Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 6, 2013 1:43:55 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax walked through the portal he had created, its frozen doppelganger now in existence on the fifth circle. He stalked toward the nearest structure that seemed like it might house a demon.
He understood once again why the devils who had originally bound him chose the fourth circle. The cool air was refreshing, invigorating. The ambient temperature would require most humans to wear warmer clothing. It helped Alginax focus.
He still wasn't comfortable with the idea of casting his lot with a devil. He certainly wasn't thrilled about sending his brothers and sisters to die in Lotus' infernal war. But in the long term, Hell needed stability. This was an ugly way to do it, but it had to be done. If Hell remained in the state of discord it was in right now, Alginax would never be able to free his people.
A demon strolled out of the 'structure', carrying a saw-blade sword. It started to utter a threat, but Alginax wasn't listening to the words he spoke. The demon was careless, and wasn't guarding its thoughts. He searched for locations, favorite targets, anything indicative of a nephilim-
Fighting pits. Creatures not demons, some magical, some monstrous. Fighting powerful devils, fighting each other. Bloodshed. Murder. Cheering.
Arcane Arena.[/glow] "Hey, did you hear me?" the demon growled. "This place is under our command, under the authority-
[glow=teal,1,600]"Shut up," Alginax said, freezing the demon's mouth shut with a blast of icy energy using a flick of his wrist. The demon was more shocked than injured; his stunned hesitation allowed Alginax to grab the spine of his sword, freezing it solid and shattering it with a well-placed fist.
The demon realized now that Alginax was a threat, but far too late; the nephilim already had his hands and feet bound with frozen, spiked fetters, preventing any motion without stabbing pain, and an icy hand around his throat. "Where is the arcane arena?" he asked. By now the other demons noticed the nephilim assault their comrade. Alginax quickly threw up a wall of ice. It wouldn't stop them long, but it would certainly hold them long enough for Alginax to get his answers.
"I'll ask exactly one more time. After that, I'll kill you and try again somewhere else," Alginax said, grasping his katana with his free hand. "Where. Is. The arcane arena?"
The demon tried to speak, to tell Alginax the location of the nearest arena. His words never escaped the gag of ice Alginax had placed on him earlier, but his thoughts were totally unguarded. His directions were clearer than words would have been able to convey. Alginax had the location.
Alginax struck the demon with the pommel of his sword, knocking him unconscious. Very unconscious, as the blow left a dent in the demon's skull. He would definitely live. He would definitely not be okay.
Alginax got a running start before leaping high into the air, easily clearing the building just as the first of the demons began breaking through his wall. By the time they found their now-mentally-stunted compatriot, Alginax was long gone, heading for the arena.[/glow]
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 9, 2013 16:49:44 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Fifty years in the oubliette had seriously hindered Alginax's ability to judge the passage of time. He had been running for what might have only been a few minutes, or maybe several hours. He wasn't exhausted yet, but that didn't mean much. The air was cool enough here that something as relatively simple as a dead sprint would never wear him out - the cool air rejuvenated him just enough. It was also tough to tell based on the ground he had covered; geographically, Hell was difficult to gauge.
Just one more way to instill hopelessness in the souls condemned here, Alginax assumed. Trapped by a loving God, who somehow felt that eternal punishment in a never-ending crucible (or glacier, depending on the nature of your slight) of suffering was the only way they would learn. For some, that sin was simply being born with angelic blood, but having the misfortune of not having all of it be angelic. Doomed by their nature, the few truly evil ones influencing the many who were twisted by their nature and shunned for their appearance or their abilities. What hope did they have, when any attempt at embracing human civilization led to witch hunts? When nephilim communities, rare though they might be, were so isolated from anything resembling order as to be just above feral themselves?
To hear the demons tell it, there were forces on Etrah who now embraced those with power, real power. Of course, other demons spoke of a group which hated and killed those with abilities beyond their kin. Of the two stories told, Alginax was inclined to believe the hate-filled version. It was a more common tale, and had been told longer. In any case, he was about to start freeing those who had been condemned.
When Alginax found the fighting pits where powerful devils forced nephilim into bloodsport, his mission changed. Escaping Hell was no longer enough; someone had to pay. The sight horrified him. A dozen rows of crude stadium seating surrounding an oval, dug 10 feet into the ground. The pit itself was covered with dried nephilim blood. Alginax wasn't particularly sensitive to magic, which made it even more unsettling that the raw magical power enamating from this arena was very noticeable, even to him. He recognized some of the wards carved into the side of the arena, demonic runes faintly smoldering like embers. They were used to prevent escape. A few of them were like the ones used in Alginax's own oubliette, if not as severe; he recognized the infernal symbol for 'bind', similar but inferior to the 'entomb' rune which, among others, had held him.
He looked down into the arena, and saw the doors which led into the arena. He jumped down into the pit. The runes went from smoldering to glowing, and a lightly glowing magical dome covered the arena like a forcefield. Alginax chuckled. With no hellfire to hold him back - and the arena seemed to lack the seven runes for hellfire his oubliette had used - the wards wouldn't be much of a problem. Alginax leapt into the air, plunging his katana into the dome to the hilt and causing it to stick.
Alginax hung in the air, feeding ice energy into the katana. The dome around the blade began to frost over, the frost spreading until the entire dome was solid ice, the runes changed from glowing to frozen over. With a sharp yank he freed the sword, falling to the ground and causing the frozen dome to collapse in on him. As shards of ice rained down, covering the floor of the arena, the runes fractured. A flick of the blade flung the circle of ice from it, and Alginax approached one of the doors. As he did, he heard a voice - barely audible, weak, and filled with pain.[/glow] "Help me..."
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 10, 2013 13:29:39 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax froze the door, realizing as he did just how thick the door was. He had to stand at the other end of the arena and get a running start to shatter the frozen door. He found what could only be described as dungeons. Rows of cages, in darkness, smelling of filth. Alginax had never exactly been proficient at starting fires, so he did as best he could to freeze a prism in the doorway and bring in as much ambient light from outside as possible.
Alginax almost wished he had left the room dark. The light showed him forty cages, each with an emaciated nephilim within. Each of them looked at him, terror in the eyes of most of them. A handful stood, preparing to conjure whatever magic they would use to defend themselves within the arena. Some of them threw fire or lightning, which Alginax was thankful for - it gave him a better look at the room.
"Stand down, brethren," Alginax said. "I'm here to free you, not to force you into that damned arena again."[/glow] "Liar!" one of the nephilim screamed, summoning flame once again. "Every time they tell us that, we're dragged into the arena. Just tell us one iota of truth. Which devil are we fighting, and who is going to fight it?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"The one in charge of this arcane arena," Alginax told the nephilim as he approached his cage, freezing the lock and kicking the cage door in. "And we'll face him together. Are you strong enough to face him?"[/glow] As the nephilim walked out of the cage, muscle restored itself beneath sagging skin. His eyes regained some of their vigor, and the flames he summoned seemed to grow stronger. "I am now. There's a curse on these cells," he said, illuminating the torches on the wall. The runes on the bottom of the cells were now visible, the same rune on each cell floor.
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax didn't recognize the rune used, but he assumed it meant something along the lines of 'weakness'. It made a dark kind of sense - starving nephilim were certainly easier to keep in cages, especially cages that aren't enchanted, but they don't make for very good bloodsport. Of course the devils would keep them strong for the fights, and then find a way to prevent them from escaping. Alginax proceeded to freeze the locks on the rest of the cages, smashing the doors in as he walked up and down the rows.
Forty nephilim emerged from their prisons, wielding powers of all kinds. Some used elemental magic, some were shapeshifters, some were simply uniquely physically gifted - musculature that threatened to tear skin, legs that were especially well-suited for running or jumping, rock-like plates of natural armor covering skin. One, Alginax noticed, seemed to have no abilities. Outside of pale green skin, he was indistinguishable from a smaller human.
"So what do you do?" Alginax asked. "Everyone else here seems to be flexing their muscles, literal or figurative. What abilities do you have?"[/glow] "He's a spellsplitter," the fire thrower said.
"I can speak for myself, Ralius," the nephilim said. He looked at Alginax. "My name is Nelphon. And he's right, I'm a spellsplitter. Ralius?"
Ralius threw a fireball at Nelphon's back. The fireball struck him, and seemed to only sink into his skin. He then proceeded to throw two fireballs, one from each hand.
"I can't cast spells of my own, but I can absorb spells thrown at me, and double and redirect them."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax smiled. "That sounds very handy," he said. He looked around at the group of nephilim. "I'm here to free you, but I'm not stopping there. We're gonna move through Hell, and close down every arcane arena we find. But first, we're gonna find the devil who runs this one. And we're gonna pay him back for all he's done, both to you and to the ones who came before you."[/glow] "Bold claim, nephilim," a voice announced from the center of the arena.
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 15, 2013 14:32:48 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax looked up, and saw a demon hovering above the arcane arena. This one pulled no punches - it didn't disguise itself as a human, or any of the other common animal forms - goats and the like. This one was all business; bat-like wings, three-legged joints, cloven hooves. This demon was very comfortable in Hell. A quick scan of its mind confirmed what Alginax already supposed. This is the demon that controlled the arcane arena.[/glow] "You've caused a lot of problems, nephilim," the demon growled at Alginax. "You've broken my arena," it said as red lightning arced from its hands, striking and repairing the runes surrounding the arena. "You've freed my thralls," it said as it landed, its feet hitting the ground with a loud thunk. "Though it looks like most of them understand their place," the demon added with a dark grin as it gestured behind Alginax with its greatsword, which it wielded almost effortlessly in one hand.
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax glanced behind him, only briefly, before turning to face the demon again. What he saw behind him disheartened him.
No less than half of the nephilim had gone back into the dungeon Alginax had freed them from moments ago. He wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them had literally crawled back into their cages and shut the door behind them. About a dozen were poking their heads out of the doorway, at least having the courage to watch the remaining nephilim face down their captor. Only Nelphon, Ralius, the armored nephilim and the electromancer stood their ground behind Alginax.[/glow] "Do you see, savior?" the demon said. "They have grown to love the cage. Truly, I am surprised they walked out of them at all, even after you broke the locks." He then glanced behind Alginax. "I see a handful still long for freedom. A shame, really. It will only sting all the more when they are returned to their cells. It seems I will have to find one for you, as well," the demon added.
[glow=teal,1,600]"Sure you will," Alginax said, grasping his sword with both hands. He charged the demon, who only laughed. Alginax struck, and the demon blocked with its own massive sword. It seemed pleasantly surprised when Alginax parried its counterattack. The two clashed, time and again, each hoping for an opening and finding none. After several minutes, the demon left a small opening as it parried a fireball with its sword, allowing Alginax to strike it with a headbutt. The demon stumbled backward, dropping to one knee for a moment before rising again. Like any demon, especially one in a position of authority, it quickly grew enraged when Alginax began to laugh.[/glow] "Fool! Why are you laughing!? The wards are replaced, and you are in the fifth circle of Hell! When the denizens of this circle grow tired watching you fight, you will die on this very ground! What do you find so amusing about that? Why do you think one headbutt changes anything!?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"One headbutt changes everything," Alginax said, chuckling. "It shows the ones who ran something they have forgotten. It confirms what the ones standing beside me have suspected, and it proves what Ralius assumed when he summoned the courage to throw a fireball at you. It shows you're not invincible."
Shortly afterward, a fireball cleared Alginax's head by inches on either side, striking the demon. "Looks like Nelphon's on board, as well." Alginax cracked his knuckles. "It may take a few minutes of fighting to get the others on board, but sooner or later, forty pissed-off nephilim will come pouring out of that gate. You know how powerful they are, you know better than anyone. The best you can hope for is to die in battle with me, because I think you also know if I don't kill you quickly, they will drag it out."[/glow] The demon seemed taken aback at Alginax's gall, but also truly concerned at its inability to deny his logic. It then squared its stance, and charged at Alginax, real determination in its eyes. The two traded strikes, each blocking or parrying the other's, their speed only increasing.
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax would have been tiring by now, but the cold in the circle gave him vigor he would not have normally possessed. He might have been able to go toe-to-toe with a senior demon from the fifth circle for a while at room temperature, but this wasn't room temperature. The environment gave Alginax an endurance far beyond his normal limits.
It also helped that the nephilim he had freed were slowly trickling into the arena, helping as best they could. Elemental mages were throwing energy, often bolstered by Nelphon's spellsplitting. The fast ones were striking at his back on occasion. It was increasingly obvious that this demon was used to using overwhelming strength to dominate a single, weaker opponent, usually sending a message in the process. It hadn't fought multiple opponents in a long time, maybe ever. Slowly but surely, each of the imprisoned nephilim helped out, and before long they and Alginax were able to subdue and kill him.
As the arena nephilim set to work destroying the wards, Alginax formed a saw of ice. He removed the horns from the demon, as well as several sinews from its leg. As he removed them, he saw them begin to regrow.[/glow] The demon sucked breath, then coughed. It laughed as it coughed, its wounds healing. "Did you think I didn't plan for this?" it said, slowly rolling over onto its stomach. "Did you think I wasn't ready for a revolt?" it asked, a rune on its back glowing purple as wounds pulled themselves closed. "Did you really think I wasn't ready to recover from wounds like these in case the wards failed or the cages broke?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"I was actually sort of hoping for it," Alginax said, grabbing the demon by the horn that had recovered and dragging it toward the dungeon. For the first time he saw fear, real fear, in its eyes as it struggled weakly against him. The rune it had burned into its flesh was working, but not quickly enough - even a demon that strong couldn't overpower Alginax immediately after death.
He dragged it into the dungeon and tossed it into one of the cages, pulling the door shut and freezing the lock. The demon got up on all fours, preparing to bullrush the door.
Alginax pointed at the wall at the back of the cell, a thin beam of frost firing from his finger, repairing the cracks in the rune on the back of the wall.
The demon wailed in pain as it collapsed to the floor, any wounds that hadn't already fully healed continuing to bleed. The rune on its back hadn't gone dark, but it was much fainter. It also hung from loose skin, the demon's considerable musculature crippled by the very magic it had used to restrain its 'thralls'.
"I figure they've all had a chance to kill you now," Alginax said as the nephilim gathered behind him. "But, you see, they can't stay here. I need their help." Alginax then formed a dagger of ice, and carved a symbol of his own into the ice around the lock, using his inherent angelic magic to create a holy rune - the angelic symbol for 'ice', one of the few he learned from his father before being killed and sent here.
"I'm sure there are demons strong enough to break that seal, but you're not one of them," Alginax told the demonic prisoner. "Well, definitely not anymore."
He turned around and faced the nephilim he had freed. "You have all done great work today," he said. "You've found your courage and earned your freedom. But this arcane arena is not the only prison that holds us, and it's far from the only prison that holds our kind. This is one of countless arenas, which are one type of untold prisons on one of seven circles of Hell. We will build an army, and earn our freedom from this place! And we will ensure that tyrants like him," Alginax said as he pointed to the demon, "will be repaid in kind for what they have done to the children of angels."
Alginax then left the arcane arena, forty nephilim in fighting shape in tow, leaving their former master to bleed to death for eternity, a victim of his own magic.[/glow]
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 24, 2013 22:12:07 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]"It's safe to come out now."
Alginax sheathed his sword, frozen bits of demon surrounding him - filling the arcane arena, in truth. Since destroying the last arcane arena, Alginax had descended another level. He knew he had not freed all of the nephilim in the fifth circle, but he also knew he would be ascending again. For now, he would have to simply make do with finding and destroying arcane arenas. His timetable had been changed drastically.
Lotus' plans were little known to Alginax; a devil that powerful deflected any 'passive' telepathy without effort, and any attempts to actively read the devil's mind would likely have resulted in Alginax being detected and attacked. Even in Hell, there were relatively few beings with great enough power to give Alginax pause, but Lotus was one of them. He knew he couldn't defeat the devil in single combat. So he had to give him a better reason than threats to listen, to get Lotus to do something he might not want to do.
He looked at the two horns in his hand, taken from the skull of the demon who had controlled this arcane arena. He also held several more sinews he had ripped from the demon before freezing it solid and shattering it. No, Lotus would not shut down the arcane arenas - though Alginax was doing a fine job of that on his own. But in order to prevent him from allowing them to open again, Alginax needed to give him something. Something besides his cooperation, which he had already promised.
But like Lotus, Alginax understood better than most the power of symbols. A symbol of Lotus' new rule would get unruly demons to toe the line, and a symbol of unity between demons and nephilim (such as a crown of horns made from fallen arcane arena leaders) would give nephilim a way to turn, and ensure that way was Lotus. In short, a symbol like that could give Lotus cause to not re-open the arenas.
Since modifying his mission, Alginax had also freed several nephilim from dungeons and prisons. His count was now at over 300 followers - hardly an army, but enough of a force to help him raise one. Each of the forty nephilim he had freed now controlled between 7 and 9 nephilim of their own, and he was about to free 40 more of the best fighting nephilim the circle had to offer.
There was only one arcane arena on each of the circles of Hell. This had less to do with any given rule and more to do with logistics and competition. To even consider building one, a powerful devil was required - one powerful enough to create runes, strong enough to quell rebellions if the nephilim became unruly, and connected enough to give the nephilim good opponents to fight and replace those who were killed. Alginax had only been to two circles thus far, but it seemed to him that a given circle could only support one arcane arena at a time - competition would either fade away or overtake and render obsolete the one in existence. Since their inception, it seemed the arenas had stabilized, at least this far down - none challenged the devils who ran them, until now.
Alginax had set free another hundred or so nephilim down on this level, so the ones he freed from the arcane arena would have soldiers of their own to lead. In these early stages, an arcane arena, a large prison, and a handful of dungeons would supply enough nephilim to nearly double his forces. Alginax would have no less than 500 soldiers behind him when he descended to the seventh circle, but down there things were different. Only the most brutal, the most malicious nephilim would ever be imprisoned so far low. The seventh circle would hold most of the kind of nephilim that made it hard for nephilim still living on Etrah to find a home. Maybe half of them could be saved. They would also be strong, notably stronger than the ones in the sixth. The devil able to keep them in line would be stronger still, likely a power approaching that of Lotus himself.
It didn't matter. Alginax was all but invincible in the seventh circle.
The circles grew colder as one descended, but Alginax had no idea just how cold the bottom of Hell was until he arrived there. The trouble he started when first cast down coupled with his own considerable power got him dropped into the seventh circle shortly after his arrival. The sub-arctic winds, the bitterly cold ambient temperature, cold the likes of which was unseen on Etrah even at the frozen poles, all combined to give Alginax limitless power. The devils soon learned their mistake, and over-corrected, returning Alginax to the first level. While the heat here was unbearable, the demons were of a much lower class. They posed no serious threat to Alginax.
The eventual solution, of course, was the oubliette in the fourth circle. But freed from that, Alginax would be able to do what he had waited decades to do.[/glow] "Alginax?" Ralius chimed in, breaking the nephilim's trance. "The wards have fallen. Of the forty we found, thirty or so were willing to follow you. We've killed the rest. Are you ready to lead us to the seventh circle?"
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax shook his head. "No, the seventh circle is too dangerous. Anyone I bring down there will be killed. The only reason I'm going is because the cold there gives me strength."[/glow] "I'm glad it's helping somebody", Ralius added, his teeth chattering. "Be careful down there, boss. Don't let one of those infernal bastards get you."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax smiled. "Not a chance in Hell," he said, clapping a hand on Ralius' shoulder. The cold from his palm seemed to only make Ralius feel worse, but he offered up a weak smile all the same. "Protect them until I return," Alginax said, searching for a portal between circles to stabilize.[/glow]
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 30, 2013 14:55:46 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax walked through the doorway he had created, thankful the cold would keep this one frozen. Usually, to stabilize the door, Alginax had to stab his sword through the top and snap off the tip of the blade. The sword was ice energy given form, made by Cryodivus' own hand. Alginax was perhaps the most powerful cryomancer without wings - he had certainly never met one that was his equal, though he had only walked the planet for a few days before being thrown into Hell - and he had Cryodivus' blood in his veins. He was able to repair the sword by feeding magic into it, but it was exhausting and it took time. Alginax knew there were two things that were very dangerous to do in Hell - make yourself weaker, and stay in one place for too long.
Not here. The cold was so bitter, the wind so harsh, that if anything the door was growing thicker and stronger. Alginax took a deep breath, and couldn't help but smile. This must be what vampires felt like after taking a long, deep drink of fresh blood. He could feel it in his sword, too. It felt stronger, the edge keener, the few tricks he had learned with it easier to do. He gave it a few swipes through the air, then tried one of them.
Tightening his grip and focusing, he watched as the blade grew in length. Originally, it was an average katana, with a blade 3 feet in length. Now, the blade was about 10 feet long. The weight didn't seem to change, and as near as he could tell the blade's structural integrity stayed the same as well. Alginax smiled as the blade returned to normal. This might be a trick he needed, as the seventh circle came with a powerful disadvantage, as well - for all the strength it gave him, the devils down here would almost certainly be immune to ice magic.
It didn't take long for a demon to find him, instead of him having to find one of them.[/glow] "We've been expecting you, son of Cryodivus," the demon announced. It seemed genuinely pleased at the look of shock that came across the nephilim's face. "What, did you think you were going to destroy 2 arcane arenas and go after a third in a vacuum?" The demon chuckled. "These arenas...they are more delicate than they appear to be. A large network of demons is needed to keep everything running. And those demons talk, Alginax."
[glow=teal,1,600]"So talk," Alginax said. "Tell me where the arcane arena is. I have no reason to kill you."[/glow] "Tell you? I'll show you," the demon said. "We were hoping you would show up. In fact, I'm under orders to take you there."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax couldn't help but smile. "What the hell, let's make this easier. Alright, take me there."
The demon took flight, staying low enough for Alginax to run alongside him. "So I have to ask," Alginax said as he ran toward the arena. "Why are you taking me there? You have to know what I plan to do, if they told you anything they told you why I'm going there. What could you possibly gain from leading me right to it?"[/glow] "Because I was ordered to," the demon replied. "But I answered your question, so you answer mine. Why are you actually willingly coming with me? You have to know it's ready and waiting for you. And you probably know it's not an 'it', it's a 'them'."
[glow=teal,1,600]"The thought had occurred to me," Alginax said. "I'm going because I have to. I can't just let demons trap, torture and kill nephilim. And when Lotus comes into his kingdom, he's gonna make sure it doesn't happen anymore."[/glow] The demon began laughing once again. "That cut-rate gorilla from Second Hell? Let's just assume that if he pulls this off he'll keep his word and let the arcane arenas stay closed. What makes you think Lotus can take over Hell - the real Hell, I mean? He wasn't in Second Hell because he felt like it, you know."
[glow=teal,1,600]Now it was Alginax's turn to laugh. "Two reasons. One, because he's all that's left. He has the leadership skills, ambition and raw power needed to bring Hell to heel, and he's the only one who does. And two - and this is the big one - Lotus is the only demon bright enough to tap an untapped resource. I'm here for more than justice for my kind, though that is my main goal. I'm here to raise an army of nephilim."[/glow] That was enough to make the demon stop. "Okay, even I don't think that's amusing. That's just stupid. No demon or devil, no denizen of Hell will ever get the nephilim to follow them. Why do you think we put them into arcane arenas and seal them in prisons? They will never follow a demon, certainly not Lotus."
[glow=teal,1,600]"You're right," Alginax said. "If they wouldn't follow Satan or Lucifer, or even Arius, they probably won't follow Lotus." He then smiled. "But they will follow me."[/glow] That seemed to give the demon pause. "Lotus, leading whatever demons he manages to recruit, with an army of nephilim behind him to boot?" He seemed surprised. "That might actually work."
[glow=teal,1,600]"I wouldn't risk the nephilim if I didn't think it'd work." He paused. "Normally, this is a demon thing to do, but I'll make you a deal. Cast your lot with Lotus. I can find my way to the arena from here, and you don't have to be part of the 'ambush' that's about to have a very rough day. Set up a base if you can, just join up if not."[/glow] "I'm not sure why, but I actually believe you about the ambush turning into a problem," the demon said. He then turned and left. "I hope you're right about Lotus," he shouted behind him as he flew off.
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax sighed. "Yeah," he muttered. "Me, too."[/glow]
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Oct 31, 2013 18:21:32 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax arrived at the arcane arena in the seventh circle of Hell. To anyone else, it would appear to be a frozen wasteland. To Alginax, it had an elegance that the other arenas had lacked.
The runes were crisp - the word 'engraved' seemed more appropriate than 'carved' or 'scraped', and they were all higher-level. The arena was a perfect circle, the seating uniform. It even seemed to have a sort of demonic VIP section, raised boxes with what appeared to be actual comforts within them.
All of this was overshadowed by the force which stood before Alginax. More than fifty demons filled the arena, some larger than others. Some of them were obvious demons, others had a few demonic features, and still others looked like the man-in-a-suit, make-a-deal kind of devils. None of them looked low-level or weak.[/glow] "Welcome, Alginax," said one of the deal-type devils. In an almost stereotypical fashion, it wore a blood-red suit, carefully styled hair, and a charming smile. "I'm glad you decided to join us," it said. "This serves two purposes. First off, we can punish you for all you've done."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax frowned. "You have quite a force here," Alginax said. "But this arcane arena can't hold me."[/glow] "The arcane arena?" the devil asked, chuckling. "We're not gonna put you in the arcane arena." He grinned. "We're gonna put you in a new oubliette."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax went pale, even for him. He then glowered at the demon. "I am going to kill all of you. I was just gonna kill the one running the arena. But now, you guys all hit the floor. You, and all of your fifty-some-odd friends."[/glow] "Sixty-four friends," the demon said. "Speaking of which, I should have sixty-five. What happened the the one I sent to bring you here?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"I got a head start neutralizing threats," Alginax said. "He accidentally let spill that you might not be alone."
Alginax then felt a presence in his mind. He blocked it out, but not in time.[/glow] "So you turned him to Lotus' side," the demon said. "And here I'd hoped he would have backed me in my bid to take over Hell."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax laughed aloud. "You? You're gonna take over Hell?"[/glow] "When the legion chants Belphegor, you won't laugh," the demon said. "I'm gonna take over Hell the same way the humans enslaved themselves. Well, before they all killed themselves. I'm gonna keep them entertained. Arcane arenas are one way, but I'll find others. And I think you'll find a lot of demons will prefer the way with bloodsport between half-angels to the way where they fight alongside them."
"Lotus took a real chance freeing you, and it seems to have paid off, after a fashion," Belphegor said. "He did get a nephilim to side with him. But they'll never follow him, not without you. And you won't leave the arena." He grinned. "As far as demons, well, Lotus hasn't done quite as well. He's recruited some, sure, but even now he's almost slaughtered more than he's enlisted. And his friend with the guns is less use to him than you, though that won't be true once I 'neutralize' you and the nephilim force you might have raised against me."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax took a deep breath. "I suppose I shouldn't be as surprised as I am," he said. "Lotus can't be the only one who wants to use the infernal power vacuum to his advantage. I guess, in a way, even I qualify under those criteria." He cracked his neck, then drew his katana. "But at the end of the day, Belphegor, you're going to enslave my people and he's not."[/glow] "Just what is it that makes you so certain he won't?" Belphegor asked. "Because he told you so? Did he even tell you so? Hell, maybe I'll be better to the nephilim than he will. At least under my rule, they won't die. Well, not as often - keeping the arenas stocked isn't easy. But Lotus, well, you've seen him. You've talked to him. Where are you getting this notion that he'll show any mercy to your precious nephilim?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"Maybe you're right," Alginax admitted.
"Devils aren't known for their trustworthiness, after all. And Lotus isn't the warm and fuzzy type, that's true. But I can make sure that him keeping the arenas closed is the path of least resistance to power. And he is, if nothing else, cautious. He'll hedge his bets, up to and including losing the arenas."
"And even if I'm wrong," Alginax continued, "you openly admitted that the arenas are a cornerstone of your path to rule. So, in short, I'll take a slim chance over no chance every time. Now," he said as the blade on his sword grew to 5 feet in length, "How about you and your 64 buddies come down here and stop me?"[/glow] Belphegor smiled thinly, then pointed at Alginax. "Seize him."
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Nov 5, 2013 14:32:39 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax was fighting at peak efficiency, just as he had been for the last 15 minutes. Anywhere else, he would have long since dropped dead from exhaustion. Of course, anywhere else, he would have long since dropped dead from blunt force trauma and blood loss. The bitter cold and tearing winds of the seventh circle gave him limitless stamina, and let his body recover from damage independently of him.
It was easily the only thing keeping him alive. Even when never tiring and recovering from every injury, it was all Alginax could to stay alive. After all, he was fighting 55 enemies in an enclosed space, even if this particular arena was bigger than the rest.
It had been 64, when he started. So far, Alginax had managed to kill three of them. Six were still alive, but injured enough to not be able to continue the fight. That proved to be some comfort - it showed not all of the demons were cryomancers. The wounds they suffered didn't heal like Alginax's.
This was useful information - it meant his magic might be useful after all. Not that he had many openings to use it - even as empowered as the cold down here made him, it was all he could do to find the occasional opening to attack during a near-constant string of defensive maneuvers.
One such opening presented itself, and Alginax threw a bolt of ice energy at the cluster of demons he was fighting against. A little good luck - it hit the demon right in the mouth. The ice formed quickly, a block of ice covering his entire face and freezing his head in place. Three dead, seven neutralized. If it had to breathe, that would eventually lead to four dead. Either way, 54 to go. It would be 55, if Belphegor had deigned to join the fight. So far, he seemed satisfied just repairing or thawing the runes that Alginax managed to break or ice over.[/glow] "You're just making it worse, Alginax," Belphegor shouted from above the arena. "The demons are gonna hate you. On the plus side, I have an adversary for this arena, should make for great entertainment. The demon-slaying nephilim, the son of a Warrior Angel. Oh, your name is gonna be in lights for as long as the population can stand having you alive. And when I do finally let you die? Oh, that will be the show that cements my status. It's too bad you had to kill some of my minions for the build-up, but unfortunately, that's the cost of doing business."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax severed the shield arm of another demon. Three dead, eight neutralized. She came at him for another attack, but now without defense. Four dead, seven down.
Belphegor's speech very nearly had the desired effect - the slight ripple in Alginax's focus was all it took for several new wounds to appear, one of them deep enough to slow him down a bit before it healed. And that small hiccup in speed let through a few blows in and of itself, luckily none that compounded the original problem. Either way, Alginax was losing ground faster than he could gain it. He couldn't fall back, the arena was too small for him to outrun fifty-three demons.
And Belphegor was easily fast and powerful enough to keep him here - he could repair the runes faster than Alginax could compromise them; that would probably be true even if there weren't 53 - ice spike through the heart, 52 - demons after him, trying to restrain him. Honestly, if they were trying to kill him, they most likely would have succeeded by now.[/glow] "Okay, Alginax, we know you're powerful," Belphegor shouted down. "But you're starting to sour as an investment. If you become more trouble than you're worth, and you're heading down that road, eventually I'll give the order to just kill you."
[glow=teal,1,600]There it is, Alginax thought. He was worried that he'd bitten off more than he could chew. In retrospect, the 500 or so nephilim he'd liberated would have more than come in handy down here. In any case, he absolutely wasn't about to be taken alive. And since the force of demons down here was apparently more than he could handle, the best case scenario had become to enrage Belphegor enough to get himself killed.
Alginax went completely for broke. Using all of the speed and strength he could muster - which was plenty, down here - he spun in a circle, using both his katana and a few handmade ice blades to turn himself into a dervish of frozen ice swords. It wasn't a long-term solution, but it bought him a much-needed window of a few seconds and a little breathing room.
"Then come kill me!" Alginax roared, firing off a nova of icy energy. It stopped the demons nearest to him cold, and got the ones farther away to flinch and temporarily back off. It was at this point that the bullets that had peppered Alginax for the better part of the fight - even less effective than usual, and they weren't particularly effective in any circumstances - got summoned to the surface. Alginax's skin became transparent, as it often did under stress or when straining himself, and as his glowing blue blood, pulsing through his veins, brought the bullets to his palms from throughout his body.
With a pained roar and a hard push, he fired them though his skin, shattering the handful of demons he'd been able to freeze solid and striking the others. Nine dead, thirteen down. Still 42 to go, and Alginax had exhausted himself. He'd recover, very quickly in fact, but not quickly enough-
Alginax wailed in pain as the spear slid through his chest, pinning him to the arena. Three more thrown spears followed shortly thereafter, holding him in place. And at long last, Belphegor descended into the arena. The remaining demons immediately fell into formation, three rows of seven on either side of him. They knelt before him, eyes to the ground, as he comfortably strolled up to Alginax, now immobilized by four demonic weapons.[/glow] "I have to admit, I underestimated you," he said, holding up Alginax's chin to look him in the face. "I mean, I still had 66 demons ready to fight you, but I never dreamed I'd actually need a force like that. To be honest, most of it was for show. But you impressed even me. You managed to take down a third of my forces. Nine of them are dead - wait..."
He paused turning to see the last kicks of the demon Alginax had suffocated earlier. "Excuse me, ten. Ten of them are dead, another dozen injured badly enough that they had to stop and take a break." He shrugged. "Of course, you did double your numbers with that little coup-de-grace stunt, and it was all only possible because the cold made you stronger than you really are, but I have to respect the willpower that went into that effort." He smiled, with a look on his face that was mostly condescending but a dash of pride, almost paternal in nature. "Well done. You're gonna make my arena a smash hit."
[glow=teal,1,600]The cold was the only thing stopping Alginax from passing out from blood loss and pain. "I'm not gonna play war in your insipid arena," Alginax uttered.[/glow] "Oh, I think you might," Belphegor said. He then balled a fist, and hit Alginax harder than anyone - the demons on any given level, even harder than Visignis when he had gone all burning angel and murdered Alginax fifty years ago. A flash of bright light was all Alginax saw before going unconscious.
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Nov 5, 2013 18:25:37 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax awoke. So that was a bad start.
He looked around, as best he could. The dungeons within the first two arcane arenas he'd found were dark, almost pitch black, and this one was no exception. Alginax got up to look around more, and with a grimace and a groan fell almost immediately to the floor.
Of course, he thought to himself. The rune on the wall. He struggled to his feet, and felt his wounds. They had healed, more or less, but there was still a faint trickle of blood. The rune had probably prevented him from healing completely. Thankfully, Belphegor had underestimated him yet again. Alginax had seen what that rune could do, firsthand. He should still be bleeding profusely, in a constant state of near-death. But the cold down here, well, demons weren't too woried about insulating their dungeons. Alginax was healing, albeit slowly. Eventually he would be strong enough to try an escape.[/glow] "Welcome to Hell," Alginax heard from the next cell over. A nephilim stood up, looking emaciated and weak, obviously under the effects of the cell. As near as he could tell, it had pale skin, no hair, including eyebrows, and pitch black eyes.
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax felt a bit more of his strength returning. He looked at the nephilim across from him. It somehow looked even more skeletal than the others; Alginax had the feeling that this one would look pale and frail even after being freed.
He looked down at his wounds. The bleeding had slowed in two of his stab wounds, and stopped altogether in the other two. He looked at his hands, his arms. Some small measure of musculature had returned, to replace sagging skin hanging from bone. He tried to summon ice magic, and was able to make his hands frost over. He limped to the cell wall, placing his hand on the rune.
He felt his strength leave him immediately, his legs turning to jelly as he collapsed to the floor. "I guess I should have seen that coming," he said as he pulled himself to his feet.[/glow] "If it makes you feel any better," the pale nephilim told Alginax, "I haven't been able to break out either."
[glow=teal,1,600]"Nothing personal, but I don't know that our situations are the same," Alginax responded. "But maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. What exactly can you do?"[/glow] "Raise the dead," the nephilim replied. "At least, I can outside this cell. In here, I can barely keep myself standing up, let alone corpses."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax smiled. "Perfect," he said. "How many can you reanimate at a time?"[/glow] "Depends on the size and type," the nephilim replied. "I do better with animals than humanoids. But at my best, before I died, I had an army of about 500 reanimated soldiers."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax grinned. "Oh, that will do nicely." He looked at the necromancer. "I'm Alginax," he said, reaching a hand through the bars.[/glow] "Gilmek," the nephilim replied, shaking Alginax's hand - but not conventionally; he grasped Alginax by the wrist, in a handshake hundreds of years old. He had clearly been here a while. "Call me Gil."
[glow=teal,1,600]"Gil, I'm gonna make you a deal," Alginax said. "I've been moving up and down the circles, freeing the nephilim I find inside arcane arenas. I'm raising an army, and I could use your skills. So, I'm gonna set you free from that prison. You, and all of the other nephilim trapped in here. I'll do it on two conditions."[/glow] "Well, it's either that or another 500 years in here, so I'm definitely willing to at least hear your terms," Gil replied.
[glow=teal,1,600]"They're fairly simple," Alginax told him. "Firstly, I'm the one raising the army. I require discipline, and to a degree, obedience."[/glow] "That sounds fair enough," Gilmek told Alginax. "And condition the second?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"Condition the second," Alginax continued, "is that you don't use your magic on our brethren. Nephilim are the children of angels, and should they die, I want them to remain at rest. If you're going to raise an undead legion, and I sincerely hope you are, comprise it of fallen demons."[/glow] Gilmek smiled. "Yeah, those both seem reasonable enough." He stood, stretching his arms. "Alginax, I accept your terms. If, by some miracle, you get me out of here, I'm on board for your nephilim army."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax took a deep breath, then with all the magic he could muster, froze over the rune on the back of the wall. It was a temporary solution, but it was enough. He felt his strength returning to him quickly, and summoned his sword from wherever Belphegor had taken it. That would tell the devil that he was awake, and more or less back in commission. Kind of a big gamble, but it had to be done.
Alginax raised the blade, and slashed through the ice covering the rune, as well as the stone into which it was carved. He only put a small gouge in the rune, but it was enough. The ward fell, and Alginax felt his strength return.[/glow] "Holy hell," Gilmek uttered, too stunned for the irony to strike him. "How did you do that?"
[glow=teal,1,600]"I'm a cryomancer," Alginax said, kicking his door open. "Down here, in the seventh circle, the environment is cold enough for my natural abilities to overcome the runes that weakened us all." He then approached Gil's cell, and froze the lock solid, then ripped it out of the door with his cryomancy.
"Come on out," he said. "You should feel your strength returning once you get outside the bars."[/glow] Gilmek shambled out of the cell, then stood taller. His flesh filled back in, more or less. Even at full strength he was bony, pale, and sunken-eyed. But he seemed refreshed, even strong.
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax walked down the rows, freezing locks and freeing nephilim. As they left their cells - some timidly, others leaping from them while they had their one chance - they each stood, their own strength returning.
"Okay, every time I free nephilim from the arcane arena, I give the same speech, more or less," Alginax told the group. "This makes number three. It feels forced and cheesy, so I'll simplify. I'm raising an army. If you're in, great. If you stand against me, I'll kill you. If you decide to go your own way, I don't like your chances, but I won't stop you." He then looked at the gate. "The price of freedom is helping me break out of the arena. After that, like I said, I hope you'll help me free our brethren. If not, you'll be free. Still in Hell, and all alone, but free."
"Who's with me?" he shouted, freezing the door solid and smashing it.[/glow]
|
|
Alginax
Apprentice
The bastard son of science and religion.
Posts: 15
|
Post by Alginax on Dec 9, 2013 17:03:03 GMT -6
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax saw the demons who had come to the arena with Belphegor. All of them, except Belphegor himself and the ones he'd managed to kill before being locked up.
He also saw the legion he had assembled above the arena, raining down destruction upon the arena itself and all of the demons within. The 55 demons were powerful. They were fast, cruel, and strong. But they were outnumbered, and in a few rare cases, outclassed.
Ralius rained down fire on the demons, a rare sight in the arena, and one the demons down here weren't ready for. Even as the atmosphere diminished the fireballs, the weakened ones that hit home had a massive impact on the demons at this level. Nelphon's abilities as a spellsplitter were apparently greater than Alginax had expected. As the demons below threw magical weapons and bolts of arcane power at him, he absorbed them surprisingly well, and managed to return fire in kind. And for each one the other nephilim managed to slay, Gilmek raised them up, red-eyed thralls to his will, attacking their former comrades.
This was to say nothing of the other 530-some-odd nephilim - some fighting hand-to-hand, some firing weapons or using magic, still others granting strength to their brethren or sapping energy from the demons. Collectively, they made rather short work of the demons in the arena.
A group of five geomancers, one of whom Alginax had only released from this particular arena a short while ago, gathered outside once the wards were destroyed and the nephilim had cleared out. They formed a localized but powerful earthquake, marking the first arcane arena that Alginax and his army had physically destroyed.[/glow] "I know, I know," Ralius said as he walked up to Alginax. "We were supposed to stay on the sixth circle and wait for you. But maybe it's for the best we disobeyed, because if I didn't know any better, I'd swear I saw our fearless leader breaking out of the same cages that housed all of us at some point."
"But that can't be right," Nelphon said, approaching the two of them. "No way our fearless leader would let some demon trap him."
[glow=teal,1,600]"You're right, I didn't," Alginax said. "I left 65 demons trap me. The master of this arena, a demon named Belphegor, is making a power play. He wants to take over Hell."[/glow] "Who are your friends, Alginax?" Gilmek asked, approaching the three of them.
[glow=teal,1,600]"Gentlemen, Gilmek is my seventh-circle commander. He's a necromancer, the reason those demons are standing there slack-jawed and fighting their allies. Gilmek, this is Ralius, the commander from the sixth. He's a pyromancer. And Nelphon, the commander from the fifth. He's a spellsplitter."[/glow] "I'm surprised you put a pyromancer in charge," Gilmek mentioned. "Of course, seeing what I saw out there, apparently he's a talented one."
[glow=teal,1,600]"Well, he's not Visignis, but he'll do. And he's well-liked by the soldiers he leads."[/glow] "Visignis?" Ralius asked, but didn't push the issue.
Gilmek was the next to speak up. "You said Belphegor was trying to take over Hell? Do you know where he went? We have to stop him."
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax sighed. I guess we were gonna have to cross this bridge sooner or later. "You're right. We have to do something about this."
A pillar of ice formed below Alginax's feet, raising him up high enough for the nephilim to see and hear him clearly. "Those of you from this circle are familiar with Belphegor," he announced loudly. "For those of you who aren't, he is our greatest threat at this moment. We have become a powerful force, powerful enough to challenge even those who control the seventh arcane arena."
"But we are not mighty enough to face all the legions of Hell. Not alone. We will be forced to do something I wish we didn't. We will have to cast our lot with Lotus, a devil planning to control Hell."
The din of furious screaming, to be honest, was about what Alginax had expected. He knew that Belphegor was right - the nephilim were gonna hate the idea of working with demons. But the fact was, there just weren't enough nephilim to control Hell by themselves. Not that that was Alginax's actual plan.
"I know, and I don't like it any more than you do," Alginax shouted over the group. "But unless you all want to stay here, we don't have much choice."[/glow] That gave the group pause. Gilmek was the first to speak up. "What do you mean, unless we want to stay here?"
[glow=teal,1,600]Alginax laughed. "You didn't really think I wanted you to stay here and be thralls to a devil, any devil, forever, did you?" Alginax laughed aloud. "We will raise an army! We will side with Lotus, and conquer Hell! We will slaughter any demon or devil who stands in our way! And when we're done, he can have it! We will leave this infernal prison behind, and return to Etrah to live the lives we should have had the first time!"
The roaring cheers of the nephilim, in the backdrop of a destroyed arcane arena, filled Alginax with a joy he hadn't felt since breathing free air for the first time.[/glow]
|
|