City of New Ruk, Dwarven District, three hours earlier
As the defence of Eslet went on the city of New Ruk was already back on it's usual track of commerce and construction. With the fall of the undead dungeon the Dwarven and Fae leadership reopened the city to outsiders. Security remained on high alert due to the inevitable arrival of the demonic legions, both races knowing full well what the Devils are capable of.
Although they knew, that didn't mean they could do anything to stop them.
A lone Dwarven miner roamed one of the production districts as night began to set in, although the city was underground the Fae's districts up top gave out light to the Dwarves beneath while dimming as night approached giving the city the feel of some sort of cycle.
It wasn't uncommon for Dwarves to go into the mines at odd times but it is sort of an unwritten rule between them to never go alone and at least tell some on, nobody wants to end up dead and never found again.
This Dwarf was currently sneaking around the street approaching the tunnel's entrance, he walked casually trying not to give off any sort of suspicion but Dwarves were a suspicious race by nature.
As he approached the tunnel he noticed the current guard on duty at said entrance, a simple hole in the wall with thick wooden support and an automatic railroad spanning four roads in total two of which were connected with a curve.
"Halt, you going in alone buddy?" Asked the grizzled guard, an elder Dwarf with greying brown hair and beard.
The Dwarf looked the older one up and down "Yeah" he said, young for a Dwarf this one had little more than a goatee of black hair along with his neck long cut.
The older Dwarf shook his head "If you wait a couple minutes a group will be here soon, best you don't mine around the tunnels alone son."
"I'll be fine just going in to inspect some spots, no mining for tonight I'm afraid. Got a pretty date set up later." Replied the young Dwarf with a chuckle.
The older one shrugged "Very well, go on in but don't blame me that I didn't warn ya." He gestured down the tunnel.
The younger one nodded in thanks and walked by him, before turning around and blocking the older's pickaxe by the pick with his bare hands.
The younger one smirked "What gave it away?" he asked the growling older Dwarf.
"That's not an inspecting pick, Bob loves to rant about the differences." the Dwarf pointed out at the younger's pickaxe.
The Devil smirked with his Dwarven illusion as his eyes turned pitch black "Too bad…Bob won't be doing any ranting…" his form blurred briefly as his right hand lunged into the Dwarf's chest.
The Dwarf coughed up blood as the Devil pulled out his heart, smaller than a human's but large enough to fit in the Devil's Dwarven hand.
"D-damn…you…" The Dwarf fell down to his knees briefly before falling face down to the ground, blood began to pool around his corpse before the whole thing began to dissipate.
The Devil sighed before devouring the heart in two bites "I dislike having my meal rushed, I do however wonder why their bodies do this now…", he turned around deep in thought as his Dwarven form blurred a second time before dissipating completely. The Devil's form was revealed, pure white skin, short black hair with green strands, pitch black eyes and a single black horn that grew out of his forehead and curved back.
His dark green plate armour had thick spikes growing out of his shoulders, helmet, elbows, and lining his back along the spine.
"Hhmm…" Dagon hummed in thought as he strode through the tunnels, instead of using the Dwarven metal lifts to descend he'd simply leap off the edge and land with decreased velocity. "So this is where that entitled bitch Abaddon died huh?" He mused while walking through the lowest levels of the mines, "The tunnels are larger than I expected, who knew those midgets could reach?" Dagon joked yet his expression remained cold and empty.
The Devil suddenly disappeared into black smoke which quickly drifted through the tunnels at impossible speed, it stopped in front of a dead end furthest away from the lifts before returning to it's humanoid form. Dagon continued to hum in thought while reading the rather large glowing yellow sign decorating the wall "No access…Don't dig…Don't mine…Don't inspect…and for fuck's sake don't use explosives?...Some one's had a rough time."
He stepped forwards to where he stood directly in front of the sign then raised his right palm to it "You never mentioned disintegration."
His hand glowed a faint green before an inferno of green-black fire engulfed the whole wall, the flames quickly ate away at the stone as Dagon walked forwards. The flames suddenly dissipated as the Devil stopped, the wall was now no more than an inch thick and crumbling. Through the crumbling holes in the wall Dagon could see the other side, a long tunnel of dark blue stone bricks.
Dagon sighed "So the dungeon still lives, no wonder it took all my mana to devour that wall. No matter, I am not a caster anyhow." With quick fluid movements the Devil raised both arms forward and slammed his hands on what remained of the wall, the stone shattered on contact as ripples were sent further in turn shattering some of the stone bricks around the tunnel.
"Knock knock" Dagon stated as two rifts tore open to either side of him "The Devil's at your door", out of the rifts dozens of wolf-like creatures leaped out.
The beasts weren't as large as a Direwolf but were close, their bodies however seemed to be occupied by much more muscle. Their skin dark brown and leathery, their ears almost bat-like, the only fur was a long pitch-black mane around their shoulders and what covered their wolfish heads. Two sets of black horns grew out of the back of their heads and behind their ears. They grew beneath each other, the lower horns being slightly shorter.
Their thick leathery tails grew almost as long as their entire body while along their backs and over the top of their tail a black armour like carapace covered them. Their claws were blood red and thick like spear heads that curved down, the tip of each claw so dark it looked black in colour. Their fangs were similar, blood red and black tipped but were longer than they were thick. As they growled their chests glowed crimson while smoke left their mouths and heat radiated from their bodies.
These were undoubtedly Hellhounds, hunters of innocent souls and a Devil's best friend.
Dagon smiled coldly "Be good pups and fetch me a hero." He stated before clicking his tongue twice, the Hellhounds waited no longer and charged down the dark tunnel howling and growling viciously. Three dozen of them swarmed into the dungeon, fangs barred, claws scraping stone and flames drooling out of their mouths.
He stepped into the dungeon as his smile slowly began to fade, the sounds of yelping and whining drowning out anything else. Dagon stared down the tunnel in horror as several contraptions began eviscerating his hounds.
From walls continuously slamming against each other, crushing the Hellhounds too slow to pass through.
Spinning red blades coming out of the floor that shredded through both hide and carapace alike.
Long shard-like blue spears shooting out of the walls,
Red scythes hanging back and forth from wall to wall.
A pitfall trap.
Puddles of slime instantly rising and suffocating any that stepped on them.
A rolling blue ball smashing through the wall back and forth.
And finally, tentacles of slime growing out of the walls that grabbed and threw their captives all the way back to the start of the tunnel.
Dagon gawked in disbelief as he walked up to the first trap, flesh, fur, hide, shredded organs, bones ,whole limbs and squashed or liquefied corpses scattered across the tunnel floors, walls and ceiling. "The fuck?" Asked Dagon as he stared down the tunnel, his three dozen Hellhounds turned into salad within minutes.
A voice echoed out in answer "Oh! You thought you could just walk into our HIDDEN BASE, stroll right through our SECRET BASE'S pathways and reach our HIDEOUT'S core room untouched?! Well fuck you son! Welcome to hell!" the voice then proceeded to laugh wickedly.
Dagon's expression twitched unnaturally as he grinded his fangs together "My hounds…F-father's hounds…You shall pay dearly for this…"
"Cash, credit or digital?" the voice asked sarcastically.
Dagon was fuming with anger as he raised his right hand up, a black sword hilt began to form inside it. He grasped the hilt and a dark green double-edged blade formed out of it, the blade glowed a menacing black aura as Dagon quickly slashed the air ahead of him.
"Name yourself." Dagon declared as a wave of green energy blasted through the whole tunnel, the traps were left in ruins.
"Why should I?" asked the voice with a chuckle.
"Because you won't have the time to utter a single sound once I find you." Dagon stated solemnly as he strode through the destroyed tunnel.
"Big talk by the guy still on level one." Said the voice.
Dagon frowned before stopping at the end of the tunnel "I'm level 164 fool." A dark doorway lay open in front of him.
"Oh sorry I forgot this is another reality entirely." The voice chuckled.
Dagon carefully stepped through the doorway only to trip forward then fall down the flight of stairs, after rumbling down to the bottom he glanced up while groaning "You mean…"
"Yeah you got exactly 99 more floors to go buddy, also good luck finding the other entrances. First one was the only freebie!"
"You truly believe the same traps will stop me!?" Dagon declared as he stood up.
"Yo mate it took me HOURS to fill those paths with different traps alright!? Fuck you if think they're all the same!"
Dagon groaned in annoyance "You….you…"
"Oh stop ye bitching and get on with it!"
Eslet, Military district, now.
Birse rubbed his forehead as the VCD flashed in front of him "A Devil, is raiding our base…and you…don't tell me until now?..."
"Yo there's a hundred fucking floors of traps! How could I have known this fucker would just plough through half of them like they're nothing more than distractions!?" Sly exclaimed in frustration from the VCD.
"That's the point of traps! Buy us time while we get back!" Birse suddenly exclaimed loudly while slamming his hands onto the table, he was sitting alone inside an office.
"Oh no…NO NO NO NO!" Sly suddenly started shouting repeatedly.
"What!?" Asked Birse in annoyance.
"OH HE'S SO FUCKING DEAD NOW! I'MA KILL HIM! I'M KILLING HIM AND GETTING A TROLL TO RAPE THE BODY!" Sly exclaimed.
"What!? What's he doing!?" Birse shouted back.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I SPENT ON THOSE PILLARS!? LILIOR! HOW LONG DID I SPEND ON THOSE PILLARS!?" Sly asked furiously.
"Eight hours." Replied the dungeon core.
"YOU SPENT EIGHT FUCKING HOURS ON PILLARS ALONE!?" Birse asked in shock.
"YO THEY NEED TO LOOK GOOD!" Sly replied loudly.
"YOU COULD HAVE MADE BETTER DEFENCES!" Birse argued loudly still.
"WHY ARE WE STILL SHOUTING!?" Sly then asked.
Birse cut the connection while he groaned in annoyance "Death…recall everyone…The dungeon's under assault..."
Deep below New Ruk, Dungeon Lilior.
Dagon rushed through multiple corridors of traps of all kinds, slashing wildly sending blasts and waves of dark green energy at every direction his sword could face. His expression was scrunched up in anger, his eyes open wide while glowing ferociously green. He was utterly drenched in blue slime, bruises all over his visible body and dents could be seen on his armour.
His body trembled from hypothermia, his fangs clattered against each other due to both the cold and rage. Throughout the dungeon he was cut, pierced, bludgeoned, squashed, slapped, thrown, suffocated, twirled, flipped, shot and drowned. The Devil was reaching the limits of his sanity when suddenly "The…end?" he stopped right in front of a large set of regal wooden double doors.
Dagon stomped over to stand in front of the doors, raised his left leg up and kicked them open. "GRRAAHHHH!!!!" Or he would have if there wasn't solid stone behind the doors, a voice echoed in his head ("First one was the only freebie, freebie, freebie…only…only…only").
He held onto his awkwardly bent leg before suddenly pushing it into place, he screamed in agony and set it down. Dagon lowered his stance while keeping his sword high above his head, suddenly he moved into action spinning in place and sending a wide slash all around him. A wave of dark-green energy was propelled all around him destroying the walls and doors, with their destruction the ceiling then suddenly came down.
Bricks of blue stone fell all around Dagon, some even landing on him but he didn't care. The Devil was way past feeling pain, his insurmountable rage the only thing he currently felt. He glanced up seeing that the broken ceiling now took somewhere, he leaped up into it without a second thought.
Dagon took a deep breath and glanced around the dimly lit hall, dark blue stone bricks like the rest of the dungeon but vastly more open. Glowing stalactites and stalagmites of blue slime grew at random spots throughout the hall giving it light, trees made of the same slime took over most of it and red slime decorated the whole ground looking like dirt.
Dagon held his sword ready while stretching his shoulders, suddenly a pair of black armed, dark-green leather bat-like wings spread out from his back. He flapped his wings and was set flying upwards, with a second flap he propelled himself backwards and spun around. The Devil glided around searching for a way out of the strange hall.
A cold chuckle echoed around the hall "Flying now? Now if that isn't cheating…"
Dagon snorted "If you won't introduce or even show yourself then at least tell me where I am."
"Oh this?" The voice continued to chuckle wickedly as the room lit up brighter "Welcome to the boss room!". Four daggers flew past Dagon's flying form held by violet strings of aura "And I am the fucking boss!" the strings coiled around his wings as he crashed into them, the daggers spun back and all around them.
Dagon grimaced as he was pulled out from the air and sent crashing down into the treeline, he quickly dissipated his wings to free himself and stood up. The Devil took a sword stance with feet apart from each other, a lowered posture and holding his longsword with both hands in front of himself.
"SHOW YOURSELF" Dagon's voice reverberated throughout the trees followed by his dark-green aura that smashed every single one it hit as it grew to surround him, a blob of flowing dark-green ethereal mana spanning ten meters all around him.
Dagon looked around the destroyed forest opening but even the daggers were gone, there was no sign of his assailant.
"You wanted to know who I am correct?" asked the voice as it echoed around the hall, not coming from any specific direction making Dagon unable to trace it. "I hold the role of what you might call…unnecessary in any normal group. I am not the assassin, not the mage nor the ranger. I am neither the tank or the healer nor the tactician. Funnily enough there is two of us that hold this role within the group!"
Dagon continued to grow irritated "You're making no sense, there is no other role necessary or not to a group."
"Oh but there is!" Exclaimed the voice "We're the ones who similarly to the tank get your attention, unlike the tank though it doesn't matter what else we do as long as we can do that…We're the mixed fighters, the flexible members, we are best at nothing but can be good at anything."
"So your everyday common soldier?" Mocked Dagon hoping to lure them out.
The voice simply chuckled "Oh far from that, we specialize in nothing true but we do each have our own…Specialities if you may."
"Let me guess! Yours is hiding!?" Dagon continued to mock as he reached the limits of his irritation, he was a warrior, a knight and this trickster was pushing all his wrong buttons.
"Hmmm…Yes that is indeed something I am good at but no, not my speciality." The voice suddenly dropped whatever magic it used to hide it's direction, Dagon immediately traced it to right behind him.
"My speciality is…"
Dagon spun around as he sensed something enter his aura, only to stare with a baffled expression at a stone rolling to a stop.
"Rushing in headfirst with no plan what so fucking ever!" Sly leaped out of the treeline where Dagon was previously facing and threw two daggers, a thin line of violet aura connected from his wrists to their hilts.
Dagon was caught off balance from quickly turning and sluggishly turned back, the two daggers pierced right under his shoulderpads and into his back. Two shallow wounds with little to no damage done to him but they had taken their place, the blades stuck in the armour as Sly pulled Dagon towards him as he himself leaped at the Devil.
Dagon summoned his wings and spun around mid-flight only to take Sly's dropkick straight in the face, the Devil was then sent flying back a couple meters.
Both fighters picked themselves off the ground, Dagon immediately entering a defensive stance and Sly charging the Devil with abandon.
"So you finally reve-" Dagon was cut off as Sly entered his attack range slashing widely with his two daggers, with quick fluid movements Dagon evaded one slash and parried the second. Instead of backing away the Devil pushed forward and bashed Sly in the gut with his shoulderpads, the force sending Sly flying backwards.
Dagon gave the adventurer no room for thought and flew after him, with his powerful wings quickly catching up before Sly hit the treeline. Sly released eight daggers from his belts, four connected with aura strings to each hand. He opened his arms wide sending the daggers further away from him, when Dagon appeared in front of him with his sword slashing down at his chest he pulled them back.
The daggers coiled their strings around Dagon's legs, waist, wings and neck just as his slash met Sly's handheld daggers. They both crashed through multiple trees before rolling to a stop, Sly was the first to stand up as Dagon pulled and cut some of the strings.
Sly smirked as he raised his hands towards Dagon "Electrify, 10 amps!" A surge of lightning flowed through the strings and into Dagon sending the Devil to his knees. "Do you feel it Devil? It took me a while to master this spell, can't use it for range so…here we are."
"Let's raise the power a bit, 15 amps!" Sly grinned widely as he watched the Devil briefly kneeling motionless, Dagon raised his arms in front of himself then stabbed his sword down into the red soil.
The electricity around his body began to fade as it surged through his sword, he took a couple controlled breathes while grabbing the strings of aura dissipating them with his own. "Don't test me…" Dagon pulled out his sword and stood up, he stared furiously at Sly "Little Devilling" he snorted "You think a mere unhatched can face me!?".
Dagon disappeared into black smoke that charged at Sly who also burst into violet lightning, the two forces clashed and spun around each other before Dagon's superior aura kicked Sly out of his form. Sly was sent crashing back into a tree's trunk, the bark shattered under the force sending the tree falling to the ground.
Sly lay on the ground reeling in pain, he went to sit up but Dagon's foot came down on his chest laying him back down. "You cost me quite a bit of Hellhounds Devilling, do you know why they are so dear to us?" He glared down at Sly who simply smirked in response hiding his pain.
"Cause they're loyal?" Sly guessed with a chuckle not really caring about the question.
"Indeed, but do you know why they are so loyal? Because they are quite literally family, Hellhounds are failed Devils. Why do you think we number so little compared to our underlings?" Dagon put more force into his leg slowly crushing Sly's ribcage. "When a Devilling fails to advance, when they fail to awaken to their blood. They become the mindless beasts known as Hellhounds, cursed to forever follow the alphas that succeeded."
"Your point?" Sly coughed out blood as he tried to pull Dagon's armoured foot away to no avail, the Devil's strength too superior to his own.
"You will fail to awaken, that is my point. Devils are beings of body, our strength comes from how are bodies are built to affect our souls. This body you reside in, it is not your own. Here, let me show you what I am talking about…" Dagon briefly released Sly from his foot before kicking him over, he crouched down and held Sly's back with his left hand.
Dagon's aura flowed into Sly sending the adventurer screaming in agony, violet tattoos flared brightly all over his body as a thick black aura began to emanate from him. "Wh!"Sly couldn't form a single word as the pain prevented him to do so, he glanced at his hands as he began to lose feeling in them and his legs.
His skin had started to crumble, cracks forming all over his fingers, wrist and palm before turning to dust. Dagon stopped his flow of aura "This is what awaits you in a few more days, your body simply cannot handle the change…So I forward you an offer little Devilling, you aren't of our family tree of pride but that doesn't mean we cannot aid you. We can help you go through the change, we can guide you through it all."
Sly continued to stare at his hands, his flesh fully visible and with every movement a new wave of pain followed "Wh-why?" he asked shakily.
"The grand quest speaks of an arrival from another world that shall join our cause, you might just be that arrival. A hero, one with Devil's blood coursing through their veins. I cannot think of a more perfect candidate, father would be overjoyed to overlook the massacre of his hounds." Dagon explained with enthusiasm "Imagine the unparalleled power you can obtain, to be a head of our legions.
Help us take over this world, help us burn away the people that so carelessly live upon it. The rewards that await you are unsurmountable, anything you could ever wish for right out of the native's pockets. Join us, become what you are meant to be. It is in your blood." He finished his speech by yet again flowing his aura into Sly "Or".
Sly continued to scream from the agony of having your very skin crumble, it was as if billions of needles continuously pierced his skin while disassembling the flesh that kept it stuck to him. It is safe to say that it burned like hell.
Dagon stopped the torture and stood up "Make your choice quickly, I shall be back for your answer." He turned away from Sly and began to walk back to the entrance.
Sly pushed himself up with his elbows into a kneeling position then just stared down at his skinless hands "This…this is what…." he grimaced at the very thought of becoming one of those beasts.