Succubus Lord 7

by Eric Vall

  Before he could finish his taunt, Malphas grabbed him by the ankle and lifted him up into the sky. The demon flew up through the opening in the coliseum, and the two figures completely disappeared from view.

  “What the fuck is he doing?” Ira asked groggily as she appeared at my side.

  “Have you ever seen how an eagle kills a turtle?” I asked as I tried to locate the combatants. “Their shell is too hard to penetrate, so what they do is pick the poor thing up, fly it up as high as they possibly can, and then drop it. The shell shatters, and the eagle is free to eat the remains. I think that’s exactly what this fucker is trying to do with Todd.”

  “Can’t you just throw out a shield or something?” Tris asked with a twinge of panic in her voice.

  Ira shook her head. “You can’t directly affect the outcome of the fight unless you’re currently in the arena,” she explained. “The portal-tagging was technically legal, but only technically.”

  “Fuck the rules,” I growled and summoned purple Hellfire into my hands. “I’m not letting my best friend get splattered all over the sand.”

  Ira held out her hand and laid it against mine. “They take their jousts very seriously,” she continued. “If you interfere, they will take us away to be punished and tortured for all eternity. As lovely as that sounds, it won’t help us save Invidia.”

  “You said the portal was legal, right?” I tried to confirm.

  The dark-haired woman just nodded. “Technically,” she reiterated. “I wouldn’t push you luck too much.”

  “Tris, you’re up,” I commanded.

  The tall brunette sprang to attention and gave me a half-cocked military salute. “Ten-four, Mr. Ralston,” she giggled and removed one of mini crossbows from her belt.

  “The second Todd’s through the portal, make sure you tag him out,” I explained.

  “Just get him through,” Tris agreed. “Then I’ll do the rest. Comprende?”

  “Comprende.” I smiled and turned back to the arena.

  As I scanned the area for any sign of the imp, I heard a distant scream. Way up in the sky, I could just see the glint of the sun shining off Todd’s armor. He was plummeting fast, and I had to make sure I threw down the portal in the exact spot he would impact.

  If not, things were going to get messy.

  The screaming imp fell through the opening of the coliseum with Malphas hot on his trail. I thought about what would happen if I missed this spell, if I couldn’t get it off in time, or if I misplaced the portal. Todd would die, and it would be all my fault. The feelings of disgust shot through my body as green Hellfire surged at my very core. I channelled the powers into my hands, held them out in front of me, and then cast the largest portal of jade Hellfire I could muster.

  Instantly, Todd’s body shot through the portal and appeared in front of Tris. I cut off the spell, and Todd’s screams halted as he realized he was safe and sound. Tris reached out, slapped the imp’s hand, and then hopped into the arena. Meanwhile, the momentum of Todd’s body carried him up a few feet in the air, and then it reversed as it pulled him back down to the ground. The imp landed on his ass and let out a grunt of frustration.

  “I had him right where I wanted him, Jakey,” he sighed. “Promise.”

  “I know you did, bro,” I reassured my friend. “But Tris was just chomping at the bit to get in there.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Slothy to me,” the imp pondered aloud. “She’s normally the last person to volunteer for anything like that. Fuck, sometimes I can’t even get her to test out the different strands of weed I come up with.”

  I just shrugged. “She wanted in, so I let her in,” I lied.

  Tris stood tall in her leather armor, and I took a moment to admire her figure. The brunette succubus was the tallest of the Circle of Sin, and she had long, slender legs that jutted out from beneath her leather skirt. The bottom of the armor came down just above her ass, and she wasn’t wearing any underwear. I was sure one wrong move would give me a perfect look at her tight, round bottom, and I was sure that’s exactly why she chose the skimpy outfit instead of something more practical.

  I certainly wasn’t going to complain.

  Malphas let out a squawk of annoyance and turned to the succubus. Instead of attacking her immediately like he had Todd and Ira, he began to strut around and take in his new opponent. It was almost comical, seeing a half-raven demon strutting around on his legs like a bird curious for a piece of bread. His beady eyes narrowed as he focused on Tris, but he waited for her to make the first move.

  The succubus shuddered. “I know we’re both demons and all that shit,” she mused as she pulled both her miniature crossbows from her belt, “but this whole ‘half-bird’ thing is really, really freaking me out. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to put you down, little sparrow.”

  Malphas tilted his head curiously at Tris’ words, and then he let out an angry screech. The succubus jumped at his sound, shivered, and then raised her weapons in front of her body.

  The Sister of Sloth fired the first two deadly bolts at the demon, but he was able to duck out of the way of both of them. Tris’ weapons must have been some sort of modified design, because she instantly had two more bolts in the chamber and ready to go. She fired off round after round in rapid succession, and soon Malphas was met with a miniature hailstorm of crossbow bolts.

  However, he was more than prepared for the attack. The demon’s beady eyes grew wide, and black Hellfire shot out of his hands. The spell hit the incoming projectiles, and they instantly transformed into crows.

  “What the fuck?” I said aloud.

  “Black Hellfire’s a bitch,” Ira sighed.

  “You’re telling us,” Todd added. “That’s some deus ex machina shit. If only Jakey could get a grip on his … ”

  I wanted to say something snarky to Todd, but I was too focused on this new development.

  Tris had shot about a dozen arrows at the demon, and they were now all living, cawing birds. They banded together in the sky, flew over, and hovered behind Malphas. The bird-demon let out a squawk, and they all began to shriek angrily as they flew at the succubus.

  “Not cool, dude,” the brunette hissed as she fired a few more rounds at the birds.

  Malphas instantly used his spell to turn her bolts into more crows, and she quickly abandoned the idea.

  Tris threw her crossbows to the ground in frustration and began to launch tiny fireballs at the incoming flock. She took out a few of the birds, but there were just so fucking many of the things. The three of us watched in horror as the swarm of birds surrounded Tris and began to peck at her flesh with their beaks.

  I heard a few grunts of pain slip out of the succubus’ mouth, and my entire being filled with rage. I took a step forward, completely ready to tear Malphas and his birds limb-from-limb.

  “Jacob!” Ira warned. “Don’t be a fool. She may not always act like it, but Tris is a big girl. She can handle herself.”

  I allowed my fist to relax, but I was still yearning to dive in and save my succubus.

  Tris unleashed another fireball, and a few more of the birds fell. Suddenly, the Sister of Sloth burst through the top of the swarm, carried by her curved demon wings. The birds and Malphas zipped up to follow her, and she led them on a wild chase all around the coliseum. Eventually, Tris got far enough ahead of the swarm to dip down and pick up one of her crossbows. The second she had possession of the weapon, she halted her flight, spun around, and dived headfirst into the swarm. She blasted through the attacking birds and popped out the other side, right in front of Malphas’ trajectory.

  The bird-demon let out a squawk of surprise as Tris unleashed a bolt from her crossbow, but he couldn’t get his spell up in time. The projectile hit Malphas in the left shoulder, and he screeched in agony as it pierced all the way through.

  The sound of their master’s suffering must have triggered something in his birds, because they somehow grew even more aggressive. The coliseum was filled wi
th their angry caws as they flew toward Tris and surrounded her.

  “Over here!” I called out and waved my arms above my head. “Tag me in!”

  The succubus dashed through the air on her wings, but the birds were no more than two feet behind her. She led them all the way around the circular arena until she finally came around to our position.

  My heart thumped in my chest as I held out my hand and awaited her touch. This was gonna be tricky. Even though I could use my Hellfire magic, I was somewhat restrained. My Hellfire of Judgement and my Divine Light, more particularly my God Bomb, would instantly give away my identity. Without my two strongest spells, taking down Malphas was going to be a bitch.

  But I could do it. I was Jacob fucking Ralston.

  Tris’ hand slapped against mine, and I dashed forward into the arena. Before the birds could process the change, I threw up a wall of purple Hellfire directly in their path. There were a series of sickly thuds as the crows smashed against the barrier, broke their necks, and then collapsed to the ground, dead. The few that were able to stop themselves were taken out almost instantly by a blast of red Hellfire.

  Just as I killed the final crow, I felt a sudden jolt as Malphas smashed into me with his spear. White-hot pain shot through my side as he carried me for a few feet in the air and then tossed me off to the side. I rolled across the sandy ground and left a trail of blood in my wake. I pulled myself to my feet and glanced down to see a sliver punched into the side of my armor. Warm red blood trickled out of the wound and down the side of the silver breastplate, but it didn’t feel like the gash was too deep.

  As Malphas turned in the sky and began his descent once more, I summoned up all the passionate thoughts I could think of. My entire body began to glow with red Hellfire, and I clapped my hands together. The second I made the motion, a beam of flames shot forth from my arms.

  The approaching demon swooped out of the way of each one of my blasts, but that was okay. The attack had been more of a distraction, anyway.

  Malphas held out his mini spear in front of himself, ready to deliver another deadly strike.

  I threw up a small barrier of purple in front of my body, and the demon’s spear slammed into the flames. There was a loud crack as its hilt splintered into a million pieces, and the head of the weapon spun through the air and landed harmlessly in the sand.

  The next thing I knew, two sharp talons wrapped around my right arm and threw me into the air. Malphas shot up like a bullet and struck me with his claws. There was the sound of metal being punctured, and it instantly felt like my back had been stuck by six large pins. If it hadn’t been for my armor, I would have been skewered like a shish kebab. Malphas moved himself into an upright position, and my body flipped downward so it was parallel with the Earth.

  As the demon lifted me higher into the sky, I surveyed the ground of the arena for my sword. It took me a minute, but I finally recognized the glint of the weapon on the ground, so I reached out with my green Hellfire, and the sword came rocketing through the air and landed firmly in my gauntlet. I lashed out blindly with my blade and felt it connect with the flesh of the demon’s leg.

  Malphas squawked in pain and released his grip on my body. I had to release my grip on the sword in return, but it remained firmly lodged in the fucker’s ankle.

  I felt myself falling and realized the ground was approaching fast. I quickly cast a wave of green around my body and slowed my descent to a crawl. I plopped down harmlessly on the ground and turned my attention back to my opponent.

  The bird-demon was beyond angry. Surely the four of us had been the most worthy opponents he’d seen in years, and he was about to go into desperation mode to defend his title. Malphas let out an unearthly, distorted caw as he changed his momentum and dived at me at lightning-fast speed.

  I rolled out of the way of his attack, and he swooped back up into the sky like a bird who’d just missed catching a fish. He fluttered in the air for a moment as he prepared for his next assault, but I was getting tired of this bullshit.

  The second he halted his momentum, I summoned green flames into my hands and reached out toward the demon. Or, more specifically, I reached out for my sword.

  Malphas’ eyes went wide as he was yanked downward. He tried to beat his wings and fight back against my pull, but he was too weak to put up any sort of fight.

  My hand touched the hilt of my sword, and I instantly felt the impact of the demon’s fist against my helmet. But it was too late for the fucker.

  Now that he was within range, it was time to end this.

  I focused my telekinetic Hellfire on the crossbow bolt that Tris had shot into him earlier. The projectile was engulfed with emerald flames, and I used my spell to tear it out of the demon’s body, sideways.

  A spray of blackish blood shot out like a geyser from Malphas’ arm as the limb was ripped off at the shoulder. Then I dislodged my blade from the demon’s leg, spun around, and lopped the bird-fucker’s head right off his body.

  His cranium fell into the sand with an anticlimactic thud, his body went rigid, and Malphas’ lifeless form toppled over. The entire coliseum seemed to gasp at once before they went dead silent.

  The demon who had dominated this joust for so many centuries was no more. The people of Thea had a new champion, and that champion was me.

  “L-ladies and gentle-gentlemen,” the announcer fumbled over his words, “I-I present to you, our new champion of Thea!”

  The crowd remained silent for another second as they processed what they’d just seen. Then they all stood to their feet and started to cheer louder than they had the entire battle.

  I stumbled back over to my friends and let out a long, relieved sigh.

  “That was legendary, bro,” Todd said as he patted me on the back. “One for the fucking history books. Jacob Ralston, the man who ended Malphas’ win streak at Theamania.”

  “I don’t think they call it that,” I laughed and put my arm around my friend’s neck.

  I looked over at Ira and Tris and knew something was wrong. Both of the succubi looked like they’d just seen a ghost, and they wore expressions of complete horror stretched across their faces.

  “What is it?” I asked curiously. “Is there another challenge I have to face? Is there an even more powerful demon I have to slay?”

  “Worse,” Ira said with tears now filling her eyes. “It’s-It’s … ” The succubus sighed and extended her long finger up toward a section of the crowd.

  I followed the line of her finger until my eyes fell upon the coliseum’s “balcony” seating.

  Then my heart dropped into my stomach.

  There, in the VIP seating, was a large red demon with horns that curved over his head in a “C” pattern. Next to him was a large metal birdcage, almost like a human-sized version of what you’d use to transport your birds to the vet. Inside the cage was a beautiful winged woman in a black corset who had hair darker than night itself.

  It was Azazel and Invidia.

  “Is that … is that really them?” I finally managed to choke out. “Has he been watching the whole thing?”

  “I don’t know,” Ira finally muttered. “He hasn’t said anything yet. If he recognized us, surely Azazel would have stopped the match and had us killed.”

  “Thank fuck we were wearing these helmets, bro,” Todd sighed.

  “Thank fuck you went all human-size,” Tris added. “It would have been waaay harder to hide if we’d had a three-foot tall imp with our group.”

  “Three and a half foot, thank you very much,” Todd scoffed. “Contrary to what my ex will tell you, size does matter.”

  My heart was beating so hard in my chest I swore I could hear it echoing inside my suit of armor. Azazel was right there, in front of us, and he was none the wiser.

  This was the perfect chance to take him out quickly and without retaliation.

  “Thank you for coming out to our joust today, folks,” the announcer’s voice said over the PA. “Our lord and
master Azazel is grateful for your patronage. Now, go back out and get to work, peasants. Those sties aren’t going to tend themselves!”

  There was a muffled grumbling from the crowd as they all began to stand up and head toward the exit. Meanwhile, a few of the medics appeared out of the far tunnel and began to tend to Malphas’ body.

  “Good luck healing that up, bro,” Todd chuckled under his breath. “I dunno about down here, but full head transplants don’t really work up on Earth. Unless you’re Frankenstein.”

  “What does a giant green monster have to do with any of this?” Tris sighed. I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, but she fidgeted with her hands nervously.

  “Frankenstein was the scientist,” Todd said in an annoyed tone. “His monster didn’t have a name. You still have a fuckton to learn about Earth culture, Slothy. We’ll have to do a movie marathon when we get back.”

  “If we get back,” Ira added somberly.

  I felt a sudden surge of adrenaline wash over my body. “Oh, we’re going to get back,” I promised. “I’m gonna take out that fucker right here and now.”

  “Jacob, wait!” Tris exclaimed, but I was already moving.

  It would be simple. I’d grab my fallen crossbow, use a portal to teleport behind the big red asshole, and then shoot him in the back of the head. It’d be quick, easy, and in the chaos of the leaving crowd, he’d never see it coming.

  I ran across the sandy field so quickly I almost tripped over my own feet multiple times. My crossbow was only about two hundred feet away from where I had originally exited the tunnel, and I was on it in no time at all. I snatched the heavy weapon up in my hands and continued in a full sprint over toward the quiver. I didn’t halt my momentum as I grabbed one of the deadly bolts, loaded it into the crossbow, and pulled back the string. As I ran, I turned my attention toward the spot where Azazel had been standing.

  He was still there, chatting it up with another important-looking figure. More importantly, he wasn’t paying attention to me whatsoever. Why would he? I was just a harmless inhabitant of Thea, after all.