I've always been driven by instinct to survive, in my wildest dreams as a small hatchling I never would have thought I'd be where I am today..
I was born into the first circle of Hell, the words "kill, steal, survive" were my lullaby. My earliest memory is the stench of sulfur and the snarls of hellhounds, their jaws snapping at my heels as I ran and ran but to no avail, no matter how far I ran, I could never hide.
The first time I killed was in self-defence against one, its blood stained my hands as I tore it apart to feast upon its flesh. Why did I eat the rotten flesh of a hellhound you may ask? Because the taste of decay was far sweeter than the gnawing ache of starvation.
Alas, I hungered for more.. this insatiable hunger for more blood.. more flesh.. it was a never-ending battle every day against those pesky hellhounds just to feed off their rotten corpses.
One year after I started fighting them, I found the gates to the second hell, I jumped in and found the succubi of the second circle; Beautiful women who seduced even the demon gods themselves, they would lure you in and pull your soul right out until you cease to exist, yet I wasn't tempted, I resisted..
I bore the excruciating pain of resisting their dreams until I felt my brain about to melt, I fought and I fought and I fell to my knees begging for all of this to stop, I died and I came back from the dead, yet my hunger wasn't fulfilled, it grew day after day..
Ten years later I found the gates to the third hell, there I found huge demons that feasted on the smaller ones, it was an endless feast, the big ate the small and the small ate the smaller, it was eat or be eaten..
I was almost eaten ten times? a hundred times? no, a thousand times or more, I fought the gluttonous trolls and the hungry orcs of the third circle for over two hundred years until I found the gates to the fourth hell.
At the fourth gate of hell, It was starting to look up.
I saw food.. delicious food, swords, armour, and jewels extending to as far as the eye could see.. I wasn't going to fight with my bare fists anymore, and I wasn't going to be hungry anymore.
but oh, if I only knew..
For each sword I wielded I almost lost an arm fighting its guardian, for each meal I ate I had to hunt for it, my greed grew with every piece I obtained, and my hunger grew with every meal I ate and so I was relentless, I hunted for the shiniest blade and the sturdiest armour I could find, yet I wasn't satisfied, I was never satisfied..
Every time I thought I had enough, a shinier piece appeared out of nowhere; After a millennium I had enough, I still greeded for more but I pushed away my greed and sought the fifth gate.
Then, in the fifth circle, as I stood on the precipice of despair, I heard a voice. A hallucination, perhaps:
YOU HAVE REACHED THE FIFTH CIRCLE OF HELL
VALIDATING DEMON'S RECORD..
FIRST CIRCLE RATING: S+
PERFECT CLEAR
SECOND CIRCLE RATING: S+
PERFECT CLEAR
THIRD CIRCLE RATING: S+
PERFECT CLEAR
FOURTH CIRCLE RATING: SSS+
EXCELLENT CLEAR
EQUIPMENT RATING: SSS+
CLASS GENERATED: DEMON KING
NAME: BELIAL
LEVEL: 324
RACE: DOKKAEBI
CLASS: DEMON KING
SPECIAL SKILLS: Devil's Whisper
HEALTH: 10,000 / 10,000
DEMONIC ENERGY: 25,000 / 25,000
STATS:
STR: 250 | DEX: 210 | CON: 215 | WIS: 325
SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT COURSE
YOU HAVE BEEN APPOINTED THE CASTELLAN OF THE FOURTH FORTRESS
At first, I didn't understand what it was, maybe it was the voice of one of the demon gods? or maybe a hallucination after a thousand years of fighting.
I didn't care to decipher its words. But as I stepped into the fifth circle of Hell, I found myself standing before a grand castle.
Demons, resembling me for the first time, greeted me with bowed heads.
For the first time in millennia, I felt a flicker of satisfaction. Their introduction as castle guards and their show of loyalty and submission to me made me feel powerful, it filled my hunger for power that grew when I was in the fourth circle.
For fifty years, I savoured the comforts of the Fourth Fortress. Fresh meat replaced the taste of rotten flesh, and for the first time, I slept without fear of being attacked.
Conversations with fellow demons replaced the loneliness I always felt. Yet, even in this newfound contentment, a restlessness stirred within me, another hunger rose, a hunger for more power.
I learned of the seventy-two fortresses that dotted the fifth circle, each governed by a Castellan.
I later learned that the voice I heard and the hallucinations I saw when I stepped into the fifth circle were called "The Guideline" a system put in place by the demon gods to guide the demons and filter out the worthy from the unworthy.
But how do I deem myself worthy? the guideline called me the demon king yet it placed me in fourth place.. How could I settle for fourth when the first lay within my reach? The desire for greater authority burned within me, fueling my ambition to conquer and rule over the entirety of the fifth circle.
And so, with a newfound purpose, my conquest began.
I claimed the head of Baal, Castellan of the third fortress, and seized control of it.
Asmodeus, Castellan of the second fortress, fell to my blade after a gruelling battle that spanned a century. But when I faced Lucifer, the Castellan of the first fortress and overlord of the fifth circle of Hell, I had finally met my match.
For the first time, defeat tasted bitter on my tongue. I retreated, humbled, to the second fortress, only to find Lucifer's forces hot on my heels.
Desperation gripped me as I fled to the third fortress, then back to the fourth, doing nothing but cowering away in the face of Lucifer's overwhelming power.
Lucifer's laughter echoed in my ears, mocking my weakness. But I wasn't going to sit still, I, Belial was going to take over the first fortress even if it took ten thousand years.
I started planning until I came up with a strategy, "Lucifer likes to knock on the iron when it's hot, so why don't I give him a fake iron to knock on?" I thought to myself, and so I spread rumours that I was heavily injured from our last fight and that recovering would take years, and so when Lucifer heard, he rode out to take down the fourth fortress as well.
But there, I waited, I laid an ambush right outside the fortress and lured him in, as soon as he passed the gates they were immediately closed, and rains of hellfire fell upon him and his army.
As his forces fell before me, I felt a surge of triumph unlike any other. With a swift stroke, I claimed Lucifer's head, his once-proud visage now a trophy of my victory.
I ascended to the position of overlord, ruling over the fifth circle of Hell and commanding the first fortress. But as I surveyed my newfound domain, I knew that my triumph came with consequences. The balance of power had shifted, and I could feel the eyes of Hell upon me, watching, waiting for any sign of weakness.
Word reached me of an alliance forming against me, the seventy-one Castellans conspiring in fear that I would one day claim their heads as I claimed the heads of Baal, Asmodeus and Lucifer. The prospect of facing such a coalition was daunting, even for one as powerful as I.
Faced with overwhelming odds, I made the difficult decision to move on, passing through the gates of the sixth hell.
As I passed the gates of the sixth hell, the guideline showed once more:
THE DEMON GOD MOLOCH IS SHOWING INTEREST IN YOU
THE DEMON GOD BAPHOMET IS SHOWING INTEREST IN YOU
THE DEMON GODDESS LILITH IS SHOWING INTEREST IN YOU
For the first time in History, someone caught the attention of the three demon gods together, I felt proud, but still hungry..
I chose to devote myself to the demon god Moloch, a decision that I made after a lot of thinking.
Moloch's ideals aligned with mine, might makes right and the weak shall bow to the strong, but it also drew the wrath of the other two demon gods, Baphomet and Lilith.
Undeterred by their anger, I rode out in service to Moloch, carrying out his missions and doing his dirty work.
With his blessing upon me, I waged war against the worshippers of Baphomet and Lilith, deeming them heretics, I slaughtered them all, child and adult, man and woman, young and old all alike like kettle, I burnt their houses and their temples until their towns were nothing but ashes.
The more heretics I struck down, the more powerful Moloch's blessing became, fueling my insatiable hunger for dominance. Each victory strengthened my connection to him, solidifying my position as his chosen champion and striking fear into the hearts of his rivals.
But with each step further into Moloch's embrace, I could feel his tendrils tightening around my soul. Was I truly his chosen? or merely a pawn in his hands?
I began to question my loyalty to him, but what are morals in the face of power?
After a millennium of service to Moloch in the sixth hell, I decided to pass to the seventh, and there I saw the depth of violence and cruelty. There, the air was thick with the stench of blood and sulfur.
Something seemed to have taken over the minds of the demons here driving them to kill and only kill, but somehow I wasn't affected; Maybe it was the protection of Moloch or even the guideline, but what I saw there was engraved in my memories.
The methods of killing were as varied as they were gruesome. Some were flayed alive, their tortured cries mingling with the roar of flames. Others were submerged in molten lava, their flesh melting away as they writhed in agony. Others met their end with crushed lungs or shattered skulls, their bodies broken and mangled beyond recognition.
Amidst this orgy of violence, I was appointed Castellan of the first fortress, a position that spared me from the horrors of battle. Without hesitation, I made my way through the eighth gate, eager to leave the carnage of the seventh circle behind me.
For some reason I didn't see the eighth realm, the guideline sent me straight to the ninth as I was appointed a commander In one of the demon kings' armies.
Through deception and manipulation, I killed my superiors and ascended the ranks, again, what are morals on the ladder of power? With each lie, I climbed higher until I was close to the peak, second only to the demon king himself.
But ambition knows no bounds, and I hungered for more. I was also deemed by the guideline as a demon king, and It was only right that I take my place.
And so I backstabbed Beelzebub in a moment of vulnerability, taking his place on the infernal throne.
"And so I, Belial, the demon king of lies, stand among you today, my brethren" I proclaimed, my words echoing throughout the chamber. "Long have we endured the brutal existence of Hell, where survival is a daily battle and the very act of living is a cruel torment"
"But I say to you, there is another way" I continued, my gaze sweeping over the assembled demons. "A world beyond Hell's borders, a realm of green lands and fresh air, where we need not fight for survival or kill for sustenance. A world where we can live as civilized and dignified beings, free from the shackles of our gruesome existence"
"With my ascension to the throne, I pledge to lead us into this new era, to forge a path to the world of mortals and claim it as our own" I declared, my words igniting a spark of hope in the hearts of my fellow demons.
"The seed has been planted" I proclaimed, my voice ringing across the palace. "I have revealed our existence to the mortal world, offering power to their unsuspecting kind in exchange for sacrifices. With each offering, the barrier separating our realms weakens, drawing us closer to our ultimate triumph"
A chorus of cheers erupted from the assembled demons, their fervour matching my own. With a gesture of triumph, I cast aside my cape and ascended the altar, the pentagram beneath my feet crackling with dark energy.
"The time has come" I declared, my voice echoing throughout the chamber. "Prepare the legions, for I, Belial, shall descend into the mortal realm to claim the final pieces needed to open the gates. Victory awaits us, my brethren, and I shall lead our kind to conquest and glory!"
As my words echoed into the throne room, a sense of anticipation filled the air, as the dark energy coming out of the pentagram engulfed me, after a moment, I was no longer In the palace, but flying through the fabric of space at an absurd speed, "Finally, I'll free my people of this hellish existence"