We arrived at the room with the ritual circle. It reminded me a bit of some whacky love hotel rooms I had seen online. There were plenty of plush cushions on the floor. The circle was in the centre. It was red but clearly not made from blood.

Nira decided to wait outside. I was curious if she would try to run away. I would not stop her. I was honest about my offer. If she wanted to leave, she was free to do so. By now she had given us the most important information. Interestingly, Sandra joined us.

“How does this work? How will we communicate?” Lucy asked, while looking at the circle.

“A projection of Lady Lilith will appear in the centre. You can talk to her as if she was personally here.” Erin explained.

Interesting. I made sure to study the runes for later use. Although my arcane knowledge would likely allow me to construct something similar.

Erin placed a ruby in the centre. It was magical. I could see faint runes on the surface.

“This gem will not be consumed but it is vital.” Erin said.

“It tells Lilith who is calling her. Otherwise she might not bother to answer.” Lily explained.

Erin sighed but completed her preparations. “Just power the circle when you are ready…” She said,

I took another minute to study the runes. Not just for further reference, but to make sure there was nothing dangerous in there. There was part that was weirdly glowing.

“Huh. They have an invisible part there. You could use this to actually summon Lilith. It would need a lot more power though. Hm. I think this connects to some storage crystal downstairs.”

Erin’s eyes grew wide.

“Clever. They are actually using this brothel in a long term plan to allow Lilith to be summoned at some point. Why would she want to come here though?” I wondered.

“We could ask her directly. There is no harm in activating the talking part, right?” Lucy asked.

“Well, actually a bit of the power get’s syphoned away. Hm. I think I can fix this.”

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“NO!” Erin shouted. “Don’t modify the circle!”

“Oh, it’s nothing permanent. You see, I can just feed this rune here with a sixth level spell slot and it all works.” I said with a smile while pointing at the rune.

Then I activated it.

As the circle glowed, red smoke formed in the centre. It took the shape of a succubus, then solidified. The demon’s skin was crimson, her eyes were golden with a slit pupil. Her horns were black and covered in golden runes. Lilth’s beautiful hair reached her shoulder blades. It was black. Interestingly, I saw no wings but she did have a pointy tail. She also had a very generous bust.

Lilith was dressed in black pants and a leather corset that would likely be a top tier armour in a video game. Then again, maybe it could transform into actual armour. Also, she was not actually here. As real as it looked, it was only a projection.

“What is this?” A smooth voice asked. There was confusion on her face. “Erinastha, what have you done?”

Erin kneeled before the demon lord. “Mistress, I brought Amaya. She wanted to contact you. But she… she might have done something to the runes! I could not stop her!”

“Hey, I only bypassed your energy syphon. I am not donating my power to your summoning.” I said.

Lilith looked at me. “Who told you about the summoning?”

“It was sort of obvious when I studied your circle.” I said.

“This is just a projection, right? She is not really here?” Lucy asked.

“Yes.” I confirmed.

Lucy poked the projection with her finger. “Huh. It’s sort of solid.”

“Stop that!” Lilith complained. “How dare you treat me with such disrespect!”

The demon lord unleashed her aura. But she was not truly here, so it was rather weak. Before I could unleash my own Lucy acted. She had an aura as well. And it looked like she had been practising.

Lilith’s influence shattered. Erin gasped. Sandra retreated to the far wall.

“What? Why do you have an aura?” Lilith asked.

“She is a kitsune.” I said. “Let’s do some introductions. I am Amaya Delphinium, archfey. This is my lover Lucy Delphinium, a kitsune. And you might know Lily here, our maid knight. And over there is Sandra. Your rude behaviour has scared her away.”

“An archfey and a kitsune?” Lilith studied us. There was a lot more respect in her eyes now. “I am Lilith, demon lord. It’s rare that I meet any peers. And the whole situation has caught me off guard. Apologies.” Then her eyes fell on Lily. “Lilastheria?”

“Lady Lilith, I have willingly sworn myself to house Delphinium. I am their loyal Storm Maid Knight.” She said, Her voice was firm as she looked directly in the eyes of her former boss.

Lilith looked at me. “You have stolen one of mine.”

“No. We have offered her a job and she accepted.” I said. “While we originally bonded her, she was given a choice and decided to serve us.”

Lilith snorted. “A choice? Yes. I am sure you did. What do you want for her?”

“Lady Lilith, I have made my choice. I swore an oath and I accepted their power. I am not coming back.” Lily said.

“Our servant is standing here, proudly. Yours is trembling on the floor. That could be a clue why she is working for us.” Lucy said.

I laughed. Lilith was less amused. “What do you want, other than to mock me?”

“We want to stop the Inquisition and their mind control runes. We have not found an easy fix so far, but I can break the control. Unfortunately, it still leaves them vulnerable and requires high level magic. While we work on a solution we are trying to find out who is actually leading them. And how far their plot has spread.” I said.

“If you want an alliance you will have to give me something in return…” Lilith said.

“Why?” Lucy asked. “We can do this without you. We have killed the last demon lord we met. Amaya even has a way to free some people. If they manage to control succubi… You don’t have a way to free anyone, do you? You should be paying us.”

Lucy did have a point. And she looked really cool staring down a demon lord. Maybe I should let her do the talking and grab some popcorn. That would be kind of rude though.