Hell Contractor: Rise of the Last God

Spirit Beast Resurrection.

When Ayanda was pushed into the mysterious cube, he had fallen unconscious immediately. His mind went blank for some time which felt like an eternity, but almost instantly he was seemingly in a hazy dreamlike state. What he was seeing now was himself as a young boy at the orphanage he was raised in, except he was looking at himself from a third person view, almost like he was watching over himself.

"Ayanda!" a gentle yet excited voice called out to him.

He turned to look, just as his younger self did, and noticed a young girl who looked like Bright, wearing a scarlet dress but had muddy hands which somehow complimented her cute look. The younger Ayanda rushed over to her and helped her clean up her hands before he took her back out to play again.

Ayanda watched silently, as they both laughed and had fun innocently, but he felt sad as he was aware of what was going to happened next. Soon, the next scene appeared where Ayanda and Bright ran into Nez and his group of hooligan friends. Nez had a mischievous and sinister aura, so he was always surrounded by stronger kids who were troublemakers in the orphanage.

"Ha! look at this worm! All he does is play around with little girls everyday like a sissy!" Nez was inciting his group to mock Ayanda as they laughed at him. Soon after, they would gang up on Ayanda and smack him down, while blocking Bright from interfering. At this point, Nez would summon his young Toxic Wyvern, which looked like a venomous snake as a youngling, and used it to constrict Ayanda was they ganged up on him together with Nez.

After some time, they left Ayanda on the ground as he was beaten and bruised, then Bright would try and tend to his wounds by even ripping out parts of her scarlet dress to bandage him up. The younger Ayanda would become depressed and despondent as he did his best to make it seem as if it didn't hurt, but the pain from his bruises was nothing compared to how he felt helpless towards Nez's gang. Sometime he had even hoped that he would get adopted soon, but he could only bitterly laugh at his own inability to gain his own companion beast. He had never asked for help from Bright, who was always friendly and helpful to him even though he was aware that she wasn't like him, an orphan. 

While Ayanda was watching over the scene that transpired, he thought about when he first remembered himself at the orphanage, and suddenly the scene he was looking at dissolved into a dark, nighttime scenery, with the orphanage in the background. Ayanda was shocked, realizing now that he could alter what he was seeing, but then became stupefied by what happened next.

A couple dressed in black cloaks were floating down from the sky slowly. Ayanda could tell they were a couple, as there was a refined figure of a gentleman supporting an elegant yet weak looking woman who seemed to be very sick. In the woman's arms, was a very young boy, barely two years old, who was in a deep slumber, wrapped up in a black cloak which was much softer than the ones they were dressed in. From their facial features and pristine brown skin, Ayanda could tell that this couple may be his parent's. That was what his heart was telling him.

"I... I can't be to leave him on his own Siyanda." the woman spoke in a trembling voice.

"Lydia... We don't have a choice. If we bring him along, he'll only be in more danger. This is the only way to stop them from capturing him." the man said in a calm yet anguished tone. He looked to the young boy and rubbed his face gently, then slowly hugged the child tightly, along with the woman.

"We'll come back to find him once we can return to the Nine Circle's Village. For now, we have to keep him safe from Grey Shadow and make sure he doesn't leave the Four States." the man solemnly promised the woman who was weeping silently.

"I know. I just... I can't abandon my own son like this!" the woman was about to break down while she couldn't bear to let the child go.

"Lydia, I promise you; We will return for him. For now, we have to leave him behind, even though he might suffer. I will make sure that Grey Shadow will pay, and I will bring our family back together to avenge what's happened to our families." the man was resolute when he made this vow to her. then he looked gently took the child away from the woman, who now seemed to be doing her best to hold her grief in.

"Ayanda will be our hope, the last hope our Nine Circle's Village has." the man spoke softly as he gently placed the sleeping child down, then circulated his sacred art which produced a gentle aura that wrapped around the child.

The scene suddenly ended, and it appeared that Ayanda wasn't in control of his own body as he suddenly woke up to find himself in the middle of a field of withered corn crops which seemed almost endless. Ayanda observed his surroundings for some time before taking a look at himself, then he noticed that he was still in the appearance of the mayor, and couldn't undo the illusionary skill he applied to himself. He also noticed that he couldn't summon Levy out, but at least their telepathic connection was present.

"Levy, can you tell what's going on?" Ayanda asked.

"I can't say for sure, but it feels like some type of space where you'll be imprinted as a projection. If you're powerless here, then it would make sense why the mayor and his cronies wanted to bring in the Golden Warriors. Try circulating your sacred arts to see if they work." Levy explained to Ayanda.

Ayanda proceeded to try and circulate his God Blood Lightning Sacred Art, but then instantly coughed up a mouthful of blood in pain. He was grimacing at how there was some type of feedback he experienced the moment he tried to draw out any power from his God Blood Lightning Sacred Art.

"What happened?" Levy asked in a slight panic.

"It feels like my God Blood Lightning Sacred Art is rejecting me. The feedback from the lightning stabbed at my heart." Ayanda could tell that his own power tried to attack him, but thankfully he had only attempted to draw on as little power as he could just to test it. If he was caught in a life and death situation, he would've definitely been killed by his own power if he wanted to circulate his God Blood Lightning Sacred Art fully.

Ayanda remained on the ground, but now tried his best to sit up so he could recuperate somewhat. He found out that his body was extremely sluggish now that he had internal injuries, and that he felt a strange disconnection to his own body for some reason.

"You won't get better by doing that!" a strangely hoarse but whispery voice suddenly spoke from behind Ayanda.

Ayanda was jolted by the unfamiliar voice and tried to turn quickly, but felt his heart almost give out, then spat out a little blood as he struggled. Behind him was a mature looking man, with dark skin and greying nappy hair which seemed disheveled but silky. He was dressed in raggedy azure overall's, while holding a large gardening sickle that looked like a grim reaper's scythe. His eyes seemed devoid of any light, swirling like large pools of a clear night sky. For some reason, Ayanda felt as if he had lost control over his body and suddenly became unable to move or even speak at all.

"I never thought you of all people would trespass in my Cloud Garden ever since you locked me up in here. Seeing as how you were foolish enough to come alone this time, I'll help you hasten your death by letting you drown in your greed over the relic my ancestors passed down to me." the old man said in his whispery voice which was loud enough to hear. 

The old man flicked his sickle and lifted Ayanda up before he could say anything and propelled him into the distance. Ayanda was completely powerless to resist and found himself flying towards a small pond which was filled with waterlilies.

Ayanda was afraid of crashing into the small pond and dying once he reached the bottom, but as soon as he entered the water, he realized that the body of water beneath the pond's surface was as vast as an ocean. As the water washed over him, he found that his injurie's were beginning to heal at a rapid pace, and he had transformed back into his original self, no longer in disguise as the mayor of Neon Bridge.

The old man who had thrown him inside had reached the edge of the pond a few moments later, with a shocked frown on his face.

"He didn't die? Why was he acknowledged by the Spirit Gate and allowed to pass through?" the old man was perplexed by this. He was aware of what type of person the mayor of Neon Bridge was, and he was more aware of the requirements to pass through the Spirit Gate which leads to his ancestral relic which he had been protecting all these years. Only one who has a pure heart may be allowed through, and more importantly, the ancestral relic will only accept one whose blood is from a powerful lineage. Even he wasn't acknowledged by the ancestral relic, so he had no idea what is was, but he had been keeping it safe for the person whom he believed to be truly worthy of being accepted by it.

Inside the pond, beyond the Spirit Gate, Ayanda was underwater but could still breath normally, and was descending deeper into the depths below as if there was a magnetic attraction guiding him. The deeper he went, the more tranquil his body felt, with his previously blocked vitality continuously surging up. 

As Ayanda descended, his connection with Levy became stronger than before, and suddenly he felt flashes of memories being drawn into his own consciousness, depicting Levy's original primordial form, along with moments where he was dominating the ocean as well as toppling down ancient kingdoms. Soon a heavy flashback entered his mind, showing Levy being captured and enslaved by a group of beings who seemed to be beyond even Levy's original power which could rule over most of the area he was the overlord over. What Ayanda mostly noticed was how even though he was powerless to resist, the group that captured him were arguing over something, with a few members wanting to kill Levy, but there was a woman who stood against that and faced those members. Even though she could easily defeat them, she couldn't kill any of them, and was very respectful to a figure who was shrouded in a shadowy armor, appearing to be the leader. The shadowy figure chained Levy up and forced him into a dimensional space, where he feel into a deep slumber over time.

Ayanda woke up from this flashback to discover that he was standing still at the bottom of this ocean, yet there was no pressure from the depths or even the water surrounding him.

"You're awake." Levy said.

"How long have I been standing here?" Ayanda asked slowly.

"Not too long, but you didn't react when I was calling out to you before." Levy replied.

Ayanda was thinking to himself, wondering if Levy was aware of how he had seen into his past. Ayanda wasn't completely sure if it was true, but it must have been similar to how he was able to see into his own past before.

"Did you see anything strange while I was standing here?" Ayanda asked.

"Yeah, I did." Levy responded, but before Ayanda could ask what he had seen, Levy spoke again, "There's a strange temple ahead. It was glowing for a while and then stopped as you regained your composure again."

"Oh, really?" Ayanda was shocked as he looked ahead and saw the temple Levy spoke of. 

There was a large formation of jagged obsidian rocks surrounding a masterfully sculptured temple which looked to have been formed from one gigantic, faintly glowing, piece of the same obsidian rock which was some distance away. Ayanda started to walk at first, then felt as if he could circulate his God Blood Lightning Sacred Art to rush towards the temple. He rapidly made his way towards the temple, and outside he saw multiple statues the led to the entrance, all in the image of a majestic cattle. The cattle was a superior being which had an omnipotent aura chiseled into the statue's, and it appeared to have three eyes, but the third eye was closed on it's forehead above it's two eyes.

As Ayanda marveled at the majestic cattle, he suddenly felt a strange feeling from deep within his soul, like there was something it yearned for inside the temple.

"Levy, I'm going inside. I feel like we'll both be safe." Ayanda passed his thoughts onto Levy telepathically as they've been communicating since entering the pond, and soon Ayanda made his way confidently into the temple without stopping.

As soon as Ayanda entered, the temple had a sudden pressure from inside push all of the water out, and channeled all of it away from the temple to create an atmospheric bubble surrounding the entire area around the temple. The obsidian rocks started to emit a powerful glow which revealed the intricacies of the entire temple. There were hieroglyphic's all over depicting various dragons; Phoenix Feathered Dragons, Terra Form Dragons, Aqua Deep Dragons, Sky Lord Dragons, Metal King Dragons, even the rare and extinct Ancient Forest Dragon, which were all in different sizes and varied in strength, while strangely, the majestic cattle was shown to be leading them as their ruler. This was shocking to Ayanda, and he couldn't make sense of this in any way. In all of the depictions where the majestic cattle was shown, all the dragon's revered it and treated the majestic cattle as if it were a deity. 

Ayanda studied the hieroglyphics for some time until he came across an area which told a completely different story. There he saw a different set of depictions, which reveal the exact same temple he was currently in, and then there was the first human figure shown by the hieroglyphics. This figure seemed to enter, then proceed to dig something out from underneath the temple floor. As the figure started to dig, the majestic cattle seemed to reappear in the temple, then face the human figure in a battle. The human figure appeared to show flashes of lightning and flames, as well as using a floating pyramid in it's hands to fend off the majestic cattle. At some point, the human figure seems to win against the majestic cattle, and is then seated on top of the cattle, which then submits to it. The final image shown reveals how this figure then rides on top of the majestic cattle, then flies out of the ocean it is buried in together with the majestic cattle.

For some reason, Ayanda considers himself as the figure shown in the hieroglyphics, but then realizes that he has to face the majestic cattle shown, and force it into submitting. Just thinking about that made his spine tingle as that would mean he would need to be more powerful than a deity who the dragons themselves worshipped. Wasn't this far too insane to even wonder?

"Brat, if you're thinking about even facing that sleazy cow, you're mistaken. You're not her match at all." Levy spoke solemnly as he was following Ayanda's vision with the depictions.

"You know who this is?" Ayanda asked in amazement.

"If it's who I think it was, then only she could have made those dragon's worship her. Back then there was a rare beast, more like a Spirit beast. Nobody wanted to cross path's with her, and more importantly, she was able to control the very soul of other beast's who were weaker than her." Levy explained with caution, "I don't remember her looking like how the statues show her, but I do remember that she had three eyes. When her third eye was revealed, all beast's had to bow before her."

After listening to Levy's explanation, Ayanda realized just how far off he was from being the figure shown in the hieroglyphics on the temple walls.

"So what do we do now?" Ayanda asked.

"I'm not sure, but if you want to challenge her, you'll need to train until you're at least at the so called 'Mythical' level you wanted to attain. From there, it would be better for you to get strong enough to challenge the Star Shadow Chimera back at God's Prison." Levy replied.

"What!!! That's... I have to be at least that strong?" Ayanda was astonished, and immediately stressed.

"That's considering that she's been sealed under this temple, and probably lost a lot of her spiritual vitality. You'll fare better if you can be more dominant than her spiritual powers. At least then you won't be defeated instantly." Levy told him honestly.

"What are the actual power level's I should be concerned about?" Ayanda asked.

"Firstly, the 'Mythical' level you humans chase after is really just the doorway into the true realm of power. In terms of barriers, 'Mythical' would be considered as the first stage, along with 'Legendary' which is a higher class which is at the peak of 'Mythical'. After that, is 'Monarch', and the peak at that stage is 'Ruler'. Beyond 'Monarch' is where the true powerhouses reside, at the layer known as 'Empyrean', this stage differs from the previous ones completely, mainly because the peak states at this level require one to make a decision about the path of absolute power they want to follow. There are three peak stages that one can cultivate at 'Empyrean'; 'Overlord', 'Saint', and 'False God'. 'Overlord' is the peak stage for beasts, and 'Saint' is the highest known state for human" Levy explained everything slowly to Ayanda.

"What about 'False God'?" Ayanda asked Levy, as he didn't mention which beings are at that peak.

"Brat! The name 'False God' implies that one has to be an actual god to achieve it. Back when I was an Overlord, there were some god's who were below that state for some reason, but later I found out that even they have to cultivate to reach this peak, where their own powers are absolute in their realm of power. Even for a 'Saint' level human, they would only be as good as an ordinary god before a False God." Levy replied.

Ayanda considered Levy's response deeply while studying the hieroglyphics again, then suddenly leaped into the air while circulating his Taboo Slayer Divine Art along with his God Blood Lightning Sacred Art to strike at the temple floor. As soon as Ayanda made a swift and powerful kick to the floor, a deep boom sounded out, but the result left Ayanda speechless; there wasn't even a single scratch left behind, nothing changed at all.

"So I have to reach the peak of 'Mythical' to dig through this?" Ayanda pondered to himself.

"Hold on, if that majestic cattle is the same one you remember, wouldn't she be an Overlord like you were?" Ayanda asked Levy.

"Not necessarily. Even though she was a beast like myself, she had chosen to go down the path of a Saint, so her realm was completely different to other beasts, and since she was a Spirit beast, her level could overwhelm even an Overlord." Levy explained in response.

"How did a Saint level existence get trapped in here?" Ayanda mumbled out loud in astonishment.

"Amazing! You can even tell what level the ancestral spirit is at!" a ringing voice suddenly spoke above Ayanda.

Ayanda looked up in shock to find an enormous graceful crane descending down as if it appeared out of thin air. Ayanda stared at it in confusion, and was even more shocked at what it witnessed next.

"You must have a formidable companion beast or a vast wealth of knowledge. In either case, you're definitely the one Quake has been waiting for." the crane spoke out loud in the ringing voice Ayanda heard before.

Ayanda was at a loss for words before he could speak again, "What are you?"

"Just a companion beast. You can call me Bakasura." the crane replied calmly while assessing Ayanda with it's sharp gaze.

"Companion beast?" Ayanda was confused.

"Yes, I'm Quakes' companion beast." Bakasura calmly replied.