45 Day before Departure Pt. 6

"What!?" The demon male exclaimed. His eyes glued upon the screen. Reading the text before him. "What is this pressure!?" The male growled as the noise would even stop which allowed him to remove his claws from his ears. Though before he could lower his claws he felt a painful strike against his back which sent him forward. Then another strike from his torso which sent him back to his original position. The male would bounce back and forth until his body was slammed into the wall that had blocked the group's pathway. Blinking from the blurry vision of faint the demonic male was only able to make out one thing. A pitch-black shadowy figure with burning red orbs was shimmer before him. "Where did--" Before he could get another word out his body was flung back towards the group.

Flipping in mid-air he would regain his balance by slamming his claw into the ground and anchoring himself steadily towards the ground sliding right beside the group. "This... energy." The demonic male would grit his teeth. "Is this Pure Diabolical Energy? There is no way... Only those who are Demon Lords are higher can use it." The male glared at the shimmering black figure who approached him. The pressure becoming denser as the figure approached. "Where did you come from!? Who are you!?" The demonic male called out while standing up.

"Um... Z.... Where did Riyku go?" The Goblin Princess, Priscilla inquired as she pointed to the spot where Riyku was previous at. The demonic male shifted his glance towards the crater before looking back towards the shimmering figure. "There is no way. I knocked him out." The male would grit his teeth. "Hey, you aren't just some mortal are you!?" The demonic male called out, but no answer came. Kissing his teeth with his forked tongue he would shift his glance around the tunnel as if looking for a way out. "Prisy, get out of here. I'll handle this thing." The demonic male called out which Priscilla shook her head and stood next to Zealot. "No. I'm not going to run. I'm tired of running. We won't get anywhere if we continue to run. Besides... I have a feeling he would be able to catch up to me in no time anyways. Better our chances of fighting him together." The Goblin Queen remarked as she prepared herself. Zealot smirked and prepared himself as well. "Fair enough."

"Shadow...Override....." The shimmering black-figure produced from its mouthless body. His shadow would expunge across the ground. "Bleakly..." He commanded as the shadows shot upward around Priscilla and Zealot. A thorn would pierce through Priscilla's leg and one through Zealot's arm before they would react. They would break the thorns afterward that came at them, unable to truly move around until they broke the thorns that restricted their movements. When they did that they evaded the rest while retreating to a safer distance.

The shadows would retract back towards the shimmering figure after a moment all the while it continued to approach the demonic male and the Goblin Queen. "Damn it. I can't control the Diabolical Energy in the atmosphere. It's far too dense for me." Zealot would remark through heavy breaths. "I can barely keep about the elements... Most of them are fading. I think the energy he is producing is corrupting the elements around." Priscilla would add as they readied themselves. The shimmering figure would vanish from sight only to appear in front of both Priscilla and Zealot. A fist would come around for a hook to Priscilla's face while a kick came down upon Zealot's shoulder. Priscilla would block the punch only to feel some pain from behind which jerked her forward into a punch into the gut. Meanwhile, Zealot blocked the kick with his forearm pushing it aside and counter-attacking with a slash from his free claw which missed since he felt a pressure push him forward. A right hook to the face caused Zealot to stumble to the right. Both of them were knocked backward when the two shadows kicked them back. They would then kicked forward again, two kicks knocked them opposite of each other only to be followed up with a powerful kick from their respective sides which sent them toward one another which slammed them together.

A few seconds later the clones would unite into one shimmering figure that stood before the dazed fighters before it. It's hands grasping both by the neck and raising them off of the ground. Struggling to break free they would squirm about and claw at the formless figure. Now that it was up close, they found it harder to breathe. The atmosphere around them extremely dense thanks to the Pure Diabolical Energy. 'Is he producing this energy? All of this, coming from him? Wasn't he a mortal? Why couldn't I sense this amount of energy?' Zealot thought to himself. A groan of pain left him when he felt something pierce through his leg, a cry of pain left Priscilla as a sharp tendril pierced through her arm. 'Is he torturing us!? What is this!?' Zealot would growl as another pain came from his other leg. "P-please... Riyku. Zealot was just trying.... to protect..." She cried in pain when another tendril pierced her other arm which caused her to stop mid-sentence. It seemed the being itself held no care for their words, their reasoning. It was then that the cybernetic screen grew bolder.

'Defeat the Shadow King.'

"Sha-Shadow King?" Zealot choaked out when he eyed the enlarged screen. "Y-you are the ruler!? N-no... that's impossible!" The male would grit his teeth in denial as more tendrils pierced his body. "I think.... this is it, my Queen." Zealot would glance towards Priscilla who appeared to have passed out. Though the torment did not stop, tendrils continued to poke through her body at random intervals and locations. Zealot looked back towards the being, staring deeply into the inky red dots that dwelled within the blackness. 'If you truly are the Shadow King, then perhaps you can free this world of the present Overlord. Something that I and my old group failed to do.' The demon prince would remark to himself as he slowly started to close his eyes.

"I was wondering where all of this evilty was seeping from. Such purity... My, my..." An overbearing and brooding voice came from across the other end of the tunnel. Zealot shifted his weary eyes towards the voice and a smirk curved across his lips. 'Stupid old man... you've dug your own grave. As long as you die...I...' Zealot's eyes closed fully, yet his body was still being used as a pin cushion along with Priscilla's. "While my idiot of a son did choose the reformist faction, he is still my son, therefore, I suggest you release his body at once. I don't care for the cum dumpster you have though." The male bearing hardened flesh instead of clothing and the same attire as Zealot, except for a more 'kingly' appearance had voiced himself once more. Releasing his Pure Diabolical Energy to show that he was serious. This caught the being's attention and he released both of the bodies while turning towards the man.

The man was surrounded by four people, one was large and muscular wielding a double-headed ax. Another person happened to be on the more scrawny side, though their weapons were unknown. The third was holding pitch-black flames in her hands while the fourth was clinging to the male sensually. "This is the thing you detected, Anastasia?" The male inquired as the woman clinging to him would respond. "Indeed. Though, I've never felt such... despair before. Not even amongst our slaves or other tribes." The woman would remark. "What do you think, Aista?" The male would question from the woman holding the flames. "Hard to say. It seems there is more to this energy than we may realize. I can't get a good read on it. It's not simply Pure Diabolical Energy... but there is something else there as if it was infected with something." The woman explained. "And what of you two? Do you think you can kill him?" The two men would nod. "Easy prey." The scrawny one would remark and the large one would nod. All of them held a resemblance to demons. "Then go." The male ordered and the two men charged towards the being.

With their speed, the scrawny one was behind the being with two hand-sickles in hand while the large one was before it bringing his ax down upon it. The being would reach forward to catch the ax mid-swing while the twin-sickles pierced through his body from behind. The scrawny one would smirk as it tried to tear the weapons out; however, the action wasn't working. No matter how much he struggled to pull the blades would not leave the being. While in this fit of struggle the being would bring the large one overhead and around to slam down upon the scrawny one. Without any indication, several tendrils came from the shadows below and pierced both of them to pin them down. The being would reach for the handles of the twin-sickles and pull them out of its body before tossing them aside. The Pure Diabolical Energy hastily closing up the wound so that it never happened. "Idiots..." The male grit his fangs tightly as he watched his guards fall with ease. "Aista!" The male called out and the woman would unleash her black flames onto the being.

The black flame would fill the tunnel where the being was, making it impossible to tell what would be left in its wake once all was over. After several moments of unleashing such flames, the woman would have exhausted herself completely. "Well... We can replace those two." The man would remark and turn on his heel. "Come. It is ti--" The man was caught of guard when he saw the being in front of him, the ink red orbs staring deeply into his amethyst hues. "Anna!" The male shouted and the woman's body would flare up with a black light that engulfed them like a barrier. The barrier would expand as if to force the being back; alas when the barrier touched the being it... well shattered like glass. The woman would cry in pain as if she felt the pain herself and the man would growl while glaring at the being.

"The hell are you!?" The man would shout and something answered him. "Oooh... You haven't realized yet? He is the one who walks behind you. The one who sees all notices all is feared by many and loved by some. He is the Shadow King." The voice was alluring and sensually yet familiar. A female would swirl around the being like black mist before taking form. Busty, beautiful and devilish, it was Seraphina. Clinging to the being with love and affection. "Shadow King!? You lie, wench! The Shadow King vanished eons ago! He has not made his presence known since the day the Underworld was obliterated... There is no way that he is still alive either..." The man would growl in denial. "Oh, but he is. The person before is known as Riyku Von Rosario, the man known by many titles. Shadow King is only one of them that you pitiful demons know of. You are nothing compared to him...." Seraphina would pause for a moment before looking at the being swirling around to gaze into the inky red orbs. "And as much as I'd love for my wonderful husband to come back. His rest is not yet over. There is no need for him to return. Rest with ease, my love. I am sorry that I was asleep for so long." The woman would cup the being's cheeks lovingly moving to press her lips against the being's mouthless face.

Seraphina would remove herself from the being, slowly stepping back. "You aren't...." Seraphina would mutter as she shuffled away from the being. "Where is my husband!?" She demanded, but no answer came. Yet again the cybernetic text would pop up several times like some kind of error. During this time, the lord of the manor had time to recollect his personal and retreat to a safer distance.

'Defeat the Shadow King.'

Seraphina's eyes scanned the new cybernetic screens before looking over at the being before her. "Answer me!" She shouted, her voice ringing throughout the hall of this forsaken place. It was at this moment she received her answer. A duo who were giggling like children would step from behind the male as if they were there the entire time. One female, one male, though they appeared to be twins in every sense of the word. "My my, how the Eighth has fallen." The male would muse. "Indeed. But, we knew all along this was going to happen." The female purred. "Correct, sister. The Eighth refused to accept his task and therefore is being punished." The male added and the female chuckled softly. "Of course, brother. Foolish of him to think he could simply travel to another time-line. Another universe, another world at that. After all... Brother Fate... We are everywhere." The female commented. "That is correct, Sister Destiny." The male known as Fate would add. Seraphina would grind her teeth as tears began to whelm up. "You two.... why can't you just leave him the fuck alone!?" She shouted with anguish as she unleashed several spikes of shadow thorns at them. The being would flick his wrist and a barrier of shadow rose to block the thorns only to lower was the shadows retracted.

"As always, you are mistaken. We have no control over the choices that The Eighth makes. We can only watch and judge. Should he perform his tasks then he will be rewarded," Destiny would reply. "And should he fail them, he will be punished." Fate would add. "Simply killing you all off, was his punishment for not following through with his tasks. It has repeated several times, for eons, and each time he fails to comprehend that nothing will change until he accomplishes his task." Fate would continue. Seraphina would plop on the ground looking up at the three before her sobbing heavily. "How can he even reunite the Original Seven when they are scattered... and nowhere to be found. Do not you think he never tried!?" Seraphina's anger and sorrow were boiling over, her emotions a wild mess at this point.

"Trying has nothing to do with it. As we said before, he either accomplishes his task or fails. His weakness is to blame for this after all." Destiny would reply to her. "I think it's time we cleaned up this mess and ended this timeline, don't you sister?" Fate inquired which caused Seraphina's eyes to go wide. She recalled these words exactly, which was right before everything went black. "Indeed. This time let us be thorough with our reset." Destiny would add and the two would link hands together and begin an incomprehensive chant. "Again...? Is this happening again..." Seraphina muttered to herself. "Please... stop. He's suffered enough already... so please just.... just stop!" Seraphina exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

A cybernetic screen would pop into view.

'Quest: Return to the past.'

'Do you accept?'

'Yes/No'

Seraphina looked at the screen that appeared before her and thought to herself. 'The past?' Without further question, she pushed the yes button, and a flash of light illuminated the area. Once the illumination dimmed down the scenery in front of her became reminiscent.

"This is..."