Succubus Lord 10

by Eric Vall

The Daeva tossed it down at our feet, but I did my best to ignore it. The result was the same: we were here, and we were going to kill this fucker.

  “I’m here with a message, Kegg,” I growled. “I could use a Demon Lord like you on my side. Submit to me, or fucking die like the rest.”

  Kegg threw back his head and cackled.

  Now was Tris’ chance.

  I saw a swarm of bullets erupt from the corner of the room and head directly toward the Demon King and his Daeva.

  In a flash of green Hellfire, Kegg disappeared from our sight.

  Son of a bitch … he must have been exempt from the fucking hex.

  The Daeva, however, were not so lucky.

  Their tiny bodies exploded into a mess of gore and blood as they were literally torn apart by Tris’ bullets. Once the onslaught subsided, what was left of their fleshy bodies crumpled to the ground.

  “Where the fuck did he--” I began, but Cupi cut me off.

  “Duck!” the succubus screamed.

  I didn’t hesitate. I fell down into a combat roll just as a giant, one-handed battle axe swished past my head. As I came to my feet, I saw Cupi deploy her polearm and take a swing at Kegg.

  The Demon Lord caught the succubus’ weapon by the point, yanked forward, and brought her hurling toward his axe.

  I threw out a shield of purple just before Cupi’s stomach was impaled, and she bounced off harmlessly.

  However, Kegg wasn’t done.

  He dropped the axe, yanked her forward again, and swung at her face with his massive mitt, but thankfully, the succubus was fast enough to toss up a shot of blue Hellfire and freeze his hand in place.

  I charged at the fucker from behind, readied my sword, and then took a swing at his neck, but Kegg once again disappeared with a flash of green, and my sword caught nothing but air.

  “So, he can fucking teleport,” I warned my friends. “No wonder he almost never loses. Guys, stay fucking invisible!”

  Kegg reappeared inches in front of my position, and I had to immediately sidestep to avoid taking his axe to my face. I stabbed at the fucker with my weapon, but he simply phased out, phased back in, and then trapped the Unhallowed Sword in his stomach.

  He took another swing at me with his axe, but I was able to get up a barrier of purple in time to dispel the attack. I yanked at the hilt of my sword, but it wasn’t going to budge.

  Time to improvise.

  I summoned red Hellfire into my hand and cast it down the length of my weapon.

  Kegg growled in pain as his insides were singed, and then he disappeared in a flash of green. The Demon Lord reappeared on the other side of the room, and he was holding the spot where I’d burned him.

  “So, you are as good as they say,” he hissed. “It’s been awhile since anyone’s actually hurt me, King Ralston. But that’s gonna be the last time for you!”

  The Demon Lord stomped his foot into the ground and let out a bellow that shook the entire castle. From afar, we could hear the Daeva call back.

  “Haduken!” Todd exclaimed as he reappeared and blasted a fireball into Kegg’s face at point-blank range.

  The Demon Lord roared as his head was thrown back, but then he lashed out and grabbed Todd’s tiny body. He threw the imp to the ground violently, raised up his boot, and brought it down hard.

  I threw out a barrier of violet Hellfire, and Kegg’s foot twisted awkwardly as it struck the rock-hard flame.

  While his attention was still on Todd, a massive fireball appeared out of the corner of the room and struck him in the back. Kegg fell to the ground, hopped back up on his feet, and hurled his axe in the direction of the now visible Gula.

  The redheaded succubus gasped and jumped out of the way as the blade stuck into the wall just where her head had been located a moment before.

  Then Superbia’s black Hellfire rocketed across the room, caught Kegg from behind, and lifted him up into the air.

  However, before anyone could go in for the kill, he vanished in a flash of emerald.

  “We got company, Jakey!” Todd exclaimed as he pointed to the door.

  About fifty Daeva came charging into the room, and they hissed as they launched fireballs in our direction.

  I threw up a wall of purple around Sia, Cupi, and I, and then looked back at the other three.

  “Stay on your fucking toes!” I commanded. “Don’t let these assholes distract you. If Kegg gets his hands on you one-on-one, you’re dead!”

  Almost as if on command, the Demon Lord appeared immediately next to me and lunged for my throat.

  Thankfully, Cupi was there for the save.

  The blonde succubus flipped her polearm around and smacked away Kegg’s hand with the blunt end. Then she twirled around and took a stab at him with the point.

  Kegg disappeared and then reappeared behind Cupi. My heart sank as he slammed his boot into the back of her leg, grabbed her polearm horizontally, and then brought it up to her throat forcefully.

  “Cupi!” I screamed as I released my protective spell.

  I didn’t give a fuck if the Daeva lit me on fire. I didn’t care if this was a horrible strategy.

  This fucker was hurting my succubus, and he was going to pay.

  I called forth bronze Hellfire into my hand, blasted the ground, and knocked both of them off their feet.

  Even though Kegg was now on the ground, he still had a death grip on Cupi’s throat, and the succubus’ face was beginning to turn blue.

  Not on my watch.

  I summoned the silver Hellfire into my hands next and ordered Cupi’s polearm to liquify.

  Before, this would have been impossible. My silver Hellfire didn’t work on enchanted metal. But now I was a powered up Demon King with a slew of Demon Lords at my disposal.

  So, it was a piece of cake.

  The polearm disappeared into a splash of red metal, and the Sister of Greed came up gasping for air. Before Kegg could make another move, I turned the metal into jagged spikes and slammed them down into his chest.

  He disappeared into a flash of green Hellfire, but it looked like some of the spikes went along with him, so I guessed some of my attacks must have landed.

  “Are you alright?” I asked Cupi as she held the bruise on her throat.

  “I’ll be fine,” she promised. “Nothing Sia can’t fix.”

  “Incoming!” Todd exclaimed as he zipped over to us and launched a fireball at a nearby Daeva.

  The attack struck the tiny demon in the face, and he went down hard. Then Todd swooped over above him, lashed out with his claws, and stabbed into the Daeva’s eye socket.

  The Daeva went limp, and Todd fist pumped as he cartwheeled out of the way of another attack.

  “If Animal Planet taught me anything,” he mused as he dodged a few more attacks, “it’s that you always wanna go for the soft spots.”

  Suddenly, Kegg reappeared a few feet from Cupi and me, tossed his axe, and then vanished.

  I knocked the incoming projectile out of the way, but the Demon Lord returned just in time to catch it and take a swing. I felt the side of my armor dent as the axe slammed into me, and a wave of pain shot through my body.

  However, it wasn’t all for not.

  Cupi summoned blue Hellfire into her hand, grabbed Kegg by the back of his head, and unleashed a blast of freezing flames.

  The Demon Lord yelped, stumbled forward, and then disappeared.

  “Our attacks are definitely doing damage,” I observed. “He’s moving a lot slower, and he’s choosing his attacks more carefully.”

  “I’m the lord of the harvest!” Tris exclaimed as she fired off her Tommy guns at the hip. “I’m bringing it all down! Down to Hell!”

  The bodies of several more Daeva exploded into bloody pulps as they were ripped to shreds by the succubus’ bullets.

  “I taught her that one, Jakey,” Todd snickered as he zipped past and launched a fireball. “I’m so proud.”

  Superbia and Gula were both on the other side
of the room, engaged with a large cluster of Daeva.

  The Sister of Pride was taking a much more hands off approach. She stood twenty feet away from her opponents as she blasted them with black Hellfire. Once they were caught in her grasp, Sia picked them up and slammed them into the wall as violently as she could.

  Even from over here, I could see several exposed brains and eyeballs hanging from their sockets.

  Sia might have been the most timid of my succubi, but she was far from harmless.

  “Mortal!” one of the small demons hissed as it leapt toward me.

  I just rolled my eyes, knocked down its defenses with a shot of bronze Hellfire, and then skewered him on my sword.

  His eyes bulged out of his head, his tongue flopped out of his mouth as he died, and then I simply tossed him aside like a discarded napkin.

  At this point, the Daeva were just pawns to be slaughtered, distractions for their big bad master.

  Another one of the black-and-red demons charged at Cupi, but she quickly blasted it with a shot of blue Hellfire, spun around on her injured leg, and shattered him into bits with her heel.

  Kegg reappeared right next to Gula, and I threw up a shield before he could strike her. He roared with frustration as he attacked again, but my barrier wasn’t going to break.

  Instead, Tris got to him from behind.

  “Surprise, bitch!” the brunette yelled as she unloaded a full clip of bullets into the demon’s leg.

  Kegg screamed as he fell down and then disappeared into a flash of emerald Hellfire.

  This fucker wasn’t expecting us to be on top of this. Like I said before, well-oiled machine.

  Superbia tossed a few more dead Daeva past our position and then dashed over to Cupi.

  “She’s hurt!” the madame exclaimed.

  “Understatement of the year right there,” I confirmed.

  The redhead reached out with her flaming golden hands, intent on healing her Sister.

  However, it wasn’t her Sister who she was touching.

  Kegg appeared directly in front of Superbia and absorbed the effect of her healing magic. As his body lit up with the warm glow, he threw his head back, lurched it forward, and headbutted Sia in the face.

  Cupi and I both gasped and blasted at the fucker with our Hellfire, but he was gone again in a flash. Our fireballs hit each other in the air, exploded, and sent all three of us flying backwards.

  I used my momentum to roll up onto my feet and catch myself, and then I instantly dashed over to where Sia was laying on the ground.

  The succubus madame was in a heap on the ground and had blood trickling out of both her nostrils. Her tiny chest was still moving up and down, but she was completely unconscious.

  Seeing a delicate woman like Sia in this state was horrifying, and I began to tremble with rage. A deep, dark hatred boiled up from the pit of my stomach, and my temples began to tingle with a feeling I hadn’t felt since coming down to Hell.

  I turned around, summoned red Hellfire into my hands and blasted the closest Daeva into a crisp.

  “Kegggggg!” I screamed. “Show yourself, you fucking coward!”

  There was a flash of green flames in front of me, and the barbaric Demon Lord appeared with his battle axe over his shoulder.

  “Ohhhh,” he mocked. “I see the Nephilim has finally found his horns. That’ll make ya look even better on my wall.”

  “Stealing health and then attacking a healer?” I hissed. “That’s low, even for a demonic piece of garbage like you.”

  “All’s fair in war, mortal,” Kegg mocked, and then he disappeared once again.

  This time, I was ready for the motherfucker.

  I summoned red Hellfire into my hands, threw them down to my side, and created a miniature geyser of flames around my body just as Kegg returned.

  The flames blasted him from below and sent him instantly into retreat. When he appeared once more, I was on him.

  I lashed out with the Unhallowed Sword, but the Demon Lord grabbed it with his bare hands. The next thing I knew, his axe was headed for my side, and I was forced to dispel it with a flash of purple.

  Kegg went in for the headbutt like he had with Sia, but I was too quick.

  I commanded my purple Hellfire to form a barrier around my head, and my enemy nearly concussed himself against it.

  The fucker stumbled back, and I took my shot. I blasted Kegg with a shot of my bronze Hellfire, knocked him on his ass, and then stabbed downward. The tip of my blade stabbed into the Demon Lord’s right thigh, and he howled as his blackish-red blood spilled all over the floor of the castle.

  I had this bastard right where I wanted him.

  Kegg’s yellow eyes glowed with excitement as he stared down at the sword in his leg, and then he shot me a look that told me maybe my observation wasn’t exactly correct.

  “Gotcha.” He grinned.

  I tried to yank the weapon from his body, but the Demon Lord called forth green Hellfire around his body. I let go of the sword, but it was too late.

  The fire had already consumed me, and the world went dark as my body became weightless. I didn’t know where Kegg was taking me, but it definitely wasn’t going to be good.

  Chapter 14

  The world came back into view a few seconds later. My sword was still embedded into Kegg’s bulky leg, and the Demon Lord was still sprawled out on the ground in a gleeful stupor.

  The fucker disappeared again and left me to cautiously survey my surroundings.

  I gripped my sword tighter as I made a defensive circle.

  We were still somewhere in the Sixth Circle. The landscape was still sandy and desolate, with the occasional shrub or stone jutting out of the ground. However, the biggest giveaways were the brimstone tombs.

  You definitely didn’t get those anywhere else in the universe.

  But these tombs were different.

  There were nine of them, all arranged in an intentional circle around the spot I was standing. Each one bore a different etching on the front, a symbol that I assumed stood for whoever was going to be locked inside.

  One of them had a phallic symbol, while another one was a dollar sign, and another one had a drawing of an elegant feast.

  Hold on … these were the seven deadly sins.

  Sure enough, the other four tombs were engraved with images of the remaining sins. The last two brimstone prisons, however, were a little too on the nose.

  One had a pot leaf, and the other bore my sigil.

  “You’ll have to excuse me,” a deep, guttural voice called out to get my attention. “The drawings ended up being much more crude than I intended.”

  A tall, armored demon stepped out from behind the tomb with my sigil, and I raised the Unhallowed Sword to be at the ready.

  This fucker may have been gigantic, but he was anything but lanky. His shoulders spread out wide across his torso, aided in no small part by the pointed black metal pauldrons on his shoulders. His entire body was covered in dark gray scale mail armor that was capped off by a bright red belt around his waist. The demon’s belt buckle bore a sigil of its own, a snake with four heads whose tongues shot out of their bodies and tied together in a skull-shaped knot before them.

  The demon’s skin was dark green, complemented by the glowing red eyes that sat atop his pointed nose. His ears were large and pointed, almost like the elves you’d see in a fantasy movie.

  “Come now, King Ralston,” Kegg’s voice declared from behind me, and I spun around with my sword to attack the fucker. “Don’t you know who this is?”

  Instead, I hit one of the nearby tombs.

  “I don’t give a fuck who you are!” I growled.

  “You really should,” the goblin-like demon clicked his tongue, “I know you very, very well, Jacob Ralston.”

  Kegg appeared beside the tall, armored demon with his axe at the ready.

  “You should be bowin’, ya mortal filth!” the barbarian demanded. “This is the King of the Sixth Circle yer tal
kin’ to!”

  My blood went cold in my body as the realization kicked in.

  Gressil. The demon in front of me was none other than Gressil.

  “Now, now, Kegg,” the Demon King corrected, “King Ralston is still a king. Maybe an illegitimate king, but a king nonetheless.”

  “Nothing ‘illegitimate’ about me,” I shot back. “I killed Azazel, so I’m the new King of the Fourth Circle. That’s all there is to it.”

  “You are an abomination,” Gressil sneered. “A filthy Nephilim who thinks he deserves the universe just because his whore of a mother fucked a demon.”

  “Fuck off!” I growled and blasted a shot of red Hellfire at the two demons.

  Gressil rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers, and froze my blast in place with a flash of blue Hellfire.

  “Please, King Ralston,” he pleaded, “we are above such violent strife, are we not?”

  “If I remember correctly, you tried to kill me with Tartaruchi the last time I was down here,” I spat.

  “I did,” the green demon admitted. “You were snooping around my territory, and I wanted to see if you were friend or foe.”

  “Let me guess how that turned out,” I grumbled sarcastically.

  “Don’t take it too personally,” Gressil mused as he looked at his fingernails, disinterested. “The decision was made the second Beelzebub told me about your heritage. I’ve always been … somewhat sympathetic to the plight of mortals. In fact, I kind of admire what they’ve done. Breaking the one rule they had in the Garden? Constantly giving their middle finger to the Exalted One? It’s delicious. But a Nephilim? Your kind make the Daeva look like purebreds.”

  I briefly considered revealing my true father to the bastard, but stopped. That was a card I needed to keep close to my chest until the right moment.

  “Funny how you demons fear us,” I mocked. “You’re supposed to be the biggest, baddest entities in the universe, yet you’re worried about a couple guys who can use both Hellfire and Divine Light?”

  “If only that were the case,” Gressil growled. “Your very existence poses a threat to the natural order. Look at you, Jacob Ralston. You’ve bumbled your way through life, slaughtering demon after Demon Lord and Demon King without so much as suffering a casualty. You think this is all some sort of game that can be won. That there will be some sort of grand prize at its end … There is not.”