by Eric Vall
Holy fuck.
“I really wish we had grenades or something,” Mirage grumbled as she flew over to my position. “Our group is working together quite well, but we’re missing our crowd control.”
“Then we’ll just have to make our own methods,” I noted, and then I blasted the head off a Tartaruchi with a red fireball.
It was hard to see through the darkness, but I was sure there were still plenty of these bastards left. There was no doubt in my mind that my team could handle them, but we were kinda in a tough spot.
The Tartaruchi outnumbered us nearly five to one. All they had to do was keep throwing themselves at us, and eventually we’d wear down. If we didn’t do something soon, they would win simply by playing a game of attrition.
“Inpulsa!” I called out into the abyss. “Give me some light! Everything you’ve got!”
“You got it, boss man!” the succubus shouted from somewhere behind me.
I could suddenly feel the electricity in the air around us, and the hairs on my arm started to stand on end.
Then the yellow-haired beauty unleashed her full power.
There was a crackle of thunder as a lightning bolt the size of a sequoia tree erupted into the air and illuminated everything around us for nearly a mile. Now that the Tartaruchi didn’t have the cover of darkness to hide them, I could see they were mostly coming at us in large groups from off to my right.
“Eve!” I commanded the redhead. “I need a lift!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the succubus zipped over, picked me up in her arms, and hoisted me up into the sky.
As we ascended, I saw Eclipse surrounded by a large horde of enemies. Even though she was heavily outnumbered, the dark-haired woman was holding her own pretty damn well.
Eclipse was using her naginata to keep her opponents at a distance with long, hefty swings. She managed to lop the arms off one of the fuckers as she dodged trident strike after trident strike and then ran the end of her blade through another one’s head.
I guess she really could handle herself.
I scanned the crowd of Tartaruchi to see if there were any possible weak spots, but I found none.
I guess I was gonna have to create one.
“Put me down over there!” I pointed as Eve moved us out of the way of an incoming fireball.
“Right in the center of them all?” she gasped. “Do you have a death wish?”
“I’ve got an idea,” I reassured the redhead. “Just drop me over there, and I’ll take it from there.”
Eve seemed to hesitate, but then she obeyed my command. She continued to dodge fireballs as she soared toward the crowd of deadly Tartaruchi. Then, once we were above the horde, she let me go.
My heart sank in my chest as I plummeted toward the mass of angry, bloodthirsty demons below. I knocked away a few fireballs with my purple flame as I fell, and then I summoned bronze Hellfire into my hands.
I only had one shot at this. If I fucked up, I was dead. I would probably be torn to shreds by dozens of pairs of razor-sharp teeth and claws before these murderous demons ate my guts like a fucking raw steak.
It was the moment of truth.
Seconds before I hit the ground, I blasted my bronze spell downward. The brimstone underneath me shook and shattered, and then I landed inside of a literal crater.
Large chunks of jagged rock sprayed up into the air around me, and I quickly threw out my hands, called forth my green Hellfire, and surrounded the chunks of debris with its emerald glow. Instantly, I felt the weight of the hundreds of pieces of heavy rock as I fell down to one knee and tried to hold my concentration.
I wasn’t going to let these bastards get the best of King Ralston.
I let out a growl of frustration as I stood back up and clapped my hands together. The debris followed my motion in the sky as it combined to form one giant, asymmetrical ball of brimstone. Then I threw my arms out to my sides and sent hundreds of deadly, jagged projectiles scattering in all directions like the shrapnel of a grenade.
Yelps of pain rang out from all around me as the enchanted projectiles tore through the Tartaruchi as if they were made of cardboard.
Then the air around me went silent.
I surrounded my own body with the green fire, raised myself out of the crater, and prepared for battle once more.
However, when I surveyed the field, I realized there was nobody left to fight.
Tartaruchi bodies were sprawled out as far as my eyes could see. Most of them were completely motionless, but a few of them groaned in agony as they lay in pools of their own blood.
Holy shit … it actually worked.
Now, I just had to worry about the ones who were attacking the succubi. I spun around on my heels and began to dash back over to where the battle had originally begun. Inpulsa’s beam of electricity was still shining brightly in the sky, and I could see the rest of the team handling the remaining Tartaruchi.
Perhaps “handling,” was an understatement. By the time I got back over to the group, Eclipse had brought her blade directly down onto the last Tartaruchi’s head.
The demon’s noggin split apart like a melon on Gallagher’s stage and sent red viscera all over the ground below. The dying Tartaruchi desperately grasped at his split head before he toppled over, and his brains spilled out onto the brimstone.
“That must have been the last of them,” Eve explained. “I only sense six life forces right now.”
“What the hell happened?” Mirage muttered angrily as she put her hands on her hips. “Was this some sort of sick joke, King Ralston? Part of our training exercise? Because the Tartaruchi are no laughing matter.”
“I didn’t do this,” I promised the brunette. “Our mission was to come out here and kill some Vargrats. I have no fucking clue where these assholes came from.”
“What I don’t understand,” Eve pondered as she rapped on her chin, “is why the Tartaruchi are this far out from their home. Normally, they don’t venture beyond the Second Circle, and now that they’ve formally allied themselves with Gressil, they don’t go beyond the Fifth. What reason could they possibly have for being all the way out here?”
“I dunno about you guys,” Deja interjected as she began to coil up her deadly chain, “but I think the timing is a little bit fishy, no? Let’s say these Tartaruchi were just out here, minding their own business, exploring the wonders of the Hunter’s Plains. These things stretch on for hundreds of thousands of miles. What are the odds that they would just so happen to run into us?”
“They didn’t ‘just run into us,’” Inpulsa spoke up as she deactivated her spell. “They tried to ambush us. And if it wasn’t for the demon heart monitor over there, they would have succeeded.”
“Did you have a particular location that you wanted to take us for our mission, King Ralston?” Mirage questioned.
“I mean, I wanted to bring you out to the Hunter’s Plains, and I figured we’d stay close to the River of Souls for obvious reasons … ” I pondered aloud.
“Who all knew where we would be?” Inpulsa added. “Who could have possibly given our position away?”
“I-I don’t know,” I admitted as the gut-wrenching thought came into my mind. “Obviously, all the rest of the girls and Todd. Plus, my Demon Lords and Daniel. But none of them would have--”
“Do any of those people have loose lips?” Mirage cut in. “Is there anyone on your team who could have possibly spoken too openly? Somebody who might have given away our position by accident?”
She was describing Todd to a tee, but even I knew he wouldn’t be that careless.
“Maybe,” I sighed and gave the team a little shrug, “but we won’t know until we get back to the castle.”
I turned around, motioned for the succubi to follow me, and then began to walk back toward the River of Souls. It was a short trek before I was back in front of the small dinghy, and then I picked it up into the air with my green Hellfire. Once it was back in the murky, ectoplasmic wate
r, the six of us climbed in.
“Ya know,” Deja observed as we set off down the river, “we totally make a really fucking good team.”
“You do,” I admitted with a forced smile. “I didn’t realize we were going to have an extra activity today, but you guys killed it.”
“Does that mean we have the job?” Eclipse asked in an unusually perky tone.
“I’ll have to think about it.” I winked at the succubi. “After all, I’m the one who did most of the heavy lifting and took out the majority of the Tartaruchi.”
“Very funny,” Eve retorted as she smacked my arm playfully. “I’d give most of that credit to Inpulsa. If it wasn’t for her, we would have been fighting in darkness the entire time.”
“Eh, I was just doin’ me.” The yellow haired succubus shrugged.
“You all did a great job,” I announced. “Once we get back home and get all this Tartaruchi shit figured out, we can talk about the next steps.”
The boat erupted with squeals of glee, but I couldn’t help but be distracted.
Who the fuck ratted us out? Was it one of our own? Was one of Beelzebub’s minions watching us? Or, even worse, was Lucifer finally deciding I wasn’t worth the time of day?
No matter what it was, I was gonna get to the fucking bottom of it.
Chapter 7
The girls were very chatty during the boat ride back to the Fourth Circle. They gossiped about what they were gonna do when they became Demon Lords, and which Demon Kings they wanted to get revenge on, and who got to do the ceremony first.
As much as I would have loved to think about fucking all five of these beautiful women, my mind was somewhere else.
It couldn’t have been Daniel who sold us out. What would a Shade have to gain by usurping his King? If I was out of the picture, another much more evil fucker would just come and take my place. Besides, I saved him from an eternity of being skewered by his own body weight on a spiky wooden post. He was loyal to a fault.
So, had one of my Demon Lords stabbed me in the back? Eligor had warned me a million times that demons were loyal to nobody but themselves, but I figured we’d solved that problem when we went after the lowest of the low. Neither of my current lords had ever openly displayed disobedience toward me, so it was hard to believe they had any issues.
Maybe the worst had come to pass, and Lucifer had decided to turn on me. He obviously knew my whereabouts at all points in time, and any of my enemies would jump at the chance to team up with the Prince of Darkness himself.
One thing was for sure, I knew I could trust my succubi and Todd. They were the ones I was going to speak with, first thing when we got back.
As we pulled up to my black, brimstone castle, I marveled at the new installations we’d recently put up. Invidia had been begging me for months to reconstruct the giant tower that had been destroyed during our fight with Azazel. Even though it was the place where she’d been locked up for months and surrounded by booby-trapped stairs, she swore it was “the most peace and quiet she’d gotten in centuries.” The Sister of Envy might not have been a permanent resident in my abode any more, but she had a place in the guest tower every time she came to stay.
Still, I let out an audible groan when I saw there was an unauthorized part of the design. A giant slab of wood had been placed across the top of the structure so that it jutted out on both sides and formed a giant “T.” Off on the right side of the building was a series of letters that spelled out “oddster,” all in chicken-scratch red spray paint.
Once our vessel was parked, the six of us exited the dinghy and moved up into the castle staircase.
“You guys go take a breather.” I nodded to the group as we approached the main stairs. “Go out and explore the Fourth Circle. It’s changed a lot since I took over, so go enjoy a night on the town, all on me. If you go out to the business or culinary districts, just let the people in charge know that you’re with King Ralston, and it’ll all be taken care of.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Eve grinned happily, and then she turned and waved to the rest of the team. “Come on, girls! Let’s go celebrate!”
The five succubi giggled as they ran up the stairs toward the door. As they ran, they stripped off their armor until they were finally as naked as a jaybird, and then their nude bodies disappeared into the great outdoors.
I continued on up the stairs until I reached the second floor living quarters.
Todd and Libidine were sitting at the tiny table in the back playing chess. Or, at least, it looked like they were trying to play chess. The imp had a massive doobie hanging from his lips, and his eyes were so bloodshot that they looked like they were nothing but red orbs. He pondered thoughtfully as held his pawn in one hand, and then he made a series of jumps over Libidine’s pieces.
“King me, Lib!” he cackled.
“For the last time, Tood,” the Sister of Lust sighed and rubbed her temple, “we’re playing chess.”
“Exactly,” Todd agreed, “and I just quadruple jumped your ass!”
“You don’t jump in chess,” Libidine argued in vain, “you capture pieces, and you can only make one move at a time.”
“That was only one move, dudette.” The imp shrugged. “Don’t be all jealous at my superior skills.”
I rolled my eyes as I surveyed the room further.
Tristitia, the Sister of Sloth, was passed out on my couch in front of the magic mirror. She laid there with her mouth agape, completely motionless, and for a split second I was afraid she was dead. My fears disappeared, though, when her body twitched and a loud, buzzsaw-like snore escaped her mouth.
The sudden sound must have surprised the rest of the group, because they all glanced over to see what was going on.
“Jacob!” Libidine gasped. “You’re back!”
“Wait, Jakey was gone?” Todd questioned in a baked-out haze.
The dark-haired succubus pushed out her chair, ran over to me, and went in for the hug. However, she stopped herself just short when she saw I was covered with all sorts of viscera and gore.
“What the hell happened to you?” she questioned with horror in her voice. “I’ve seen Sister Gula prepare enough Vargrats to know that’s not their blood. Are all of the others okay?”
“Holy shit,” Todd gasped from the table, “did somebody get Running Man-ed? Please tell me nobody got sliced in half with a buzzsaw, bro.”
“They’re all alright,” I reassured both my friends. “The Tartaruchi that attacked us, on the other hand? They definitely are not.”
“The Tartaruchi were all the way out in the Hunter’s Plains?” Libidine questioned with a quirked eyebrow.
“Somebody must have tipped them off on where to find us.” I nodded. “There were nearly a hundred of the bastards. It wasn’t just a random encounter.”
“Do you think we’re being watched?” Libidine asked.
“Either that, or somebody blabbed,” I sighed.
“Wasn’t me,” Todd gasped. “I’m no rat. I’d never squeal on a bro, bro.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “You didn’t even know I was gone.”
“I take offense to that, bro,” Todd protested in a slur. “I may be baked, but I’m still coherent enough not to get fucking Hagrid-ed.”
“But you still didn’t know I had even left?” I snickered. “Even though you did all the first round interviews and were there when I told them where and when we were going to go?”
“I thought that was Tuesday,” Todd said with a shrug.
“Todd,” Libby sighed. “It is Tuesday.”
“Woah,” Todd gasped again. Did I lose a whole week? I had appointments and shit. I have to do my podcast, and I haven’t even done my research on my topic. It’s going to take forever.”
“What’s the topic?” I asked, even though I should have known better.
“‘Elf babes, and do they get pregnant if human men cum inside of them?’” my friend declared proudly. “I haven’t even found an elf babe yet
to discuss the various hypotheses on the air.”
“I’m… I’m gonna… leave that one alone,” I sighed as I looked at the couch. “What about Tris? Do you think she might have accidentally given something away?”
“Tristitia has been here the whole time,” Libidine admitted. “I honestly don’t think she’s left that couch in days.”
“I seriously had to poke her with a stick the other day, bro,” Todd added. “Just to make sure she was still alive.”
“Wait … Todd, you did leave earlier,” Libidine accused the imp. “You said you got a call from a listener on your podcast and had to meet them urgently.”
“What?” the imp asked as he turned his head inquisitively. “Oh yeah, yeah! Gag-a-man or whatever the fuck his name is wanted to talk to me. The elf babe thing is next Tuesday. I tell ya, all this demon lord killing stuff is really cutting into my attention span when it comes to my show. I’m going to have to cut back on my other hobbies, or something.”
My blood went cold. Gamigin? One of my Demon Lords?
“What did he want to talk about?” I nearly snarled.
“Not much, actually.” The imp shrugged. “He called into Tuesdays with the Toddster and said that it was the only way he knew to contact me and that he had some urgent news or some shit. He told me to meet him out in Firecracker’s territory so he could tell me.”
“And you went?” I asked, extremely confused.
“Sure I did,” Todd squeaked. “He wanted to meet at that one place. What did Firecracker name it again? The ‘Devil’s Due Steakhouse?’ Anyway, you know me. The Toddster can never pass up a good hunka raw meat. No homo.”
“What was the news?” Libidine prodded further.
“That’s the fucking weird thing, Lib,” he sighed. “He didn’t tell me anything. He made small chitchat about the living in his cramped quarters in the Fourth Circle and how it wasn’t gonna matter soon and how he was gonna be leaving town for a while.”
“Leaving town?” I pondered. “Did he say why? Or when he’d be back?”
“Nope,” Todd said matter-of-factly. “I asked him that, but he just laughed and said I didn’t need to worry about it because, and I quote, ‘you’ll never be seeing anyone ever again.’ Really fucking weird, right?”