Succubus Lord 12
Page 29
Then I opened up my eyes, took aim at Gressil, and unleashed a massive beam of white-hot Divine Light in his direction.
The King of the Sixth Circle let out a brief scream of agony as his body disappeared into the light, but then all went silent. When I finally released my attack, all that was left of Gressil was a large, charred hunk of flesh and bone. Then the body of the Demon King rocketed downward, struck my glowing purple platform, and shattered into a million shards of ashy charcoal.
Gressil, the King of the Sixth Circle, was dead.
My head throbbed in pain as my vision became tunneled, and I fell down onto my knees. The last thing I remembered before I passed out was the platform beneath me flickering and disappearing, and then my body plummeted down toward the rocky ground below.
Chapter 18
The world was black for lord knows how long, and then I felt a swift, sharp pain against my cheek. Was that me hitting the ground? Did the jagged brimstone tear my flesh? Was I even still alive?
“Todd used Double Slap!” I heard Todd’s voice call out as another sharp pain struck my other cheek. “It’s not very effective … Damn it, Jakey’s a dark type. I shoulda known that shit doesn’t work on them.”
“T-Todd?” I whispered into the darkness. “Is that you?”
“He’s wakin’ up!” the imp gasped, and then I felt a rapid series of compressions to my chest. “Come on, girls! Help me give him CPU!”
“Don’t you mean ‘CPR?’” Sia’s voice questioned. “Also, I’ve already healed him with my golden flames. All of his wounds should be healed up, both internally and externally.”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled groggily as I slowly forced my eyes open. “Seriously.”
I was currently laying on the floor of the silo, and I was staring up into the distance. All six of my friends were standing above me with looks of concern on their faces.
“I’ve never seen you pass out like that,” Libidine admitted, “at least, not after using a God Bomb.”
“I just expended too much of my power at once,” I said as I sat up and rubbed my head. “Did you see how it completely disintegrated Gressil? It didn’t do that for Azazel.”
“Don’t feel too bad, bro,” Todd giggled and patted me on the chest sympathetically, “I pass out after blowing my load all the time. I think it’s just programmed into the male mind or something. Anyway, it was totally badass how you Smash Bros-ed that baby-back bitch into oblivion. I know you didn’t hear it, with all the passing out and shit, but I totally yelled out ‘K.O.!’ when you did it.”
“I appreciate it.” I shook my head and then slowly pulled myself back to my feet. “Where did all the Targlins go? Did you guys take ‘em all out?”
“Unfortunately not,” Eligor sighed sadly. “Once they saw what you did to their leader, the Targlins took off like the cowards they are. We tried to kill as many of them as we could as they were fleeing, but obviously our main concern was making sure you were okay.”
“I just can’t believe we killed him,” I admitted, “did you know he was gonna try to mind-control you, Liby?”
The Sister of Lust gave me a coy smile and kicked her left foot across the ground with a giggle.
“More or less,” she admitted. “If there’s one thing that can be trusted like clockwork, it’s the fact that Demon Kings are really far up their own asses. They think all of us succubi are weak and our minds our even weaker. I knew if he wanted to get to you, he’d try to use me. So, I used the situation to our advantage. It was nothing, really.”
“It was bloody brilliant,” Gula protested, “if not for you, Sister, Gressil might still be alive.”
“I did what I could,” Libidine giggled and batted her dark eyelashes at me, “anything to help Jacob.”
“My question is,” I pondered aloud, “where did the Targlins retreat to? Is there another secret passage up at the top of this thing?”
“There must be,” Eclipse shrugged, “but there’s only one way to find out … ”
“Hold on, Eclipse,” Sia said as she made a ‘calm down’ motion, “we need to inform Abaddon the target has been eliminated.”
“Like fuck we are,” I scoffed. “That red-skinned bastard has been trying to manipulate us this whole time. Now that his biggest threat has been eliminated, he’s going to turn his attention back on us. In fact, I’d almost bet money if we go back to Abaddon, he’ll try to kill us on the spot.”
“That does sound like something he’d do,” Eligor admitted with a frown, “but what other choice do we have? Retreat to the Fifth Circle?”
“The Sixth Circle,” I reminded the knight, “it’s vacant now, remember?”
“We’ll need to install a new King then,” Sia nodded, “if we want to maintain our influence over it.”
“But that would require us to travel back through everything,” Gula reminded us, “which means fighting off the harpies again and then trying to sneak through the first ring of the Seventh Circle without getting caught by Abaddon or Serpico.”
“What are you suggesting, Sister?” Libidine questioned cautiously.
“Well … ” Gula sighed and looked down at the ground, “what if we just pushed forward? Into the Eighth Circle?”
A stunned silence fell across the group as Gula’s words sunk in. Finally, Sia spoke up.
“I’m not sure if that’s the best idea,” she retorted, “we’re all exhausted from this battle, and there are only seven of us. It may have worked out for the best with Gressil, but I can assure you that we won’t be as lucky against Beelzebub.”
“We can bring the army,” Gula protested. “We have at least two members of the team who can use green Hellfire, right?”
“Right … ” I nodded as I slowly realized where she was going with this.
“Well,” the redhead continued bashfully, “what if we went into the Eighth Circle, and then I gave you both a boost? Maybe with that kind of a power surge, you could combine your green flames and transport the entire army here instantly?”
“That would give us the element of surprise… ” I pondered aloud.
“You can’t seriously be considering this,” Eligor chuckled in disbelief. “Our soldiers aren’t prepared. Sure, we could get them here, but they’re not going to be ready to go into battle.”
“Then what if the seven of us continued onward and then hid out in your bunker until the time was right?” I asked. “We could try to send a message back to the Fourth Circle to let Cupi and Daniel know to prepare the troops.”
“How would we even do that?” Sia wondered. “That would require us to send one of our own back through the Seventh Circle, and whoever we sent would just be a sitting duck the second they were separated from the group.”
“What other choice do we have, though?” I sighed and rubbed my temples. “It’s either go back and face Abaddon, or move forward and face Beelzebub. And, I don’t know about you, but neither of those options sounds very appealing right now. At least if we go after Beelzebub, we’ll be moving toward our goal.”
“What if I told you it wasn’t that bleak?” a sultry, almost angelic voice asked from overhead.
We all turned around to see a curvy woman with wild red hair and regal gold armor standing on one of the balconies above.
Lilith.
“My mistress,” Eligor gasped, and then she bent down on one knee. “What brings you to this domain?”
“I am your most trusted ally, Jacob,” Lilith noted as she rose up into the air and floated down to our level, “I simply wish to keep you from doing something foolish.”
“How did you get here without anyone noticing?” I questioned the red headed Demon Queen.
“I have my ways,” Lilith purred as she ran her hand along my chin playfully, “and, if you follow me out of here, I’ll show you.”
The Demon Queen lifted up her hand, engulfed the lever mechanism above us with green Hellfire, and then pulled it down.
We all waited patiently as the brimst
one stage trembled and lowered, and the far edges retreated into the walls as it went down. Finally, we arrived at the bottom of the silo, and the door opened to greet us.
There were mashed bodies of Shades all around us, along with the corpses of the fallen Targlins. Many of the Shades were still alive, and they let out horrific groans of pain as they tried to regenerate.
“They will be fine,” Lilith reassured us, “now that Gressil has been killed, they should be back to their normal selves.”
“So, should I heal them?” Sia asked as she summoned gold flames into her hand.
Lilith shook her head, placed her slender hand on Sia’s arm, and then lowered it down.
“No,” she explained. “They are Abaddon’s Shades, and he will continue to do with them as he sees fit. Trust me, they’re actually better off this way.”
I shuddered at the thought of this being the better alternative, but I wasn’t going to question the Demon Queen.
The seven of us followed Lilith through the winding subterranean tunnels until we finally found ourselves back outside on the fiery sands of the third ring.
However, this time there was a major difference.
A three-story tall structure sat atop the flaming ground. Like Eligor’s bunker, it had no windows and looked to be about as plain as can be on the outside.
Lilith sauntered toward the building, opened its door with a flick of her wrist, and then motioned for us to follow.
Sia created a path to the bunker with a flash of black Hellfire, and then we followed her into the giant brimstone structure.
Unlike Eligor’s normal dwelling, this place looked like a fucking mansion. The floors were made out of pristine hardwood, and the walls looked like they had been built by large, fallen logs. There were exposed beams all across the ceiling, and the entire place was lit by the soft yellow light of the lamps that hung on the walls.
“Please close the door behind you,” Lilith cooed.
I was the last one in, so I turned around and ordered the door to shut with a flash of green flames.
“This is a fucking nice place ya got here, Maleficent,” Todd whistled, “like, seriously, the Toddster could see himself settling down in a place like this. If the Toddster ever settles down, that is. Which I totally wouldn’t in the first place. I loooove the bachelor life too much, ya know?”
“I understand your desire to be alone,” Lilith mused as she winked at me, “I used to feel that way, as well.”
“It’s a really nice place, Lilith,” I reiterated as I tried to get us back on track, “but what exactly is your plan? If we just sit here, won’t Abaddon come and find us?”
“That’s why we aren’t just going to sit here,” the redhead reassured me with a coy smile. “Eligor, if you could be of assistance?”
Eligor nodded, and she walked over and joined hands with her mistress. Then they both bowed their heads, summoned lime green Hellfire into their hands, and began to chant in Latin. As they did so, their spell traveled down their bodies into the floor of the bunker and spread out across the entirety of the interior. The next thing I knew, the entire thing began to shake and rattle.
We were going underground, just like with Eligor’s humble abode. When the rumbling finally stopped, I raised my finger curiously.
“Okay, so we’re underground,” I sighed, “but how does that help us in this situation?”
“We’re not underground,” Lilith smiled, “at least, we’re not anymore.”
“Take a look outside.” Eligor nodded to the door.
I raised an eyebrow at the two women, but they seemed pretty insistent. So, I simply shrugged, walked over to the door, and flung it open.
Instantly, my jaw hit the floor.
I was staring out at the exterior wall of my castle. We were back in the Fourth Circle.
“W-Why didn’t you tell us about this before?” I sputtered as I flipped back around and stared down the Demon Queen. “That could have saved us a lot of pain and suffering, you know.”
“How so?” Lilith asked in a hurt voice. “I couldn’t get you inside of the hidden bunker, and even if I had just taken you to the third ring of the Seventh Circle, it would have completely fucked everything up. You wouldn’t have gotten to meet Abaddon, who you now know is not to be trusted. But, more importantly, you know something else that could be instrumental in his downfall … ”
“His temper,” I noted.
“And his trolling ability,” Todd added, “it’s always suuuuper easy to bait a troll, Maleficent. I totally do it all the time on my blogs and podcasts.”
“Precisely,” Lilith agreed. “Also, the harpies would still be at full force, and the Shades within the Seventh Circle wouldn’t trust you as a kind and merciful Demon King. Now that all of this has been done, the seeds have been sewn for Abaddon’s downfall.”
“What about Beelzebub?” I sighed. “We’re so close to finally bringing down that son of a bitch.”
“We will deal with the Lord of the Flies first,” Lilith reassured me, “then, if Abaddon decides to become a problem, we shall deal with him, as well. But not right now. You are nowhere near powerful enough to take on Beelzebub.”
“Excuse me?” I shot back at the Demon Queen. “We’ve now killed not one, not two, but three Demon Kings. My army is growing by the day, and I’ve been able to grow my alliances from all angles and power myself up with all these new Demon Lords. How could I be any more ready?”
“When you fought Beelzebub on Earth,” Lilith explained, “he wasn’t as strong as he is now. Down in the Eighth Circle, surrounded by all his soldiers, he is ten times more powerful than any demon you’ve faced so far. And that includes Baphomet and Gressil.”
“So, what would you have me do?” I repeated. “Do we just keep training? We’ve already been doing that for months.”
“Yes,” the Demon Queen smiled, “but not in the way you’re thinking. You need to expand your power set, and I know the perfect way to make it happen.”
“What, do you want me to create more Demon Lords?” I suggested. “Maybe that’ll stir something in me, and I can learn lime green or blue Hellfire or something like that.”
“Ohhhhhh,” Todd giggled, “maybe you’ll totally learn how to combine everything into some super badass rainbow fire. But if that happens, you totally gotta sing that remix of ‘What’s Up’ every time you fire it off. You know the one I’m talking about, bro.”
“No, Todd,” Libidine gasped in realization, “I think Lilith is talking about Jacob’s other power. The one he hasn’t tried to use in years.”
“The one that showed up in our first adventure and then totally disappeared?” Todd asked curiously. “The one we just pretend doesn’t exist?”
“That’s the one,” Lilith confirmed.
“Holy shit,” I muttered, and a sense of dread came over me as I realized what they were talking about.
Back when I was first learning my Hellfire powers, I experimented with every type of magic Cupi and Liby knew, and there was one that took me to an evil place, a place I still saw in my nightmares from time to time.
If I wanted to defeat Beelzebub once and for all, I was going to have to use my black Hellfire.
I was going to have to unlock the powers of the Shadow World.
End Book 12
End Notes
Thank you for reading Succubus Lord 12! I’ll start writing the next book as soon as this one has one-hundred reviews. So please leave a nice review here!
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Copyright © 2019 by Eric Vall