The core of hell was not exactly how one expected it to be. The humans who had entered hell first had roamed and walked around aimlessly for months, before finally finding themselves in front of an unnatural, and isolated boulder. This stone emanated a faint and indistinguishable power which, once it drifted too far away from its source, would dissipate in hell's atmosphere, never to be felt again.
Since these tired, defeated, and desperate human pioneers lacked any form of information about the place they had ended up in, the study of this stone had quickly become their new purpose.. Which lead them to be obsessed with it.
Unfortunately, even after tens of years of research, no progression had been made in the study of this object. The only details discovered by these humans, were that the power of the stone could not be marked and controlled like most types of essence.. Almost like their ki, animal's beast essence, and other types of powers that were produced by a being, instead of being part of what was considered natural essence. Secondly, while completely harmless, this power would become denser, the more one would try to approach the stone.. to a point where one would feel stuck into a space of rubber which made it impossible for them to come close enough to touch it.
During the long time spent studying this rock, which was believed to be something of great importance, a city had been built around it. In this city these humans had tried to reproduce and increase their numbers, while also basking in the fantasies that were created from the theories regarding this mystical stone.
The more time passed without a new discovery in this research, however, the more the inhabitants of hell ended up losing interest in it, leading them to focus on the notion that they were in a new world that solely belongs to them, and that there was a lot more to discover aside from this slightly odd stone.
Some of them started to think of starting new dynasties in places of their own, some wanted to explore this dangerous and mysterious dimension with their friends, and some simply wanted to get away from the chaotic life of the city, and dreamed about founding their own empire, and become the rulers of their own nations.
Their numbers, however, even after hundreds of years, were not high enough for them to completely rule the possibility of their extinction. After all, they had yet to evolve into being able to survive the harsh environment of hell, and only so many infants were able to survive the first stage of their lives.. The period of time between their birth, and the moment they would become cultivators.
In order to keep the numbers in check, the population of hell had decided to make a census.
That census would take place once every century, date in which the representatives of each group would have to go back to hell's core, and report their numbers.
In the tens of thousands of years that followed, the people who still had an interest in the stone that marked hell's core, slowly died out.. Leaving the city that had been built around it completely empty.
What replaced the interest in the mystical stone during these periodic censuses and became the main topic of conversation, were the slow changes that were appearing in the bodies of hell's inhabitants, as well as how their innate ki was turning into a power completely different.
Each group began to change in a way that would better fit the environment where they had decided to live, which caused their bodies to gradually become more and more monstrous. Some began to grow tails, wings, horns, and even observe changes in their skin and senses.
It didn't take long for a few religious fanatics to blame these changes on the people. Preaching about how the sins they committed had caused them to become demons, as well as how, what they believed to be a safe haven from their historical enemies, was in fact, being sent to hell..
Due to the fear that came with these changes, many ended up believing the words of these preachers, which in time, became the main reason why hell had obtained the name it had, and the humans refused to be called humans anymore after growing comfortable with the idea of being demons.
While some groups ended up dying out through the course of tens of thousands of years, many other survived.. And after setting the foundations of their powers, what was left of their human side began to emerge. Desperation and hope were replaced by politics and greed.. The desire for other people's lands, as well as dominance over their enemies grew in the hearts.. All of this caused for the nature of the census to be changed from being a way to prevent the population from dying out, to being an occasion for each faction to boast their powers.
Soon enough, these factions became less and less happy about the idea of sharing hell.. A line of thought that ultimately erased from history the reason of hell's main event. A census to make sure that everyone was able to thrive in this hostile territory, an event where the loss of one of these groups of pioneers was welcomed with sadness.
The only thing that had never changed, was the place in which the census, now called 'signing of the demonic pact', would take place. A city in ruins that surrounded hell's oldest and most forgotten mystery.. Hell's core.
—–
The day of the event had finally come, and soon enough, the city in ruins welcomed one convoy after the other. Each with a different banner, and lead by a demon whose power could turn worlds and star systems into nothingness.
Venues were built, markets were grown around individual stalls, and camps were set. Each of these places would explode with liveliness until the very end of the event, moment in which everything would be left to the mercy of the elements for the following hundred years.
This time, however, the number of faction present were drastically lower than they were a century ago.. And the only ones that seemed to have attended, belonged to the factions who had once fought for hell to become an opened dimension.
While the city was bustling with life, everyone seemed to be avoiding a building in particular. The place in question was a large stadium built around the mystic stone that stood to symbolize the core of hell. From outside, however, no sound could be heard.
The insides of this stadium was set into slices split by corridors, which if looked from high up above, made the stadium look like the wheel of a carriage. Each segment contained numerous seats, half of which were currently occupied by the representatives of each faction of hell.
At the narrow part of each segment, were large thrones where the demon lords were currently sitting on, while in the middle, was a large and currently empty stage. Partially filling the segments reserved to the absent factions, were ten human cultivators which the demon lords treated with the same respect they reserved for one another.
While the faction leader of the demonkind appeared to be exaggerated version of the members of their groups, each of them was highly respected, and not a single one of the demons that sat behind them dared to utter a single word without their permission.
Amongst the ten demon lords and ten humans, if Daniel had been here, he would have been able to guess the identity of three of them. Two demon lords, and one human.
The human was a tall and lean man with pitch black hair that reached all the way down to his knees. His eyes were as red as blood, and while extremely good looking, a single look at him would force a person to take a step back in disgust. He was clothed in a black set of regal clothes with embroideries of a color that matched that of his eyes, and underneath it, every now and then, something could be seen crawling. This human was one of the most feared individuals present, and the current faction leader of the parasitic faction.. The Parasite King.
Of the human cultivators, the Parasite King was the only one with no other cultivator sitting behind him, as all of the followers that he had brought in hell, had been captured or killed by Daniel.
The first demon lord whom Daniel could guess the identity of, was a stunningly beautiful demoness. She was extremely dignified, and while she did not possess wings, a tail, or even particularly sharp nails, her horns appeared to be carved from stone by a master sculptor.. And looked smooth, and extremely elegant. No item of clothing could be seen covering her body, but in the places where the intimate parts of a woman were supposed to be, was a thicker skin that seemed to do little to cover her curves.. Which tended to distract the demons who put their eyes on her, from her emotionless expression.
The reason why Daniel would be able to recognize her was not because she had seen her before, but because he would recognize the demoness that was sitting quietly at the far back of their segment as the demoness who had tried to abduct him.
She was the leader of the Shapeshifters, and was vastly known in hell as Lady Night.
The third and last demon whom Daniel would be able to guess the identity of, was what one would imagine a devil to look like. His body was not particularly big, and just slightly bigger of a very tall human, while also being athletic and well defined. From the top of his bald head, came two horns that moved out horizontally before curving upwards and inwards, with the tips ending in another upward curve. Each of his two wings was bigger than the rest of the body, and he always kept them only partially unfolded.. However, what was interesting about them, was that the left wing looked exactly like the wing of a black dragon, while the right one appeared like the wing of a black crow.
His whole body was grey in color, except for the lower part of his legs, which turned into a red color that danced like a living fire tattooed on his skin. In his hand he was holding a golden scepter that was as high as he would be if he was standing.
Sitting behind him were two demons. One with golden hair, and the other with white horns. The two of them were the leaders of their respective families, and behind them, sat their oldest children, as well as an individual which Daniel would recognize immediately.
While not completely human, this individual stood out from the demons he was sitting with from the scales that covered his body, as well as the crown of spiked horns on his head. His slit like green pupils were scouting his surroundings, and seemed to often land on one of the entrances present in between the segments of the stadium, from which came a specific odor which he was very familiar with.
This individual was, of course, Xargy.. And the demon who sat on the throne present at the narrow end of their segment, was the leader of the Church of Damnation.. Known by many names, but mostly recognized as the Savior of the Damned, the Horned God.. or the Devil.
For a group of cultivators with such high levels of power to reunite like this, would be forbidden in the outside universe. Each of the human cultivators alone had, at one point in time, been powerful enough to be a severe threat to the Universal Government when in its younger stages.. And an encounter of such level, if without proper supervision of the government, was not only frowned upon, but an infringement of the government's rules.
However, Hell was not under the rule of the universal government.
These powerful individuals, as well as the warriors that followed them, were waiting for the sign that would have started the event.. A sign that sent out by an old and well dressed demon which walked up the stage, picked up the massive blow horn placed on a stone pedestal, and blew in it at the top of his lungs, causing for a powerful wave of deep and loud noise to travel through the whole city … indicating the beginning of the signing of the demonic pact.
