The shoulders of Turoth were slumped, his arms had been shattered, and he was shackled to the ground with his legs. His face was bruised, afraid, and even bloated. He was punched, kicked, and stepped on an excessive number of times.
"Hum m…. Hum m" The inside of Turoth's mouth was covered with dirt, and a rag was wrapped over it so that he wouldn't spit it out. If it weren't for his devil's blood, he was quite certain he wouldn't last even a single day in this place.
It's been three days since he was chained and confined to a corner, and it's been driving him crazy. And "His liege" had been sleeping for almost three nights, with Leviathan lying next to him the whole time.
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw "King" sitting up and cuddling a beast that the Netherworld refers to as Beasts of the End. This was a shocking sight for him.
Leviathans were created by their Queen Lilith, who vanished a very long time ago. The monsters were designed to consume everything, particularly the things that God had fashioned.
The sight of "King" drawing closer caused a fluttering in Turoth's icy devil heart.
"Humm… Hmmm." Turoth opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out were feeble, muffled grunts. At the same time, he accidentally swallowed bits of dirt through his throat.
Tenshi continued, causing Turoth, whose heart was already trembling, to skip a beat. "So you were the one who harmed Liya," Tenshi added.
As Turoth attempted to utter a sentence, he was unable to do so and had to squat down, shaking all over with tears flowing from his eyes. The taste of dirt that was scorching through his throat, together with the sensation of being pressed, constricted, and claustrophobic, prompted him to release tears from his eyes repeatedly.
Tenshi couldn't help but feel sorry for the fat demon, who seemed shriveled and feeble while lying on the ground, and he said, "Sigh... I am not going to torment you."
Even after discovering that he is Lucifer and gaining his power, Tenshi was still a kid with human morals and feelings. This remained true even after he had obtained Lucifer's strength. He had absolutely no intention of torturing Turoth in any way.
The next thing Turoth knew, he felt a touch on his forehead, and all of a sudden, he was transported into a realm of... memories. These memories ranged from the time when he was a basic demon who worked hard, using his smart intellect and magic to level up ranks. As the photographs began to materialize in this weird space, they brought back a variety of emotions.
And these were memories that he was ashamed of, which led to his getting corrupted, lounging about, losing his purpose, and causing him to lament the errors that he had committed in the past.
As someone who was "gifted" with demonic mana, Turoth was aware of the fact that he had the potential to develop into a high-ranking devil-like Gargoth or Kargoth. The privileges that come with being a middle-rank devil ng a high-rank devil that is on the verge of becoming a devil, however, caused him to lose his drive, which was a great shame.
"Truly, your existence is nothing short of pitiful... You had the ability to develop into a strong Demonic Warlock, but unfortunately, you felt happy with yourself much too soon," a voice that sounded like the "King" said.
"While I don't have the heart to torment you... I am sure Liya would love tearing you apart."
…
As was to be predicted, Liya tore Turoth apart into a mangled mess, and Tenshi did not hesitate to utilize his new power to extract all the vitality and mana from his portion, which had been generously provided by Liya.
Kargoth was a high-ranking devil who was also a henchman for a devil by the name of Zariel, who was the Archduke and first in command of Limbo, the first circle of Hell. Turoth was only a henchman for Kargoth. Kargoth was a henchman for Zariel.
Unfortunately for Tenshi, he was unable to acquire any information from Kargoth when he resurrected him as his Shadow Warrior. As a result, the only thing he discovered about Kargoth was that he was very powerful and had some issues with the Devil called Bel, who was a Duke.
Even Aegis does not have any memories of his previous life other than the skills he had in that life.
Kargoth was unable to move up in rank from High Devil to Devil due to several scandals and controversies; yet, his strength was far more than that of the majority of high-ranking devils.
The information that he had acquired in relation to magical arts was by far the most significant. Even though Demons & Devils that were born with mana are able to utilize it instinctively without the need to "control" it, in order for them to cast higher-tier magic, they will need to have a rudimentary understanding of mana theory.
"Kargoth, my sword, has skills of being a knight while maintaining some of his personality as he usually acts 'honorable.' While Aegis, my protector, my shield, a hobgoblin, is unruly yet respectable and a savage."
Tenshi squandered the whole of the day, playing around with the shadow-like abilities he had just acquired.
Tenshi had the ability to transform anybody who had passed away in his presence into a Shadow Soldier; the more powerful the individual was, the more mana he would require to resurrect them, and the more unique his servant would be.
The goblins that he had examined were just Shadow Soldiers, who are incapable of speech and can do only the most basic actions.
Aegis and Kargoth, before they were given names, were resurrected as Shadow Warriors, which is a higher grade of warriors with more intellect who can communicate in simple terms. However, if you gave them names, they became more intelligent and moved a step closer to reaching a higher rank… maybe a Shadow General.
When he entered a "battle mode," black shadow tendrils would sprout through his body. This caused his total strength to grow, and it also gave him the ability to create weapons out of the shadow tendrils themselves. On the other hand, he can't always transform into Full Goku, so he'll have to rely on that Mode as his ace in the hole.
Aside from his shadow abilities, he did not acquire much else, with the exception of his wings, which, when held, may function as a shield and can discharge a holy light that is capable of destroying low-level demonic entities; however, his mana would be used in this process.
His summons has the ability to live forever. They have the option of remaining "outside" or waiting under his shadow, which contains a whole other dimension that, alas, he is unable to reach... Yet.
The Shadows restore their health by exchanging it for his mana, which means that they are able to engage in an infinite amount of combat, as long as he has mana to sustain them.
Tenshi instructed the four revived winged imps that he had just resurrected to "scout."
They ventured out, fluttering their big wings as they went, looking for another cave and checking the area surrounding the cave for any potential threats.
Tenshi closed his eyes and felt the connection he had with his shadow, as he had previously done to Liya. He also saw via a variety of perspectives provided by Winged-Imp. It's similar like observing a surveillance system on a number of different displays at once.
Tenshi blinked his eyes open and turned away from them before returning to the area to gather anything significant that he would need to take with him. Since his position had been discovered, along with that of the missing high-ranking devils, a search team would soon be sent.
Tenshi is not one to take risks and lacks the arrogance necessary to take on a full-fledged Devil, which is extremely immune to the effects of magic and is far more powerful than a regular powerful Demon. In addition to this, they have access to the power of the Devil, which may be used in ways that are distinct from casting spells. Similar to several forms of weapon art.
Tenshi uttered a "tch" as he scratched the same itch that had been bothering him at the nape of his neck.
"Get in my shadow," Tenshi gave orders to his shadows, save for Kargoth, who was the only one to remain since he was half gargoyle and hence had wings, allowing him to fly.
"Liya, I shall be flying on your back," Tenshi said. Tenshi did not make an attempt to conjure his wings since it is possible to either trace it or depict it soaring through the sky in a manner like an angel.
Even a rumor about an angel, has the potential to unleash havoc in Hell, so he wasn't taking any risks with the situation.
A playful roar from Liya indicated that she would be willing to assist in carrying him.
While Tenshi was flying on Liya's back, the luggage was carried by Kargoth and the other Winged-Imps who had returned.
Tenshi, who felt a special connection to the cave, said, "This cave will be something I will miss." It was the beginning of his enormous adventure to reach higher than the clouds.
◈ ━ ◆ ━ ◈
"My grace." A demon in the form of an Imp, which seemed more menacing and bigger with wings on its back, said, "It is all empty."
"Tch... you worthless Abishai can't locate a basic High-Demon?" remarked a monster that was seated in a commanding position on a throne made of bones.
A crimson-scaled behemoth that stood 12 feet tall and had gigantic wings that resembled bats, clawed extremities, and teeth that poured a green, blazing poison from them.
This humanoid creature is now serving as the current second in command of Limbo, Bel, the Arch-devil, and the Duke of Limbo.
"Find me, Oreasha"
◈ ━ ◆ ━ ◈
Glaciers and icebergs were moving at the speed of a human sprinting over a cold, frozen landscape that was covered with ice mountains and spikes all around them. They were continually crashing with one another and with the gigantic mountains that surrounded them.
A tremor abruptly rocked a coffin that was encircled by gigantic frozen animals. The lid of the coffin was blown off with such power that it destroyed a number of frozen creatures, revealing a beautiful lady with snow-white hair who was sleeping within.
She was carrying a silvery blade in her hand that had been well carved and included big embellishments at the base of the blade. The grip resembled marble.
The lady suddenly opened her eyes, which were a dark yellow color, which caused a great surge of power that melted the ice that was all around her.
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A/N: I am still on vacation, so please ignore any grammatical mistakes and bad sentence formation as I wrote this on my phone.