by Eric Vall
“Come on, bro!” Todd begged as he threw out his hands in a challenge. “Me and Jakey vs. you. Stock, no items, seven-minute limit. Stage hazards are optional.”
“Are you challenging him to Smash Bros?” I whispered to the imp, but Todd just shushed me.
“I’m trying to help out, bro,” he hissed. “Maybe Mr. Tumnus is like, a hardcore gamer or some shit. I bet he picks fucking Metaknight.”
“Enough!” Baphomet growled. “Now, ‘King Ralston’, it’s time for your story to come to its end.”
The Demon King shot down at me, hauled back the warhammer, and took a swing.
I ducked out of the attack, stood back up, and jabbed at Baphomet with the Unhallowed Sword. My attack missed its mark, and I had only seconds to avoid the next swipe of the warhammer. As I narrowly avoided the second blow, I threw up my blade, caught my opponent’s weapon by the hilt, and flipped it out of his hand.
Baphomet responded with a swift swing of his fist, but I was able to step back quickly enough to avoid having my jaw broken.
Just then, the succubi with weapons entered the fray. Deja’s chain flew over and wrapped around the Demon King’s leg, while the blunt end of Cupi’s polearm struck the fucker in the face. At the same time, Gula’s axe came down and embedded itself firmly in Baphomet’s shoulder blade.
The King of the Fifth Circle roared with fury as he kicked his leg and brought Deja crashing to the ground. Then he reached back, grabbed onto Gula’s wrist, and flung her at Cupi with enough force to send them both tumbling across the rocky ground.
Mirage, Todd, and Eclipse jumped into the fray as I stabbed at Baphomet again, but he made short work of our attacks.
The Demon King caught both my blade and the blade of Mirage’s gladius in his hand and then spun us around like a helicopter. I felt my feet swing out behind my body before they struck one of my allies, and then I was thrown to the ground violently.
I tumbled across the brimstone floor for a few seconds until I felt the soft hands of my succubi stop my momentum. As I stood back to my feet, they all wore looks of despair.
“Without our powers, how are we going to defeat this guy?” Libidine asked somberly.
“We don’t need our powers to kill this joke of a Demon King,” I retorted as I held up my sword. “All I need is ‘ol faithful here.”
Baphomet was now going for the discarded warhammer, so I charged over to intercept the bastard, took a swing at him with my blade, and heard a yelp of pain as I made contact with his right wing.
There was a geyser of blood as Baphomet’s wing was severed from his back, and his body skidded across the ground. He reached out and grabbed the warhammer, but I was on top of him immediately.
Baphomet barely dodged the Unhallowed Sword as I stabbed it toward his head, and then he came around with his own weapon. It smashed into my side and knocked me away, and I felt a wet crack in my ribcage as I fell to the ground.
Something in there was definitely broken.
I used my sword to pull myself back to my feet and nursed my side as I readied for the incoming onslaught.
“Pathetic,” Baphomet mused as he began to walk toward me slowly, but I could tell he was favoring the side where I’d cut off his wing. “You thought you could kill Beelzebub and take your place at your daddy’s side? You’re not even a match for me, even with all of your foolish friends trying to help!”
Baphomet readied the warhammer in his hand, and I weakly prepared to block. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up.
Then I heard the distinct crackle of Hellfire.
A silver flame struck Baphomet in the back, and his eyes went wide with surprise. The demon whipped around in a panicked frenzy to see what the fuck was happening, and the silver Hellfire engulfed his entire body.
And there, standing behind the fucker, was Eve.
The redhead had a look of cool determination on her face as she held her attack, and she now stood in a stance full of poise.
“How are you--I depowered you!” Baphomet growled as he began to change his course and go toward the succubus. “Your filthy succubus powers are nothing. You are nothing!”
“Are you sure about that?” Eve asked with a coy smile.
Suddenly, Baphomet’s entire demeanor changed as realization seemed to hit him. His body tensed up, and he looked like he’d just seen a ghost.
“N-No … ” he muttered, but then his surprise turned to anger. “You aren’t--You can’t be. You fucking traitor!”
The King of the Fifth Circle charged at Eve, but she was more than ready for him. Baphomet’s gait slowed as he approached the succubus, a result of her lifeforce-draining powers, and by the time he actually got to her, all she had to do was sidestep his blow casually.
The redhead stabbed her rapier into Baphomet’s left shoulder, and it instantly went limp. He tried to lash out at her with the warhammer, one-handed, but he missed by a mile.
Eve remained calm as she dodged the Demon King’s blows, and then she summoned forth her large, bat-like wings. As she floated up into the sky, she surrounded her entire body with silver Hellfire.
“I am the one who gives life and takes it away,” she mused nonchalantly. “I think I’ve let you play enough, Baphomet. Now, playtime is over.”
The silver Hellfire shot out in every direction like metallic tendrils and then attached themselves to each member of our team.
I could feel the power returning to my body, and I confirmed the return when I summoned red Hellfire into my hand. Then I ran it over the Unhallowed Sword, lit up the blade, and held it out in front of me.
“Let’s kill this bastard,” I announced, and then I began to charge.
As I ran, my friends unleashed Hell on Baphomet. He was able to use his black Hellfire to deflect some of the attacks, but there were simply too many. He let out grunts of pain as daggers stabbed into his body and fireballs singed his mangy fur, but he held firm.
Baphomet may have had an enchanted death grip on my warhammer, but I still had one ace up my sleeve. I summoned silver Hellfire into my hand, grabbed the goat-headed dagger from my belt, and turned it into a silver liquid. Then I ordered it to mold its shape into a form of jagged barbed wire before I set it loose on my opponent.
The barbed wire shot around Baphomet’s arm at the elbow, and I commanded it to twist around rapidly in a circle. The makeshift saw blade tore into the demon’s flesh, and he screamed in pain as he fumbled to stop it with his black Hellfire.
The second he turned his attention away from the warhammer, I commanded it to liquify, form itself back into a ball, and then return to my belt.
Now that he was disarmed, Baphomet was fucked.
He desperately tried to dispel the attacks of my friends, but he was essentially helpless. Blood sprayed from his mouth as Eligor struck him with enchanted rocks. His body was becoming a literal human pincushion, thanks to Libidine’s yellow spears, and his flesh was riddled with bullets from Harold and Kumar. To top it all off, his life force was being sapped by Eve.
Finally, Baphomet fell down to his knees.
“Hold!” I ordered my team, and their spells ceased instantly.
I was now only a few feet from the King of the Fifth Circle, so I held out my flaming blade and aimed straight for his chest. There was a sickly “shluck” as it entered his torso, and his let out an eardrum-shattering scream.
“I don’t know where your fucking heart is,” I growled as I stared into the Demon King’s eyes, “but it doesn’t matter for shit if you’re fried from the inside.”
Baphomet opened his mouth to respond, but I was done talking.
I channeled all the power I had into the blade of the Unhallowed Sword, and Baphomet’s entire body lit up with red flames.
He convulsed and shrieked as his internal organs were turned into a crisp until finally, his eyes went dark and his body went limp.
I removed my blade from the Demon King’s chest, and he fell to the ground, dead.
/> Finally, Baphomet was dead.
“We did it!” Libidine exclaimed. “The King of the Fifth Circle is no more!”
I turned around and gave my friends a weak smile.
“We sure as fuck did.” I grinned and pointed at Eve. “All thanks to this beautiful creature right here. How the fuck did you do that?”
“Because--” Eligor began, but then Eve gave her a dirty look and cut her off.
“I’ll explain later,” the redhead shrugged, “but for now, we need to send a message. Tristitia? Superbia? Can you bring me those two surviving Daeva?”
“Uh, there are survivors?” Tris retorted as she turned around and surveyed the battlefield.
All of her skeleton soldiers had been deanimated from Baphomet’s black Hellfire, and the entire island now looked like it was a field of bones.
“They’re right over there, near where the entrance of the Palace used to be.” Eve pointed, and then the two succubi took off in that direction. “Now, Jacob … may I borrow your sword?”
“What’s going on, Eve?” I questioned as I handed her the Unhallowed Sword. “Why are you acting different all of the sudden?”
The redheaded succubus took my blade in her hand, strutted over to Baphomet’s dead body, and lifted the weapon above her head. With one fell swoop, she separated the fucker’s head from his body, and then she picked it up by the horn and examined it thoroughly.
“Still recognizable,” she noted, “perfect.”
Superbia and Tris returned with two wounded Daeva in their hands and sat them down at Eve’s feet.
“What do you possibly want with these guys?” Tris asked. “Are you gonna finish ‘em off, execution style?”
“Not quite,” Eve chuckled. “Sia, please heal them.”
“Why would I--”
“You can’t send a message without a messenger,” the redhead said with a wicked smile.
Sia nodded, summoned golden Hellfire into her hands, and then surrounded the Daeva with its healing glow.
The two little demons were back to full health in no time. However, they weren’t a threat. They took one look around themselves, gasped, and then began to tremble in fear.
“Take this back to your leaders,” Eve demanded as she held up the head of Baphomet. “Tell them the Fifth Circle is now under the control of Jacob Ralston and his allies.”
The Daeva chattered fearfully in a language I didn’t understand, but then they grabbed the head of their former master and dashed off in a hurry. As soon as they were out of sight, Eve turned back to the group.
What is going on? Mephisto questioned. I am beginning to think you are not who you say you are.
“Ya think, Great Pumpkin?” Todd snorted. “It’s like when you’re drunk and think you’re settling for railin’ a five, but then find out she’s really a ten when you wake up the next morning!”
“Eve,” I implored, “what’s going on?”
“I suppose the charade is up,” the redhead sighed, and then she held out her hands to her side.
As she did so, the succubus was encased in a misty green Hellfire, similar to Mirage’s abilities. When the enchanted smoke finally cleared, I saw a clearer picture of who she really was.
Eve’s hair was still long, red, and wavy, but it now contained a large crown encrusted with black diamonds. Gone was her cheap-looking succubus armor, replaced by a suit made out of pure gold that hugged each of her curves tightly. Behind her flowed a long, silk cape made out of black fabric that fluttered gracefully in the breeze.
“You--You’re royalty?” I gasped.
“She’s more than royalty, Jacob,” Eligor finally spoke up. “She’s the royalty around here. Meet my mistress, Lilith.”
“Pleased to finally meet you, Jacob Ralston.” Lilith grinned as she fluttered back to the ground. “Now come, we can discuss this further in one of your new castles.”
I couldn’t believe what was happening. This was Lilith, the Demon Queen. The first succubus and the one who acted as Lucifer’s left hand.
Words escaped me as my team and I began to follow the Demon Queen off the island.
I had no idea what was about to happen next, but I really needed some answers.
Chapter 18
As a Demon Queen, Lilith apparently knew every Circle of Hell inside and out. She led us effortlessly off the island and over to the outer rim of the Fifth Circle, until we finally arrived at a large castle that rested on the coast of the swamp.
This thing was built out of the same brimstone that made up so many demonic structures, but its architecture was nothing like the medieval-style castles we were used to seeing. Instead, it had a large A-frame roof and several spirals that narrowed at the top. A lighthouse powered by red Hellfire topped off the “New England” look of the place and doubled as a beacon for those who were traversing through the Fifth Circle.
We landed atop one of the spirals, and we all gathered around the Demon Queen.
“I’m sorry, Jacob,” Eligor whispered, “I wanted to tell you the second I saw her, but I didn’t want to blow her cover, either.”
“It’s alright,” I reassured the Knight of Hell, “your loyalty is one of your best features.”
“I thought that was these?” The blonde smirked and shimmied her large breasts.
“That’s why I said one of your best features,” I chuckled, but then I turned to the Demon Queen. “What I want to know is how long have you been planning this? Way back when we first met Eligor, she told us you’d been observing me for a long time.”
“That is correct,” Lilith answered devilishly. “In fact, I’ve been watching you for far longer than you even realize … ”
The redheaded Demon Queen tossed out her arms again, and her body was engulfed in a glow of Hellfire. Her beautiful figure disappeared into the flames, glowed brightly for a moment, and then reemerged as a completely different person.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw her new form.
I instantly recognized the dark black bob haircut that sat over the round face with dimpled cheeks and lips oversaturated with a dark crimson lipstick.
It was Tamira, my ex-girlfriend.
Todd let out a mix of shrieking and hissing as he leapt in front of me and summoned red Hellfire into his hands.
“Be gone, foul spawn of Satan!” he demanded. “I’m not lettin’ your bear-trap snatch capture Jakey in its grasp ever again! Get steppin’, Bitchasaurous Rex, before the Toddster sends you back to the stone age.”
“I must admit,” Lilith mused, “you’re much cuter as an imp, Todd.”
“I’m warning ya, slugface,” the imp continued as he did a few over-the-top kung fu moves, “I’ve been trained in the art of Taekwonhoe!”
Don’t you mean “Taekwondo?” Mephisto tried to correct.
“Nope,” Todd shot back. “Taekwonhoe. It’s the supersecret ancient art of bitch slapping a hoe into the next dimension.”
“Relax, Todd,” Lilith giggled, “it was all an act.”
I felt my body begin to fill with a mixture of confusion, anger, and hurt.
“An act?” I growled. “You put me through the worst relationship of my life!”
“I had to,” Lilith admitted as she summoned the Hellfire back around her body. “I wanted to make sure you ended up here.”
The Demon Queen returned back to her original form in a flash of Hellfire, and then placed her hands on her hips sassily.
“So wait … ” I muttered as I racked my brain. “You’ve been leading me here ever since we met, all the way back in college?”
“I knew you were special from the beginning,” the Demon Queen replied. “How could you not be? You were the son of none other than Lucifer himself. But then, as you got older, I started to see just how amazing you truly were. I saw your leadership skills in action. I saw your loyalty to your friends and the determination you put into every single action you did. I knew then and there you would be the one to rule Hell someday.”
�
��But why did you trick me into dating you?” I demanded, still a bit angry. “Why didn’t you just reveal yourself to me then?”
“That would have been foolish, Jacob.” Lilith shrugged. “One, you were still growing and learning new skills throughout your young adult life, and I didn’t want to take that away from you. Two … you never would have believed me about any of this. I knew if I wanted you to become a true believer, you would have to see the succubi for yourself. And the only way to make that happen was to get you around Todd all the time.”
“Uh, thanks?” the imp grumbled. “Like, I’m only halfway joking. I totally appreciate you setting me up with my best bro. But, uh, did you have to be such a bitch all the time? No offense.”
“It was part of the act, Todd,” Lilith explained. “I had to be as possessive and bitchy as I possibly could so Jacob would end up hanging out with you, but I also needed to be a good enough lay that I could keep Jacob coming back. I couldn’t have him running off and settling down with a random mortal girl. He is destined for bigger things. Much, much bigger things. This was my plan for him all along.”
“So then, it’s official?” I asked rhetorically. “Lilith, the Demon Queen and first wife of Adam, is on my side.”
“Yes and no,” Lilith said with a nod. “I tried to keep it on the down low for as long as I could, but I’m tired of hiding. You are the rightful heir to the throne of Hell, and I am going to do everything in my power to get you where you need to be. However, it would be wise to keep up my facade with Lucifer until we are truly ready to strike.”
“I’m sure my father is gonna be thrilled about this,” I groaned and rubbed my head awkwardly.
“He had to know this was coming,” Lilith shrugged, “why do you think he’s made such a push to get you on his side? He knows what happens if he doesn’t.”
“Oh?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “What happens then?”
“You, I, and our assorted allies team up and send him to wherever the fuck demons go when they die,” Lilith stated proudly.