Warlock of War: My Ares System

"He's mine. No doubt about it,"

"Are you sure?" Luna asked as a chilling sensation shot through the air, and a pair of dim purple eyes landed on the back of my head.

"It's been a while. I didn't think you'd come down here so soon… so, what's with the occasion?" The man asked as I slowly turned around, attempting to keep a solid and cold expression on my face.

"You're the occasion. You all are the reason we're down here, so don't go asking me when you planned this out,"

The man lightly smiled at me before gazing over my friends and then walking back to the group of high-tier demi-humans that he had been conversing with.

"God, that scared me," Findir muttered as he let out a long sigh of relief.

Everybody else realized they hadn't been breathing as well, so they immediately began to take in short gasps of air.

The rest of this banquet was honestly pretty peaceful, with nobody attempting to provoke us stupidly, and though the demon lord occasionally came over to me to just look at my friends, everything else was decent.

The food was good and the atmosphere allowed for some smooth talking and just an overall great time… until that guy walked through the front door.

"Welcome to my domain," A deep voice rang throughout the entirety of the banquet, causing everybody to freeze from innate fear.

Death had entered the room. Pure and utter death in the amalgamation of a skeletal system walked through the door, draped in a long black coat.

"From here, you will be assigned jobs. And since you all chose not to sell your souls to me, you will eventually be released into the world, but I shall provide you no support. Many of you will die, but that doesn't matter… as you'll still begin to spin in the palm of my hand," The skeleton muttered before a large black throne erupted from the middle of the room.

He took a seat on it, arrogantly looking down on everybody while the demon lord walked over to him and kneeled on one knee.

"I greet you, my lord."

He kissed the boney hand while keeping his gaze down, making sure not even an ounce of his consciousness dared to get a good look at him.

"ALL HAIL THE RULER OF TARTARUS!" The high tier demi-humans all shouted while kowtowing before him, shivering with utter fear.

Everybody else swiftly followed their seniors and kowtowed before him, making sure their eyes were shut… but we made sure to gather as much information as possible.

I doubt he would care if an insect decided to gaze up at him, so what everybody else was doing was so unnecessary that it made me gag.

"Good. It seems you've all adjusted quite well… You will serve one hundred years as my royal knights. Once that sentence is over, you can either serve me for eternity or pack your bags and do your own thing… of course, traitors will not be tolerated,"

In an instant, the man disappeared into a blanket of shadows that slowly drifted down onto the throne below him.

"Now, all of you present. You have become slaves of Tartarus and knights of the underworld. As you all are part of my kingdom now, I shall treat your right. Ask me something, and I shall consider it… but you must prove your strength and loyalty first. If I sense an ounce of rebellious nature, I shall help reform it,"

The front door blasted wide open once again, causing a gust of deathly wind to strangle us and squeeze our lungs until they nearly popped.

"What you've all felt upon being banished here was the outskirts of the demonic wilderness where tribes from across Tartarus live… They are enemies and must be eradicated for the sake of a peaceful bloodline."

Past the doors, a massive capital with towering medieval buildings erupted from the ground. Streets bustling with activity, and the demi-humans seemed just as happy here as the humans on the overworld.

"Huh… This place doesn't seem so bad," I muttered, but a pair of dim purple eyes landed on me once again.

"Not so bad, huh?"

A pair of leathery demonic wings wrapped around me, shielding my vision from the rest of the capital… and encapsulating me in chilling darkness.

There was no texture to the inside of these wings or even the man standing behind me. It was just an endless void that permeated through the galaxy.

"You know nothing of what it is truly like here. The wilderness you saw was mere scraps compared to the badlands… I shall inform you of more information later, but if you wish to become somebody entirely different, I'll grant you permission into the badlands. But, I can't guarantee your sanity by the time you escape," A chilling voice whispered straight into my ear, but I silently looked back, my cold eyes landing inside the voidful man.

"I know what hell truly is. I've seen it many times,"

"You think those puny wars between guns were scary? Then you might as well kill yourself as soon as you get inside that hell hole,"

"That shit was nothing to me. I'm talking about a true battlefield where the amount of blood stains the moon, creating a red haze. Your ears go deaf from the clanging and scratching of blades attempting to save you from the cries of your dying brethren. The sight of monsters rampaging through corpse and corpse until nothing is left… I know too much of what that is like, so don't place your prerogative on me," I muttered, both of our eyes practically about to touch each other as we stared into our cold dead ocular organs.

Our pupils swirled in their sockets, and our eyes strained from the amount of blood being pushed into them.

"This is why I like you," The man muttered, his mouth warping into a sadistic smile that attempted to devour me whole.

"This is why I don't like you. Watch your back, asshole, cause I'm crawling my out of here if it is the last thing I do,"

The man's smile slowly died down as his wings unwrapped from around me, causing the deathly wind from outside to hit me once more.

But as adrenaline pumped through me and I followed the backs of my friends outside, I felt nearly unstoppable as I entered this new world.

…

As we walked through the streets of this beautiful capital, we saw the blood-red sky illuminated by a single orange dot which I assumed was meant to mimic the sun.

We were given a rendezvous time of around three hours, so we still had some time to explore… how generous of him.

"So, were you guys making out in there, or what?" Bella smirked, and everybody just deadpanned before ignoring her and continuing our way down the street.

But, it seemed she wasn't done talking yet as she jogged back up to my side and demanded answers.

"Come on. Just give us a little insight on to what you were doing… please~," She begged, and I eventually gave in as there was no harm in telling them.

"We didn't talk about much. There were a few empty threats between us, but it was mostly some harmless fun… I hope. If he decides to take some of that stuff personally, then I'm fucked," I chuckled to myself, but everybody didn't seem that happy.

"Then why say that shit?"

"Well, isn't it obvious we can't die down here? We can probably have our souls crushed, but I doubt Hades would want such valuable pawns to go to waste… and he discussed something about the badlands… whatever that is," I explained.

"Oh? Badlands? I know what that is… but how about we get something to eat? I'm starving," Cy muttered as he glanced up at the cafe right next to us.

"How are you starving? We just ate an entire feast… wait, but there is no hunger here, so how are you legitimately starving in the first place," Luna replied, and Cy stopped in place.

"I uhhh… I'm just craving food. I don't know, it's hard to explain, but let's get something to eat with these few coins we receive," Cy muttered while tossing three silver coins in his hand.

We all entered the cafe, wondering as to why something like this even existed in the first place, but before we could bring up the question, a cute girl came up to the table.

"May I take your order?" She asked, and Cy instantly froze up just as he was about to ask the question.

"I uhhhh… Can I uhhhh… Get a small coffee and four muffins… p-please," He stuttered, and everybody chuckled lightly before saying their own order.

"To be honest, it's probably because they're clinging onto that little enjoyment that they have left. All of those food stands and restaurants are probably there to settle cravings and those innate humanoid carnal desires," Aisa suggested.

"That would make sense," Cy muttered. "Anyway, allow me to explain the badlands because that it is the one place I am desperate to never see no matter what,"