CHAPTER 17

The atmosphere in the cellar had become awkward.

The demon, presumably trapped behind a magical holy barrier and at the mercy of her trapper, showed no sign of distress. At most, she looked mildly inconvenienced.

Meanwhile, the man who should be in control of the situation—and indeed, had been gloating minutes ago—was gnashing his teeth underneath his face scarf. Golden-brown eyes glowered at Samael from the shadows of a hood, and his knuckles were white on his ceremonial staff, the metal rings at its top shivering.

“I will ask once more. What do you want here, demon?!”

Samael sighed. This had been going on for a while—not this question exactly, but more of the same sort. None of Samael’s answers seemed to satisfy the man, even though she only told the truth. The demon was growing increasingly puzzled at his behaviour. Although it did not show on her face, her shallow reservoir of patience was running thin.

“Want? Err...” She scratched her hair. “Right now, I’d say… more fish?”

“…fish.”

“Yeah. That stunt with the chicken made me hungry again. How did you do that?” She looked at the strange markings on the floor, filled with chicken blood—which Slei was busy licking. “Hey! Not fair! Leave me some!”

“Eeh haaw!”

“Family shares!”

“Don’t try to distract me, demon!” Livid, the man brandished his jingly staff as if it were some kind of threat. “I won’t fall for your lies!”

“Lies?” Samael tilted her head. “Why would I lie?”

“Because you’re a demon!”

“That makes no sense.” She turned to Slei. “He’s even weirder than Sophia.”

“Eeh haaaw.” The donkey brayed his agreement.

“What are you doing with Sophia, demon?!”

“Ah!” Like lightning on an iron mountain, realisation struck the devil. Finally, she figured out why this human felt familiar. “I knew there was something off with you! You’re that annoying guy! Lota… Li… La…” She scratched her head. “What was your name again?”

“It’s none of your business, demon!”

“Lily? No. Luna? Leila? …Lucy!”

“It’s Lucian!” the man snapped. “Answer me, demon!”

“Right, Lucian… Eh. I think you’re more of a Lucy. What’s with the face mask?”

“Answer… my… question!” Growling, Lucian brandished his staff again. “Or prepare to suffer, demon!”

Samael eyed the stick dubiously. “She told you. We’re travelling to the Snot.”

“…What does that even mean? I won’t fall for your nonsense, demon!”

“Hmm… did I say it wrong?” Confused, she turned to Slei, “What was it called again?”

“Eeeeh Haw.”

“…yeah, that’s not helpful at all.”

“Answer me, demon!”

“Ugh. You’re so annoying.” Samael twisted a finger in her ear. She flicked a ball of wax and salt at the barrier, where it sizzled and turned to ashes. “Demon. Demon. Demon! Is that all you can say? How would you like if I shouted ‘human!’ at the end of every sentence?” At the donkey, she added, “Not only is he weird, he’s rude too. I think we lucked out with Sophia. Other humans are not nearly as cute. Well, maybe Rosie.”

“Eeh haw.”

“Stop with your mind games, dem– …Stop with the games!” The visible upper half of Lucian’s face was turning red—from anger or embarrassment, hard to say. Samael guessed it might be both. “You cannot fool me! You’re at least a higher spawn or a lesser devil. A demon of your calibre never comes to Midworld without reason! Whatever nefarious purpose you’re pursuing, I won’t stand for it! What was your role in the pirate attack against Her Grace?!”

“Against whose grace?”

“Sister Sophia!”

“Oh. Yes. I ate those guys. They tasted good.” A wicked grin split Samael’s face. Her tongue ran hungrily over her lips. “Maybe I should eat you too? You’re almost as annoying as they were. I’m pretty sure I would enjoy it.” Her expression turned pensive. “Would Sophia believe it if I said it was in self-defence?”

“Eeeh haw? Eeh haaaw…”

“Yeah. Probably not. It’s kind of the truth, though? He attacked me first.”

“Eeh haww.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“Keep your threats to yourself, demon!” After a brief lapse, Lucian’s self-confidence seemed to bounce right back—along with his irritating speech pattern. He made a grand gesture showing off the glowing runes on the ceiling. “You should know you are powerless inside this circle! You are only alive still because I want answers.”

“Is that so?” Samael’s malicious grin returned with a new scarier twist. Her teeth had elongated to sharp points. The amber in her eyes darkened to a gleaming blood-red, and her pupils contracted to slits. The obsidian skin of her forehead split to let her horns through. Her loose clothes filled out as she grew, but not by much. She kept a tight leash on her transformation—again, mostly to preserve her outfit.

Her head grazed the ceiling, and she leaned towards Lucian. “How about a deal, human? You let me out, and in exchange, I don’t eat you once I’m free.”

To his honest credit, Lucian only took a single step back but otherwise stood his ground. Though, some of that courage must have stemmed from trust in his barrier.

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“Finally you show your true form, creature!”

Is he switching it out? Samael gave a half-shrug. “Not really…”

He ignored her. “But I told you, it is useless, demon!”

Never mind. “Useless? Is it, though?” She raked her claws against the wall of shimmering light. Black and white sparks erupted from the contact. Shrieks of tortured metal filled the room. “I think I get it…” She pushed a little harder. Her claws glowed red, and their tip poked through the barrier. She drew her hand across the section in front of her, leaving wakes of tears, although they immediately knitted themselves back together. “That’s a pretty neat trick.”

“A, A trick?!” Lucian took another step back. He tried to keep stoic, but the demon’s success had shocked him. “This is a holy barrier of the fifth level!”

“…right. Whatever you say.” Samael nodded indulgently, then stage-whispered at Slei. “He’s not making any sense at all.”

“Eeeh hahahawww.”

“How are you doing this?!” Lucian’s voice was half-anger, half-disbelief. Furious thinking went on behind his golden eyes.

Samael yawned. “This is getting boring. It was fun at first, but I should go back to Sophia. Thank you for teaching me a new trick, I guess. Slei, let’s go.”

“Eeh haw.”

“Alright.” She rolled her shoulders.

“Wait! What are you.”

The devil shoved both her hands through the barrier. Sparks shot in every direction. The ear-splitting noise of tearing metal once more echoed in the small cellar. Prickly swirls of white lightning coursed up Samael’s arms. She shrugged them off and forced her hands apart. A crack appeared in the barrier and slowly spread up and down with an unholy shrieking noise.

“Monster,” Lucian’s eyes widened, but his shock was quickly replaced by resolve. “Don’t think I’ll let you do as you please!” He put two fingers of his left hand on his chest and shook his staff with the bandaged right one. The jingle of the rings sounded clearly over the tearing noise—as if suppressing it. Out of Lucian’s mouth fell a long litany of esoteric whispers.

The barrier flashed, and Samael’s effort grounded to a halt.

However, she was undeterred. “Nice try. But… ughn.” A ripping noise announced her clothes coming apart, their seams ruptured by swelling flesh. Her horns extended up and spiralled backwards over her head. A spiked tail slithered out of her tearing pants. She now had to stoop to fit underneath the brilliant ceiling. Her terrifying grin widened sardonically. “It is useless, human.”

She flexed her arms, and the crack in the barrier burst larger at once.

Pale and sweating, Lucian chanted and agitated his staff with fervour. “Regna terrae, cantate Deis, psallite Dominis per caelum, caelum antiquos, glori Industriae in Elysio…” The stick itself looked stressed. Hairline cracks had spread along its entire length. They glowed brightly from within, like a dam leaking white holy light. Something also shone through Lucian’s shirt where his fingers laid.

With a shattering crack, white lightning abruptly arched out of the barrier and struck the staff. It exploded, and Lucian’s body was thrown across the cellar. He hit the wall with a hard thud and a gasp that ejected all the air from his chest.

“Eh. It broke.” Samael looked around at the dissipating motes of light. The shimmering wall was no more, and the glowing holy runes in the ceiling had been reduced to charred lines. Caring neither for the angelic script or the man groaning on the floor, the demon took a step towards the rising staircase—only to stop, turn around, and pick up the dead chicken. You shouldn’t waste food, she thought. The headless poultry disappeared between her jaws.

She spun back around, now ready to leave—and a white energy bolt hit her in the face. Her head jerked back, more from surprise than the bolt, which had hurt about as much as a mosquito bite. Admittedly, Tartarus mosquitos were the size of Midworld bunnies. But for one such as Samael, they remained an inconsequential irritation.

“I won’t…” a pained voice groaned. Somehow standing, although shaky on his legs, a deathly pale Lucian glared hatefully at the demon. “I won’t… let you get… to Sophia… you monster...”

He had said the one thing he should not. Samael finally had enough of his bullshit.

Her movements were faster than his eyes could follow. In a blink, she was in front of Lucian, grabbed him by the head and slammed him against the wall—twice. She lifted his bleeding face level with hers and blew scalding hot breath onto him.

“AND HOW DO YOU SUPPOSE YOU’LL ACCOMPLISH THAT, LITTLE MAN?”

Her voice was like a cavernous roar echoing from a great depth. It shook the man to his very core, a reminder of an ancient primal fear most mortals’ consciousness had long forgotten.

“Ack!” He coughed out blood. In the shock, he had bitten his tongue. However, and even though uncontrollable shivers racked his body, Lucian’s glaring eyes still steadily found Samael’s. “I won’t… let you… harm…”

Despite her burning anger, the demon had remembered to hold back. This worthless insect was of some importance to Sophia, and for that, he got to live. She was, however, surprised he could remain conscious. At least, his willpower and sturdiness were commendable.

“Keep away… from her…”

His idiotic stubbornness also somehow commanded her respect.

Samael noticed the man left hand moving slowly to his right. The bandage on the latter remained miraculously unscathed despite holding the staff when it blew up. Lucian’s finger hooked underneath a strip of the brown cloth.

What… A sudden sense of foreboding seized the devil, and she almost popped the human’s skull like an egg right there.

What saved his life was a flash—yet another one—that flared from his chest, distracting both of them. Intrigued, Samael casually ripped the man’s shirt open and pulled out the medallion hanging around his neck on a thin silver chain.

Truly, every single human seemed to have one of those.

Lucian made some weak attempts at stopping her, but she batted his hands away and shifted her hold to keep his right hand away from the rest of him. Whatever was under that bandage, the demon knew she wanted it to stay hidden.

A light tug from her broke the chain, and she raised the pendant to examine its glowing emblem. She was startled to recognise the symbol from Rosie’s gift.

[https://i.imgur.com/Bi9bOl6.png]

As it was a deal offering, Samael perfectly remembered the girl’s wooden medallion and its weird etching that bridged the gap between a screaming boar and an aggressive flower. She also recalled the meaning which her little contractor associated with it.

“Is this your inquisitor medal, Lucy?”

She did not even know anything of what an inquisitor did, other than they hunted demons. And even that piece of information came from the Temple children’s games.

But the fear in Lucian’s eyes was all the answer she needed. His attempt to hide it was valiant, but Samael could see without a doubt that he entirely expected to be executed now that a demon had found him out.

“Is that why you wanted to take Sophia away from me?” She searched his eyes. “…or was it only part of the reason? In any case, it’s pointless. Your attempt was cute, but this ends now. You won’t keep us apart, because she’s my resp–”

Her voice abruptly cut off, her mouth snapped shut, and her head jerked to the north. A wrathful growl seeped through her gritted fangs. Lucian whimpered in her grasp. If he had thought she looked angry before, now the devil had murder on every inch of her face.

“I can’t feel her…” Her whisper was a mixture of anger, fear and disbelief. Her eyes shifted to the trembling inquisitor. What little colour remained to his face vanished. “Did you hold me back here so someone could get to Sophia?” Her tone promised untold worlds of pain if the answer dissatisfied her.

“W-W-What? No! That makes no sense! What are you saying? What happened to Sophia?!”

“Tsk.” Samael knew he was telling no lies and that his worry was sincere.

She was still of a mind to reduce him to cinders. Because of his barrier, her senses had been cut off, and she failed to notice Sophia’s disappearance.

However, in the end, it was her own fault for playing around with the silly man instead of breaking away the instant she lost contact with her protégée. Gabriel always warned Samael’s worst flaw would be overconfidence. After two decades fighting abominations, the demon reasonably thought herself invulnerable. She never stopped to consider others might not be as robust.

She also never even considered Sophia could be attacked a second time in her so-called goddess’ territory. Surely, Rachiel would not let that happen. But obviously, trusting the two-faced pigeon even a little bit had proven a mistake.

Disgusted with herself, Samael threw the man aside. In a blink, she was out of the cellar, Slei right beside her. Left behind, the battered inquisitor, sat shocked and confused amongst the broken shards of his holy staff.

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