Peter was sliding around the colossal beast focusing himself to dodge each of the beast strikes. Since the fight started a couple of minutes prior, it was taking it easy on Peter only trying to smash him with its large paws. Each strike shook the ground but Peter was keeping his focus on his movement trying to put some distance between him and that horror. Unfortunately for Peter, that thing was fast and was following him with ease.

  “Don’t run ! You’re waaastiiing your tiiime!” The beast howled while launching itself, landing near Peter, shaking the ground.

  Peter answered by throwing a small rotating rock disk before sliding laterally in a quick ninety degree turn. The beast destroyed the disk without any effort by slapping it away. That thing was strong.

  “Hey, I’m not sure you want to see me fight at full power. I have a tendency to be quite destructive and lethal.” Peter said. He wanted to end the fight the most peacefully possible to keep talking to the beast so Peter could not use any strong attack even if he was even sure he was able right now. Sliding directly on the ground was still not fully mastered and his legs were starting to shake as power flew through them. Stalling was not going to work and Peter would have to switch to a more offensive way to fight very soon.

  “I caaan taaake iiit Priiimordiiiaaal. Do not worry aaabout meee.” The beast groaned before using its tail to whip Peter's position.

  Peter reacted by quickly raising a hand calling a wall of rock from the ground that got shattered as the tail hit it with violence. Peter could see that the beast was smiling and not taking him seriously.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Beast.” Peter yelled. ”You seem to want a good fight and I can’t offer it to you.”

  Peter moved his hand ordering a couple of supersonic spears from the ground and sent them to the creature. Peter was not sure he had to move his hand, well, he was quite sure it was not needed but it was helping him to stay focused on the fight.

  The beast took the two spears head on but drew back a little on the impact. It shook its head before locking back its gaze on Peter.

  “Niiice striiike. I hope you haaave somethiiing strongeeer iiif you hope to deeefeeeaaat meee.” The beast groaned with excitation.

  Well, since he was invited to do it, Peter started to think of a strategy to deliver a powerful blow. From what he could have experimented and been teached, his demonic power was really simple. Instead of using a reserve of power stocked inside his soul, Peter had to use his will to impose his desires on the earth around him. The ground and rocks were then forced to move according to what Peter wanted using their own hell power transferring it to Peter. The main drawback was that Hell was trying to fight back to be used, taxing his body and exhausting him. With time and experience, Peter would be able to withstand it more and more but right now, his limit was near. The lava bomb trick shot was quite powerful but too taxing. He was going to use a trick he saw in an old anime he watched back when he was alive.

  “Hey, in case you didn't see, I just exploded a nest with a powerful lava bomb. It took me a significant part of my energy and I’m not at my maximum. Are you sure you don’t want to talk first then fight me at my actual prime ? ” Peter asked before sending a large and wide volley of small spears to rain down on the beast.

  It reacted by wiggling its tail and wings, easily destroying the volley. Then instead of trying to smash Peter into pieces, it walked closely before lying on the ground.

  “Fiiine… You seeeems quite weeeaaak riiight now.” The beast growled.

  Peter let himself fall back on the ground, immersing himself a little in the ground, starting to use the power stored down there to restore his own endurance. Doing it slowly was better. The two previous times Peter used his power like this, it was in the heat of the battle and he had to act fast. But now, he could take his time to let his body acclimate itself to more power. And he was also focusing himself on his special trick.

  “Hey, I’m still young. Don’t expect too much from me.” Peter said, breathing slowly as he was both recovering and focusing. “I don’t really know the place. Hell, I don’t even know what you are. The others called you a devil beast. Do you have any link to an actual devil ? ”

  The beast's head changed, its mouth shortening, becoming more human. It watched Peter deeply with each of its eyes before starting to laugh.

  “You’re a funny one, Primordial.” The beast started. ”No, I don't have a link to any devil, at least none that I know of. But with these pesky angels, you can’t never know for sure. I’m a pure product of hell. Something created to keep the souls here in check and to prevent an uprising.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “What uprising ? I’m pretty sure no demon can even try to do something so useless.” Peter said, not understanding what the beast was talking about.

  “Of course, you wouldn't know.” The beast continued. ”Any trace about the previous ones were always destroyed, removed from the memory of humans and demons alike to prevent another one. Even if it never worked and another one happened not late after.”

  “Wait ? Are you telling me that the human world regularly receives visits from angels that rewrite reality to hide something from humans ? And how do you remember it then ? And can you even talk about it like that ? ” Peter said, asking question after question, still shocked by what he just learned. He almost lost his focus about his hidden project. That would have been an issue.

  The beast smiled. Apparently Peter was funny for it

  “Take a guess before I educate you. I want to see if the new Primoridial is as stupid as the old one or not.” The beast said.

  Peter was a little bored about this game but decided to play along. He thought of different theories before rejecting the most stupid ones, trying to focus on what he saw and how other demons reacted. He then thought on how the beast interacted with him before finally having a clear hypothesis to propose.

  “You’re not a demon. You’re a manifestation of Hell will and power, which is why you have those memories and how I can talk to you. I can feel the meaning in the power you’re sending each time you talk. Other demons only feel danger and strength. And you are a catalyst. You played with me, testing me, but you don’t want to kill me because each uprising is caused by a Primordial. You were verifying I could lead the next one.”

  “Wow ! I’m actually really impressed. You do know how to think.” The beast said with a face that could be interpreted with happiness. Peter was not really sure interpreting a cthulhuesque face was a good idea but he had nothing more to do for now.

  “Thanks, you’re not the first one to tell me that.” Peter admitted. ”Which worries me about the average intelligence of demons.”

  “Well, the vast majority of smart people know to accept the Absolute when they die.” The beast explained. ”So, in Hell, when you’re smart, you’re a Damned. And no Damned can be a Primordial. So a smart Primordial ? That uprising will be interesting at the very least. Of course, it supposes I don’t kill you at our next fight.”

  “You’ll still try to kill me ? Don’t you want the uprising to happen ? ” Peter asked, a little surprised.

  “Yes. But I want a great leader at the head of it.” The beast ”A demon who has what it takes to lead Hell to the Earth and storm the place once again ! And I won’t submit to the first Primordial that I meet. My role is still to prevent any uprising until a true one can start. So get ready, Primordial ! You rested for long enough !”

  “Can I, at least, know your name before we fight ? ” Peter asked, readying himself and activating his special trick.

  “You may not ! Not until I’m defeated. Now raise yourself and fight ! ” The beast ordered as its mouth was growing back into the horror it was before.

  Peter started to sink deeper into the ground with a large smile as he saw high in the sky the result of his work.

  “I’m sorry Beast. But I don’t really think I’m ready. You’ll have to dig me up.” Peter said before his face disappeared under the ground.

  Peter sank deeper as he felt the beast landing on his position and starting to dig to get to him. It was perfect, the beast was focused on him and was not watching the sky.

  The missile went down at insane speed, multiple times over the sound barrier delivering an extremely powerful blow. It was not his idea, a gravity missile was quite common in fiction. But it was his execution, using sheer will to maintain it while accelerating it during the fall, not letting it go from the moment the missile left the ground covered by a small volley. As for aiming, he just aimed at his position using himself as bait.

  The impact was devastating and deafening as the missile hit the beast destroying itself and Peter could feel the beast body above him fall on the ground, lying on its side, a good part of its right shoulder destroyed. He heard the beast whine as it was twisting its whole body from the pain. Apparently the beast was changing its whole body, reducing it to a more human sized one.

  Peter emerged from the ground, a little exhausted, looking at the body of the beast still evolving and reducing its size. That trick was more complex to use than the lava bomb but way less draining for his body. He was not fighting the pressure, he just had to maintain the shape of the missile during its fall.

  “Energy equals half of mass time speed squared.” Peter started. “Of course, aiming such a quick moving projectile at a moving target is impossible but if the target stays in place, looking down, it’s quite easy to deliver a good impact. Obviously it takes quite a long time to charge and I have to stay focused on it the whole time but laying on the ground and talking is easier than fighting a Devil Beast.”

  “You, you, you did not… play fair.” The beast retorted as its body was becoming similar to any other demon. “You never… stopped the fight… You have… no honor.”

  “I don’t give a fucking care.” Peter replied. ”This is Hell. I’ll win my fights with anything I have at my disposition. And if that includes doing dirty moves then I’ll play along. Now, do you yield ?”

  The beast was now very human looking. Its eight legs merged two by two becoming four strong human limbs. Its weird arms became a pair of burned wings without feather or membrane and its two pairs of wings surrounded its body, giving it a semblance of decency. The face of the beast was a mix between its previous horror one and a typical human one. Its tail was the only part that did not change, only becoming smaller and it was wagging in its back.

  Peter looked down at the beast which was kneeling on the ground. He extended a hand towards it with a smile.

  “So what’s your name, Beast ? ” Peter asked. “Because I think I’m strong enough to know it now.”

  “Voxarel. You have my body until my death, Primordial.” The beast said, taking Peter's hand.