Solaris watched helplessly as the golden chain wrapped around his body. As it did, Solaris was yanked into the sky. Looking down, he saw the beaked devil waving mockingly.
Solaris shut his eyes.
You got it now.
Solaris did not dream; his consciousness simply slipped out of focus.
Solaris had no idea how much time had passed.
Yet he still opened his eyes, as his vision came into view, he'd expected to be near a dead king, yet he was not. His body was situated on the floor below a large pile of gold and bones. On top of the bones and gold, a massive throne sat, and of course, sitting on the throne was a demon, a king of demons in fact.
Malith.
"What the hell other me?"
Solaris grumbled under his breath before looking himself over. He seemed to be in a chair and was tied to it by the golden chain. Otherwise, he was unharmed
Solaris opened his mouth to speak, yet the framilar delayed speech cut him off.
"Eclipse, you stand punishment for the violent murder of five hundred ninety-seven of my generals, as well as two of my devils. I've let you glavent for long enough. I have attempted to cultivate you into a worthwhile meal, yet you are simply taking too long. Due to this, I've decided to let you leave this layer of hell."
The demon paused for a moment as if letting Solaris digest the information, then he added.
"Albeit only if you can best my prince in a duel. Of course, you will have full reign of the castle as the battle grounds, and I will make it a fun arena for the two of you."
As Malith finished his speech, Solaris was left both speechless at multiple things that the king had mentioned, including the names of the demon, being a devil, and general, both names he had claimed, and the fact that he was currently in hell.
Yet he was also furious at the fact that he was only being let go because he wasn't good enough, he wasn't good enough to be a meal, and he wasn't good enough to face a king in a duel; he simply wasn't good enough for anything.
Solaris looked up at Malith, rage boiling in his eyes, yet his mouth was silent. As he observed the king, he noticed something, something he could barely see. The king had an expression on his face unlike anything the demons had displayed before.
As he observed the massive king, Solaris slowly began piecing together the expression, from the slight changes in the way hed spoken to the distant gaze, to even a slight tremble, Solaris knew that expression.
The expression was one Solaris knew very well, in fact.
The king is scared.
What did I do to scare a king of demons? Does this mean?
Did he not want me because I'm not good enough, or is it because I'm too good?
Why would Malith, the king of demons, be scared of me?
Solaris' eyes widened in shock at the realization of the scared king, yet they soon fell.
"It's not me who hes scared of."
These words left Solaris ' mouth in an almost involuntary whisper; he'd realized that the other being had taken over, yet it wasn't to kill the king, it was simply to terrify it.
How the entity had scared a king was completely beyond Solaris, and simply the thought of thinking it even scared Solaris.
He had been wary of the entity in the past, yet slowly began to rely on him, yet now he was back to the start.
How powerful is he really?
Solaris took a fearful breath and spoke.
"You will let me go if I kill your prince? Then what of my mentor? Will he also be let go?"
The king took a moment and then spoke.
"I shall allow it."
Solaris looked at the king and nodded once before daring to open his mouth once more.
"May I ask you a question, before I slaughter your son?"
"one."
"You spoke earlier of Generals and Devils, may I know how you learned of our system of ranking you, creatures?"
"That is simple, we created the ranks, so we named them."
As Malith finished his final remark, the chains tightened, and Solaris was pulled out of the grand hall.
The corridors of the Castle shifted as the chair shot through the building, its speed astonishing. After a few minutes, he found himself in a room just as big as the grand hall. In the center, a table with a gold chain wrapping around a tall being with a tattered black jacket, as well as tan skin and brown hair, with a prominent scar on his cheek.
It was Ember.
Solaris's eyes widened with pure joy as he saw the reason he'd been on such a crusade to kill the demons.
A large smile appeared on his face as he looked at the tall man, yet it only lasted a moment as he watched two creatures enter the room from the opposite side. His expression darkened as he saw two demons that he knew so well enter the room.
The first was a hyena-faced creature with one large wing and another smaller wing; the other was a larger creature with a beak and two massive wings. As Solaris looked at the bird, he began to notice something different from the last time they met.
As the chain unraveled from his body, Solaris rushed out of the chair and to Ember.
As he reached the table, the golden chain came undone and let Ember wake up.
His eyes shot open with a violent flame burning in them.
"IM GONNA KILL YOU!!!"