The Lost World Ch. 01

Note: This is a sequel to my first story The Lost Lord (it was my first, so it's pretty bad in the first half in terms of format and other stuff). The Lost World can be standalone, but it would be best to read the Lost Lord anyways if ya want the full experience, please enjoy.

The Lost World Ch. 0

"The war to end all wars... THAT'S WHAT THIS HORROR MUST BE!" A soldier cried out, though his screams were not heard. They were drowned by the sounds of clashing metal and whirring static energy. A single second after the soldier cried, he was mercilessly slaughtered by a radiant being covered in clean white light.

This radiant being was what they called an angel. And what the angel slew was what they called a demon.

The angel had a presence in the battlefield that stood above all the rest. Everyone who saw him, whether they were holy or unholy, knew that the angel was infinitely more power than them. As he was this: an Archangel.

"Senseless death and relentless battle. This is what we are all reduced to, to the point that even I must engage in such meaningless actions." The Archangel spoke with a voice possessed by languished words. He truly did not wish to be fighting the demons, least of all slay them unconditionally.

However... War is war. Those that fight must either die or live. And those that live do so by fleeing or killing. However, he was not the only one of his level on this battlefield.

In confrontations between the light and dark, where there is an Archangel there is an Archdemon, and vice versa.

"Ahahah! You're as melancholic as always, my good friend!" Another voice which commanded respect with power spoke to the Archangel.

"We are not friends. I loathe you very much. It would be best if you perished here, so please do."

"Hrmmm? What happened to the reluctance for killing just now? All I wanted to do was have a lovely chat about how the grass is always greener in my Land of Lust compared to your Heaven."

"If that is what you wished to do, I believe the Plains of Pride's grass is much greener. And if that is all, may we please fight?"

"So soon? Where's the foreplay? Where're the loving coos? Where's the-" The smooth demonic that played around was cut off by the Archangel holding his palm out and shooting a beam of white light.

The Archdemon yawned and lifted up his foot, swinging it around his body. Once he spun around, he kicked the beam and sent it right back at the Archangel.

The Archangel stepped to the side, calmly dodging the redirected beam before facing the Archdemon. "When it first happened those many centuries ago, none of us believed it to be true. A demon, it didn't really matter how strong it was, somehow managed to touch our light and not feel discomfort. That wasn't even all, that demon managed to send it back as his attack. Since that angel died, we did not know who it was... And it turned out to be you, the Lord of Lust."

The Archdemon known as the Lord of Lust formed a wide grin. "Yup. Though I should say it isn't that I do not feel discomfort or pain, it's that I feel the full brunt of the attack and the pain a demon who encounter if it struck them. After experiencing that pain, I simply nullify the projectile and send it back. Since angels have a pretty decent immunity against light based magic, it's not all that practical."

The Archangel furrowed his symmetrical brows. "Are you telling me that there is no point to your attack other than to show off?"

"Quite right, pretty cool, huh?" The Archdemon placed both hands on his hips and tapped his foot on the ground.

"You... Are dangerous. Just how long have you lived, Asmodeus? It is said that all of the original seven Archdemons died and they pass on their power to their successor whether they are worthy or not. Yet, not once has there been a recorded instance of you passing on your power."

"I should say the same of the Archangels. Unlike the seven original Archdemons, not once has an Archangel died. That has provided them with an immeasurable amount of experience to keep on prolonging their lives, such as you. Don't you think that it is high time an Archangel died in order to provide a little bit of balance between our two races?"

"Ah, are you saying that you can kill me?" The Archangel, while not generally one to show emotion, spoke with a hint of arrogance.

The Archdemon didn't care how he was spoken to by anyone. All he cared about was how he spoke to others. And he spoke with a frivolity that never seemed to take anything seriously. "Anything but! Anything but... What I am saying is that since you are so inclined to fight me instead of having a nice chat about our favorite foods, then one of us WILL die. I don't plan on running away from this one and neither will I let you run away back to Heaven. Should you do so, I will follow and accept death if it comes to me there."

"I see, I think I understand your motives. You do not actually plan on helping the demons in winning this war... You plan on helping the demons win their next war between our races, should there be one."

"We have a winner!"

"Then I will also bet on my victory and will not run away until one of us die. However, before we do battle, do me two things."

"Depends on what they are my good friend, Ramiel."

The Archangel Ramiel took on a face of disgust. "I'm not your friend. Allow us to move this battle to a less populated area..."

"Easy enough, done." The Archdemon clapped his hands and flipped several pages of a strange tome he held. He chanted a few unintelligible words and a circle of flames formed around the two Arch beings. The flames rose and formed a dome around them until they dissipated. The two were brought to a brand new area away from the battlefield littered with the dead and live demons and angels. "This is an area in my Land of Lust surrounded by mountains. Not even my two specialized humanoid races will be able to reach us here, nor can anyone teleport here unless I wish them to."

Where the two were taken resembled a white arena. It was a perfect circle formed by a ring of towering mountains. Everywhere where you looked was covered by a sheet of white snow. Snowflakes danced around in the air from the sky, they melted whenever they went near the body heat of the Archdemon and Archangel. There was nothing but white, no other color purveyed the area except that which the two men brought with them. And soon, the arena may be dyed red.

"Convenient. The second is that I wish you to tell me the truth: What are you?"

"I am the Lord of Lust, Asmodeus."

"Impossible. All Rulers of Sin take on the names of the original seven Archdemons, so Asmodeus can't be your actual name... Can it? Can you truly be the Asmodeus I had fought that long time ago?"

"While the Archdemons died physically, the Archangels died mentally. They lost their memories regarding the original battle, though that is knowledge only privy to the Archangels... Isn't it?" The Archdemon placed his fingers to his lips as if he just let loose private information.

"You really are that Asmodeus. Unfortunately, I wish I could say hello again, but as you say, my memories have been diminished." The Archangel, for the first time, was mystified. Normally, a being that has lived as long as he did would have stopped being surprised, yet this broke that streak.

"This is quite a reunion we are having, Ramiel. If you wish, we can head to my place and crack open a nice battle of champagne. What do you say?"

"Impossible, besides, surely you don't wish for your identity to become public knowledge. You know as well as I do that I will relay this information to my fellow Archangels."

"Which is why we can resume the fight AFTER we enjoy a drink as long lost friends that have been recently reunited. Of course I won't let you go with this information. I don't want it known... Yet."

"Unfortunately I am not interested in partaking in alcohol as of this moment. Perhaps after I defeat you."

"This will either be settled within thirty seconds, thirty minutes, or thirty hours... Which do you prefer?" The Archdemon rubbed his head, moving between his black demonic horns. "I suppose it could also take thirty days, but we are rather pressed for time, so let's not make it that, please?"

"Please make it thirty seconds. I would like to get back to the war. Speaking of which, I assume you have made preparations to teleport me back should I end up the victor?" The Archangel was reluctant to stay as long as he needed in his enemy's land. Even though he could technically wreak havoc upon the land and even take out half of its residents with his power, his absence left a gap that would allow another Archdemon to decimate his troops back in the war. Besides, it wasn't appropriate for him to take advantage the circumstance slaying an Archdemon had. It was known that among the Archdemons, only Sloth and Lust were the two who were polite enough to do the same.

That was beside the point. The point was that one of them was going to die within thirty seconds. In a battle with only thirty seconds, the outcome was not going to be pretty. It meant that the both of them would expunge all of the magical power they had in a flash moment. Who knew what would happen, because they both certainly did not.

"Do not worry, simply touch my Grimoire and it will automatically teleport you back. However once you do, it will place a compulsion on you to hand it over to my chosen successor. I hope that is not a problem?" The Archdemon held his Grimoire aloft, channeling every fiber of his being into the powerful tome.

"That is not a problem." Affirming his resolve, the Archangel stood tall. His radiant skin and clothes seemed to shine amongst the snowflakes as his magical power flowed from his body.

"Now let's see the full strength of Ramiel's white lightning." It was a simple provocation, not one meant to bring about irate behavior.

The Archangel nodded and raised both of his soft arms in the air. His skin seemed to blend in with his surroundings considering how pale he was, nearly as white as a bright star. The wind seemed to revolve around his position, the snow twirled around his body. The thick lining of clouds above flickered with light and cracked with thunder. Then without warning, white lightning pierced the cloud lining and arced down onto the Archangel's fingertips and gathered within his body.

The Archdemon smiled, this was the beginning of the Inquisitor of Castitas' strongest power. It was the polite thing to do by meeting him with the same level of power. The Archdemon knelt down to the ground, holding his Grimoire open by the underside of its spine. He placed the palm of his open hand against the soft ground, melting the snow until he met hard rock. His palm fused with the ground until he was literally one with the land. Then, as the Archangel reached for the sky to call lightning, the Archdemon reached for the depths and called up magma. The intense liquid fire collected within his arm and reached the hand holding up his Grimoire. This was a spell inscribed within the Grimoire called "Black Inferno." Grandiose in name and grandiose in power.

Since they both began channeling their power, ten seconds had passed. There remained only twenty more to find out the result. Since they mutually agreed to a thirty second time limit, they both silently agreed to not disturb each other until their most powerful attacks were ready, so only the sounds of magic and harsh wind could be heard in the arena.

Fifteen seconds had passed. Nothing changed.

Twenty seconds had passed. They moved around. Both men moved around, trying to gain an upper hand when they had to finally attack. Flying in the air with their wings was impossible considering the wind. It wasn't like they couldn't fly, but even the slightest deviation from their flight's intended path, they would most likely lose. Besides, with his hand currently fused to the ground, the Archdemon couldn't get very high.

Twenty-four seconds had passed. Where they now currently stood was now their permanent location, no matter how disadvantageous of a position it was, fortunately for the both of them they still had equal ground.

Twenty-six seconds had passed. They both unleashed their opposing power, to devastating results. The mountains which surrounded the arena shattered from the resulting explosion of energy and physical matter. The Archangel acted as a powerful lightning rod, sucking in the intense natural energy from the sky and sending it crackling towards his foe. Similarly, the Archdemon acted as an overflowing geothermal well, spewing out great amounts of harmful dark flame.

Thirty seconds had passed. The result was unclear. While to normal eyes, this would all happen very quickly. To the two participants, those thirty seconds felt like they elapsed who minutes. Their bodies were powerful, and thus their internal functions were just as powerful. Adrenaline poured into their overclocked system and quickened their cognitive abilities, time for them slowed down while in reality it was just the same as ever.

The aftermath was quite clear, however. Several mountains had several large holes punched through them as they were loaves of bread. Some of the mountains had even completely been completely decimated. The clouds above swirled around in a great storm while the underground boiled with fiery liquid. Several craters in the large snowy arena appeared, formed from the confrontation. In reality, there wasn't even a layer of snow anymore. The temperature in the area had been temporarily raised dramatically thanks to the lightning and flame, melting all the snowy into a runoff which poured from the cracks of the arena that had been just recently formed.

While that was the local damage, there was great damage beyond the arena. When two people of power similar to Arch beings fought, there was always a swathe of destruction that followed. Since the two restricted their fight to a small (in the worldly sense) arena, a shockwave of great strength accumulated power and spread across the entire land. There was not a single resident of the Land of Lust that didn't feel even the tiniest bit of the wave. Many windows, glassware, and ceramics shattered and had to be replaced. The shockwave created large tidal wives which devastated the docks and coastal towns it reached that had no tidal defenses. The predicted weather for the next month had been dramatically changed, forcing many plans to be rescheduled. A more slightly comical aftereffect which injured some and made many laugh was that the shockwave forced nearly every single demon out of the sky, except for those on the exact opposite side of the world.

A hot fog had been raised in the area, covering the destruction. Then the land seemed to regenerate. The mountains that had been destroyed that surrounded the arena seemed to be pulled back through time and went back to their original state: Snow covered peaks. The craters in the arena popped back up and were as smooth as the rest of the circle. The holes in the landscape disappeared and were filled with the exact same matter which was there before the holes existed.

Then a smooth voice riddled with frivolity spoke out. "And so the Inquisitor of Castitas meets his end. Hey, Ramiel, if you don't mind me asking... What is your successor like?" The Archdemon had survived and won the battle. "I assume there is a system similar to ours on the off chance that one of you was defeated."

"There... Is." The Archangel coughed and dropped to the ground covered in his own blood while his foe stood immaculate. It was close, very close, yet he still lost and was now going to die. "I won't tell you their name, but..."

"Oh c'mon, you can trust me with a name. I mean, we're friends, aren't we?"

"We are not... *cough* friends! Either way, I have chosen one who I believe will exemplify the Virtue of Chastity. She will become a great 'Ramiel'... A Great Inquisitor of Castitas." The Archangel smiled, thinking of his successor. "Perhaps she will kill you someday? The original Asmodeus dying to my successor... It has a nice ring to it."

The Archdemon returned the honest smile. "I hope you don't mind if I try to make her fall."

The Archangel raised an eyebrow and laughed under his breath. "Of course I don't wish for such a thing to happen... But if you think you can, try it, I dare you."

"Oh, it won't be me who'll make her fall, but my successor."

"Did I actually manage to land a mortal blow?"

"You did, but I healed it. No, I plan on dying within the next few centuries, though I have yet to find a decent successor. At this point, I think I will have better luck finding one among the humans. Now we may be enemies and we may be friends... Uh, 'Not friends,' but I think you deserve a last request. What be it?"

"Take my remains to Michael; that would be all." The Archangel then closed his eyes and his breath ceased.

That would be the first and only time in all of history than an Archangel has died.

-----

The Lost World Ch. 1

This is a world where the impossible exists. Magic is wrapped around our fingertips and follows our every command. Mythical creatures breathe the same air and exist in reality, though many of their races are extinct or are in hiding. Pagan gods who have once ruled over the Earth are now forced to live on their own worlds. And there are angels and demons living in their respective realms as hostile forces to each other.

And in all stories, there must be a protagonist, either a group or a singular person. As for this narrative, our protagonist is a young man who found himself way over his head and turned into a demon.

Rainer Sonian didn't turn into just any old demon. He became something far more than that: a Ruler of Sin. He became the Lord of Lust, the absolute ruler over the Land of Lust. Those who become a Lord of Lust become one of the seven demonic rulers over the Seven Deadly Sins.

The current Rulers of Sin have been unchanged since Rainer's ascension, which is unusual for the Sin of Envy, but not impossible.

There is the Princess of Pride, ruler of the Plains of Pride: Ifrit. A white demoness known for her exceptional fire magic.

There is the General of Gluttony, ruler of the Grounds of Gluttony: Dagon. A black demon known for his love of alcohol, especially the tonics of the human world.

There is the Governor of Greed, ruler of the Gardens of Greed: Ennariel. A white demon known to be rather unusually interested in the affairs of fellow rulers, business requires cooperation after all.

There is the Emperor of Envy, ruler of the Empire of Envy: Belial. A black demon who is known to be the one who has kept the emperorship for the third longest time, after the original Leviathan and another unimportant Emperor.

There is the Warmaster of Wrath, ruler of the Waters of Wrath: Abaddon. A black demon who likes to fight krakens and other such creatures with his bare fists, sometimes he even gives himself a handicap.

There is the Shah of Sloth, ruler of the Sands of Sloth: Justinian. A white demon who is now known as the oldest demon in existence, though the previous oldest was still twice his age.

And then there is the Lord of Lust, ruler of the Land of Lust: Rainer. A black demon that is known to be the youngest Ruler of Sin and even stopped a full scale rebellion within the week of his arrival.

Like the connotations to the word 'demon' suggests, demons generally don't get along with one another. However, there comes a time when even a race more volatile than the humans must come together. In essence, there are only two such occasions when the Rulers of Sin MUST ally together. The first is the Decade's Tournament in which they honor young demons with trials of combat and great rewards come with. The second is a war, and not just any war, but a war between demons and angels. A war between Sin and Virtue.