— the reaper of demons, seeking peace —

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Ares, the current ruler and protector of the demonscape in the Abysswalker Galaxy, was known by many in his current demonic state, as well as in his previous life. The Demon of War, the Reaper of Demons, the Peacekeeper.. The list could go on and on. When he was still alive, Ares was known to be a fierce commander of an equally fierce army, fighting for the freedom of his home. This war had been ongoing for several years, with many victories yet many losses to count. During the last few pushes, the tables turned, and its consequences were effective immediately. Ares and his comrades ended up being tortured until death through unthinkable methods, too gruesome for the regular citizen to even comprehend. From being hung on crosses to being burned alive slowly, always executed before all eyes to see. The enemy made sure Ares and his allies suffered during the last of their days, their humiliation to be witnessed by everyone. The pain, suffering and hatred of their dead spirits built up extremely quickly over time, eventually turning into a demonic embodiment of these experiences.

Thus, the embodiment Ares was reborn. Holding the same name as the fierce commander, all lost spirits had come together as one consciousness, with at the top their beloved and undying leader. Although the embodiment seemed physically weak, it wasn't and still isn't a force to be reckoned with. Upon his reincarnation, never-ending flames flooded the lands covered in never-ending blood, taking all its enemies with it. Painful screams echoed for miles, after being cursed for eternity. Revenge, while it was deserved, didn't satisfy the embodiment. After his job was finished, the reborn Ares turned to the place meant for demons, the Abysswalker Galaxy.

Initially with no one paying mind to him, it would soon become clear that Ares was one of the stronger demons. This was worth keeping an eye on to the then-leader of demons, Illenium. Ares, due to his reincarnation, was one of the few demons that was able to be summoned by the living. Only going after madmen and sinners, Ares would never hesitate to lend a hand to kind-hearted souls in a hard-fought war. Bestowing his powers upon the battle, the demon would make sure the good side would always win. One would practically summon an entire army, as one of Ares' abilities was to summon the entire army of his fallen comrades.

As Ares spent longer and longer in the Abysswalker Galaxy, the more demons would flock to him, causing a divide in demonkind. Despite the number being way smaller than Illenium's underlings, Ares was easily on par with Illenium power-wise. The Demon Queen declared Ares a traitor to demonkind and the enemy of her army. Her ambitions were to take over the universe, whereas Ares simply wanted to achieve peace for the demons and pass on into the next life. From that day on, the two demons were officially at war with one another, within the demonic hellscape. Constantly at war for territory, both demons got their victories and losses throughout the years, although Illenium always seemed to have the upper hand due to her amount of underlings and sheer power.

— THE ABYSSWALKER ARC —

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Ares wouldn't be close to defeat until the End Of Dawn events. Striking a deal with an extremely powerful force, Illenium managed to finally escape the prison of demons. Her demons were spreading like a deadly disease throughout the universe quickly, and one of the Demon Queen's first priorities was to put Ares down where he belonged. Losing a significant amount of his forces, Ares had a hard time standing his ground to protect whatever was left of the Abysswalker Galaxy. Despite that, the Demon of War still gladly lend a hand to the mortals that needed to keep Illenium's forces at bay also. Seemingly impossible, the mortals finally won, and Illenium and her demons were banished into their own pocket dimension. Ares and his remaining forces, were blessed by the restored Overseers of the universe, and were allowed to return to Abysswalker in peace.

From then on, Ares became the new leader of demonkind, known as the Reaper of Demons. Unlike Illenium and her father before her, Ares tried his best to restructure the hellscape to some sort of society. Three of Illenium's henchmen, Mordhau, Paradox and Naxxramas, had sided with Ares as his and demonkind's guards. The Reaper made sure to keep all old, current and new demons at bay as much as possible, getting rid of true sinners without issue. Because of this, demonkind as a whole slowly gained some sense of morality and responsibility. A society would slowly form, with demons living in 'civilised cliques', sort of close to towns or nomads. It's been a year since Ares was put in charge, and whilst it was far from perfect, Ares was thus far happy with the progress he'd made, hoping for much more improvement as time goes on.

— FUTURE ARC —

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A few years after the victory of the End Of Dawn, a strong, pulling feeling would start bothering the leader of demons. Not knowing where this would lead him, Ares made sure to look into the issue, with the help of his most trusted allies and friends. The feeling the demon got felt strange, although it had a small tint of familiarity in it- This was the first time Ares recalled his mortal life in a long time. The pull felt similar to the love and devotion he felt to his then wife, May. The demon was at a loss on why this longing came out of seemingly nowhere, so many years after he'd long died.

Ares put in all efforts he could to seek out what this pull was. He remembered old myths from his mortal days, tales of soulmates and some red string of fate. Perhaps, this pull he felt, meant that something had happened to May. Or, maybe he had felt it all this time, but now was the time for it to become so strong that Ares finally noticed it.

The world Ares lived on as a mortal was long gone, that much was certain. There were no clues and traces Ares could follow, in order to make the search for his goal more easy. And even then, the goal wasn't clear whatsoever to Ares or anyone aiding him. All that Ares knew, was that the feeling wasn't pulling him to a place on his current plane of existence- It was somewhere else. Thus, the demon tried experimenting with demonic magic, to teach himself how to open portals to other versions of hell. It took several years, but with the help of his most powerful demons, and some allies he'd made from the End Of Dawn, Ares was able to dip into alternate worlds. However, it felt like it was to no avail, as the pull never seemed to lighten.

On the suggestion of Paradox, the next best attempt Ares made was a portal to the void of the universe. It was known that in rare, particular cases, a mortal could reincarnate as a demon.. Or even a void entity. Whilst the former option was exhausted by creating portals to various hellscapes, the latter had never been entertained. With his last hopes going into the final portal before he'd give up, Ares opened a gateway to the void after years of chasing the pulling feeling.

As if the Overseers had blessed him once again, the strange pull melted like snow in the sun. The leader of demons pulled a familiar soul out of the void, and the portal was closed once and for all, not to be messed with again. Finally, after centuries, they were reunited. He'd already felt at home in his hellscape for a long time, but with the return of May, now called Celestiel, it was as he'd ascended into the afterlife and ended up as an angel in heaven. Despite the fact they were in different forms, in a different world, in a different time, it mattered not to Ares, and it never would.