The vampire before him could only giggle at his response. To her, this adorable-looking Ogre was amusing. It wasn't every day an ogre appeared before her. She's heard stories of his eagerness to fight, yet, when it came to Jormungandr, he sounded surprised. "Was he afraid? Probably not. Who could strike fear into the mad dog? This Ogre has been around for a long time, but to think he is in the human realm now..." Her red lips curled into a smile that could make any man fall for her,
"We both know the dragon race like their treasure and hoarding. He believes he is owed more than what has been given. Greed can drive a person to make pretty extreme decisions. You understand that, right, Asura? Souls are power, and he wants to be at the top. Jormungandr is tired of being under the dragon king and believes she is undeserving of the title."
She folded her hands, and her eyes darkened.
"Also, a little warning from my king. The beast king is working alongside the worm. They desire to change the ranks of the kings as well. If you could stop that, dear, we would be in your debt."
Asura frowned as he processed the information. This is way bigger than he could have imagined. If the beast king gets involved in this realm, shit is about to hit the fan. Mel shifted in her chair as she watched Asura's mood shift from a lighthearted idiot to serious. Looking at the vampire, she asked,
"Um, ma'am... lady... your vampireness? Do you know where this will happen or how?"
Wain was mesmerized by her voice, unable to process anything as it danced in his ears. What a beautiful accent, he thought. He certainly had heard one like it before, but hers was something else. A southern accent, maybe? "Where have I heard this accent?"
"Call me Miss Valentine, and you'll figure it out, dear. The Succubi king wants me to end the conversation now, so I'll have to ask you to leave... or I can have the ladies escort you out the same way you came in."
Ready at the doorway, the women stood eagerly, wanting to rip Ash apart. Noticing the hungry Succubi lingering by the entrance, Ash, Mel, and Wain scooted down the couch. On the other hand, Asura was deep in thought, oblivious to their arrival. This situation just became even worse if what she said were true. The beast king was a problem, one he doubted any of them could deal with.
Mel interrupted him with an elbow to his side, urging him to leave. Without a word, Asura walked out, leaving the group to deal with the looming problem by themselves. To their surprise, the Succubi let them leave, watching them vigilantly as they walked by. "We need to purge all monsters..." Ash thought, disgusted by their hideous appearances. Wain spoke up as they left, thanking the vampire,
"Thank you for the information, Miss Valentine."
"Aww, what a sweet one you are dear. You have fun now."
Waving goodbye, Valentine smiled as she watched them all walk out of the club. Mel rushed up to Asura, grabbing him by the collar,
"I think that went pretty well. Got what we needed."
"You think that went well?!"
"To be fair, it was Ash's racism that set them off. Blame him."
Mel shook her head, groaning from the stress induced by the frightening experience. She had questions for the monster. However, she wanted nothing more than to leave right now. By the looks of it everyone did, grim expressions plagued the group. The priests headed to the car without a word spoken between them. The exhaustion was settling in.
Asura stopped as he noticed the same man, who had monster aids from earlier, crying next to a car. Huddled down with his arms wrapped around his knees, a river of tears streamed down his face. Asura giggled as he watched a woman walk by,
"Hey, baby! Uh, I wasn't crying. Just uh... it was raining, you know. Wanna get a drink?"
Without a word, the woman walked by with a concerned expression on her face. Asura burst out laughing as he climbed into their car.
After hours of driving in silence, Mel spoke first with a question. She turned her mirror around to look Asura in the eyes. "Whatever she was about to ask was serious..." he thought,
"How do they know you? The vampire seemed to know exactly who you were. You also seemed to know who Jormungandr is personally?"
Asura sighed. He knew this was coming, but it was not something he liked to talk about. Rubbing his forehead, a headache emerged while he answered,
"He's a big fucking moron from the dragon realm. An Apocalypse, as she said. Dude annoyed the crap out of me in my realm. He ain't somebody you wanna have coming into this realm, I'll tell you that much. I forced him out of my realm a few times, but he's stronger than he used to be. I recommend we don't mess with him. Also, I am kinda famous throughout the realms, so it's a given that she knows who I am. I fight just about everyone and anyone."
Beaming with pride from his accomplishments, Asura smiled.
"I am the undefeated champion of fighting, kicker of ass, machine of war. Once you beat the crap out enough people, they start to remember you. That snake guy included."
Before she could ask any further questions, her phone began to ring. She tried to deny the call, but another call came through immediately. Then another, and another. "What is happening?" Annoyed, Mel answered,
"Hello?"
The captain, in a serious tone, replied,
"We have a problem. Lily has been taken from the cathedral. Someone from inside must have gotten her. We need everyone-".
Mel froze from behind the crunch of the car door's metal bending screech. Looking up in the mirror, she could see Asura's eyes, wild and enraged. Like a wild dog ready to rip the throat out of whoever approached him, he waited. Wain immediately tried to calm him down, but no words came from his mouth as he tried to speak.
His vocal cords trembled, and Wain looked down at his hands... he was afraid. Afraid he would die at the hands of the monster in the car. He had never felt such rage before, it almost felt physical as if he could reach out and touch it. The air became cold and motionless as if it did not want to offend Asura.
Mel turned to him, but before they could say anything, Asura punched the door off the car. Everyone sat stunned as the door shot across the town, cutting its way through a building. Before they realized it, Asura disappeared into the night as if he were never there. Although he was barefoot, Wain never heard his steps. "How?..." Wain thought the silence was heavy.
Asura, driven by rage, became unstable after hearing about Lily. Letting out a roar that could be heard throughout the town, causing panic as the townspeople fled to the safety of their homes. He tore through alleys in a feral state like an animal. Propelling himself from the walls by digging his fingers into the surface, flinging himself through the town streets searching for any quotidian mana.
In his anger, he left paths of destruction wherever he went, flipping cars and bursting through building walls. Nothing was safe from his rampage. After running through most of the town, he became more erratic. In his fit of rage, he lost control of himself. It wasn't until he smashed his way through a car, obliterating it into shards of metal, that he finally began to calm down enough to formulate conscious thoughts.
"Where is she...? Where is Lilly? HOW DARE THEY TAKE HER AGAIN! HE SAVED HER, AND SHE WAS HAPPY!" He imagined the look on her face as she sat chained up once again... "HOW COULD SHE FORGIVE ME?! HOW COULD SHE TRUST US, AND WE LET HER DOWN?!" He gripped the car, ready to throw it at a nearby house. Every muscle in his body was tense.
However, he stopped. Down the road from him, a warehouse stood. The large brick structure was expansive, with windows lining the tops of the walls. A dim light poked through, revealing that it was currently being occupied. Yet, it was silent. The only sound that could be heard was coyotes in the distance.
It was radiating quotidian mana. The smell was appalling. Asura charged straight towards it with all the strength he could muster. With no attempt to stop, Asura ran fast, slamming through the warehouse's wall. Within fractions of seconds, Asura processed what was happening in the room. Before any rock touched the floor, his eyes studied every apparent detail. "There it was..."
The monster he could smell was now right in front of him. Asura had never seen a monster like this before. It was hard to recognize, but after smelling its quotidian mana, he could tell what family the monster belonged to. It was a Faerie... A massive black tree with multiple-colored eyes scattered all over the trunk.
From the eyes, some black liquid poured onto the floor as if it were crying in pain. The repulsive sight of its eyes opening and closing, squirting the liquid out, made Asura's skin crawl. It was huge, almost filling the entire warehouse with its large roots that sprawled throughout the building.
Near the top of the trunk, instead of leaves, was a pair of long jaws spread open as it threw cultists into the maw with its long branches. Thousands of teeth were lined in rows, devouring its prey effortlessly. Corpses of already eaten cultist members could be seen within the teeth of the jaws as it chewed. Their severed, motionless bodies slowly melted away. Asura watched as blood ran down the trunk in rivers, falling onto the floor as it devoured them. From the corner of his eye, Asura watched as Lily was picked up by the monster.
Continuing his momentum forward, Asura used his speed to slam into the monster's side, launching it into the opposite wall. With an ear-piercing scream of pain that shattered the glass around them, it crashed through, dropping Lily from its grasp. Asura quickly caught the falling child, holding her for a brief moment. Taking the moment, he could only thank Judex Divinum for her safety. "She's safe," he thought... "Oh God, she is safe..."
From behind, Asura felt a familiar presence emerge from the shadows. He whipped his head around to find Malachi standing in the middle of the room. Alongside him was the Beastman... On his other side was someone new. A female who stood about six foot tall with her head wrapped with ornately decorated red bandages.
Only her mouth slipped past the taut bandages that covered her face. She looked human, but her bottom half-revealed her true identity. She wore a torn white dress with a long scaly tail poking out the bottom. "A Naga," Asura thought as he studied her. From the dragon kingdom, the Naga were half-humanoid, half-snake-like people.
Malachi could only see the silhouette of Asura in the dark. The poor lighting hid the ogre's features. Only his rage-fueled eyes protruded from the darkness. However, Malachi easily recognized Asura from his unique presence. The stench of blood followed Asura wherever he went. Malachi smiled as he began to clap,
"Bravo, Asura. It's so nice to see you again. However, I need more sacrifices, so if you would give me back that child, I'd greatly appreciate it."
Malachi held his hand out, and Asura spat at it. Dashing backward, holding her protectively, he pushed Lily through the hole created by his earlier entrance,
"Look, you need to find Mel and the others. I'll deal with these jerks. Just run away and don't look back."
"But-"
Asura roared, scaring the child.
"GO!"
He turned around as Lily ran away crying behind him. After witnessing Lily on the verge of getting eaten, Asura could no longer contain himself. He was going to slaughter all of them, even if he had to do it a hundred times. No... A thousand times, he would keep killing them until they decided to take their own lives. "No mercy..." he thought, as he pounded his fists eagerly, desiring nothing more than to smash Malachi's face in.
"I don't make deals with assholes who kill kids. It's fucked up. Wait, how about this deal? I beat your face in, and you let me?"
Wiping the spit on his hand off on his robe, Malachi's face twisted in disgust.
"Well, I tried to reason with you, Asura. Why do you care so much for the humans? They are vile creatures who only care for themselves. Calling the monster races evil and saying that they need to be purged. The Temple pushes only corrupt, hypocritical beliefs... What nonsense. You know this. You have experienced this discrimination... Yet you aid them? Why I ask myself?"
He held his arms out wide.
"We are all made by Judex Divinum. Intended for good purposes. Our purpose is to wipe out the human race. These filthy pests commit rape, slaughter one another, lie, steal, and tear each other apart. Can you imagine? Their own race? Monsters are simple. They eat, and they kill to survive. There is no evil in nature. Humans torment monsters, not the other way around. You believe me, right, Asura?"
"What a bunch of poetic bullshit. Do all bad guys have to give a monolog or some shit? All I know is you are the asshole who tried to kill Lily, not them. I'll make you wish I killed your ass after I get a hold of you."
Asura in his mad state, slammed his two upper fists into his palm. The impact sounded like a gunshot, shattering the eardrums of Malachi and the nearby monsters. His white eyes pierced through the dark room. "Full of such beautiful fury. Yes, I can't wait for what you will accomplish for me! What great rage, forged by years of suffering, loneliness, and madness."
Malachi's eyes were hungry, eager to achieve another pawn to use in the grand game of chess. Asura was the last Ogre from his realm, after all. "What has he been through as he sat alone in his realm all this time? He could only sit in the rage that festered and boiled within him. Helpless in a wasteland that once was the Ogre Kingdom." Malachi couldn't help but be a little afraid because of this. Those eyes were like an unpredictable, wild, mad dog, finally uncaged and ready to bite the hand that feeds it.
"I will tame you. Someday."
Lost in thought, Malachi stood frozen as the Beastman jumped before him. She blocked Asura's path as he struck wildly at the cultist leader. His fists struck the Beastman's hammer, but this time, it crumbled under the force of the thunderous blow. Malachi could only watch the Beastman fly past him, flipping and tumbling across the ground.
Asura didn't care what it took. He would finally kill this smug bastard in front of him. Ready to strike at Malachi again, he swung his fists towards his scarred face. The ogre could see it in his eyes as his fist stopped an inch away from Malachi's brow. Fear... the fear of dying.
"Afraid? How ironic that the bastard who preaches of slaughtering humans is afraid of death himself. If you want to kill them all, that includes you, buddy. Go ahead, end your life!"
He struggled to fight against the force that prevented him from pushing his fist any further, the Naga's tail wrapped tightly around his bicep. Asura roared, grabbing her tail with his other two arms. With a tight grip, he swung the Naga around by her tail. Once building enough momentum, he let go, sending her across the room and smashing her into a nearby wall. Asura turned his attention back to Malachi and prepared to finish the man once and for all.
As he prepared to leap, he stopped as a shadow darted before him. The Naga woman recovered swiftly... Now in front of him again, Asura turned to strike at her but froze as she tore off the head cover, revealing a headful of feisty dark green snakes slithering around on her head. Her four emerald eyes pierced through the night. "Her eyes are dangerous..."
This wasn't just any Naga but a Gorgon, one of three. Filled with unstable vicious quotidian mana, her slit eyes commanded Asura not to look away. "Fuck..." He was stuck. In an instant, Asura's left side of his body began to turn to stone as the petrifying mana began to spread through his body. "Which one are you... Medusa? Nah, she's prettier... What were her sister's names again? I should've listened to Orthos more..."
The realization began to settle in, and it wouldn't be long before his entire body was converted to stone. Malachi laughed as he witnessed Asura struggling to fight against the petrifying mana coursing throughout his body. It wasn't a surprise every monster succumbed to the power of the Gorgons.
It's the reason he chose her. From behind Malachi, stumbling back into the room with bones exposed out of open wounds, the Beastman reappeared. Asura watched as her bones shifted and sunk into her body, snapping back into their natural residence. The noise was horrendous as always. With a face covered in blood, she laughed with Malachi.
Clasping his hands behind his back Malachi was certain of their victory over the ogre. He would find another use for the ogre's body. "A shame but what can you do."
"I guess the legendary Asura will finally know what death feels like. What a pathetic waste of a strong ogre... All of this could have been avoided if you simply joined. Why resist? What do you gain from the humans? Comradery? A joke. Fighting? We both know you could get that on our side, more even. What drives you to fight for them? Why fight for a world that hates you?"