My open profile showed me that my astronomical stats hadn’t gone anywhere:
Scyth, human, level 774 Herald (hidden)
Hakkar, tiefling, starless Scavenger (displayed name and class)
Ranks: Lucky Dog, Mightiest Punisher, Most Magnificent Avenger, Enemy of the Inferno, Dungeon Hero, Demon Fighter, Pioneer, Beast God Conqueror, Junior Gladiator (all hidden).
Main characteristics:
Chao: 57.
Strength: 2,397,312.
Perception: 1,616,640.
Endurance: 2,073,600.
Charisma: 1,570,560.
Intellect: 1,432,704.
Agility: 2,001,408.
Luck: 3,035,904.
Without any Unarmed Combat multipliers, my base damage was over eighteen million. My health was at eight and a half billion and restored at a rate of sixty-five million per minute. My journey to the Inferno for Coals of Hellflame promised to turn into a light stroll… Or maybe not – I remembered the Nether, where even a rabbit could one-shot me.
But first and foremost, I needed to at least figure out where to look for the coals. And that meant that Hakkar the scavenger had to return to town.
* * *
“Hakkar!”
As soon as I walked through the huge ajar gates, a one-legged tiefling hobbled towards me, his arms spread. A makeshift false limb was bound to the stump. Who was so happy to see me?
“See, Teland, your son came back!” shouted the guard who had opened the gates.
Oh, so this was the tiefling’s dad. That meant I was his son.
“Dad!” I shouted as joyfully as I could and ran toward the cripple.
His skin was more brown than mine and a scar zigzagged across his face. His horns twisted round in one and a half rings, their points looking straight at me.
“I couldn’t help it, son,” he muttered. “After losing all your brothers… I thought if I lost you too then there’d be no more point in living. I decided to come find you and help…”
He hugged me, held me close, stroking the back of my head. For an instant I felt torn. I wanted to revive the real Hakkar then and there, but stopped myself – if I did that, I’d have to slaughter the whole town. Meanwhile, the father of the tiefling I’d killed kept mumbling on in a doddery sort of way:
“I was in agony! I sat down to eat, but couldn’t swallow a single bite! I laid down and saw only you behind my eyelids! Thank Belial you’re back!” Pulling away, he looked into my eyes. “Was your trip successful, Hakk? Did you manage to collect the twenty chao particles for that bully Kerass?”
“Uhm…” I answered, feigning embarrassment. The tiefling had lost his life for the sake of twenty chao particles? And I’d absorbed them all… Damn, I should have put them in my inventory. “I don’t know, dad…”
The old man interpreted my embarrassment in his own way:
“There’s nothing shameful about coming back empty-handed, Hakk.”
“How’s that? That’s not how I see it,” I continued, trying to get as much information from my ‘father’ as I could.
I struck gold; the tiefling launched into an explanation:
“The Dominion doesn’t need every demon to have stars – it’s better for a legion to have one demon with two white stars than ten fighters with one. Which means that all we starless ones can do is eke out a pathetic existence in the backyards of the Dominion, keeping only enough chao to survive and giving away all the rest to those like Elder Shverk and his son Kerass. Come on, let’s go!”
I stayed where I was, because I hadn’t gotten an answer.
“I don’t want to just eke out a pathetic existence, that’s shameful in itself.”
Taking me by the arm and leaning on it, the tiefling led me away down the street.
“At least we’re alive, Hakk. Only every tenth demon lives to the end of his service, or even fewer! Elder Shverk is very lucky.”
I looked around at the demonic town with interest. My former ally Despot might have been born and raised in a town like this.
The houses were mostly just one floor, but still tall enough to compare with a three-story human house. Some were stone, others – the smaller ones – low and wooden, but everywhere the color black dominated with undertones of gray. I saw no fences anywhere. By the door of one building stood a strange cart that looked like a miniature ancient steam engine. On the whole, it all looked relatively normal, not counting the landscape, the colors and the building materials. The settlements in Moongrove had looked far stranger.
“We’re going to go find Kerass,” Teland said hotly. “I’ll talk to him, explain that I can’t lose my last son to for the sake of his whims. I’ll tell him straight: ‘Sorry, Master Kerass, with all due respect, Hakkar means too much to me. If you need those meager scraps of chao so badly, then kill me, but don’t touch my son!’ Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell him!”
As I listened to his muttering, peppered with sighs and lamentations, I decided not to beat around the bush:
“Father, what do you know about Coals of Hellflame?”
“What?” Teland stopped and stared at me in confusion. “Are you feeling alright, Hakk? You look unusual… Even your stride has changed. Did you fall, by any chance? Hit your head?”
“I sure did. Nearly broke my horns,” I confirmed, grabbing onto the convenient story and rubbing the back of my head for effect. “That’s why I came back.”
“Good thing you didn’t lose consciousness,” he muttered. “Our people came back from Crooked Canyon early. They say they saw a pack of inraugs, and their alpha had five yellow stars! Can you imagine? Bad news, an ill omen…”
“Why?”
Teland’s eyes widened. The part of the street we’d stopped in was empty, but thirty yards away a group of devils with pickaxes over their shoulders was walking our way. A little succubus was making faces at me out of a window on our right, and on our left a bare-chested demon with a broken horn was fixing a roof. A spiny hyena-dog like the one I saw beneath the walls scampered along the street, sniffing at the air.
“Lower your voice, Hakk!” the tiefling hissed. “There’ll be trouble if someone hears you!”
Is it some taboo subject, dad? The coals…”
“Quiet! It’s not about taboo. You’re asking something that even a newborn demon knows! The Coals of Hellflame are what give us all warmth and the light reflected by the sky! There are only three coals, and each sits in the capital of a Dominion. Come on, tell me their names! Let’s see if you remember that much, at least.”
“The Ruby City…” I said, naming the only one I knew.
“Right,” Teland nodded his approval. “That’s the capital of our Dominion, whose lands spread beneath the feet of Great Prince Belial. What about the others?”
“I forgot.”
“The Opel and Granite Cities belong to Great Princes Azmodan and Diablo.”
“Does Lucius have one?”
“No, but he doesn’t need one. The power of the three Coals is enough to heat a hundred Infernos.” The tiefling shook his head anxiously and rubbed his right horn. “Let’s talk to Kerass and then go straight home! You need to rest and recover, Hakk.”
“Wait, dad. Is the Ruby City far from here?”
“Oh, leave it alone, Hakkar!” Teland’s voice took on notes of steel. “How many times have I told you? You can’t get there! The Void is full of beasts! Our chaos-metal reinforced walls are all that keeps them out of the Nest. The monsters try to keep away from the metal. But as soon as you go even a thousand ells away from them…”
“Are the beasts the only problem? How did they end up in the Inferno anyway?”
Teland didn’t answer, just took me firmly by the elbow and pulled me further down the street. Only once we passed the work crew of devils with pickaxes did he speak again:
“Once we solve the problem of Kerass and get home, I’ll make you read The Great Exodus again, son. You’ll relearn that the primordial ground of the Inferno was created o
ut of nothing, and carried from Disgardium along with all the demonic peoples, and all the flora and fauna subject to the influence of Chaos. In the meantime, I’ll tell you why you can’t reach the Ruby City you’re so eager to get to, so you can put the idea out of your mind once and for all. It takes thirty years to reach the capital of the Dominion…”
Thirty years on foot? Damn, even with Flight that would take nearly a year! Nether!
“As for the inraug alpha with five yellow stars… As if the pack wasn’t already dangerous enough, now our gatherers will have to be twice as careful…” The old man’s voice shook. “Beasts as strong as that don’t just show up out of the blue. Perhaps a mortal soul has descended into our lands, and now all the beasts for a thousand miles around are streaming toward the Nest! We’re here…”
Releasing my arm, the old tiefling turned to the house by which we’d stopped. Even to me, unfamiliar with life in the Inferno, it was clear that the house belonged to rich demons – it was fifty feet tall, with huge windows and a roof of chaos-iron tiles. I could tell the metal by the gleaming sprinkling of crimson on it, as if the roof had been sprinkled with chili powder.
“Master Kerass!” Teland shouted. “Master Kerass!”
He kept on shouting, paying no mind to the demons that came out into the street to watch. Even the devils with their pickaxes came back, surrounded us and chattered in bleating voices:
“Has old man Teland lost his mind?”
“What business might he have for Master Kerass?”
“Oh, Master Shverk will cut his horns off!”
While Teland shouted at the top of his lungs, I inspected the devils. Unlike scaly demons and red-skinned tieflings, these were covered with thick, harsh fur from head to toe. Their horns were straight, not twisted like a ram’s. All the devils had beards, and enough hair on their chests to weave into braids. They were taller than me, but not quite the height of the demons I’d met.
Judging by the Games and what I’d seen here, demons were the dominating race and the rest obeyed them. I also figured out where the monsters I met in the Pitfall were from – apparently, they were local mobs. The only question now was the name of the town, Tiefling Nest, not the most suitable for a place settled with demons and devils. While we were walking, I even saw a succubus and an imp, but no tieflings.
Finally, the house’s door crashed open and a heavyset demon emerged, yawning and lazily scratching his belly. The ends of his horns met above his head, a lot smaller than Despot’s. He must have been young. Of all the inhabitants of the Inferno I’d seen so far, this one seemed the best fit for a rival. I wondered – could I defeat him?
Opening his mouth and breathing out a flash of flame and smoke, the demon nodded a question:
“Someone wants disincarnating?”
“Master Kerass, I have business with you,” Teland sputtered, now looking far smaller. “Glory to the Dominion!”
“Glory to the Dominion…” The demon approached, and I saw a star gleaming with white fire on his left horn. “Who are you, tiefling, and what do you want?” His eyes moved to me, narrowed: “And you, Hakkar, why are you here? Do you have my chao?”
Kerass, demon
White stars: ✩
“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about,” Teland said, raising his voice, but staring down at his feet. “Master Kerass…”
“Well?! Don’t mumble. In the name of all the Great Princes, spit it out! And you, Hakkar, if you’ve come here empty-handed, then prepare to be disincarnated!”
“No!” the tiefling’s voice cut off and turned to a wheeze. He coughed for a while, then bleated: “For Belial’s sake, Master Kerass, have mercy on my son! I lost my wife and six sons in the Void. Hakkar is all I have left. He’s the only thing keeping me going! If you’ve really decided to disincarnate him for a few crumbs of chao, then take mine instead!”
“Oh, I will!” the demon chuckled. He grinned, glancing at the crowd gathered around us. “Did you all hear the old tiefling’s words? He offers his own life in exchange for his son’s!”
“Glory to the Dominion!” shouted the devils, demons and one imp hopping around excitedly.
The imp cackled:
“Old Teland chose his fate himself, Master Kerass!”
“I have the right!” the demon roared.
“You have the right!”
“For the Dominion!”
I watched what was happening in amazement as it morphed into some kind of frenzy. The devils growled in excitement, the imp cackled on about the Dominion’s glory, the demons beat their chests. Kerass stood with his arms crossed, smiling. Old man Teland had lost practically all his ardor and was leaning on me. He pulled me close, whispered in my ear:
“Live, son! Remember me, and… Read ‘The Great Exodus’!”
Then he stood up straight as if plucking up his courage, released my arm. He hugged me, sobbed into my neck and turned away. Kerass, watching with a smirk, beckoned him over with a hooked finger tipped with a long claw.
“Come on, old man, get moving!” he roared, shouting over the babbling demons. “I still need to rest and gather my strength before tomorrow’s inspection!”
“What inspection?” I asked quietly, grabbing Hakkar’s father by the arm.
Turning, he looked at me in confusion, then nodded:
“A recruiter is coming to the Nest tomorrow. From the Thirteenth Legion. The weakest in the Dominion. Nobody wants to serve in it, so they take fighters from the sticks. In big settlements, the recruiters take the strongest young demons with at least one star for service to the Dominion and pit them against each other, but in our town, there’s only one demon with a star…”
“One? Kerass?” I nodded at the demon. “Is the place where they serve the Dominion far from the Ruby City?”
“Hey, old man, another second and I’ll take both your lives!”
Glancing at Kerass nervously, Teland jabbered quickly:
“Further than from here, but they don’t even let our kind in. All the same, little Hakk… warriors of the legion are afforded much, including access to the Ruby City. If you decide to follow your dreams after all, then save up chao and get a star! Legionaries are allowed into the capital on leave – a path is opened for them through the Void.”
“Old man!”
Kerass, tired of waiting, walked over to us and grabbed the puny tiefling. He took his victim by the throat, lifted him above his head. The old man started choking.
Damn demon! I already felt bad for Teland over Hakkar, and now he was about to die because of me! I couldn’t let that happen!
“Master Kerass!” I touched him on the shoulder, barely reaching it, but even that light touch stunned the demon. Wow, I had to be more careful.
Kerass stared at me in amazement and muttered:
“Enough tearful goodbyes. You’re a big boy now, stinkling. And your father has lived his life and honorably sacrificed his incarnation for the glory of the Dominion! So if you don’t want to watch him give up his chao…” His fingers tightened, Teland’s tongue lolled out, his wheezing stopped and only occasional gasps and twitches told me he was still alive.
“I’ll bring you everything I owe you, Master Kerass! Have mercy on my father and give me until morning!”
“Everything you owe?” the demon chuckled. He didn’t release Hakkar’s father, but loosened his grip enough to let the old man noisily suck in a breath. “All of it? A thousand particles?”
“Yes. A thousand particles,” I confirmed. “If I don’t bring it, then I’ll give you my chao.”
“And I’ll take the old man’s life too,” the demon murmured, dropping Teland.
Stepping over his writhing body, Kerass leaned down over me until his smirking face was within an inch of mine. Spraying smoking spittle, he roared:
“I won’t wait until morning. The old man will stay in the barn until dusk. If you haven’t brought me my chao by then, I’ll rip off his head and feed it to the ramcrabs.”
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“Let me say goodbye to my father, Master Kerass… Just in case. The Void is dangerous, I might not make it back…”
“Don’t take too long. The clock is ticking!” Losing interest in us, he walked back to the house, then turned around and shouted to the devils: “Make sure the old man makes it to the barn!”
“Yes, Master Kerass!” one of them shouted gleefully.
“Consider it done, Master Kerass!” another bleated, standing to attention.
“Glory to the Dominion!” said another, hopping up and down.
Enemy of the Inferno (Disgardium Book #8): LitRPG Series Page 25