Demon God Azul: The Saga of Lord Luza (Patreon)

This story takes place in a world before professional wrestling became what it is known as today. In this story, it is very real.

Born to a tribe of mythic warriors, Luza grew to be the greatest wrestler ever known to mankind. His childhood will sound rough to you, but understand that this was the norm for one of his culture.

In an ancient land known simply as the Terrain of Testament, The Azul Tribe [named this way because every member painted the upper half of their face in blue war paint] migrated from settlement to settlement, seeking strong competitors purely out of love for the sport. Challenges were issued and a champion from each settlement was selected to challenge the might of the legendary warrior, Lord Zaul, father to Luza. Nobody could stand a chance against his might. One by one they fell and as a reward, Lord Zaul would take over each conquered settlement and bring each to prosperity while also having his people seek mates from each to spread the seed of The Azul Tribe and keep it's legacy alive. Lord Zaul was given the blood of the Demon God after the final settlement was conquered, which granted him a powerful blue form.

Luza aspired to be great like his father and took it upon himself to train even before his time to receive his father's training. As a result, Luza excelled in every aspect of professional wrestling by the time Zaul took him under his wing for training. While a prodigy, Luza lacked honor, which his father disapproved of and scolded him for. To Zaul, honor was the most important trait to have as a man. This left a deep impression on Luza who then began displaying honor such as shaking his opponent's hand prior to a match or acknowledging the strength of his opponent post defeat. Honor was his way of life for a very long time.

Then, one fateful night, his father was slain by a sore loser, who decided to take their frustration out by slaughtering the entire Azul Tribe. Horrified, Luza initially backed away from the assailant only to trip over his father's lifeless body. Upon seeing Zaul's bloody corpse, Luza's fear morphed into frustration which then became unbridled rage. Seeing the blood of his people spread across the terrain birthed a new Luza. As he rose to his feet, he wiped his father's face clear of the blood and wiped it over the upper half of his face, diluting the paint to a crimson red, sparking a transformation within him. His skin turned a pale blue and his eyes a bright yellow. His muscles bulged with purpose and his hair became a deep navy color. Demon God Azul was born and he took his vengeance on the assailant, who begged for mercy, but was shown none.

Charged with bloodlust, Demon God Azul rampaged across the Terrain of Testament and slaughtered with reckless abandon, showing no remorse. It wasn't until he met a devil named Cora that he finally snapped out of it. He detransformed and after giving himself time to mourn, he adopted the name of Lord Luza, inheriting his father's title despite having none of his people to acknowledge it. Cora noticed how troubled Luza was and took him in, tending to his wounds, cleaning his face, and offered him new clothes. She felt it was her duty to care for a man who was clearly hurting. Somehow, she'd known he'd gone through the worst. Little did Luza know that the man he slaughtered for killing his father happened to be Cora's husband whom she was waiting for.

With Cora waiting for a husband that would never come and Lord Luza feeling indebted to her for sheltering and nursing him back to health, he decided to stay with her purely to repay that debt. The more time they spent together, however, the more they realized the intense feelings harbored between them and decided to marry. Once he'd finally obtained happiness, he was haunted by visions of Zaul, scolding him for abandoning the mission statement of The Azul Tribe. These visions, initially ignored, grew too loud to be and Lord Luza found himself as Demon God Azul once more, leaving Cora behind and broken hearted.

Staying in his Demon God form, Azul went about his conquest, except unlike his father before him, he never let his defeated opponents live. It was his own, personal insurance plan to make sure nobody did to him what was done to his father. Sure, the seeds of The Azul Tribe would cease to spread, but that's because Azul took great pride in being the last and strongest of The Azul Tribe. Nobody could stand up to him and he ended up conquering everywhere he went to the point he no longer felt it necessary. The Azul Tribe's mission statement was no longer his own and a new mission statement formed: Everyone must feel the power of Demon God Azul.