The Pride Ring was a barren wasteland.
No matter where one looked. From the farthest ends of each direction, whether it be west, east, north or south. No matter where one looked, they would see the same thing.
A barren wasteland.
Well, that's not entirely true, he supposes. There were things that grew, but the amount of effort, amount of resources one needed to pour into even a single patch of soil to even grow the most miniscule amount of plant life was too much for anyone, especially for the sinful lot that littered the ring. The sinners and even the hellborn would rather take their chances on the feral hellbeasts that roamed the ring and called it its home.
Hellbeasts such as those he took care of.
They weren't tame, oh how that would've made things far easier. They were wild, unpredictable, only ever being placated by the fact he fed them. Once the food was even the slightest bit late, or far too little for their liking. They would bite, they would claw at his limbs and try their damndest to feed on his body as compensation.
They were truly befitting the name Hellbeasts, because any other name would not fit them.
He looked at the field, the large acres of land that he painstakingly made into a somewhat serviceable pen for the cow-like hellbeasts that he had caught so long ago.
They were like any other cow from earth, but they were larger, more like a buffalo in size. Their skin was pitch black, their fur was far tougher than those on earth and their horns far larger and far harder than any he had ever held. They were beasts in every sense of the matter, even their teeth were more fitting a carnivore than that of a herbivore, though that's hardly a surprise considering that everything born in hell had a taste for flesh.
He surveyed the pen area, seeing his siblings busy at work, feeding the beasts mounds of flesh, each one greedily devouring every pound of it. He could see many try and steal from the others, with some even readying themselves to gore each other for even the smallest bits of flesh to eat. But his siblings were ready, all of them armed with specialized poles to push the riley beasts from killing each other.
As he watched his siblings at work, he spotted a group of the beasts get far more feral than usual.
He sighed and ran his hand across his short, blond locks. He already knew what was gonna happen.
And so he ran. Ran as fast as he could, traveling across the acres of land, shortening the distance in mere moments. As he ran, he saw one of his sibling's tool break from the wild beast's aggressive tackling. His sibling cried out in terror, their hands already rummaging in their pockets, possibly to take out a gun but that would hardly penetrate the beast's thick hide.
Before the beast could charge, his hands were already on it's horns, his feet planted firmly on the dry land. The beast tried to charge, tried to gore me with its giant horns but it didn't, it couldn't. The beast was firmly in place, as I gripped tightly on its horns.
Despite how strong these beasts are, they might as well be harmless rabbits in comparison to the primordial beasts of the primordial earth. The very beasts his family had to survive against on a daily basis long ago.
With a mere twist of his hands, the beast was effortlessly flipped on its back, the impact incapacitating the beast.
With the commotion he had just done, the other beasts walked away. For all their wild and feral tendencies they at least respected one thing. And that was strength, and they had just witnessed for the umpteenth time why they were caged.
With that done he turned to his sibling, one of the younger ones, probably one of the hundredth or so of his siblings. Nathan, he believed his name was.
"You okay?" He asked as he offered a hand on his terrified sibling.
"Uh…yeah I-I think so." Nathan took my hand as I propped him back up on his fit. "Sorry if I ended up bothering you. I really should've been more careful."He added, his face red from embarrassment.
"No need, I'm just glad you're safe." He said with a smile, "Besides you dying just means more work for us, can't have ya dodging your work by dying, after all." He cheekily added. "Come on, let's get you a new pole to use and get you back to work." He began to walk towards the shed.
"...Seriously it's always work with you huh Cain, can't I at least get a breather." Nathan said with a weary smile as he followed his elder brother.
"Ha! Blame Dad, he's the one that drilled everything I know into me after all." Cain said with a chuckle.
The sound of pens scribbling filled the air. The faint scent of paper and ink assaulting his senses. The coarse, yet soft paper that he felt in his fingertips.
It was a pleasant feeling, Paimon would say. For a high noble of the Goetian family such as him, paperwork was one of the very things he had found joy in. Not for the act but for the feeling it gave him. The feeling of control it gave him was euphoric. Control over other hellborn, even to his fellow members of the Goetian family. To be able to change hell into whatever he saw fit was a feeling he loved so dearly.
Of course that was an exaggeration, he was no more than a high noble of Hell. He had control, influence, sway over hell that most hellborn could only dream of having. But he was just that, a mere high noble. He was no Sin, and he was definitely not like the one sitting across the table from him.
From across the paper filled table that he sat upon, there sat a familiar sight. One that many in hell would be terrified in seeing,
It was none other than Lucifer Morningstar himself, the King of Hell…
…and here he was tired and haggard from doing a mere two stacks of paperwork.
His eyes were plagued by large, dark eyebags, his right hand had an ever so slight tremble as he motioned to sign paper after paper of the remaining ten stacks of paperwork left.
…It was pathetic, Paimon would say. For a noble to not be able to work through such a small amount of paperwork was an embarrassment, a pathetic display that a noble should endeavor to fix as quickly as possible. Paimon found it excruciating to have to see, let alone work with.
But he said nothing, his beaked mouth kept shut in a thin neutral smile. Despite his grievances, he would not speak out as it was not his place. He may be the most trusted of the high nobles by the Morningstar family, but he was still just a high noble. It was not his place to speak such words to the king.
As paper after paper was read, and signed. Paimon pondered on how Queen Lilith was doing. King Lucifer had informed him that the Queen was in a sour mood. One that kept her from even leaving her room after six whole months.
Paimon could not understand this. The Queen has shown so much grace, elegance and competence befitting for a queen such as herself. But for her to have what is essentially a temper tantrum was unlike her.
Paimon couldn't understand but he would not question it. He had no right to. And regardless, considering Queen Lilith's stellar management of hell for the past centuries, he supposed some level of laxness was warranted for Her Majesty. A half a year of stagnation, perhaps even a few more years was nothing compared to the centuries of progress, and service the Queen has given to hell and its citizens.
As a high noble, Paimon would graciously take upon the burden that Her Majesty has given him, even if it came from…an inelegant fashion.
As more paperwork was done, an imp came to his side, one carrying five more stacks of paperwork.
Ah this must be the ones from the other rings. He took them without a thought.
"Your Highness, the documents needed from the Lust, Sloth, Envy, Greed, and Wrath has arrived." Paimon quickly read through the documents. "They appear to need to be approved…within the next three days." He said as he read through the dates of the documents in his hands. A reasonable date, Paimon thought to himself.
A loud thud echoed across the room, causing a slight surprise through Paimon, ruffling his feathers ever so slightly.
Paimon looked up from the documents to see King Lucifer…with his face planted on the tabletop, as groans echoed from his side of the room.
Oh dear. Paimon sighed. This would be a long working session indeed.
Heaven was great. Heaven was fucking paradise.
Everything he ever needed. Everything he would ever need was here.
He should be enjoying it. He should be having fun. He was in paradise for fucks sake.
And yet…
Another loud crash echoed across the room. The training dummy he had been swinging his axe on finally falling apart from the numerous slashes he had inflicted on it. The slashes were disorganized, with no thought given to where he had struck it, only that he struck it hard with his bulky weapon. The structure of the hard metal dummy finally giving out from the numerous slashes Adam had given it.
It wasn't enough.
Adam's gaze went into the next training dummy, his axe ready to pummel it like the last one. Adam didn't bother to hack at it properly, he simply swung his axe however he felt like and attacked the dummy with all his strength.
A large metallic echo rang through the room as the dummy withstood his first slash. The dummies were made to withstand his strength after all. So it was no surprise that one slash wasn't enough.
Good, Adam thought as he swung another slash.
And another.
And another.
And another after that. And far more as the dummy kept on withstanding his strikes before giving out.
Adam wasn't done. He felt like he wasn't done. Not yet.
The same creeping feeling kept plaguing his mind. The same feeling that had plagued him for so long. He felt uneasy, uncertain, unaware of something that couldn't put his finger on. And that infuriated him to no end.
He didn't know when it happened, how it happened or what could've caused it. But all Adam knew was that he definitely felt it. That something had happened to him.
Adam was forgetting.
It was fucking dumb. Fucking stupid to the highest degree. He was the First Man! Dementia or whatever his descendents call it wasn't supposed to happen to him.
He had a perfect memory! Ever since Eden he always did. Not a single thing could escape his memory. Not a single fucking thing!
But now…BUT NOW!
Another swing was unleashed, one laced in holy light, as it was swung onto the dummy.
A loud crash echoed as dust was kicked up from the impact, the slash he had unleashed cutting apart the dummy and the wall behind it. The slash indenting itself deep into the walls, threatening to collapse it.
It wasn't enough.
Adam dropped his axe and summoned a weapon he hasn't used in a while.
A sword, just as large as the axe he wielded was now gripped tightly in his hand. And just like with his axe, he swung it, hard. Dummy after dummy, each was struck down with the sword he had in his hand.
It wasn't enough.
He dropped the sword in favor of a warhammer he summoned. He swung it and dummy after dummy was pulverized under the force of the hammer.
It wasn't enough!
Out came a spear. Each dummy was stabbed in quick succession, leaving large holes in their lifeless bodies.
IT WASN'T ENOUGH!
Weapon after weapon, it didn't matter what it was, Adam wielded them with ease as he assaulted the lifeless dummies in the training room.
Slash after slash, thrust after thrust, swing after swing, shot after shot. It didn't matter what it was Adam had in his hand. He poured all his anger, all his frustration, all of it into his attacks.
Adam laid on the floor, uncaring for the dust and debris that littered the floor as he let his tired body rest on the floor of the destroyed training room.
The walls threatened to collapse, not a single dummy was left in a recognizable state, all crushed under the countless assault that Adam had given them.
Adam breathed heavily, his mind finally too tired to feel the annoying feeling he had earlier.
Finally he could rest, finally he could sleep.
…
…
…
…"Sir, how long are you going to sleep?" Adam heard from his side.
Adam groggily opened his eyes to see one of his girls, an exorcist, standing there patiently waiting for his response.
"What the -? Why are you here? Its the fucking weekend." Adam said as he propped himself up, he couldn't look unprofessional to his own girls afterall.
"...Sir…it's Monday." The exorcist said as she pointed to the calendar by the doorway.
"Wha- But I thought…" Adam was confused he could've sworn he was it was Sunday…unless…
"I fucking slept through Sunday didn't I." Adam said rhetorically as he palmed his face in shame.
"Perhaps, Sir." The exorcist added without thought.
All Adam could do was groan into his palms.
"FU-"