A/N:
" " : Dialogue,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy,
"Bold text": Shadows,
[ ] : System,
| | : Artificial Intelligence.
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Omniscient POV
Location: Demon Castle
In the flaming environs of the Demon Castle, Ashwani was currently resting, while his army was finishing off the last few demons on the floor. As he did that, he looked at a single panel from his system.
[Demon Analysis – 23.09%]
Unlike the regular panels from his system, this one had the same purple circuitry patterns that were indicative of Error's involvement. When Ashwani began his extermination of the demons within the Demon Castle, he came across the same issue that Sung Jin-Woo faced, that being his inability to raise them as his soldiers due to what the system had labeled 'contaminated mana'.
Since he couldn't raise them, he decided to dispose of the demons' corpses with his nanomachines, and as they finished consuming the first demon, the panel popped up with a bold '0.01%' on it. As it consumed more and more demon corpses, the percentage increased, and he began to gain a vague idea of it was indicating.
With Error's main ability to not only analyze the source code of all living beings, but also edit it, it was subtly influencing the souls of the demons it came across. Little by little, it gained greater proficiency in doing so, gaining more when it touched on more robust demons, before their souls eventually escaped its grasp. He wasn't sure what exactly what would happen when the progress bar reached 100%, but since it came from his nanomachines, he felt that it would be advantageous for him.
Ashwani then continued clearing more floors, killing demons and increasing the progress of the Analysis, then taking the Entry Permits for each floor. He went on for three days straight, from the night he entered, until he reached what he considered to be the first important milestone in the Demon Castle, the 50th floor.
Understanding that this approach would probably exhaust him, simply off his lack of rest, he made his own contingencies. He bought a Mythical Mana Potion and a Mythical Restoration Potion to replenish his mana and reduce his fatigue. Similarly to what he had done with the Mythical Health Potion, he placed them in thermoses enchanted with Perpetuity Charms, then attached the three thermoses to the back of his Nano Suit, where they would pump into his system if he noticed that his health, mana, or fatigue had reached concerning levels.
At this point, his body was in perfect condition, and he was faced with the Boss of the 50th Floor, the Ruler of the Lower Floors of the Demon Castle, the Avaricious Vulcan, and his Guards. "Primon. You and the rest of the others take care of the Guards. Tubby over there's mine." He said, summoning all the shadows he got from the Earth Giants, then placed Black Rift into his inventory.
*Vulcan*
Ashwani beckoned Vulcan, taunting him to attack. The demon growled, then moved to attack Ashwani with blazing speed, seemingly vanishing from its throne made of bones. Vulcan appeared above Ashwani with its massive club already swinging down at him, but unfortunately for the demon, it was far too weak to threaten him, and far too slow for any of its movements to escape his sight.
Before the club had any chance to hit him, Ashwani vanished from Vulcan's sight. He Blinked to the air over Vulcan's head, then built a pair of Smack Hands, and at the wrist equivalent area of the massive mechanical hands was five pulsing rings. Before his movement could even be registered by Vulcan, he punched at the upper back of the demon. The combination of his own Strength stat, the sheer kinetic energy that his Smack Hands were packing, and the Eruption effect, came together and hit Vulcan with so much force that his upper body was reduced to a purée of flesh, organs, and purple demon blood.
The entire fight, from Ashwani taunting Vulcan, to the demon's bloody demise, had taken no more than 5 seconds. Ashwani simply busied himself with checking the loot drops from Vulcan, while his shadows finished off Vulcan's guards, and his nanomachines consumed and analyzed the dead demons. The loot was exactly what he had expected: the Demon Monarch's Earring, two of Vulcan's horns, the Orb of Avarice, and finally, the World Tree's Fragment.
He equipped the Demon Monarch's Earring, stored the World Tree's Fragment and Vulcan's horns in his inventory, and had his nanomachines begin analyzing the Orb of Avarice, just to see if he could replicate its ability to double the power of spells. Once he was done checking his loot, he looked towards the progress of Demon Analysis.
[Demon Analysis – 71.39%]
With the current speed at which the Demon Analysis was progressing, he estimated that it'd be completed either before he reached the 75th floor, or on the 75th floor, but no further. He took Primon and the other shadows back into his shadow, then headed to the 51st floor to continue the massacre.
The demons from this point on were mostly mid-to-high-ranking demons, but with Ashwani's level of power, it didn't matter, as they all met their ends at his shadow soldier's hands, claws and fangs, or his blade. As more and more demons fell, the Demon Analysis inched closer to completion. By the 72nd floor, it had reached 95.16%, and by the time he was on the 75th floor, it had reached 98.72%, which by his estimation meant that he would complete it on this floor.
This floor was the second milestone of the Demon Castle, with it being the only other floor before the 80s to have a Demon Noble as a boss. The boss was Metus, the Guide of Departed Souls, an Undead necromancer whose time in the Demon World had made him more like a demon than any regular undead. Metus was also capable of using high-level magic, but even then, faced with Ashwani and his own army, he came up short.
Every corpse that Metus raised was quickly torn apart by Ashwani's shadows, then consumed by his nanomachines. Every spell that he was able to eke out fizzled helplessly against Ashwani's barriers, and the last thing that was present in Metus' mind during the final moments of his existence was an unbridled sense of terror, as Ashwani's blade speedily cut him to pieces.
As Ashwani picked up the loot, he looked at the Demon Analysis progress bar with an irritated gaze, as it seemed to taunt him, stopping at exactly 99%. He had believed that killing Metus would be enough to complete it, but it seemed that he had been wrong. He wracked his mind trying to find out what exactly he was missing to complete the Demon Analysis.
He had killed scores, if not hundreds of demons from every level, with Vulcan being the only Demon Noble he had killed… or was he? It was a known fact that Vulcan got his title 'the Avaricious' because he ate the most demons in all of the Demon World. But what wasn't as widely known was that despite the fact that he was as strong as a Demon Noble, he was unable to do one of the key things that set Demon Nobles aside as superior to other demons, that being the production of Bloodstone, a food exclusive to Demon Nobles.
Bloodstone was made by drawing blood from lower ranked demons and refining it into a solid form, which allowed for Demon Nobles to more efficiently raise their power. That efficiency was key when it came to growing a Demon Noble's power, because if the demonic power wasn't refined, they would end up like Vulcan, weighed down by contamination and unable to utilize their power to its full potential.
Upon remembering this fact, Ashwani then came to the conclusion that killing true Demon Nobles would be the only way to complete the Demon Analysis. He still didn't know what exactly it would do to him when it reached 100%, but he wasn't going to back down from it, especially not when he'd already gotten so far. And so, he marched on, mowing down demons with little difficulty.
Eventually, he reached the 80th floor, and like all the floors before it, he very quickly dispatched the demons he came across, killing them with his shadows, blade, and spells. However, as he continued this, he noticed his mana suddenly dip, as multiple of his shadow soldiers were killed in a short time. Of course, due to the nanomachines that were used to bolster their capabilities, he could track them down, and so, he very quickly got to the area where his shadows were dispatched, and came across a peculiar sight, or what counted as one in the Demon Castle.
Multiple demons wearing well-refined armor and wielding weapons rode in on horses that were also decked out in armor, moving as quickly and violently as they could afford. Through their combined efforts, they were able to take down a few more shadow soldiers, but unfortunately for them, Ashwani had arrived to put their resistance to a permanent stop. He had identified these demons as a single Demon Noble flanked by 5 Demon Knights, and he was feeling quite eager to prove his theory that a Demon Noble was needed for the Demon Analysis to finally complete.
Ashwani invoked Stop Time, freezing everything around him, then quickly Blinked over to the demons, and with a single swipe of his blade, he killed each and every single one of them. As Stop Time released, the Demon Knights and the Demon Noble fell to the ground, their bodies bifurcated. As the Demon Noble fell, the mask on their face fell off, revealing the face underneath. The now dead Demon Noble was female, with purple hair, pointed ears and red eyes.
Her name was Esil, and she was the princess and eldest daughter of the Radir clan of demons. In the world of Solo Leveling, she served as a guide for Sung Jin-Woo when he went through the Demon Castle, and after he used the Cup of Reincarnation to reverse the universe's time by a whole decade, she eventually became the Queen of Demons. But that didn't matter to Ashwani, who only saw her as a resource to complete his Demon Analysis.
However, unlike his expectations, killing Esil and having his nanomachines consume her didn't push the Demon Analysis to completion, as it only added 0.2% to the progress bar. His jaw clenched in slight frustration as he saw that, then he released drones to search for the Radir clan's castle. "You guys better complete this, 'cause I'm really starting to lose my patience." He said, then returned his shadows into storage, as he patiently waited for his drones to find the castle.
…
Location: Earth, North America, USA, New York, North Salem, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
A black luxury sedan drove onto the premises, and inside it were Raven, who was driving, and Anna Marie, who was in the passenger seat beside her. "Ma, do I really need to be here?" She asked Raven, her southern accent flowing freely. "Oh, sweetie. If there was anywhere else I could send you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But with your mom recovering, and us preparing ourselves for the future to be… tumultuous, for lack of a better word, this is the only actual option I've got." Raven said, driving towards the mansion's garage.
"What about staying with Ash? Since he's so strong, wouldn't it be safer to be with him instead?" Anna asked. "You're right that he's strong, but even then, we in the Brotherhood don't have any way to contact him. The last time that we met up with him, he was using portals to move around. So while I wouldn't have any problems with you staying with him, I'm simply unable to find him in the first place." Raven said, then turned off the car's engine, as she parked it in the garage.
"Raven. It's been an eventful three months. How have you been?" Charles, who had detected their arrival and allowed them into the premises, said, his voice calm. "Hello, Charles. I'm–" Raven began returning his greeting, but was shocked as she saw him standing on his own feet. "You're walking." She said, mostly in surprise, rather than stating fact.
"Yes, and I have Ashwani to thank for that. And who is this young lady?" He asked, looking at Anna. "She's–" "Rogue." Anna said, interrupting her mother. "My name's Rogue." Raven sighed, as she knew that Anna was suspicious of Charles, as she'd only use that name when facing someone she had an aversion toward. As for the reason for this suspicion, it was none other than the Factor Regulator on her wrist.
Amongst the functions that Ashwani had told them that it performed, it also served as protection from psychic alteration and damage, so Charles' passive psychic aura, which made it so others were mentally comfortable in his presence, fizzled out when it came in contact with Anna's mind. However, it wouldn't stop any attempts at telepathic communication, so Charles was able to talk to her, even with the protective layer on her mind.
"There's no need to be fearful, Rogue." Charles told her telepathically, and almost immediately, Anna's face took up a prominent scowl. "Stay out of my head, ya creep." She said, glaring at the bald telepath, surprising him. "I've told you before, Charles. Most people won't be particularly forgiving of you barging into their minds. My daughter happens to be one of them." Raven said, her face showing her disappointment in him.
"R… Right. My apologies. Please, follow me." He said, trying to escape the awkward atmosphere. Charles walked them through the mansion, giving Anna a small tour of the building, showing her the students' living area, and eventually taking her to the current class that was being held for the younger students, history.
In the time since Ashwani's visit, Logan had recovered all of his lost memories, and his body had grown by over half a foot, with him now being 6 feet tall. The only complaint that he had about this development was that he had to get new clothes, and he didn't know when his growth was going to stop.
But when it came to his memories, they had given him an understanding of his past that hadn't been present before. For a while, he was tempted to leave the X-Mansion to go out and begin targeted attacks on certain people in Canada's and the USA's governments, but was eventually convinced to stay back for the time being.
Using his now recovered memories, he took up the position of the history teacher, hoping that he could at least help the children learn things from the past that would either have been lost to poor preservation or outright covered up. This was all on top of his position as a combat instructor.
At this point, Charles walked into the classroom with Anna and Raven in tow. "Hey, Chuck. Here to check up on us, or what?" Logan asked, while looking at Anna and Raven. "I just wanted to give our guests a quick introduction." Charles said, then turned towards the class. "Many of you might not know her, but this is Raven Darkhölme. You may have heard her being called Mystique." He said, and many oohs and aahs went out from the young metahumans, as their eyes flashed with recognition.
"And this is her daughter, Rogue." He said, introducing Anna to them. "Sweetie, why don't you go and try to make some friends?" Raven said, lightly nudging her daughter forward with a soft smile on her face. Rogue walked forward, turning around nervously to look at her mother, who simply gave her two thumbs-up.
While Anna introduced herself to the younger metahumans, who were a bit enthused to meet a new addition to the X-Mansion's inhabitants, Raven walked out of the classroom with Charles. They moved out of earshot of the children, then Raven turned to Charles, and reverted to her true appearance.
"Charles, I have chosen to entrust Rogue's safety to you and your X-Men. So understand, if she falls to harm, I will make sure that you live the rest of your life quadriplegic, even if Ash returns to heal you. Understand?" She said calmly, her words ringing more as a promise than a threat.
Charles knew that she could definitely do just what she had said, but he also knew that her words came from a place of concern and compassion, so he nodded. "I'll do my best." He said, tacitly promising to not push Rogue towards joining his X-Men or engaging in needless combat. "That's all I ask of you. Her ability is energy absorption… from living beings. You don't have to worry about her powers going out of control, but it'd be best if you didn't cause them to do so."
As Raven finished giving her warning, she and Charles heard footsteps exiting the classroom, and they turned to see Anna, who walked up to Raven. "So, how was it?" She asked her daughter. "It… wasn't bad." Anna replied, still a bit shaken by this return to a semblance of a normal life.
"Well, that's a start." Raven said. "Listen, I know that it'll be a bit difficult to adapt to staying here, but right now, this is the safest place I can take you. So, give the place a chance. It might grow on you." She said, then hugged Anna. "I'll try to visit and check up on you with Irene, okay?" She said, and Anna calmly nodded.
After one last hug, Raven returned to the sedan and began driving away, looking through the rearview mirror at Anna, who was already showing some signs of homesickness. Although she had initially adopted Anna with ulterior motives, she came to see her as her own child, and she'd be damned if she'd let her child be lost to the horrors of war.
…
Location: Demon Castle, 80th Floor
Gerin Radir[1], the patriarch of the Radir clan, and boss of the 80th floor of the Demon Castle, was looking around what was the main hall of his clan's castle, which had been reduced to flaming rubble. The attack that had resulted in this had come from seemingly out of nowhere.
Earlier, he had received news of an intruder on the floor, and sent his eldest daughter to intercept the intruder, killing them if possible. He had faith in her capabilities, so he believed that she would return. Yet, in the time that he expected his daughter to dispatch the intruder and begin returning to the castle, the castle had instead been ruthlessly attacked.
The only prelude that they had before the attack hit was the castle suddenly being swallowed by a deep and oppressive darkness, then a powerful explosion hit the castle. Ashwani, who had just attacked the Radir clan castle from the sky above the castle, then immediately summoned all his soldiers, dropping them from the sky like living ordinance.
The shadow soldiers' landing caused another powerful shockwave, and before the demons could react, they attacked, very quickly killing the demons around them. Ashwani Blinked down to the castle's grounds, then flashed forward, cutting down dozens of demons in the blink of an eye.
Looking through the walls of the castle as he cut down more demons, he soon found four Demon Nobles, Gerin and his three other children. Wasting no time, he opened a portal and stepped through it, then with a single lazy slash, he beheaded one of Gerin's children. He opened another portal, dashing through it and piercing his hand through the head of another of the Demon Nobles.
As he pulled his now bloody hand back, he opened a portal below his own feet, and as he fell through the portal, he slashed down, killing the last of Gerin's progeny. As each of them were consumed by his nanomachines, the progress of the Demon Analysis increased by 0.2%, leaving it with only 0.2% for completion.
He then opened one last portal to the castle's throne room, where Gerin and the few Demon Knights that were guarding him were located, still reeling from the sudden attack on the castle. As he stepped into the throne room, he immediately instructed the Abyss Cloak to dispatch the Demon Knights, and an instant later, they were dead, their bodies cleaved through by the Abyss Cloak's bladed chains.
Although his sight was still slightly blurry from the impact of the spell, Gerin watched Ashwani slaughter his soldiers with a clearly troubled gaze, as his senses warned him of an absolutely fatal danger coming from the figure dressed in pitch-black armor and a cloak of living shadow. But even as Ashwani's presence bore down on him, Gerin burned with rage and sorrow, as he knew that this person had definitely killed his children, which meant that his beloved Esil was also dead.
Pushing through his fear with rage, Gerin let out a powerful shout as he moved to attack Ashwani in a bid to avenge his children. But alas, he was too far out of his own depth. The moment Gerin's hands moved, Ashwani moved so quickly that he left a static afterimage, and slashed off Gerin's head and both of his arms. "And that's the last one." Ashwani said, then kicked up a chair to sit and wait, as his soldiers continued to tear through the remaining demons.
He watched his nanomachines devoured Gerin's corpse with a slightly somber expression. "It's too bad. But unfortunately, you and your clan are of no use to me beyond this dungeon. Otherwise, I'd have spared you like he did." He said with a sigh. "But don't worry, the other clans are gonna receive the same treatment." He said, watching as the last parts of Gerin's corpse were reduced to black dust, and not a moment later, the Demon Analysis finally achieved completion. Ashwani could only hope to know what this would mean for him, going forward.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 3,687
Thanks for reading!
[1] We aren't given his name in Solo Levelling or Ragnarök, so I made one up.