth a completely uninjured black wolf that pounced on the spot I had just been standing...

Right... Fallen-Angel, so divinity resistance, and... they breath flames, so fire resistant as well... Ok, that one is on me.

"You'll have to do better than that godling!" The fucker was fast, as in a second they were in front of me, my hands shooting up as the wolf reared up and with a swipe of massive lack claws, sliced through my jacket right into my arms as I winced in pain as my blood was used to paint the ground as Marchosias put his entire massive weight down onto my guarded arms, his claws stabbing deeper into my arms, as I gritted my teeth as hundreds of pounds of force were pressed against me, trying to make me fall to my knees.

I just gritted my teeth and said through a sharp short grin.

"Fine by me!" I could feel it as my Mom's blessing activated, as my skills shot up a dozen levels as from my feet, long thick black tendrils of darkness shot up and grabbed onto one of Marchosias' hind legs and with a grunt of effort, the wolf was picked up off the ground and then promptly slammed hard into the earth, as the entire building around us shook from the impact as half a dozen tendrils shot out around the wolf and lashed down onto the Fallen.

They didn't manage to hit as the wolf let out another blast of energy rolled off the hide of the wolf as the darkness was blasted away with a blast of what looked like light, gross.

I just reached up and ripped my jacket off, tossing it away as I brought up my guard before with a deep breath clashed my two arm braces together and in an instant it happened.

[Notice: Skill [Golden Fleece's Vitakinesis] Has been applied for the next seven minutes]

It was like a rush I had never quite managed to feel before, as I just let out a short laugh as the cuts slashed across my arms simply just closed up in seconds as I moved forwards and flung my hands out, every inch of stamina in me being poured into enchanting my body through Trade Off, and then that repeated as the stamina just flooded back in as my mana did the same at an insane rate, and in an instant-

[Notice: Perk [Herculean Strength] has been activated!]

[Notice: Perk [Swift Foot of Achilles] has been activated!]

[Notice: Perk [Magical Prowess of Graeae] has been activated!]

[Notice: Perk [Wit of Socrates]] has been activated!]

I may or may not have let out a slightly insane laugh as I used every ounce of mana I had to do it as I continued to be flooded with energy as I shot forwards at my true full speed, the ground breaking underneath my feet as I launched myself at Marchosias as I shot a hand out and then slammed it down into their head, grinning as I watched as their entire body was bent down from the force of the blow that could crumple steel beams.

My fist balling out into the scuff of the wolf's fur as I lifted Marchosias up and then tried to fling them away only for a claw to shoot out and raked across my chest, or at least tried to as I managed to spin away just in time for the main strike to slash across my cloak as from underneath the fur shot out a sharp pointed spike of darkness trying to pierce Marchosias' head as the wolf bounded back just enough to avoid the strike but not hard enough to escape my grip.

It also put them off enough they couldn't get another easy strike in as my foot shot up, and in a single powerful kick right to the Fallen's chest, I let go of their neck scruff and watched as the wolf knocked back ways, slamming into a far wall with enough force that the thing collapsed under the pressure as the wolf was thrown out into a nearby warehouse.

Heh, maybe it was a bit optimistic to think that we could contain this into just one warehouse.

I didn't exactly have much time with this boost, and I wasn't exactly looking to test out a commander of hell's lasting power, so as much fun as it would have been to make this all dramatic while relishing in the insane power coursing through me, I decided to keep up the pressure as I vanished and quickly reappeared in said warehouse just in time to watch as the wolf, that impressively still didn't look all that hurt, simply shook off the dust and shards of concrete from their fur as the two of us just stared at each other for a moment...

And then we charged at each other, I thought I'd be strong enough to stop the wolf, but I was wrong as Marchosias slammed their body right into my chest as I felt my lungs get crushed along with my ribs being broken into pieces as I was slammed into and then quickly through the warehouse wall, and then quickly slammed into another as the charge finally stopped as I was flung and rolled onto the ground as I spun back into a low crouch before coughing up a long thick splat of blood before huffing as I felt my ribs knit themselves back together in seconds, as I stood up just in time to roll around the side of the wolf before slamming my elbow so hard into their side that I could see something important snap and nearly pop as the wolf was skidded off to the side, long razor sharp claws raking into the concrete thick long gouges before we both spun to stare at each other again.

It only lasted for a moment before Marchosias reared their head up and let out a booming loud wave of force so hard it felt like an earthquake was rushing through my body, and it might have literally been the case as the entire building around us shook as well, rafters quickly breaking apart and falling around our heads as I gritted my teeth before letting out a roar of my own.

Reaching in front of my chest, right over my heart, I made a gripping motion before forcing it out in a push and watched as a counter wave against the force Marchosias had created was formed, pushing their own blast outwards as the space in between the two of suddenly exploded into a long thick crater as the walls between the two of our forms there blown out like a long cut had been made in the earth between us, covering this warehouse and the ones to the left and right of it, making it seem like they had been sliced in half by a massive sword.

I didn't hesitate as I slammed my hands onto the ground and in an instant the earth shook around us as from it dozens of spikes shot out, made of stone, as the wolf bounded around, avoiding them all with ease, all while charging straight at me. I just grinned, as just before Marchosias could slam into me to take me on another ride, I pushed off the ground from a couch to a leap over the wolf's head, as I pointed my hands straight down and called out with a laugh in my voice.

"Goodbye now!" From my hands came a crackling sound before from it blasted out dozens of thousands of points of lightning straight down Marchosias, so hard I could see the fucker's skeleton for a breath moment as the smell of char and burnt fur fill the air, as I slammed down onto the wolf's back, slamming them into the ground, and right after dozens of thick lines of darkness shot out and wrapped around the wolf's form, and squeezed.

I could hear the sounds of the demon's form being broken in so many places, as I flooded the darkness with every inch of my insanely rapidly regenerating mana, converting my Spirit and Stamina into Mana as well with Trade Off, as Marchosias roared, the force of the sound bounding around and breaking the building even more, but it didn't matter, they couldn't summon enough energy to break through my bindings faster than I could buff the darkness up, all the while crushing the wolf's body to the point that it was nearly snapping in half.

It was tough through, because saying it was close to easy would be the biggest lie to ever be said, I could feel the way the darkness I used strained and barely managed to hold their form together around the wolf, and with every single movement Marchosias made, created a bigger and bigger crack in the ground, the entire building was breaking down around us as we had our little struggle, the sounds of the warehouses around us, creaking and breaking with debris falling apart over our heads as the two of us shared a long, strong heated staring contest.

I was honestly getting worried, the minutes were being burned away as my healing bracelet was quickly running out of juice to keep me going like this, but finally, a solid four minutes after we first started, the ground stopped shaking and the collapsed buildings all around us for what must have been a hundred foot radius stopped breaking down even more, as Marchosias finally stopped struggling, with a look of near respect on his wolf like face, still not showing an ounce of the overwhelming pain he must be in, as I knew if I had exerted this much force on something like a car, it would have been crushed into a thin sheet already.

I just let out a short huff before nearly stumbling a bit as I listened to the sound of a short, grunting voice of hidden pain spoke up in my head.

"I... concede" I just grinned, tiredly, as the darkness began to break apart and dissipate around the wolf's body, showing underneath all of it a crushed and mangled form, as I fell onto my knees after a moment, my eyes blurring out of focus for a second from the sheer quaintly of mana I had burned through over the last seven minutes.

"Good to hear... Fuck you're strong!" The wolf's form let out a soft gravelly grumble.

"You as well godling, I have never had a fight like this from a being that was not among my status" Yeah, there was a definite level of respect there that had been missing, as I felt my grin solidify on my face a bit more.

"It's Nick. We'll be working together to achieve both of our goals from now on after all Marchy, no reason to be all proper" The wolf managed to lift their head, looking up at me with a curious look on their face, I would know, I was very good at reading wolf expressions.

"You see this more as a partnership?" I just shrugged, slowly moving to sit cross-legged in front of the animal angel, and said.

"I'm not a fan of the Master-servant thing your pantheon usually has going on, way to kinky for me... Well that's a lie, but not something I would want to bring into the professional environment" I reached out after that, placing a hand on the wolf's head, and used the last dredges of my Mana to slowly coat the Fallen in a small layer of darkness, Marchosias tensed, hard, at the action only to quickly relax as I used some good old fashion Umbrakinetic Vitakinesis to heal the wolf a bit as I watched as the Fallen's body began to bend and pull itself back into shape.

"I see, you are quite strange" I just laughed a bit at that, before saying back to March.

"You're not the first one to tell me that unsurprisingly... So, we have a deal?" March continued to stare up at my eyes for a long moment before nodding.

"I suppose so" My face split in a massive smile as I let out a short bubbly laugh and said.

"Then welcome to the team, we can hash out the details once we both don't feel like shit"

All in all, this was a pretty good day.

[Notice: A human [Max Maline] has willing pledged their soul to [The King of Darkness], congrats... I think]

Wait... what the fuck?!

I'M ALIVE FUCKERS!

Yeah, look, I'm not one to bitch and moan... much... but let's just say my life has been fucking hell on earth the last few weeks, I've had to, for the second time this year, move house, literally this time, into a house that I now fucking own because of some family drama and shit, and have had to deal with so much just with upkeep and cleaning the damn place out... Look, basically, being an adult fucking sucks sometimes kiddies, I wouldn't recommend it. So, yeah, I've been stressed out of my mind and have had no time to really write much at all.

So suck it up and stop fucking sending me PMs about how sad you are and that I'm a horrible person for not updating sooner, it's a pain in the ass! These chapters will fucking come out when I have the damn time and you fuckers are going to like it!

Right, now that I've voiced my annoyance from the more annoying readers of this story have been pestering me about for the last few weeks, I'll now talk about the chapter! This was honestly really fun to write to show off just how genuinely powerful Nick is now, his fighting beings on his own level literally causes a solider city block worth of buildings being destroyed around him. It's fucking badass, plus I wanted to give Nick another more parament companion of a kind, and since I was looking in Judeo-Christian mythology for this current bit of a plot line until the main plot kicks back up, I figured I'd look into some good old demonology and see what I could find that would be fun... And fucking boy was there was shit in there.

Did you know there are full ass grimoires on demonology and the structure of hell itself dating back centuries? It's actually pretty interesting to be honest. Marchosias is one of the beings in one of these grimoires that I've used for my research for this chapter, of which there was a lot, because I had to look through about two hundred different demons linked to Christian mythology that I had to see if any of them would have worked, compared their statuses in hell to how much power they would have, see what their known traits and abilities were, seen if they were demons/fallen angels/ or something else entirely, and I finally settled on Marchosias as shown here!

That's because he's a wolf and Nick has a wolf thing already going on so that works, he's a Fallen-Angel with a desire to ascend to heaven once more after he believes to served in hell for 1200 years, even though this won't actually happen, which is even mentioned in this chapter, and out of every other mention in the book that I had used to find him in, he is noted to be one of the most 'good', while not being to high a rank, as well as being noted to never lie, which fits in with Nick as well, since he literally can't lie without a consequence. He's also an incredibly powerful warrior and, drumroll please! His wolf form is female, even though all his other forms are male, which is why I had Marchosias only noted as they/them in the chapter until something like gender can be more explained and looked into in the chapter itself without it being to confusing without context in this one.

If anyone is interested in the books, the series that I pulled this information from is The Lesser Key of Solomon, with Marchosias being in the first book The Ars Goetia, of the five books of the series total. Like I said, so much fucking research has been put into this damn chapter! If anyone looks into my browser history someone would get the idea that I'm an inspiring cultist or some shit. There is some wild shit in there, anyways, I have nothing more to add, so... See ya!... When I can get to working on the next chapter.