Two Months Later(Month 3, Year 1):
Isaiah's POV:
Well, as it turns out, eating the hellhound Alpha did give them a significant boost, but not enough to help them break through to Low Satan-Class. We did hit a snag, though.
No matter how many opponents we fight, they still can't become Satan-Class. I'm starting to think that they just need that one final push to finally become Satan-Class and Alphas in their own right, but how they do that continues to elude me.
On the other hand, I've just been fighting all kinds of monsters on a daily basis. In fact, the only times I can sleep is six hours at night before the daily hellhound pack comes to attack us. They were starting to send less and less hellhounds every day, but in return, the level of them are increased significantly.
Instead of the normal Low to Mid-Ultimate Class hounds, we were subjected to attacks from High and Peak Ultimate-Class hellhounds. At least the boys and I are growing in skill and now have more than a few formations to deal with them.
"So, what do we do today?" I asked the boys with a sigh, both of them shrugging before one of my alarm runes were triggered.
I made a large circle of alarm and trigger runes writtin in Lilithiahn around the clearing area where we lived, with a small circle of Enochian trap runes inside of it that can stop most Peak High-Class beings in their tracks, another small circle of Divinitin trap runes and barrier inside of that circle that has enough power to kill Mid Ultimate-Class beings and finally, our small little area where we can see the monsters coming.
If the monsters aren't already dead by the time they reached us, they would be so hurt, they'd rather go away and heal their wounds or be killed by us with ease.
*WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY*
"Who the hell let Dio Brando loose?" I muttered with a frown, Joker and Bardou giving me confused stares as they both transformed before all three of froze at the sight of the monster slowly lumbering towards us.
It ignored the traps firing against its dark green scales and its nine heads each released a blast of pure energy and/or acid that destroyed any blasts heading towards us. Its nine pairs of sickly yellow eyes had black slitted pupils that glared at us and as it screeched once again, the ground under us quaked and the air trembled as I grew serious.
The Lernaean Hydra or perhaps one of its offspring, but why is it here? T
he most reptile-like thing I've seen were the lamia, but other than that, there were nothing but mammal-like and/or furred beasts.
'Perhaps, it's running away from a rival alpha or perhaps it lost a battle for its territory?' I thought with a frown as I stared at the claw marks on it, more specifically the one that oozed a dark purple viscous liquid and didn't heal. As far as I've read in the Gremory Library, Hydra are completely immune to most poisons, except for the poison of a stronger Hydra, poisons that is lethal/ fatal to a draconic being and the blood of Samael, which fits into the second category. That means that after I deal with this one, I'd have to worry about another, more powerful one that might come to finish the job.
I guess I'm moving…again.
As soon as I finished my thought process, I snapped back to reality, watching all nine heads of the Hydra rear back before the heads snapped forward, a sickly green blanket of poison flying through the air towards us.
"Shotgun." I muttered before I rocketed towards the Hydra at breakneck speeds, Joker and Bardou rocketing to the left and right respectively to get out under the cover of the poison before they ran towards the Hydra from the sides.
'Filtration, Ventilation, Poison Nullification, Poison Cover, Liquid Repellent, Gas Ventilation.' I thought in rapid succession as I quickly activated runes on and around my body, the Azathoth crest appearing in front of my mouth and nose as well as covering my body in a bubble with the Azathoth crest on the back of it. The poison fell on me, but the runes did well to delay the poison long enough for me to get out of the splash zone as well as ventilate and filtrate the toxic gas created by the potent poison into breathable air.
Dispelling the runic bubble, I kept the filtration and ventilation runes active as I created a holy-demonic blade in my right hand in the form of a rather large falchion, the blade a pitch black with a silver streak running through the middle of it.
After I finally activated my Balance Breaker for the first time, I could now create holy-demonic blades, or nephalem blades as I like to call them, at any time, but if I wanted to create a much more powerful blade, I had to actively use my Balance Breaker or Breakers to do so.
The hydra roared at Bardou and Joker as a rapid barrage of large fireballs bombarded its scaly sides before it screeched in pain as I blitzed past it and gouged out a large piece of flesh from its chest, watching with a gleeful smile as the wound healed much slower than the scorching burns that Bardou and Joker gave it.
Looks like using those lamias to figure out the Dragon-Slaying attribute was finally paying off.
'But…it's too weak.' I thought with a frown as I stared at the Hydra, who was now glaring at me as the flesh regenerated slowly.
Dragon-Slaying blades were suppose to be fatal to a dragon or draconic being, the wounds made by the blade unable to be healed by anything or anyone. That's why the dragons, which are known as the ultimate and most powerful race in existence, were so afraid of any weapon with Dragon-Slaying elements. One hit from that weapon and they'll have a scar for as long as they live, no matter how much they try to hide it.
"This just means that I have the perfect test subject to perfect it." I muttered with a smirk, the Hydra now looking unsure at my sadistic smirk before my aura exploded as Storm King's Aura appeared around me.
"Looks like we're eating good tonight, boys!" I exclaimed gleefully, Joker and Bardou howling loudly as they also increased their auras to their maximum, the Hydra now looking terrified at our sadistic smirks before we rocketed towards him.
Three Months Later(Month 6, Year 1):
"Woof!" I heard Bardou's bark and sighed as I finished eating the last of the Yeti meat. A 12 foot beast with Mid Satan-Class physical strength and durability, but Low Mid-Class mana reserves and Low High-Class speed. It took all three of us over an hour of just hit-and-run blows to kill it. That's not including the hour time it took to cook and the fact that we were starving while fighting it.
"How many this time?" I asked as I stood up, the Hydra-leather jacket, shirt & pants and the yeti fur & centaur leather boots I had rustling as I walked to where he and Joker were on the lookout. Apparently and I don't know how, MacGregor was able to decipher and break into my pocket dimension and stole all of our food and my clothes after that battle with the Alpha.
We had to survive by eating the monsters we killed and after my clothes got destroyed by a stray venom blast by the Hydra, I killed a few monsters and made clothes out of their clothes. The Hydra leather is very resistant to all forms of energy and very durable, so I decided to make pants and a shirt out of it. The yeti fur were heat and cold resistant and some of the centaur's enhanced speed was still in the leather, so making boots out of them gave me a nice speed boost in combination with my own monstrous speed already.
As I jumped onto the boulder where Joker and Bardou were already transformed, I stared out into the distance and focused Air Current Sense just in that direction. That was a little thing I figured out that allowed me to sense further in one direction at the cost of not being able to sense anything in the other directions.
Great for scouting, not so good for fighting.
As I extended the 'air funnel radar' to its fullest, I froze slightly as soon as I felt the aura walking towards us. The aura itself was severely suppressed and yet, just feeling it from here was enough to make me want to run in the other direction. However, I knew that that would be useless since from the aura I'm feeling, this hound was at the very least in Minor God Class.
In other words…we're fucked.
'Where the fuck is Okita and MacGregor when you need them?!'
As if on cue, MacGregor appeared besides us, spell circle after spell circle decorating the air behind us in a kaleidoscope of colours. I could see runic symbols and patters from all of the runic alphabets that I knew as well as a few Gremorian symbols mixed in. A whoosh of air and I blinked at Okita standing besides me, though he was not smiling. In fact, he was glaring at the aura and both of his katanas were out, a light green aura around him before he released a disastrous amount of bloodlust towards the aura.
Joker and Bardou instantly deactivated their transformations and I walked to stand behind them, staring at Okita's raging green aura with shock and a slight bit of fear. The monstrous aura that was previously heading towards us stopped slightly before it continued walking, the Peak Satan-Class auras around it hesitating to follow before they continued. I thought that I was able to at least get him to fight with 30% or at least 40% of his power during our sparring sessions.
I was completely and utterly wrong.
"Is it him?" I heard Okita asked in a serious tone and MacGregor nodded.
"Yes, it's Agrukk. Are we waiting or attacking?" He asked and Okita glanced back at me before turning back to stare at the aura.
"Attacking." Was all he said and what happened next was so fast, I was barely able to see the start of it.
With just one step, he completely disappeared, a loud explosions echoing in the air around us and the next second, a large cloud of dust ripped through the air as I 'saw' him crash into the ground.
The next few seconds were amazing as I watched his dance of death.
Satan-Class after Satan-Class died with each swing of his blades, blood growing in pools under him as the giant aura didn't interfere. In fact, I could feel its amusement when I focused Electroception along the funnel of Air Current Sense. It was only a minute later when Okita stopped with his deadly waltz, blood, gore and corpses surrounding him as he glared up at the aura, which I realized was much taller than Okita.
Unfortunately, I can't read lips, so I couldn't understand what they were talking about, but whatever is was must have been a bit upsetting to Okit as he just let out a frustrated sigh before he disappeared. It felt as if a bullet was tearing through the funnel of my 'sight' before he reappeared in front of us, MacGregor ready to fire before Okita shook his head.
"He doesn't want to fight. He says he just wants to meet the gaki and the two mutts." MacGregor looked hesitant before he sighed and nodded, the runic circles disappearing before they turned to us three stooges. Joker and Bardou were still hiding behind me, which was a bit stupid, considering that they were about as tall as I was, and I was glancing between the two in confusion.
"Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on?!" And I reached my limit. MacGregor just turned to glance at Okita, who sighed.
"Agrukk, the familiar of the first Satan Asmodeus and the ruler of the territory we're in, wants to meet you, gaki. That and he wants to see how strong his two sons has gotten." I blinked a few times before I glanced at the two behind me and back at the two in front of me.
"…Why the hell did no one tell me I had the sons of THE Asmodeus' familiar?" I hissed loudly and Okita shrugged as MacGregor just sighed.
"Lord Germory did not know who their parents were, but he had someone take their blood for a few tests and we found out about a year or so ago."
"And you guys didn't tell me?!" I exclaimed and they just shook their heads.
"We didn't think it was important for you to know at the time." I just let out a frustrated sigh as they walked towards us.
And here I thought my luck would have good for another month or so.
"MacGregor will teleport us to him. Whatever you do, don't show any fear and nervousness in front of him. He hates those who are nervous in front of him as that makes them 'weak' in his eyes." I just nodded before I glanced at the two behind me, who looked a bit nervous.
"Come on, guys. Time to see Daddy." They both just looked at each other before shaking their heads, as if sighing at my naivety. I just grumbled as Okita chuckled before MacGregor created a crimson runic crest under us, with us disappearing a second later. As soon as the red disappeared from my vision, I blinked a few times to readjust my eyes before my eyes widened as I stared down the behemoth in front of us.
Even while it was resting on its hind paws, it was still much larger than I was, probably 4 meters(13'1") tall. Wispy flames brighter than the brightest shade of neon blue hung around his shoulders and the back of his head like a ribbon, bright blue cracking spreading all across his body and each one was pulsing rapidly as if energy was flowing through them. Bright, neon blue liquid-fire slowly seeped out of the sides of his mouth, dripping onto the floor and melting the ground with ease. As soon as he saw us appear in front of us, he scoffed as he noticed Joker, Bardou and I. I nearly jumped back as I heard the air in front of crackle as it was scorched.
"I assume this must be my spawn and their master?" His voice sounded like the crackling of wildfire and volcanic eruptions combined, each word scorching the air in front of him as he stared down at us.
"Yes, this is Isaiah Azathoth and your two sons, Bardou and Joker."
"Azathoth…Azathoth…Azathoth… Hmm, I do not recall a surname like that amongst the 72 Pillars." He muttered as he stared down at us with a curious stare.
"He's a reincarnated Devil." Okita explained and his curious glance disappeared as he sneered at me.
"Ah, a filthy commoner? I suppose that would explain the pitiful energy I'm sensing from h-!" He was cut off by the auras exploding from Bardou, Joker and I. Both of them now had crimson flames, though Bardou's flames were a lot brighter and if you looked closely, you could see flecks of dark purple shimmering in the crimson flames. I, on the other hand, was fully clad in Storm King's Aura, the cloak of wind whipping the air behind me as the armour pieces glowed a bright blue, the air around me crackling as sparks ran across my body.
"Who are you calling weak?!" I snarled out and Agrukk actually looked a bit surprised at us, MacGregor sighing as Okita chuckled nervously before we heard Agrukk burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Ahahahaha! Hahahaha! Ah, to see such spunk from one with filthy blood and my pups! Not bad, filth! Not bad…but!" Standing up to his full height, he towered over us before releasing a loud howl and a sickening aura slammed into us. Heaven and earth trembled and cracks appeared all across the ground before bright blue lava erupted from them, burning and destroying the ground around us as Agrukk glared down at us three.
I, along with Joker and Bardou, were completely frozen as we stared up at him with horror. Every cell in my body was telling me to run away. When I caught sight of Okita and MacGregor standing in front of us, both of them glaring up at him, but Okita's hands was trembling as he grasped his katanas and MacGregor looked as if he was ready to teleport away as soon as he could.
"Do not dare project your bloodlust in front of me if you do not have the power to back it up! I was fighting against Gods while your masters were naught but a mere afterthought on the minds of their ancestors! I was raging wars against Seraphim and Cadres while your master's ancestors were still sucking on the tits of their mother! I would obliterate you several times over if I didn't think it was beneath me to bother with flies such as you all. Even your mentors know better than to anger I! Agrukk, the Lord of Hellfire and King of the Scorching South!" He roared and our transformations disappeared as we lost concentration, Agrukk still releasing his full power as he glared down at us before he retracted it with a huff as he sat back down. I gasped as I was finally able to breathe, falling to my knees as I felt the scorching hot ground under my hands while I tried to get air into my lungs.
…I fucking hate my pride for getting me into situations like this.
Joker and Bardou were not doing any better as they were lying on the ground, trying to catch their breath as Okita's hand had stopped trembling, though he still had his katanas in his grasp and MacGregor didn't look as erratic as before.
"Let's get to the reason I'm here before my patience ends and I decide to just kill all of you and go back to my lair." Okita and MacGregor just sighed as Joker, Bardou and I got ourselves back together, all five of us staring at the behemoth.
"As you know, five months ago, you specifically killed an Alpha. Unfortunately, that alpha is, or should I say was, my heir and the one who was supposed to become King of the Scorching South. He ignored my warnings about just leaving it to the lesser hounds and decided to show his superiority by killing you all. Since you three were the ones that killed him, I would have killed you for compensation, but in my glorious and merciful heart, I've decided to give you an alternate choice. If one of my sons stay here and become my new heir, I'll let the rest of you leave my territory alive as pristine as you were when you arrived." I was shocked at his request but even more shocked when Joker walked to stand in front of me before he barked in affirmation.
"No! No! You are NOT staying here! Don't you have any others?!" I shouted up at him and he just chuckled as he shook his head.
"There are others that could become Alphas, but unfortunately, they've peaked and are unable to grow stronger. A son with my blood coursing through their blood could rise to the same level as I am, if not surpass me. Now, will you let my son do it or will I have to kill you all?" I just growled at his words before I heard Bardou bark. Turning back, I saw him giving me a stare as Joker gave me what appeared to be a sad smile.
"No…you can't. What about me? What about Bardy?" I muttered as I felt the slight sting of unshed tears and Joker just huffed as he pressed his snout against my cheek. I just hugged him tightly around his neck as I saw Bardou walk closer. He nudged his twin brother in the side, Joker snickering as he bumped him back.
"Are you sure about this?" I muttered softly as I pulled back from the hug and stared into his crimson eyes. To my regret, he nodded, making me sigh softly as Bardou lifted his front right paw. Joker just smiled as he lifted his paw and they bumped them together, howling softly as they pulled their paws back as if mimicking an explosion.
"I should have never taught you idiots how to do that." I muttered with a soft chuckle. Joker and Bardou just grinned at each other before I pulled back, turning to stare at Agrukk.
"You make him strong and you protect him. If I find out that something happened to him, Satan's familiar or not, I will come for you. You can call those other three Satan familiars as well and I'll show all four of you how devastating a human-turned-Devil can be. I will die, but my soul will still haunt your dreams for decades to come." He just cackled at my words as Okita and MacGregor paled slightly.
"Hahaha! Never lose that spunk, filth! That ferocious and prideful nature of yours will carry you far in life! Now then, for my other son, you're much stronger than your older brother, but you lack what makes a hellhound truly powerful. Reflect on what you could've done and you might even surpass me, which I'm doubtful of, but I could be wrong." Bardou glared up at him before he nodded, to which Agrukk just chuckled as he gestured for Joker to walk closer. As soon as Joker stopped besides him, blue flames slowly circled around him as I smirked at Joker.
"You better get strong or we're going to leave you in the dust, Joky!" I shouted with a smile, though I was still glaring at the amused Agrukk.
"Woof!" Bardou barked behind me and Joker just grinned as he transformed into his true form.
*AAAAAAWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOO* He howled and Agrukk chuckled before the circle of flames exploded into a monstrous pillar of fire. We all grunted as the bright flames flashed brightly. As, the light died down, we opened our eyes. Where the two of them had stood were nothing but scorched ground, with bright blue flames decorating the edges of it.
"Would he have killed us?" I asked after they left and Okita nodded.
"Yes, he would have. Agrukk is the most prideful amongst the four Satan Familiars, so the fact that he let us go is more than generous in his eyes. Now then, you still have six months left before the end of your survival training, so MacGregor will drop you at your current home area." I just nodded as I stared at where Joker and Agrukk had disappeared, Bardou sitting on his hind legs next to me as I rubbed the top of his head.
"Don't worry, Bardy. This is not a goodbye, but a 'I'll see you later.'" I muttered and Bardou barked in response as I chuckled before we walked towards where MacGregor and Okita were waiting for us to join them. There was only one thought on my mind as the teleportation crest appeared under us and MacGregor teleported Bardou and I back to where we were before everything happened.
Three Years.
In these three years, I'm going to become powerful enough to take the Heavenly Dragons themselves. Powerful enough to show that fucking mutt what it means to mess with Isaiah Azathoth.
In the words of House Lannister, 'A Lannister always pays his debts.' And I have a massive debt to pay back.
Unknown to me, a black and white aura radiated off of me as my bloodlust slowly spread across the ground, a sadistic grin on my face as Bardou just rolled his eyes with a sigh. '
Master's going insane again. Wish Mistress was here to keep him in control.' Were the only thoughts on Bardou's mind as he laid back down on his soft and comfortable boulder. An insane master was a stupid master, so just let him rage and he'll be back to normal in a bit.
The insane cackling he heard told him that it was going to be a long night.
A/N: Yeah, that's a 'see you later' for Joker. Don't worry, he's not completely out of the story. I wanted to get a way to make Joker different from Bardou( who I am ashamed to admit has become my favourite of the two) and this was probably the best way my feeble mind was able to come up with to do so.
The other familiars will be shown in later chapters of the training arc, but for now, Agrukk should be enough.
As always, leave your reviews(I'm sorry I haven't been able to read them. I keep forgetting to do so) and I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Until then… Ba-Bye~!