Demon Lord

Lith Continent, Demon World / Hell

***

The words uttered by the Angel muffled Dreygo's hearing. It replayed a few times before his comprehension. It was never before heard of for Centuries serving the Hell God, and an Angel, their known enemy, offered salvation to a Demon.

"Speak your name, Angel!" Dreygo demanded.

"I am Viriel, an angel of the 3rd rank. Do not fear what is to come. It is your destiny, Dreygo!" Angel knew his name. Even when Demon prays, he will be heard in Heaven.

"Ascension? That's impossible, Angel!" Dreygo his voice was loud and still skeptical.

"It is impossible for Demons to ascend on their own. But Angels do and can ascend another Demon." Viriel said.

"That is breaking the law of your Heavenly Supreme." Dreygo snapped.

"Heavenly Supreme doesn't know. I act on my own volition."

"What if you will get caught? What will happen to you?"

Viriel sighed, "The Heavenly law says any violation of the 5th degree will have no other forms of Judgement and will be directly cast down to Hell for eternity. That if I will get caught. It is a big risk for me. Only hoping that my attempt is worthy of my time."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I heard your prayers, Dreygo. I can hear your thoughts if needed." The Angel started to sound convincing. "Especially when you stare at Hell sky and dream about getting out of this place. I heard you for the millionth time. Our agendas aligned and I am offering you a one-time ticket to Earth. To kill Kragus! To stop him from conquering another world and prevent tilting the balance between our worlds."

"Kragus is unkillable!" Dreygo interjected.

"Kragus is unkillable in Hell." He answered with emphasis. "He collects his power in the Demon world just like our Heavenly Supreme in his world. But if these Gods migrated to worlds outside their territory then their Godly powers reduced to a level that we haven't measured."

Dreygo started to relax. He swung his arms freely at his side and sat on the ground with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and thought for a few moments.

"Let me think first, Angel." There was a moment of silence. Only the flames' flare, breeze, and dancing smoke, were perceptible for the two beings.

Viriel surveyed his vision of their surroundings. Beyond the rotten buildings, he saw Humanoid demons hiding in fear. Cowering to their dear sad lives because of the presence of a Harbinger and an Angel.

Minutes passed by the Harbinger had not answered yet. Viriel, a little impatient, broke the silence. "Listen, Dreygo! I still did not mention your reward in case you succeed."

Dreygo flinched and opened his eyes.

"Did you say, reward?" The Harbinger asked.

"Yes, a reward. As all angels do for any being who succeeds under their employ."

"Speak, Angel!" He clenched his fists. "You should start telling me of a reward."

Viriel chuckled as he heard a lowly demon demand something from an Angel, "If you succeed, you will be reincarnated to Earth. Live your life again as a human being and undo all your wrongdoings. Your memories will remain, all your knowledge and experience remains, and that will be your greatest gift. In that way, when the time comes, you will be judged again in Limbo. This time for sure, you will be in Heaven world."

Dreygo was still undecided as to the difficulty of digesting everything. To even introduce the thought of killing Kragus was unimaginable for him. The conditions were different; a Demon walking amongst human beings. Moreover, a modern world with technology that he did not grasp. He left Earth during medieval times. The only weapons they possessed were axes, swords, and shields. They considered the high technology of war was a Battle Catapult and that's it.

Viriel was now impatient. "I need an answer now, Dreygo! This could shift your whole life. You can build a legacy to our worlds." The Angel sensed a strong Demon presence approaching their area behind the rotten buildings.

"Legacy?" Dreygo spat.

Dreygo felt the looming presence of a strong being. It seemed that the wind ceased dancing, the flames grew much larger, and smoke enveloped a large fraction of their area.

"Asmoth. A Demon Lord of Lith." Dreygo said.

Tentacles of smoke crept to the floor and were gently revealed from behind the buildings. It was like an outgrowth of roots from a large tree but in a form of black smoke. The temperature suddenly doubled and atmospheric pressure was less humid.

Dreygo recognized that presence and he scrambled upon the rubble for his sword again. His only hope was his weapon, which could kill the Demon Lords.

"I need to find my sword!" Dreygo panicked.

His eyes struggled against a cloud of smoke that filled the space. Every dire second, the tentacles engulfed the area. The screeches from humanoid demons grew stronger again, evidently fearful of experiencing the inexplicable feeling of tremendous intimidation of power.

All humanoid demons fled away and only Dreygo and Viriel remained.

Hur! Hur! Hur! A laugh of coughing fire blended with phlegm.

The echoes of the laughter had obscured the location of the source.

Viriel knew that these Demon Lords would sense an angel's presence. Let alone when Viriel entered the portal right above the country's sky, conspicuous enough to alert the majority of the Demons in the area.

Viriel, without a hint of fear, spoke again. "Dreygo, you must decide now, or our situation will be very difficult for us. Remember, I did not bring any weapons with me."

Dreygo squinted back at the angel's armor to make sure.

'He did come empty-handed.'

"You fool! Coming here without weapons. You are out of your mind!" Dreygo shouted.

On the angel's peripherals, a large sword was slicing through the tentacles, aiming at him at enormous speed and perfect accuracy. Viriel veered to that position quickly, his footing paced at inhuman speed and the ground shrieked as his metallic sole grazed against it.

The sword carried wind and the projectile seemed immovable like that of a bullet. A sword this size and the speed it achieved must have been thrown by an unimaginable strength.

Viriel's face did not flinch but caught the sword with both open palms clasping the large blade. It ceased moving but the 3rd rank angel absorbed the force causing him to slide a few meters back, but his footing remained. The wind scattered as he caught the blade creating a strong blow to its surroundings.

The size of the sword's blade was the same as Viriel's body and its cross guard was pointy like two-bladed spears. Its handle was large enough to fit a large hand. It was 10 times bigger than Dreygo's sword.

Viriel opened his palms and dropped the sword. It did not bounce but instead, the sword dug through the ground and buried half its metallic blade. It seemed the sword was heavier than it looks.

Clanking sounds of metallic armor were heard from the position where the sword was thrown. His steps crumbled the ground leaving small craters. The Demon Lord finally revealed himself. Its eyes glowed red with a hint of flame. His body width was so vast almost equivalent to its height. His height doubled that of a normal Demon.

His armor was like large metal slabs fit together to cover its humungous body. A fragile figure of a naked lady hung freely at his side with her handles shackled that connected to Ashmoth's shoulder plates. It was a demon whore.

Ashmoth's mouth was gruesome. His lips were lacerated and sharp teeth were partially visible as the cheek's skin had numerous lacerations and was occupied by 3rd and 2nd-degree burns.

He spoke loudly with a volume that matched his body. "Why are you here, Angel?"

"It is none of your concern," Viriel replied, his voice challenging the Demon.

Hur! Hur! Hur!

"You are in my territory. You are trespassing. You know it is a declaration of war!" He turned to the Harbinger. "Dreygo, attack that angel! Show him your might as a Death Harbinger!"

The Angel interjected, "You are facing me, Demon!"

Dreygo did not move nor listened to him. He was just standing still. "I am disappointed Dreygo. After I slaughter this Angel, you will be next." Ashmoth taunted.

The Angel turned to face the harbinger, "Dreygo, decide now before it's too late!"

Dreygo did not answer the Demon Lord or Viriel. He weighed this decision at the core of his beliefs. He needed space and time to think but those luxuries he did not possess at the moment. The pressure impedes his thinking.

A lot of things rushed through his thoughts; one - was that he is not immortal in the Human world, second – he does not know if he retained his strength and speed, third – most importantly if he dies on Earth, he will become a low-level demon again, stripped from his title, his position, and his abilities. A humanoid demon.

Dreygo stood motionless, his eyes blank.

Ashmoth launched his large hand forward and the tentacle of smoke transformed into sharp black blades like solid ether, attacking Viriel. Five tentacles followed Ashmoth's command rushing through at dizzying speed.

Viriel once again in defense mode, used his right wing as cover but his eyes anticipated every attack including from beneath his feet. The tentacle blades hit Viriel's wings and a high-pitched shrieking sound was made by sudden friction.

It did not penetrate Viriels wings and forced the tentacles to change direction instead of hitting the ground and surrounding structures. A four-story building crumbled as 2 tentacles hit its base.

The Tentacle blades dispersed like smoke and another batch of solid tentacles gradually formed from beneath Ashmoth's feet ready for another launch.

Dreygo suddenly shouted, "Yes! I accept!"

Viriel offered his left hand to him. "Let's go!"

A burst of laser-like light sliced through the vast sky and came down to Viriel and Dreygo. It was the portal for their ascent. As the light touched the ground, it created a strong aura that prevented Ashmoth from launching another batch of tentacle blades. For a second, the area illuminated like almost achieving daytime and suddenly the light disappeared along with the Angel and the Death Harbinger.