“He doesn’t know what he’s saying.” Lucifer’s wrathfire gaze pinned Abraxis in place as the overwhelming might of Lucifer’s Sin tried to squelch Abraxis, tried to suffocate him and stop him from speaking again. “We’ll be taking the most in-depth option you have availabl—”

Despite the crushing weight of the Sin, Abraxis’ bloodline roared to life and did what it did best. It neutralized a fraction of the Sin, just enough to allow him to mutter one word, “No.”

Pressure of Sin like a crushing mountain redoubled, then tripled, then nearly shattered Abraxis’ mind into a pulpy mess of fragments. But as fast as the power came, the pain and destructive, dominating force disappeared.

“As this young fledgling is my current client, I’ll need you to refrain from injuring him until our business is complete.” Albagoroth smiled, a toothy thing, each tooth narrowing to dangerous points and dyed a deep black. “Until the time that I’ve finished business with fledgling Abraxis, he will be considered under my protection. I failed to provide such a disclaimer before, so I won’t count this as an infraction of my previous warning.” A glint of something hostile but playful flashed through the mysterious demon’s eyes, almost as if to say, “Test me, I dare you.”

Lucifer grunted in disgust, barely soothing the raging inferno coiling around his skin like a living serpent. His powers rippled beneath his veins as his transformation threatened to release unfathomable havoc upon Albagoroth for his continued impediment of his will.

But Andariel’s silent embrace, her arms wrapping around his chest and skin sizzling from the heat of his flames, comforted and calmed him enough to stop him from losing himself completely to wrath and making an unforgivable mistake. She groaned in pain but didn’t relent in her efforts.

Albagoroth, ey? Abraxis had found a new idol and now looked at Lucifer with eyes full of pity and disdain. I thought he was something worth aiming for, but the world seems to be far bigger than even he was aware. Interesting.

“So you decline services?” Albagoroth turned to Abraxis and winked. “I can throw in a one-time special, but it’ll require us to move to a,” he turned and shot the Emperor and Empress a sly look, “more secluded area. I think I have the perfect place in mind, so if you’d follow me right this way…”

The entire time he spoke, his gaze rooted Lucifer and Andariel in place with that “test me, see what happens” gaze. That toothy grin made something stir in Abraxis’ chest, something quite entertaining and all too aware of just how many demons greater than he the being before him had crushed on a simple whim.

Lucifer gaped like a fish before pulling himself together. “If you leave now—”

Abraxis shook his head. “I’ll deal with the consequences later. Hell, I’ll even make a recommendation for punishment. One I’m sure everyone will agree with?” he asked, gesturing towards Albagoroth and Andariel. The former shrugged, uncaring, while Andariel looked at him with a slightly tilted head and raised brows—interested. “When I return, I’ll fight Yugmuswa.”

The few in attendance gasped at his declaration. To suggest such a thing himself…

“Do you have a death wish?” one of the remaining noble demons asked. He didn’t sway under the weight of the combined attention he received, making Abraxis think hard about who the person might be. Nobody of note, nothing rang a bell. His appearance was only slightly more dignified than that of a greater demon. His Sin felt lackluster for his Existential Ranking, which meant—

“An Awakened?” Abraxis felt a hunger unlike any other. If he just consumed the noble demon before him, he’d likely Awaken too. From the level of power he felt, the noble demon wouldn’t even be a challenge if Abraxis played his cards right. “What’s your name, noble?”

The unnamed demon’s gaze shifted towards Hell’s leaders, almost hoping they’d introduce him, but neither seemed to care or acknowledge his existence. He sucked on the inside of his teeth as if considering whether or not he wanted to reveal his identity then and there, or if he wanted to hold on to the cards he’d been hiding up his sleeve.

Boring. Abraxis raised a hand, and the demon’s shadows rose from behind him. They lashed forward to bind, his bloodline’s ability to nullify synergizing with the sticky versatility of his Talent. All of the shadow tentacles looped around limbs, neck, and torso. He… doesn’t seem bothered.

A snort dissipated the binding attack. The demon checked himself to see if any leftover residue marred his outfit, and when he found there was nothing, he crossed his arms.

His outfit shifted, and a simple monochromatic gray suit took the previous, lesser outfit’s place. Fitted to perfection, tailored with simplicity in mind, the power of the outfit was subdued but still affected the very air around the demon. “You can call me Uncle, Abraxis, and I will call you Nephew.”

The statement was odd. Too many things were odd about the situation, but once Abraxis looked around and realized that Lucifer’s flames had killed every other greater or noble demon in attendance—things started to click.

“Oh-ho!” Booming in glee, something deep and profound and almost loud enough to shatter Abraxis’ eardrums simply from proximity, Albagoroth chortled in amusement. He stepped around the gathered trio and approached this stranger. The unknown archdemon that made Lucifer look like a child’s plaything knelt before the new, unknown demon. “Master, I wasn’t aware you’d be in attendance. I should have escorted you here myself.”

With all the insane levels of Sin being tossed around so casually, Abraxis hadn’t even realized that this mystery person had been in attendance or had remained behind after Lucifer’s infernal fit. In fact, he literally wasn’t traceable by presence. Only his existence in front of Abraxis made him real, tangible in any sense of the word.

Abraxis wanted to reach out and touch the demon, just to make sure he truly existed in front of his eyes as a physical form. Not to mention, the longer Abraxis tried to focus on the demon, the more his attention slipped away. Almost as if he were trying to look at a powerful illusion for too long or too hard.

“If you escorted me, that would defeat the purpose of coming to observe in disguise.” With a wave of Uncle’s hand, Albagoroth rose in the air and flew across the room. “Why don’t you use your brain for once in your life, or should I change your name to A-Bag-Of-Rocks?”

From where he caused an Albagoroth-sized crater in the far wall of the throne room, a pained yet fanatic voice called back, “If that’s what you decree, Master, then so be it!” Seconds later, the minotaur-sized demon fell face forward with a thud to the ground where he crawled forward with his eight arms like a freaky, oversized spiderkin. He kept himself to the ground, praying to the greatness of his master’s glory. “By your will, I live. By your life, I breathe. By your design, I—”

He went on and on until his voice became background noise. Well, almost. The thrum of his words and the power they contained were absolutely mind-smacking, like passively getting battered around in turbulent waves of Blight—a disgusting off-shoot of Miasma used by necromancers, a nasty energy that went against Abraxis’ sensibilities. He’d had the misfortune of taking a bath in such a vat by happenstance.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Lucifer and Andariel regarded Albagoroth’s master with confusion, but neither said a word to him. They knew the difference in stations. Albagoroth would’ve wiped the floor with them, and his master made him look even smaller than Albagoroth made them look.

This is fine. They’ll all be stepping stones for me to use and grow past. It only… increases the scale of my goals by… just a little. What’s one more step? Nothing major. Definitely nothing to be concerned about. Abraxis regarded Uncle, refusing to bow. He grinned and gambled his fate on this moment, his greed and pride in agreement. Not even hesitating as he reached out a hand, Abraxis proffered a token shake that, if taken, would be an agreement of their equality.

“Are you insane?” Lucifer hissed from his side, but he didn’t move to stop Abraxis. Abraxis made sure to save that mental image of the panicked archdemon, Emperor of Hell, for he looked like a bug. A prideful bug, but still a bug. Incapable of resisting. “Do you want to die?”

Albagoroth lifted his head in curiosity to see what Lucifer commented on. Where Abraxis thought the archdemon would rage in the face of his actions, seeing his previous zealous nature, Albagoroth instead grinned and nodded knowingly. “Young Master is quite an impressive one, Master.”

Uncle glared towards Albagoroth, a glint of amusement in his eyes. When he turned back to Abraxis, he took Abraxis’ hand and shook it. “Well met, Nephew.”

“Well met, Uncle,” Abraxis echoed the sentiment, uncertain of any of the official ceremonies regarding Uncle. But he was still alive, so what he was doing couldn’t be wrong. It’s not like he’d ever been taught any such things, so surely he’d be forgiven, even if he’d made a SNAFU. Such was his greatness. “What’s the occasion for your appearance?”

A spark of intrigue lingered in Uncle’s eyes, and he nodded, barely perceptible. “Albagoroth was correct before, this is not the time or place for this conversation.” He dropped the grasp the two shared, pointing towards Lucifer and Andariel. “I wasn’t aware you’d be in attendance today, actually, but I’m glad to finally meet you. Brother speaks highly of you, so we’ve been keeping watch.”

What? Abraxis nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you now.” Uncle’s tone stated the question, almost as if to say “no you don’t” but spared Abraxis’ pride. He oriented towards Lucifer and Andariel. “Nephew has given you the terms of his consequences. What say you?”

The two of them looked horrified. Andariel looked like she wanted to scamper off as fast as she could, and Lucifer’s pride would never let him think such a thought. Rather, he held his Empress to his side and faced Uncle, doing his best not to instinctively lash out against the presence of overwhelming might and to keep his tone even and not at all panicked.

“How could we ever punish Abraxis for something so insignificant?” Lucifer couldn’t stop himself from seething as he bit out the words.

Uncle shook his head. “That’s not right. Consider Nephew his own entity without his family’s backing.” A knowing look was shot towards Abraxis, and the fledgling demon nodded in appreciation. As much as he’d love to take pride in his bloodline, he’d never stand for having someone else face his battles for him, nor would he ever hide behind the reputation of another. “Our kind firmly believes in the forging of one’s own path. On their own, in the wilds, without the help and backing of any of our family’s members. The laws of survival will dictate capability. Thus, he still falls under your purview. If he has offended you, do not consider my presence in your calculations for your actions.”

Abraxis beamed. Whoever the members of his family were, he’d been right in his theory that they were hardcore. More hardcore than anything in Hell, apparent by the still-confused expressions worn by Lucifer and Andariel. Whoever his family was, they would be his pride and enabled him to live freely, exempt of expectations and duty and responsibility.

Maybe I’ll spare them in my rise to the absolute pinnacle of greatness. Maybe. He’d have to contemplate such thoughts at another time, for Lucifer looked almost ready to spit-roast Abraxis right then.

Abraxis grinned towards Lucifer, eyes twinkling as he easily read the archdemon’s mind. “I wouldn’t do that.”

Blazing flames and crushing subjugation settled over Abraxis before he could finish speaking, and just as the fledgling expected, nothing happened.

Lucifer looked at Uncle like he needed to utilize the latrine after a rather spicy feast of lust demons—a true look of consternation. “What do you think you’re doing?! You just said—”

But Uncle jammed a dismissive and bored thumb towards the no-longer floored Albagoroth.

In each of his eight hands, the minotaur-sized archdemon held orbs of color—one of which Abraxis had never seen before, something prismatic as its calm kaleidoscopic array of colors pulsed with power none of the others could match. One for each of the Sins, plus that strange one, looking like the epitome of “the calm before the storm”. Face passive, eyes focused, and power brimming throughout the room in a way that shook Abraxis down to his Nexus.

Before Albagoroth could release that torrent of power, something that Abraxis could hardly conceive or understand despite looking right at it, Abraxis stepped in front of the two archdemons with his hands up. “As much as I’d like you to teach them a lesson or two, I do enjoy the company of my betrothed. And she’s set the goal of eating these two here to show her respect for everything they’ve done…” Between Uncle, Albagoroth, and the Emperor and Empress of Hell, he got a lot of interesting looks. He nodded, letting his hands fall with a shrug. “So yeah. Just make them agree to the fight with Yugmuswa, and we’ll be good.”

Albagoroth looked behind Abraxis. In the next second, he heard Andariel speak again for the first time since introducing Albagoroth. “We… can make that happen, yes.”

Abraxis nodded again, this time toward Uncle and Albagoroth. “I need to speak with Albagoroth first. And, unless my ears heard wrong, Uncle has business with both of you. So we’ll be off first. Be sure to summon that lazy demon for our fight. From what I can tell, Albagoroth isn’t the type to forget the details of a deal,” Abraxis goaded, grinning as he took his time with slow and measured paces towards the same door he’d come in.

Without another word between the two of them, Albagoroth followed behind, shooting one last playful glare full of visceral promises of violence and mayhem should they not fulfill their end of the “agreement”. Once the door shut behind them, Abraxis let out the largest breath of his life and had to steady himself against the closest wall as his knees nearly buckled under him.

The unadulterated relief that flooded his body after the hurricane of raw Sin he’d been subjected to wore off was something. A feeling almost as good as spending time with the lustiest, most skilled succubus—of course, that was none other than Lilith. When feeling began to return to his body and his breathing went from way-too-fast to calm-enough, he glared at Albagoroth who, conveniently, looked anywhere but him.

“So, you’ll be calling me Young Master now?” he asked the hulking archdemon, observing the way his four sets of arms restlessly flickered in the air. The other demon never stopped moving, almost as if his arms had a mind of their own and they were working on something Abraxis couldn’t even perceive.

“Of course.” Albagoroth knelt before Abraxis and lowered his head. “I am but a lowly servant, a creation of purpose crafted by my glorious Master. All members of the family are greater than I, including you. Your greatness doesn’t belong in this minor realm, but such is the decree of your father.”

Questions burned in Abraxis’ gut, boiling and bubbling with the desire to spit them all out at once. But that would be unbefitting of his image. He would learn of such things in due time, just as soon as Albagoroth got to revealing the most in-depth information he could with whatever means he had available.

Albagoroth looked around at the servant paths and two sets of stairs beside the door to the throne room. One of his many arms scratched the top of his head as he asked, “Where should we go to complete the transaction?”

“Come with me.” Abraxis, legs steady enough to carry him where he needed to go, turned and ascended the staircase. His steps, as always, were measured. As much as his desires screamed at him to go faster, to find out what he could from Albagoroth this instant, his image would succumb to no secondary Sin. Rather, he tempered himself as that fuel of chaos brewed in his chest, spurred onward by the intense Sin that growled and groaned in his Nexus. He needed somewhere quiet. More to himself than Albagorth, he muttered, “I have just the place.”