Baphomet trembled as he rose up, holding on to the King of Clubs and watched the cannibal who ate his kids walk away. Earl Barbatos was certain the other demon was no longer a threat and had brushed him aside.
After all, it was the same outcome as before.
The Mad Giant couldn’t remember. Had the last time been decades ago? Perhaps it was centuries? While he forgot, the Goat Demon clearly remembered each and every time he had challenged the Earl over those many years. The rage inside him boiled whenever he thought back to that incident.
His kids might have been resurrected, but the experience had emotionally scarred them, and it would most likely stick with them for the rest of their lives. There was no such thing as psychological aid or therapy in the Dungeon World, and the only solution their father could think of was to teach them how to get revenge via the path of violence. He did not know how else to help his kids nor his spouses.
Everyone had advised him to abandon them and remove them from this world. Why be tied down to a burden when he could mate again? It was the very same mentality Barbatos had, but to Baphomet, it was different. Those had been the very first batch of kids he ever had, and no matter how he saw it, he was sure it was an intentional foul act.
At that time he had been working as a chef to serve goat meat in a family restaurant. The younger self of the Mad Giant had always behaved like a tyrant at any food place he went to. Whenever Barbatos, be it alone or in the company of his Giants, had been unable to fit inside a restaurant, they would have simply sat down, right outside in the open and demanded the restaurant’s owner to serve them everything. If this would leave the other patrons with nothing to eat, who cared?
The Giants certainly didn’t.
Not all things were bad, though. The money was undoubtedly good considering that the Giants could clear the entire stock of food and the Mad Giant was a heavy tipper. Still, the pressure was intense. Lacking enough food for all of them or being unable to cook fast enough meant the Giants would get pissed and destroy the entire place, leaving the owner with nothing but debris.
It was a do-or-die kind of situation and Baphomet with his family had determined to ride this out since the Giants just so happened to come to the rural side of the Demon Metropolis with them being the most popular restaurant around.
Baphomet had worked his magic in the kitchen to get as much cooking done as possible while his spouses went to different stores to procure more livestock for food. It had been a gruesome battle by itself, and his kids unquestionably chipped in to help their father. They had never seen any Giants in their lives up until now, nor had they had this much business.
Perhaps it was due to the negligence of their parents or them just underestimating the natural curiosity of the children that had led to the incident.
If he hadn’t been there to witness it with his own eyes, Baphomet would have only suspected Barbatos and the other giants taking his kids. Yet, when the Goat Demon went out to personally serve one of his signature dishes, he heard a loud cry as he caught a glimpse of a leg sticking out from Barbatos’ mouth.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Baphomet shouted. Alas, it was too late as he heard a CRUNCH. Powerless before the Giants, the crunches multiplied and Baphomet realised it wasn’t just one, the other Giants were all feasting on his kids. Subsequently, Barbatos swallowed a few kegs of beer at the same time, even eating the wooden barrel as part of the meal and looked at the helpless father.
“Have you brought more food? … Why are you looking at me like this?” The Mad Giant asked with a slightly drunken grin, and the others chuckled alongside.
“You…How could… YOU ATE MY KIDS?!” Barbatos shouted with tears running down his face. Barbatos took a bit to process what was just said. He merely scratched the back of his head.
“Really?! Oh, my bad! No wonder the meat in the bread felt a little too special. Here’s the money for the food and a little more for their resurrection. Don’t worry, I am sure they will come back to you safe and sound from the Church of the Afterlife. Now please bring us another round of the meat we had earlier. Oh and leave that food in your hands right over there. Cheers!” Barbatos grinned as he first picked up his club and the rest of his band stood up with menace.
There was no way Baphomet could beat the entire group thus he quietly accepted the money. Horrified, he was forced to continue feeding the murderers of his kids for what felt like an eternity. To him, it was hell on Earth. (Well, Dungeon World to be exact.)
Once they were gone, he immediately left for the Church to resurrect his kids. He would never forget the terror in their eyes. He had tried talking to them, wanting to find out what exactly happened, but they have ever since remained in a waking state of fear. It was so bad to the point where they treated their father as if he was one of those Giants too.
———
“Unlike the past, I…hahhhhhh. I now have the backing of others! I had trained hard, especially with the help from the benevolent Duke Wolte and Lord Moloch. They showed me that not all lords were as despicable as you and I am glad to be under Duke Wolte’s service once again.” Baphomet pushed the card even deeper into his body until there was nothing left.
The Sher Slimes who had been fighting against the Giants suddenly turned and looked at Baphomet. The King of Clubs somehow attracted their attention. They became like moths who flew towards the light. They prioritised this above all else, even releasing their grasp on the injured Giants and headed for Baphomet instead.
The injured giants, while glad to be out of their control, turned to look at where the Sher Slimes were moving to. Soon, those slimes were encircling Baphomet and the remaining Dark Templar Squad Leaders had been informed about what was happening.
Instead of trying to take back control of the slimes, those squad leaders quickly released their leash on those slimes and retreated backwards to relative safety.
Barbatos had felt that the irritating bloodlust presence had not entirely disappeared but instead grew more potent. His instincts warned him that something was about to happen so he looked back, intent on wasting some energy to finish off Baphomet. But when he turned around, he was shocked at what he saw.
———————-
“User, an unexpected voluntary monster merger is happening with Goat Demon Baphomet. Permission to allow the monster merger to occur?” The System requested as it knew Jin was watching how the Sky Bridge situation was unfolding.
“So this is the monster merger function you kept talking about? Does that mean we will lose the slimes for good?” Jin queried even though he knew the answer.
“Affirmative. In return, Baphomet should gain the powers of the multiple Sher Slimes. Unexpected side effects might occur as the monster merger ritual they are using is primitive. User can enhance the ritual by spending additional souls on it.” The System replied.
“We have a shit ton of souls from the deaths of our Phantom Soldiers anyway. Utilise them as much as possible since we are already monster merging.” Jin ordered, and he could feel that the System was a little more than happy for things to unfold in this way.
“Wise choice.”
With the permission of Jin, the slimes that encircled him immediately took the opportunity to force themselves into every orifice Baphomet had. But unlike how they were controlling the giants’ bodies, Baphomet still retained his sanity and furthermore, he was growing significantly bigger until he stopped at a size matching that of the watchtowers.
But what about those tank debris? Yeah, they merged with the towering Baphomet, assimilating the tank armour onto his body as Baphomet endured the pain of his skin tearing apart. At the same time, the demons noticed that a broad ray of energy suddenly blasted down onto Baphomet itself.
“What is this power that is surging in me?!” Baphomet asked as he felt enriched from the huge ray of energy.
“Goat Demon Baphomet has successfully been strengthened into Sin Baphomet.” The System stated.
