Warlock of War: My Ares System

Those who venture too close to the emerging Throne World are subjected to intense psychological torment. Visions of past failures and regrets manifest as nightmarish hallucinations, driving them to the brink of madness. The victims are compelled to confront their innermost fears and guilt, amplifying the emotional distress inflicted upon them.

As the Abyss of Unquenchable Craving takes hold, it summons a massive, nightmarish palace of failure and gluttony at its epicenter. This grotesque structure, fashioned from shattered dreams and wasted potential, looms like a grotesque cathedral of despair. Its walls are adorned with grotesque tapestries depicting scenes of unrestrained indulgence and shattered ambitions.

Within the palace's grand halls, endless banquets stretch out, filled with a nightmarish feast of bizarre and grotesque dishes. The guests at these spectral banquets are twisted phantoms, embodiments of the creature's insatiable hunger and remorse.

The sprawling palace is a labyrinthine maze of corridors and chambers, where the boundaries between reality and nightmare blur. Time and space become distorted, and those who enter may find themselves lost in a never-ending cycle of gluttonous excess and despair, unable to escape.

The malevolent influence of the Throne World drains the life force and hope from all living beings within its grasp. It leaves them with a sense of profound hopelessness and a profound longing for what they have lost, driving them further into the clutches of the nightmarish realm.

…

At that moment, both men were exhausted. Even though Beezelbub—or at least what remains with him—is overflowing with power and in fact sucking in mana like an endless black hole, the descent of such an enigmatic and powerful being couldn't be contained. His body which had even surpassed the likeness of a mortal compound was crumbling under such exalted pressure. 

Cy on the other hand was not used to his new form but was already pushing it past his limits. He was like a freshly exploded supernova, sending ripples of destruction with each movement, but at the same time eating away at his own stamina and life force. 

Then, in an instant, Cy's eyes blazed with the brilliance of a thousand supernovas as he extended his arms toward Beezelbub. With a focused mind and a deep connection to the cosmos, he summoned literal stars that hovered around him. Streams of incandescent energy spiraled around these newborns before they crackled with the energy of a thousand suns, ready to pierce through the darkness.

Ting Ting Ting Ting Ting Ting 

Their glint was magnanimous. 

"[Star Manipulation]!" Cy shouted, causing his starry pupils to explode past their fleshy chambers and begin to burn the surrounding atmosphere. 

Beezelbub, on the other hand, grinned with a malevolent hunger in his eyes. He harnessed the insatiable power of gluttony and summoned a literal black hole, drawing in all matter and energy from his surroundings. His body transformed into a swirling vortex of darkness, and he absorbed everything in his path, growing stronger with each passing moment. He was becoming a living singularity, ready to devour the very essence of his opponent.

With a deafening roar, the stars whizzing around Cy clashed together, releasing a deafening star-powered attack. The radiant beam of pure energy surged forward, colliding with the voracious blackhole that was Beezelbub. A cataclysmic explosion ensued as the opposing forces clashed. Stars, planets, and galaxies were born and then quickly torn apart in the maelstrom of their final confrontation.

The backdrop of this battle was a canvas of inky blackness, punctuated by the occasional distant star or swirling cosmic gas cloud. The two combatants were silhouetted against this cosmic tapestry. Cy's form shimmered with the radiant light of stars, his body almost ethereal as it glowed with the intensity of a thousand suns. Beezelbub, in contrast, appeared as a swirling abyss, his blackhole-infused aura distorting the very fabric of spacetime around him. 

The sounds of the battle were a symphony of cosmic chaos. As Cy unleashed his star-powered attack, there was a deafening roar, like the crescendo of a thousand thunderstorms, echoing through the void. It was a sound that seemed to vibrate at the very core of the universe. Beezelbub's gravitational singularity emitted a low, ominous hum, the gravitational waves produced by his power resonating through space and time.

The battlefield itself seemed to have a palpable presence. The gravitational forces generated by Beezelbub's blackhole-like form created waves of pressure that pushed and pulled at everything nearby. Even at a great distance, the sheer force of their clash could be felt, as if the universe itself was trembling under the strain.

In the strange realm of this cosmic battle, there was no air or atmosphere, so traditional smells and tastes were absent. Instead, there was a sensation, a feeling of energy and power that seemed to permeate everything. It was a sensation of raw, unbridled cosmic forces at play, filling the senses in a way that was beyond the ordinary realms of human experience.

And then… 

VWOOOOOOOOOM 

…

(Beezelbub POV)

I had grown accustomed to the relentless hunger, the insatiable pull that had always fueled me. It was the very essence of my being, the force that had allowed me to consume everything in my path. But now, as the supernova-like cannon released by Cy threatened to obliterate me, I felt something I had never experienced before—a sudden emptiness.

The power of gluttony, and the very primordial force that had sustained me and made me an unstoppable cosmic entity, was deserting me. It was as though a part of my very soul was being torn away- no, it was being torn away. Away from my second chance. So, this instantly caused the black hole that was in front of me, my grotesque spectacle of destruction, to begin to falter and shrink under the relentless assault.

Desperation coursed through me as I reached out with my dark tendrils, trying to grasp onto anything that could replenish my dwindling strength. But it was futile; the power I had relied on had vanished completely, leaving me exposed and defenseless.

With a deafening explosion, Cy's celestial cannon struck the now-shrinking blackhole. The immense forces of the supernova-like blast tore through my weakened defenses. The blackhole, no longer sustained by my power, disintegrated into nothingness, its event horizon vanishing like smoke in the wind.

I, Beezelbub, once a harbinger of cosmic destruction, was now powerless, my malevolent grin fading into a profound sense of defeat. In those final moments, I realized the folly of my insatiable hunger for power. I had underestimated this boy. 

As my existence unraveled, I could only watch helplessly as Cy's supernova-like cannon consumed me, extinguishing the darkness that had defined me and leaving nothing but the memory of a once-mighty cosmic entity…

'Take care of my son, and… I know how you are. Don't be too hard on him,' A voice echoed through my head before I snapped back to reality. 

"Huff… huff… huff… huff… huff… huh?" 

Despite the cataclysmic defeat I had suffered, I, Beezelbub, still clung to existence, albeit in a severely weakened state. What remained of me was little more than a disembodied head, floating amidst the cosmic debris of our battle. My malevolent consciousness persisted, albeit flickering like a fading star.

As I watched, my vision blurred, and my fractured perception of reality struggled to comprehend what was happening. The power that had once fueled my insatiable hunger regained consciousness with the help of that primordial being. It manifested as a swirling, ethereal mass of darkness, and it was not content to be vanquished alongside me.

This malevolent force, which had abandoned me in my time of need, began to creep toward Cy, the very being it had initially forsaken me for. It coiled around Cy's form, like a shadowy serpent seeking to entwine itself with his very soul. I could sense the discomfort and vulnerability in Cy as this power encroached upon him.

"So you realized he has more potential. Well, sucks for you, kid…. Once again, I'm a failure." 

…

"God, I hate you two. So fucking annoying to monitor… what kind of trouble do you think you can start stirring up now," I gnashed my teeth angrily while the two kids lay on the soaking wet pavement, heroes of the city but now enemies of the entire continent. Their smiles were big, but my frown was bigger. "I hope you two know that if you piss somebody off and they find me, you both aren't getting back to your original world." 

"Hey! King of Flies!" Cy shouted, swiftly sitting up and giving me a large euphoric smile. "If you hate us so much then kill us!" 

"I'm telling you, I need you all as part of my plan…" 

"Oh shut up!" Bella also sat up, her smile just as wide as her friend's. "I know damn well you can clone us. In fact, I'm sure you don't mind waiting another few years and just chucking another potential candidate back into this time-dilated realm… you can basically recreate us, maybe with somebody even stronger." 

"You're too young to understand…" I sighed. 

"But, thanks…" 

"What?" My jaw slipped open, just barely parting my lips. "Thanks for what?" 

"Thanks for giving us this opportunity. I never would have thought swimming with mermen and mermaids would be so relaxing." 

"And I never thought spending time with a grumpy old dragon would actually make me appreciate more to life… I mean, come on. He's a dragon." 

"Like I said, this isn't for you…" I grimaced at their sudden kindness. 

Sure there was tons of resentment built up between us, but it felt like most of that had melted away over time. As they spent more time in this realm and let their thoughts and actions run free, they became somewhat… more laid back. 

"It's not that hard to accept our thanks…" Both chuckled to each other while I just stood there, glimpsing at them with a weirded-out expression. 

… 

"Actually, I guess I did succeed in something." A slight smile cracked onto my face.