It had lived a long life.
One of drenching itself in blood and constant fighting.
It used to be one of the common soldiers the growing armies of the prime evils.
Where they pointed it went.
Every order followed to the letter.
How many times it was thinking to itself wishing to stop this tiresome job of being everyone's enemy.
But thanks to the curse laid upon them, it was unable to act on its own thoughts, own drive and emotions.
Only to follow the bitter darkness that quickly spread wherever they went...
a never retiring soldier only to be used until there wasn't a single ounce of breath left in them.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to watch your closest friends and relatives die thanks to the games of the prime evils?
the kind where you are pit against your own child then when you decide to sacrifice yourself they take control of your body to make you experience what it was like to butcher all of your kids then revel in your reaction afterward?
Just because they were bored?
He always wanted to slay all demons but unable to as even his thoughts of suicide for a few years were ruined since they cursed him unable to kill himself and to fight with his all from then on.
Thus making him incapable of giving his potential killers a good chance of killing him.
So he had to endure mostly thanks to old tales he heard during one of the massacres that someone that is chosen by the gods will eventually appear to free them from this never-ending prison.
What it didn't expect was that it had to continue this suffering for a very long time, numerous times it had nearly given up almost willing to completely submit, but some of its younger companions helped ease its mind they numbered 113 at the time, but as time passed their weary and tortured minds made the numbers dwindle.
once over a century had passed... only twenty remained they were separated into smaller groups to make it easier to convert them as the higher-ups no longer held any interest in them other than using the survivors to help strengthen the other named monsters through the promotion ritual where they have the monsters duel one another to increase their tier.
It starts from Normal, elite, elder, lord, king.
These ranks are to help one understand just how powerful a monster was where by the way Walter was around the middle elite in power
While these ranks seemed unusual you'll have to blame one of the previous heroes that helped this world in the past, another person just like Walter, other than the fact that he chose a job and lived the rest of his days in this world.
But back to the point.
the few survivors capable of thinking for themselves dwindled down even more thanks to this process reducing the number to just three of them left, as they scouted the cold plains more mentally tired than ever before they were somehow freed from their shackles, by a young man that used monsters to do his bidding...
They were ecstatic from this and decided to do their best to follow this man and possibly free more monsters just like them, while they may be labeled as monsters they too wanted to live in peace, it was just that thanks to being physically controlled against their will, wasn't something one can scoff off at and many of the other monsters suffered through the same thing until they were broken down completely.
With Berhald, and Tarka freed they purposely tried to save his soul stone that doubled as the mana core of the last mentally capable compatriot hoping that he too could join them before he became a fragment of himself just like a few certain monsters that Walter had first gotten.
Thanks to his skill set incompatible with his weapon he wasn't able to fight at his full potential mostly due to Balter hiding his true skills since he was more like an assassin or rogue which is why he was beaten so easily by the two other goat men as they were familiar with his skills and abilities despite being one of the undead minions under Raven at the time, yes undead!
Thanks to his strong will even after becoming undead he still managed to keep himself together!
Balter now back to his old self, was more than willing to give anything to preserve his savior's life as would the other monsters under his command as he was restoring their minds and bodies the longer they stayed 'connected' to him and to top it off they grew stronger the more they fought for him as they now surpassed their peak before they had gotten enslaved by the demons.
It was also a bizarre experience for Balter when his current master took control of his body rather than the sickening felt of being slowly eaten it was more like being rejuvenated with every enemy killed as his recent memories trickled into the old goat's mind including the strange screen as well as how quickly he grew within a short period of time.
So a single thought came to mind as his situation reminded it of something Balter longed to encounter over a century ago... A champion?
Was this boy a champion?
One that would save them all?
While there was some doubts the three goat men had an agreement to give their very lives to protect this Champion to complete his task and bring forth the prophecy!
Even if there was a chance that it wasn't him his ability to liberate monsters from the prime evil's control was something that they desperately needed!
So Berhald and Tarka did their jobs to protect him even if it was to the point that they had to fight an army in an old crypt, it was also satisfying to finally reap some revenge against Stonehide the wendigo that led the army sieging monsters at the time as he had eaten more than 3 of their people to help him grow.
Things continued to go well at least until they detected a familiar scent of a certain monster that had slain more than ten of their people that still had a sense of self.
A blood feud was already formed as Balter, Berhald and Tarka were more than ready to attack him once their master would give them a chance where sure enough he did.
this action alone made them delighted beyond anything as they fought fiercely against Amal the headhunter he was already an elder ranked monster at its peak ready to reach the next tier, while Balter was weaker than Amal despite being the same tier he had more experience with skills and combat if it weren't for the passive electric shield that damaged and stunned him he wouldn't have lost his forearm and leg.
But despite the crippling injuries, the elder goat-man did his absolute best to ensure the life of the master that he now served, Berhald managed to crack the knee of the monster, Tarka destroyed the passive shield making it useless Since the Misshapen had no way to insulate the interior of its body, but at the cost of them both being killed and sent back to Walter.
This is why now, Balter challenged Amal to a promotion ritual, as it desperately wanted to reach the next tier, it would buy some precious time for his master while at the same time grant him a chance to slay the monster that devoured his other comrades that helped pave the way for him!
(A/N a shoutout to {nick_maynard} for giving me some much-needed input thank you and i hope the next chapters will be fun for you to read~)