Here we are again with another chapter for King of Hell. I really hope you are liking the story so far. I realize not a whole lot of action has happened yet, but we're building up to it. After all, the war is coming. Eventually. Anyway this chapter will be seeing a bit more around Minato's magic so I hope you guys like what we have coming with that. Big shout out to Lupa as well as the other folks from the Goat server on discord for helping me out in that regard. Couldn't have done it without you.
Onward with the story.
King of Hell
Chapter Three
The Power in Connections
Minato came to rapidly love his new life serving as an apprentice to Zekram Bael. It was harsh and demanding, physically it was far more brutal than his time as a servant for the Phoenix clan had been. It didn't matter to Minato at all though. The training and challenge that Zekram put before him forced him to grow and Minato felt happier than he ever recalled feeling before.
It was challenging though. His muscles screamed as Zekram led him through exercises and martial training that Minato had never imagined existing in the first place. That was just the basic training as well. Things to strengthen his body and expand his stamina and natural speed.
The Bael lord seemed to have a bit of a soft spot beneath his hard exterior as well. At least there was one for Minato and devils who were a bit like Zekram himself. He pushed the boy to the brink as he trained him but was always there beside him as he did so. At times Minato even wondered if perhaps this was what a parent was supposed to feel like.
Pushing the child to better themselves but always there when they went too far and needed to recover.
He wasn't quite confident enough to express such fondness for the old man. It didn't feel quite right anyway. Zekram didn't look at him with fondness or unconditional love like Minato dreamed of. It was a calculated care. Respect for his drive and potential. Nothing more and nothing less.
That was of course fine with Minato. It was infinitely better than his parents and clan so he devoted himself to everything that Zekram placed before him.
The results spoke for themselves as well. Today they were practicing magic once again and his master had pushed him to continue with his experiments in how he manipulated his demonic power. There was little support that the man could provide here beyond giving him an idea here and there for trying different ways of manipulation.
That was enough though. Today the man had suggested something to Minato that the boy had never thought to try before now.
"You condense your power down to the tiniest point imaginable. So much so that it causes an implosion when pushed too far. I want you to try and get that condensed form of demonic power down to the point just before it implodes, then I want you to tear it apart again. I've never seen someone capable of manipulating their energy quite like you can Minato so this is untested ground. I expect you'll make incredible breakthroughs with it once you learn to master this ability of yours." Zekram told him which filled the boy with confidence and determination to impress him to the best of his ability.
Unfortunately that was much easier said than done. Currently he laid on his back covered in painful bruises and scrapes that caused his body to ache and surrounded by craters throughout the training ground that his master had given him to work in.
The most annoying part was that he could feel how close he was. His master had been right. If he could gain proper control over the restriction and expansion of his power at such a fine point he could do something amazing. He knew it. The problem was he was essentially trying to hold an imploding bomb inside his hand and control exactly how much energy it expelled and the manner in which it expanded.
Not easy especially for one so young.
There was no trick or fast method to accomplish it either. He would just have to keep working until he got the proper feel for how to control it. Then the real work would begin. He almost dreaded it, but still the grin wouldn't disappear from his face.
As he climbed to his feet to begin again he turned as he felt the presence of his master enter the clearing.
"Minato. Take a break, here." The man said before summoning a bottle of water with a magic circle.
The blond greedily gulped down the water much to the amusement of his master. He shook his head as his young apprentice sputtered a bit after drinking a bit too quickly.
"You are easily the most determined person I've ever met. Perhaps it would help if you slowed down a little and tried to take on the problem a bit slower. Don't force it. It's your power you have control, just guide it how you want it to go." He suggested.
Minato released the bottle of water from his mouth before cocking his head to the side in a thoughtful expression. He seemed to be thinking about how to manage that. Unfortunately Zekram couldn't help in that particular instance. This stage of his training was truly untested waters. No one that Zekram had ever heard of could control their power on such a direct and miniscule level. The blond beside him was truly a genius though.
He'd been training him in far more than simply magic and physical aspects. Politics, society, history, mathematics. Everything a gentleman would need in the future once he was grown up. Minato absorbed it all like a sponge. They'd soon be moving on to tactics and Zekram had the sinking suspicion that his little protege would continue to prove himself to be an excellent investment.
"How do I do that though? Err…Master." Minato asked before nervously adding the respectful term he reserved for Lord Bael.
"That is something you will have to figure out on your own, Minato. I intend to train you to the best of my ability but there are some things that only you can do for yourself." Zekram admitted.
Minato nodded seriously. Most children his age, eight if Zekram wasn't mistaken, were more concerned with playing and things of that nature. Minato was different, thankfully. He was reliable and driven.
That was all Zekram needed to mold him. His unique skill was a great boon. His reserves were a nice addition. But his mentality was something that couldn't be taught and would take him further than any amount of power could.
"Why don't you try again, but this time take your time. Do as I suggested and guide the reaction rather than forcing it." Zekram said as he held out his hand for the bottle of water.
Minato nodded before handing the bottle over and stepping over to the middle of the training ground. He stared down at his hands for a time. Zekram didn't disturb him and instead watched the process his apprentice had created for himself. The boy stared at his hands and envisioned the action he wanted to create. It was something special to see the gears churning within his mind.
Slowly the boy extended his hands. Faint light slipped around his fingers and coalesced into something of a mist of flickering energy. Zekram watched on as the tiniest pin prick seemed to gather the energy into a spot between Minato's hands. It sparkled and quivered as it built up in power with a faint hum of sound similar to that of a generator of some kind.
For Minato, the energy in his hand constricted and twisted as he compacted it down into the tiniest point that he could manage. It built in strength and he struggled to keep his control as he packed it down tighter and tighter. It felt as though his muscles were being pushed incredibly hard, but in this case it was more his brain or perhaps his spirit. Whatever vessel was used when a devil interacted with their demonic power.
Just as he began to feel like he would break and collapse from the strain of it all he felt it. The final point of no return. It was harder to force himself to stop condensing his power than he expected but just narrowly he managed to do it.
For a moment the tiny spot of pure demonic energy hovered in place. It practically bubbled with power but Minato wasn't done with it.
"And guide the reaction." He whispered out with a breath as the power began to implode.
Rather than try and keep it contained he simply focused his attention on shaping and stabilizing the 'tear' around the edge of the tiny detonation of power. All the while his master watched his progress with widened eyes as the little child accomplished something unprecedented.
The detonation of demonic energy stabilized after a moment and Minato stared in shock at his creation. A small field roughly three inches across that acted more like a rip in space than any kind of explosion as he had created beforehand. What was more was it was stable as long as he kept his focus. He could even alter the shape and size of the field with ease.
"Marvelous, Minato." Zekram praised quietly, bringing a bright smile to the little blond's face.
"It's like I was just missing how to do it somehow. Now that I know how to do it, it's like…" Minato trailed off as he stared at the field.
"Like it is easy?" Zekram chuckled softly.
"Yes." Minato replied though he was clearly distracted by something.
Zekram waited patiently for the boy's mind to wrap around whatever it was trying to process. He'd learned by now that his apprentice was more than capable of incredibly complex ideas as well as simplifying those ideas into terms that he could express to others.
"Master. Could you show me your Power of Destruction?" Minato asked catching even Zekram a bit off guard.
"Certainly, though I am curious what you are thinking in that head of yours, boy." The man said before turning to a withered old tree and releasing a splash of his power onto it.
As all things were when impacted by the Power of Destruction of the Bael clan, the dried bark of the tree was consumed rapidly in the red and black energy of it's power and broken down in miniaturized explosions all across it's form until nothing was left. He turned his eyes back to Minato who's own blue orbs flickered back and forth between the now destroyed tree and his own shimmering field of energy.
"I-I don't understand. Master, how did you do that? How does your Power of Destruction really work?" Minato asked, causing Zekram to tense up.
Normally even being asked such a question about his power would have him on edge and wary of the intentions of the one asking him. Minato wasn't trying to work out weaknesses to his ability though. He was about as far from an opponent as Zekram could get. Barring perhaps his own family.
"How does this apply to your ability there Minato?" He asked.
"Because I think I am misunderstanding something about how our powers work objectively. I don't really need to know how your power works, master. Only what does it actually do to it's target. Does it really completely destroy it? With nothing left at all?" Minato asked as he turned his attention back to his own magic and began to alter the shape and size of the tiny field.
Zekram hummed in thought at that. The reasoning clicked into place in his own mind.
"I see. No. It doesn't completely destroy the target. At least not without leaving something behind. Even with magic some laws of nature are absolute. Even the Power of Destruction leaves behind ash and energy from the consumption and destruction of matter. Matter can't truly be eliminated only changed in form. So the Power of Destruction does that to such an efficient extent it leaves only the tiniest traces of its target behind in the finest ash." Zekram explained.
"Oh. Then this won't destroy things truly. I don't really get it but I noticed the air caught in the field is gone. Somewhere, if it's not destroyed really." Minato said, causing Zekram to step closer to his power and examine it.
"You can't reduce air to ashes and dust. You can't really see what's going on with it using air as the target either. Use it on this stone here, Minato." The man said as he pointed out a target.
"Yes master." The boy dutifully answered before stepping forward and channeling his new creation into a position and shape so it consumed the tiny pebble that his master had pointed out.
Almost the rock was devoured by the field before suddenly rocketing out the other side at a much faster pace than it had been placed inside the field of energy. It cracked the boy in the forehead and sent him tumbling across the ground as his field of demonic energy fizzled and dispersed.
"I see. Now that is an interesting development." Zekram said, ignoring the boy sulking on the ground and rubbing the sore spot where the rock had smacked into his skull.
"You displaced the object from its place and the sudden change in position accelerated it. I think in time you'll be able to control not only where objects exit your energy but how they do and at what speed they do it at." The Bael postulated.
"That would be preferable to getting hit in the head like that every time." Minato bemoaned.
Zekram chuckled before reaching down and picking the boy up onto his feet.
"Come along, this is an incredible breakthrough but you're exhausted and in pain right now. We need to focus on some book work anyway. I want you to go get cleaned up and meet me in the dining hall. We'll be going over the connections between various noble families while we take our evening meal." Zekram informed getting only a nod from the boy.
The older man nearly laughed at the sullen look in the child's eyes. He wanted to keep working on his new creation. Not that Zekram blamed him, but the practice and repeated explosions he had tried to control had exhausted him more than he realized. He would need to rest his body for a while, thankfully they had plenty of material to go over that didn't require Minato to do anything more than think and speak.
His apprentice would be well rounded thanks to it, even if Zekram himself was also excited by the prospect of what they had discovered this afternoon.
The following years went by quickly for both Minato and Zekram. As was expected of him Minato worked hard to continue his studies and progress as the apprentice of Lord Bael. He grew tall and strong just as his mind grew sharper and his abilities expanded to things few devils would even imagine.
Of course few knew anything about Lord Bael's very private apprentice. The enigmatic blond was practically always hard at work either studying or training in some way. That was what Lord Bael had desired for him from the start. Such peaceful times spent expanding his skills would one day come to an end after all and neither Minato or Zekram wanted to waste the opportunity that had at the moment to push Minato's capabilities to new heights.
Today however Zekram had called him in from his training ground a bit early. He'd had him clean up and meet him in his study for a discussion.
Usually when these things happened it was because Zekram wanted to talk about his future or the many plans that Zekram had for their people. Those plans were extensive of course. Anything else would have been unacceptable for the living legend that was Zekram Bael. As one of the few remaining founders of a noble clan, he had seen their people from the very beginning and dreamed of the heights they could go.
He'd made it clear to Minato that was part of why he had selected him as his apprentice. It was also why he had done such things as hold the party that they had first met at. After all, Zekram had little to no interest in interacting with the current generation of nobles of the underworld. In his own words they were nearly all worthless souls destined to fall to the wayside as their successors replaced them. He'd even quietly spoken of his contempt for the current four Maou as well. His disgust for them was worse than what he held for the many weak and overly proud clan heads.
He had personally known and looked up to the four original Maou after all. The way he spoke to Minato about the true Lucifer and his compatriots and the dreams that they had held for all of their people so long ago simply made Minato wish that he too had known them. The passion that they had passed on to Zekram was intoxicating and he could sadly only imagine what they had been like in person.
The ability to forge an entire domain for their people from nothing and the ambition to make war against the creator himself as well as his legions of angels to bring about a greater existence for all of them. It made him feel like a historical footnote in comparison.
Tonight it looked as though a similar discussion would be occurring.
"Minato, I trust that practice is going along well?" Zekram asked.
"It is. I've begun displacing myself consistently now and altering the path of projectiles easily now." Minato reported.
"Excellent. You are fifteen now, it's about time I start introducing you to the more strategic side of being a truly conscientious gentleman of hell." Zekram said as he motioned for the boy to take a seat.
"I look forward to your tutelage, master." Minato responded.
"Heh, your etiquette is always refreshing my precious student." Zekram said warmly.
Minato had not been the only one to change over the last few years. Lord Bael had also developed a warmer personality when in private with his student. They both brought the best out of one another and could share a game of chess with the same cheerful demeanor as when they sparred together.
"As you know I have made it my personal mission to guide our people and society toward a point where they are truly at their greatest height. In doing so I monitor the future generations rising up in the ranks of our people as well as try to offer guidance to those already in positions of power. This is of course how I came to possess you as a student. My greatest success thus far I imagine." Zekram explained as he poured both himself and Minato a drink.
"You always flatter me master. I simply wish to make you proud." Minato replied.
"Such a good student I have. Nevertheless. Tonight I have a much more grimm matter to discuss with you. The inevitable fact that is the oncoming civil war here in the underworld. The day draws nearer and nearer no matter what I might do to prevent it." Zekram said, causing Minato to blink in surprise before he schooled his features and focused his attention on past events that had occurred recently.
"I don't understand master. I thought you said things were advancing spectacularly for our people. Why would we be moving toward war?" He asked.
"Hmm, perhaps I misled you unintentionally Minato. As unfortunate as the coming war is, it truly is a necessity. In fact I am doing everything in my power to ensure that it happens." The Bael clan head said, causing Minato to freeze up in shock.
"You are encouraging it?" He muttered.
"I'm planning it. Our current system is corrupt and wasteful. It also goes against the core value of our people. We desire and respect ambition and power. How then can we truly follow those willing to share power with one another? More than that, as much as we devils respect and laud power we do not inherently approve of the abuse of it. Our current leaders are lazy, often sadistic, and in my own opinion more idiotic than the lowliest of our peasantry among the lower class devils. I refuse to let such things continue. I won't let the society our great founders gave their lives for, be ruined by their pathetic grandchildren." Zekram explained, causing Minato to lean back into his seat as he processed his master's words.
The paris ast in silence as Zekram gave him time to mull over his words.
He smiled when the boy finally responded. "A new system with a single King. That's what you've been hinting at in all the sessions when you taught me politics and social studies. You intend to reorganize our entire society with a singular individual as ruler."
"It is the system our two rivals among the angels and fallen angels use, is it not? If it works for them, why then would it not work even better for us?"
"You would crown yourself the King of Hell then. The amount of work you would need to do to begin the process would take years. Decades at least, centuries would be better." Minato pointed out.
"Then it is in our benefit that I started my planning some time ago. Two centuries before you yourself were even born. I am no bold fool Minato. Rather I am a bold old man who knows his fellow devils and their desires better than any other being in existence." Zekram said as he sipped at his drink.
Minato nodded slowly before a small grin spread on his lips. He'd heard of the abuses that the current Maou and the elite clans subjected others too. He didn't share his master's disdain for the lowest among their society's people. The lower class to Minato were just as good as the High class, even if they lacked the power of their supposed betters. That was a position he kept securely confined within his own mind though.
He had grown close to Lord Bael, but the older man was a conservative individual in many matters including class position and responsibility.
"What is it you require of me, Master?" Minato asked the man, getting a chuckle from the Bael.
"Nothing more than the same you have always provided Minato. Your very best. Tomorrow four young devils of influential clans among the pillar families will be coming to visit to stay the summer with us. They, like yourself, are unique in their births. They possess characteristics that make them ideal for my planned future for our people and their parents are all close allies of mine that I have worked hard to cultivate for the last two hundred years. You'll train together, but you will show them all that your place as my own apprentice has set you apart from them. You will show them just what it is that makes you so special. We'll move on from there." Zekram explained.
"I see. You want me to beat up your guests in a spar then." Minato cooly replied.
"Don't humiliate them but remind them that there is more to strength and power than simple use of devastating bloodlines. After all it isn't their bloodlines that I desire them for. It's everything else that they are."
"As you wish. I'll give them something to remember me." Minato stood as he spoke and Zekram nodded.
"Good. I'll be watching so no holding back."
"I wouldn't dream of it." He laughed as he left.
Sirzechs was glad that his mother was hardly anything like Lord Bael was. She was loving and kind to him while the old man was critical and hard to read. He supposed those were attributes that most devil nobles were supposed to embody but being a Gremory, Sirzechs was very happy that his mother seemed to have adopted the traits of his clan rather than kept those of her original family.
"You really think the old man's apprentice is going to be that interesting?" Serafall asked from beside him.
"He's a strict man and didn't seem like one to boast. Plus you've all heard the stories about him fighting in the Great War. If his apprentice is anything like him then I'm sure he'll be interesting." Ajuka replied.
"Why not introduce us himself though? Why send us out here to track the guy down? Isn't that a bit annoying?" Falbium suggested.
"It's because my Master believes that the best introductions are done by yourself. It's kind of silly but he says that being introduced by another person interrupts the first impression someone has of another." A new voice that the four devils didn't immediately recognize said as a blond boy around their age seemed to simply appear from behind a tree.
"I…didn't even sense your demonic power." Ajuka said a bit distraught.
"Well I was taught by my master how to suppress it. It's a good habit to do so. Whether so not to distract others or not to give away your capabilities. Ah, forgive me. I should actually introduce myself rather than chatting about 'master this, master that'." The boy said as he approached them.
Sirzechs felt a bit on guard but the boy also seemed like the genial sort. So as he extended his hand the Gremory heir returned the gesture and shook.
"I'm Minato, formerly of the Phoenix clan. Apprentice to Lord Bael. It's nice to meet you all." He said warmly.
"I'm Sirzechs Gremory, this is Ajuka Astaroth, Serafall Sitri, and Falbium Glasya-Labolas. I supposed we're all staying with you at the Bael estate for the summer. Some agreement between our parents and Lord Bael." Sirzechs replied.
"Eh, you know how it is. Politics." Minato replied with an odd glimmer in his eyes.
"So, Minato, what was the point of us meeting you out here?" Falbium asked. He was clearly unhappy with having to trek out into the woods on the Bael family grounds.
"Oh, Master didn't tell you? Odd. Well maybe he meant for me to ambush you or something. A bit late for that though. Either way we are supposed to spar. An introduction both to our abilities and personalities or something." He chirped.
"Just like that?" Serafall asked.
"Yeah. Just go with it, you will all get used to how things work around here in no time and Master will make sure you all end up stronger for it too. For now though, let's get started." Minato grinned viciously before dropping through the ground itself and disappearing.
The four clan heirs blinked in shock at the sudden disappearance of the other boy. He was there and then he wasn't.
"Ajuka…" Sirzechs muttered.
"No magic circle, but he definitely transported himself. The question is where." Ajuka replied as the four of them began to shift into a guarded position and slowly summoned up their demonic power.
"The answer is up here." Minato called out directly above them before waving his hand in front of himself and causing all four of his opponents to fall into the ground just as he did before them.
He scattered the four of them to different points all around the forest before selecting one to focus on. No offense to the gray haired boy, but Falbium did seem like the most willing to give up after a brief skirmish. His thoughts were proven true the exact moment he landed before the other boy and opened a pair of displacement fields on either side of himself that showered Falbium with stones as if blasting him with shotgun shells.
"I didn't sign up for this crap!" The boy cried as he tried in vain to shield himself from the onslaught.
"Tap out then. We'll have plenty of time to work out together later. Master just wants me to make an impression on you all today." Minato shrugged as the stoned being hurled at the other boy began to grow in size.
"Impression made! Go beat on someone else already!" The other one cried out.
"Huh, I expected…doesn't matter I guess." Minato shrugged before stepping backward into another displacement field and walking out of a tree right next to Serafall causing her to scream in surprise and try to slap him.
Try being the key word as her hand entered a displacement field beside his head before ever reaching his target.
"What is this?" She asked, cringing at the feeling her hand had.
"Ah, I figured out how to displace things into other things. Your hand is currently inside a fish in the pound over there. Those are it's guts I think you are feeling." He said with a grin that became a full blown laugh as she screamed again and yanked her hand out before shaking it from side to side.
"Sorry about this by the way." He said before opening another field behind her and shoving her through it into the gut of a massive fish. She'd be fine. Though he wondered if this was really the first impression that his master was hoping he would make on his peers.
"Two down I guess." He said before making another displacement portal and stepping through.
This time he was on the defensive though as a pair of balls of ice and fire crashed into the spot just as he appeared there. Narrowly moving out of the way, only thanks to the intense physical training that Zekram had pushed onto him, Minato rolled out of the way of another blast, this time of lightning.
"You are athletic too. I wondered if you would just be a powerful caster type when I saw you create those spells without generating a magic circle first." Ajuka called out as another circle spun to life beside him, this time looking to be creating a mixture of earth and water for some kind of muddy trap spell.
"You won't catch me with that, also it wasn't so much a spell I used as direct manipulation of my demonic energy." Minato called out.
"You know what spell I'm preparing by just glancing at the circle?" Ajuka asked in shock.
"Oh yeah, Though that is not near as impressive as this, watch." Minato said, creating the exact same magic circle that Ajuka had, before applying his technique to it causing the color of the circle to shift and the light it produced to flicker a bright gold before the spell activated and a torrent of thick muddy projectiles fired out of it like a cannon.
Ajuka released his own spell and tried to flee from the glue like mud, but the shack from such a technique existing had slowed him down just enough for his foot to be caught in the attack. He was locked into place and Minato finished him off with a tap to the back of the head. Tap of course being a bit of an understatement as the boy collapsed into a heap on the ground.
That left only one more.
Sirzechs had been the one his master had warned him the most about. The Gremory heir possessed the abilities of the Bael clan after all and there was a reason they were so feared and respected. What was more, Sirzechs himself was far from the average devil in mentality.
Zekram didn't approve of much of the red head's mindset. His love and care for lesser devils was something Zekram considered wasteful, but Minato could respect that.
However, he also was an out of the box thinker and more than willing to try something new if he thought it would pay off.
So as Minato appeared before him, the fight was on from the jump.
"Saved me for last?" Sirzechs asked.
"The others seemed interesting but you are something a bit more intriguing to me." Minato answered simply.
"Let me guess, because I have the Bael clan's Power of Destruction?"
"Not even remotely. After all, I see that ability almost daily. No, you interest me because when i brought up being formerly of the Phoenix clan you looked at me not with pity, just a little sadness. Your friends all considered it a tragedy to be removed from my clan. You however just looked sad that such a thing ever occurred. It's a minor difference but a difference all the same." Minato explained.
"That is ridiculous. You're telling me you got all of that from what looking in my eyes for a split second?" Sirzechs asked as he launched a blast of Power of Destruction at Minato.
A displacement field opened up and the attack terminated a nearby boulder with ease.
"I like to think I have very good attention to detail and a skill at reading others. I am noticing you aren't denying that I was right though." Minato pointed out.
"And if you are? So what?" Sirzechs asked.
"It means you think like I do. I think you and I will be great friends. At least after you wake up." Minato said from behind the other boy as a fist sized rock smacked him in the back of the head and put him to sleep.
"Heh, Master I may have cheated a bit and jumped them when they weren't ready." Minato said to a tiny magical circle beside his head.
"That's fine. They will need to be used to such things for what is to come. I'll send some staff to collect them and bring them back to the estate. Get yourself cleaned up. I plan on having a more civil introduction at supper." Zekram's voice returned to him over the magical circle.
"Understood. Oh, the Sitri girl might need a while to get cleaned up. I sort of put her inside a giant fish in your lake." Minato chuckled.
Zekram only sighed before ending the communication.
And that is a wrap. We got to see some of Minato's magic now, and we have him being introduced both to Zekram's machinations and to who we all know replace the Four Maou in canon. We've also seen a bit of a time skip here as Minato is now fifteen, though we'll see another one next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed.
Till Next Time