God of Nothing

Lost’s armor morphed into something inhuman. The black obsidian grew spikes and thorns at odd angles, replacing Lost’s, no, Satanael’s visage with a more fitting silhouette for the demon king.

Aleph stood in the face of a power he had scarcely ever faced before. Even the demon king that invaded his world was not so imposing. He roused his mana to envelop his body as much as he could, preparing for a fight to the death.

“!!!” Aleph crossed his arms just in time, preventing the demon lord’s spear from piercing his heart. It took him off his feet, sending him flying to the other side of the massive cavern, where he hastily righted himself. Lost didn’t give chase, but rather, lunged at him from a completely different direction as soon as he stopped.

Aleph finally drew his blade at this point, turning the tip of the spear aside. Then he stepped in, trying to drive his fist in the demon’s solar plexus. What awaited him was a knife, gliding sinisterly into his abdomen.

“Ugh.” Aleph grabbed the knife arm just in time, and the pair stayed there, angling for position. He stepped on Satanael’s spear, freeing up his other hand for a downward slash, but was met with yet another surprise. The demon king let go of her spear,gripping his blade right on the edge.

What ensued was a struggle for positioning, with each side driving their blades deeper into the other, but none of them gave in. The stalemate was broken when Aleph stepped onto the wall on his back, allowing him even more leverage. Satanael stepped back at last bringing back his knife to defend against Aleph’s blade that was almost as long as her neck.

Swpp. Aleph spun to the side, narrowly dodging the spear that was suddenly at his head. He abandoned his attack, leaping back a couple meters to regain his bearings.

What was that, he panted, catching his breath after the quick but intense exchange. That final attack had almost gotten the best of him, and he hardly even saw it arrive. If it weren’t for a soft scraping in the dirt, he would have now had a spear sticking out from the back of his head. He observed the demon king in a new light, noting the changes in her attacks.

A thick trail of shadows shot out from the orb above the demon king’s head, attaching itself onto the spear like a separate limb. It quivered like a tail before steadily targeting him and launching itself with blinding speed. Aleph ducked the blow, and this time he crossed the distance to strike. Satanael hardly even dodged, again timing her stab so it would strike at the same time his own did. 

“?”

Before their blades crossed, Aleph stepped back, making his own attack miss. Or at least, that was what she thought.

“Force slash!” A sharp strip of mana emerged from Aleph’s blade, aimed right at the demon king’s face.

He leapt back at the end of the exchange, breathing heavily. He did so intentionally, sensing that his body needs to recover as much as it could in these slower moments in order to keep up with the fast ones. So he took a knee, staring down the strongest being in the world.

There stood the demon king, completely unscathed. Her form was domineering, motionless, as if inviting him to attack. Instead, her regal form had Aleph momentarily transfixed.

Physical strength enough to overwhelm him in spots, with the martial prowess to match. An endless array of Abyssal magic, fully integrated into her fighting style. She was even adorned with priceless artifacts that rival Aleph’s own. This was Satanael, a demon king worthy of the name.

“If you’re this strong, why not join us?” Aleph found himself saying. “We can rid Erebos off this planet together!”

“...” Satanael stayed put, completely silent. And then, she charged without warning, putting Aleph on the defensive.

Continuous ringing echoed throughout the hollow as blades crossed repeatedly, drowning out any other noise from outside.

I am bound. Thoughts floated into his head. Not from his disciples or any other ones from the battlefield, but it was clearly from the demon before him. Each word rattled around his head, and he struggled to comprehend it even as he defended against Satanael’s barrage.

I am bound. By causality. By my birthright. By my wretched Father.

Aleph staggered backwards, once again rebuffed by the demon king. He shook his head in frustration before attacking once again, drawing more and more power from Oblivion’s heart as well as his own.

Erebos has marked you for death, Aleph, and so I must comply. I would have liked to have done so by my own might, but you have proved my better, leaving me no choice but to borrow this wretched power. With the king of the Abyss so close at hand, I am now unable to converse with you in any normal capacity. These final dredges of sanity are all I can transmit now.

Crash! Aleph went through the cavern wall, sent flying by the tail of shadow. He crashed through into another massive space, flying a couple dozen more feet before finally slumping against another wall.

Killing you shall grant me the authority to escape my shackles and stand against him directly, regardless of his orders.

Steps echoed all around Aleph now, punctuated by his own gasps for air. He touched Oblivion’s heart directly now, summoning the full might that it can produce.

I thought… I thought we could forgo this, truly. If I had enough time, I might have broken free by my own strength. But I had to save Rayse.

That day’s clash with Superbia has depleted the time I had earmarked for breaking these bonds, and now the month is up. Erebos knocks, and I, His scion, can only obey.

Aleph looked up at the wall as Satanael pulled herself out of it. She was fully engulfed by shadow now, a vague black shape in a swirling tornado of gray. She seemed larger now, ducking her head through that small opening as if she had gained a couple feet since he last saw her.

His influence grows as he approaches. See my form, increasingly monstrous, as the March of the Abyss echoes through my soul. The entire army feels this, draws power from this, and fuels them to even higher degrees of brutality. Only two heralds and the demon king of greed remain, but their powers will grow similarly, until Erebos descends. Even Betrayal, who’s been by my side through most of this, grows more unwieldy by the second. I must kill you now, Aleph, before humanity is wiped out.

Surrender, Aleph. Lay down your life so humanity may live. Otherwise, you need to kill me right now, before Erebos’ will fully manifests. 

They were reasonable words. Aleph had no trouble believing she was genuine. She had saved his disciple far too many times at far too much of a cost to her for him to not believe it.

He had always proclaimed to be willing to lay down his life for this world, and now he had an opportunity to do so. He would be glad to do it too, save for a couple things.

Satanael, the demon of Rebellion. In the myths of his world, they were also referred to as the demon of temptation. An angel so allured with power that they declared themselves god. In those myths, God, enraged, struck down this upstart, who was then reduced to Satan, christianity’s perpetual loser.

Make no mistake, our next clash should be the last. Lay down your life here, so that I may usher humanity into salvation.

Again, the allure of saving the planet was offered, but again, it was rebuffed. More words sprouted from his head, but this time, it was from one of his students.

‘You can die, Master, but do it after you’ve lived. I’m sure Emily would want that for you.’

Rayse’s words on the day he told them his history returned to him today, along with the resolve to do what he must.

Aleph had heard enough. He injected his will right into Oblivion’s heart, twisting the spell into a more familiar form.

His armor began to glow, not with the blue of the Force attribute, but of Oblivion’s orange. Aleph felt the metal that encased him shift and flow, into a form he felt the utmost comfort in. Then, he felt something stir inside Oblivion’s heart, something he had not felt since the final moments of his earth. 

“GrAaAAAAWR!” A mighty roar blasted through the caves, the force of which making even the demon king pause. The orange glow shifted once again to gold, filling the cavern in the brilliant light of draconic energy. 

When the light subsided, Aleph was revealed, wearing a golden exosuit, looking completely out of place in terms of this world’s technology level. Oblivion’s heart was no longer there, and in its place was a similarly gold gem with unfathomable power.

“Come, demon. Let us finish this.”

In the future, he would call this his first deliberate instance of Soul Forging, or the act of creating an artifact by changing its soul.