Lilith took a moment to think. Then she smiled. “So, who is in charge between you two? I was under the impression that Amaya, the archfey, was leading your group. But are you the real power, Lucy?”

“Uhhh, a classic.” I said. “Trying to cast a rift between us. You are hoping to create friction that you can exploit.” Screw it, this called for a snack. I did not have popcorn. Did this world even know about them? I did have crisps though… The locals had figured them out.

“What are you doing?” Lilith asked as I started munching.

“Those are crisps. Thinly sliced potatoes, fried in oil, covered in salt. Don’t you have them in hell?” I asked.

“I think she is confused that you are eating snacks during a negotiation.” Lucy said. She was clearly amused. “Obviously her spies are lacking.”

“So, Lucy, maybe we can negotiate a deal.” Lilith said, ignoring me. Ah, she was sticking to her tactic. This was getting amusing. While I did make most of the decisions, and Lucy was my warlock, I considered us partners. We did not even have a true fight yet, despite being in a relationship.

“Sure. So you need our help. You are stuck in hell, your minions are not that effective and an unknown power is closing in. It seems that the only other demon lord involved is Ashmedai.” Lucy said.

“And it looks like you are not friends. Seems to me that he is making your work more difficult with his own machinations.” I added.

“Indeed.” Lucy said. “So you have no allies at home. And I doubt many people in this world are offering to work with you.”

“Oh, another thing.” I had a thought. “Demons can be bound, or simply summoned. A bound demon has to obey their master. That means some of your servants can’t report back to you. Now, as a demon lord, you should have the power to break those bonds. But that would be noticeable.”

Lilith looked between us. Then she sighed. “Yes. If I free them too early they might not have useful information, yet. Also, a lot of mortals seem unaware that I can override those bonds with my power. I don’t want to educate them. But most of my minions are only summoned anyway. Binding a demon is not easy.”

What she did not mention was that many people screwed up the demon bindings. A lot of misinformation was spread to ensure that the resulting bond could be taken over by the demon, in time. Then the summoner became the slave. Demon lords in general were playing an interesting game. They allowed some to be controlled to entice humans. They also ensured that a lot of the information on bonds was compromised.

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“Hey, Lily once mentioned that demon lords have a connection to their subjects, right? But she did not quite understand how it worked. Could the mind control runes on succubi be used to influence Lilith?” Lucy asked.

Lucy might be a genius. I had not even thought about that. “I have always looked at bonds as a protection against the mind control. But if the connection is weak… Maybe they could be used to influence her in large enough numbers. But they would likely need hundreds of succubi, or more.” I theorised. “Without knowing more about the connection I can’t say anything for sure.”

Was the Inquisition ambitious enough to try and control a demon lord? What was their end goal? Control of the continent? Control of the world?

“Mistress?” Erin said, looking frightened. “Is this true?”

“You were not supposed to hear that. We shall discuss this later.” Lilith said. Then she looked at Lucy. “Yes. This is a concern. Although it is simply a hypothesis. And they have not even succeeded in making their runes work on a demon. But I have no idea which of my enemies could be behind it. I have suspected for a while that the Inquisition has a powerful backer. Some entity pulling the strings.”

“Is this why you are preparing a summoning? You want to enter this world to fight the threat personally?” I asked.

Maybe she was more worried than she looked. It was not merely concern about her minions being enslaved, she feared that they could ultimately control her too.

Lilith ignored the question. Instead she said: “I assume your maid knights are a similar concern for you.”

“My ladies… could they… could they get to you? Through the maid knights?” Lily asked, looking frightened.

I considered that. “No. Our bond is based on an oath of loyalty. Either the bond would win, or it would break.” There were other parts too. Shani had opened a permanent connection to the plane of wind during the storm knight ceremony. That power circulated through our bond and it would destroy foreign magic. Our whole construction was rather solid.

Lucy smiled. “See, our way of doing things has a lot of benefits.”

“Oath of loyalty?” Lilith snorted. “Loyal to who? Would that bond break if you both gave contradicting orders?”

There was a loud crunching sound as I munched on more crisps. It seemed to really annoy Lilith. The amusing truth was that having two people on the top strengthened the bond. Lucy could not betray me, because she was my warlock. That was why any oath to both of us was so solid.

“It would lead to a discussion and a clarification of the orders. You see, we have a functioning relationship. I guess you have never experienced something like that.” Lucy said.

Nice burn. I ate more crisps.

“Ok. I admit that I could use your help. But do not underestimate my agents. I am sure that my information network among the mortals is bigger than yours. And I am among the oldest demon lords in existence. Once we figure out who our true enemy is, you might want me fighting by your side.” Lilith said.

Ah. Maybe she was finally taking this seriously. I stored my crisps, for now. “Fighting by our side? So you want us to summon you?” I asked.

“Yes. I fully intend to personally tear the fools apart who dared to challenge me. The Inquisition shall burn.” Her face showed a lot of hatred.

“What about Ashmedai and his cult?” I asked.

“I care little about the fool. If he stands in our way we shall crush him too.” She responded.

“We want to stop the mind control and save the enslaved people. Not just burn everything to the ground.” Lucy clarified.

“I am willing to spare them, if possible.” Lilith said. “And I do have some succubi who have studied magic and might help with finding a cure.”

“We have not agreed to summon you.” Lucy pointed out.

“Indeed. We would need an agreement first.” And probably a discussion with our allies. The king would certainly want to know about a demon lord appearing in his capital.