I have very comfortable rest with a few nightmares that come with the use of my powers. Luckily, they don’t seem all too terrifying, but at this point, it’s as if my Father has ceased attempting to figure out what scares me most. He never really been quite a receptive Father. Doubtless, he believes that because I am the Demon Lord of cowardice, he thinks anything can scare me. But he lacks the intuition that I am the same to fear as Lucifer is to pride. If he were as prideful as my Father believed I was cowardly, he wouldn’t have even been able to release me into this plane, because of the inevitable damage it would deal to his pride. My Father has always been so lofty, it must be an unbelievable shock to find things aren’t working out his way.

I ease my eyes open, tearing at the sleep that glues my eyes together, I rub my eyes and yawn widely and ease myself out of my bed. I stretch my body, causing to issue a chorus of cracks, and my muscles burn from use. It will pass after a little bit of movement. I turn on the light by my bed and give myself a once over. Every time I use my magic, it seems to become a habit, but I find only small signs of changes. Not much, mostly because I won’t likely take a very demonic form. All my brothers, baring Beelzebub himself do have some sort of humanoid look, I just so happen to be born more like a Human than all of them. I only find my fingers becoming lither, and tapering more harshly near the tip. Like everything else, it maintains its usual effectiveness. My tail seems to be the only exception to that rule, but much like my wings that I have in my demonic form, it’s something I need to grow used to.

I’m happy to have taken only a tail as a demonic feature, I think permanent wings could be a very problematic addition. It’s hard enough to deal with my broken clothes. It is still too soon to say that I will completely avoid the addition of wings.

I approach the door of my room and open the door, yawning into my hand as I exit. I can smell some food being cooked, a breakfast meal at around 2 pm. Sebastian is cooking in the kitchen, looking a little annoyed. Kaiden is at his table, sipping at a cup of coffee. Unexpectedly, Gabbie and Walter are sitting in the living room, watching TV. I rub my eyes again, confirming that I’m not still half asleep, then I approach them.

“Mornin’,” Walter greets me. “Or should I say afternoon? Sleep well?”

“Fine-” I croak. I clear my throat. “I’m fine,” I repeat, this time with a clear voice. “I thought you were meant to be at school.”

“We were, but we all went to sleep way too late to deal with schoolwork. Way better to sleep in a bed than to sleep on a desk.” Walter leans back against the couch, using his hands to cushion his head. “And considering we’re all around, maybe we can work on what Gabbie mentioned to you.”

Sebastian approaches with his arms filled with food. He hands me a plate before placing plates in front of the others, with a distasteful look on his face. “I think you need to use those things you call brains first. Learn the situations you can take advantage of before attempting to take advantage of situations you don’t know are advantageous to you.”

“And what are those exactly?” Gabbie asks, pulling her utensils from the mess of her breakfast-lunch.

“If you can’t beat them, you run until you can. You don’t fight them alone, and you don’t fight them until they get an advantage over you. They are stronger and have more experience than you. They will recognize an opportunity before you and you will provide them with fortunes of them. So, you don’t fight them alone and you also don’t fight them face to face. You set traps and lure them to their deaths. Prey on their weaknesses and destroy them.”

“How would we do that?” Walter asks, a piece of egg halfway to his mouth.

“Find what prevents them from utilizing all their power. If they can use fire magic, lure them near water, wind magic, utilize small areas. They are easily identifiable, and if you don’t know, none of them care enough to hide all their abilities. Infuriate them, force them to chase and instead of making an advantage in direct combat, make a situational advantage.”

“And what about people like Lucifer?” Gabbie queries.

Sebastian snorts. “I hope you have good running shoes. Because you’re going to run as far in the opposite direction as you can and hope they don’t take pot shots at you as you’re running. I don’t doubt that with training, you can beat a few Arcanists, but none of your powers are even in the same realm as a Demon Lord. I wouldn’t mind if a few of you committed suicide, however, I’m not sure Elmira would appreciate it.”

“But we want to be able to combat them too.”

“I understand your desire to fight Arcanists,” I say. I sit down on the sofa and place the plate on the coffee table. “But I think you can manage against Arcanists. I don’t think you can manage against my brothers. You don’t have the protection to manage against them and any of them will laugh off sword attacks and don’t even think you can get near them to turn them to diamond, Walter. You’d all be evaporated. Recognize where to draw the line and leave it to those who you know are stronger than you. None of you are particularly strong Vigors and there’s only so much knowledge can do to prepare you for something. There’s absolutely no preparation you all can have to fight a tornado besides staying away from it. No way you can prepare for an inferno that can turn steel to a liquid. If you need to be prepared for an Arcanist, you’re falling far too short to consider taking on my brothers.”

“Learn your own mortality, or face the idea of it being cut incredibly short,” Sebastian concludes. “You can only fight Arcanists. For the sake of yourself and Lady Elmira, don’t overstep your boundaries. Even for mortals, being able to fight off an Arcanist is an incredibly impressive feat, but fighting off a demon lord is likely only a feat that can be performed by those who head this stupid organization.”

“Speaking of mortality,” Kaiden says, surprising everyone from his place in the room. He either usually doesn’t talk or keeps his focus on his work. This means he’s been paying attention and at the same time is willing to talk amongst others, something that again he doesn’t much like. “Does that mean all Demons are immortals?”

“All of them- However some can get sick, diseased or be slain by a blade or abilities. The stronger the are, the less likely all of that will happen. For example, Elmira can’t get sick, she can’t get diseased and she has a faster healing rate than most. She can have harsh injuries that are left on her by her Father or brothers, but eventually, because she won’t die naturally, they also will heal. Most of all, because inevitably she will stand on the same rung as her brothers, she won’t easily be slain by a sword or ability. What’s more, since the birth of my Father, there hasn’t been a single death of a Demon Lord. My Father is well over eight thousand years old,” Sebastian explains.

“Whoa, whoa. And your Father is?” Gabbie asks.

“I feel like this is one of the things that has been mentioned. There are only two people that could be Sebastian’s Father. Lucifer or Beelzebub. Sebastian’s Father is Beelzebub. Something I don’t doubt I’ve mentioned is that Beelzebub, my oldest brother is by far the most powerful. He doesn’t need a weapon like Valor or Hubris to be strong. If there was any threat to my Father, he’s the one who would scare him,” I explain.

“Ah, but Satan isn’t some pushover. My Father might be strong and he might be the only one to scare him. But that doesn’t mean he holds enough strength to replace him on the throne of the Demonic Plane,” Sebastian adds. “In spite of that, I don’t doubt we’re just talking trivial details here. He’s more of a problem to us than he is to your Father. And even if he is a threat, Belphegor will come first. Satan has no ambition to send out his greatest weapon so soon. Even Belphegor will come before him, and we both know how lazy he is.”

I nod in agreement with his deliberation. It seems like my Father will make a very simple error, and that is slowly slipping out my brothers instead of sending them all out. That will have a higher chance of success in my capture. I suspect that either he doesn’t deem Humans as a threat or he does and he doesn’t wish to show his whole hand.

“To sum up the whole situation right now. Satan will throw all he can at us until he can’t throw anything more. Then maybe he’ll join the fray. If that happens, then you’ll have a better chance of surviving if you place your face against the surface of the sun.”

“I’m guessing no-one really has faith in Humans prevailing,” Walter mutters.

“When have you prevailed to those outside your world? When you’re considering doomsday scenarios, you’re expecting to lose against something. Be it your own mortality, your world or what’s outside this rock. We’re immortal and nothing threatens us. We’re the apex, you’re the prey.”

“Hey, it’s not like we’ve had any sort of track record with fighting with Demons.”

“Regardless of whether you have a record or not. If you were a threat, then the concept of a doomsday scenario spawning from the idea of Demons invading your world wouldn’t exist.”

“Alright, so Humans suck, Demons rule. Kinda getting the point, so we need to make sure that doesn’t happen, so how about we just forget about that stuff and we get outside and learn to fight Arcanists?” Gabbie declares.

“Now?” I ask, having barely touched my food.

“When else?”

I shrug. It’s not like I have anything better to do, though I figured I’d spend at least some time with my feet up after the issues from the morning, but then again, I’m not someone who knows exactly what to do with my free time. “I guess after we finish our food,” I mutter.

They then wolf their food down as if I’m about to run away without teaching them how to fight, I, however, take my time and savor the meal. I appreciate their excitement, but I don’t quite appreciate how much work I’m going to be faced with in the future. If it means preserving their life, though, enthusiasm is better than apatheism. I then make sure to take Sebastian aside. “So how should I challenge them. I figure I should make sure to take on my demonic form and but I don’t exactly know the strategy I should take.”

“First, you don’t work as a team. Rewards are given based on merit, the only time one might take part in another’s fight is to take what is theirs, either killing them for the credit or to take the credit of the kill by killing the prey themselves. We work solo, we walk solo, and if there’s a case where one of us is losing, we allow the other to lose. The only time one might work together is if both are in the situation of dying, much like we fought the Arcanists and Masters when he was here.”

“And Valor?”

“Valor is the gap between the strength of an Arcanist and the strength of a Lord. One can’t expect them to beat you while you’re wielding that weapon, maybe at a later date, if they are so bent on fighting Lords, you can teach them the absurdity of that thought.”

“I hardly compare to them.”

“But it’s not as if any Human has actually fought against a Lord wielding their weapon. The others told me you lost against a team called Team Expedition. Tell me, if you had Valor then, could you have beaten them alone?”

I give him a short, yet confident nod. “I’m fairly certain.”

“And they beat your team with ease. Your answer is clear.”

“Right. I guess I should change so I don’t ruin more of my clothes.”

“I think that would be wise.”

I return to my room, to sort through my clothes. Thankfully, none of the damage clothes were thrown out, it makes things easier for me to pick out some clothes for the sake of transformation. I am starting to consider that I might have to talk to someone about making clothes for my demonic form, though. Better to have the wing holes made than to suffer through them tearing through the cloth over and over again.

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I decide to pick the clothes that I fought team Expedition with, I feel they are better off than the rags that I fought the invasion in and it’s sort of appropriate for going to the training area in. I wore this last time I went there, so why not again?

So, I rejoin them wearing my damaged clothing. Gabbie now has a small bag slung over her shoulder, holding maybe a weapon for her to use. Everyone excepting Sebastian give me a look of protest. I know they think I should be wearing something more flattering, or at least something that isn’t torn to pieces, but I roll my eyes. “I would be wearing something else if that something else was suited for my demonic form,” I grumble. “If you’re going to complain about fashion here, then I’ll stay in my room for the day.”

Walter shrugs and Gabbie looks at him, for a moment I swear her eyes are sparkling, but he grimaces and shakes his head. They seem to be on the same vein of thinking, but not willing to share it with Sebastian, Kaiden, and I. It usually doesn’t matter, I’ve long since given up trying to join their wavelength. They’ve been together for a while and I’ve only joined them fairly recently, only time will tell if I learn how they wordlessly communicate.

“Alright, let’s go,” Gabbie announces. Kaiden quickly breaks off from us before we leave and he picks up a heavy case and slings over his shoulder before rejoining us. Then Gabbie leads the way to the door with a slight skip in her step, enough for her to draw a cold smile from Sebastian. It’s very much clear that he’s going to appreciate being to hurt them at least a little bit. I give him a look of displeasure.

“It’s fine. I won’t hurt them… Much,” he offers. It’s that last word that has me concerned. I’m sure he’d be ecstatic to cause some breaks. Especially considering there’s someone like Diane in the tower to heal those breaks. I think at this point I’m more worried about what he will do than I will do.

We end up in the elevator down to the main hall and Kaiden leans against the wall, right up next to me. He clears his throat. “Mattie came in earlier today, he came to check on you, but you were still sleeping. Anyway, he wanted to put forward an invitation for us to come to a picnic in a few weeks.”

“A what?”

“Picnic: blanket, basket, food under the sun?”

“What an odd affair.”

“Agreed. Sun and baskets are very odd.”

“I think it’s a combination of those four things that is odd. I am unsure of what one would do with it all.”

“I think it would be best for you to wait and see.”

“As always.” The elevator slides open and we’re out into the main hall. No longer am I an odd sight in the building, I might be to new members, but there are more people who know me than don’t. Many of whom don’t have any intent to talk with me. I am pretty sure that it’s partly with the assistance of Tagert and Oracle that I don’t turn as many heads, and it’s nice not being the center of attention all the time.

We make our way through the hall and outside the cafeteria into the heavily wooded area. It feels a little cold out today, but there’s no clouds in the sky, nor any indication that it might rain. Hopefully, it stays that way, the weather can change very suddenly so I won’t put any faith in it.

We arrive in the training area and Kaiden places the case on the ground and he undoes some straps before opening it up. Inside are a massive array of robots, many of which are the ones that he used in the demon invasion, while there are also some new ones. Spider-like robots with many legs and a few exposed prongs on different parts of its body.

Sebastian clears his throat. “When you are ready, enter the area. We’re hunting you, not the other way around. For us, beating you means fame and fortune. Your goal is survival and engaging us does not guarantee that.” Sebastian opens his wings and he streaks into the sky and I sigh and enter my demonic form. I open my wings and prepare to take off but Kaiden grabs my wrist.

“You can destroy any of the robots, I can replace them easily. So don’t worry,” He mutters.

“I think Sebastian would do that regardless. And, Walter, should we assume that you’ll turn us to unmoving diamond or graphite if you grab hold of us?” I ask.

“Assume that I obviously won’t do that, but you should probably assume I will try.”

I nod then open my wings and use them to take to the air, for the first time since the invasion. It isn’t long before I rejoin Sebastian. I clear my throat. “Walter won’t turn us to graphite or diamond, so we have to assume that he would, regardless of the fact he won’t.”

“So don’t touch him. Should be simple enough. Granted, I’m tempted just to continue as normal and show him what he gets for giving us such a handicap.”

“And if he actually uses his abilities?”

“Then you don’t know them. If you or I decided to rejoin the armies of the Demon Plane, then would he use his abilities against someone who he considered a friend? For someone who champions the fact that they may be more Human than Demon, that is very similar to the way other Demons might think.” He seems bored while saying this, but he usually is very passive, unless he is speaking to Humans. “All Demons consider every weapon something that will be utilized. Humans consider emotions tied to the usage of these weapons. One should know the differences between each race.”

I exhale loudly and look at the three conversing seriously below. They seem to be gesturing at a few spots in the grounds, though I can’t hear them. “What would you usually do when hunting?”

“Hunting? To us, it’s a game. You aren’t seen, you aren’t expected, you aren’t wanted. You have the element of surprise and you beat them thoroughly and remove them completely of pride and faculties. That is what must be done with all prey. The more you break your prey, the easier it is both to beat them, and to learn that which they hide.”

“Sounds excessive.”

“If something is scared of you, its will to fight back is decreased and its desire to run is increased. It’s called the fight or flight response. You would do well to learn of it. You aren’t some child of Sathanus, you should have no desire to outright fight anyone. And you aren’t a child of Lucifer so you won’t feel inclined to fight evenly.”

“That actually sounds kinda offensive.”

“It’s the smart way to fight. You don’t fight with a handicap if possible, especially if the enemy is trying to kill you. But whether you want to hunt and terrify or just to get the job done is your decision.”

I sigh to myself. He’s right, but the way he puts it does seem harsh. It doesn’t seem right to scare them. Then again, I can see the advantages. The skill of ambushing or stalking someone does give numerous advantages, but it does seem far too aggressive and excessively animalistic. I peer down at Walt, Kai, and Gabbie and the three of them walk slowly into the training area. Though it isn’t without some prior caution. Soon after they have entered, a few robots crawl or fly out of the box, following the three of them into the training area.

“If you don’t like it, you can do it the way you want to. Though you might find the information useful at some point.” He then descends into the training area before entering a building through a hole in the roof. I spend a few moments mulling over what he said, intending to wait until he sufficiently settled in before I go down myself. I find it curious, I am cowardly, yet I have no ambition to take any advantage I can take, I am fearful of my enemies, yet I will take a handicap because I don’t feel like it would be right to taunt and stalk my enemies. It seems like a very odd contrast to have these feelings, but at the same time, I can’t consider them as being completely contrary to my true nature. It seems I am at an impasse, but I will have to consider why at a later date. The story of my life, really.

I descend from the sky and land in the middle of a street, choosing a more obvious landing location. I then stoop as I walk into one of the buildings. The building is no better than the other buildings in this place, though at least it isn't sinking underground. Much of it seems to be covered with a fine dusting of dirt, with overturned sofas and a coffee table crammed into a corner. There’s a television that’s hanging from the wall by thin wires attaching it to the wall. There's a wooden counter, with a sign on the ground in front of it. I approach the sign and bend down to retrieve it only to get startled by a loud buzzing. I stand back up and spot a robot, one of the electronic robots that Kaiden owns. I wave a hand and flames engulf it for a period of time or at least long enough for it to tumble out of the air and land in the dirt.

I approach the incinerated robot and step on it, causing it to crunch beneath my foot, and continue deeper into the building. I walk down a short corridor that ends in what seems to be a small cafeteria, with a fridge and surprisingly well-preserved tables and chairs. I then grab a chair and wrench free a back leg, before ensuring that the backrest remains behind. The metal leg and portion of the backrest should be sufficient enough to substitute as a weapon for if Walt gets too close.

There’s another loud buzzing noise approaching and I turn around to see two robots come down the corridor. I immediately strike at them with my new weapon, whipping them out of the air with ease. But their arrival means that Kai knows where I am, which means that he’s probably relayed it to the others.

The room shakes as if hit by an earthquake. I look around, cautiously and watch one of the walls turn gray as if someone is draining all the color from it. The entire side of the wall seems to be sinking as the color changes and pieces fall from it as if they were minuscule pebbles from a rock. I then take a few simple step back as I wait for Walt to enter through the vulnerability in the wall. And so he does, with his body covered in diamond and a confident look on his face. He reaches out to grab me but I blind him with a simple flash of light. I drop my hand to where his chest is and then intensify the light, sending him back the way he came. I then follow him, stooping beneath the crippled wall as I exit the building.

“Fuck, my eyes! I can’t see!” Walt yells while rolling on the ground. I didn’t exactly use an incredibly intense burst of light, so he should be mostly fine, so he’s either trying to trick me or he’s trying to get sympathy. And maybe he’s eliciting a little bit of sympathy, but I’m supposed to at least act heartless.

I feel a very harsh shock run up my right leg and it feels like my muscles have turned to jelly. I almost fall forward and Walter shoots up and bolts toward me once more. I quickly look at the ground to see a few robotic spiders on the ground, three of them in total. I can’t move easily without collecting them as I walk. I instantly respond in the same way Gail responded, but with better effectiveness. Fire explodes around me, scorching the stone around me and engulfing the spider-like robots walking across it. Walter also gets caught in it, but I doubt it will affect him greatly.

My assessment is correct and he reappears unharmed and still coming ever closer, in fact, he is nearly close enough to grasp me. I then flick my foot up causing a heavy burst of light to expand in a crescent pattern toward his shin. He responds by attempting to jump over it, but with his momentum, he only trips anyway, tumbling through the air toward me. I then sweep my improvised weapon from right to left, catching him in the jaw and spilling him out across the ground. He ends up in a heap next to a curb and he doesn’t seem unphased now. He seems a little bleary eyed and confused, leading me to believe that I might have given his brain a good few shakes.

I open my wings and ascend into the air, rising to the point where I become completely untouchable for Walter. He slowly lifts himself off the ground, getting shakily to his feet and I look around to see if there are any flying robots approaching me. I have no doubts that I will hear them if they do. I then return my sight to Walt who is looking bitterly up at me. “Get down from there!” He yells.

I see a familiar shape exit a building behind him. It’s Sebastian, carrying Gabbie. Her arms and legs are trapped in shadowy bonds. Walter then spins around, immediately looking where I look. Sebastian flicks his hand through the air and Walter shrieks as he’s blinded once again as his hand engulfs itself in an aggressive light. Walter’s shadow stretches across the ground and from it, masses of shadows fire out, immediately wrapping tightly around him and pulling him hard to the ground. It’s easy to see how Sebastian is better suited to deal with Walter. But at the same time, he also acted in the same way that other Demons would, stealing my kill.

Sebastian looks up at me and smirks. I then descend to the ground near Walter, yet not close enough for him to grab ahold of me if he breaks free of the shadows. “Was I not supposed to do that?”

“Well, you weren’t supposed to just allow me to beat him, but using the advantage of flight against someone who can’t touch you is the right choice. They are just going to have to learn to fight against enemies that can fly.” Sebastian clears his throat and then lowers Gabbie toward the ground. She groans and though there’s no clear harm to her, it’s very likely she’s bruised heavily and hopefully, there are no broken bones. “The only one left is Kaiden, but if he’s doing his job right, he’s hiding, so our success comes where we’ve disabled his teammates. I don’t exactly feel like searching every nook and cranny for a single Human and I doubt other demons would give a damn, excepting a really pissed off son of Sathanus.”

I scratch my head, that was far faster and simpler than I anticipated. They definitely lack some skills that they need. “They didn’t stick together and run,” I mutter.

“Indeed, they did not,” Sebastian agrees. “I’ll explain when Kaiden arrives, until then, you two can suffer from your bruises.” The shadows evaporate around Walt and Gabbie and they both sit up. Gabbie seems more hurt than Walt, but he does seem a bit dazed. It seems he’s quite sensitive to strikes to the head, even while covered in diamond. Gabbie rubs her wrists, where she was bound tight and she doesn’t look happy at all, disappointment showing on her face.

Kaiden arrives shortly, panting with his heavy case over his shoulder. He trips over a rock but doesn’t go down, only stumbling a moment before coming to a stop next to us. “I’m here,” he gasps. He’s breathing quite heavily, showing that he might be unfit.

Sebastian crosses his arms and clears his throat. “The easiest thing to mention is that the second you entered, you split up, expecting that you could beat us alone. You were wrong. Beating you was simplicity in itself. I’ve seen normal mortals that cause more issues for me. You didn’t use the options you had to prevent us from using a form of magic. You could have kept me outside and kept Elmira inside. You would have decreased the places we can all use magic from. You also went into a fight against us with no strategy. We were actively competing against each other and it seems like you were too. I hope for all your sakes, you improve. Elmira, anything to add?”

“Walter should wear a helmet.”

“A what?” He gasps.

“You’re not turning your brain to diamond, so you should wear a helmet. Otherwise, I’ll knock you unconscious and give you a concussion. You also need a way to take both of us out of the sky while Kaiden needs quieter robots.”

“Thank you. I’m disappointed. And that’s even outweighing the disappointment I was expecting to feel because you were Humans. Kaiden, just because your power doesn’t involve being in the face of enemies, doesn’t mean you don’t need to be able to run! You also spent more time going after me than I assume Elmira, which showed blatant favoritism- To an enemy. I hope you’re all listening because I’m unsure the next Arcanist you fight will be so kind.”

The three of them have frowns glued to their faces Kaiden is looking at his feet and Gabbie is rubbing her injuries. I toss my improvised weapon to the ground signifying the end of our exercise.