105. The Old Demon King

The tunnels whizzed past them in a blur of dark, rough textures filtered through a translucent red tinge. Isaac’s eyes darted about, half expecting a train to approach and run them over, but it was remarkably quiet in the tunnels. Even the sound of the wind whipping past them was slightly dampened by the barrier.

Isaac directed his attention to just in front of him, where Casimir’s faintly glowing white wings were like a giant beacon. The angel was flying as recklessly as usual, making it a point to do flips and drops and sharp turns when none were necessary, but the barrier sphere stayed still throughout, trailing behind a few feet away. If anything, the sheer smoothness of the ride on Isaac’s end was actually a bit disconcerting.

Isaac tightened his grip on the tablet, peering down at the map. Remus was still in the Abyss, it seemed, though he could see the dot representing the demon moving around within the decidedly large realm. He swiped over to another map, this time following Casimir’s name to gauge how far away they were. He tapped his finger repeatedly against the side of the device.

“Remember, when we find him, you’re only capturing him,” Isaac found himself saying, mostly in an attempt to distract himself from his own growing unease.

For a second he wondered if maybe Casimir couldn’t hear him, but he soon replied casually, voice booming and not the slightest bit out of breath despite the speeds they were moving at.

“Yeah yeah, leave poor old Remus alive. Gotcha.”

Isaac hesitated, mentally debating with himself. Finally, he decided to ask the question that had been brewing in his mind, figuring that they weren’t doing anything while flying anyway.

“Did you… know Remus?”

Casimir glanced back, and his grin looked especially eerie, half shrouded in the darkness of the tunnels, half lit by the glow of his wings.

“Why, you having doubts?”

Isaac frowned. “I trust Lucius’s judgment. I just want to know more about him.” His voice slowed. “I… saw him at the tournament. He didn’t really seem like the type who could do something like this.”

“Not like me, you mean,” Casimir said cheerfully. Isaac scowled, but before he could retort, the angel continued.

“I mean, I wasn’t buddy buddy with him or anything, but like I said, Paradise likes keeping tabs on the Inferno.” He turned sharply as the tunnels curved, doing a quick barrel roll without batting an eye. “He was the old Inferno king for a while, I think. Most powerful, top dog, all that pizazz.”

“Sharil mentioned the old Inferno society being more violent,” Isaac remarked, half to himself. Casimir glanced back, an eyebrow raised.

“Well yeah, they’re demons. Whaddya expect?” He shrugged. “I dunno if Remus was much worse than, like, a regular demon back then. They were all kind of like that. He just happened to be strong, so him being a violent asshole turns a few more heads than, say, a weakling being violent.” Casimir snorted. “Far as Paradise’s concerned, they’re all just as bad.”

“Lucius overthrew him, didn’t he?”

“Yep.” Casimir pronounced ‘p’ with a popping sound that echoed throughout the tavern.

“…what happened?” Isaac felt strangely uneasy asking the question. The tunnel abruptly sloped downwards, and Isaac grit his teeth as the sphere dropped down, shaking a bit before it returned to its former smooth gliding. Casimir kept going without pause—if anything the angel seemed to be continuously increasing his speed.

“Hmmm, you know how demons’re born, right?”

Isaac nodded slowly, remembering Sharil’s words. “They’re born from the Inferno cavern.” Casimir hummed in confirmation.

“Yeah, well, Lucius popped up one day already crazy strong.” Casimir laughed, and the sound rang harshly, blending together with the whistling wind surrounding them. “He was probably already the strongest being in the Inferno the second the cavern spit him out. Anyway, you can probably guess, but it was super easy for him to go up in society. Didn’t even have to break a sweat beating up the demon lords.” Casimir shook his head. “Let me tell you, the angels were in a real frenzy when they heard about it. A demon that strong from day 1 is kind of Paradise’s worst nightmare, you know?”

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“And then he fought Remus.”

“And then he fought Remus.” Casimir was quiet for a few moments, seemingly thinking over something, before he continued again.

“Well, Remus put up more of a fight than everybody else in the Inferno did, at least. Probably the first fight Lucius actually had to try in.” He shrugged. “Lucius was still stronger in the end though. After that it’s kinda obvious. He won, became de facto king, sealed Remus’s powers, etcetera.”

Isaac frowned, mulling over the words. He was a bit wary of taking anything Casimir said at face value, especially given his obvious hatred for demons, but the story made sense given everything he already knew. His eyes drifted back down to the tablet. He’d exited out of the list a while ago, but the names still burned in his vision when he closed his eyes.

He thought back to Sharil and Olzu’s conversation at the tournament, Sharil’s insistence that Remus should’ve been killed long ago. His grip on the tablet tightened.

Isaac realized he must have gone quiet, because when he looked up again, Casimir was staring at him with those sharp eyes that made him shudder on instinct.

“Thinking anything interesting?” the angel asked, his lax, casual voice completely divorced from the perceptiveness in his eyes. Isaac swallowed, but kept his expression neutral.

“I was just thinking about Lucius. It seems his kindness backfired.” He couldn’t imagine what the demon would be feeling, to know that the man he’d let live had proceeded to go on a murder spree so many years into the future, long after Inferno’s society had finally become more peaceful. Isaac remembered the weariness in Lucius’s eyes when he’d reappeared after the deaths, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty for having asked for even more help from him. He was probably dealing with more than enough on his own already.

A sharp, biting laugh broke Isaac out of his thoughts. He frowned and looked forward, where Casimir’s whole body was shaking with uncontrolled laughter, to the point that he was swaying side to side slightly while he flew. Isaac scowled.

“What?”

The angel wiped away a tear, still snickering, and spun around so that he was flying backwards. Isaac silently prayed that the angel would hit the tunnel walls, but he navigated just as easily as he had when he’d been flying straight ahead.

“Say, Isaac, why’d you think Lucius kept Remus alive?”

Isaac blinked, taken aback. The unease from before returned, creeping and roiling in undulating waves. He swallowed, attempting to push it down.

Casimir’s grin widened, and the sphere was pulled forward so that the angel was directly in his line of sight.

“I told you, didn’t I? Lucius never had to struggle to beat anyone. All his fights were easy, and Remus was the only one who put up any fight at all.”

“…what’re you implying?”

Casimir snorted. “I mean, Isaac, that he kept Remus alive so he’d always have someone to fight when he got bored.” Another wave of snickers took over, this one small enough for the angel to keep talking through it. “He’d keep the guy locked in the dungeon with his powers gone, then when he was itching to beat something up, he’d unseal them again, fight until he was satisfied, then back in the dungeon Remus goes. Bam!” Casimir clapped his hands together, and Isaac winced on instinct.

“That can’t be true,” he said automatically.

The angel raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

Isaac grit his teeth. “You hate demons, you’ve already made that clear. How am I supposed to trust anything you say? How would you even know what was happening in the Inferno? Besides, Lucius isn’t—he wouldn’t do something like that.” Everything he knew and had seen about the man pointed to the opposite of that. He couldn’t reconcile the Lucius who flew to the Old Lands just to check up on Olzu with the image of a violent, bloodthirsty monster who essentially tortured the former demon king for no reason but his own amusement.

Isaac expected another piercing laugh or snide remark, but instead, when he looked back at Casimir, the angel was simply smiling. It wasn’t his usual exaggerated grin, but rather a smile of amusement that nearly looked mundane if he didn’t know better.

“What?” Isaac snapped.

Casimir cocked his head to the side, that alien smile still on his face.

“Just thinking, it’s kind of cute how hard you’re trying to believe.” The smile widened, sharpening at the corners into something more familiar, and his eyes seemed to gleam in the dim tunnel light. Mocking and superior. “It’d be a lot easier if you just accepted the truth, you know?”

The angel turned back around, facing the front again as they zipped through the dark, empty tunnels. His white wings beat strongly, blasting wind around them and scattering loose stones and dust.

“You keep going like this, and you’re gonna end up learning the hard way just how wrong you are about everything.”