The Lost World Ch. 05

Both bodies fell to the ground, though Abaddon stopped his fall with his free arm, though what could he do? He was caught in a perfect grapple. Still, he would not surrender just yet... Though as Abaddon thought this, his sight went black and his mind faded into unconsciousness for a single second.

"The victory of the first round goes to the Lord of Lust, Rainer Asmodeus." The declaration of Rainer's victory was made by the Governor of Greed. It was clear, Ennariel had sensed Abaddon's life fade for a little over a single second, signaling Rainer's win.

Rainer breathed a sigh of relief and rolled off of Abaddon's body. He stood up and brushed the dust off his shirt and repositioned his sleeves. "So I need to win two more times, right?"

Ennariel nodded. "Abaddon, as the loser of this round, decide the next round's format."

"Yea yea..." Abaddon grunted as he jumped back onto his two feet. He slapped his ear, as if it was blocked up by something. "Alright, for the next round we'll find someone. Mammon... Ennariel, whatever, name a random citizen of your world and the first one to find that person wins this round."

Rainer scrunched his eyebrows upon hearing the unusual proposal. He had honestly expected each round Abaddon decided the format for would be a test of strength of sorts.

"Very well then." Ennariel thought it over a second before deciding. "Dwunst Ingr. The first one to find the location of this person and brings a signature back to me wins. You may obstruct each other if you wish. Please keep destruction to an absolute minimum. And go."

At the word go, both Rainer and Abaddon leapt with all their might, bursting through the ceiling and into the sky. They both unfurled their wings and took one look at each other before taking off in opposite directions.

Even though he began flying faster than an airplane (he used memorized wind magic to assist with acceleration and stability), Rainer had no idea where to begin. The name he was given, Rainer was confident it was not demonic in origin. Although there were many billions of demons in existence over the Seven Circles, Rainer knew that a demon would never be name anything other than what belonged in their language. Basically, their names did not stray from the norm nor were terribly original.

With that thought, Rainer speculated that Dwunst Ingr was a name that belonged to one of the two humanoid species living in the Gardens of Greed, which were the Djinn and Norse Dwarves. As for which of the two, Rainer had to guess it was a Dwarven name, it simply resonated more with the mythology Rainer had located in his mind.

Wandering city to city, asking for that name would be a complete waste of time. Rainer knew that Abaddon probably had methods to shorten searching for the owner of the name, so he had no time to waste.

Rainer looked for a suitable landing spot, finding a circle within the massive and grand garden. The circle Rainer landed in was surrounded by strange looking orange and green fungi which branched out into thin strands and interconnected with one another.

"Come." With that word, Rainer's Grimoire appeared in his hand with a flurry of flapping pages.

'Ahhhhh, HOW'S MY FAVORI-'

"Shut the hell up." Rainer immediately hushed up the presence residing in his Grimoire.

Rainer didn't summon the Grimoire because he wanted to look up a spell he didn't know. He needed it for two other reasons. The first was because that the spell he was going to use required a suitable surface in which to scry into the location of the owner of the name he was searching for. The generic surfaces was a mirror or a pool of water, which were in fact easier surfaces to scry with, however Rainer was simply powerful enough to literally use anything he wished as a scrying surface, it was just that the book would provide a clearer image. The second reason was that the Grimoire would amplify Rainer's power so that the search radius would encompass the entire Gardens of Greed. This was something only an Archbeing could do.

'Gosh. Ru-uuuuude! Anyways, what're you doing?' The presence inside the Grimoire, the old Lord of Lust, did not have an all seeing eye, especially since he was technically dead. So it wasn't like he could always know what was going on around Rainer.

"The Warmaster of Wrath challenged me to a duel. I won the first round and this time we both have to search for a random denizen of this world." Rainer relented in telling Asmodeus as the annoying old fart would simply just bug him until he did so. It was like a younger/older brother relationship, although Asmodeus would have him not being the younger brother and the father instead.

'Ohoh, a duel eh? And against Satan, eh? I remember the last duel I participated in was against a Warmaster of Wrath, mind you it wasn't against the same Warmaster you're dueling right now.'

"Cool story." Rainer didn't really want to talk. He was in a hurry after all. Well, and that he didn't want to talk to Asmodeus at all in the first place, rather never again would be better. Instead, Rainer concentrated on the scrying spell. "The one I seek, this book shall reveal. Be you in this world or elsewhere, you will be found. Show me Dwunst Ingr!"

'I know, right? It's so cool, I think you should take some time off and listen to me talk! I'm you're elder, c'mon, respect my war stories.'

Rainer whistled a little song as he ignored Asmodeus.

'Hey-' Rainer whistled louder.

'HEY-' Rainer's whistle practically became screaming.

Right when Rainer was out of breath, the spell finally found the location of who he wanted to find. "Dwunst Ingr... You're quite a few ten thousand kilometers away from me." Rainer implanted the general location of Dwunst Ingr in his mind. Unfortunately Rainer could only grasp the relative location, which was the southernmost portion of a coastal city bordered by mountains some ways away.

'It was a dark and stormy night... When the Warmaster challe- HEY NO! RAAAAI-'

Ignoring the cries desperate to tell Rainer a long and annoying story, the young Lord of Lust closed the Grimoire and dismissed it from where Rainer summoned the tome from. "Ah, today's a good day for some flying!" And with an oddly natural cheeriness, Rainer jumped and took flight.

...

A while later, Rainer found himself a few kilometers away from his destination. He began slowing down and drifting downwards. Of course at the speed he was flying (too fast), Rainer wouldn't land as softly as a feather. Instead, Rainer traversed the final distance needed while dropping like a comet. Rainer landed in a pentagon shaped open bazaar in a portion of the large coastal city.

Accompanied by a loud sound and a cloud of dust, Rainer formed a crater in the vast market. Numerous cries and shrieks soon followed, presumably from distressed demons and humanoids that were near.

(Crap.) Rainer fled the scene before he became harassed by the city guards. Though it seemed like a sort of stereotype, Rainer headed for the side of the city bordered by the mountains, thinking that Dwarves like mining and therefore would be situated by the mountain.

And he was amazed that the stereotype was mostly correct.

Although there were still quite a few demons and even one Djinn, the majority of the population on this side of the city was the Norse Dwarves. To start off with, Rainer walked towards the Dwarf which seemed in charge as he was directing the construction of an oddly upside down pear shaped building.

He noticed that he was garnering quite a few looks from everyone who looked in his direction. Of course the reason why is that Rainer is one of the rare black demons. However, that was unimportant at the moment.

"Hey!" Rainer attempted to catch the attention of the stout man.

"Oi! You three, get that keystone in position NOW! If you shits screw up here, the entire foundation will crumble! Damn it, why the hell was I not granted magical assistance for this project? Too expensive? TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE MY MOTHER'S RUMP!" The Dwarf spoke very gruffly, which seemed somewhat appropriate for his visage. He had a bald head, though it looked like the hair was completely grown out on his beard and mustache, it even granted him furry sideburns.

Then the two other Dwarves, which were taken the brunt of his shouting, stumbled. A flying stone, which had bounced from the rooftop, hit one of the Dwarves on the head, knocking him off balance and bringing his associate with him.

The supervising Dwarf's eyes bulged as was forced to spectate the upcoming disaster.

Rainer chanted a short spell, which allowed him to hold the keystone up with an invisible force. Instead of telekinesis, which one would think to use in this situation, Rainer used an earth spell to literally attach the keystone to the surrounding stones so that it no longer could be moved unless the entire foundation was brought down.

"Magic..." The supervising Dwarf uttered this word and swiveled around. His eyes were met with Rainer's chest and he looked up to meet Rainer's eyes. Actually, if he wasn't standing on top of a mound, the Dwarf would be looking at Rainer's waist, but that was unimportant. Actually Rainer was somewhat surprised that the Dwarf wasn't startled to see a random rare black demon standing beside him.

"Yea, no need to say thanks. You don't have to worry about the keystone moving anymore. Instead, can you tell me the location of a Dwarf named Dwunst Ingr?"

"Speaking."

"Eh?"

"I said I am Dwunst Ingr. You wanted to know where Dwunst Ingr is, then open your damn eyes." Either the Dwarf had no sense of fear, or he had no reason to worry about Rainer attacking him for the rudeness in his words.

(Shit, am I seriously that lucky?) Rainer didn't question his luck and got to the point. "Yea, this may seem weird, but I need your signature for something."

"Another one, eh?" Dwunst Ingr pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Rainer.

"What do you mean?"

"A large black demon came to me around ten minutes ago asking for a signature and said there would be another black demon looking for one as well. I don't really care why you need my signature, but I know better than to not give a dangerous black demon what he wants." Muttered Dwunst Ingr and he went back to his supervising, shouting at the two lackeys who had fallen and insulting their mothers at the same time.

(Of course I can't be THAT lucky.)

...

It seemed the second round had come as Rainer's loss. Though he didn't know how, Abaddon had somehow found Dwunst Ingr sooner than Rainer did and returned with the signature back at the castle in which the Iel Summit was located.

At least Rainer was comforted that the time difference in their arrival spanned only a few minutes. He arrived in the exact same hole in the ceiling both he and Abaddon created when they left.

"I suppose that could be counted minimal destruction..." Ennariel rubbed the bridge of his nose accompanied by a sigh. "No matter, the Warmaster of Wrath wins this round bringing the results to a 1-1 tie. Lord of Lust, please choose the format for the next round."

Rainer mulled it over. This duel happened so fast and progressed so quickly that he had no time to decide on the format for any round should he have lost one. Rainer wasn't arrogant enough to believe that he wouldn't lose a single round. Still, Rainer hadn't expected to lose so anticlimactically in the last round.

"How about... We play a game of tag? The one who is "it" after an allotted amount of time would be the loser." Thinking of a random kids game, I came up with a possible idea for a round format.

Abaddon raised his eyebrows and slightly nodded his head. He clearly thought this was an interesting idea.

"Hm, interesting. The duration of this game of tag will be a single hour. Like with all rounds, excessive destruction will result in a loss. As the winner of the last round, Abaddon, you will be the one who starts out as the 'it'. Is that acceptable?" Ennariel mediated the duel like an honest middle man, though as the Governor of Greed that was simply impossible.

In a matter like this, not even Ennariel would forgive himself if he didn't referee something as interesting as this with the utmost impartiality. It was far more... Entertaining to watch a duel between Rulers of Sin if they went at it with everything they had.

"I do not mind."

After Abaddon uttered his agreement, Ennariel declared, "You may now begin."

After five tense seconds of calm breathing, everyone present wondered why the two Rulers of Sin didn't begin moving. The only two noticeable movements Rainer and Abaddon made was pulling an arm back for the former and an arm forward for the latter.

Abaddon frowned and tilted his head while beginning to walk forward with a relaxed pace. He managed to traverse the entire distance to Rainer until they were only half a meter away from one another. Perhaps wondering why his target wasn't fleeing, Abaddon lightly slapped his hand on Rainer's shoulder.

Immediately after doing so, Abaddon was flown backwards, slamming against a portion of the wall where the crowd divided. "Gah! Damn, to think I did something this careless." Abaddon had tried to move his body, but he found himself paralyzed by a great potential force.

"Normal paralysis was useless against a being like an Archdemon, normal being something like poison, muscle failure, or the body forcefully becoming rigid." An extremely attractive and mystical voice appeared between two groups of demons.

"Mom!"

"Nerissa!"

After exclaiming recognition towards one another, two white demons embraced each other in a loving hug. The Princess of Pride had always been quite affectionate with his children, and Nerissa was no exception. Nerissa also dearly loved her mother and thus tightened her embrace even though it had only been a short span of a few months since they had last met.

"Oh, if it isn't Ifrit?" Teras twirled her umbrella within her hand and welcomed her friend. "Unfortunately for the rest of US, WE are not Rulers of Sin, therefore please elaborate."

Yes, the Sadism of Lust and the Princess of Pride were somehow good friends. Often they were both asked how they had become friends, they always replied with, "Oh, would you like us to demonstrate upon you with the activity we bonded over?" And those who knew what activities of a salacious nature the two liked, immediately shut up... Unless they wanted to be toyed with. Unfortunately the only one who was brave enough and liked being toyed with by their sadistic nature was slain in a fair battle by Caetorum, in fact, that one demon was once known as the Submission of Lust.

"Oh my, Teras, is that Hysteria? It has quite a lovely smell." After inquiring the flavor of tea that Teras was partaking in and accepting a cup of that tea, Ifrit relented and began explaining what she was just talking about. "Magical paralysis comes in two different forms, kinetic paralysis and potential paralysis. Most people who use magic would only know about kinetic paralysis, which is using pure force to bind an enemy or pin them down. Kinetic paralysis can also affect one's body and render it useless for a short or long duration. What Rainer just used was potential paralysis. He basically injected... Or rather invested a great deal of magical energy into the Warmaster's body. It is like using an elastic band to bend something; in this case the elastic band would be restraining the Warmaster, tightening itself around his body until the band bursts or dissipates. The Warmaster can either use pure force to make the potential paralysis burst, although the explosion of kinetic energy will internally damage his body, possibly destroying his organs and bones. Or he can wait for the energy to dissipate into nothingness, although that would most likely take a while, the energy Rainer invested in the paralysis spell was quite a bit, apparently even to restrain the indomitable Warmaster of Wrath."

...

While Ifrit was giving her explanation of the bit of magic Rainer showed off, he had long since sprang into action. Whether it was too prideful or arrogant, it was easy to say Rainer was a genius when it came to combat. Half of that noteworthy praise could be attributed to the hellish but extremely potent teachings of Teras. It didn't matter how much power one had. If they did not know how to use it, it would never be useful.

Well, a slight exception to that rule could be given to Rainer. All he needed was to learn the basics of casting and concentration and from then on he could evolve his ability.

Rainer, after initially paralyzing Abaddon, had two choices: hide or stay. Rainer had already became 'it' when Abaddon touched his shoulder, but the immediate attack afterwards transferred the 'it' status back to its original holder.

Although Rainer didn't hear her explanation, Ifrit's expository words were the truth. Abaddon could either break the paralyzing spell at the cost of being handicapped by a crippling blow for the duration of the hour, or he could wait until the magic paralyzing decomposed into nothingness which would give him relatively little time to catch Rainer.

"Fuck, this is impressive nonetheless. I have no desire to damage myself by breaking the bond holding me, as it would leave me crippled through this round and the next. No need to worry, I will take my chances with waiting it out." Abaddon could talk, surprisingly.

Rainer hadn't expected the 'Warmaster of Wrath' to be this levelheaded about the situation. He also wasn't sure if the black demon was telling the truth, so to be on the safe side... "Fair enough, but I'm not taking any chances. I'll be back in around an hour!" And with that, Rainer flew out of the same hole in the ceiling they had made earlier, menacing black wings flapping strongly behind him.

Rainer didn't really have a destination in mind, so he fled in a random direction which turned out to be due west from the castle. When he was at least two kilometers away, Rainer looked back at the overall shape of the castle.

Like with the architecture in the Land of Lust, the castle seemed to be an amalgamation of different types of architecture. This particular building seemed to be a concentration of the Dwarven stuff he had seen earlier (dome covered buildings with an emphasis on the top half being larger than the bottom half of the building), and old Ottoman style architecture. "The guys who make these weird buildings are pretty damn creative..." Commented Rainer has he drew in the breathtaking sight."

Noticing a quiet lake roughly half a kilometer away horizontally, Rainer flew down and rested while formulating a plan. The lake had a pier which had rowboats designed similarly to Viking longboats tied down. It wasn't a terribly large or small lake, Rainer had to say its area and circumference was somewhere between Lake Victoria and Crater Lake. It had sandy shores with a beautiful array of reeds and cattail like plants. Nearby was a cordoned off section of the lake which had a grid arrangement of black and white hyacinths.

"This place has everything you need for some relaxation. Though a bit too flowery for my tastes." If there was one thing about the Gardens of Greed Rainer disliked, it was that the majority of the landscape was a literal garden. It didn't really leave much to the imagination.

"I had hoped he would try to immediately break the magic and damage his body, like he said, it would cripple him for a small while. I only succeeded in affecting him with paralysis because he was careless, it definitely won't happen again. Actually, it was a gamble in the first place, I was too lucky." Rainer found a comfy spot hidden between two mounds of sand where he could lay his head against a mossy log and crossed his legs. His eyes closed, allowing him to contemplate things. "Considering how fast he found that Dwunst Ingr guy, I bet he'll find out where I am the moment the magic wears off. If I think about it, there really is no point in hiding. All I need to do is wait and relax for a while."