In a flash, many eyes appear around the prisons rectangular body and blue skulls start coming at Ishi in a wave. 'I can't parry, can I?' No, he isn't a blue war robot with the feedbacker arm, so he's at the mercy of his reaction time. Ishi sends two fireballs at one of the green eyes that float around the fleshy prism, while he runs along the walls to avoid the projectiles.

Ishi's attack hits his target and the eye explodes *Bang* and he charges two new fireballs. 'This'll take a while. And that's not good.' Yes, if he takes too long, any damage he'd do to the main body would be healed. 'Let's test how much pain I can inflict on this thing.' He sends the fire magic originally meant for one of the floating eyes towards the cube and, upon hit, two small spots of charred, hardened flesh show themselves after the smoke clears. 'I'm gonna need more.'

Another white circle appears below him and it is, again, dodged. Ishi fires more and more fireballs at the eyes and sometimes at the main body if he has spare time. Each explosion is weirdly satisfying, seeing the eyeballs go up in smoke every time the orange-yellow spheres hit them is something Ishi is coming to enjoy.

Ishi fires his lates volley of fire to explode the last of the eyes he can see. Before it hits, to his left, the blue skull projectiles impact the wall, coming towards him more and more.

crash

Crash

CRASH

'Shit, gotta run.' he sprints along the wall again when he gets a new idea. 'Wait, maybe I CAN parry.' his bioengineered heart pumps faster to create it's nanomachines to cover his right arm. Ishi looks behind him, seeing the light blue attacks of the prison track his movement. 'Here goes nothing.' He turns around, his hardened hand ready, and he punches one of the incoming skulls.

TACK

The sudden stop and reversal of the attacks momentum sends wind into his face, fluttering his hair. He can barely see his parried attack impact it's original sender and create a very large explosion, exposing large amounts of it's inner flesh before he needs to duck to dodge the following three projectiles. Ishi hisses in pain as he looks down to his gray metal fist. It is steaming and slightly scorched. He cannot mourn the loss of his skin cells as he parries another two projectiles in quick succession, both making the fist hurt more.

'Okay, I can parry.' The flow of projectiles cease and he can look oat the flesh prison. It's extremely damaged, three large holes, one even connecting to it's mouth, extending it's fleshy exposure. Wanting to capitalize on the newly created weak points, he fires sharpened water spikes and fireballs in a mixture into it's body.

REEAAAAAAAA

It shrieks in pain, something he didn't expect. 'My fucking ears!' that was obviously enough damage to kill it, as it's gray outer shell starts to crack and crumble and it's flesh decays in seconds. Ishi grimaces in disgust. 'God, I hate this fucking thing. I hate this entire place, it's just flesh everywhere!' A few more cracks and-

BOOOOOOOOM

It explodes in a shower of guts and gore, Ishi even has to side-step one of it's shells pieces flying at him. The room turns dark once again, leaving only the illumination of the white sphere floating where Ishi's slain enemy once stood. His veins flow with adrenalin and Ishi get's nervous because he knows just what, or rather, who that is. The orb slowly floats to the floor and, upon arrival, sends out a shockwave, sending Ishi into a soft wall.

Ishi falls to the floor but picks himself up rather quickly, wanting to gaze at todays adversary. The kneeling form of Minos lays in the middle of the arena. His blue translucent body, showing all his veins, nerves and his heart to the world together with the crystal like protrusions replacing his hair paint a rather intimidating image. But the most intimidating factor is revealed as the former king of lust raises himself to gaze upon Ishi. The black void, not to dissimilar to Thanatos', that replaces his face shows it's eerie form.

Weirdly enough, the slow tunes that normally play at this part, the 'prime monologue', do not begin. 'Oh god, this is it.'

Minos rises to his full height, towering over the eleven year old, and his deep voice echoes throughout the flesh colosseum.

"Ahhhhh, free at last." His voice is filled with content more than it is with relief. "Oh, Gabriel, now dawns thy reconning. And thy gore shall glisten, before the temples of man!" Minos is finally roused out of his first real thoughts since his imprisonment as he looks upon his savior. "A child? You bested the angels creation? Was it to free me or simply for sport?"

Ishi is shocked, this was not going like it was scripted. "W-What? N-No, Minos- I mean King Minos, I've come to-" Ishi stops to think. 'I don't think I can say that I've come to kill him, not the best impression. His prison was the toughest fight I've had yet and Minos is it's prisoner. Wait, my real goal is recruiting him and the ques had a ? option for completion. Could I try and talk my way out of this?' not wanting to anger the Prime Soul by wasting his time, Ishi continues. "-to recruit you to my cause."

Minos seems not to care for Ishi's proposal. "What is such a young demon doing here? More than that, how has thee penetrated the angels defenses?"

Ishi notices that he's not getting through to him this way, so he decides to answer his questions and give him an offer. "Well, My name is Ishi Midoriya and I am here by very unusual means and those allowed me to bypass any precautions created by the council." A deep hum can be heard from Minos as Ishi steps closer. "Furthermore, you are not in your Hell right now."

He can almost feel the penetrating gaze of Minos, even if the former king has no eyes. "I owe thee my attention, at least but do not presume me naive. I know we are not in hell, I cannot feel my kingdom."

'What?' Ishi shakes his head as he creates a chair for him and Minos with the help of his dark magic, aiming for a good impression. "You are in an entirely different realm, your old world, your hell and your kingdom do not exist. As well as angels, no heaven nor it's subjects are here to oppose me."

Finally intrigued Minos questions further. "Oppose you? You are but a youth, what have you to do with the afterlife?" The Soul has yet to reveal much about himself or his motives, not even his demands past his beginning comment on Gabriel are made known. He keeps his cards close to his chest, after all, he was a king. And that is a position of political power.

Ishi can see that the Prime Soul is hooked. "You see, in this dimension there is still a hell." He can feel the conflicting emotions of anger and regret oozing from Minos, so he continues quickly. "But it is my realm. I am it's king. For why I am so young, it is complicated but I am not as underdeveloped as I may seem."

Minos finally sits down on the mahogany chair and nods. "Yes, the soul is past the age of the body." His voice sharpens in contempt. "But a ruler of hell? Truly, that is possible?" Minos is inquiring about the state of Ishi's realm indirectly, provoking him to gloat about it.

Ishi nods. "It is but it is not what you would expect. Because it is not under heavens rule, I can shape Hell to be whatever I want it to. The only constant is that sinners would be entering my realm at some point, though I can decide what counts as a sin."

Minos nods, one of the few positive motions he's done by now. "I presume you know of me and my realm?"

Ishi nods in return. "King Minos, former ruler of the layer of lust, ushering in a new era for it's citizens before being unjustly struck down by Gabriel."

"You truly think it unjust?" Minos inquires.

Ishi smiles and nods affirmatively. "Indeed, and now nobody stands in the way of a peaceful afterlife to be built. That brings me to my next point. Currently, I have only one layer, with barely anything in it. I haven't even tapped into the passing sinners of this world, my Hell can barely be counted as such." Ishi rests his elbows on the table while he folds his hands together. "My first, and currently only, layer is meant to be for punishment. It will punish truly bad people."

the snakes that lay upon Minos arms, slither further up to the knuckles. "So thee art but another oppressor?"

Ishi shakes his head violently in denial. "No, god no! I am not yet powerful enough to create more layers, ones I plan on using as actual world meant to be populated. I plan on creating a peaceful afterlife for the ones deserving. But for this I need to merge my hell with another, and I need armies to combat any opposition to my rule. I need a king to manage one or two of these future layers, and a servant willing to defend his god." the last words are said with narrowed eyes filled with contempt, unsure if that was the right thing to say.

Minos stands up from the chair, not a long rest then, and asks in a loud voice. "Sinners thee deem worthy? Then what separates thee from the angels?"

Ishi let's the summoned furniture go up in red particles as he also stands up. "I could only ask you to trust me, I could promise that I'd have looser rules, that I'd fight for my people all I want but, in the end, would you trust me?" Ishi chuckles slightly, all his anxiety having vanished a while ago, for some odd reason. "No, you could not. I will tell you here and now, I have two goals. I bring a safe and utopic future to the people of earth and I will create an afterlife serving the purpose of rightful reward or punishment for souls passing." Yes, that is what he plans. He has been unsure of how hell fits into his first goal but this seems right. What he thought of a lie originally meant to calm Minos turned out true as he spoke it.

Minos hums, a low one compared to his last. "I have nothing left here, I am certain thee could erase this realm any time, thee have a connection to it that only seems frail. But still, I cannot bow my head to another, not knowing what they fight for." The next few seconds are filled with a bloated silence but finally, Minos nods his head, having made a decision. "I shall test thee. I feel your told goals ring true, but have you the power? Will not another of opposing mind strike thee down? Yes, I shall lend you my strength, my wisdom if to your just goals if thee prove worthy."

A familiar tune starts to play, but not the 'ORDER' intro Ishi is used to. No, this is the HESPERUS cover. Fitting, a lighter version for a fight more optimistic.

The snakes on Minos' hand coil around them as he continues. "Now, Ishi Midoriya, aspiring ruler of Hell, prove thou art worthy of my service."

The 'ORDER' intro concludes. 'Oh, shit.' Ishi puts up his hands. "Wait, can we not talks ab-" A yellow snake impacts his torso and sends him flying into the fleshy wall once again. He falls to the floor, breathless. 'S-Shit.'

"CRUSH!"

He can see the foot of Minos for but a second before it impacts Ishi's chin, sending him into the ceiling.

"JUDGEMENT!"

Even with his pain filled vision blurry, Ishi can see Minos jump up and grab him. Minos twists around in the air and throws Ishi towards the ground. 'Cant. Die.' Ishi's back get's covered by his nano's as he crashes into the fleshy ground, creating a wound in it, spilling blood all over.

"THY END IS NOW!"

Minos, still in the sky, cocks his fist back as he descends towards Ishi. 'Counter.' Right before Minos hits the demons face, he twists his head, making Minos hit the fleshy floor next to Ishi's face. 'Now.' Ishi thinks fast and short in a fight, lending him the advantage in planning and reaction. He then leans a bit upward and channels as much of his nano's and mana into his right arm.

Then, Ishi punches the left side of Minos' face. The mana in his fist is expelled in a visible blue shockwave and he can see small ripples on the kings face. 'I'm this strong?' Minos spins twice in the air before he is violently crashed into the wall, the same wall Ishi crashed into before. Ishi grunts as he get's off the ground, also feeling a searing pain in his side. 'Probably a broken rib... wait.'

HP 0 / 81,4

Ishi sighs, the gesture hurting his probably broken or cracked rib. 'Yeah, safety wheels are off already.' His regeneration has yet to kick in, that 10 second rule and all, so Ishi needs some time before he can truly recover from Minos' devastating attacks.

SWOOSH SWOOSH

Ishi looks up towards Minos to see two yellow snakes coming from either side. 'He'll probably rush at me, he did that before after firing these.' Due to the curved arc of the fired snakes, Ishi can just step a bit forward while he cocks his fist filled with nano's and the last few vestiges of his MP into it. The snakes fly past his back and he can see Minos mid-dash towards him. Ishi's sure if he had eyes, Minos would be surprised. The king obviously underestimated him.

Another shockwave explodes outward as Ishi's and Minos' fists collide. 'Maybe I can win.' Before his confidence can grow any more, Ishi can feel a cold object slither onto his arm. He breaks 'eye contact?' with Minos to look at the blue snake coiling around his arm.

"Enough." Before Ishi can react, the second fist impacts his left side and the snake around his arm constricts, twisting his appendage in an unnatural angle.

Ishi instantly feels the pain of two more broken bones. "AHHHHHH! FUCK!"

"DIE!"

He cannot even comprehend what happened before he feels a distinct lack of anything in his midsection for but a moment before it explodes in pain. But Ishi cannot scream, either the immense burning pain has burned his synapses or...

Yes, Minos is holding his heart, plunged from his chest. 'W-What the fuck?' His vision starts to blur as he collapses.

Minos looks down at him, sad almost. "Your goals where admirable, child. But thee was not made to be strong. Goodbye."

'Ahh, dammit.' Ishi dies, then as his vision turns black.

Black void.

Nothingness.

It all surrounds Ishi.

But not long.

19 Attempts left.

Like if he was shocked by lightning, Ishi shoots up from the floor, eyes snapping open. Any pain has vanished and he's back at the exact moment of his death. 'I almost forgot, hahah.'

Minos seems perplexed. "What? How have thee come back? thou art erased!" Ishi chuckles but gives no response, all pain has vanished, though phantoms of it linger in his chest, something that wont leave him for a while, and covers his open palm in water. "

Sharpened water. As he crouches down and readies his arm to return the favor and plunge his arm into Minos, behind him, he summons Thanatos. The Rider phasing into existence slowly, his horse turned sideways behind his master. It's six scythes all raised into the air, anticipating that if it was summoned, it was to fight. "I am the king of Hell."

"Feel my wrath." if he ever could embody a cardinal sin, it would be wrath in this current moment. Ishi was originally sympathetic towards Minos and he still is but the sheer, overwhelming pain he inflicted upon the young devil was almost, if not completely, traumatizing made him vindictive towards the inflictor.

Ishi strikes forward but is blocked by Minos' snake martial art, the swift blocking forearm accompanied by a dark blue phantom snake. "EEEAAAAAAA" His trusty Horseman swings down with the three scythes on it's right. Ishi continues to pressure with his arm to keep Minos in place as Scythes reach Minos.

Minos manages to grab one of the scythes with his other hand while the other two cut deep into his shoulder, getting a grunt of pain from the former king. Unfortunately for Minos, the scythe he grabbed was the blade of decay and even this soul, if not naturally, rots and falls into dust. "T-Truly?"

Like if it was a stand from JoJo's, Ishi de-summons Thanatos, it having served his purpose. "Have I passed?"

Minos stumbles backwards, holding the stump that was his shoulder. "Y-Yes. Thee have proven thou art worthy." His shoulders rise and fall, as if taking a deep breath and he let's go of his gray stump. He kneels on the floor. "My king, I have but one request."

Ishi breathes out a sigh pf relief. 'God, I should've died here, even if not for MHA, I need more strength. I've become too compliant.' He sits down on a summoned chair, having summoned it with the MP he regained after fucking dying. "Speak, Minos."

His new servant nods. "Thee was able to summon me to thou realm, is thee able to summon Gabriel. I still demand his blood."

Ishi smiles in acceptance and nods. "I shall try."

Minos has become a servant.

In a white flash, they are instantly back in Ishi's office. Getting his bearing together after being so violently teleported, Ishi looks at the still standing Minos. "This is my spire, where I dwell while I am in hell." sighs out in relief, finally being back in safety, he's died after all! Ishi then slams down into his spinning chair, rotating once before he faces Minos again, who's... kneeling? "What are you doing?"

Minos looks up from the floor. This time, his voice is calmer, Ishi could even claim more relaxed. "Showing thou the respect thee deserves as my Lord." He then tilts his head, a childish notion Ishi did not expect from Minos. "My apologies Lord, I have been imprisoned for centuries, as thee knows. Have the etiquette changed?"

Ishi frowns at Minos in confusion for a second before he blinks and gathers his response. "Yes, it did in the human world. But the reason I was... startled, I guess? At your bowing was the notion itself contradicting your previous behavior." Ishi waves his hand. "Any way! You don't need to behave like that around me, I'm but a fraction of your age, it'd be awkward. Just treat me like a friend, a friend that you're in a really toxic, controlling relationship in!" Ah, yes, the confused and perplexed expression on Minos face, that he can now feel without the king even having a face, is something he can enjoy.

Minos stands up tall again before bowing. "if you wish, Lord."

Ishi smiles at his new Lord of Hell. "Do you address your friends that way? Not to kink shame but... weird."

Minos tilts his head in the childish way again. Though, it makes sense, Minos is rediscovering the modern world. Anybody'd who behaves like the ancient king would be challenged by the new way of talking. "No Lord, thee may have given me the permission to behave lax around thee but I simply must show a modicum of manner."

The frustrated Demon King shakes his head while waving with his left hand. "God, we've got to teach you modern lingo. Back to business!" Ishi claps his hands together and behaves energetic, something he's found to like doing around certain people, it's 'funny'. "You have a few responsibilities now! First of all, here." He slides a folder he prepared beforehand, in case he won, to the edge of the desk. Minos steps forth and takes it with one hand. "These are the areas you now own in hell, the ones I allow you to do anything in. Why? Because you are now a Lord of Hell! It's a title I give either trusted or powerful subordinates."

Minos bows again. "I express my gratitude, Lord."

Ishi's face turns blank for a moment. "The way you speak is charming and all but we've gotta at least teach you how to talk 'modern'." Ishi turns to his window, waving for Minos to follow him. "I'll be doing a few more things and I want you to try and interact with the oldest Lord of Hell, introduce yourself. Oh, and Thanatos too, he's the guy who stabbed you with a scythe?" Ishi looks to his left, seeing Minos and smirks up at him. Before he chuckles. "If you can perform magic..."

Minos takes the clue. "Ah, yes I am able."

Ishi nods. "Then you can start building whatever you want until I need you or you need something after you've introduced yourself to the other two lords." Ishi takes a large step while turning around to walk towards his exit. "I'll be leaving, enjoy your stay in Hell!" He promptly disappears.

Minos PoV

And his new... owner? Vanishes. The old King of Lust, or is he a king again? Looks down at the folder given to him. It displays only two pages, his young lord is obviously not versed in documentation. both pages display text. One includes an image, a overhead view of what Minos thinks is the explored area of Hell. On a space next to an area marked 'The Temples of Violence' is marked with a blue box, labeled 'Your stuff!'. If he still had a face it'd be scrunched up. 'Charming, really.' The other page is just text stating general information of the current state of Ishi's empire.

It's not really long. To be expected, from what Minos had gathered from their conversations, his lord is inexperienced in rulership and has not governed an entire realm for long. 'I should be here for that very reason.' Yes, Minos is very aware that he's here partly to cover up for his masters social weakness. In Ishi's position he'd have trained and honed his skill more but, apparently, there is need of great Kingship in the near future. His lord is planning interaction with a eon-old ruler of another Hellish realm, whilst starting off on bad terms. Yes, Minos will have his work cut out for him, his disorganized leader is but one of his new problems though.

He is free. And he is more free than ever, he can rule again, under his terms. He can bring the citizens of whatever afterlife this is the thing he's always wanted himself in his early years after death. Comradery and peace. Yes, he can bring peace here, even if under the thumb of another. Good thing his handler seems easy-going. Ishi wont demand much, Minos is sure.

Speaking of, he has an objective. 'Now, where does the 'Maligog' dwell?' referring to the small but helpful map provided, his new... colleague lay North from the hell spire. He feels his mana again, the universal substance for anything supernatural and fantastic, and it's somehow increased. Not only in size but in density, which means the quality. 'Ah, a Prime Soul has powers not owed to any normal demon, or is it my new connection? After all, such a high ranking title form the owner of it's realm can be a powerful thing, even if not by design from the owner.' Or maybe a mix of both, he feels not inclined to further research.

A quick, and surprisingly fluid, teleportation into the apparently impenetrable fortress on top the blood swamps mountain later and he's directly opposite his target. The demon sitting on the spiked black metal throne, wearing only black pants, ripped at the bottom and damaged beyond repair, seems not surprised at his arrival. Maligog, ruler of the swamps, grips the arms of his throne to stand up. Minos can feel the strength and the creaking of the metal under the immense physical power of his fellow Lord. The demon speaks, the low drumming voice clear and loud, as if from next to him. "My creator has foretold thy arrival."

Minos only nods. "But I plan not to stay long. I have but many a thing to do, thee is only a fellow under the same rule, I am just showing the pleasantries." Minos is finally free, he is not in the mood to bother with him when he could start on his dream.

To his advantage, Maligog is of few words so, after a nod from both parties, Minos teleports to his area. "Lord Ishi only said to visit the revolting creature t my own will, so I cannot be bothered." Yes, he finds Thanatos disgusting. It is barely of life, it seems to reject the notion. It's aura is cold and ugly to anything living. Even he, as a soul, can feel it. The wound inflicted in the battel is not the reason for his dislike, he invited it by challenging it's master after all, but how it acted in those few seconds, along with it's black spirit is not to Minos' liking.

Dismissing those thoughts for now, he looks to the floor. 'I can begin' Slowly, a metallic gray and blue floor rises from the earth, fueled by his skill in the dark arts. It slowly takes form as walls and windows appear, creating a hallway.

Ishi PoV

Ishi appears in the entrance to his ring, located in the temples, again. "Ah, back home. Let's look at my rewards now." He opens his system, the familiar red glow greeting him before he scrolls down his notification inbox. "There we go." He taps on the one showing 'Quest Rewards'.

Quest completed!

Rewards: Minos Prime (Servant), P-1, 500 P, Prime Soul (Trait), Art of The Serpent (Skill), Flesh Prison (Servant).

Where should we place P-1 and it's accompanying Flesh Prison?

Ishi frowns in thought for a moment before answering. "Put it in my towers cellar thing, where my spawn pools are. For now."

Done.

500 P

[Prime Soul]

When you die, you become a prime soul. While being a Prime Soul your stats are tripled, you obtain a special kind of magic that you keep after reforming and your MP increase by 4. Also, while you are a prime soul, your physical body will reform slowly, taking about 3 hours. When it's done, you will reenter your normal form. you can only enter Prime Soul every year twice.

[Art of The Serpent] Level 1/100 [EXP 0/100]

"Any thy punishment... is DEATH!"

-Minos Prime

Accompanying every melee strike is a phantom snake. They merely strengthen melee capabilities.

"Wow, these are certainty rewards. I only died once and I get this much?" Well, dying even once was a horrid experience, returning to that void, the feeling of nothing and the separation from his own mind are not pleasant. Under the stary artificial sky, he decides to test his new skill. The activation of the skill costs minor amounts of MP and it takes no further preparation to use his new ability, though it'd take people without the system possible years.

Wooosh~ *Hiss*

A punch in the air is followed by a red, translucent snake emerging from thin air below is elbow and coiling towards the back of Ishi's fist. He can feel his muscles tense and even hurt, his body, or at least his STR not enough to wield this power without drawback, obviously. "Hurts a bit." He shakes his hand as if burned. "But manageable. It's good in a pinch." Ishi then looks up at his created star ceiling. "But I should slow down with getting this many skills. I can't stretch my training too thin, wouldn't be good in the long run."

He follows his announcement by two punches, thrown from a boxer stance and both accompanied by the red snakes. "But I think I can fit this in." he ignores the burns in his arms, if a muscle breaks, it'll heal stronger. If the rules of the system he's been noting down stand true, then he'll gain STR and/or VIT from training this skill, slowly mitigating the pain. He retreats his fists and looks at the Points he has gotten. "I should spend these."

Indeed he should. "I don't think it'd be worth it to employ anybody else, I think I'm strong enough to integrate Hazbin, but I'm not doing that now." He then looks at his skill list, wanting to measure his strength before returning. "There are far too many under leveled skills." Yes, the majority of his powers are undeveloped, though three of them are relatively new. "I'll have to train them up, I just don't like it if I have too many level 1-10 skills."

But he reminds himself back to what he is here to do, scolding himself for his scatter brain. "I need an army and some more defenses. Demons like Alastor are too unpredictable, he may just not care being under my rule, like it seems he does under Lucifers but I wont bet on it." Ishi pinches the bridge of his nose, his most common way of expressing himself after starting school and after ending his break of his almost religious training in his first years, where he was not even ten! "There are also the other Overlords, of which we've seen barely anything, after all, only the pilot released while I was still alive."

He opens his shop once again, hopefully for the last time today. "But Helluva Boss revealed enough of the Seven Sins." He buys a summonable notepad.

Notepad

"I gotta write this down."

-M=$?A)$)$A"!Z")($E)$"N

A summonable, unbreakable and infinite notepad with changeable appearance.

He pulls out one of the pens he took from his office, something he knew he'd need with how often he forgets his things to school, even pens! He writes down several names under two columns, 'Overlords' and 'Sins'. "I should've written this down the second I knew of what world I'll merge with." He notes down the things he starts to say. "Of the Overlords, I of know Valentino and Alastor the most. Alastor has a radio-y theme with extreme power." He nods to himself, slowly remembering the minor details of the show he watched all those years ago.

"He can summon demons and tentacles, demonstrated when Sir Pencious attacked, and has shapeshifting abilities of unknown limits, shown many times when his face twisted." He then sigs again, though in exhaustion this time. "Now, are powers in the musical sections cannon?" The posed question lingers in the air as it's only ponderer thinks about it. "I'd not count them out but wont rely on their existence."

He continues to write down whatever he remembered of the Overlords and Sins before moving on to any other info.

Over! We'll be returning to the real world next chapter!