A muscular, naked figure moved with deadly precision as he tore powerful demons which would be feared by any mortal in their right mind with his bare hands, treating them as little more than children.
A large spider fiend tried to pierce through him with its legs, but each attack was easily neutralized by small magical shields that blocked them precisely. Before it could attempt another attack, the man disappeared, having teleported some distance away.
No longer surrounded by the demons, his figure cleared up. This was Eden, though one would be hard pressed to recognize him. All traces of youth had been replaced with maturity, his lean and athletic figure having turned muscular, a body builder's dream.
His once jet black hair was now salt-and-pepper.
Floating in the air without the assistance of wings, or being transformed in any way, Eden pointed a finger lazily at the densely packed demons, and chanted in a strong voice, "I cast Meteor Swarm."
Before the demons could move, four small meteors manifested from the spell circle, amalgamations of fire and rocks which plummeted down onto the demons.
Some were resistant or impervious to fire, but they were still hurt by the falling rock. And for those unfortunate enough to have survived, they were torn apart.
Normally, when one group was killed, another would appear to take its place, except that this time, there was not. The reason for that was simple: there were no more demons to attack.
That had been the last group of demons left on this layer of the Abyss. Well, strictly speaking, there remained one.
Teleporting away with a thought, Eden appeared in front of a giant cross, on which a Sapphire Dragon was nailed. This had been the second strongest thing Eden had found after Gorellik, and he had been using it as an experiment, to attempt to wash away the madness from it.
If that was possible to do, Eden had not succeeded.
Floating up to the dragon's level, Eden placed his hand on its wide-opened chest, his hand resting atop its beating heart as the dragon still attempted to attack in its crazed state, but it was far too weak to free itself.
Shaking his head, Eden used Cleave.
As the dragon's soul attached itself to Eden, he felt his soul connect to the surrounding film of reality.
[Side Mission (Conquer the Forgotten Layer of the Abyss) Completed!]
[Mission Content: You have claimed your right over the Forgotten Layer of the Abyss by killing the God who created it. Prove your worth to those challenging your claim. Mission will be complete when every being on the layer has acknowledged the Player as their Lord.]
[Main Reward: Title 'Demon Lord of the Forgotten Layer'.]
The reward sounded like shit, but Eden felt like the entire layer had been turned into his domain.
To be precise, the connection was not as strong as Eden's Domain Expansion, but he could still feel he had a level of influence over the layer.
And yet, laughably, as he willed himself out of the prison, Eden was denied.
To this, he did not rage, but he laughed. Perhaps for the first time in many years.
Even after everything, the world still tried to block him. But he was no longer at its whims.
Slashing his hand forward, Eden Cleaved the space in front of him, creating a portal leading out of the Forgotten Layer of the Abyss.
In reality, Eden had reached the necessarily spatial skills to circumvent the bans put on this place a while back, but he had decided to finish his job since there remained less than a million demons. It had been relatively recent, all things considered.
Since he had already killed hundreds of millions, it would have been a shame to leave without finishing his job. Well, that had been a waste of time.
Stepping through the rift in space, Eden felt the edges tear away at Eden's body, attempting to shred him, but as they reached him, they were forcefully pacified.
Spacetime shifted as Eden landed in something that was not an empty plain for the first time in so long.
Surrounding him were giant trees covered in rotting mulch, and a swamp of boiling muck. This was the 664th Layer of the Abyss.
The 666th Layer was the Forgotten Layer, and consisted of the ground floor of the prison.
The 665th Layer was known as the Void, but in reality it was not its own layer, as it was simply the infinite void above the 666th Layer.
So, the 664th was the real first layer above the 666th. And at the center of this layer, he felt a contender for his title.
Although he had just earned the Title of Demon Lord, he still had one more pending. That of the Demon King.
Back in the Forgotten Layer, Eden had been able to feel each and everyone of those who challenged him for his Titles. There was little to do for those outside his Layer, but now that he left it, he could clearly feel them.
A bit too many to count, but most of them did not matter. In reality, Eden could feel that only a select few of them were powerful enough to be considered a threat. A few dozens, probably the strongest Demon Lords.
The one on this layer was not one of them.
Eden could feel it, and it certainly could feel Eden as well, since he was on its layer. Eden got the feeling that it was approaching.
He did not rush to meet it though, and instead connected to a particular demiplane. The only one he had access to and had not created.
A door opened, and stepping inside, Eden found himself in a rocky terrain. He was in front of a cliff, with a lava-fall in the middle of it.
There were a few things inside, some provisions, trinkets and other things of no value to Eden. They had probably been important to the one who had created this demiplane, but Eden could not care less about it.
What he cared about was the longsword that had been carelessly tossed to a side, amassing dust on the ground like any other old useless weapon.
He did not grab it right away however, and instead took out a corpse from his Inventory. Abraxax's.
It had rotted down to a skeleton after all these years, but Eden still carefully placed it down. Resurrection was not impossible. Although his current means were insufficient, as he never learned that particular strand of magic, since he had his soul, he might be able to do something about it.
After carefully placing down his skeleton, Eden finally turned to the sword.
[Sword of Zariel]
[Rank: Epic]
[Attack: +350]
[Strength: +6]
[Agility: +6]
[Physique: +6]
[Searing Radiance: Deals an additional 50 Radiant damage to all targets hit by this sword. Doubled against Fiends and Undeads.]
[Holy Light: Defuse a holy light in a 5 meter radius around the sword, blinding all Fiends and Undeads.]
[Solar Metamorphosis: One acknowledged by this sword find themselves transformed into a Solar.]
It was a good sword, especially against the Undead and Fiends. Something that even Eden could comfortably use. However, for now, the true value of the sword was in its last ability, Solar Metamorphosis.
But as he grabbed it and held it up, all he felt was disgust from the sword. It was definitely strange to feel emotions from an object, but Eden had seen weirder.
Stepping out of the demiplane, back into the Abyss, Eden waved the longsword around, sneering, "You want to play difficult?"
He felt disdain from it.
Eden shook his head, and although he could force his way, he could feel the resident Demon Lord was approaching. It would hardly be able to do anything to him if he went to one of his demiplanes, especially those shaped from the Forgotten Layer as he would probably finish breaking into the sword before it reached his position since his demiplanes kept their wrapped-time quality.
But he might as well have one last fight in this purely human form of his.
The trees shook as the owner of this realm rushed over, and revealed itself to be a giant worm-like creature as it wrapped around one of the larger trees, making them look small with its gargantuan size. It was of a sickly green, its hundreds of large legs and pair of mandibles dripping with venom those of a centipede.
[Name: Aurnozci]
[Title: Demon Lord of Xulregg, the Caged Worm]
[Perks: Tier II, Demonic Strength II, Worm Dexterity II, Centvies II, Fiery Will II, Heat Regeneration, Magic Resistance, Truesight]
[HP: 1840/1840]
[MP: 470/470]
[Strength: 85]
[Agility: 55]
[Physique: 80]
[Intelligence: 47]
[Wisdom: 55]
[Immunity: Fire II, Acid II, Poison II, Bludgeoning II, Slashing II, Piercing II]
[Resistances: Cold II, Lightning II]
[Weaknesses: None]
Aurnozci shrieked at Eden, but did not attack. Instead, he felt it extend a telepathic link, and say, "So you are the one who claims to be the Demon King. You, a human!"
It sounded amused.
Eden had his arms crossed, looking at Aurnozci unimpressed as he asked, "I don't suppose you'll acknowledge me without a fight?"
Much to his surprise though, Aurnozci slithered between trees, saying, "I don't care for battle. What I seek is evolution, to shed my current form and become perfect!"
Eden raised an eyebrow, glancing at the invisible rules of this layer, saying, "So you trapped yourself in your own layer? Sacrificed your freedom for a faster evolution?"
"Ah, so you can see it. Help me shed into my new form, and I shall recognize you as king. Fair, is it not?"
Eden tilted his head, mumbling, "I'm sure that's gonna end well."
He floated up to Aurnozci, the result of a simple Fly spell. Fly was a 3rd Level spell in this universe, meaning a barely learned 3rd Circle for Eden. Once it was mastered, it turned into a very reliable spell.
[Fly (3rd Circle): Grant a creature the ability to fly for 10 (60) minutes. Cost: 350 (90) MP.]
It barely cost anything, and he could fly for a full hour. It did not give him wings either, but gave him the ability to magically fly, granting him slightly less speed but better maneuverability.
But as he flew up to Aurnozci, it suddenly lunged at him, its dripping mandibles closing around his midsection.
They were stopped by a pair of Shields, while Eden sighed, "That was dumb."
He slammed his reinforced fist into Aurnozci's head, snapping it down, and allowing him to get on its back to stab the Sword of Zariel into its eye.
Aurnozci screeched in agony, and Eden jumped off of it, but he felt the sword suddenly turn white-hot in his hand. Snorting, he threw up the sword, chanting, "I cast Telekinesis."
The Caged Worm spit a large phlegm of acid at him, but Eden stepped forward, disappearing into the Ethereal Plane and appearing right below it, and grabbed at one of its legs, which was larger than his legs, and asked, "You think disarming me is good for you?"
Though unsure of what he was about to do, Aurnozci turned to him, intent to attack, but that was a mistake as the Sword of Zariel flew into the side of its head, slicing apart its other eye, rendering it blind.
At the same time, Eden tore its leg off its body, splashing blood everywhere, including on himself. The blood was acidic, but to Eden, who had Acid Resistance, it barely felt like a burn.
He then landed on top of Aurnozci's head, and slammed the torn off leg into it, reinforcing the blows with Cursed Energy as he flatly said, "Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."
… it was not as amusing as he thought it would be. He was getting too old for this shit.
At some point, Aurnozci started begging for his life, but Eden finished it all the same, ending things with a Maximum Output Cleave to behead it.
As its soul attached to Eden, he felt its control over this layer of the Abyss disappear, and were he to wish to, he could probably claim it as well.
But that would take time, and frankly, he could not care less.
For now, he was more concerned with breaking into the Sword of Zariel, as well as finding out how much time had passed.
Eden had worked on all paths of magic while in the Forgotten Layer, he had nothing but time after all, but only his Spatial Magic had reached the level to break through the restrictions set on that layer.
His divination, though impressive, could not. But now that he was outside, it only took a single spell to learn the answer to his queries.
Nine months had passed in Faerun. Enough for the party, which was thankfully still complete from his reading, to reach Baldur's Gate.
That meant he finally knew how much time had passed for him in the Abyss. Multiplying 9 months by 666, he had spent 500 years in there.
That might have upset a younger him, but at this point he no longer cared. Past what he assumed to be the first 100 years, everything had started blending together. Or maybe that had been before, or maybe that had been after.
Honestly, he did not know. All he knew was that he was not the same man as before. There was no use dwelling on the past, and right now, Eden had some vengeance to do.
But first, the sword.
Calling it back to him, Eden picked up the two mandibles of Aurnozci, which was his loot.
[Aurnozci's Mandible]
[Rank: Unique]
[Attack: +200]
[Agility: +12]
[Serrated Edge: All injuries cause bleeding against targets capable of bleeding, and bleeding damage increased by 50%.]
[Burning Touch: All attacks with this weapon cause an additional 20 fire damage.]
[Mucus Spray: Spray acidic mucus in a 20-meter cone, dealing 150 acid damage. Cooldown: 1 hour.]
The two shared the same stats, and obviously should be used as a pair of daggers. They were actually decent, but they were sent into a demiplane all the same, Eden following closely behind.
This was one of the demiplanes created in the Forgotten Layer of the Abyss, meaning time passed 666 times faster, and he had all the time in the world.
The Sword of Zariel was sentient, and thus could choose whether to grant its full powers to its wielder. Although the Solar Transformation would also change the moral code of the person, it could feel that it would be unable to affect Eden, so it resisted, refusing to grant further powers to someone like Eden.
Although it could not read his thoughts and tell much about him, it could see the hundreds of millions of souls attached to him.
Being incorporeal, souls did not take space, so he could stack them infinitely and not be bothered by them. But it was clear that he had killed them all, and whatever the reason was, there was no way the sword would grant him its power.
Unfortunately for it, that changed nothing.
It took some time, but in the end, Eden and his Simulacrum managed to break into the enchantment placed on the sword, and from there, it was only a matter of forcefully triggering the metamorphosis spell.
Of course, Eden Inscribed it down first before triggering it on himself. This was not just a spell like True Polymorph, which only superimposed another form onto his real one, but a 6th or 7th level spell that truly changed his true form.
As such, Eden's Talent kicked in and worked against it, but Eden suppressed it, keeping it confined as it allowed the magic to work.
The countless scars he had accumulated in his early days in the Abyss, as well as those he felt bored enough to actually get injured, vanished, and all traces of old age, such as his wrinkles and grey hair, reversed. Even his large build slimmed down, his muscles compacting, while his height increased beyond anything human.
His features not only became young again, but also became fairer, to the point they no longer felt human, but angelic. His hair turned back to being a raven black, forming a sharp contrast with his stark white skin.
Eden had always been handsome, but this was beyond anything he had ever been. This went beyond the human concept of beauty, his appearance having become unconditionally attractive.
Even the most beautiful of the average human would still appear ugly and monstrous to a being with different standards of beauty, say a sentient bug for example. With his new form though, no matter who looked at Eden, they would find him handsome, because his physical appearance tapped into something beyond the physical.
The weaker minded might even be charmed by a mere look at him. His eyes also turned into pools of luminous silver, seemingly capable of seeing through the world.
To top it all off, a pair of radiant, snow white feathered wings sprouted at his shoulder blades.
Taking a deep breath, Eden felt himself a changed man as he looked at his status.
[Name: Ozymandias]
[Title: Monster Hunter II, Omen of Death, Demon Lord of the Forgotten Abyss, Demon King (Pending)]
[Talent: Soul Overlord]
[Perks: Tier I, Silver Flame I, Will of Steel I, STD Free, Immense Cursed Energy III, Shrine, Boon of Energy Resistance, Boon of the Archmage, Godslayer, Truesight, Divine Presence, Magic Resistance, Immortality, Golden Tongue, Telepathy, Outsider Physiology]
[HP: 490/490]
[MP: 1382/1382]
[CE: 1699/1699]
[Strength: 49]
[Agility: 49]
[Physique: 49]
[Intelligence: 49]
[Wisdom: 49]
[Sorcery: 49]
[Skills: Expand]
[Immunity: Psychic III, Poison I, Radiant I]
[Resistances: Acid II, Thunder II]
[Weaknesses: None]
[Currency: 27522 Dream Points]