Darius had never felt anything like when that strange beam connected.
Even though the mech did not share the sensation of such with him, he was still inside of it.
The sheer force of the impact reverberated through the entirety of his creation, but instead of the vibrations being tremors at most, it was like a full blown earthquake.
Needless to say, his motion sickness was downright terrible as his most prized creation was nearly blown apart.
Even though this construct should have been completely indestructible, cracks formed all throughout his once pristine creation.
The beam blew cleanly through his back and separated his legs from his torso, sending both halves clattering to the ground.
BOOOOMMM!!
Darius’ creation tried to crawl and pull it’s two halves together so that it could repair itself, but Abaddon had no intention of allowing it to do such a thing.
A wall of ice suddenly formed out of thin air, separating the two halves from reconnecting and continuing the fight.
Abaddon hovered above the broken machination like an ominous reaper from beyond, seemingly daring him to continue the fight.
But of course, he knew full well that a demigod would never go down so easily.
A hatch suddenly opened up from the back of the head of the construct and Darius crawled out, coughing up a strange mixture of blood and vomit.
“Urgh… Nasty business that is.”
He wiped his mouth and stared up at the overwhelmingly large creature with multiple heads and wings that were large enough to blot out the sun.
If it was this man… it was easy to see how he could have unified the demon race.
They are a type of being that only respects power after all and Abaddon seemed to have plenty to spare.
But even then, he had to learn that everyone will not roll over for him.
“What do you say to coming down here and getting dirty for it, lad?”𝑜𝑣𝐞xt.𝗇t
“…Huh?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, lizard-brain!”
Darius pulled himself out of his thick royal robes and revealed a physique that could only be described as a miniature bodybuilder.
His muscles were like chiseled marble, and there were various burns and abrasions that come from working in a forge for several hundred years.
But that wasn’t nearly the most impressive part.
Under the stupefied gaze of everyone present, Darius’ body began to go through some very familiar and unexpected changes.
His golden teeth became pointed and dagger-like, and were now nearly too big for his mouth.
Black horns emerged from his shiny bald head, and diamond like scales the same color as his teeth emerged on his arms, face, and torso.
“No magic, no machinations. Just a good ole man to man brawl! Are you man enough to accept the challenge?”
Abaddon watched as Darius held both of his fists up like a boxer in his prime, goading the dragon to continue.
“I had no idea that my grandfather considered you a great enough friend to undergo the amicable ritual with you… I didn’t think the old bastard even knew what friends were.”
“Ha! He is a prickly lad indeed, but my brother nonetheless! But today is not a day to discuss my affairs lad, today is a day to settle scores!”
“Very well…”
Abaddon became enveloped in a column of white and purple flames, and he emerged from the fiery tornado a few seconds later, significantly smaller and much less frightening.
Darius leapt down from his construct and started closing the distance between he and Abaddon with slow and steady steps.
Conversely, Abaddon also began walking towards the muscular dwarf in no real rush to begin.
“You’re a courageous man, Darius. To challenge me in a competition where I am at my peak is tantamount to suicide.”
“Ha! Everyone has a peak my boy, but so what? I’ve conquered beasts and mountains larger than you while drunk, so why should you put the slightest sense of fear in my heart?”
“I see, all of you wisdom has long since been knocked loose in battle. So much so that you cannot even tell what is in front of you.”
“Maybe so! I suppose you will have to show me!”
“Don’t die.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Whoosh!
BOOOOMMMM!!!
In the blink of an eye, Abaddon and Darius closed the lingering distance between the two of them and their fists collided in a brutal clash.
The shockwave produced by their connecting punches was destructive enough to obliterate the ground around them, and the sound emitted was like that of a bomb.
Darius was physically stronger, but after taking so many blows with his body before, Abaddon’s body was just as dense, and he wasn’t pushed back in the slightest.
Even though he was stronger, the dwarven king’s arm trembled after taking a punch from Abaddon.
He understood why he was so confident in his power, but he wouldn’t show it.
“So you’re a bit more durable… I see now.”
“No, you don’t.”
Abaddon kicked Darius hard in the stomach and sent him flying up into the air, the wind knocked out of his lungs.
“I am the apex. My existence is proof that those standing in my path are small, and insignificant.”
With speed that Darius couldn’t hope to follow, he appeared behind him in midair and punched him hard in the back, nearly breaking his spine and planting him firmly into the ground.
Abaddon landed right beside Darius and lifted his body into the air by his neck, his grip becoming tighter by the second.
“I am both the beginning and the end, destruction made flesh. Nigh unconquerable and entirely unstoppable.”
Abaddon kneed Darius hard in the stomach, and the old man felt one of his ancient ribs crack after an eternity.
He knew immediately that what he’d just endured would have been much worse if he did not have Helios’ power to strengthen his body.
Reeling from the assault, he struggled out of Abaddon’s grip and kicked him in the jaw with all of his might.
The horrifying scene of Abaddon’s neck snapping and doing a 180 degree turn was visible for all to see, but Abaddon had yet to fall.
His body corrected itself of it’s own volition, and his head returned to the proper positioning with no signs of it’s previous gross damage.
Finally, Darius had a horrifying realization.
“You… you’ve been getting stronger the more I hit you.”
Abaddon was not surprised by his deduction, since anyone who fought him hand to hand would notice his his body was continuously getting harder and stronger.
“I told you already, Darius. I am unstoppable.”
The dwarven king opened and closed his mouth like a fish before he chuckled a bit in defeat and threw his hands up in the air.
“I can admit when I’m beat, lad…. I concede.”
Darius undid his transformation and fell to his knees, closing his eyes as he wanted for the final blow.
But no matter how long he waited, it never came.
Suddenly, he heard the rustling sound of paper and a breeze blew past his face.
Opening one eye, he saw that Abaddon was holding out a piece of parchment and a pen, like he was waiting for him to sign something.
“What… are you doing?”
“You need to sign this. Make things official.” Abaddon answered.
“I.. what?”
Was he asking him to sign this first and then he would be killed??
He was having a hard time following this logic.
ραΠdαsΝοvεl.cοm “….Are you not going to kill me and just take what you want?”
“What are you stupid? I don’t really want anything but my name on this document.”
“Are there servitude demands in this or something?”
“No, but I can add some if you like.”
A vein bulged in Darius’ head from the sheer absurdity of this turn of events.
“You went to war with me… killed millions of people… so that I would sign a simple piece of paper?”
“I asked you to hand everything over to me before the war began.” Abaddon shrugged.
Darius snatched the parchment and read it thoroughly, certain that there must been some hidden conditions or something that he wasn’t being told about.
And while he did find one… it was not what he would call sinister.
“What the fuck is a football team and why do I have to create one?!”
“That is non-negotiable. ” Abaddon said defiantly.
Darius began looking at Abaddon like he had some kind of personality disorder.
He knew that the man’s mood was susceptible to changes but… this was really too drastic.
“Whatever… at least I get to relax and leave all of the hard work to someone else.” Darius muttered as he started to sign.
“The hell you do. I’m not really interested in taking control of Apeir so you’ll still be in charge of everything, but it will always belong to me in name.”
Darius’ pen froze like he had just heard a total and complete deal breaker. “…What?”
“You heard me, old man. The only thing that’s going to change is the name on the deed.”
“What the hell was the point of all of this then!?!”
Abaddon looked up at his seven wives who were watching his battle with huge smiles and lustful gazes.
No matter how many times he saw them, they never failed to make his own heart flutter.
“Preservation… the only point that matters.”
“Bullshit! What fucking preservation!? Your armies have probably left craters all over this continent’s landscape!”
Abaddon rolled his eyes and pushed the paper back in front of Darius’ face. “My wife Eris has a powerful nature affinity, we can fix something like that easily. Now finish signing so that-“
“I won’t sign shit!”
“Old man, don’t make me beat you again.”
“Go ahead, brat! I’d rather get beaten than do all someone’s work for no compensation!”
“I’ll send you more succubi than your tired old body can handle. “
“So do I just sign here or are there other pages too?”
After Darius signed his name on the document, Apeir was officially transferred over to Abaddon and the war was over.
The scarlet emperor turned to face his armies with a rare smile on his face, and he let out a triumphant roar to declare their victory.
“MY SOLDIERS!! APEIR IS OURS!!!”
“HUZZAH!”
“GLORY TO THE SCARLET EMPEROR!”
“I’M READY FOR THE NEXT WAR!”
The celebration of millions of rowdy and bloodthirsty demons was so loud that it could be heard from miles around, but none would deny them this celebration.
While in the sky, the demons flew about in a joyful and proud manner, singing the praises of their ruler and master.
But for some reason, the way that the referred to him was a bit different than he was used to.
“HAIL THE DEMON GOD!”
“HAIL THE DEMON GOD!”
“HAIL THE DEMON GOD!”
‘….But I am not a god yet?’ Abaddon thought in confusion.
Because the mood was so lively, he didn’t interrupt their song and continued to let them refer to him however they liked, much to his own embarrassment.
But he quickly forgot about such a thing when he saw the seven beautiful women falling out of the sky with their arms out to embrace him.
Bekka came first, then Lisa, and Eris.
When Valerie joined, he fell back onto the ground with all of the girls in his arms, allowing his remaining wives to join in on the dogpile.
There were happy tears, kisses, and so many ‘I missed you’s’ that one could easily lose count, but Abaddon accepted them all with an overflowing heart.
He could feel that some of his wives had gotten stronger in their time apart, but for now he didn’t care about that.
He just wanted to hold them closely and make up for all of the days he had gone without their touch.
Nearby, Darius finally picked himself up from the ground and took in the scenery before him.
Not only Abaddon’s wives, but even his people seemed to love him dearly.
He couldn’t help but feel like, if it was this man, Apeir’s future might be brighter than he could have ever imagined.