Reborn: Evolving From Nothing

WHOOSH

Dorian blinked, his body tingling. He took a single deep breath as he cleared his vision.

He had returned to the inner sanctum of the Castle of Gluttony. As soon as he returned, he called up Ausra and had her display his Laws Progress, sorting the mental display to be read a little easier.

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Laws Progress

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Virtuous Laws

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Law of Valor: 25%

Law of Charity: 5%

Law of Mercy: 20%

Law of Chastity: 1%

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Demonic Laws

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Law of Greed: 22%

Law of Wrath: 40%

Law of Lust: 1%

Law of Gluttony: 1%

-

'I've gained 4 of each now… I didn't manage to get the opposite of the Law of Gluttony, though.' He frowned, ever so slightly. When he had achieved the Law of Lust, he had also snagged the Law of Chastity. It seemed he wasn't lucky enough to engender a repeat of that scenario when he grabbed the Law of Gluttony.

'Still… the more Laws I get, the better. Heh.' He couldn't help but grin.

"Great Demon Disciple Obelisk?" The reedy voice of Baron Radishow caught Dorian's attention, turning his thoughts away as he looked up.

"Baron Radishow. Ah, the refreshing of my memories was a success." Slowly, Dorian held his hand out to the side.

Immediately, bright green energy began to swarm, a very faint protective layer appearing, like a smaller version of the powers Baron Radishow had shown.

'The Sealing Tube has been withdrawn here… I can feel the presence of the Laws again, much more strongly, just like at the Castle of Lust.' He noted as he felt the energy from the Law of Gluttony cover his clawed hand.

Each Demonic Law had something unique about it. The Law of Wrath was for attack power, the Law of Lust modified one's physical perception of time, the Law of Greed strengthened the soul.

The Law of Gluttony, as Dorian learned, was all about defensive power. It allowed one to cover themselves in a protective barrier that vastly enhanced their defensive prowess. It was because of this that Dorian had barely been able to scratch Baron Radishow even with multiple Hyperion Beam attacks.

It was a Law entirely focused on defense.

'If I continue to master this, I will slowly become a turtle…' He smiled ruefully. The green light would cover him in a protective shell that, from a distance, would vaguely bear some resemblance to a large turtle.

He took a brief glance around the inner sanctum of the Castle of Gluttony. If he went exploring, he likely would find similar troves of treasure as he had in the Castle of Lust.

'Those treasures must be put there for a reason, though… likely to reward those seeking the Demonic Inheritances here, or at least, to keep people interested in coming to Moria.' He thought, his eyes narrowed.

"Congratulations, Great Demon Disciple. If you truly can bring back the Demon Emperor, our loyalty will be undying." A warm, passionate and sultry voice broke his thoughts as the Mistress of Lust spoke aloud, her eyes gleaming.

It seemed his actions had fully convinced her as well. Now both the Master of Gluttony and the Mistress of Lust were on his side.

'How many of them are there on the Demonic Council? I'll need to maintain my cover or else…' He realized as he glanced at them. Even with the Laws weakened, they were very powerful foes.

"Ah, Mistress of Lust? Do you have a name I could call you by?" He turned his attention directed towards the attractive older Shade, smiling genteelly.

"Uh-it-uh well." She stuttered for a moment, her mouth twitching as she glanced at Baron Radishow for some reason, before she replied,

"Priscilla."

"Ohoho, you finally reveal your true name, Mistress of Lust. Not Danielle, eh?" Baron Radishow almost immediately chortled, his reedy figure shaking from both the excitement of the moment and enjoyment at the expense of the Mistress of Lust. Of those on the Demonic Council, she had always been very secretive, never revealing her name, only going by a fake one.

She turned and glared at him, her beautiful features nevertheless making even that look attractive.

"Well, my fellow Demonic practitioners." Dorian stood up, his Balance Demon form stretching as he looked over at the two Demonic Shades.

"Let us continue our journey! Guard my back as I Unseal all the Seals, and free the Demon Emperor!" He motioned at the rippling portal that had appeared over the throne at the back of the room.

"Yes sir, Great Demon Disciple!"

"As you command, Great Demon Disciple!"

As Dorian began to walk towards it, he thought about the other aspect to these castles. The Demonic remnants that guarded them.

'After I Unseal Moria and allow the world to return to normal, those Demonic remnants will likely all perish…' The fact that they constantly reappeared over time had clued Dorian in to the fact that they likely were related to the Sealing Tubes.

'I'm guessing that the energy that is Sealed away is used to power and resurrect them, or something of that nature. The Inheritances won't be damaged by my actions, but the Demonic remnants likely will.' The Demonic remnants all existed in a desiccated state. Without Magical energy to power them, they would eventually die.

'That's probably why the remnants that come out from Moria don't cause too much damage. They likely are greatly weakened and die off before they can do much harm.' The thought flashed into his mind. He'd heard that the nearby area was plagued by waves of Demonic remnants on occasion, but if those remnants had been nearly as strong as the ones they faced, regular citizens would be wiped out in the tens of thousands.

It was like the undead Giants and Grakons on Blizzaria. They were very rarely seen outside of that planet, and for good reason. They would eventually perish if they left it, only kept alive through the mysterious Magic that operated there.

By this point, Dorian reached the glowing portal. He paused in front of the throne, turning to look back at the two Demonic Shades. He gave them each a small nod.

The Demonic Shades were currently withdrawing what looked like some type of brown plated armor, covered in archaic markings. Some type of Artifact that seemed to be defensively focused.

When they saw Dorian nod and step right up next to the portal, they stared at him with confusion.

"Great Demon Disciple, if you step into the Transport Portals without protection, severe harm or even dea-" Baron Radishow began but cut himself off as the Demonic Shade's jaw dropped.

"Onward!" Without waiting to hear the rest of what the Shade said, Dorian boldly walked directly into the portal, activating his Perfect Body Ability as he did so.

WHOOSH

Dorian vanished.

"By Chaos itself… he just went in…" Baron Radishow stuttered as he saw this, almost falling over from shock. A leg piece of the brown armor he was strapping to himself slipped from his hands, clattering on the stone floor.

"Space itself will rend you apart if you are unlucky in there…" Priscilla mumbled, her eyes wide,

"Yet… he just went in… as if it was nothing…" The two Demonic Shades stood awestruck for a moment before they began to frantically gear up, rushing in after Dorian.

"Incredible!"

"What a true Great Demon Disciple!"

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Moments after Dorian stepped into the portal, he felt an odd, twisting sensation. The world around him seemed to stretch, distorting. Energy began to swarm around him chaotically.

'Just like last time!' He thought, his eyes flashing. He was randomly buffeted, chaotic energy clashing against his physical form. With his Perfect Body and Mystic Armored Body Abilities active, the energy couldn't harm him.

Just as he was thinking that, a burning sensation spread through his body.

'H-huh?' Dorian's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

A huge gash had appeared on his back, blood vaporizing from the wound as it came into contact with the flashing energy all around him.

Without him noticing at all, almost instantaneously, he had become injured.

'How?!' As he went on full alert, his body automatically began to repair itself, his Constant Regeneration going strong. His energy levels were close to full, especially after the Baptism for the Law of Gluttony, though he didn't have time to check specifics right now.

'I think… space ruptured?' With his Jade Memory, he couldn't forget even the slightest detail, no matter how minor. As he cast his mind back, he could recall extremely minute spatial fluctuations, right before the pain in his back.

'Still, the blow was greatly weakened and didn't kill me…' As he realized this, he relaxed slightly.

Most of the impacts here couldn't harm him, and he was confident that even the ones that could harm him would have a great deal of difficulty when it came to killing him.

'Ah! Let's try using the Law of Gluttony!' He realized, blinking.

'This is a perfect opportunity!'

WHOOSH

Just as he was thinking that too, he arrived at his destination, cast out from the portal into a large, mostly empty room.

"Ah, dammit." He groaned as he got up, feeling the wound on his back. It was still healing, fighting off remnant energy particles as it was restored.

'I should've used the Law of Gluttony at the beginning. I got lucky the first time around by not encountering any dangerous impacts. Teleporting is scary stuff.' He rebuked himself, making a promise to go into the next one fully prepared.

He stood up from the ground, wincing slightly as his back twinged. He then looked around, studying his surroundings.

He was standing in a large, enclosed arena. The walls were covered with long scratches from weapons or beasts, marring the otherwise smooth grey stone. The ground was cracked and stained dark red, giving the room a rather ominous appearance.

At the center of the room was a large, crimson blade, stabbed into the ground. Several cracks in the floor appeared to have originated from the sword, making it seem like it had been stabbed down with a tremendous amount of force, long ago. Not far from the blade was one of the Sealing Tubes, set behind it.

"No throne in here?" He muttered, looking around. All the other Castles had had thrones in them, while this one didn't. He shrugged and walked over towards the sword.

He stopped before he reached it, however, his powerful eyes catching sight of a somewhat familiar sight.

A circle carved into the ground, where dozens of mystic symbols could be seen. Faint particles of red light drifted off this particular circle, floating in the air.

"The Wrath Inheritance…" He could sense a faint resonance with the mystic symbols carved into the ground, one he felt in his soul. He knelt down slowly, resting his hand upon the symbols.

He blinked.

WHOOSH

He vanished, reappearing on the bulwark of a castle. The noon sun beat down overhead, while a stifled breeze swept pass, carrying with it the stench of blood. Dorian's powers were once again sealed away, leaving him as a regular mortal.

Well, a regular Balance Demon, which was quite a step up from a regular mortal.

In the background, he could make out a great wall of mountains, spiked and pointing up towards the sky. A large castle was visible behind him, aged grey stone stained by the winds of time. In front of him, he could make out a large, mostly empty plain. At the edge of his vision, he could see several thousands of red tents set up, but no one actually appeared to be occupying them.

In fact, he couldn't see another living figure anywhere at all.

"Welcome to the Inheritance of Wrath where yo- wait, no!"

"Not you!"

"Master Bubble!" Dorian let out a laugh as he saw the translucent bubble appear in his vision, floating just a meter away. Light refracted oddly when it went through the bubble, making the mountains behind it seem inverted.

"It's good to see you again! Sorry for leaving so abruptly last time!" He began, giving the bubble his best smile.

"You-you!! What kind of freakish past do you have?! Who were those beings?! I've never heard of anything like it!" The bubble angrily responded, its voice full of rebuke,

"They almost destroyed the Memory Array that Master set up to contain the Gluttony Inheritance! I don't even know how that is possible! They shouldn't be able to do anything outside of your memories of them!"

"Um- err…" He muttered, scratching his head. His memories of Movies and TV Shows had been picked up by whatever Magic Array controlled the Gluttony Inheritance and translated as real. Apparently, this had strained the Array so much that it nearly collapsed the entire thing.

"Well. I've had an interesting past. Those were all things I witnessed first hand." He wasn't technically lying, after all. He did see all of those beings, right on the TV.

"So what about this Inheritance? Does it draw on my memories too?" He smiled cheerfully.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…yes…" The bubble's voice was strained and begrudging.

"Haha, excellent! Then I can try to see if it will further my understanding of the Law of Wrath." Dorian smiled wider, feeling pleased.

"Ah! You already have an understanding of the Law of Wrath!?" The bubble shook for a moment.

"Right, you do! I can sense it!" Abruptly, its voice took on a bright, cheerful edge,

"That means I can eject you!"

The world around Dorian began to grow slightly fuzzy, all of a sudden, as he felt his connection to this Inheritance fizzle slightly.

"Wait! You can't kick me out! That's discrimination!" Dorian yelled out loud, incredulous. He had just gotten here!

"Hahaha, the process is automatic! There is nothing I can do to stop it! You would be kicked out even without me!" The bubble's voice was filled with glee,

"Out with you, foul Demon!"

"We're all Demonic practitioners here, that isn't even an insult!" Dorian shot back.

"Send him awaaaaaaaay, Array!" The bubble ignored him, yelling happily.

WHOOSH

The world around Dorian vanished as he returned to where he'd been just moments ago, his consciousness focused back on his physical form.

He blinked as he came to, mentally cursing the Array Genie.

'Damn you, Master Bubble! Just you wait till I get a needle near you… I bet I'll see you at the other Inheritances…' He mentally grumbled, plotting his revenge as he smiled,

'Then again, these Inheritances only seem geared towards giving you a basic level of understanding of a single Law. The Law of Wrath is one of the Laws I understand most, the Wrath Inheritance would've likely done nothing for me.' He shrugged and then turned his attention to the Sealing Tube, located just behind the center of the room.

"Let's handle that Seal first." He nodded sharply.

.. .. .. .. .. ..

…Meanwhile, back in the city of Cracktyl…

"Greetings, citizens of Cracktyl! I am the Third Shadow Captain, Kanto Ren, under the Southern Duke of Shadow!" A voice echoed out as a Shade wearing a long green robe, with finely manicured fingers and a rather weak looking face, yelled aloud. He had a weak chin, a small nose, and eyes that looked downcast, yet his voice was powerful, thronging with a King Class Aura.

"I bring a message from the Southern Duke of Shadow himself…"

"Lord Inigo Montoya… has betrayed the Shade Race!"

"The Southern Duke has obtained intelligence that states that his wife… is none other than a filthy, evil, conniving Vampire!"

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