29 Overlord of Hell

In the deepest layer of hell lay an abysmal realm where creatures from the most horrifying of nightmares lay. They battled each other with ferocity to quell their boredom as they waited and hunted. There were no other beings other than them, so they hunted each other to fill their emaciated bellies as they anxiously waited.

Their every desire was full of yearning to escape the endless prison they were trapped in. They had been trapped here longer than they could remember and were only ever able to leave if they were summoned into another realm. They were the strongest of all of their brethren and as such they had the strictest bindings placed upon them by the Gods when the mortal realm banished them to this realm.

Demons from lower layers of hell could at least have a chance to escape, but not those from the last layer.

In the very center of this torturous land stood a formidable fortress that loomed over the realm. Standing as tall and wide as a mountain, this fortress was the heart of the command of the Tyrant Driblark. Here the mightiest of his generals lay in wait for their chance to establish a foothold in the mortal realm. Plans were made here but were only ever given the go ahead by Driblark himself.

At the highest point overlooking the land stood Driblark, staring over the kingdom he had subdued after centuries of bloodshed. It took centuries to cause every demon to submit him, because no matter how many times he would kill them they would always return. Not even death could free you from hell. After a century of endless bloodshed, he became acknowledged as Overlord and his command was more powerful than the word of gods.

He sensed one of his generals walking towards the door that separated this terrace from the hallway. Without saying a word, he waved his hand and the door opened on its own revealing Marzoh, his trusted subordinate.

"Master" Marzoh immediately dropped to his knees as the doors swung open.

Marzoh was the most powerful sorcerer in the legions of hell, second only to Driblark. He had the ancient blood of dragons running through his veins and as such he had not only their magical abilities, but also the physical characteristics. He had come from an unnatural experiment where 2 gods had tried to combine a minotaur and a dragon, they succeeded but the result was far from their expectations. He was a nine meters tall humanoid with the head of the dragon and horns of a minotaur, with wings coming from his back and bull legs as his lower half.

"What is it?" Driblark had no patience at the moment. His plans to start bringing the armies of the other layers had already started and the moment for his summoning was on the horizon.

"The summoning of the Generals have been initiated and they should all enter the mortal realm at the end of two weeks, as you have commanded."

Driblark snorted causing the fire element in the room to go out of control for a moment. "If everything is on schedule then why are you here?"

"There has been a slight… complication…" Marzoh began to tremble as he knelt before Driblark. He was afraid that Driblark might lose his temper and throw him to the torture pits for the next 30 years. He couldn't miss the invasion of the mortal realm!

"Shrarzok's summoning seemed to have been rushed and completed early…."

"What?" Driblark glared at Marzoh, daring him to repeat what he had just said. The rooms temperature grew higher, and slight black tears began forming in space. The telltale sign of chaos energy entering the room.

Feeling the anger behind Driblarks voice and seeing the chaos element leaking into the room, Marzoh's trembling grew even more. "Master, our slaves in the mortal realm rushed the ceremony bringing Shrarzok into the mortal realm early. We don't know why, only that Shrarzok entered in a weakened state and soon after we found his essence having returned to the birthing pool."

Flames of fury began dancing in Driblarks eyes. Shrarzok was his strongest shadow demon, and his prowess in assassination and commanding legions was a great asset. Shrarzoks strength was so great, that only Driblark himself was able to defeat and subdue him. His power was the only reason Driblark did not trust him, and he was only waiting for the moment that Shrarzok would stab him in the back.

Now that Shrarzok had returned to the birthing pool, it would take months for him to be reborn and fully regain his strength. This was a significant detriment to his future plans in the mortal realm.

"What happened to the slaves?" Driblarks was voice was deep and a growl escaped as he fully intended to cause suffering to whoever was responsible for this.

"None of them are alive master." Marzoh continued to cower on his knees.

With a snarl, Driblark turned to the side and slashed the air with his claws laced with the chaos element. A small tear opened, and the after math of the battle in the cultists den appeared before his eyes. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, and a deep hole opened in the center of his forehead. White wisps began condensing together, and the silhouette of a man appeared before him standing in the center of the room.

"What happened to make you summon Shrarzok so early?" Driblark glared at the soul that had condensed before him. This was the last cultist that had been alive, and as Cleric Hrefner opened his eyes all he could see was the flaming eyes before him.

"Overlord Driblark have mercy!" Hrefner dropped to his knees with his forehead pressed against the floor. "We were found and attacked, and so I had hoped that Lord Shrarzok could aid us!"

Driblark opened his eyes and bellowed, "Show me!"

With a scream of pain from Hrefner, images flowed from his head and Driblark could see everything that he saw within the last 24 hours of his death. The last image he saw was of Jason walking into the room to confront Sharzok.

After the images finished, Driblark snapped his fingers and caused chaos elements to traverse the void and enter into Hrefners soul. Bones quickly grew out of the ground and bound themselves to the soul of Hrefner, who immediately groaned in pleasure as sensation was restored to his otherwise non-existance.

"Go, find the name of that man and how he found you. I don't want a repeat of this mistake elsewhere."

Hrefner looked at his now skeletal body and could feel a large amount of necrotic power inside him, and he nodded. "As you command Overlord!"

The image quickly faded before Driblark, and he looked towards Marzoh who was still on the ground.

"Once we have a name, destroy him."