Chapter 161: Set Up To Fail
"How rude, to come here and not even say hello." The Demon King uttered, he was fond of torturing prey and playing with the lives of lesser beings, so that was his favorite line to say to people who would attempt to spy on him.
Joe Joe was dumbfounded by the scenes that were happening right before his eyes. He just stood there, wide eyed and utterly flabbergasted.
"Did you really think I did not know of your arrival, or even feel your presence the second you entered my castle. I am everywhere human. From the second you entered my dungeons—passed through my smoke holes. I was aware of you." The Demon King said again.
At this moment, Joe Joe’s senses had already flared up, every molecule in his body was screaming at him to retreat and bursting with adrenaline.
He tried to turn around and bolt out of there as fast as he could, but he was ultimately too slow.
He felt a strong spiritual pressure grab full hold of him, restraining him from any kind of movement.
He was then lifted into the air and spun around, being pulled into the chambers as the doors shut behind him.
He floated, gradually being crushed by the pressure that suspended him in the air.
"Aarrgghh!!" Joe Joe screamed as he felt his ribs crack under the immense pressure, the pain was mind shattering, he instantly coughed out blood as he groaned and grunted.
It was useless to fight against this entity. He tried to generate Qi to help him break free of the grip, but all the Qi he emitted was absorbed.
"What do you plan to do with the intruder master?" Morbius asked, looking towards the inner chambers of the demon king.
"Since he had failed to be courteous and even introduce himself, I could kill him rigbt here and now...." The Demon King wondered, Joe Joe floated in the air, his crimson blood cascading down his jaw.
He managed to look ahead, he could not see who was speaking, his vision blurred even further as the grip tightened, sending another wave of immeasurable pain through his body.
"...but as it turns out. And opportunity has presented itself, this is the best medium to test my creation. Destro here also happens to be a Devourer. He would eat anything, his appetite is insatiable." The demon king continued.
Morbius laughed, his laugh was sinister and triumphant. In truth, he was just pleased he was not going to have to be the crash test dummy to measure the strength of the beast that stood almost lifelessly before him.
The spiritual pressure released Joe Joe and let him fall helplessly to the floor, he clutched at his stomach and curled himself into a ball, groaning as sweat dripped from his forehead.
He had three broken ribs, and his Qi was depleted in mere minutes, just how strong was this Demon King, why would something as powerful as this exist.
His eyes shut after a moment of these thoughts racing through his head. He could no longer stay awake after such an ordeal, the voices faded slowly in his ears as his passed out.
***
He awoke to the smell of rotting flesh, and dampness in the air, he covered his nose instinctively as his vision cleared up.
"Ugh! What in the seven hells is that smell?" He looked around, he could see metal bars in front of him, he looked left and right at the dark walls that surrounded him.
He then looked down at himself and found he was wearing nothing but his underwear as he lay on the dirty floor.
He had been stripped of his weapons, clothing, even his ring. His eyes widened in shock as he hurriedly tried to stand to his feet. A sharp pain instantly rung throughout his body, sending jolts of electricity straight to his brain.
"Aaagghhh!" He yelped, ultimately returning to his position.
"Don’t move around too much, you’re hurt." A weak voice emerged from what seemed to be the cell right beside his.
"Who’s that!" Joe Joe demanded, panting heavily as the air grew thicker.
"I told you... we can’t win brother." The voice trailed off again. Joe Joe instantly recognized who it was, he inched himself closer to the wall where the sound was coming from.
"Ruen?! You’re still alive!" Joe Joe exclaimed, grunting as the sharp pain reared it’s head again. "H-How do I get out of here?!"
"You don’t..." Ruen responded. "Unfortunately, we are going to die here my friend."
Joe Joe did not respond, he could barely follow Ruen’s words. He quickly looked around the cage he resided in. There was not a single iota of space to escape, the only way he would escape this place would literally be to break the walls, which, in a normal state, and with some determination, he might have been able to do.
But right now his Qi was completely depleted and he was stripped of all his weapons and artifacts.
He racked his brain, possibilities racing through his head, but they ultimately arrived at the same destination. A dead end.
He was lost in thought when a loud bang sounded on the bars. "Quit talking in there." A demon yelled, the jailers had been replaced already.
"Why am I here? Why didn’t the demon king just kill me already?" Joe Joe yelled, one of the things he wondered was why he was even still alive, tbe demon king certainly had him in his clutches, why would he keep him alive?
"You are a special one, master intends to use you as a test subject for a project he’s working on. Better use your time to prepare, otherwise you’d be crushed in seconds, haha." The jailer, kept moving, out of sight, but his laughter could still be heard.
"Test subject, project. Wait does he mean... am I... going against that?" Joe Joe contemplated out loud, his thoughts were scrambled and it was very difficult to think through the pain.
How could he, in this state, go against something like that. Broken rib, No Qi, no weapons.
He was set up to fail.