Rick looked at the four towering figures before him and  immediately dropped the chair in his hand. Trying to force his way through would only hasten his death.

"Sir, if you can just let me pass through I will be really grateful" Rick chittered, adoring the best smile he could, given the circumstances.

The grey-skinned Second frowned, "Do you take us for fools? You slaughtered through all our legions of demons, and suddenly now you  want to leave like an obedient child? "

"We are the four Kings of Hell. Do not think you can beguile us with your words," the goat-limbed Fourth bawled in anger.

Rick was already too scared to breath facing these four creatures. But he realised that it was not just him, even the four "Kings" seemed to be on guard. There seemed to be nervous anger in their actions for reasons he could not  

Rick quickly realised the reason for their unexpected behavior. The Kings had probably assumed that he had reached the eighth floor of the library by defeating whatever there was on the floors below, one by one, unaware that it was merely coincidence that the mutation occurred while he was on the Eighth floor.

An idea quickly took shape in his mind.

'I might as well give it a try,' he thought, 'There is no other way to get out of here alive anyway. And if I wait too long this Master they keep referring to might return. Heavens know how strong you have to be to be their Master.'

Making up his mind, he decided to try out his plan.

"Not bad!" he spoke in a clear baritone. With his head tilted up and his hand folded behind his back, it was as if he was an inconceivable expert.

"This is a disguise I have put on,” he continued with a slight smile, “I have been away for so long, I can hardly recognize this place any more. You have served well in my absence, now move aside and let me pass. Your Master is back!"

“Master?” the Kings verbalized confused. The sudden turn of the event took the Kings by complete surprise.

How was it that the human child who was begging for his life moments ago was not claiming to be their Master? The kid before them did not seem like an expert of any kind. Of course it was remarkable that he could climb so far up the tower, but he, in no way, gave the aura of their Master.

The four looked at each other in confusion.

Rick took a step forward. He was certain any moment would be his last now. His intestines were tingling in fear but his face exuded absolute confidence.

The Kings were at a fix on what to do. The change in the kid's attitude was too sudden. He even looked too young to be the insurmountable expert that was their Master.

 But the Kings still hesitated. For who in their right minds would dare to deceive the world by putting on a disguise and pretending to be Him? There was no one who would court such misfortune willingly. Even death would be a welcome release for such a crime,and the Kings would see to it themselves. Besides, if through some misfortune this really was their Master, none of them wanted to get on his bad side and give the other Kings an edge!

While the Kings were having their internal turmoil, Rick strode forward without pause towards the centre of the hall.

Meanwhile, the Kings were reaching the ends of their wits. They had to do something quick If word was to spread that a mere human child trampled across their Master's chamber while they, the Kings assigned to guard, stood on the sidelines gawking, it would be their end. Besides what honour would Master even be spared?

"Welcome Master. I apologize for our earlier hostility, we did not recognize Master's impeccable disguise," the mist covered Third King suddenly addressed. "It was only out of concern for the security of your artifacts that we acted in alarm. Please receive your Signet ring and the Lemegeton that we have faithfully protected in your stead."

Rick immediately became alert, something did not seem right. His plan was to temporarily stall the Kings confused on what to do with his 'masterful acting' while inching closer to the door on the other side of the room and then dash forward, praying that he would reach the door first before the Kings reached him.

‘There is no way they were so convinced as to truly take me for their absent Master, right, ’ he mused.

Rick's intuition was absolutely spot on. The other three kings gave a quick glance towards the Third King and immediately realized the trap the Third King had set up. The Master's artifacts could only be used by Him or someone He had blessed to be able to use. If anyone else tried to forcefully use them, the artifacts would immediately burn them to cinders. The four Kings stood guard only to ensure that no one tried to steal the artifacts.

"Next time. I have urgent business to attend to right now, I only came to check on you guys this time" Rick quickly composed himself and waved at the Kings.

"Master, you must take possession of them and rightfully assume the mantle as our leader again." The First King insisted.

"We insist."

“We beg you Master"

The other three Kings chortled with smirks in their faces. The four surrounded Rick urging him towards the throne, closing off any other way to escape.

The Kings were almost sure that the kid was not the King and that he was only bluffing; and the Third King’s solution was the perfect way to determine the truth of the matter. If the human was a fraud, he would receive the just punishment of being burnt to cinders, while if he was actually their Master, all they could do was lower their heads and beg for forgiveness. In any case, the Kings decided it would be for the best to be safe than be sorry.

Rick did not know such a gruesome death was expected of him by the Kings, but was aware that nothing good could come out of doing what they wanted. But he had little choice in the matter. He ground his teeth and moved towards the hulking throne at the centre of the room, herded by the four Kings.

He slowly walked up the pedestal and inspected the throne carefully for the first time. The throne was made of a polished black material with a circular back and two lions sculpted on its arms. On the seat of the Throne were two things, an ancient looking book and a ring.

Rick looked around to see if there was any way he could avoid touching the throne or the things on it, but luck did not seem to be on his side that day.

'Please don't let me die so young,' with prayers, he bent forward reaching up to the ring and the book under the watchful gaze of the Kings.

Gingerly he touched the ring with his finger...

 

Ding

A notification sound resounded in his mind.

Startled by the sound, Rick stumbled back and nearly fell over the throne.

 

Ding

Ding

Ding…

A string of notifications rang, but he did not hear any of them. As soon as his fingers touched the artifacts his vision blurred and he collapsed on the floor, clutching the ring on his right hand and the book on his left.

 

---

 

When Rick regained his consciousness, he suddenly found himself in an empty white expanse. As far as he could see, there was nothing else.

'This is getting too much for one day!' he screamed silently.

He groaned as he got up to his feet. He was wearing the same clothes as in the library but he also had the atifacts the Kings were yapping about with him. He was holding the book in his left hand, while the ring, he was wearing it on his right hand. The ring was a snug fit and no matter how hard he tried, he could not pull it off.

He self-inspected his body and then looked around. There was not a single soul anywhere. He checked the book in his hand. To its credit, despite its voluminous size, it was not at all heavy. He placed the book on the ground below and started walking in a random direction.

"Hey!" Before he had even taken five steps forward, Rick suddenly heard a scream behind.

He stopped and glanced back.

Out of nowhere, there was now a white-bearded man standing behind him, wearing exquisite armour holding the book he had just put down.

"Hey, lad! Why did you leave this behind?" the man spoke waving the book the book at him. "Did you hit your head somewhere to leave behind something so precious unattended?"

Rick was past the point of saturation where strange appearances were not something that could get a reaction out of him.

"Who are you? Where am I? And how did you get behind me? Am I dead?" Rick asked, walking towards him.

"Haha. Calm down boy. You aren't dead. At least not as of now," the bearded-man started. "You can call me Sol. As for where you are, this is the subconscious space I created with a strand of my will I left behind on the artifacts."

Rick could not understand a word of what was said, but he was glad to hear he was not dead.

"Come, sit down. I don't have a lot of time to undertake your mundane questions," Sol gestured.

As if under a spell, Rick felt his body react on its own and walked forward and sat down before the man.

"Let me start by saying congratulations on being able to inherit my artifacts." Sol said.

"Wait, these are your artifacts? So you are the Master those creatures were talking about? How is it that a human is the Master of those creatures?" Rick asked with narrowed eyes. "Wait are you some kind of a shapeshifter?"

"No, I am a human. I did it the only way you can do, I beat them to submission." Sol chuckled. "But you must have done it too, after all you are in possession of the artifacts now. "

"Haha. About that…" Rick smiled sheepishly quickly explaining everything to Sol.

"Hmm. So you did not beat any of them? Not even a single rotzwerg?" Sol asked.

Rick shook his head no.

"Well, That's not for the worst either I guess," Sol mumbled. He started pacing around, with his one hand behind his back and the other stroking his beard.

"I already figured you did not have the strength to defeat the four Kings. My inheritor wasn't meant to. I wanted my inheritor to be someone who was not only strong but could also find a way through tough situation using their brains", Sol voiced in a self-consoling tone. "But it looks like I have an inheritor with no brawns and, at best, mediocre brains.”

Rick pursed his lips, a little annoyed at being addressed like an idiot.

"Hey, didn't your artifacts see potential in me and choose me to be the inheritor," he snapped.

"Is that what you think happened? Those artifacts were stored in the depths of Earth's Hell, Guarded by the might of the entire demon horde. The artifacts were meant for ANY HUMAN who could fight their way and obtain them!" Sol exclaimed.

Rick was stunned. This meant that he was not even really chosen to be Sol’s successor. He merely stumbled his way across it.

"Aah never mind. Listen, kid, let me explain to you what the artifacts are," Sol started.

"The ring on your finger is known as the Signet. With it, you wield the power to control all of the demon hordes, including the four Kings. The second artifact is the book. Actually, it's a grimoire. It called the-"

Rick had his hand raised, interrupting Sol.

"What?" Sol asked.

"What is a grimoire?" Rick replied.

"Aah!" Sol shook his head dejected. "It's a spell book."

"So continuing, the grimo- spellbook is known as the Lemegeton. It's the most powerful spell book in the history of mankind. It has the power to summon demons from Hell to assist the Master of the spellbook in his times of peril."

"Whoa!" Rick was truly shocked. If he could summon the massive demon horde or even one of the Kings to protect him, there would be little to worry about the upcoming apocalypse that the Heaven's Dictate spoke of.

Seeing Rick finally show interest, Sol's eyes burned with passion. "Not just that son. The Lemegeton is a treasure trove of information. Never mind all that, you will figure out its uses over time anyway."

"Thank you, sir! This is the best thing that has happened to me all day." Rick truly felt like all troubles and life-threatening situations he had to encounter were worth it.

"Hmm. Use them all wisely for the betterment of all humanity" Sol gave a serene smile.

"Yes sir" Rick replied. He did not mind helping people till it did not involve him being put in harm's way.

"I have already left Earth behind. Maybe we will meet again someday. Do well son." Sol tossed the grimoire Lemegeton at Rick and turned away.

Rick caught the grimoire carefully and pet it like it was a precious diamond.

"Oh and one last thing. The powers of the Lemegeton will increase as you get stronger . With your current power, you would not even be able to summon a hellhound pup if you tried. So work hard," Sol explained. "And if you are unable to become strong enough to summon at least one of the Demon Kings within the next one year, they will most definitely revolt and kill you."

Saying this Sol vanished.

'Damn it! How could I think this thing would be good for me? It's a death sentence!' Rick sat there, mouth agape in shock.