Kaden arrived at the Grove with Vip, Rocky and Trinity in his soul, a full set of potions in his inventory and belt, and ready to go to war. Olidar wasn’t waiting at the FarPortal, but a young Druid led them through the Grove to a TreeSpace Viktor and four more Rangers waited.
“Virgil Birch’s boy?” The woman on the right asked. Level eighty nine, she had dark purple hair and wore a cloak that was sand brown. “We’re cousins on your father’s side.”
[Belia Vadron], according to [Identify]. He shook her hand. “I wondered about family, but Mom never mentioned brothers or sisters. Dad said he was an only child.”
“I won’t call your mother what she was out of respect for you, yet it’s good to see something of him still lives.” Belia gave him a slap on the back. “Your dad would choke to see you fighting with a hammer, but Viktor says you’re vicious.”
Kaden quickly explained their take on Asmodeus. Their fear.
Viktor listened the whole time, noddding. “So, here’s what you need to know. I’ve personally hunted Asmodeus three times and two of those ended with me putting an arrow through his Seed. The moment he said he wanted to fight me, we started thinking doublecross.”
Olidar grumbled. “You have to think like a demon. To do that, we found ourselves a demon. Demons aren’t loyal to other demons. It was easy to track down one of the Daughters we let go and ‘convince’ her to talk.”
Sara and Eve both gasped. “You know where Demons are and you don’t remove them?”
“Knowing where they are and what they’re up to is better than them running wild in the world untracked. We destroy wild cults and control the growth of those we know about. There’s a certain amount of cult that’s allowed,” Olidar said. “This one came up with a proposal I think matches Asmodeus’s plan and your suggestions. Asmodeus can’t possibly take Viktor in a fight. He’s never done it before, if he were stronger, he would be forced to descend. He aims to pull Viktor to a deeper plane of Hell, one where an Abyss Lord is waiting.”
“Which is why I’m going.” Viktor flashed a wide grin at them all. “Abyss Lords almost never show their face. Every last one has unique powers. This is an opportunity I’ve been waiting for. And when that son of a bitch drags me through, he discoveres it’s twelve on one.”
Kaden waited for explanations.
“How?” Sara asked.
Viktor took out a clear glass cube. A Corpse Inventory. “Eleven Centurion Rangers, dead and waiting for the spell I bought. Actually, I have four, and a few potions, and a Healer who volunteered just in case. He didn’t so much volunteer as try to rob me, which counts, right?”
Kaden had often done things that left others gaping but this was his turn. Centurions willingly dying so they could be resurrected on an deep plane of Hell to fight an Abyss Lord with unknown powers.
“That’s the response I was hoping for,” Viktor said. “Worst case, we fight our way out of seven levels of hell on our own. Or die, everyone dies eventually, not everyone gets a shot at an Abyss Lord.”
Sara wordlessly handed Kaden back the Corpse Inventory he’d loaned her.
“Your dad was a Ranger, right?” Eve asked. “I think I understand where your you-ness comes from. He’s a thousand times more Kaden than you’ll ever be.”
Kaden cleared his throat. “Say we waltz into Hell. We meet this Asmodeus and I tell him I know he’s got an eye on me—”
“Do not say that,” Sara said.
“I ask if we see eye to eye—”
“Don’t say that either,” Sara added.
“I hand him back his eye—”
Eve cut in. “Technically, you’ll hand it to an underling. Touching Asmodeus could cause you to catch fire and burn to ashes.”
“I hand someone back his eye.” Kaden waited. “Do we think he just lets us collect the Adventurers, dance our way out of hell, and then he attempts to get you?”
Viktor shrugged. “It could play out like that. Alternately, the moment he has his claws on the eye, he heads for me and leaves some level fifty weakling to squish you. Which is where your party comes in. See, I don’t think Asmodeus lets anyone go, no, he heads straight to a deeper level of Hell, taking me with him, and his riff raff kill the adventurers and you. Unless.”
This had to be the best Unless ever. Ever. Kaden waited.
“Unless?” Eve prompted.
“Lunar Mana. Moon Strike, Moon Shimmer, lemme guess, [Moon Glow?]” Viktor asked as if [Identify] wasn’t a thing.
Only now did Kaden think to look at Eve’s [Identify].
[Moon Glow]
The softest light of the moon can blur and confuse, hiding the truth in plain sight. Use continual mana to maintain an illusion that you and those around you are not present. At higher levels, the mana cost will drop and the quality of the illusion increase.
Wow. A constant, area of effect stealth.
“You are so low level you won’t even register to the demons with Kaden’s title to cancel Hated by Demons. Asmodeus is going to be focused—and not with a lot of depth perception—on Kaden. While he’s focused on us, you’re going to sneak over, free the Adventurers, and then with their help, get out. You can’t help me versus Asmodeus, but you can help them.” Viktor crossed his arms. “There’s a healthy quest in it for all of you. What do you say? Come on, snake girl. I know you want it. I want to hear you say it.”
“Go to Hell,” Sara said. “But take us with you.”
###
The Grove’s FarPortal had been mistuned. Terribly mistuned so it didn’t go anywhere normal and yet Kaden sensed it did go somewhere. Viktor had exchanged pleasantries with his [Ranger] friends and then left them to wait with Kaden. “You didn’t ask the most basic part. Why am I not bringing half a dozen friends with a pulse?”
That Kaden knew. He hated it, but he knew. “Asmodeus tilted the balance. You don’t want to bring them in because you want to keep that advantage.”
“Next time you level, no need to drop that point in Intelligence,” Viktor said. “And the truth is, Olidar’s rescue charge won’t end well. There’s so many types of demons that breath fire, if you don’t know anything else about one you’re facing, assume it breathes fire. If he comes flying in with five Centurions…”
Kaden mimiced a small explosion, like Trella was trying a new formula. He wanted to be looking for ingredients. Even if it meant letting those red threads slice his soul again. “Can you kill Asmodeus? Or the Abyss Lord?”
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“Yes and maybe.” Viktor drew a sign in the air, which turned into a rune—and then a clock. “Ok. Your party members both have [Recall] cast on them. If we put it on you, Demon Lords will know we’re planning something instead of just suspecting it. Oh, and one more thing. You’re going to find him intimidating.”
“I won’t—”
“You will. It’s not about who you are, it’s about the level difference. If you can speak at all, it gets easier to keep speaking. Say whatever you can just to get talking. I saw a [Healer] once, she sang a verse from ‘The Old Farmer Loved His Sheep Extra Hard’ every time she started speaking. He’ll expect you to stick to traditions and patterns and be polite. Don’t be polite. He hasn’t earned it, and wouldn’t spare you even if you were. Drag it out, give your friends a chance to rescue those adventurers.”
Kaden entered the portal to Hell.
Hell wasn’t fire and it wasn’t ice, at least, not this level. Hell smelled like burning gnome wagons and roasting flesh, and clouds of smoke drifted everywhere. Demon Sight showed the clear bright red forms of several demons, some kind of minotaur based on the outline. They stood in a row, with battle axes raised to form a tunnel.
[Minotaur]
The elder brothers of Goatmen are stronger, faster, and bear the rage of their ancestors, rage they channel in battle. Every swing, every blow makes them stronger and faster, to better serve their masters below. This is not a beast.
Level:30
HP: 2,100
Mana; 500
Skills: Rage of the Ancients, Axe-Cleave
Talents: Hunter’s Scent
There was that level twenty five scale again, making every one of them 6 times as strong as Kaden. If he’d ranked up the dungeon and had time to wait, maybe he’d hit level twenty five. If not, the changing bond would leave him more vulnerable.
“Out of the way!” Viktor shouted as he walked toward the line of Minotaurs.
They drew back their axes to let him pass, and Kaden followed close behind. Every step sent up puffs of powdery gray dust, and the air was so dry it hurt to breathe. He called for the [FalCrow] and it sailed overhead, then faded away.
Kaden couldn’t blame it.
But he did have an idea. Eve and Sara would be coming through after them, with Eve using [Moon Glow]. Kaden turned and looked at the Minotaurs. “Are you coming or not? You want to look bad in front of Ass-modeus, your funeral. Besides, I’m going to kill every last one of you, and I don’t want to have to chase you down.
The minotaurs fell into step behind him, grunting in demon-speak as they chuckled to themselves. [Multispeak], thankfully, did not translate.
The ground rose, and the wisps of burning fog gave way so Kaden could appreciate Hell.
It was ugly. Gray rocks grew into cactus like outcroppings that stabbed at the sky, a sky with a gash across it that pulsed red like a bleeding wound and washed red light down on the plane. No wonder people had said Hell was aflame. Everywhere, demons lurked under rocks or climbed to the tops of the the outcroppings to hiss and howl. There was no order among them, they fought and killed. A flying demon the size of a [Storm Condor] perched atop a minotaur, eating it. It raised all five heads to look as Viktor and Kaden strolled past, and went back to eating.
“Ass-modeus, I like it. I’m going to use it.” Viktor seemed awfully cheery for a man heading to face an Abyss Lord. “I was going to call him Assy but we’ll play it by ear.”
Bright flares of fire shone in the sky far ahead, and as Kaden approached, someone had stacked stone to form a crude temple, or a ring of pillars.
“See those?” Viktor leaned over to point. “There’ll be a portal rune on every one, or I’m not a [Ranger]. Whole place is a portal to whatever layer of Hell Assy’s boss lives on. Don’t take them out before they trigger the trap.”
At the entrance to the ‘temple’, a row of Adventurers hung, chained to the rocks with glowing sigils over them.
“Where did they get chains?” Kaden asked. As he passed, the closest one was dead. Kaden stuffed him into Corpse Inventory, leaving the chains jangling.
“Look at that. Suppression runes so [Recall] wouldn’t work. Asmodius is smarter than we gave him credit for.” Viktor sprinted toward the throne, leaped into a rolling dive and came up with a flourish “Look who it is!”
In the center of the temple, on a throne made of demon skulls, perched a Demon Lord. Like Darmando, Asmodeus’s skin was gray and scaled with smooth interlocking scales, but the row of bumps were actual spiked plates on Asmodeus, and Asmodeus had several sets of eyes. Many were missing, the sockets weeping ichor.
The closer Kaden came, the greater the weight that pressed on his skin, like Dominion, only worse. [Identify] had tried and failed miserably, but this was Asmodeus’s sheer presence. He rose as Viktor approached, raising a spear fifteen feet long—then Kaden took out the eye.
The pressure on Kaden intensified to the point where his knees ached. Presence could have physical weight and this did.
“Well, well, well,” Viktor said. “If it isn’t the great demon lord—”
“I am Kaden Birch!” he shouted, holding up the eye. “I’ve come to make—”
Viktor pulled him back. “Forgive my overeager disciple, Ass-modeus, as I was saying—”
“I am Kaden Birch!” he shouted again. “Sorry, were you supposed to talk first or was I? Is that a Centurion thing or a demon thing? Does the ugliest being talk first? If so, that’s either you or Assy. I think it’s him, but he could make a good argument it’s you.”
Asmodeus, Slayer of Stars, roared out a word.
Mana crackled and sizzled like burning fat.
A portal slit open, giving birth to a woman, a naked woman covered in blood.
[Demon’s Daughter Naski]
The Demon Lord Darmando was gifted two daughters from a single night of pleasure, and this is the one who remains. She serves her father’s Master, and has returned to Hell at his bidding for a chance to gain favor.
Naski bowed before Viktor. “I come to speak on behalf of the Great Asmodeus—”
“I am Kaden Birch!” He shouted. “And is it really Asmodeus? I thought it was pronounced Ass-modeus, but—”
“I come, “ said Naski, “to speak for the great Asmodeus. You know his demands.”
“I am Kaden Birch! Does he demand fried chicken? Because if he does, I totally understand.” Asmodeus’s presence lay like a thousand ton weight on Kaden, but he knew his name, and speaking anything lifted the weight just enough so he could keep speaking.
Naski paced over, growing flowing robes from strands of blood that dripped from her, to glare at Kaden. Her eyes glowed with red Demon Fire and her teeth were pointed. “His eye. The eye you hold. He demands it.”
Kaden could barely speak but barely was enough. “What do I get in return? You know, I know what I want. I want you. You and me. I want to get naked right here and now, and then I’m going to —”
“His Eye!” Naski screamed.
Viktor shook silently as he laughed.
With every word, resisting the presence grew easier. “Look, I have low standards. Normally I’d say no to you. It’s not every demon who gets a piece of this. And you get a demon Eye in return. You want to see it again?”
Kaden had heard it said that in the language of hell there was a term for every kind of pain and torment imaginable. Looking at the gaping face of Naski, it was clear that had been a lie. Her lips shredded over razor teeth as they drew back, and she spoke in a gutteral language that made wisps of smoke rise up.
“Hey, Assy!” Kaden looked up at the demon, daring stare it in the face. Those eyes would feature in his nightmares, maybe forever. “I stated my trade. Your Daughter, Nasty, and I, we…” he made a rude gesture repeatedly. Then slower. Then upside down for emphasis. “And I give her this disgusting eye ball I took from Damn-was-he-stupid. Deal?”
“Naski!” she shouted. “Nas-ki!”
“I’m sorry, I have the kind of lisp where you pronounce Ks as Ts. Ast anyone I tnow.” So close. Kaden began to pace back and forth in front of Asmodeus. “Why does he want this eye? He’s got plenty of them. You know what I don’t see? Chicken sandwiches. Has he ever had a chicken sandwich? Because if he did, he’d be asking for that instead.” Minotaurs ringed the temple. There was no question what would happen next, but Kaden had hope, because at the entrance, the slightest hint of motion said Eve and Sara had reached the Adventurers. His delay had worked.
Asmodeus spoke.
What had been pressure became a demon lord standing on his shoulders. His health dropped fifty points in the first second—then twenty.
“Great Assmodius—Asmodius says your time for nattering is at an end. Give me the eye. I will give it to him,” Naski said, her voice sweet.
“So you agree to his deal?” Viktor said. “Great! You two, just go over there. You, Minotaurs. Turn around, they need some privacy. A man can’t just give a Demon Daughter the best sex of her life without alone time. And you and I, Assy, we should fight. What do you say we shake on it?”
The grumbling of the earth was Asmodius’s voice.
“No!” Naski shouted—then winced and looked away. “As you command. The eye will be mine. Come, Kaden Birch. But know and understand, this flesh is formed by my will, in the way I will. I can have many mouths. All of them with teeth.”
She grinned for emphasis as her not-clothes dripped off into the dirt, but followed as Kaden circled Asmodeus’s throne. “Now, let us give you what you desire most. Did you not know how this would end? Or was this a ploy to buy a more merciful death?”
“Ploy.” Kaden said. “I changed my mind, I have the most wonderful woman at home, and I prefer sex with her. But she’s a corpse.”
“What?” Naski asked.
“At the moment! Not all the time,” Kaden said. “I’m saving myself for her. Or anyone but you. As a matter of fact, I took an oath of no demon sex and forgot about it until just now—”
Asmodeus’s roar accompanied the battle cry of a dozen Minotaurs. A gaping, yawning portal to a place of living darkness had blasted open, and Asmodeus wielded a spear twice as long as Kaden was tall, stabbing at Victor.
Negotiations were over.