“Demons faint a lot when they use dumbass style.”
Shadow cracked a smile but immediately returned to his serious facial expression.
“You’re going to quit right after you enter. Nightmare will seriously fuck you up if you limp in there and try to fight.”
“Your uncle gives better pep talks than you do, Shady.”
“This isn’t a joke, Leech. When Venom begins the match, forget your pride and quit.”
“General Cain thinks I have a shot.”
“General Cain wants you to do as much damage as you can to soften him up for me in the finals. That’s his real plan. He doesn’t think you have a shot. What did he try to buy you with? The armor? The modified weapons?”
Shadow stopped and then looked as if something had just occurred to him.
“It was your father’s promotion. That’s what he promised you, wasn’t it?”
“It’s none of your business. Don’t act like you have it all figured out. He told me that I have a shot and he gave me the tools to make it. Why don’t we skip the bullshit and get to your real motive here?”
“Why don’t you fill me in on what you think that is? I’m pretty sure I was direct enough so I’m not sure how you see any hidden agenda.”
“You think if Cain gives both of us the same shot, you’ll lose in the finals. You’ll take down Lilith, I’ll take down Nightmare, and then I’ll defeat you. That’s what you’re worried about, isn’t it?”
“Leech... you’re being...”
“A dumbass? Well why don’t you watch tomorrow as this dumbass kills Nightmare and then go ahead and shit yourself as you become my next target.”
Leech propped himself up and limped away. Shadow stood there shocked and didn’t follow him.
Leech has a difficult time sleeping that night. Every time he closed his eyes and drifted off, visions of Nightmare murdering him would scare him back to consciousness. Within a couple of hours of attempted sleep, Nightmare had decapitated him, slit his throat, impaled him through the stomach, crushed him under a rock, and attached his limbs to four horses and had him pulled apart. Leech woke up from the last one laughing. There was no way Nightmare could get four horses down into the death pit. Leech tried to go back to sleep once again but he saw Nightmare staring at him as soon as he closed his eyes.
Leech was once again jealous of Shadow. If everyone in the semi-finals was dreaming of their opponent, Shadow was probably having some pretty kinky dreams right now about Lilith. As he thought about it more, he felt bad for Shadow. His fight with Nightmare tomorrow was pretty straightforward; the best fighter would win with luck possibly playing a very small role. Shadow was going up against a demoness that could control almost every demon that looked at her. Leech had noticed that even Shadow wasn’t completely immune. Even considering how stuck up and prideful Shadow could be at times, Leech didn’t want him to look like a fool in front of everyone.
Leech knew that he needed to rest before tomorrow and that meant that he couldn’t have anymore sleep wasted by scenes of Nightmare killing him. He could only think of one solution. He sat up in bed, took in a deep breath, and hit himself in his injured leg as hard as he could. He passed out and didn’t dream the rest of the night.
Shadow paced back and forth in his room for an hour and nothing came to him. He knew Lilith could control pretty much anyone she fought through pure lust. He had been avoiding her gaze ever since he first saw her, which had become increasingly difficult since the semi-finals were announced. Ever since she found out that she would be facing Shadow, she had gone way out of her way to stray into his field of vision.
Shadow’s only solution so far had been the trick he used when he faced Valefor. He could close his eyes and then use the mist as his eyes. That brought several problems with it though that Shadow couldn’t get around. What if he saw Lilith through the mist and it had the same effect on him? He also assumed Lilith would be launching an all-out offensive assault from the beginning instead of running away with his sword like Valefor had. He needed to see in order to counter-attack.
He looked through his gear and was drawn to his angel’s short blade. This weapon had, on occasion, sparked ideas that he may have never considered otherwise. Shadow grabbed the blade and held it with both hands. He crossed his legs on the floor and meditated, hoping to come up with the idea he needed. His entire battle strategy came to him within five minutes. He put down his short blade and thought it over with his mind no longer encumbered by angelic light and knowledge. It would definitely work, he just needed to be careful or he might actually start to look like he had joined with the angels. Once he was convinced that it was the only way past Lilith in the semi-finals, he put his gear back in his armory and went to sleep.
CHAPTER 10
It was rare that Shadow felt any amount of nervousness, but he definitely felt some when he woke up the next morning. Since the angel’s blade had balanced out his rage before, he was planning on using the same idea to keep himself from jumping Lilith and attempting to hump her brains out. The short blade had given him the idea. The problem was that if he held the angel’s blade for too long, his eyes would start to glow white like the angels. He couldn’t afford to be caught using angel’s weapons for any reason. If the Dragon found out, he would be branded a traitor and banished to the spot right next to his father. If he could resist her charms, he had the perfect finishing move to finish her off quickly.
As he arrived at the death pit, Venom was already hyping up the first match. All of the major demons were watching. The last four in the death pit were really the only demons-in-training who had an actual shot of being recruited as minor demons right after the trials.
As Venom saw Shadow approaching, he motioned in his direction and announced, “Shadow, son of Abaddon and nephew of General Cain.” The audience erupted in applause and cheers. Shadow searched the crowd for Leech and realized that Leech wasn’t applauding and that he wouldn’t even look his way. He also looked pale like his injury was wearing on him. Shadow shook his head. That idiot needed to learn to get over petty, imagined injustices and learn to focus on the task at hand. He should be preparing for his match with Nightmare, but apparently he preferred to sit there and give him the cold shoulder instead.
Shadow walked into the death pit, put his hand in his cloak and rested it right above the hilt of his angel’s short blade. Once Venom saw that Shadow was in place, he gestured to the opposite end of the arena and announced, “Lilith, the daughter of Panic.” There was a very minimal amount of applause. Shadow looked into the crowd and saw that only the major demons were applauding. There was one other demon clapping and Shadow figured that had to be her father, Panic. It was good to know that at least some other demons had overcome Lilith’s raw sensuality, even if that group only included the major demons and Lilith’s father. Shadow saw Vixen look in Panic’s direction and give a small, almost unnoticeable smile.
When Shadow returned his gaze to the death pit and saw his opponent entering, he couldn’t help but let his jaw drop. He understood why everyone in the audience was speechless. Lilith walked into the arena and looked even more stunning than the first time he had seen her. Her dark hair was shining and done up in several braids and other styles that Shadow liked a whole hell of a lot but had no idea what they were called. Her breastplate barely reached the top of her stomach and it left her shoulders bare. Her lower armor, basically a layered, metal mini-skirt, left her silky legs completely exposed and she hadn’t worn any shoes. In her right hand was a black, braided whip with sharpened bone fragments, metal spikes, and other objects woven into the end. Her eyes looked like they were burning with a dark fire.
Shadow looked her up and down and then just stared. He was brought back to reality briefly when Venom signaled the beginning of the fight. He gathered enough strength to clamp his left hand down on the angel’s blade that was hidden underneath his cloak. He drew one of his swords with his right hand and pointed it at her. She smiled sed
uctively in return.
“I have an offer for you, Shadow.”
She put her whip down on the floor and removed both pieces of her armor. This left her in nothing but black underwear so seductive looking that it was hotter than anything imagined in the world above Hell. She walked towards Shadow and he couldn’t help but notice that she had mastered the art of moving her hips just right with each step. Even with a firm grip on his angel’s blade, he was having a difficult time resisting her. He continued to hold his gaze and point his sword at her. When she arrived within a few feet of where Shadow stood, she grinned mischievously.
“Are you sure your sword is the thing that you want to be pointing at me?”
She winked and Shadow’s willpower was once again very close to faltering. She started walking towards him again and he knew that if she could touch him, it would be over. He lowered his blade from her head to a perfect line with her throat.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll cut you down.”
She pouted and crossed her arms.
“You’re not being very friendly, Shadow.”
She walked back to the spot where she had set down her whip and picked it up again.
“Now, Shadow, this whip can be a fun whip and bring immense pleasure and all sorts of kinkiness or it can bring you an enormous amount of pain. So I need to know, are you a lover or are you a fighter?”
Shadow couldn’t help but ask, “What specifically are you offering?”
Lilith hung the whip around her neck and moved back to within a few feet of Shadow so that she could whisper an offer that would only be heard by him. When she reached a spot within a few inches of Shadow’s outstretched blade, she made her tone as sweet and as pleasant as she could but kept her voice barely above an audible level.
“We’re only one spot apart. You’re in second place and I’m in third. I’m offering to let you do whatever you want to me right here and then just say that you quit. We don’t have to make this death pit a place where one of us dies. Anything you can imagine doing to me, I’ll let you do it. I’ll then bring pleasure to you in ways you’ve never imagined. So basically my offer is that you can fuck me until you can’t move anymore and then all you need to do in return is say that you quit.”
Lilith reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. She held it in place with one of her hands on the front. She smiled at him again and gestured to him with a beckoning finger with the other hand.
“I know what it’s like to be an amazing demon that has to prove that you’re worthwhile over and over again because of a parent’s sins. I know you’re attracted to me and I’ll admit that I’m very attracted to you after I saw what you did to everything in the labyrinth. Major turn on. You deserve to take a short break from your ambition. So what’s it going to be, cutie, lover or fighter?”
Shadow closed his eyes because he could tell that their natural dark shade of red was turning white. While he was still somehow tempted to take Lilith’s offer, he was able to focus on the light entering him from the angel’s blade and tried with all his strength to at least feel nothing more than indifference for the succubus.
“Put your clothes back on, whore. I’m a fighter.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, he let go of the angel’s blade. He had turned her down. The fight could finally begin. He waited a few seconds so all of his demon rage could return to him. When he was finally ready to open his eyes again, he felt something wrap itself around his sword and pull it from his hands. As he opened his eyes, he saw that Lilith was back in her armor and that she had stolen his sword with her whip. Rather than draw his other sword and attack, Shadow sat down on the floor, closed his eyes, crossed his legs, and started muttering something that was too quiet for everyone to hear. Lilith pulled back her whip to strike again but stopped as she realized that all of the mist from the arena was being drawn to Shadow and encircling him. As the smoke started to swirl around Shadow, it turned to a darker shade of black. Lilith struck at it with her whip but it didn’t connect with anything solid and brushed through the smoke like it was nothing but air. The smoke eventually started to form into a dark creature with two massive arms, an enormous torso, and two dark red piercing eyes.
Lilith turned and ran but the massive shadow creature kept pace with her. It caught her in one of its massive hands, closed its fist tight around her waist, and lifted her up into the air. As she struggled to free herself, the shadow creature laughed.
“What’s wrong little demoness? I thought you wanted to fuck? Well... consider this a mind fuck. I’m going to rip your head off your shoulders and eat it. Then I’m going to tear the rest of you into little bite-sized pieces and take my time finishing you off one piece at a time. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Lilith screamed and Shadow could see the fear in her eyes. He was too consumed within the shadow creature’s rage to care.
“Maybe I should throw you down on the floor and crush you into jelly. Then I’ll make you into a sandwich.”
The shadow creature threw Lilith at the ground and then pressed the palm of his right hand down to pin her there.
“What is it, little demoness? Lover or fighter? I can’t promise you pleasure like you promised me because it’s going to hurt you either way until you wish you were dead.”
“Please don’t do this, Shadow. Please.”
Watching her cringe under his hand and struggle to free herself brought an emotion that Shadow didn’t expect. Pity. It must have been a left-over reaction from the angel’s blade because he refused to believe that he felt pity of his own accord.
“I’ll give you an option then, Lilith. You have three seconds to quit... or you can just wait and see what happens. One...”
Tears streamed down Lilith’s face but she didn’t look scared anymore. She looked angry. Shadow understood. She had something that she needed to prove to everyone and he was taking that away from her. He didn’t care. He was mad enough that his pity-inspired offer had left his mouth at all.
“Two...”
Lilith was slowly managing to free herself from his grasp. He pressed down harder and her progress to free herself stopped. She looked up at him with hate-filled eyes. The sweet, sexy demoness from earlier was gone. Lilith looked liked she wanted to rip the life force out through his mouth.
“Thr...”
“I quit.”
Lilith was transported out of the death pit. The crowd continued to watch in stunned silence. Shadow realized that many of the demons weren’t looking at Lilith anymore. They were looking at his shadow monster form and they were terrified. Lilith ran from the death pit until she was no longer in sight. Shadow transformed back into himself and let the mists swirl back around the death pit. He then stood and walked out of the pit. Those in the audience who weren’t still too stunned by fear and terror applauded until eventually everyone shook free of Shadow’s spell and the roar of applause and cheers was deafening.
CHAPTER 11
As Shadow left the death pit, Leech was entering it. They passed each other without speaking or even acknowledging each other’s presence. When Shadow took his place in the audience, amidst all the congratulations he received, he quietly whispered, “Good luck, dumbass.”
Leech made it to his place in the death pit and saw that Nightmare was still a ways away. He was walking towards his spot very slowly. He waved at several people in the crowd and several demons-in-training that were in his entourage smiled and laughed. Nightmare wasn’t taking this fight seriously. Leech cupped his hands around his mouth and said, “Hurry it up, bitch.”
Nightmare grinned back at him.
“I didn’t think you would be so eager to lose, considering how much sleep you got last night.”
“How the hell...”
“My favorite kill was the four horses pulling you apart. Did you like that one? I thought it was pretty clever.”
“Did you like it when I figured out what you were up to and cut you off?”
Nightmar
e stopped grinning and thought about what he said for a minute. When his gaze turned to Leech’s injured leg, the grin returned to his face.
“Your leg. You knocked yourself out. Well at least I know what your signature move is. You seem to be a pro at knocking yourself out. Why don’t you save me the trouble and do it right now?”
“Do you ever get tired of running your mouth? Murmur almost kicked your ass at the beginning of round one. You’re scared that you’re going to lose this fight. Did Lucian give you an ass whooping after that first round?”
“Don’t talk about my father.”
“So he did. It’s alright, Nighty. You just try your hardest in this fight and I’m sure you’ll be daddy’s little girl again in no time.”
Nightmare didn’t have time to respond as Venom signaled the beginning of the fight. Nightmare’s first attack caught Leech off guard. He closed the distance between them, clamped a large fist around Leech’s throat, and lifted him into the air.
“I’m going to crush your vocal chords right off the bat so you don’t have the option of quitting. I’m going to kill you, Leech. I hope you enjoyed your pathetic life of being nobody and then finally being promoted to Shadow’s bitch.”
Leech struggled to free himself but Nightmare’s grip continued to tighten around his throat. On the verge of passing out, Leech reached his belt, removed a dagger, and stabbed down into Nightmare’s arm. Nightmare yelled in pain, but instead of dropping Leech he punched him hard in the face. Leech flew backwards through the air until he hit a rock protruding from the floor and slid down it.
Nightmare removed the dagger from his arm and threw it directly at Leech’s head. Leech barely got out of the way in time and the dagger embedded itself in the rock. Leech attempted to pull his blade free but it had sunk in up to the hilt. Nightmare laughed at him and so did many of the demons in the crowd. When he finally freed his dagger from the rock, he ran and hid.
As he assessed the damage he had taken, he realized that he wasn’t going to win this fight. Nightmare actually was too powerful. Shadow had told him but he didn’t want to listen. His throat was very close to being crushed and he was still struggling to breathe. His eyes were starting to swell where Nightmare had punched him. He was pretty sure he would end up with two black eyes and potentially a broken nose. The pain in his leg hadn’t subsided either. Leech could see only one clear path – he had to wait until he could speak again and then quit.
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