The Hell Am I

In one of his more bored moment of roaming the lands outside of the company of either the priestess of the gentle tiger of light and happiness, Domen would be passively floating over Terra and inspecting the changes that occurred between the last time he was alive and now. One thing he knew of important was to make sure he knew where the large settlements of the land were. This was important for both strategic and other purposes. Along for the ride with him was his pint sized right hand minion, a small fairy by the name of Paco. The glistening bug fluttered about talking about random things and observations of the land while the stern golem like pillar of a man would simply frown at the grown below him in his endless floating.

It would come to pass this his gaze would come across a large hole in the ground that seemed to have no end or bottom that was readily visible. Hovering over it, the large male would think back on the time of the Great War, he remembered the attack dealt by the combined forces of Bleaus and Merkus that caused this abyss that scarred the surface of Terra. He remembered earlier having spoken to Sanzon about venturing down into the depts. Of Onitoshi, but the Kami seemed frightened and hesitant to do so. Domen on the other hand, wasn’t afraid of a few of his own kind. He was interested on how things had faired down there as well. Thus with this he would speak his will aloud, “we are going down there…” Having not realized what his master was talking about since he had been talking and not paying attention until now, Paco would look at the hole beneath them and then back up to Domen as he speaks, “master, surly you don’t mean going into Onitoshi in your current state.” The worlds would earn the fairy a stern glare. Looking back to the hole, Domen’s body would begin to lower deep into its depths.

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Further and further into the rabbit-hole would Domen sink as his lowering in elevation raised large stone and earth walls about all sides. Speed is made downward with the assistance of gravity as Domen’s body would free fall miles and miles. The hole was magnanimous to say the least, something that shouldn’t have been created by a single entity other than him. Still, he had witnessed the creation of this very hole, channeled in rage by the protectors of the heavenly realms, a beam of celestial power bulldozed the terrain of Terra and impaled her much like an unforgiving master to a newly acquired female slave… in the butt. Soon the opening of the hole would get smaller and smaller, tightening like a sphincter at the threat of an incoming object as the opening below him, hailing hell, would grow every so wider as if inviting him and speaking ‘me love you long time.’

After a while, the hole would give forth to Domen as his body would exit the roof of Onitoshi, now called Barathrum Regnum. His body would free fall from the sky before flight is re-invoked in a manner that would slow his lowering to a pace that didn’t cause his hair to seem as if it were standing on end. Looking down across the terrain at cruising speed, Domen would notice the familiar surroundings of his fire and brimstone home. Flight is continued down until his feet finally come to hover over a couple stories over the burnt ground beneath him. Standing casually he folds his arms at his chest and looks around; there didn’t seem to be any battling going on in the area where he had landed, which was a good thing. From the looks of things, the area where he had lowered didn’t seem like it was in good shape. Just rubble and rummaging spirits.

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As Jack’s eyes drew back to the large man who had penetrated the hole, that large man’s eyes would be upon Jack as well, simply standing there and looking at him. Hovering over the terrain, Domen would come within speaking proximity of the Oni who seemed to speak to himself about calling it a day. The useful thing about this particular Oni was that he was humanoid, which generally indicated some sort of intelligence aside from the rawr-type Oni’s who were more animalistic and only seemed to be motivated by base instincts. The fact that Jack had a grasp of spoken language was also a plus along with the fact that Jack didn’t seem to be pointlessly aggressive. With these fundamentals, Domen was able to decipher that he and this Oni may be compatible if a conversation were to be introduced into the scenario. Thus, speaking first, Domen would call out, “you there, to your knowledge has this place too been affected by the second dawning?” Of course, the ‘no duh’ part would be the physical damage that obviously caused the hole in the ‘sky’ of this area as well as the rubble that Jack and he were in, but his intent was the questioning of a power reset in this area. The fact remained that Domen still lacked a certain tact and descriptiveness in his speech that flowered most normal conversation.

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Domen would immediately pick up on the questioning of the second dawning; so he would not have experienced that. That fact alone would allow the demon to know that this demon before him was in a similar boat as himself. As Jack spoke, Domen listened with his arms folded at his chest, taking in the man’s words. He seemed bearable enough to speak with and seemed to be the type to go along with the flow of things; whereas Domen made a hobby out of responsibility, this one seemed to be adverse to it. From the words spoken of the demon before him, Domen would know that this one’s powers were reset much like his own were, but still, it would not answer the on grander scale of the area they were in. He did like that his question was answered to the best of ability; that was all Domen ever asked of anyone whom he came in contact or requested anything of. Deciding to go on the dialogue offensive, Domen would be nice in this scenario since his conversational partner had pleased him. He would enlighten, “much as you, I have recently awoken to this world. I stood within the skies amongst battle at the end of the world and witnessed the red flash that brought upon the end of that era. Now that I’ve reawaken void of my powers and my former kingdom, the humans have told me that twenty five years have passed since my time and that a second dawn has come to this world, robbing it of its strength while reviving us. My will drove me to come to this place and inspect its current status.”

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At first the words confused Domen as the demon before him seemed to reference a time twenty years before now. From what he could understand, the demon hadn’t acknowledged the fact that there actually was a second dawn that occurred five years after the time which he was thinking. Though he thought he had just informed the demon of this, there seemed to be a mix up in translations. It made sense that Onitoshi would be ignorant of the various changes made top side. Peering upon the demon, Domen wondered how much of a grasp he had on his current situation. “I see,” would be his response to the first set of words spoken by Jack. From what was being said, Domen could realize that this particular demon seemed to be well versed in the social climate of this hellish region. With a nod, Domen would mention, “In the time I ventured down here in the past, I did come across those who referred to themselves as Oni Lords, so I have some experience in which you are speaking.” He would continue, “from what I understood in the time where I lived, the Oni from this area were led as puppets against those on Terra’s surface. As for the others, I’ve known them to frequent the heavily forested areas of the earth lands.” Turning the conversation onto Jack, Domen would speak, “you seem highly advanced for a demon, what is it that you research?”

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“Hmm…” Domen would roll the thought of blood magic through his head. It seemed like a pretty interesting for a demon to study. From what he could understand, the demon before him was suggesting that it was blood that was responsible for a portion of a demon’s powers. It was an interesting theory, but still “…there are human’s and spirits of light who are also capable of performing magic. Would it be safe to assume that their blood also carries their magical abilities, or have you not yet ventured into studying the sheep of this world?” Also, a concerning question of his, “have you thought of a manner of amplifying the magic your find in blood?” Domen found himself interested whenever it came to raw strength. He already had begun to speculate that his blood was special in some way, which would separate him from a normal demon who may never progress to the heights which Domen was shooting.

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The demon is watched with interest as his hypothesis is given. The more Domen heard, the most useful sounding the individual in front of him seemed. As one who only knew fighting and war, the former warlord did not exert much effort into the study of things or the sciences, but that did not mean he undermined their importance. As a leader and one who understands delegation, he knew that he did not have to understand something perfectly for it to benefit and move in line with his will. When the demon before him looked to his right arm, so did Domen as he noticed it for the first time. Domen would admit, “what you speak of, I find very interesting.” Remembering the plight of his former kingdom, Domen would inform, “if you haven’t visited your previous territory” which would reference the Terra lab which was spoken of, “you may find it infested with the sheep. Since I’ve awoken, I’ve found that my former kingdom has been taken over and populated by those of another generation. If you are waking just as I, you may find the current land foreign to you.” Domen would inquire, “where do you currently dwell?”

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Domen would be able to see his point form his perspective. It was good to have plentiful resources, after all. He would find it odd that the demon before him was married and with off spring; it seemed like a very human thing to do. Of course, he had started doing many human things lately, which would bar him from being able to judge too much on that particular issue, though actually getting married would be a huge stretch for him unless it provided some type of benefit that came along with it… perchance a new power or something to that notion. The tidbits about Jack’s kingdom come in and Domen is interested as to where he was going with this. When hint at a possible proposition comes up, Domen is able to get the direction that the conversation may be going. To each their own; Domen, at one point, had veered off of the path of dominating others to pursue other trades, if not very briefly, and discovered that he would rather make others do it for him than do it himself. In this case, Jack seemed to be his foil in the fact that he didn’t seem to wish to be bothered by the rewarding hobby of being worshipped and followed by masses. “Interesting,” Domen would nod, still looking over Jack, “make clear your arrangement and I shall give you my answer.” He would be along the thought process of not having any issues offering his might in exchange for the tender of sheep, or a similar arrangement if such were to be requested.

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It seemed a ludicrously convenient offer to the demon, but it did not surprise him. This, as many things in his life, was dictated by his will. Some believed in fate. Some believed in destiny. Some believed in a higher order that moved things for them. According to Domen, they were all wrong and silly; the only constant in the universe, judged by the Domen-centric view as visioned in his mind, was his will, which enacted things to go such as this. Jack would become yet another character acquaintance in the role playing game of Domen’s life, and as such would justly receive the benefits that came with it. As a demon of judicious benevolence, Domen appreciated those who acted within his will and held disregard for the countless other unimportant people who inhabited the world, mostly as just NPCs in his view.

Strict and simple, Domen would answer, “that can be done.” With the acceptance, a chapter in Domen’s book of life turned with Jack now stepping into it. Domen would speak, “I am very interested in you and what you can accomplish. For what you have given, I will grant to you my support and the things you seek.” With the deal made, Jack would be allotted his proper response as the ending music slowly begins to start up as the camera spans backwards and away from the two destined figures until the ED begins playing which offers much fan service of Kazakura and Seijin in various poses, outfits and lack of outfits. The continuation of this story, as always, would proceed with further episodes.

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