-Evil is an infection walking among us. It spreads through pain and through the sick joy born of it.-

Below him, Astaroth’s palanquin gradually swayed atop its four Troll pallbearers. They had been doing their duty well ever since it was forced upon them, without getting distracted. What luck that I found some peons with an abandoned Devil bloodline here, Astaroth thought.

In time with the beating footsteps that carried it, black curtains swayed down from the palanquin’s roof. They were a prize from the second settlement Astaroth and his beasts had pillaged. And the nice clothes he was wearing had been taken from the belongings of a noble boy whose family happened to be visiting the third village for an inspection.

Of course, Astaroth’s former attire was nicer, but it was damaged from his fight with Stellaria, and it didn’t fit his current form quite right.

So yes, they had raided three villages now, and they were marching steadily toward their next destination: not a rural village but a city.

“My prince,” Rahashik’s rasping voice made its way in, past the curtains. “The scouts say they see stone walls ahead.”

“Stop the procession,” Astaroth ordered. “Find somewhere defensible and set up camp. Once that’s done, come back, and bring Cassius and Giyeridon with you.”

For the next hour or so, while the monsters and slaves made camp, Astaroth sat in his palanquin with the curtains drawn, plotting.

“My prince, I’ve returned. I gathered the people you asked for.”

The small Devil stood up from his wooden throne and threw the black curtains back.

“Come in, all three of you. We’re going to go over the strategy now.”

#

The city of Limure in the Waren Republic was considered a frontier town, as it was one of the nearest cities they had to the Stargell Wilderness. If ever the monsters from the wilderness caused problems, Limure and the other fortress towns would dispatch knights to regain control.

The great stone walls of Limure had only two gates: one facing the wilderness, and one facing the heart of the Waren Republic. There wasn’t enough out here for there to be more major roads requiring gates, and more gates would be harder to defend. The guards standing watch at the northwestern gate were very focused on their job; it wasn’t unusual for them to get fired if an accident occurred.

So when they heard human screaming, they immediately sent some men to investigate. What those men found was an ongoing monster attack on the road. Three dog monsters were beginning to devour a man who lay on the ground nearby, blood spilling from his neck.

The guards held their spears and shields up. They moved to encircle the dogs as they’d been trained to do, but the beasts apparently sensed the danger and ran off, leaving their prey behind.

They checked, despite how poor the chance looked, but the man was dead. He looked like a poor farmer, probably from one of the nearby settlements.

One of the soldiers, the most experienced in their little group, opened his mouth. “He could’ve just been unlucky, but we should report this and send some people to check on the nearby settlements.”

The others nodded, and they made their way back to the gate.

#

“Well that was easy,” a rasping voice chuckled softly.

“Shush!” Cassius attempted to elbow the lizardfolk, but given that the both of them were currently invisible, he failed.

While the guards at the gate were thinned out by Astaroth’s “fun little distraction,” they had snuck in through the gate.

“Nobody’s here,” Rahashik whispered. “Anyway, good luck.”

If Cassius looked and listened closely, he could notice light footsteps kicking up small puffs of dust, moving steadily away from him. He took a deep breath and set his eyes on the city.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“First, we need information.” In Cassius’s mind’s eye, Astaroth held up a pale, clawed finger and said. “How prepared is this city for a monster attack? Are they aware of me specifically?”

After walking a ways, nearly until his invisibility would’ve ended on its own, Cassius hid in a narrow alleyway and released the spell. From there, he did his best to mingle with the townsfolk and ask questions without looking suspicious. He drew some curious glances, asking about Devils and whether the guards could beat one, but the adults wrote it off as childish fantasy.

“Don’t worry so much, kid,” a pot-bellied man said, patting him on the head. “Devils aren’t real, and even if they were, the priests would take care of them.”

“Are the priests strong?” Cassius asked, tolerating his hair getting ruffled.

“Well, I don’t know if ‘strong’ is the right word. They’re holy men. Demons, devils, boogeymen; they wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Was that true? If that was true… No, Cassius steeled himself. Aewyn was still in the camp, surrounded by monsters. Even if Astaroth died, she still might not be safe. And it wasn’t just her life on the line anymore. Cassius had promised his loyalty to that Devil. If he broke his promise, what if his soul left his body right then and there?

He liked the idea of priests that could destroy Devils just by being there, but he couldn’t bet anything on it. Still, the boy distanced himself to a quiet place and whispered under his breath.

“Master? Can you hear me?”

Back in the camp, Astaroth stopped his hand, which was gently petting a certain human girl’s head. She sat on his lap, stiff and trembling, wondering why he stopped and if the pain was going to come now.

“Yes, I hear you,” the Devil muttered softly. He smiled at Aewyn, and she even found it scary how uncharacteristically friendly the look was. “Your brother is speaking to me from inside the city,” he said. “Looks like he hasn’t tried to run away. Isn’t that nice, Aewyn?”

Terrified of making the Devil mad, but too afraid to open her mouth, Aewyn bobbed her head once in a nod, with her posture hunched and tense.

The next message carried magically to Astaroth’s ears, like a whisper on the wind.

“I’ve been asking around in the streets, but the people here think Devils aren’t real. But somebody told me there are priests here who could kill you. He said they aren’t strong, but that they’re holy men?”

Astaroth frowned, and Aewyn flinched. She bit her lip and tried not to cry out, but she could feel his claws digging into her scalp, and something warm was dripping toward her hairline.

“… Seems this world has a history to it,” the Devil whispered. “Go find one of these priests. Don’t mention Devils, but ask them what their holy powers are capable of.”

“Yes, master.”

The messages stopped, and Astaroth loosened his grip on Aewyn’s skull. He smiled for a moment when he noticed the blood on his fingertips, but then quickly plastered on a look of concern. The girl who watched that felt shivers go up her spine. This was her first time experiencing kindness so fake and so weaponized against her. And it was done so obviously, too. She was a toy right now—a doll—and she was meant to know it.

“Forgive me, Aewyn. I forgot to control my strength for a moment. Does it hurt?”

“A—a little,” she mumbled. Tears welling in her eyes, she quickly shook her head. “No, I mean, I’m fine!”

Astaroth smiled and licked the blood off of one of his nails, patting her sore head with his clean hand.

“Aw, your blood is sweet, just like you are.”

The little girl hiccuped and did her best not to cry any louder. Out of the blurry corner of her eye, she saw a cruel grin on the Devil’s face. Everything was on purpose: she knew it. If she could turn back time, Aewyn wouldn’t mind going hungry for a whole week just to avoid meeting this monster.

#

In the middle of a human city, Rahashik stood grinning. He was no longer invisible, but neither were the people around him screaming and running from the lizardfolk; because right now he didn’t look like a lizardfolk. He looked like an ordinary human man, grinning like a weirdo.

Magic is amazing. Rahashik chuckled to himself, causing a passing woman to shoot him a side-eyed glare and hurry her pace.

This appearance was nothing but an illusion. A close look by a skeptic would be enough to break it, and a simple handshake would expose the feeling of cold, scaly hands, but between this and the ability to turn invisible, oh the chaos he could cause.

This, however, wasn’t a spell, unlike the invisibility before. No, this was some different Devil-borne power that was much less taxing than casting a spell. As long as Rahashik was awake and aware, he could change his appearance into almost anything with the same number of limbs and similar size.

This did raise the issue of his tail, but the lizardfolk simply curled it around his waist, disguised it as a thick belt, and called it a day.

Enjoying the feeling of being the secret monster in a crowd, Rahashik went about gathering information. Nobody had anything to say about rumors of Devils, so he switched to topics he could actually get answers on. After a while, he settled himself in an alley and whispered a message to Astaroth.

“My prince, there’s no talk of Devils here. But, like you expected, their military power is mostly concentrated at the northwestern gate. I also found out where the food and weapon stores are, and which houses have important people inside.”

“Good,” his master’s voice returned to him. “Make a big fuss in those places when the time comes—especially the northwestern gate—but don’t destroy their food stores. We’ll be needing them later.”

“Yes, my prince. I’ll be waiting for your signal.” Rahashik stretched his arms above his head and grinned at the bustling sight outside of the alley. Now I can just have fun exploring until the party begins.