Location: The Fire Realm
The desert landscape was gray and hot. Long mountain ranges of active volcanoes filled the sky with smoke. Volcanoes bellowed smoke from their stacks like breath from a dragon. The landscape was dark, blocking out any form of light to penetrate, which would give the gloomy land some life. The world below the clouds seemed to starve for the light. Without it the landscape was nothing but a barren wasteland. The Fire Realm was a scarred land that made it harsh and the only way to survive was surviving against that harshness. A loan figure walked in this wasteland unaffected from the heat. His very presence stuck out against the gray land. He was masked and wearing a cloak. Upon his face an Oni mask the color of crimson with black and white accents. His hair was bright white and upon his back was the symbol of the Ouroboros. The symbol was true blue and was a stylized drawing of a dragon with three horns fanning down its back.
The individual did not linger as he walked towards a mountain. The mountain was shorter than the others around it and seemed artificial in design. Its top was flat and stairs were carved into it leading to a metal circle. When he reached the base he paused as a voice echoed in his mind. 'Hoohoo!' The voice chuckled 'Look at you Slayer! Killed your second king. I watched from afar. You put up one hell of a showing. Demon King would not be an easy kill. But neither was the Light King' Slayer ascending the stairs and saying nothing as he then stood in front of the gold circle with two half circles on its side. Center circle was empty for a moment before a strange green energy flowed like liquid into it forming a smooth green glowing surface. It warped to form a smiling maniacal face. Two burning eyes and a jagged smile.
The gate came to life as it spoke again. "I know you don't need my advice being the prodigal son you are? But your next destination is the Forest King as requested, ending your freebies. After this I take the wheel and choose your targets" the gate stated. "What's your advice?" He asked. The gate chuckled. "I would keep your battle with the beasts to a minimum. The forest you are to enter that takes up most if not all of the Black Forest Realm. It's filled with beasts that are endless in numbers. So keep moving and kill your target. His abilities will help with your cultivation once you possess them" the Gate suggested. Slayer merely nodded at this. 'So keep moving. I do remember the Black Forest from my master's teachings. Nothing but a nightmare realm filled with all sorts of abominations hiding in the trees. It's also a dark place anything could be hiding in the shadows' he thought. The Gate then started to glow showing a reflection of a forest in the center. Slayer steadied his mind and heightened his chi senses then walked towards the gate. Stepping into a new realm of untold horrors ahead him.
/////////////////
Location: Black Forest Realm
Slayer stepped into a black forest. Within it he could see eyes glowing in the darkness. Thousands of eyes watching him as he walked on the path. Monsters with deer antlers and one single eye appeared. Their mouths were tentacles and they had four giant arms. They began to converge into a pack as they all stared at Slayer. He activated his Forge ability manifesting particles of red chi. Made from these particles around his hands they began to fuse and take shape into two crimson blades with curved blades like a katana. Slayer wasted no time bolting forward in a sprint coming at the pack. The antler monsters then all ran at Slayer. Mutants had saliva dripping from their mouths filled with jagged teeth. Their tentacles wiggled about as they raised their heads baring their teeth. They screeched high pitch wails before advancing at the new prey.
The battle was one sided as Slayer cut down every single monster that came close to him, or attacked. He ran through the nightmare creatures with great speed and swift attacks. He then flew through the air bouncing off a tree for momentum to impale a monster. An hour passed and the monsters kept coming from the forest. As more monsters appeared Slayer had to make a decision to either kill some all at once? Thus giving himself time to escape or keep fighting till he found the end. Which he knew was never going to come. By now all monsters in the forest have heard this commotion. Scent of blood was bound to attract even bigger nightmares of the forest. The words of the Gate echoing in his mind, 'Keep the battle with the beasts short' he then focused his chi into his circuits creating a shadow that enlarged from his feet and covered a large area around him. Creeping up trees and shrouding the monster's surroundings in darkness. Spikes then erupted from the shadows solidifying and impaling each beast creating a field of skewered beasts. Slayer then jumped up the side of a tree and started climbing, keeping a distance from the forest floor.
He started to jump from branch to branch till he became invisible from the monsters' sights. After a while he made his way deeper into the forest. Down below he passed large creatures with multiple arms and a body of a centipede with rows of human faces going down its back. Another was a bull with five horns and large fangs like a saber tooth. He sat on a branch to catch his breath and replenish his chi. He took a meditation position upon a branch and kept his back against the trunk. He could feel chi coming off the tree he sat upon. It was rich with it and pure in nature. He then planted his glowing palm on the branch and started to absorb it. Careful not to kill the chi he sat upon. He focused on absorbing chi from the saturated air. The forest was thick with it. He relaxed and expanded his consciousness out as he felt a pull of power to the east. 'Forest King is there. I'll head that direction after I've cultivated with what I obtained from the Chi Leech technique' he thought.
Crimson particles appeared in his hands. He then practiced his forge ability making a long odachi that started to weave multiple strings together making a rectangular web. The web of crimson strings then solidified. It started to curve and have detail. Solid patterns within the crimson spiral. Slayer popped his neck and focused. His mind was starting to hurt from the exertion. 'Still having trouble enlarging my Mind Palace to make the truly complex enchantments to my soul weapon' he pushed through the headache.
Energy flowed from his abdomen into the curved blade. The blade then turned black as the blade absorbed his Shadow element within it. He worked on making an enchant seal upon the blade as patterns started to glow. After solidifying the seals he learned from Master Raijin he then added his Flame element into the blade's edge as it started to glow bright from heat. He poured chi into the blade making another seal of flame. After all said and done he then used his consciousness to make the blade permanent. He kept adding detail to the blade the pommel of a demon head smiling with jagged teeth and tusks resembling Slayers mask. He gripped the handle and swung it at his side. It whistled through the air like a screech. He stood up on the branch and started to move about with the odachi. Spinning it over his hand he felt satisfied with the creation. He practiced for a few hours getting used to length and weight.
'Finally had a breakthrough. I have perfected my soul weapon. Every King from now on will fall by this blade. Every one of my creations was never worthy of a name. Today, this blade will be part of my soul once I inject a part of my soul into it. From now on when I call this blade I will say the name, 'Demon's Wrath' from his hand energy then started to flow into it directly from his soul solidifying his pact with the weapon. The blade then disappeared into his soul core and absorbed chi from his body solidifying the pact. Slayer then sighed and stared through the canopy of trees towards a black sky with minimal stars. He then slept to replenish his Mind Palace's energy after the forging process.
After an hour Slayer jumped from the tree to the forest floor to collect monster corpses to cultivate his Chi Leech to push his soul core to grow. He approached a live one and moved quickly and quietly using the Demon's Wrath to separate its head. He then knelt down and placed a hand on it and started to absorb the creature's spiritual energy. The energy filled his soul core as it expanded. He heard a twig snap behind him and he finished taking all the creature's lifeforce. He turned and ran towards another repeating the process. He kept with this for hours till he was satisfied.
/////////////////
Deep in the forest was a long triangular stone throne with a being dawned in a deer skull mask. He was shirtless revealing his green skin and fur collar around his neck. Dangling from his neck was ornate bones and claws made into a necklace. He sighed as green eyes started to glow within the sockets of the mask. An orb next to him started to glow blue as a voice echoed from it. "The Slayer has entered your realm?" a deep voice stated. The king sighed, "Yes, I can hear him in the forest killing my beast army. He's been at it for a day now. I can see through them he is getting closer. Seems he has an ability to absorb the chi from the slayed beasts" the Forest King stated. "He was taught such a technique from Raijin the champion Slayer. Each king that falls gives the slayer the ability to be a powerhouse. You need to stop him. Light King and Demon King have already fallen by his hand. Do not make the same mistakes they did Forest" the voice recommended. Forest King sighed, "I will be swift in killing this new threat. Don't lecture me on what I should do in my realm! This war brought a cataclysm and it's your fault!" Forest King spat back.
The voice from the orb sighed in surrender and then the light dimmed. The Forest King stood from his throne manifesting a longbow. He set the bow by his throne and sat back down. 'I'll be ready for you' the Forest King thought.
I am an artist and this character came to me in the form of a drawing first. From there it snowballed into a series of ideas that developed into a world where I combined cultivation, magic, Lovecraftian themes, and samurai. This is what I came up with after combining all themes.