Nidhogg POV:
There was a lot of turmoil going on in the void that I was currently in. It was as there were two sides, playing tug of war, and I was the rope. One side was rejecting me, trying desperately to kick me out. While the other side was trying to keep me contained.
My own body wasn't immune to this, as entire parts of me would get torn off and I would regenerate them. And I could feel the pain of it each time it happened. After a couple of times, I blacked out.
Feeling the sensation that something was crawling on me, I awake with a jump, slapping at the source of the feeling, mistaking them for a bug. Groggily looking around, I find thousands of demons looking at me with shock on their faces. Looking down at my hand, I see the bloodied remains of what used to be a demon on them.
Wiping it on the ground with disgust, I look around, trying to get a sense of where I am. I'm in a yard of sorts, directly in the center with caves with bars on them surrounding us. Beyond the caves, is the void that assaulted me so swirling in a mass upwards to a hole that reveals the outside demon realm.
A noise interrupts my train of thought, as I look back down to find a demon standing before me. "Another to add to the pile of those forsaken." His tone and demeanor take me aback a bit, as it wasn't something that I had grown accustomed to hearing from demons. Looking at him, he resembled a bull, but something was off with him. As I look at the faces of everyone, I realized something was off with all of them.
Thankfully, even from the fighting, I wasn't at the point where I would go raging mad over hunger, but I was close to it. However, that allowed me to converse with these demons before their death.
"Where am I?" I ask.
He looks around. "The final destination for some. If you're here, you have some purpose or usefulness. You, my large brother, have been captured by the ability of the demon named Warden. Here, there is no escape unless she wills it. The only form of entertainment we have is the view above, which is her vision. We can only see what she sees, and it is not a pretty sight most of the time. Those of us she lets out, are experimented on or tortured for her amusement." He explains.
"Do you know what her ability does exactly?" I ask.
He nods, "It is no secret that she claims that her ability allows her to confine demons that are of lower ranks than her. If we aren't a Demon Lord, there is no hope for escape."
I see. I had no idea how long some of them were here, but I got the understanding of the situation. They were depressed as they knew what would befall them should they be released. There was a thousand or so demons here, who gave up.
"That is most indeed unfortunate. However, your luck has taken a turn. It would seem that I am your only form of escape." I tell them.
They look at me with faces of disbelief. "Many of us were like that at first. But there is no form of escaping this place. We are stuck here unless she wills it." He tells me.
"You're wrong about that. There is a form of escape. One that I can provide that allows you to not only pay her back for all the suffering she caused you but allow you to grow stronger as well."
He looks at me with skepticism, "Tell us what method you speak of."
"Death." I say simply.
They deadpan at me, which I return with a smile. "It comes to us all. We all understand and abide by the rules of the demon realm. There is always someone who is better and capable of killing you. Everything you worked hard to obtain, worked hard to build, snuffed out the minute you take a wrong turn.
Now, it might seem like that doesn't apply to Demon Kings, but we all know that these haven't been the same Demon Kings we've had since the beginning. Therefore, death applies to them as well. How sad it is to have everything, then be forgotten the moment that you die." My words ring truth to the demons who listen as they begin to listen more intently.
"Now, the death I speak of is different from being fate of being forgotten that befalls much of demonkind. I have the ability, to consume others, granting their power to my own. In doing so, you become a part of me. Together, we can free ourselves from the Warden and take revenge for not only those she's tortured, but those shes killed." I propose to them.
Realistically, I didn't care whether they agreed or not, I was still going to consume them all anyway. It was just working smarter not harder to offer them the choice as I didn't want to have them fighting me back. I could try to fight them, but I probably could only manage to eat a hundred or so. The temptation of a thousand Archdemons ready to consume too great.
After a few moments of silence, the bull Archdemon steps forward.
"I'm no fool. I know that it is highly likely that you're trying to fool us. But, in the same sense, if there is even the slightest chance that what you say is true, then it beats standing here waiting for death." He stands before me. The other demons all look at each other. Some back off, clearly not wanting to take the deal, while others follow the bull's example.
Ignoring the ones who back off, my excitement overtakes me, as my tongue lashes out, grabbing the bull before pulling him into my mouth. Greedily, I don't even bother waiting to 'digest' him, before moving on to the next demon. The joy of finally being close to evolution overtakes me, as I consume all those before me.
With those who submitted to me were gone, I looked to those who wisely chose not to. My display must have struck fear in them as they were backed as far away from me as possible, with looks of horror. Shame their lives were forfeit the moment that I landed here. Maybe it was the look in my eye that gave away my intention, as they prepare to defend themselves.
I take a step forward, but a lurching in my entire being makes me stop. My mana began to grow uncontrollable, as my body begins to swell like a bubble. The demons look at me with absolute terror as they can feel the massive waves of mana came off of me. My body covered my face, as my vision went dark. Through the darkness, the only thing I feel is pain as my body changes.
General POV:
Nightcarver and Warden had successfully made their way back to their own lord's territory. Unlike other Demon King's who had unorganized territories, the Demon King of Knowledge wisely create sub cities governed by his most loyal attendees. This one being tied to the second strongest of all his high-ranking Demon Lords, Droopy.
Despite the name, he was a fearsome opponent. He was entirely made of an ooze, making physical attack basically null. His magic resistance was high making him neigh indestructible. A fitting person to put in charge of a city to contain their most troublesome demons.
After being so on edge from their mission, just as they entered the premises of the city, they let out a breath. Nothing could go wrong now. Nightcarver continued walking down what qualified as a main road for this city until he felt an extreme surge of mana behind him. Turning, he found Warden shaking where she was.
Nearby demons who also felt the surge of mana knew instantly something was wrong and went to help Warden. Just as a demon reached out to her, she explodes, instantly vaporizing the block. Nightcarver was just out of range but gets blown off his feet.
Slowly getting up, he sees a swirling black hole at the ground where Warden once stood. Behind Nightcarver, every demon in the area was responding to the attack. Struggling to his feet, he hears a noise and looks to find hundreds of demons climbing out of the hole, rushing in all directions.
He goes to cut down the demons who come his way, but he catches the looks on their faces. It was of pure terror. He watches in shock as they basically trip over themselves as they hide behind him, trembling in fear. Then, he feels a sense of dread. His instincts scream for him to run, warning him not to engage. He hadn't felt this feeling since meeting the Demon King of Knowledge.
Looking back at the hole slowly, he swallows hard as waves of mana come from a figure who rises from the hole slowly. It was a tall slender bi-pedal demon, with four arms that had dangerous claws on each. He watched as the demon flexed revealing black and gold scales on his backside. However, the part that creeped me out, was the mask it wore. Two black horns curved to the side of its mask, making it resemble eyebrows, while two more great horns curved backwards on the top of its head. Jagged teeth slowly opened, as a slick tongue came out, licking them.
As he watched the demon in awe, it turned to him, making him flinch, as its cold yellow eyes regarded him. His breathing becoming more intense, Nightcarver realized he was mistaken. Even before the oppressive aura of the Demon King, where all he could do was kneel, he felt admiration and respect at the power of what his king welded. He looked up his master, hoping to one day achieve what he had.
But, as the demon before him stared at him, he knew it was a killer. He now understood how the other demons felt. Before this...creature, there was only one emotion you could feel. Fear.