^^ Mars ^^
— Hallox —
"-you're hidden from view and intangible, but you never moved. I planned on something similar for the Monster Continent. Let the humans fight over what's left." The sage snorted at Janus's arrogance, and shook his head.
Janus gazed at my master in silence for a moment, and then shook its head. "No, I don't think that's correct, but I suppose you're welcome to your opinion. As to the subject of Slave Transfer, we may accept... perhaps."
"Your choices are to return all our people, -and the humans,- back to us or die, so I hope you do accept. If you refuse, our banner becomes Bronze, and we trample you back into the muck where all Slavers and Slave Traders belong."
My Master only growled softly, but the air in the room shivered visibly away from him, as if the sky itself feared his wrath, (as well it should). Everyone in the room noticed it, and every single one of the Lords shivered slightly, making me smirk.
Calais chuckled, making me look at the large Construct Demon covered in thorns. "Normally, I would be irate at such a threat, but I agree with your assessment of Slavery, and of those who practice it." His lifeless metal eyes pulsed red as he glared at his rival King.
I blinked slowly, thinking about the General He'd sent to the town with the slaves a year ago. 'Perhaps he hadn't ordered the General to protect the slave trade, only to provoke us? Hmm...'
The two-faced individual scoffed at him inelegantly, and shook its head. "Slavery has existed since the dawn of time-"
"That it has. And it has always been wrong!" Calais roared, slamming a massive fist into the table and cracking it nearly in half, but it stayed standing.
"Mm... to think I'd side with the Lord of Slaughter... if you keep slaves, Janus, you are my enemy. None of my enemies have ever survived. Remember that, and make an informed decision." My Master nodded and stood up, bowing his head a little as a move of respect to Calais.
He inclined his head slowly, and looked back at the smaller King. "With that, the Thing is adjourned... and the Ban on Violence is lifted. Shall I challenge you to a Duel? Or would the Sage like to? I'll happily fight both of you."
I nearly stepped forward at the threat, but my master's response halted me in my step.
"Oh, the ban on Violence is gone? Hallox, child, pick a fight with someone of your skill level? I'd like to see your progress." My master, likely feeling my rage as I was so close to so many Demon Lords, (egged on by the sword in my Pocket, which begged me constantly, wordlessly, to spill Demon Blood,) ordered me to fight the Demon Lords, and then looked at the Demon Kings, unaware or unaffected by my immense surge of loyalty and gratitude.
"Some entertainment for us? We watch and then decide whether or not we fight?" He continued, taking a seat on the other side of the table, now, so he could see the whole arena, and judge my fighting.
My glutes tightened a little, reflexively, as I realized he would likely 'train' me severely if I messed anything up, and his punishment trainings were what I imagined Hell would be like. I resolved instantly to kill my opponents in the most spectacular of ways, and to kill the most challenging opponent in here.
They both nodded and sat down on either side of him to watch, as Two different lords stood.
The first, a thin Moon Elf, wielded a longsword, and the second was a Construct like Calais, but smaller and without the thorns, made of a shiny silver metal that would probably try to blind me, also wielding a longsword. I looked at their status', and sneered mentally at the combat levels of 600 and 625, the lowest in the room. They were only equal to me. 'That won't do. That wouldn't impress the Master at all. Who is the strongest here that isn't a King?' I grinned mentally.
<Answer: Abarax Tikal, Level 850. You killed Velar Tikal, his son. He is Greed.>
'And my Skill and stats versus his?'
<Equal, surprisingly, once you activate Wrath of the Silver Titan and Hungry One, the Gluttony Version of your wrath, then use Ira's blade; together with that Stat Multiplier, they tune your physical stats x25, which just barely matches his, and your Skill in both Weapon and Fist outmatches his by a league... or two. And, once you release your seal, you're just above him, in fact.>
'And the little ones here?'
<Their levels equal yours, but you will kill them easily if you fight smart and don't let them get the drop on you. They both have Surprise Attack, which allowed their attack to multiply by 25 if you can't see them attack.>
'Dangerous, that... I'll fight them on my terms, then, not theirs.'
<That is the best course of action, yes.>
I glanced at the smaller Lords, and snorted derisively. "No, I don't think so. You're the weakest in this room by a landslide. I'd like him." I pointed a commanding finger at the largest member of the Lords, the Daemon Ogre Abarax Tikal.
'Are you sure?' Master's voice asked severely in my skull.
'Absolutely!!!' I grinned, and drew out Zoken's Sword, pointing it at the Giant and casually shoving aside the two that had approached me now. Confusing them would push them onto a back foot, mentally, and gain me an upper hand. Force of personality would hopefully give me another upper hand, and further advantage.
After force of personality, I'd need some good old fashioned Aggro Pull, which I was great at. "Come on, then, Greed! I want your FAT SKULL on my WALL next to your KIN'S!!!" I roared a challenge, letting my aura spill out and then fill my muscles, while activating all my Stat-Based Skills, not wasting any time doing them one by one like normal.
The Daemon Ogre stepped forward, letting a familiar Glaive slam to the ground in his hand. "It is my pleasure, Little One. We don't usually allow Vengeance, as it is a sentimental notion, but I imagine answering a direct challenge isn't against the rules?" He looked at the Construct King, who nodded calmly, giving permission. "Perfection." He grinned savagely, and the ground cracked under him as he launched himself towards me like an arrow.
I let him get closer, releasing my seal with a sigh of relief.
<Update!
Strength: 80%
Speed: 80%
Stamina: 50%
Defense: 75%
Intelligence: 100%
Weapon's Skill: 20%
Unarmed Skill: 20%>
I smiled and caught the blade of his glaive as it came towards my face, watching his expression blank in confusion, then struck upwards, activating Zoken's Sword's legendary One-Off, aiming for his legs.
The sword slashed through one leg and got embedded in the other as he fell, roaring with pain, so I released it, sending it back to my Pocket and then summoning Ira's Blade.
The general seethed and glared at me, then his eyes widened in fear as my sword came down in an arc of flame, activating the One-Off and taking his head with little resistance.
The head went into my pocket, the body was eaten by the Tree, and I settled my sword on my shoulder, looking at my Master and grinning triumphantly.
<Congratulations!!!
You've killed a Demon General, the Lord of Greed, one of the 14 Demon Lords!
Large XP Boost granted, as a Reward!!!
Comrades Evolved, as a Reward!!!
All of Abarax Tikal's minions have been given over to the Demon Lord of Wrath, Gluttony, and Greed, Hallox Mars!
All the Demon Lords you've killed have been from Calais's Clan; if you kill the other three, you can challenge him to become Demon King!!!
Killing a lord of another court will not count towards your collection of six Sins, however, and will be a secondary Counter, to be clear. If you kill all twelve Demon Lords, you can challenge both, and become the one and only Demon King!>
The Sage clapped politely, and his form flickered, to my confusion, before he stopped clapping. "Well! Next then, you were challenged by those two? Handle them." He pointed at the two I'd pushed aside.
I nodded and looked at them, cracking my neck. "That's true... COME GET SOME!!!" I roared in their faces suddenly, and they stepped back, the Fear from my Orc Cry worming its way into their minds, as my sword flashed down and carved a savage wound into one of them, the construct, and then I realized my disadvantageous position, and so I simply gored the Drow with my tusks, which had gotten bigger again.
She coughed up blood as my tusks began to toast her insides with pure Silver Aura, and I tossed her off of my face as the construct retreated a few steps, then stabbed her throat with Ira's Blade. The blade was so wide that it actually beheaded her, which I found morbidly amusing, as her body was eaten by the blade, leaving only a small splash of blood and gore on the ground and on my face and tusks.
<Congratulations!!!
You've killed a Demon General, the Lord of Lust, one of the 14 Demon Lords!
Large XP Boost granted, as a Reward!!!
Comrades Evolved, as a Reward!!!
All of Dishani Galfre's minions have been given over to the Demon Lord of Wrath, Gluttony, and Greed, Hallox Mars!
That marks Number 4! Two more to go! Sloth and Envy are next! That construct is actually the Wrath of Janus's Court, and so you won't gain progress for him, beyond the XP, of course.>
<Sage's Tree Level Up!
Digesting Pockets, cataloguing Contents!
Greater Pocket Dispensed, replacing Common Pocket!>
I grinned and snarled at the construct, leveling the blade at him. "Surrender, Metal Man! You are VASTLY OUTMATCHED!"
He Raged, his metallic muscles bulging and pulsing with power, and I appeared behind him, taking his head from his shoulders as well.
<Taker of Heads has evolved to Head Hunter!>
<Congratulations!!!
You've killed a Demon General, the Lord of Wrath, one of the 14 Demon Lords!
Large XP Boost granted, as a Reward!!!
Comrades Evolved, as a Reward!!!
All of Usted Mon's minions have been given over to the Demon Lord of Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust, Hallox Mars!>
I shivered as the energy of the kill pulsed through the sword and into me, and shook myself. I only had a few more minutes of 100x attack from the Drums of War, so I looked at the two remaining demon lords under Calais, and grinned savagely, pointing the sword at them. "You're next." I snarled, and watched them stand and draw weapons.
A daemonic-human wielding a Spear and shield, as well as a Daemonic Tengu, -which was surprising, considering their normally-holy affinities,- stepped towards me and readied themselves, a burning hatred in their eyes.
"It seems you're going to get completely wiped out all in one night, Calais!" Janus chuckled rudely, and I resolved to kill the other lords as well, before they could run away.
The Tengu saw my distraction, and loosed an arrow at my throat, which surprised me; I didn't think a Sloth Lord would take the initiative. Still, I parried his attack with the sword, and darted forward, crossing the space and slashing across his chest savagely, just as the Damage x100 ended, so my sword got stuck in his collarbone.
His bow was knocked away though, which was good; as his ally tried to stab me in the back of the skull, I moved my head, and the spear took out one of his eyes, instead. While he screeched and the spear wielded tried to pull back, I reached with my free hand and grabbed the human's spear, snapping it in my hand like a twig.
With that, I abandoned the sword and let it return to the pocket, punching the lord of Envy directly in the nose to disorient him and make him close his eyes; when he did so, the sword reappeared in my hands, then took his head.
<Congratulations!!!
You've killed a Demon General, the Lord of Envy, one of the 14 Demon Lords!
Large XP Boost granted, as a Reward!!!
Comrades Evolved, as a Reward!!!
All of Galen Dashae's minions have been given over to Demon Lord of Wrath, Greed, Lust, and Gluttony, Hallox Mars!>
The Tengu was recovered already from the spear to the eye and sword to the clavicle, so he pulled the spear out and rammed it into my side, up against my kidney. He seemed surprised when my skin repelled the blow, and that was the last thing he saw; my sword had already taken his head as well.
<Congratulations!!!
You've killed a Demon General, the Lord of Sloth, one of the 14 Demon Lords!
Large XP Boost granted, as a Reward!!!
Comrades Evolved, as a Reward!!!
All of Miyamoto Gaian's minions have been given over to Demon Lord of Wrath, Greed, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony, Hallox Mars!
That's six!!! You're now allowed to challenge the Demon King! But I advise you wait until Dawn...>
'What happens at dawn?' I asked, letting the sword eat the corpses.
<You just killed five Demon Generals in one Fight. You're Evolving, Hallox.> The Voice of the World seemed irritated with me.
'Oh. Well, I'm not done yet.' I turned to look at the other demon lords, and frowned when they teleported away instantly. "Humph... figures that Janus's Lords would all be Cowards..." I sneered at the spots they'd left from, then looked at my Master.
He smiled slowly, and nodded. "Well done... don't worry about the fleeing ones, those are the younger generation of Heroes's problems."
I nodded, and looked at Calais, the Thorned King. "Come, meet your end, Thorned King."
Just then, the sun slowly began to peek over the horizon, and a familiar burning ripped into me.
<Update!
Hallox Mars' Level Increased!
Aura of the Silver Titan has Increased! (6th Form)
Hallox Mars's Class (5): Maxed!
Hallox Mars Evolves (5) into: Great Orc King, (Legendary, 4th), right now!>
I shook my head to clear it, focusing through the horrible pain mostly by ignoring its existence; soon I could breath deeply, and I opened my eyes to glare at the now-standing Demon King.
He nodded slowly, almost respectfully. "You are a decent fighter, and a smart one, too. You took out the strongest first, using up your biggest attacks, then you took out the smaller ones in pairs, throwing them off balance and reducing their ability to counter your attacks. Had it been an equal fight, some of them would have at least wounded you, using their Legendary Weapons. Instead, here you stand; Unscathed, and Visibly Stronger for the experience."
"You talk too much." I snarled, and teleported behind him with one of Jerrod's Spells, using my Orc Shaman Class to cast it mentally.
He flinched, but I summoned two of his allies' swords, the two longswords, and stabbed them through his knees, using their one-off abilities and then leaping above him, swinging the Glaives of Greed and Gluttony, savaging the portion of his helm that represented his eyes; instantly, the red light in them faded.
The bow of the Sloth Lord had the effect of leeching away someone's stats temporarily, so I drew a spirit arrow and shot his chest at close range, then simply slashed him with Ira's sword; this would cause him to Rage, and lose the perks of that pesky 'Genius' Class, I hoped.
He growled savagely, standing up as the swords savaged his knees, and reacted instantly, pushing all of my strength and Aura into a Chi-Palm to his chest, where his Core was.
With a sound not unlike a gong that made the ground around us crack and turn to gravel, He was tossed back into a column, crushing it out of any recognizable shape, and his armor/chest was savaged and curled away from a visible red orb in his chest cavity.
I walked over, collecting all the weapons, and then ripped out the orb unceremoniously, as he tried to say something. The body was likewise eaten by the Tree, and the core went into my Pocket.
<Congratulations!!!
You've killed The Demon King, the Lord of Pride!!!
Instant XP Boost granted, as a Reward!!!
Comrades Evolved, as a Reward!!!
All Demon King Calais's Troops have been given over to Demon King Hallox Mars!>
<Update!
Hallox Mars' Level Increased!
Aura of the Silver Titan has Increased! (15th Form)
Hallox Mars's Class (9): Maxed!
Hallox Mars Evolves (9) into: War-Born (Legendary, 13th), right now!>
I gritted my teeth as an even deeper pain began, this time centered in my spine and tusks, and then caught a blade as it attempted to behead me. It bit deeply into the bones of my hand, slashing through the meat and my armored skin, and I slowly glared up at Janus.
They blanched, stepping back and leaving the sword gripped in my fist, teleporting away.
I snorted and let the tree eat the sword, then stood up slowly. "Well, Master... I think I can call that a success, yes?" I cracked my back slowly, and frowned at the odd, leathery appendages there, then the sight of my tusks on the ground. "Wait... do I have- what happened to my voice? And my Tusks?!?!?" I began to panic, but a deep, sonorous voice answered before he could.
"It's been a few millennia since I found a new War-Born... one of your ancestors, in fact. I allowed her to name her children 'Mars', in honor of her achievement." A human appeared, taller than me and lithely built, dressed in Bronze armor.
A spear and sword decorated him behind a large shield I recognized as Roman in origin, like many Orc weapons. I hummed, deciding whether or not to kneel before a God of War, and ultimately I simply saluted my Fist over my heart, as was tradition. "Hallox Mars of the Treaty-Lake Orcs Greets... Mars?" I narrowed my eyes in a question.
He laughed heartily, and returned the salute happily. "Yes, I am Mars, and you are rightly minded. Kneeling is between Kings and Subjects... I am surprised that in only two suns, you've managed to Peak like this. Most impressive... and killing all those Demon Generals, all one after another?!? MARVELOUS!!!" He laughed and set his weapons aside, sitting on the table.
"Thank you... now why do I have wings and no tusks?" I asked, frowning at him.
"Hmm? Ah, well, that's simple. You're now War-Born. That means you've become my Child, in a sort of Adoptive Fashion. The wings are mostly aesthetic, to match your place as a Machai, a War-Spirit. And your tusks, they were a sort of focus for your Energy, which you no longer need. Either way, you're about to evolve, so I've got a few questions as to your wishes, going forward." He waved a hand dismissively, and the tusks turned to dust, reappearing on a leather string around my neck, molded from solid bronze, it seemed.
I glanced at my master, and found him gone, making me look around for him, and find him at the top of the stairs, watching proudly.
"Now, questions: do you prefer to be a Divine Being or Demonic Being in your next life?" He asked, and I turned my attention back to him.