The convoy of military vehicles rolling through the glimmering streets of Glamoran drew the eyes of the wealthy. They passed by parked luxury and sports cars along the street, which was bordered by casinos, high dollar restaurants, and clubs. Sinners in expensive suits and gowns were walking along the streets. Skyscrapers with colorful lights lit up the night sky. Cleevus was following at the end of the line in his truck, with Dreyus in the bed.
The convoy pulled into the lot in front of a 20 story hotel/casino with gold trim around it, and parked their vehicles in 2 rows. Cleevus parked his own truck and got out, then turned to Dreyus in the bed.
"Stay with the truck Dreyus," he commanded.
Dreyus walked to the end of the bed, sat down, and watched the passerbyers.
Cleevus walked over to the entrance as Abbadon's men dismounted and followed. A bouncer with his arms crossed, who was roughly his size, eyed him as he approached the door. The bouncer held up his hand to stop him.
"Hey buddy this isn't a biker bar," he said, looking at Cleevus's leather jacket and jeans. "Come back wearing something nice or get lost."
"I wouldn't be talking to the Slayer of Wrath like that, if I was you," Abbadon said, appearing behind Cleevus. "I called beforehand to let your boss know we were coming in." The mercenaries piled in behind Abbadon as he stared down the bouncer.
The bouncer put his arms at his sides and looked down. "Sorry sir… uh, go right in." He opened up the doors for them and they walked inside.
The group walked into the casino and caught many distasteful looks from the higher-class sinners at the machines and tables. The place was alive with conversation, flashing lights, and noise from the machines.
"You couldn't have found a more casual place?" Cleevus asked.
"Needed somewhere big enough for my men," Abbadon replied. "They would think that I believe I'm better than them if I had gone somewhere they weren't. Also, screw these rich assholes, they can deal with it."
The mercs all dispersed to the machines, game tables, and bars in the casino, while Abbadon and Cleevus went to a lounge area of the casino that was less crowded. They sat down at a table and a small imp girl in a white shirt and black skirt walked up and asked if they would like something to drink.
"I'll have a glass of straight vodka on ice," Abbadon said.
The waitress looked at Cleevus. "You have jager?" he asked.
She nodded.
"I'll have a glass of that."
The waitress went off to get their drinks, and Abbadon leaned back in his chair.
"Another one put down, huh?" He said, cracking his knuckles. "Twelve rebellions around Hell in just the last 5 years. These people just don't give up."
Cleevus thought while looking at a fresh scar on his hand. "Can you blame them? They've been exiled to this hellhole for eternity."
Abbadon shrugged. "It's just wasted blood. No one here is getting to heaven, not by asking nicely."
The waitress came back over with their drinks and they both took a swig of the alcohol.
"That's alright, it keeps us busy," Abbadon said after taking another drink.
"But from what I heard, it won't be long before the prince makes his move. We'll be in it then."
Cleevus recalled Satan's words to him. "I heard the same," he said.
Abbadon nodded. "Things will change soon. Lucifer will be out of the way, and the day of reckoning for Hell will finally come." He noticed a fight start between 2 mercs over a game of Blackjack across the casino. He put down his drink and stood up. "I'll be back in a second." He left in their direction.
Cleevus took another sip and breathed out, tasting the strong herbs on his breath. After sitting for a while, he noticed a drunk sinner in an expensive looking suit sitting at the bar saying something to the imp girl who had served them. The sinner was holding onto her arm while she was trying to walk away. He reached his other arm around her, and grabbed her below the waist. She tried pushing him away, and the sinner stood up.
"Hey fuck you imp bitch!" He yelled, and pushed the girl into the stools behind her with force.
Cleevus stood up and strode over to the sinner at the bar, who threw the last of his drink onto the imp girl on the floor. He grabbed the sinner by his jacket and threw him into the bar behind him.
"Get the hell outta here, dirtbag," he said, looking at the sinner with disdain.
The sinner stumbled forward and threw a punch at Cleevus, which he caught easily, and responded by butting the sinner with his horns. The sinner dropped to the ground and held his forehead while groaning. A few moments later, a lycan bouncer jogged up and grabbed Cleevus's arm.
"You're out sir, you can't be fighting in here," the lycan said.
"Let him go," a voice from behind them spoke.
Cleevus turned around and saw a sinner in a gold trimmed suit behind him.
"He was just helping the staff. Probably not a fight we'd win anyways," he chuckled. "Get this other gentleman an ice pack."
The lycan let go of Cleevus and helped up the wealthy sinner Cleevus had knocked to the ground, then escorted the sinner away while the sinner cursed under his breath. The manager turned to the imp girl on the floor.
"Clean yourself up," he said unsympathetically.
Cleevus looked at the manager with the same disdain, and the manager looked back at him indifferently before walking away.
Cleevus walked over to the imp girl on the floor, who was wiping the alcohol off her face with her sleeve. He bent down and offered his hand to help her up. She looked up at him surprised, then took his hand, and he gently pulled her up.
"You alright?" He asked.
She nodded while looking down.
"Does this happen often?"
She paused then nodded again.
"I'm sorry…" He didn't know what else to say. "Would you… mind getting me a refill?"
She nodded again and went back behind the bar. Cleevus went back to the table and grabbed his glass, then walked back to the bar and took a seat. The waitress refilled his glass with more liqueur.
"Thank you," he said.
He took a sip and the girl walked back behind the bar.
"That was kind of you."
Cleevus turned his head to see who had spoken. A woman was sitting a few seats down from him, she was wearing a slim black dress with long gloves, had long flowing dark red hair, and pale skin. Her eyes were a very striking shade of green, with long eyelashes above them. She had dark lipstick on, and wore a silver chain with a green jewel pendant around her neck. Slender ram horns curved around the sides of her head. She smiled looking at him curiously, holding a cocktail in her hand.
"There's not many men in Hell who would be a gentleman like that, especially not to an imp," she said.
Cleevus just shrugged.
"You're with those soldiers, aren't you? But you don't look much like a soldier to me," she said, looking him up and down.
Cleevus shook his head. "No, not exactly."
She tipped her head and patted the stool next to her, inviting him to come and sit by her. Cleevus thought for a second, then decided it might not be bad to have some company tonight. He picked up his glass and walked over, then sat down next to her.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"Cleevus," he replied.
"Cleevus…" She tapped the bar with her finger, looking at him thoughtfully. "You're the Prince of Wrath's slayer, aren't you?"
Cleevus nodded. "That's right."
"I wouldn't have expected someone with such a title to have your temperament," she said.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. "I wouldn't have expected someone like you to be interested in someone like me."
She smiled again. "I guess we're both more than what meets the eye. I'm Lilith."
"Lilith," Cleevus nodded. "Pretty name. So why are you drinking alone tonight?"
She took another sip of her cocktail. "Just trying to get out of the house I suppose."
"I can understand that," he said.
Cleevus heard voices from behind him and turned around to see Abbadon walk up smirking with his arm around a half-drunk looking sinner woman.
"He he, look at you being a stud. Me and…" He turned to the woman next to him. "What was your name again?"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Melony," she replied hazily.
"Yeah, Melony. We're gonna go get a room. I talked to the manager and everything is already paid for us, compliments of Mammon. So enjoy yourself, don't worry about it." He sounded a little drunk himself.
Cleevus gave him a thumbs up. "Got it."
Abbadon smirked at Lilith then back at him before turning and walking away with the woman.
"Your friend seems nice…" Lilith said, a little sarcastically.
Cleevus took a sip of his drink then stared at the glass of green liquor. "Not sure I'd call him that. He's more of a… coworker."
"Hm." She looked at a gold clock on the wall, indicating that it was about 10:30 in Greed's time. "Well it's getting late, I think I'm going to head to my room for the night, would you like to join me?"
She brushed his hand on the counter with her fingers, and smiled again, staring at him seductively with her green eyes.
"I'd love that," he replied with a little smile.
The two stood up, and surprisingly, she was about his height, though she was wearing high heels. He noticed the imp girl come back behind the counter.
"Hey," he said, walking over to her. She looked up at him and he pulled out his wallet. He took 3 tens out and held them out to her. "For you," he said, giving her a smile.
She took them hesitantly and smiled back at him shyly. "Thank you," she said.
Cleevus nodded and turned back to Lilith, who was giving him the same curious look as before.
"Follow me," she said walking towards a hallway leading to an elevator.
It was the following morning, Cleevus was standing at the balcony of the luxurious hotel room, leaning on the railing and enjoying the cool air. The sun was about to rise over the horizon, and the city was waking up. He was shirtless, and Lilith was still asleep in bed inside the room.
The previous night had been very refreshing, and he had slept well. He heard his phone vibrate, so he walked back inside the hotel room. He picked it up off of the nightstand and Lilith stirred in bed. He turned it on and saw a message from Marchocias. He opened it, and it read; Go to the Invidia airport in Envy, a contact will be waiting for you there.
He put his shirt and boots back on and grabbed his things, then turned back to Lilith lying in the bed. She was lying on her side with her arms around the pillow, her red hair messily thrown over her head. He grabbed a room-service notepad off a desk and wrote a message.
Had to run, would like to see you again sometime.
He wrote his phone number at the bottom of the note and set it on the nightstand next to her. He then put his jacket on and left through the door.
The realm of Envy was a cold and wet climate, with many harsh rainstorms, and the occasional hurricane. Three-quarters of the planet's surface was covered by oceans. Invidia was a large island just off of one of the larger continents on Envy's surface. The land was rocky with some moss and low grass that grew on it.
Cleevus was driving along a fence in his charger outside of the airport, the car's headlights glistening on the wet pavement. He brought the car to a halt on the side of the street, outside the chain link fence. The night was cold and damp, a rainstorm had just passed over. He put it in neutral and killed the engine, then looked through the fence at the hangars. Lights were on in the windows of one in the middle. There was a sinner wearing a gray denim jacket and a wool cap leaned against a fence post under a streetlight nearby, smoking a cigarette. He grabbed his uzi out from under the seat and stepped out of the car
He approached the sinner leaned against the post, and the sinner looked at him nonchalantly.
"You Cleevus?" The sinner asked.
Cleevus nodded.
"The suppliers are in there now making a deal." He motioned at the hanger with the lights on. "Security is already paid off, you just need to go in there and take out the buyers. The guys in black are the dealers."
Cleevus nodded. "Will do," he said.
He walked along the fence to where the security checkpoint was, and saw that the lights in the booth were on. He slowly walked up to the booth, and a drowsy looking security guard inside looked up at him. He gave the guard a nod, and the guard gave a nod back. He walked around the barrier and into the airport, moving toward the hangar.
When he was close to the back door leading inside the hangar, he saw two figures come around the front holding flashlights. He ducked back around the opposite corner. He heard their footsteps come near, then the door opening around the corner. He heard the door close and he waited 30 seconds, then walked back around the corner and quietly through the door.
The inside of the hangar was dimly lit by the overhead lights. Several black sedans and sports cars were parked near the open main door. A circle of men were in the center of the hangar, 2 were in black suits, the rest were wearing casual wear. They were conversing while looking at a set of open cases with the same glowing capsules as the ones the machine-gun he used to kill the behemoth at the harbor fired. He heard a click just behind his head.
"Don't move motherfucker…" a voice said from behind him.
Cleevus swiftly turned around and knocked away the arm holding a desert eagle to to his head. The mobster fired the gun as he did and the bullet passed just inches by his ear. He kicked the mobster away from him then sprayed him with the uzi. The mobsters and dealers in the center all turned to face him, some of them drawing handguns. Cleevus fired at them with the uzi, being careful to keep the dealers out of the line of fire. Some dropped and others took cover behind toolboxes and crates in the hangar. Cleevus advanced forward, dropping more guards around the hangar, noticing the 2 dealers in black grab the cases and start running back to the cars near the door.
When he was in the center where all the guards were, he drew his automag with his free hand and dispatched the remaining 5 guards, dual-wielding both the uzi and the automag. As he finished them, he heard an engine fire up. He turned and saw a white sports car dashing away with its tires screeching.
He ran over to the parked cars and scanned over them. He recognized one of them to be a WMC Vortex; a sports car with a twin-turbo V-10 engine. It ought to be able to catch the dealers' car. He ran to it and jumped inside. Luckily the driver had left the key in the ignition on standby, probably for a quick getaway. He pushed the start switch and the V-10 roared to life behind him. He slammed the shifter into gear and stomped on the pedal.
The car's tires screeched and the turbos whistled as he peeled out of the hangar onto the dark wet runway. The bright LEDs lit up the empty runway, he could see the taillights of the dealers' car in the distance. He shifted up and the speedometer needle passed 120 mph. He was closing in on the sports car, and seeming to notice this, the dealers sped up too. When they were near the end of the runway, the dealers turned off to an exit road out of the airport. They crashed straight through the chain link gate, and Cleevus followed, only 50 meters behind now. The car turned onto the road he had driven in on, and began heading for the freeway.
The two cars raced up the ramp and onto the freeway, which had some light traffic on it. The white car ahead of him weaved around the other cars and trucks, trying to shake him. Cleevus was close on their tail as they reached an overpass, when the car hit their brakes and sped onto the ramp to the crossing highway. Cleevus followed them up, and the white car narrowly passed between 2 semis as one was changing lanes. With the road blocked by the 2 trucks, Cleevus went through the traffic cones into the oncoming traffic on the left side of the highway. He swerved between the cars as they blared their horns. When the barricades ended, he plowed through the cones back onto the right side of the road.
He was right on the tail of the dealers' car, when they took an exit to an unfinished tunnel under the highway. The white car crashed through a construction barricade, and Cleevus followed through onto the washboarded pavement, shaking the car as he drove over it. The roar of the 2 high-revved engines echoed off the inside of the concrete tunnel. The white car was pushing as hard as it could, but Cleevus was closing in. The dealer in the passenger seat leaned out of the window, holding a handgun, and fired at his car. He ducked down as several shots came through the windshield and nearly hit him, but he was able to maintain control.
As they were coming to the end of the tunnel, Cleevus rolled down the passenger window. He dropped a gear, and sped up next to the white car on their left side. He grabbed his uzi, held it up, and sprayed the side of their car, aiming for the rear tire. The tire blew, and the dealers' car veered to the right. Cleevus applied the brakes and fell back to avoid them. They exited the tunnel as the dealer was trying to regain control, but ultimately, the car spun out.
The car did a 180 while still moving at about 80 mph, skidding off the pavement and throwing up a cloud of dirt. The passenger-side slammed into a concrete support pillar beneath the highway adjacent to the tunnel exit. The wrecked car then slid to a stop about 10 meters away.
Cleevus slowed his car down, then drove off the road and rolled to a stop near the wrecked car. After pausing to gather himself, he put the car in neutral, applied the brake, and stepped out, with the uzi in hand.
The passenger side of the car was destroyed, only 1 of the headlights was still on. By the lights overhead, he could see the dealer in the passenger seat slumped over with blood streaked down his face. The driver opened the door and fell out onto the ground, with bruises and cuts all over his face. The driver looked up at Cleevus as he walked up. Cleevus stopped, a little confused. The dealer was a sinner who looked to be not much older than 20.
"What the fuck do you want?" He said, clearly in pain.
"You're just a kid…" Cleevus said.
"Yeah, and who are you?" The dealer asked.
Cleevus pulled out his phone and dialed Marchocias's number.
"I have someone who wants to speak to you," he replied.
Marchocias picked up the call. "Hello?"
"It's me, I've got your dealer right here," Cleevus said.
"Good, let me speak with them please."
Cleevus bent down and held the phone out to the dealer.
"What do you want from me?" The dealer said into the phone.
"I'm sorry to have to send my associate to fetch you, but I wasn't able to get ahold of you any other way," Marchocias said. "I'm the head arms supplier in Wrath, and I'm afraid I can't have you supporting my competition. It's nothing personal, I'm sure you understand. So, I'm offering to give you a place supplying my business. There would be great reward for you, should you oblige. But first, I need to know where your production facility is."
The dealer thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I can't… my boss, the angel, will kill me."
Cleevus was confused. His boss was an angel?
"If you refuse, my friend here will do just that," Marchocias replied. "This is my final offer."
The dealer hung his head down. "Then I'm a dead man either way…" He said.
"Hmm… shame," Marchocias said, sounding disappointed. "Cleevus-"
Cleevus paused, then held up the uzi and leveled it with the dealer's head. The dealer closed his eyes and waited for the end. A memory of a young Russian soldier with a bullet hole in his head flashed through Cleevus's mind as he held the gun.
Cleevus pointed the gun a foot to the right of the dealer's head and fired. The bullets threw up some dirt and the dealer shuddered. When he realized he hadn't been shot, he looked back up at Cleevus.
"Well that's unfortunate," Marchocias said on the phone. "Bring me whatever material they were selling back to my office and we'll discuss further actions later, Cleevus."
Cleevus held the phone up to his face. "Got it." He hung up and slid the phone back in his pocket, then looked back down at the young dealer. "Take that car." Cleevus motioned with his head to the vortex behind him. "Don't ever let me see or hear about you again."
The dealer nodded shakily, then got up and limped to the car. He got inside and drove off, as Cleevus walked over to the trunk of the wrecked car. He popped it open and pulled out the cases, when a voice spoke from behind him.
"So you're the Slayer of Wrath."
Cleevus spun around and was faced with a man who looked to be in his 30s, with black hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and a medium build. He was wearing a polished chestplate, leather gauntlets, and a dark blue cape, with light gray garments underneath. A medieval-looking sword hung at his side.
"Who the hell are you?" Cleevus asked.
"Eren. A gatekeeper of the afterlife," he replied.
Cleevus nodded slowly. "So you're the one giving these people ectoplasm?"
"That's right," Eren said, looking at him with disdain. "I am charged with protecting Heaven from Hell, and you're interfering."
Cleevus scoffed. "You're protecting heaven by supplying gangs and warlords in Hell?"
"The archfiends are preparing for a war, I am trying to prevent that by providing for their enemies. You already helped put an end the rebellion in Greed. But you already know what's coming, don't you? Are you going to aid in mankind's destruction, demon?" He said.
Cleevus stared at him with spite. "You're acting like I owe something to you, angel. And it's funny how you judge me when you threatened to kill that kid."
"I wasn't going to kill him, I only said what I needed to say to persuade him. If you continue on your current path, the forces of darkness will consume our universe." He took a step back. "Think about your actions, slayer."
A cyclone if white light suddenly formed around Eren's body, covering him. After a few seconds it dissipated, and he was gone.
Cleevus stood there taking in what the angel had said for a few moments. He then grabbed the cases of ectoplasm and pulled out his transit stone to go retrieve his car.
"Invidia airport, Envy realm," he said.
The flames circled around him, and he vanished.