My Servant System

The bestial, reverberating filled roar that shook the entire cavern continued on for many long, anticipatory seconds as the Fiend announced its presence, something that allowed us to begin painting a picture of what this Fiend might just be like, albeit a picture that had many different routes it could take.

That roar could be an announcement to allow us to get prepared, a challenge that it was levying unto us and giving us forewarning of its intent to come and fight us, or it could be the mere wordless, mindless roar of an animal that craved nothing but violence and death for the sake of slaking its thirst for blood and flesh.

Sophisticated and honor bound, perhaps this Fiend was a warrior wanting to challenge us to a battle, to test its might against ours in a battle to the death where one side would come out on top, stronger and more experienced than before.

Or perhaps it was simply an animalistic beast that didn't want to do anything but fight and kill, something that acted entirely on instincts and had no purpose behind its challenge besides going for a kill.

Each required different planning and strategies, but we wouldn't know until the thing that was releasing this everlasting roar decided to finally make its way towards us, showing itself to us properly.

We were in a good location - a wide, flat plain that was unblemished by any rocks or trees - and we had a large amount of warriors ready to fight, their shields raised and their blades drawn as they looked around for the source of the roar.

As it began to quiet down, the silence only became more deafening as we waited for the Fiend to make its appearance, the sudden lack of noise putting us all on edge before we heard a deep, raspy cackling coming from the other side of the lake.

Turning, we were greeted with the sight of the towering, muscle bound 'man' standing on the edge of the lake, staring at us with an amused gaze.

It's head was that of a lion, its fur a deep bloody red while its mane was an ever deeper crimson bordering on black; red gold eyes were narrowed in amusement, and a row of golden fangs made the Fiend's 'grin' even more apparent, though considering the way its jaw was far too unhinged for that of a lion made it even more creepy.

Fur covered its shoulders and upper arms, before fading into a dried up bloody leather that acted as armor for the Fiend, save for the bones that crept out of its forearms, knuckles and ribs; besides the bone knuckledusters it was sporting, the Fiend also had long golden claws that it scraped together to create that metallic shriek that sent shivers down your spine and was otherwise unpleasant on your ears.

Although the rest of its body was vaguely humanoid in appearance, there was just something off about it as the Fiend took a step forwards, its movements both far too fluid and far too janky at the same time, creating an odd dissonance inside your mind as you watched it do anything at all; add onto that the way its lower jaw dropped down to allow it to speak, and the Fiend was much too creepy compared to everything I had seen in this life... which wasn't a lot, but was certainly more than I had seen in my previous one.

"Ah, what a veritable feast of sublime flesh and mana... if I was only better equipped and not... injured, perhaps I could partake in this feast as I pleased! Sadly... Oh, sadly I am injured, but I am no coward, nor am I an idiot! Asmodia blood... Ka'Hondi's favorite pets!"

Giggling to itself, the lion headed Fiend rubbed its hands together and continued to walk along the top of the lake, its taloned feet leaving behind no ripples in the water despite it clearly making contact with the surface, something that spoke somewhat to its control and skill.

"As such, and since I know I have little choice - hello there, Sla'Caligo~! Since I have little choice in the matter, I would like to request something, little Asmodia girl... humor a Fiend, will you?"

It's long, black tongue rolled out from its mouth and licked at its chops as it stared straight at Jahi, before its eyes flickered over towards Belian and then towards Cali, the Ka Fiend staring at the two warily before giggling again as it leaned over, shrinking its muscular stature as best it could to try and appear less threatening... despite still grinning madly and rolling its unhinged jaw around as it stared at us with those powerful eyes.

"How can I 'humor' a Fiend if it doesn't even give its name? Are you trying to be an animal, or are you civil?"

"Ah, my sincerest apologies~! You're right, you're right... where ARE my manners? Forgive me, yes..."

Stopping far enough away from us to leave both us and it time to react, the Fiend rubbed its hands together some more before giving an exaggerated, clumsy bow as it said "Ka'Minvis at your service, little Miss Asmodia~! A... humble Fiend of Ka; an aficionado of combat, a lover of all things related to battle and fighting. Seeker of thrills, a lover of all the things that make your heart palpitate as you live your life on the edge of life and death~! That is me~! Ka'Minvis..."

The dissonance between its voice and its actions, between its movements, the oddness of its jaw... the longer I looked at it, the more unnatural it became, and when it looked back up and grinned at me, I shuddered at how its eyes sparkled knowingly.

"Now that I have stated my name, my title... might I ask once more that you humor a Fiend like myself? It isn't everyday that you stumble upon someone with the mark of an Ensis, much less THE Asmodia Family that has managed to bind THE Ensis all us Ka Fiends look up too... yes, I implore you, little Miss Asmodia... humor me."

Switching its gaze to Jahi, the Fiend clasped its hands together and reined in its grin, tilting its head and staring intently at the blue skinned Demoness, not even taking its gaze away from her as Belian cooly asked "And why exactly should we, Fiend? Why should we humor a wretched creature like yourself?"

"I wasn't talking to you, Beliali..."

The glee and humor in its voice drained away, returning to that raspy, cold voice that held some power on its own, something that made us all raise our guard even as the Fiend didn't move its eyes away from Jahi's, nor change its expression; a simple shift in tone got us all on edge again without any effort whatsoever.

"What is it that you want to ask of me, Ka'Minvis?"

"Oho~! You speak my name?! Interesting, interesting~! Does the prejudice against Fiends not run as strong anymore, perhaps? Ooh, or are you more accepting of us because of Sla'Caligo, perhaps? Bedding a Fiend- no, you're still sane... Ah, she's bound to the pup, and the pup is bound to you~! Interesting, interesting~!"

"What is your question?"

The flat tone of the Demoness made the lion headed Fiend chuckle as it tilted its head, twisting its neck rather far as it did a complete ninety degree angle, not showing any signs of being in pain from twisting and damaging its tendons and spinal cord so easily.

"It's a simple one, a very simple one... the fight between me and you is inevitable. You desire power - I can smell it on you, like a cheap perfume. All of you do, but you, your soul bound pup, the other pup and that masked Demoness... you four crave it like your lungs crave oxygen. It drives you, sustains you... it is your meaning, your purpose. Since we are to fight anyways, why not make it interesting, yes? I want to see why my Ensis is so so so determined to mark out your bloodline as its own. I want to see if you are worthy of that attention, of that affection... and if you aren't, I want to feast on you."

Giggling some more, the Fiend tilted its head to the other side, switching from the left to the right but maintaining eye contact with Jahi as it continued to speak, never once looking away from her or dropping its grin.

"Since we are to fight, I want to fight you, the pups, and the Demoness... you four, against me. Winners walk away with their lives, the loser dies... simple, yes? I want to fight that which has grabbed the attention of the one who stands at the top... and I want to test your mettles and deem them worthy or not. As is my calling as a Fiend of Ka. To test the wills and spirits of those who claim to be warriors. So what is your answer, little Miss Asmodia? Are you brave enough to accept a challenge? You, your peers, and me... a battle to the death~? It will happen anyways..."

I frowned as I stared at the Fiend, wondering why anyone would accept that challenge - logically, the battle was leaning entirely in favor; we had numbers, power, and so much more over this Fiend, so why would we bother to discard those favors in exchange for something so idiotic?

The problem was... well, I was thinking with normal logic, and I heard Belian sigh as he watched Jahi, Anput and Satanya step forwards, staring at the grinning lion with determined, excited stares as they moved to accept its challenge... reminding me that they worked on a very, very different brain than I - and apparently Belian - did, something that I knew intimately...