Chereads / The Awakened Warrior / Chapter 5 - Judge or Execution

Chapter 5 - Judge or Execution

Radna: He rests his hand against the armrest of his throne; he stares upon it for a few moments before finally taking a seat. A pulse shot down of the mountain it rested upon, signaling all of Hell that its king had returned. 

????: A female demon suddenly appeared near the throne and started examining Radna from head to toe. She was wearing a bright pink outfit that was quite revealing, which made her stand out from the rest of Hell. "So, you're the new king of Hell? I can see why they chose you~," she said with a mischievous grin.

Radna: He snarled at the sight of her, having a slight idea of her intentions. "What do you want..." He spoke out of pure annoyance; demons don't appear to the king just because they want to say hi.

????: She giggled at his attitude, "My my, that is no way to speak to one of the Seven Deadly Sins~. My name is Elevyier, and I am here to make sure you understand how things are going to work down here." She grazed her nails against Radna's arm; he pulled away in response.

Radna: "Fucking excuse me?" He tilted his head, becoming more annoyed as this Sin asserted herself. "What exactly do you mean by, 'How things are going to work.'"

Elevyier: "Well, most new kings must understand the rules and what they must provide for the Seven Deadly Sins, starting with what you must provide for me~. Lucium was not a very giving king, but I know you will be able to give me my fill~." She placed her hand on his chest, attempting to use her magic to seduce Radna.

Radna: Grabbing her arm, he stood up slowly, gazing into her eyes, giving her a slight seductive smile. He slams her face into the throne, sending a shockwave down the mountain, cracking it down the middle. His smile dropped into a face of disgust. "You are not even the original Sin of Lust; what right do you have even coming near me..."

Elevyier: She held her face as it bled, screaming out in pain. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She was grabbed by her hair and lifted off the ground. "Put me down immediately! Do you have any idea who you are messing with?!"

Radna: He showed no remorse; the more she spoke, the more he became enraged, "...Do you? Do you think you can show up out of nowhere, command me to do as you please for your pleasure? This body was made for the only woman I ever loved; she isn't here, so nobody is allowed to touch me or even look at me in such a way. Now, get lost." He threw her into the air, watching her return to her little group.

"I fucking HATE succubi..." He spoke to himself as he walked down the mountain to the Hellish city, "Like, why does the Lust sin need a body anyway? People commit it left and right. We don't need an embodiment for it; it's pointless." As he tried to cross the bridge to the Soul City, he bumped into what seemed to be an invisible barrier; as he hit it, a wave of energy flowed outwards, making this wall feel infinite, reaching every length of Hell, restricting anyone who tried to cross the bridge.

"What is this?.." His face grew concerned, not understanding why he could not cross. He gazed down into the hellfire pit below the bridge, noticing that the fire was at a complete standstill as if stuck in time, but that could not be possible as time does not flow through Hell. He placed his hand against the invisible barrier, watching the energy flow out once more; he pressed his head against the wall, listening to it, hearing distant screams of agony and despair. He took a few steps back, knowing something was wrong, and without thinking, he punched the wall; it cracked upon his strike.

"A reality wall? Why would there be a reality wall here in Hell- Oh no..." His eyes grew wide; he understood why there would be a wall here...to hide something. He gazed upon the frozen Roman-like structured buildings, seeing how everything visible from his side was frozen, but he knew it was a lie. He took another swing at the wall; it cracked again but would not shatter.

"Reality flows a lot differently than the last time I was here; it's stronger...sturdier. I have yet to adapt to this world. I don't think I can break this..." He thought for a moment, but then he remembered he had something of a previous life, his hooks. Opening his hand, his hook summoned to his grasp, and with one swift motion, he thrust it into the wall, managing to pierce it. He wrapped the chain around his arm, pulling it with all of his might; the cracks grew larger and larger until, all at once, the wall shattered like glass. But what he saw once that wall fell made even his skin crawl.

The one bridgeway to the city was fallen, shattered down the middle to prevent souls from escaping it. Hellfire burns bright around the city, creating a black cloud of smoke above, cutting off the view of the ceiling of the tenth ring of Hell. The sounds of the frantic roared throughout the realm; agony, cries, and despair could be heard even from the surface world. The Roman structures tumbled into ruin; buildings were devastated and painted with the blood of the damned, and magma erupted throughout the center of the city where the Temple of Hell once resided. He leaped across the bridge into the city's gates, looking around slowly at the destruction, "What happened?..." Before he could take another step, a body lay before him, but Hell...No did not mark it; this soul had committed no wrongs, yet they were here. He bent down to examine the body further, noticing different symbols on their body that only a few demons could make, the Seven Deadly Sins...

"Those bastards are abusing the fall of the realms...they are taking whoever they please rather if they did rights or wrongs." He stood up, picking up the kidnapped spirit. "You should not have been here; this was not your fate." He looked up at the black hellish spires surrounding the city, noticing they were still shooting their beams into the sky, painting the dark cloud above with runes and Blood Lights. He heard more screams in the distance, more cries of those who do not deserve eternal damnation; he ran forth, holding the body tight to his chest. The screams came from the Temple of Sin. As he burst through the temple doors, he witnessed the Sin of Greed whipping pure spirits with a chain. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" His voice shook the building. 

Elevyier: "Well, well, well, look who decided to show up uninvited into our home. Especially after the stunt you pulled with me." 

Radna: He gently placed the body he was carrying in a corner away from them. "You are nothing more than Asmodeus's little lap dog; you call yourself something you are not." 

Elevyier: "How dare you call me that!" Pink magic erupted from her hands, but she was silenced as somebody entered the room.

Asmodeus: "That is enough, Elevyier." A giant spider-like demon towered over Radna, dawning king-like clothes and four different heads like a hydra, each head having a different animal upon it, a goat, a man, a horse, and a cow, each one more demonic looking than the last. He clasped his large hands together, staring down at Radna. "What may we do for you, the new king of Hell?"

Radna: "I'll tell you what you can do for me, you corrupted fucks; leave these pour souls alone! You condemn spirits that have done no wrongs; have you no shame for your actions?!" his purple Hellfire flames grew larger and more rageful on his arms as he spoke. 

Asmodeus: "My dear king, we are simply doing our job. We do not pick and choose who ends up on our end of punishment." 

Radna: "Your JOB in question is to fluxate the sinful energy of Hell as designated by your status. It is NOT to punish spirits! Their punishment is not eternal pain; the way Hell has always worked is it is eternal separation from paradise if you have forgotten what we represent..." 

Asmodeus: He chuckled at the sight of Radna's rage, seeing it as quite entertaining, "Lucium shifted the balance of the realms, meaning many rules have changed for his image. If you expect us to spend all those eons following his bidding and then falling back into restriction, you are horribly mistaken. You see, without Heaven, all spirits go to us; it becomes crowded and impossible to manage, so we must take things into our own hands."

Radna: He could not control his rage anymore; suddenly, he hit Asmodeus in the chest, knocking him against the temple walls. "Do not give me that bullshit, you lying piece of shit; you and I both know that you all have the power to fluctuate everything without causing so much damage, but you chose to do this instead. You abuse your free will even in here...it is shameful."

Mammon: The humanoid dragonlike giant figure gripped his chain-like whip harder, staring Radna down with his dreadful yellow eyes. "You have no authority over us; you are a damned spirit just as we are; you are not like Lucium, you are not primordial, and you have NO say in what we can or can't do." He bashed the chain against the crying woman again.

Radna: Growling at Mammon's actions, he threw his hook forth, breaking the chains that held the nude woman in place. He swiftly pulled her towards him, shielding her from the two Sins. "You will not touch this spirit; you will not HURT this spirit; she does not deserve your judgment, nor should anyone else!" He snapped his fingers, giving the lady a comfortable pair of hellish robes. "What is your name, pure one..."

????: "L-Lydia, your Highness..." She trembled in fear, not knowing if she could trust this one.

Radna: "Do not refer to me as that. I am not your ruler, and I am not your executioner. Leave this place; I promise to help guide you to the Eternal Light..." He rushed her quickly out of the temple, also grabbing the corpse of the other soul, leaving the two outside; he slowly closed the doors of the temple, turning towards the two Sins. "You all will pay for what you have done..." A humanoid figure flashed a bright light towards Radna before speaking.

Lucifer: "No, you shall pay for your actions." He flapped his black angelic wings as his Hellish black Oldreic armor shone eternal dusk. His red eyes glared at the purple demon, "You had no business coming here. We had things our way, and you could have gone your separate path but decided to come and ruin our way of life. You are a king who cannot be trusted, and Hell needs a ruler of Pride."

Radna: "You think YOU should be the king because that is what you have always wanted, Lucifer; you have liked the thought of being the ruler of something since birth...You have no claim over anything; you do not deserve even your angelic wings. Yet you continue to wear them like a trophy..." He summoned both of his hooks, gripping them both tightly. "I will reshape the realms into a pure system, the way that spirits can live in the ways they have chosen, not for the ones that have already fallen from the graces of life. You all are no judges, but on this day, I will be your executioner and prove to you...how little your role is here." 

Lucifer: The rest of the Seven Deadly Sins arose from the dark corners of their temple, crawling closer towards Radna. "So be it..." He drew his forsaken sword, "I shall have your head and be crowned the King of Hell..."