Tides Of Protomis CVII

Entrance into the Demon Realm

New OP-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50IamrE6UGg

The members of the group found themselves rushing through the tunnel between realms. The space itself was… Strange, to say the least, wholly empty and monochromatic outside of themselves. Arctaius looked forth as he noted a light not too far away; evidently, the others did too.

“That’s the way out?” Alarick questioned.

“I’d hope it is. I won’t be happy if we end up in some random world that has nothing to do with where we’re trying to go.” Kazimir replied. Liang nodded in agreement.

“Yes, it’s not as if we know what else lies here-” He began, only interrupted by a loud bellow resonating through the space. Something followed by what looked to be a tidal wave of demons coming toward them. At the head was a winged creature that appeared humanoid. Given how he barked out orders, he was apparently some sort of leader.

“Don’t let them get past!” He yelled.

“As if you’ll stop us!” Jirou shouted in response. Shortly followed by the Yakuza leaping forward and beginning to tear through the demon’s ranks. Single hits obliterate some and take chunks out of others. The red particles associated with their bodies breaking down began to saturate the air. It didn’t take long for the group to be eliminated and for their advance to continue. As they made their way through, they found themselves in what looked to be a woodland, or at least something analogous to one. The “trees” they found seemed abnormal in nature. Though mostly sharing the same structure, the shapes of the branches and leaves certainly didn’t look like any they had seen. This much in addition to their immense size. For the time being, they were alone, allowing them to take in the scenery.

“This is Demon Realm, huh?” Kazimir mumbled.

“It definitely isn’t Earth.” Miyamoto responded.

Attentive pairs of eyes began to scan the area, searching for any hints of enemies. Given the knowledge they lacked, who knew what unseen obstacles lay in their way. To that end, Arctaius began speaking.

“We’d best be careful about touching anything… The last thing we need is some kind of… Demon virus in our bloodstream, if that much is even possible.” As Alarick spoke, Arctaius nodded in agreement.

“We’ll need to keep scouting as well. Never know what could pop up.” A slow advance began, their feet crushing the strange grass underneath audible. They were here, that was a start, but to Zhao, other questions needed answers, soon, at that.

“We need to figure out where we’re going…” Miyamoto scratched the back of her head, despite how much she knew about demons…

“In that regard, I’m not really sure.”

“Looks like we’re gonna have to wing it from here… Maybe we should try making a map?” Kazimir questioned. Arctaius walked past him as he spoke once more.

“We don’t exactly have Chu Bei on our team right now. I think we’d be hard-pressed to figure that out.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. As Kazimir sighed, Gilga decided to offer up his own idea.

“I wouldn’t say that… While we’re waiting, there’s something else we can take care of. It ain't like what Volker said was completely wrong. So why not get some training in?”

The looks he got told him what their response to this statement was. The man raised his hands in his defense, taking a step back.

“Oi, Oi, It was just a suggestion!”

“That’s something we can worry about after we gain our bearings…”

Apparently, this relative quiet was not to last long. As a sizeable insect-like creature bounded down from above. The youth looked upon this with apparent disinterest, firing off a ray of Plasma from his hand and eviscerating it. Another also jumped forth to attack, paying no mind to how easily the first was killed. As Kazimir noted that it was rushing toward him, he promptly stopped it by pushing his telekinetic influence outward. Miyamoto swiped her hand, slicing the creature in half as it began to dissipate into particles that, strangely enough, seemed to seep into the ground.

“Looks like we’re gonna have company soon.” Miyamoto noted.

“Didn’t take long… Let’s clean up house.”

Yet another wave of lower-class demons threw themselves into the meat grinder while their targets stood ready to dispatch yet another group… But this much was stopped within moments as a large, blue-skinned creature that somewhat resembled an oni appeared in front of them, a blade in hand. In short moments, they all began to dissipate. The beast started to stroll forward, paying no mind to the more humanoid creatures who began launching punches, which didn’t even manage to mark his skin. A simple swipe of his hand eliminated them then and there. The two who could sense demonic energy looked at him with narrow-eyed expressions. Their demeanor had changed with his appearance alone.

“That one… He’s stronger than all of them, and by no small amount. He’s the true threat here.”

“Yeah…” Miyamoto agreed.

The girl began to slip her gloves on as Arctaius cracked his knuckles. The demon himself continued to step forward as he sheathed his blade. This much was followed by a group of five others landing around him, seemingly, his entourage. The creature scoffed as he began speaking.

“Weaklings, those ones back there… There’s no way they could handle prey like this.” The Oni remarked.

“Right you are… Heard that they killed those Mashavet, even had Gusion running back into his cave.” One noted.

“Those are some pretty big feats, eh? I guess we’ll get to see if the rumors are true.” Another responded.

“Don’t get your hopes up. They’re just humans- after all. And even if they did all that, it's not like they stand a chance against him…” The group apparently took this in stride, paying the weaker demons no mind, especially given their two sensors didn’t note that they were any stronger than average. Or, at the least, enough to make a difference. The strongest among the creatures spoke once more.

“So...you’re those humans they’re talking about, eh. I don’t believe I've seen your species come here before…”

“As far as we know, we’re the only ones… And who might you be?” Arctaius responded.

The demon stepped forward with a smirk.

“The name’s Crocell. They call me the warrior god. But, call me what you want, I couldn't care less… The point is, you all interest me. Heard that you’re the ones who killed off the untamed. Unusual for news to get around that quick here. It's a good thing Maleggan requested for me to go after you lot.”

“Is that so? Looks like we got our first enemy here.” Gilga responded

Crocell cracks his neck as he begins to stride forward. The earth under them began to tremble under his influence.

“Do be warned, I'm a different breed than any of those demons you fought.” The demon boasted, Jubilance in his tone. Many such enemies had said such things before their battles, but a question had been raised in their minds. Were they going to face one with the skill and power to back up said confidence or another braggart. Were the cheers and faith displayed by his followers not misplaced?

“Get 'em, Crocell!!”

“Can’t let some humans beat us on OUR turf!”

“Damn Right, Levius…” Crocell responded. The members of the group glanced at each other, with a simple question coming to the forefront.

“Who’s going first?” Alarick questioned. Arctaius stepped forward almost immediately.

“That would be me. I’m in a fighting mood right now…” Arctaius responded. Alarick nodded at this, stepping back with his arms crossed. This wouldn’t be his only opportunity to battle, after all. And if he found that the being was too powerful, there was nothing to stop him from jumping in.

“If that’s the case, I'll take the next one that pops up.”

“Fine with me.”

Arctaius approached Crocell in a slow stride while Crocell did the same.

“There’s something wrong with that statement. That only happens if you get past me, and that won’t happen, humans.”

“Confident, Aren’t you…” Arctaius responded.

“Why would I not be? I know your limits. Your power will not be nearly enough.”

Within moments, the two had flashed across the ground, sending shockwaves flying outward in their wake, the clash between their fists only making a larger one that ruptured the ground under them, though significantly less than one would expect, even with both clearly not using their full strength. Something Arctaius took note of as well. Was the ground below them more durable, somehow? The line of questioning was thrown aside soon afterward as he focused on his battle. The two fighters were sent flying, propelled away as their respective opponents pushed more force into their strikes. But another exchange began soon, with the two stepping back into close range. Arctaius lowered his head as he attempted to knock the demon off his feet, but a quick jump put him in the position for a counterattack. His chosen technique, a knee to the jaw.

The youth was prepared for this, however. Arctaius eluded him by moving out of the attack’s path before tightly grabbing Crocell’s leg. Shortly following this up, hurling the creature into the sky, following him with great speed, and landing an axe kick on his head, launching him back onto the earth. The Oni forcefully changed direction, skidding rather than crashing directly. So this was a “Proto-human”, it seemed as if the battle would be interesting, he would even use his famous blade… To that end, it was finally removed from its hilt as he slipped into a strange stance, one that seemed to have loose defenses, a weak stance. What did he achieve by taking such a stance? That question was on Arctaius’ mind as he stared. For the time being, neither of them made a move. Instead, they chose to simply watch. All the while, Miyamoto stood there with squinted eyes.

“The amount of demon energy that one has...This could really end up being a problem.”

To Be Continued.

Chu Bei: An early explorer thought to be responsible for the finding and mapping of the East African coast's kingdoms by Chinese merchants, whose products were formerly brought forth by middlemen.