The smell of brimstone and burning flesh filled the nostrils of Bjørn as he stood before the Pit Fiend. The Pit Fiend appeared female, standing at twelve feet and eleven inches, she put a hand on her hip and held a spiked mace. Her skin was red like blood and her eyes fiery like the sun, twin dark horns were on the tip of her forehead and pointed to the ceiling. Her long black hair stretched down to her waist. She held a sly grin as she looked at the human before her.
Bjørn was a human, he was six foot and nine inches. He was shirtless, revealing the scars on his bare chest, he was not pantless however as he had bear fur for pants. His bare feet felt cold on the marble floor of the Pit Fiend's arena. He had a metal shield which had a scratched dragon painting on it, worn down from countless battles. He had a battle axe in his fist, the wooden handle held strong in his tight grip. Bjørn let out a deep inhale and breathed out, causing some of his blonde hair to droop over. Frowning, he blew his hair back into place and rolled his shoulders.
"So, you're the foolish human who has challenged me to a duel?" The Pit Fiend mused as she looked up and down at the Barbarian. She smirked as she saw his scarred and muscular body, then looked at his face. "You might be one of the cutest humans I've met."
Bjørn's mind briefly wandered to Quul but he refocused himself and held a determined gaze. "Cool, but I'm not here for wrestling, I'm here to duel." He pointed his battle axe at the Pit Fiend and narrowed his eyes. "Before we duel, my name is…" He glanced at Dhamir, who began to roll his eyes. "...Bjørn, to keep it short, I am the sixty-nine-thousand-four-hundred and twentieth of my family. I have come to duel you for my friend's safe passage to meet Zariel."
The Pit Fiend's eyes widened, "Oh really? Well, then, I can't allow that." She shook her head, but then flashed a smile. "But I can offer you to join our ranks, you have courage to stand up to such a powerful demon such as I, more courage than these fools," she gestured to the party who stood behind the rails of the arena. "And since I find you just the cutest, how about this? Join me, and we will lay waste to all of these… Friends of yours. After that, we can be together for eternity, and I'll even try and convince Zariel to grant you power beyond your wildest dreams!" Her hand was set ablaze in a crimson inferno, and she stuck out a hand to Bjørn who stood a few meters away from her. "So, what do you say, Bjørn?"
A pregnant pause filled the arena, the party began to sweat and hold their weapons tight. It was too good of a deal to ignore, and their faith in their Barbarian was going to be tested.
"Nah."
The Pit Fiend blinked in shock and shook her head as if trying to readjust her hearing. She chuckled, "Excuse me? Did I hear that right?"
Bjørn nodded, "I said no, I'll never betray my friends and I don’t know you like that, bro." As if feeling the anger from the demon, he held his shield close and held his axe tighter.
The Pit Fiend began to giggle, before cackling like a mad woman. "AHAHAHA! You humans really are idiots, I mean, all that intelligence to make weapons of war, yet not enough to take a good offer when you see it!"
"Well, I wouldn’t say I'm intelli-"
"I am going to enjoy ripping you to shreds!" The Pit Fiend had a crazy smile and set her mace ablaze, licking her lips. She crouched down and flared her wings, pushing off the ground to grant her more speed, she took off towards Bjørn.
Bjørn snarled, his muscles bulged and his veins were more visible, he began to snarl like a Grizzly Bear and his eyes looked insane. A Beaver tail popped out of his back and he charged to face the Pit Fiend head on. The Pit Fiend attacked first, swinging her fiery mace, a trail of fire followed the weapon as it came closer to hitting its target. Bjørn, however, was quick and spun around, smacking his Beaver tail into the mace and knocking the attack off course.
Bjørn then slammed his axe into her hip, a trail of blood trickling onto his weapon. The Barbarian roared and bashed his shield into her knee to get her closer to his level. The Pit Fiend raised her tail high and stabbed Bjørn in his knee. Ignoring the pain, Bjørn turned his head into that of a Grizzly Bear's before he bit her wielding hand. He began to shake the hand in his maw like a dog as the Pit Fiend snarled. She grabbed Bjørn by his fuzzy head and threw him across the arena.
Bjørn was sent tumbling across the floor and slammed into a wall, knocking the wind out of him. He went limp and fell on his chest, his back ached and the pain went to his head. His Grizzly Bear head slowly faded as he dropped his axe and held his chest. He felt something wet on his head and touched it, only to see blood. He looked at the Pit Fiend walking towards him with fury in her eyes, briefly, Bjørn panicked. The Barbarian looked to his party, specifically Zelfine who looked at him with concern. Bjørn shook his head and brought back his A-game, he grinned at his ally and grabbed his axe. He stood shakily to his feet and slammed the blunt end of his axe into his shield making a loud and obnoxious banging sound.
"COME AT ME, DJÄVUL!" Bjørn challenged, his Beaver tail sprouted out of his back once more. The Pit Fiend accepted the challenge and flew towards Bjørn, however, he didn't run to her, instead he waited. The Pit Fiend showed her claws and scratched them on the marble floor as she closed in on Bjørn, he still waited and didn't break. Right as she was close, Bjørn spun around and made her slash her claws at the wall. Using the momentum, Bjørn slapped the Pit Fiend with his Beaver tail right as she stabbed his shoulder with her own tail. Blood trickled down the wound, but the Barbarian pushed past the pain and kicked the back of the Pit Fiend's leg, causing her to trip.
Once she slammed into the ground, he raised his shield and began to bash her across the face repeatedly. He broke her nose, and though he could only catch glimpses, her face was bloody. As Bjørn was gonna bash her again, she bit down on his shield, Bjørn tried to force her to let go but it was no use. No matter how hard Bjørn pulled, it was no match for her jaw strength. The Pit Fiend raised her mace to slam into Bjørn's knee, Bjørn's eyes widened as he abandoned his shield and tore the straps with his strength, rolling back to avoid the attack.
Bjørn rolled to his feet just in time for the Pit Fiend to throw his shield like a discus at Bjørn's head. Bjørn briefly looked to his left hand and forgot his shield was there, so, that only left dodging. Bjørn leaned back and avoided the shield taking his head off, he saw the shield be embedded into the arena walls. As he stood up straight he was immediately met with the claws of the Pit Fiend. She grabbed Bjørn by the throat and drove him to the ground, she sat on top of his torso and glared into Bjørn's blue eyes.
From an outside perspective, it would seem like they were about to do it right there, unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Bjørn swung his axe at her neck, but was out of reach due to her height, she laughed in amusement as he feebly tried to get her off. She grabbed Bjørn's wielding hand and dropped her mace on the ground, out of Bjørn's reach. She then yanked the axe out of the Barbarian's grip and shattered it into pieces.
Bjørn grasped and winced as the wooden and steel shards fell and pierced his bare body. Bjørn looked at his surroundings, he had no weapons, and with his hand still in the Pit Fiend's grip, he had only one hand left to defend himself.
She smiled at the helpless Barbarian, "You're so cute when you're helpless, but I bet you'd be cuter screaming in pain." The Pit Fiend applied pressure to Bjørn's trapped hand, and agony painted Bjørn's face like a canvas before a disgusting snap rang throughout the arena. Bjørn bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming and glared the Pit Fiend in the eyes. "Scream!" She snarled, digging her claws into Bjørn's chest, yet the Barbarian refused to scream.
Thinking quick, Bjørn transformed his hands into Grizzly Bear claws, however his broken hand spasmed as it transformed. Gritting his teeth, he slashed the Pit Fiend's arm, drawing blood. The Pit Fiend pulled her claw out of Bjørn's torso and with a primal roar, Bjørn grabbed her hand and pulled it, causing her torso to follow her arms and thus her head. Bjørn slammed his head into the Pit Fiend's and chipped off one of her horns, he also forced her off of him. She fell to her back and Bjørn rolled to his feet, clutching his broken hand.
The Pit Fiend snarled and put a hand out to Bjørn, "Hold Monster!" She cried out. Bjørn's eyes widened as he felt his body stiffen, he tried to move but found his body unwilling. The Pit Fiend flared her wings and a spark of fire flew from her hands before growing into a fireball. "DIE!" The Pit Fiend boomed as she fired a mass of fire at Bjørn, with his body unable to move he couldn’t dodge. Bjørn couldn't do anything but scream as he was set ablaze.
The Pit Fiend grinned smugly, "That's the scream I wanted to hear," once the fire died down, she saw Bjørn still standing. His body covered in burns and soot, Bjørn coughed as smoke was in the air. The Pit Fiend's went slack jawed and awestruck at Bjørn's durability. "Well then!" A fireball was set ablaze in her hand once more, "How about another?" She threw the fireball at Bjørn once more and a large explosion filled the arena. Nearly hitting some of the party members.
The Pit Fiend smiled, Bjørn had to be dead by now. As the smoke cleared, she saw Bjørn slowly falling to his back.
But then…
Bjørn stopped himself, and stood up straight. "That's all you got?" Bjørn wheezed out, the smoke filling his lungs and watering his eyes. He could only hear ringing as the explosions were so loud, although, he barely heard his own breath with the ringing. The burning was agonizing, every part of his body was flaring up in pain, begging Bjørn to just die. But the Barbarian wasn't going to die yet, not until he made it back home.
Not until he sees Quul again.
"How… Why?! WHY WON’T YOU DIE ALREADY?!" The Pit Fiend screeched, nearly blowing out Bjørn's eardrums even more.
Bjørn tried to smirk, but the combination of the spell and the pain couldn't allow him, "B-Because…" Bjørn rasped before using all of his power to manage a toothy grin, "...I'm a Bjørn."
The Pit Fiend yelled in frustration and flew towards Bjørn, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him into the wall. She grabbed his head and dragged him against it, grinding his face into the stone causing it to break. The Pit Fiend then threw Bjørn and made him tumble across the marble floor, painting the floor with his blood.
Bjørn's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he couldn't breathe. Bjørn desperately tried to get up, but the spell was still in place so he couldn't move. Bjørn snarled and tried to fight it; his hand twitched as he tried to get up. But then, the Pit Fiend slammed her boot into his ribs and sent him flying into a wall. Bjørn spewed a glob of blood and saliva out of his mouth before…
…His heart stopped…
…
…
…
Bjørn opened his eyes and gasped for air, he looked around and saw the Pit Fiend looking at the party. Not paying attention to him. He couldn't hear what she was saying, for his ears were adjusting from being dead. Bjørn placed his good hand on the ground and scooted his right knee under him. With the combined might of his left hand and right leg, he went to his feet. Bjørn looked at his hand, it wasn't a Grizzly Bear's paw anymore. He grunted and forced his hand to turn back into its lycanthropic state.
He began to limp towards the Pit Fiend, blood trickling over his right eye and barely able to see with his left. "H… H… H-HEY, DJÄVUL!" Bjørn boomed, immediately his chest revolted and caused a searing pain across his torso. The Pit Fiend turned sharply around and saw the Barbarian, clinging onto life by a thread.
The Pit Fiend clenched her fists, causing her hands to bleed from the force exerted onto them. "DIE!" The Pit Fiend threw another fireball at Bjørn. This time, Bjørn could move, albeit barely. An idea flashed in his mind, Bjørn tried to jump out of the way but tripped instead and slammed his head against the ground, fortunately, the fireball sailed past him and slammed into the wall behind him. Unfortunately, the blast pushed Bjørn towards the Pit Fiend.
The Pit Fiend could do nothing but stare as Bjørn slowly went to his feet, blood trickling through his teeth, making him look like a psychopath. Bjørn got in a fighting stance, his one claw ready to lash out. Bjørn raised his other arm and got ready to use it as well.
The Pit Fiend raised her foot and performed a sidekick to Bjørn's face, snapping his neck and killing him…
…But then, his head snapped back and Bjørn slashed the Pit Fiend's stomach. Then performing an elbow to the ribs, however, it was all for naught as his attacks no longer affected her. Bjørn quickened the pace and started bashing his claw and elbow into her rapidly, letting out a primal roar as his pupils were no longer, only white was his eyes. But then, the Pit Fiend caught both of his forearms and…
SNAP!
Bjørn screamed in agony, and as he was going to fall to his knees, he was booted by the Pit Fiend. Bjørn's back touched the floor as he snarled, the Pit Fiend made her way over to the human.
"Look at you, wasted and gasping for air, but don't worry, it'll all be over soon." The Pit Fiend grabbed Bjørn's foot and took him off the ground and spun Bjørn around. She then slammed him into the ground, knocking the wind out of his sails, but she wasn't done. She turned around and slammed him into the ground again, fracturing his skull. With a sadistic grin she slammed him again and Bjørn screeched in agony. Spinning around, she threw him into the ceiling, Bjørn bounced off the ceiling and fell like a rock. The Pit Fiend caught the human in her arms and cradled him like a baby.
"Aw," She cooed as she looked at Bjørn's pale eyes, she smiled at the tears that poured down his face. He was a bloody mess, anyone who hasn't been paying attention would think that Bjørn was dead, yet he still breathed. She lightly tapped him on the head and his pupils grew back to size. Bjørn looked at the Pit Fiend in the demoness' eyes with the fear of God, this just made her smile even more. "You're adorable, like a cute puppy, I just want to squeeze the life out of you." She applied pressure on Bjørn's cheeks and pulled him close, using the last of his strength, he tried to resist. Bjørn glared at the Pit Fiend who in turn glared back. Forcefully, the Pit Fiend pulled him in and kissed his lips. "Goodbye, Bjørn." She stabbed her claw into Bjørn's chest and pulled his soul out of his body, she smiled at the soul and took a bite out of it. Bjørn's eyes went dull, and his body went limp as she feasted on his soul.
The Pit Fiend let go of him and let his body hit the ground. Bjørn felt cold.
So…
…So…
…So very cold.
His eyes slowly began to shut, 'My only regret,' he thought to himself, '...I didn't see Quul again,' with no fight left in him, he willingly closed his eyes and embraced his entrance to Valhalla.