'In my previous life as Lucifer, I had a few factions under me that helped me rise to being one of the strongest. One of them was of course,
'The Raging blacksmiths'.
Their unique, yet, interesting weapons they made were impressive. Due to this, they managed to rise to a reputation of being called 'The best of the best' and even had attempts to kidnap them. Although, none of that was possible because of me.
I had hired them to work under me. They didn't get involved in the outside world matters but only focused on crafting weapons.'
'Then they must've gone into hiding after I died as Lucifer. I wonder what happened to the rest?'
"Hoooo, nevermind. Those thugs look like they've learnt martial arts and I may not be able to take them down."
"But, theres one thing that remains after all the years of slaughter."
Archehon's regular face turned a one-eighty into a despicable grin. The grin was enough to send shivers down anyone's gut. The demonic-like red aura would start seizures in someone's eyes when crowded around the body. Enough to limit lung capacity in just a few seconds, denying the ability to breath.
"Bloodlust."
Archehon walked over to the gang and the old man with not a single worry in his eyes.
"Huh? Who are you?", one of the thugs asked after seeing him.
Archehon caught the attention of the gang leader. The bald man stared at the boy. For some reason, he got an uneasy feeling when he headed over there.
"I'm Archehon. Leave and I'll spare your lives.", he mumbled towards them in a voice loud enough to hear.
He let out a small portion of his bloodlust towards the group, while remaining silent.
The group felt it but never reacted. In reality, they were slightly wary of him. But not as much as the leader.
The gang leader's suspicions were confirmed after the bloodlust escaped towards the group.
'This guy. He's dangerous. I trust this feeling a lot since it feels the same as when I first met the 'Ruler of the slums'. ', he thought seriously.
The leader got into position to attack as he ordered his subordinates simultaneously.
"Everyone attack together! We'll finish this at once!"
The entire group sprang towards the singular figure with all their might while holding wooden baseball bats.
'Ho? The leader is not half-bad.', Archehon smiled.
"But.."
The bats all aimed for the spot Archehon stood on but he already had dodged the attacks before they could close in.
"It's too obvious."
When the gang realised they had hit only the after image of the boy. It was too late. The kid appeared behind them before they could even react. He flew a roundhouse kick at the head skull of a few of the members at once. The impact of the kick caused a chain reaction which pushed all the members, sending them flying towards the wall.
The smoke polluted the air for a few seconds, then cleared up. All of the group were against the wall, apart from the leader. The tall bald man could be seen standing unscathed.
"I didn't want to have to use it like this but it looks like I have no choice.", the gang leader talked.
A blue field of mana was formed all around the man. The shield had a checkered-pattern with pentagons all around it.
"Nice, you're not bad.", Archehon complimented the man with the exact same expression, proving his confidence.
'Dammit! I couldn't kill the kid. Luckily, I have this artifact I found by chance. I've got one more use left on it. I should use this to escape-'
"You're not thinking that you can escape from me with that piece of garbage, are you?"
"W-what?", the man replied.
"C'mon! Why are you so surprised..?", his grin widened to the covering almost half of his face.
"Little Honey Badger~"
"Th-this bastard."
The leader was about to lash out at him until he remembered the bloodlust he felt earlier.
"Oh? Nice to see you staying in your rightful place but.."
A sudden feeling tore apart the leader mentally. He felt a dragon's cold stare pierce through his soul as he bit his nails off.
"You shouldn't have attacked me in the first place.."
The intensity levels shot through the roof. Enough to traumatize a normal person.
"..Trash."
The leader shivered and fell to the ground on his knees staring at the cracked-grey floor. He widened his eyes and started biting his teeth non-stop as if he was trapped on the top of a Himalayan mountain.
"Good dog. Now woof for me."
The bald man instinctively did as the predator said as Archehon enjoyed the little show.
"Woof!"
"Again!"
"Woof!"
"Louder!"
"Woof!!"
"Louder, louder. LOUDER. LOUDER!!!"
"WOOOOOFFF!!!!'
"Now go to the sea!"
"Woof."
The respected leaders attitude changed in just a few minutes. From being normal to insane. He ran and barked like a dog repetitively as he travelled away.
"Ha... that felt nice~", Archehon closed his eyes, raising his head towards the sky like he was enjoying a delightful occasion.
All of a sudden, the old man bawled at the kid while looking slightly up at him, interrupting his small 'occasion'.
"Hey! I won't make you anything even if you chased them away kid! Scram-"
The chatterbox of an old man continued attempting to shoo away Archehon. While he tried he got interrupted by a voice,
"Lucifero gloria."
"H-how do-.. Who are you?", the shop owner immediately paused and asked after reading the situation.
"That doesn't matter right now, Hephaestus."
"...", he remained silent.
"Come inside."
The two walked into the shop. The shop wasn't in the greatest condition. It had cracked down walls and a sea of junk which looked more like a junkyard than a shop. It was a place where nobody would expect such a legendary blacksmith to live. The conditions were not suitable for someone of the man's talent.
The front of the shop contained a regular counter and wooden shelves with a lot of weapons surrounding the sides of the shop, with the rundown entrance opposite to the counter.
Archehon viewed the poorly maintained shop in disbelief, not paying attention to anything else due to his shock. While he was busy surveying, he was cut off in his inspection,
"Over here."
The old man called for Archehon. He stood at a door that was behind the counter.
"Click!", the door opened.
The two walked and witnessed the room. It was different, but not entirely, compared to the entrance room. The room was molten red signifying the scorching hotness. The old man could be called monstrous being able to handle that level of heat for hours. The place had a furnace, materials neatly stacked oppositely, stands for many different hammers and a whole pile of junk weapons.
"So? What is it you need?"
'He's not questioning me or anything..', Archehon thought.
His expression changed to a smile while he hid it with his hands covering his mouth.
'.. He's just the same as before.'
"I want.."
Archehon raised his finger towards the furnace.
"..a Normal Weapon, uncle."
The old man's cheeks went red as he turned away and stuttered,
"Th-that's it?"
"Yes~", he teased the blacksmith.
"Hmph!"
"Alright. What is it you want?", the blacksmith responded not questioning why the boy wanted so little.
"I want a spear."
"Okay. I'll finish it by tomorrow.", the man waved towards Archehon.
Just as Archehon was about to leave,
"A-and, w-what is your name..?", he blushed again.
'Hm? Is he..?", Archehon examined.
"It's Archehon, uncle~"
The words acted like a switch which made the blacksmiths face turn red.
"Uncle~"
The impossible-to-resist words kept breaking through the old man's emotional barrier,
"Hmph! C-come back tomorrow and I'm V-vulcan."
"Vulcan uncle~"
"G-go!"
"Okay.", Archehon cheered as he walked away.
* * *
When Archehon exited the shop, the sun started to set down the west. The skies looked more orange than blue and it was beautiful to witness as the stars started to appear replacing the sun.
Archehon enjoyed the view as he reminisced about the times he tortured his army with training until the night. He closed his eyes and dreamed of the amazing memories-
"Oi, Kid. Come with me.", a person interrupted the boy rudely.
'Hm?'
Archehon steadily raised his eyelids to see who dared to cut him off from relishing his joyful times as Lucifer.
"Kid, I told you to come with me."
An almost bald young thug who looked like he was in his twenties with a scar through his eyes ordered the kid. He looked at Archehon with a arrogant expression thinking he was above him.
Archehon responded with a deadly grin,
"And if I don't?"
"I'll force you to come."
"Pfft.", Archehon spat out trying not to laugh.
"Huh? What are you laughing at?"
"I was.."
Archehon clenched both of his fists and pushed them against each other with not an ounce of fear in his eyes.
"..really itching for another fight today."