"Oh, so this guy is a summoner. Interesting…" Vatium muttered to himself before dashing towards the monster.
Noticing Vatium approaching, the monster reached out its hands to grab him. He was able to dodge albeit barely, scraping his side slightly. He retaliated however, slashing down with great force, cutting the monster's arm off.
"Crrraaa!!" The monster screeched in pain and almost as if it was a reaction to the sound, long black vines protruded from the ground. Vatium was unprepared, so it slashed him across his leg.
Other assassins rushed in after the vines got him, not wanting to waste the opportunity to get him.
As one reached him, Vatium was able to easily evade the blade and in one movement gave a quick counter kick straight to the assassin's….. crotch.
This sent the figure stumbling back a bit as he held his crotch in pain giving Vatium the moment to decapitate him. Many other assassins ran towards him, those who were lucky traded a blow or two before getting killed, while the unlucky ones were slashed instantly.
Vines from the summon continued attacking Vatium, and while he was able to avoid and block some, many still breached his defenses.
Seeing that half of the assassins were dead the Boss frowned and discreetly drew a dagger. There was a dark purple aura cloaking over it.
Vatium gasped for breath as many wounds could be seen on his body, blood seeping from under his clothes. His right arm was trembling as it was corroded by the poison of the vines.
"Let's kill him," the assassins yelled as they dashed towards Vatium, not noticing his confident smirk.
Vatium threw his sword away, crouching in a fighting stance as he ran towards the assassins. He then threw a punch towards one's face, breaking through his skull and killing him instantly.
After seeing another one of their members getting killed their eyes all grew big with anger. Their running pace was quick before but now it was even greater as they all moved around Vatium with great speed.
An assassin approached Vatium stretching his arm towards him. Vatium was going to counterattack with a punch but noticing the high concentration of mana he immediately dodged before a large explosion occurred. The forest was lit red as flames crawled on the trees 20 meters had now been reduced to ash and Vatium coughed up some blood.
"To think you were a High Human. That bitch of a Queen never told us that kind of information," an assassin gritted his teeth as they slowly circled around Vatium.
It was strange that Vatium could easily fight on par with some of them. It's not that they are weak but because they greatly underestimated their opponent. After all, their band of assassins had been around for about 8 years. That meant no one minus very strong knights should've been a match for them, or at least they thought until now.
Vatium got up and smiled, blood was covering him from head to toe. Most of it might've been from those he killed but he'd definitely sustained injuries. The most vital being his left arm, which was gone, blood pouring from the wound. It was lost due to the sudden explosion.
Over thirty swords appeared from magic circles and floated behind the approaching assassin.
Vatium flashed an empty smirk as he stared at the enemies before him.
Before Vatium could do anything else the swords sliced his body into pieces before he was no more.
"Tch to think this brat took out 13 of us, this is why we must never under….." but before the man could finish his words, green swords appeared, slashing the assassin into pieces.
"How the hell are you alive!?" The Boss gasped in shock. Who he saw before him was Vatium, who'd been previously shredded into pieces but now he was looking standing fine. Not only was he in one piece, there wasn't a single scratch on him. Even his clothing was unsullied.
"I think I'll keep this skill," Vatium chuckled to himself, completely ignoring the assassin's words. Six swords twice his height were floating beside him.
"Now I have no need to hold back," he smiled as the swords flew at the summoned monster. With a flick of his finger, the swords spun at high speeds, cutting the creature into tiny pieces in an instant. The remains of it crumbled to dust.
Seeing the summon get dispatched so easily, the assassins shouted in a panic. They scattered, attempting to escape. As Vatium raised his arm, preparing to launch the weapons at them The Boss suddenly appeared behind him. He lifted his arm, the cursed dagger in hand as he prepared to stab through his back. But before it could reach him Vatium turned and smiled. A wave of confusion and fear washed over the man but since he was mid-swing he couldn't stop in time.
Suddenly Vatium felt a flash of pain coming from his abdomen. He slowly looked down to see a dagger jabbed through his stomach before he fell down, rolling started to roll unusually down the hill leaving the burly man confused once again.
"Why didn't he dodge? He could have evaded that," he asked himself before noticing a small red stone with strange engravings on it. 'Oh no!' He thought in a panic, attempting to run but it was too late, a huge explosion went off, devouring the surrounding forest to only leave a burning crater behind.
Once Vatium had rolled into the cave he tried to sit up, but the pain he felt from the dagger was no joke. He tried to remove it but he felt unimaginable pain so he chose to stop. He stared down at his hands, which slowly turned into that of a monster. Despite this shocking experience, the burning determination in his eyes didn't fade as he waited.
"Ha ha ha." The laugh Vatium heard was very kid-like, coming from behind him. He turned, seeing a fair looking boy, flashing an innocent smile.
"I'm the Demon god, nice to meet you Ruther Vatium Vanluad," the boy spoke excitedly.
The boy had dark black hair and his entire eyes were purely black with a red pupil. He looked like that of a 17-year-old boy and smiled happily at Vatium.
"Why would a being like you present yourself before me?" Vatium asked with a slightly nervous tone.
"You're soon going to turn into a monster because of that curse and you would lose your mind and turn into a savage beast," the Demon God responded casually.
"What! how's that possible?" Vatium responded, shock on his face. He was clearly faking it.
The demon god grinned, "Hehehehehe listen here kid. I'm giving you an opportunity to escape death, but you must become a Demon!"
Vatium pretended to frown in displeasure but this is what he truly hoped for. In his past life when he encountered the demon god, he didn't have an amiable personality like how he was now. But rather he looked down on Vatium with discontent and forced him to become the Demon King. Vatium was nothing but a puppet to him.
Vatium repeated the same words from his past life, "I'd rather die than become a Demon."
Hearing his words the Demon god smiled sinisterly and in an instant, the distance that was between them was closed. Now that he was directly in front of him, the Demon God grabbed Vatium's face.
"I wonder how you would feel to become the demon that you despise," The demon god smiled as he pierced his finger into Vatium's skull as a dark purple miasma entered into Vatium's body.
"Aaarghhhkk," Vatium grunted in pain as blood passed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
He felt as if his whole body was being stabbed by endless swords and the demon god just stood smiling at his cries of pain.
Fangs grew inside Vatium's mouth, and four horns protruded from Vatium's head. Jet black wings began to grow from his back as black blood spilled everywhere. His former green eyes turned black with golden pupils and his dark green hair became longer, stretching all the way down his back.
Once the transformation was over Vatium gasped for air as he trembled, sweat and blood covered his body. The Demon God was simply looking at him, a wide grin plastered on his face.
"Remember my name Vatium, I'm Diablo. And as I have done you a favor you would do one for me. I want you to become the next Demon King and lead my people away from suffering the injustice of humans." With that last sentence he spoke, his smile waned, having a more serious expression.
"But why would you appoint a human like me? Why not a naturally born Demon?"
"Because you're a very smart boy. I've been keeping an eye on you now. You excel in knowledge, battle tactics and you're already a Choas Human at the age of 18. Why I didn't choose a demon is because my race doesn't listen to reason, only power. They mostly think fighting is the solution to all their problems and I admit this is a flaw of my own creation," Diablo said, a sadness behind every word. If not for Vatium seeing this same child laughing happily at his misery some moments ago he wouldn't believe they were the same person.