He was as good as dead if he did not return with Asura. Mel will kill me, then the old man, and maybe even Ash for good measure. Panicked, he hastily chased after Asura, screaming, "Hey, wait! What are you doing?! The captain's gonna be mad!"
Wain started losing hope as Asura weaved around corners, darted through alleys, and zipped past houses. He did his best to keep up, but the ogre was too fast, like an athlete racing a toddler. Frustrated, Wain scanned the road for any sign of Asura's path. Thankfully, Asura's chaos left a trail like a toddler. Along his path were knocked-over garbage cans, bent mailboxes, and signs of his reckless sprint.
It was not until Asura reached a factory that he stopped. There, he dug his fingers into the concrete wall of the factory, pulling himself up. As Wain rounded the corner, he watched in disbelief as Asura scaled the wall like a spider, his four arms working in seamless unison. The muscular, small monster easily pulled himself onto the roof, disappearing out of sight once more.
Once he had reached the roof, Asura noticed light streaming upward from a dirty skylight. Grime and slimy residue coated the glass. Gross, he thought as he raced up toward the light. He leaned in, trying to locate the source of the faint mana.
Below, he spotted a large room filled with rows of chanting people. I was right. That guy from earlier was a cultist. Everyone in the room wore the same dark brown cloak. Monsters rattled in cages and gnawed on chains along the perimeter.
Conveniently, dirt smeared the glass, blocking his view of the caged creatures. He tried to wipe it away, but the grime clung stubbornly to the glass. Instead, the surface cracked under his touch. He paused with wide, fearful eyes, hoping no one noticed as he held his breath. After a moment of impending doom, he pressed his face against the glass for a better look.
He let out a sigh as no one bothered to look up. Below, the monsters thrashed violently, yet it was surprising that no one seemed to notice the chaos. Then it hit him, there was no sound at all before he drew near on the roof. He scanned the area, sensing an unfamiliar aura lingering around the building.
A feeling that left his hair tingling as if touched by static. This aura isn't like the holy aura humans produce. It was far too sinister to be quotidian mana either, which usually smelled natural, like petrichor. The metallic smell of blood filled his nostrils as it snuck through the gaps in the glass, reminding Asura that these cultists use more than mana to create spells. The aura must be blocking the sound.
The monsters that were free from their cages behaved oddly to Asura. Magmatic bears were huge brown beasts with jagged rocks that protruded through their skin. As if wounded, there were deep gouges that traveled across their bodies, leaking magma onto the floor. And like vomit, the liquid poured from their mouths. Without care, they consumed the bile, an act that disgusted Asura. These beasts towered over the cultists. It was hard to believe they were willingly submissive. Why weren't they attacking them?
On the other side of the cultists were beasts that reminded Asura of tigers, but they were far more terrifying. Their feline features were almost identical to a tiger's, except for six piercing eyes and a massive, unhinged jaw that stretched wide when they fed. These large creatures were tough to fight, with their thick fur challenging to cut through and their barbed tails capable of paralyzing anyone unlucky enough to be struck.
As if Judex was unsatisfied with the rest, he blessed them with acidic vomit. He shuddered, remembering the vile stench that seemed to pertain for months. The ogre always forgot their name, so he labeled them with a name he thought fit: Hell's Kittens.
Unlike the caged counterparts, those free were eerily calm and motionless, almost like puppets. However, there was one distinct feature that the caged were without. Illuminated purple markings were carved into their flesh. That's why most of the monsters with the markings have purple irises, he realized, some sort of mind control.
His gaze drifted to the front of the room, where a man with glasses stood on an elevated stage. Asura guessed he was a few years older than Mel, though it was hard to tell with the large scar running from his hairline to his throat. Like the night sky, black hair crowned his head, complementing his violet eyes. His ruby-colored robe screamed nobility, unlike the others in their dull brown robes.
The man's hooded violet eyes were fixed on something at the center of the stage. There, on an altar, was an old man tied to it, thrashing to break free. Along his face, tears streamed off as he tried to muster any strength, but with his fragile elderly body, it felt impossible. Asura's heart twisted as the man's muffled screams and pleas were audible but met chilling indifference.
Hearing panting behind him, watched diligently as Wain rose from a ladder. "What took you so long?" Asura asked, impatience tinged his voice.
Wain grabbed his knees, panting from exhaustion. When he recovered enough to speak, he exclaimed, "Not all of us are spiders! Why did you take off running here?"
Asura motioned him over to the skylight. With a shake of his head, Wain was just in time to witness the man in the red robe stand over the old man. The cultists surrounding the altar roared with bloodlust, their voices a chilling chorus urging the man's death.
"KILL HIM!"
"BRING FORTH THE MASTER!"
"GIVE US OUR SAVIOR!"
Asura, deciding to label the red-robed man Scar Face, watched with a growing sense of urgency as he began a demonic chant, his laughter echoing through the chamber.
"ARISE MY MASTER, COME FORTH AND BRING US OUR SALVAT—" Suddenly, Scar Face's head tilted back as his emotions stirred. His eyes lifted to meet theirs, widening in shock as if it were by pure chance.
Asura seized the opportunity and lept through the skylight, determined not to stand by and watch the old man die. To sit back and watch a bunch of young humans take advantage of the elderly was cruel even to him. The shattered glass rained around him as he landed with a heavy thud. The room fell silent. Not one dared to move. The cultists stared, confused. Why was a monster falling from the ceiling? Who summoned him?
One of them stepped forward, pointing directly at Asura. "Whose pet is this?"
Asura clapped his hands together, unleashing a thunderous boom that reverberated through the factory. The cultists recoiled, clutching their ears as their eardrums ruptured in writhing agony.
"I ain't no one's pet, fucker." He declared.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Wain shouted from the rooftop, his face twitching in disbelief.
Asura grinned devlishly as he gazed up, giving Wain two thumbs up. "Looking for a good fight."
He crouched, poised to leap toward Scar Face, who calmly pulled a crimson book with a mosquito's head on the cover from his robe. Behind his glasses, his violet eyes shifted to a deep crimson as sinister mana swelled within him. Oh, so it's you… Asura thought, excitement rising. A better fight. Scar Face, however, seemed unfazed, as if he'd been expecting this.
"How are you, Asura?" Scar Face asked calmly, a hint of amusement in his voice.
The question caught Asura off guard. How did this human know my name? He paused, a flicker of curiosity sparking in his mind. But the lust for a good fight quickly extinguished any other thoughts. He grinned at the cult leader, eager to get things started.
Scar Face sighed, a hint of disappointment in his eyes as he realized he would not receive a verbal response. "Well, that doesn't matter. It seems you're blinded by your desire to fight, as usual." He noted as if familiar with the ogre's tendencies. "Very well then. It seems we have an uninvited guest, everyone. Let's wrap this up quickly, shall we?"
With a flick of his wrist, a wave of power surged through the room, and the assembled monsters responded with a chorus of growls. Asura's eyes widened as he finally got a clear view of another species trapped within the cages.
"Oh fuck..."
Dragons…
The monsters roared in unison, thrashing in their cages. The unchained ones with the purple markings also grew hostile, driven by their insatiable hunger for Asura. The cultists began to flee, but the monsters trampled them without mercy. Some became distracted, devouring the fallen, but many still pursued Asura.
He let out a manic laugh, his excitement mounting as he scanned the chaos for the true leader. Beasts and dragons had loathed each other since an ancient, long-forgotten war, but their bloodlines never forgot. There was no chance they would willingly fight side by side unless bound by the will of a stronger monster.
But the higher-ranking monster was nowhere to be found. Asura scoffed, recalling the ranking system the old man had explained. There were stronger creatures out there, but these were not mere grunts. Hell's Kittens weren't the deadliest foes, but try fightin' these guys with rank acid on you. Pushing the thought aside, he focused as the monsters closed in around him.
As the other monsters closed in, two new beasts joined the pack. Hell Hounds. With most of their flesh stripped away, large portions of bone and exposed ribcages jutted out, wreathed in flames that burned as hot as hell itself.
Molten saliva dripped from their jaws, sizzling as it burned holes into the concrete floor. Though only half the size of the magmatic bears, the massive hounds were still monstrous in their own right. Their hairless, leathery skin made Asura recoil whenever unlucky enough to make contact.
The two serpent-like monsters from earlier slithered into view as well. Their long, slender bodies were covered in razor-sharp yellow scales, held aloft by two muscular arms. With heads that flicked back and forth quickly as they studied Asura with their amber-slit eyes.
Topaz Lyndwyrms, or Banana Wyrms, as Asura preferred to call them. The color of their scales always brought a smile to his face as the word Banana flashed through his mind, but they most certainly found offense to this every time he called out his name for them.
The Banana Wyrms slithered to Scar Face's side, their scales shimmering under the moonlight. The scales around their necks lifted as they raised their heads, revealing a fiery red glow beneath. After only a moment of channeling mana, without warning, a constant torrent of red lightning burst from their teeth-filled mouths, crackling toward Asura.
The bolts tore effortlessly through the ground, cleaving any unfortunate cultists in their path. They collapsed in silence, their bodies hitting the ground with a heavy thud, faces frozen in sheer terror.
Asura, growing bored with the spectacle, decided to up the ante. He would take the first blow head-on. "Let's see what you can do, Mister Bananas!"
The ogre stood his ground, determined to block the lightning bolts with his shield of arms. What's he doing!? Wain thought, watching in horror from above.
The quotidian mana slammed into his forearms, scorching his skin as it arced against his flesh. Although the impact shoved Asura back a few feet, he stood his ground. A smirk flashed on his face as he wiped his forearms. Wain watched in awe as Asura continued without care, noting that most of the damage had been done to his jacket and shirt, now riddled with burn holes. However, the fabric began to reweave itself.
Hungry for more chaos, Asura charged through the crowd, slaughtering the remaining cultists that blocked his path as he made his way toward the bears. He laughed manically as he delivered powerful punches into the skulls of the cultists. At first, he hesitated to strike the fleeing cultists, but as the sight of the children flashed back into his mind, he chose otherwise. They're cultists right? Scum who deserve it? He pleaded with Judex in his mind.
Cultists crumpled under the force of each blow, chests caving in, heads snapping back.
As he approached, the first magma bear charged at him, claws slashing, but Asura easily dodged to its side and countered with a powerful punch that sent it flying into another. A sickening crack erupted as their bones broke. Their sluggish movements were too easy to predict. What do you take me for an amateur?
The two bears collided with the wall, roaring in pain as their weight slammed against one another. As they struggled to recover, they thrashed their heads in rage. Their eyes lifted, scanning for their prey, but Asura hurled massive chunks of rock that slammed into their body before they could react.
A resounding crunch filled the room as the rocks smashed their bones and pierced through their bodies, only stopping as their jagged tip met bone. The rocks constricted their movements, yet they thrashed wildly, desperate to escape. Magma poured from their mouths, splattering in every direction as their rage spiraled into madness. Their frantic movements only worsened their wounds, with the rocks tearing deeper into their bodies as they struggled, each frantic motion causing more damage.
Smiling in triumph, Asura beat his chest, taunting the remaining beasts. But suddenly, another bear lunged from behind, clamping its jaws around him. As its teeth grabbed hold of the ogre, the bear thrashed its head as if to tear Asura apart. However, it quickly realized its teeth could not pierce his skin.
Yet the bear did not relent. It slammed Asura to the ground, its powerful paws pounding the floor with brutal force, trying to crush him beneath its immense weight. The wild attack shredded his jacket as the bear's claws raked across his body. With each strike, the bear's frustration mounted, its growls growing louder.
The bear's hunger grew insatiable, a primal urge to rip into Asura's flesh consuming its mind. The weight of the beast crashing down on him stunned Asura, each massive pound of muscle working to crush him. For a moment, he lay motionless beneath the relentless assault, the bear's powerful blows landing one after another.
Its rage grew, its fury intensifying as it channeled all its quotidian mana into its lungs in a final attempt to take his prey's life. The beast raised its head, seeming to gargle something deep inside its throat.
Asura, still pinned beneath the beast, barely regained his senses to see the bear tilt its head back. "Oh shit!" he exclaimed as he tried to pull himself from underneath.
The bear lowered its head in a swift drop, its throat straining as it unleashed a concentrated blast of fire. The force of the flame erupted from its mouth, fueled by all the mana it had gathered in its lungs. The inferno cascaded over Asura like a torrent, burning away a large portion of his jacket and singeing the top of his pants.
The heat was suffocating, like being trapped in a sauna stoked by a volcano. Sweat poured from his body, evaporating instantly in the blistering temperature. Around him, the ground blackened and scorched as the flames spread out in a flower-like pattern, searing the concrete beneath him.
But the bear, having expended nearly all its mana, ceased its attack, its chest heaving as it struggled to catch its breath. Asura's pants mainly had avoided the direct blast, their fire-resistant fabric holding just enough to prevent them from burning away completely. He let out a sigh of relief. I'm not going to be naked again!
Exhausted and nearly out of mana, the bear's vision blurred. It shook its head violently, disoriented, a victim of mana exhaustion. It was a state that left monsters vulnerable and fatigued when their mana reserves were depleted.
Asura watched, amused, as the bear struggled to regain its composure. He let out a hearty laugh.
From the stage, Scar Face observed, his eyes wide with awe. The stories were true. That bear's breath would have obliterated most low-ranking Paladins. And yet here was Asura, alive, laughing, and still standing. What vigor!
Scar Face's lips curled into a grin. This was the monster he needed to complete his plan.
With a flick of his wrist, Scar Face signaled to the rest of the pack. The Hell's Kittens, observing from the sidelines, began to move. Their eyes gleamed with anticipation as they circled Asura, silently creeping closer as they studied their prey.
Unaware of the deadly creatures stalking him, Asura lay on the ground, savoring his victory. He was oblivious to the danger drawing near.