Underworld

Feeling an earthquake rumble beneath the surface of the mindscape, King watched in amazement as pillars of blood coloured water rushed towards the sky.

'What!'

Feeling an unknown force suddenly take hold of him, Grim wasn't able to process the changes happening around him as his body was abruptly heaved into the air.

'What is going on?!'

"Ascension." King's voice echoed out within the ensuing chaos.

Remaining seated on his thone, his expression held a look of mild amusement as he stared up at his skywards incarnation.

'To think that a simple ascension could affect the mindscape like this... Grim... Just what kind of entity are you transforming into?'

Out of all of his incarnations spanning across all planes and multiverses, Grim stood as neither the strongest nor the most dangerous. But his drive, his determination, his sheer force of will itself! It put all the others to shame.

"Climb Grim!"

"Eh?" Hearing the voice of his OG soul encourage him from below, Grim suddenly stopped struggling and looked down at him.

"You said you were going to make it to the very top right? Then climb Grim! Keep climbing and never stop! Climb towards the heavens themselves and then go beyond them! Climb until there's nothing left to climb and then find a way to go even higher!"

"King..."

"You're my incarnation, never forget that! Everything you do is a reflection of me. But everything that you've done, everything that you've achieved, it's yours, all yours! No one can take that away from you, not me, not the gods, nobody! In this life, until your final breath, you are GRIM. The Demon Slayer that overcame death. So go out there, raise hell! Let them know who you are! Carve your name into this world and go fucking wild!"

'Carve my name into this world?... Yeah, LETS FUCKING GOOOOO!'

Taking one final look at King and smiling to himself, Grim felt his consciousness get dragged out of the mindscape and forced back into his mortal body.

***

***

***

"Is this... really the Underworld?"

Standing in the ruins of what was once the Underworld, Lucius and Adramelech walked past the horrific looking deformed corpses of the once powerful and mighty devil race.

'To wipe out the entire devil race in just six months... Just how much stronger has that monster gotten?'

Looking at the unperturbed expression on Lucius's face, he wondered just how much of this he had forseen.

'For him to be this relaxed...'

That's when his eyes went wide as realization dawned.

"You expected this?!"

Hearing his question, Lucius merely hummed and not slowing his pace in the slightest.

With that, all the pieces slowly fell into place.

"So the reason you didn't invade the Underworld and take the second half of Lucifero's heart-

"It was to let him clear the way for us while we completed our preperations top side." Lucius answered staring at the many devil corpses.

"You-You planned all of this!"

Slowing his steps, Lucius looked down at him confused.

"Planned this?" He suddenly shook his head in denial.

"I cannot predict the way Grim will act. He is in every sense of the word, a true anomally."

"A true anomally?" Adramelech repeat not understanding what he meant. "What do you mean?"

Falling silent for a moment, Lucius started explaining in the best way he knew how.

"Did you know, the way that Grim uses [Demon Slaying Magic] is different in every timeline?"

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?"

Ignoring him, he carried on.

"Sometimes he's stronger, sometimes he's weaker, sometimes he doesn't even appear at all. Sometimes he saves this world from destruction, other times he's the destruction itself. There were even a couple of times where he gave up on slaughtering your kind and decided to rule them instead." Recalling those timelines, Lucius couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

'That boy can't do anything quietly.'

"Even the kingdoms he appears in isn't consistent. Not to mention the magic techniques he learns. As for that [0th Form] you mentioned? I don't even know what that is, let alone what it is truly capable of. So no Adramelech, I didn't plan this, I just simply believed in the being that is Grim."

"...I see *yawn* But if he's this unpredictable how do you plan on beating him?"

Instead of answering him, Lucius gave him a mysterious smile continued walking.

"...Alright then, keep your secrets." He huffed and grumbled under his breath. "Not like I wanted to know anyway."

Hearing him, Lucius smiled and continued on at a leisurely pace.

Reaching the lowest level of the Underworld, it didn't take them long to find Lucifero's body... or what was left of it.

"Urgh." Adramelech gagged looking away. "Its like someone let a wild animal loose down here."

Ignoring the gruesome sight before him and steeling his nerves, Lucius gathered up the destroyed pieces of Lucifero's heart.

"How can you eat something that looks like that?"

Paying him no mind, for the sake of his goal Lucius didn't hesitate to gulp it all down in a single bite.

"I can't believe you actually did that." Adramelech shook his head before moving on. "Hey Lucius."

"Hmm?" He answered digesting the mana infused heart pieces.

"If this is the lowest level of the underworld, then where is Grim?"

***

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA C'MON!!"

Laughing loudly and jumping up to dodge the large fist of a building sized rock elemental. A black haired young man with piercing yellow, dark skin and a tattoo-like mark on his face ran along the jaggered surface of the rock elemental's arm producing ear drum destroying echoes with every step he took.

*SWOOSH!!*

Slapping down at it own arm with the intent to stop this ant-like figure from proceeding any further. Light flashed through the black haired man's eyes as he sensed the giant hand swatting towards him.

"Heh." He grinned. "As if!"

Stomping down again and this time completely shattering the giant's arm! He raced through the air and through a gap in the giants fingers until he finally reached the top of the creature's head. Clenching his fist, a sudden surge of gold flame-like energy burst out from his body and completely encapsulated his fists as he pulled them back.

'I've finally got the hang of this!'

Aiming at the centre of the giant's head, animalistic roars reverberated through the land as he punched forth and said-

[Primal Impact]