Mammon gave in to his rage and stepped down into the hidden basement. His mind was ablaze with molten Wrath, and his body started to subtly change with it, even if the demon himself wasn’t quite aware of that yet. He walked down each step with deliberate ease, not taking his time, his outward continence a mask of calm. Mammon wanted the kidnappers to find him, to start the brawl, for in his anger, he did not have the patience to find every little rat in this underground passageway.

The demon didn’t have to wait long to get his wish. As Mammon crossed an intersection, a figure blurred past him and lunged forth with a sword drawn. The demon could have avoided the attack easily, he had heard the quaking of the figure’s nerves almost immediately, but Mammon did not choose to do so. He allowed the rapier to slide into his body, into his chest and through his heart. Mammon savored the pain as his lifeblood oozed out of his wounds.

“I- I got him!” the figure, a young man dressed in gray robes, “He- he wasn’t that bad, I got him!”

Mammon waited for a spell, pretending to slump down as if dead, waiting for the others to show themselves so that he may spare his energy slaughtering them instead of running about. Let them think him dead.

Another figure poked her head out from a crudely made barricade. “Are you sure?”

The first man waved at the others and pointed at his blade, “It’s through his heart, look!” He jabbed Mammon a few more times to make a point, and the demon had to use every ounce of self restraint he had to stay still. “Have you seen a mage live without a heart?”

More of the cowards started to flush out of their hiding holes now, and although they were still nervous, they did start to make their way closer to where Mammon and his “killer” stood. The demon wanted to strike then and now, but even in his rage, his rationality won out and he waited a bit longer. He needed all of them out, because once the demon started, he did not want to stop. Mammon had even stopped his heart and all vital signs just to be safe.

“No…” the woman muttered as she came over to inspect the demon, “And he does look dead to me. I just… I thought he’d put up a bigger fight, what with him finding this place and melting the reinforced walls.”

The first man shrugged. “I guess I’m just that awesome! And it’s not like these mages are all that, if you get the jump on ‘em then they can be killed as anyone else.”

The woman squinted and poked Mammon’s head before breathing a sigh of relief. “True that. Alright everyone, coast is clear, the guy’s not breathing and his heart’s not beating no more, even a fucking Archmage can’t survive that shit. We’re good, let’s clean this mess up and get those brats secured.”

And there was the moment that the demon was waiting for. Mammon heard the once quiet halls fill with noise once again as more and more people came over to see the dead body, their morbid curiosity taking over.

“Shit, you actually got him!” someone else muttered, “Fuck, and here we thought we’d be strapped for a fight!”

The man stabbing Mammon laughed boastfully. “I told you guys so! This Amon guy’s not mu-” He frowned as he felt the handle of his sword heat up abruptly. “What the…”

The man looked on in dumbfounded horror as the discomfort of the heat turned into pain, yet for some reason he found that he was unable to do so. He looked closer and saw that a portion of his arm had turned a strange shade of gold, as if it were made of the precious metal. Soon, the discomfort turned to pure agony and the man screamed, desperate to let go of the molten hot weapon. The others around him were still unsure what the problem was until it was too late.

Mammon opened his eyes and grinned. He felt his entire body heat up as the rage of seeing Wren’s kidnappers in person took over. The sword still plunged into his chest melted into molten metal, oozing out of his wound as if he were bleeding iron. The demon casually grabbed his attacker’s other arm and held on as he willed his arms to burst into a conflagration of heat.

The ambusher turned into a charred mess, falling to the ground in loose pieces of ash, and it was only when Mammon turned his attention to the others in the room did they fully realize the situation.

“How…” the woman muttered, her shock so great that she didn’t even register the danger in front of her.

Fortunately for her, that was the last thought she had, for Mammon threw a dazzling bolt of red hot lightning at her, incinerating her before she could even feel it. It was a quick end, more than she deserved, Mammon thought, but he had to finish some of them off quickly so that the others wouldn’t have the time to escape.

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The demon was able to dispatch three more kidnappers before the rest of them were able to shake off their initial disbelief, but many of them had already stashed away their weapons when they heard that the threat was over. The small amount of time that it took for them to walk the few steps to their blades or to even unsheathe them cost the lives of two others. All of them were taken down by a quick bolt of superheated crimson lightning. That only left five.

“Shit, get back! Stay away from that fucking freak, where’s our mages?” one of the survivors yelled as he scrambled out of the way of Mammon’s approach.

“He killed her already, you fucking idiot!”

Mammon smirked. He had assumed a harder fight if there were enemy magic users, but luck seemed to be on his side this time. That woman had been their only magic user, and unfortunately for them, she had died before Mammon could even see what kind of mage she was. Pity, he was actually looking forward to a proper fight. Without anything left that could threaten Mammon, the demon could take his time with the five; they would know all too well what it meant to piss off an archdemon.

But first, he had to make sure that these five nice individuals couldn’t escape, but that was easy enough thanks to the environment. These kidnappers, in their attempt to avoid detection, had trapped themselves in what was essentially a series of long hallways, the walls were reinforced with bits of wood and metal, but the structural integrity of the entire thing wasn’t sound to say the least. It took Mammon almost no effort at all to cave in sections of the tunnels.

Sure, it would take the demon a while to dig himself out again, but it was so worth it seeing his prey looking absolutely panicked as they realized that there was nowhere they could run to. Worse yet, the demon had caved in every entrance, sealing the men in completely. The temperature started to rise at an alarming rate as this sealed off section acted like an oven, and worse yet, the flames of his body ate away at the limited oxygen. It was a pity that Mammon didn’t need to breathe, unlike the unlucky kidnappers.

And so, while the five choked on the smog and blistered in the heat, so light headed were they that movement was a struggle, Mammon went to each one of them and slowly, his whole body engulfed in electrifying flames now, and showed them the folly of their actions. It wasn’t until half an hour passed that the demon had worked off most of his frustration, and only one poor man was left alive, albeit barely. He was half conscious, taking in shallow breaths as he tried to find a cool corner to lie in. He was covered head to toe in burns, yet despite all of that, he made a feeble attempt to escape when he saw Mammon approach his position.

“P-please,” he rasped with cracked lips, “I-”

Mammon bent down and stared at the man. Oh how easy it would be for him to finish this one off as well, but now that his Wrath had died down, the archdemon understood the necessity of keeping one of these kidnappers alive. In his fury, he had almost destroyed a valuable tool, one that could help expedite his rise in power, not to mention the fact that the demon still had a lot of questions for this man to answer.

Judging from the strength of the ward that hid this underground place, and the weakness of the men here, it was abundantly clear that these people did not work alone. Someone was backing them up, and although Mammon didn’t expect much from this lone survivor - he certainly wouldn’t tell disposable pawns much if he was the mastermind - the demon supposed he could still learn something. So he spent the next few minutes gathering information.

It was as the demon suspected, however. The man, a lowly mercenary named Hass, was told almost nothing about the operation, other than the fact that they would be kidnapping some noble brats. They were to bring them over to some other people, who would in turn pass the kids along to more individuals, but this person was so far down the chain of command that he didn’t even know where the meeting point was. Their boss had more details on the operation, but Mammon had unfortunately turned that individual to ash. The demon silently cursed his rash actions, there was a reason why he mocked those Wrath demons back in hell, they were always a short sighted bunch, and he was starting to understand why that was.

“Tha- that’s all I know, please!” he man mumbled, “I swear I don’t know nothing else!”

Mammon believed him, even if he didn’t possess the ability to see lies. This worthless individual really knew nothing else, but he would still have his other uses.

“I know,” the demon said slowly, “Now if you want to live, I will need you to do exactly what I say.”

“Anything!”

The demon smiled and bent lower, staring at the half-dead man in the eyes. “If you do not do so, I will visit you privately, and we can have a nice… “chat”. But that time, I’d have all the time in the world to show you just how displeased I can be. Do you understand what I mean?”

Hass nodded as quickly as he could, desperate to do anything to end his current torment. “Y-yes! I’ll do it. Whatever you say.”

Mammon nodded. “Good, so listen closely, because soon, you will be asked certain questions, and you will tell them exactly as I say. Do not fail me.”

“Y-yes…”

“Oh,” the demon added, almost forgetting why he was here in the first place, “And do be a good sport and point me to where you’re keeping the kids.”

Another nod, and the man feebly pointed to one of the caved in tunnel exits. Mammon dragged the poor individual toward the exit and forced his way through the rubble. With the air so thin, Mammon had been afraid that this idiot wouldn’t be able to retain anything he told him, and that wouldn’t do. The prisoner gasped in relief as the cool air hit his burnt body and oxygen refilled his ashen lungs, but quickly shut up when he saw the displeased demon.

“Now then,” the archdemon continued, “For your sake, I desperately hope that none of the children are hurt.”

“They’re not!” he pleaded, “They’re unconscious, they’re under a spell, please, they’re not hurt!”

Mammon smiled. “Good, then there’s no rush. Let me spell out exactly what’s going to happen next, so you better listen carefully.”

Hass nodded quickly, his attention fully on the demon despite his wounds.

“You’ll be doing the following…”