On the other side of the door was a room that almost made me vomit on entry. Demon corpses littered the floor, their blood painting the ground a vile purple. The smell was unbearable, so much so that I considered trying to use 「Illusionist」to trick my own sense of smell.
But most notably, every wall was covered in an uncountably massive number of flies. All making a dull buzzing noise, and all hovering around the walls of the hall.
The room itself was enormous, by far the biggest individual room in the entire castle. Despite this it was mostly empty, the rotting corpses and blood spatters being the only decoration through most of it. The only other notable feature was a single chair in the dead-centre of the room. A throne made entirely of bone, much too large for any human to sit upon. It was a sickening sight to behold.
But most importantly,
“Where the hell is Baal?”
Saki voiced the question I was asking myself. We had come here to be audience to Baal Zebul, but he was nowhere to be seen. We were the only ones in the room.
Three of us looked around confusedly, but Mai stared at the fly-covered walls, her gaze afixed as if she had come upon some awful realisation.
“Baal Zebul… Beelzebub… Lord Of Flies…” she muttered to herself.
“Hon?”
“Lord of Flies. It’s not just a title. In Abrahamic lore, Baal Zebul is sovereign over all flies, making them effectively his servants. How did I not make the connection earlier?”
“Mai, what are you talking about?”
“It seems thou art as intelligent as my servants had informed me, Amai Sugi.”
An ear grating voice echoed around the enormous room, completely disembodied, as if it was coming from the room itself.
All at once, every fly on the wall buzzed into action, a deafening noise sounding out as millions of tiny wings flapped in unison. I winced at the horrible sound, but didn’t take my eyes off the scene.
The flies all began to gather around one spot: the throne in the centre of the room. They circled it all together, appearing as if a black tornado had engulfed the throne in it’s entirety. In this time, something started to materialise in the centre.
No. Someone.
By the time the figure has completely formed, the flies had all disappeared. Or, more accurately, they had all conjoined to make the horrifying creature before us.
Though he was sat in his throne, it was clear to see that he was immensely tall. His skin was a pale bluish-purple, and his face was hidden in shadows by a long hood. Despite no obvious discernible features on display, I immediately recognised it as the shadowy face Kagami had assumed.
“Quite impressive for thou to discover my secret. Aye, it is as thou hath guessed, Amai Sugi. All flies, in my world and thine, are part of mine own body. Their eyes are mine eyes.”
The realisation slammed me like a sledgehammer. The reason we had so conveniently found our way to Baal’s audience chamber was now obvious: he had guided our every step to get here. With sight from literally every fly on the wall, he knew how to get us here. He had played us for fools.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Baal Zebul, I take it? We’re here to bargain. Though I’m sure you already knew that.” Saki took quick control of the situation, getting right to the point instead of letting Baal waste our time.
“I know many things, Saki Tachibana. For example, I know that thy comrades currently wage war without thee, and that thy deepest desire at this moment is to return to them triumphant. That is why thou art rushing to the point without such time for introductions.”
“Introductions? Who needs introducing? We already know about you, and you clearly already know about us.”
“Doth thou truly know myself?” With one swift movement, Baal removed the hooded cloak covering his head. His face was monstrous, covered in dozens of eyes like a fly and with a mouth filled with rotten teeth. And from his back sprouted hideous set of wings; not elegant and feathered like Nao’s wings, but translucent and webbed like those of an insect. “I am Baal Zebul, sovereign of Hell and enemy of the Holy. Wretched and divine, deceiver of humanity, and endbringer of Earth. The very essence of the individual. Gaze upon me, that thee should know the undoing of thy world.”
It was a horrifying form. I lamented not having Hikari with us: something like this needed to be torched in fire. An abomination from head to toe.
Still, we stood our ground.
“And we’re the Hussars. Demon slayers and illusion breakers. You already know why we’re here.” Saki stood firm as she spoke, not allowing the abomination before us to gain the upper hand. She showed no fear, and her voice did not waver. She and Baal stared one another down, refusing to let the other dominate.
“Aye, I know of what you seek. An end to the bloodshed on your homeworld, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Then kneel.”
Though he didn’t shout or exclaim, Baal Zebul spoke with such power that it sent a shockwave through us. I almost felt myself kneeling subconsciously. Was this what the presence of true power felt like?
“We didn’t come to surrender. We came to negotiate.”
“My terms are non-negotiable. I will take your world. With fire and blood, I will take it. If you wish to end this war, then kneel.” Once again, he finished his sentence with such power that it made me wince. Everything about him made me feel a deep terror. Saki, however, kept her cool.
“Your own soldiers are being slaughtered by the thousand, yet you still won’t listen? For every one casualty of ours, ten thousand of your numbers will die.”
“I care not for the lives of my inferiors.”
“But you do need them to take on heaven. A weakened hell will stand no chance, you know this.”
“And that is why I have invited thee.” He pointed one of his decrepit fingers at us as he spoke. “Thou, who art of man, both individual and collective, equal parts holy and wicked, possess the power I need. Alone, neither I nor thee hath the strength to strike down the armies of heaven. But as comrades, we may yet bring Iehovah to heel.”
“Stow the shit, Baal. Camaraderie is an idea outside of your jurisdiction. The moment we helped you take down hell, you’d do the exact same thing to Earth. Do you think we’re stupid?” Saki spat back, still not letting Baal gain the dominance he so desperately wanted.
“For time immemorial, heaven and hell hath warred over our ideas. You’ve seen the results. My world in ruins, homes destroyed every step of the way. Thou, of the middle world, are but a blip in our timeless history. Your conquering at the hands of one or the other is an inevitability. Thou wouldst be wise to accept my rule and join me, lest I be forced to resort to further violence. If thou truly wisheth to prevent further bloodshed, thou must be prepared to throw down thine arms and heed my call.”
“You say that, and yet, you’re clearly scared of us in some capacity. You say we’re the ones you need to take down heaven, that our power to combine the ideas of both heaven and hell is the weapon you need to win your eternal war. If we really were a powerless and inconsequential blip, that would make no sense. Face it: as long we stand in opposition, you can’t win this war.”
Saki stood strong, myself and Nao at her side backing her up. Mai, however, had a look of abject fear on her face. What was she seeing that we weren’t.
“…aye, tis true. The greatest thorn in my side is thee who hath awakened thy ultimate power. It is the true fusion of individual and collective, one that exceeds the power of any demon or angel. It would have removed a great amount of strain from my plans were thee to join me of thine own accord. But if such negotiations have fallen through, I suppose the obliteration of such a nuisance now is the closest best option.”
As calmly as if he was ordering food, Baal announced our execution, and clicked his fingers. In that instant, I saw the four of us get cleaved in half.