by Eric Vall
The Dom’s eyes lit up, and then she bounced up and down excitedly.
“Does that mean I can finally bring out that large box of razor wire and salt?” she asked hopefully.
“Fuckkkkk yes!” the sub gasped orgasmically.
“Uh, sure,” I mused as I tried not to think of what they were planning to do with that stuff. “I’m giving you free reign to go crazy for one night.”
“We won’t disappoint you, master,” the sub announced.
Ira’s Dom shot the sub a dirty look, and then she brought the whip down hard on her back. The sub groaned seductively as her eyes filled with tears and her body tensed up, but she was loving every second of it.
“Don’t fucking call him ‘master!’” The Dom growled. “When we’re in here, I’m your master, remember?”
“Y-Yesss,” the sub cooed orgasmically.
“I think I’ll let you get back to your work here,” I announced as I began to head for the door. “Lots of, uh, other people I gotta visit.”
“Have fuuuuun,” the sub purred as I opened up the door to leave. “We know we certainly will be.”
I couldn’t help but shudder as I shut the door and heard the whipping begin once more. I’d never really been into Ira’s crazy form of sadomasochism, but it was a small price to pay to be around a woman who was that fucking sexy. Besides, she always seemed to tone it down when we made love.
When it was her two halves going at it, though? All bets were off.
About a half-mile off to the west of the Playground sat the coliseum, a giant stadium that once acted as the home of Azazel’s monthly “joust” tournaments. Now, the brimstone structure had been converted into the main training facility for my Shade Army, complete with an armory workshop for the beautiful angel, Ariel.
Cupi, Eligor, and Daniel were there right now, assuredly training my forces for their little demonstration tonight. Cupi and Eligor were two of the most brilliant tacticians I’d ever met, and I was sure they were going to be fine.
However, I was a bit concerned about Ariel. The literal angel had agreed to leave her posting in Heaven and serve as my head blacksmith in the Fourth Circle, and she’d been hard at work these last few weeks building up my armory. Her work was incredible, but she didn’t have much material to craft with.
Asmodeus was currently the only major ally I had, and he wasn’t really known for his military accomplishments. His army was small and weak, and his own Circle was one of peace and civility.
Between the two of us, all Ariel had to work with were the weapons we could buy from Black Bart or ones we could make out of the limited resources around us.
I trusted the angel, but I was skeptical of what she could possibly come up with given our current situation.
I walked up to the simple building made of brimstone bricks, rapped on the door, and awaited an answer.
Finally the door popped open, and before me stood the gorgeous redheaded angel known as Ariel.
The woman was wearing a skin-tight black tank top that put her freckled shoulders and perfectly-toned arms on display, and atop her strawberry red locks she wore a welding visor with its hood flipped up. Her black leggings were covered with flecks of metal and grease, and she was still holding her blow torch and hammer in her free hand.
Ariel’s dark brown eyes looked me over amusedly as a thin smile spread across her lips.
“Well, well,” she said as she clicked her tongue, “if it isn’t the boss-man, come to check out my progress.”
“Who? Me?” I joked as I pointed to myself. “I’m just here because I wanted to see how my favorite angel was doing.”
“Don’t let Raphael hear you say that,” the redhead retorted playfully. “Seriously, don’t. I think that might actually break his heart to hear.”
“Fine,” I admitted. “How’s my favorite angel in Hell?”
“Isn’t it Cupi?” Ariel harumphed. “Or maybe Eligor?”
“No, no,” I shook my head, “they’re both fallen angels. Totally different than the pure, unadulterated beauty that’s standing before me right now.”
“Unadulterated?” Ariel asked with a raised eyebrow. “You mortals really do fall for all of the Exalted One’s PR, don’t you?”
“Who are you calling ‘mortal?’” I mused as I entered the workshop. “In case you haven’t heard, I’m a Nephilim.”
“Nephilim, smephilim,” Ariel said with a wave of her hand. “You’ll always be Jacob Ralston to me, the mortal who was a god on Earth.”
“Shhhhh,” I warned coyly. “You could be tried for heresy just for saying that.”
“I don’t think the Exalted One is paying too much attention,” she admitted. “I was just a poorly, low-level blacksmith, remember? He probably doesn’t even know I’m gone, honestly.”
“You helped us break out of Heaven, defeat Metatron, and then banish Beelzebub back to Hell,” I reminded her. “You are definitely on his radar.”
The beautiful redhead just shrugged.
“It’s not his radar I want to be on,” she purred. “Now, all I care about is your kicking your enemies’ sorry butts!”
The fit redhead gave a little fist-pump in celebration, and then she bashfully looked down at the ground and kicked her foot lightly against the floor.
“Well, Ms. Blacksmith,” I chuckled, “what have you got for me?”
Ariel gave me a slight nod, and then she walked over to one of her workbenches and placed her tools down on its stony top.
“Are you ready for this?” She smiled as she pulled off the welding hood and set it next to the tools. “Because I’m really, reaalllly proud of it.”
The angel sauntered over to a nearby barrel full of two-handed weapons, firmly grasped one of the metal hilts, and then produced a battle hammer that must have been four feet long. She grunted as she struggled to handle the massive weapon, and then she handed it off to me.
The hammer nearly caused me to fall forward when its weight shifted into my hands, but I was able to quickly catch myself. Then I lifted the giant weapon up to my eyes and inspected it intensely.
The hilt of the hammer was adorned with all sorts of intricate metal work, shaped into interlocking loops that twisted down the weapon like a iron-clad snake. The head of the warhammer was a dual-wielder, with a squared-off, flat surface on one side and a scythe-like sickle on the other. At the very bottom of the hilt sat the small, carved image of a goat’s head.
“I like this little detail,” I chuckled and pointed at the sculpture. “I wasn’t too sure about the goat-headed shit at first, but now that everybody in my cult has one on their daggers, I’ve just learned to embrace it. At least it’s not a lizard or an eagle or anything generic like that.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Ariel smiled, “because I made it personally for you.”
I was taken aback by her words, but then quickly recovered with a shake of my head.
“You made this for me?” I gasped. “It’s … really fucking good. Like, some of the finest metal work I’ve ever seen. But how am I supposed to carry this mammoth of a weapon into battle?”
“That’s why I made it out of pure metal taken from the beams of some of our Shade’s dwellings,” she admitted. “I made sure to test every piece for magic before I melted it down, so you should be able to meld it without any issues. If you look closely, you’ll see it even has a cute little loop for your belt! And you know what the best part is? I forged this weapon with my own Divine-Light enchanted hammer.”
“Which meannnnss?” I questioned, mostly because I had no idea what that meant.
Ariel just rolled her eyes sarcastically and sighed in an over-dramatic way.
“It means that it will always retain its original shape,” she explained. “So, no matter how many times you melt it down or change its form, it will always come back to this intricate design when you command it to. And, the hammer will always have a bit of Divine Light powering it, which makes it even stronger.”
I was impressed. Finding non-enchanted metal in Hell was hard to do, but enough to build a huge fucking warhammer that would always retain its shape and was powered by Divine Light?
Ariel had outdone herself.
I summoned silver Hellfire into my hands, surrounded the weapon with its glow, and then commanded it to liquify into a grenade-sized ball. Sure as day, the material in the warhammer responded, and soon I was holding little more than a five-inch silver ball with an attached loop. I reached down, fastened it to my belt right next to the Unhallowed Sword, and then patted it for good measure.
“You really fucking outdid yourself, Ariel,” I whistled. “I think this thing alone will be enough to impress our new allies.”
“Then it’s a really good thing I went above and beyond and made more, huh?” Ariel giggled. “Like I always say, ‘anything worth doing is worth overdoing!’”
The angel bounced over to a large, open area of the workshop. It was pitch-black, but I could tell it stretched on for dozens of feet, and I could vaguely make out the shape of a human figure off in the distance.
Ariel summoned a bout of Divine Light into her hands, launched it at the ceiling of the workshop, and then set ablaze the oversized torch that hung from the roof. The entire area was illuminated by the angel’s spell, and I could now see the human shape was nothing more than a mannequin sitting alone inside of a cavernous warehouse.
However, the figure was wearing armor.
“Divine Light really keeps down the electric bill.” Ariel winked as she began to walk toward the mannequin and motioned for me to follow.
“I’m the King of the Fourth Circle,” I chuckled, “we don’t have to pay an electric bill.”
Once we were a few feet from the armored figure, Ariel halted in her tracks and made an exaggerated gesture with her hands.
“Go ahead,” she demanded proudly. “Take a swing at it with one of your weapons.”
“Uh, you sure?” I asked curiously. “The Unhallowed Sword is one of the most powerful blades in the universe.”
“We’ll see,” the redhead winked, “now try it.”
I thought it over for a second, but then I just shrugged and unsheathed the black metal sword from my belt. I readied the blade in my hands, hauled it back, and then swung directly for the breastplate of the mannequin.
The thin metal of the weapon struck the plating and crumpled it like a tin can. The entire front was caved in as if it had been hit by a freight train, and a large gash appeared directly where a human’s heart would have been.
“Uhhhhh,” I groaned awkwardly as I held the sword back down to my side, “was that supposed to happen, or did I totally just ruin your best piece of armor?”
“That was supposed to happen.” Ariel grinned. “This is rock armor, molded out of the very brimstone that makes up the ground around here. It’s brittle and easy to break, but it’s durable beyond belief. Especially when it’s given a little enhancement ...”
The redhead summoned the white light back into her hands, and then she placed it delicately against the dented breastplate. Instantly, the brimstone material was engulfed with the blinding shimmer of her spell, and it lasted even after she pulled her hands away.
“Unlike other rocky material, the composition of brimstone makes it highly absorbent for magic,” she explained. “Many demons have brimstone armor enchanted with Hellfire, and lots of angels have metal armor that is protected by Divine Light, but there’s never been a combination of Divine Light and brimstone armor. It’s the best of both worlds. Try your sword again.”
I gave the redhead a confirmation nod, and then I heaved my blade toward the armor once more.
This time, the Unhallowed Sword struck the Divine-powered breastplate and bounced off harmlessly.
Although I was in complete shock, I lashed out twice more with my weapon.
Still nothing.
“Holy fuck,” I said as I admired the angel’s work, “and you think you can make this for all of my Shades?”
“Given enough time,” she explained. “As you can probably imagine, brimstone is a pain in the rear to work with.”
“If you could somehow make enough of this armor for my entire army, we’ll be invincible!” I laughed.
“Now, now,” Ariel scoffed as she wagged her finger, “let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The armor itself is really powerful, but I had to leave a lot of open spaces for the sake of mobility. That, and the fact that they are still somewhat susceptible to bludgeoning damage, makes them not quite my finest work.”
“Ariel,” I mused as I sheathed my sword, “this is some of the greatest armor in the history of the universe. You’re selling yourself way too short.”
“Maybe,” the redhead shrugged, “I just wanna make sure it’s impressive enough for all these other Demon Kings. The stories I’ve heard about them, Jacob … they don’t take failure very well.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” I reassured the angel. “One, your shit is awesome, and they’re going to love it. Two, these guys are coming into my domain. Even if they aren’t one-hundred percent satisfied, they’re going to be respectful of you, or I’m gonna kick their asses.”
A slight blush crept up Ariel’s face, and she looked away bashfully.
“You--You’d really do that for me?” she asked coyly. “I’m sorry if I’m acting weird. I’m just not used to being recognized for, well, anything.”
“Then they must not have been paying attention,” I scoffed. “Your work is the finest I’ve ever seen. Like, seriously, you have a natural talent for this stuff.”
“You’re too kind,” Ariel blushed, “and this is so strange. I choose to serve the one Demon King who’s nicer than most of the angels I know.”
“What can I say?” I mused. “It must be that ‘ol midwestern hospitality in my blood. You can take the boy outta the Missouri, but you can never take the Missouri out of the boy.”
“I kinda like it,” the angel purred. “It makes you ten times more attractive than you already are.”
“Is that so?” I shot back with a raised eyebrow. “And how attractive did you find me in the first place?”
Ariel slapped my shoulder jokingly and smirked.
“Don’t play dumb, ‘My Leige,’” she laughed. “You’re a hunky ten, and you darn well know it.”
“You’re quite beautiful yourself,” I purred.
Now, Ariel’s face turned so red that it matched her hair. Then the angel let out an awkward giggle as she covered her face with her hands and sighed.
“There’s no need for flattery,” she mused. “You’ve already got me here fortifying your army.”
“I’m not trying to flatter you,” I promised, and then I placed my hand against her delicate cheek. “I’m being honest.”
“Come on now,” she sighed as she shook her head. “I’ve been working for hours. I’m all hot and sweaty, my hair’s a mess, and I’m wearing the first thing I threw on from my closet this morning. I look like a hot mess.”
“You could never look like a ‘hot mess,’” I reassured the angel. “Not to me.”
Ariel’s brown eyes filled with passion as she stared deeply into my own, and her mouth scrunched up as if she were trying to hold back what she was thinking. Then, before either or us could say another word, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine.
The angel’s kiss tasted sweeter than any woman I’d been with before, and for a moment I wondered if it was because her kind were pure beings with pure souls. Then her hand began to slip down my midriff, and my mind shot back to the situation at hand.
The redhead’s delicate fingers ran along my loose-fitting shirt and pressed against my abs tenderly. Then the angel went for my belt. She popped off my weapon holster in a singular motion, and then she fumbled with the fastener on my pants. Finally, Ariel gave the garment a slight tug, and I was completely exposed.
“Oh my Exalted One!” Ariel gasped when she saw my dick at half-mast. “Tha
t’s--That’s not even it’s full size, is it?”
“Only one way to find out.” I winked.
The redhead’s lips pursed into a coy smile as she stared at my growing erection, and before I could say another word, she began to tug off her shirt.
Ariel’s tank top came over her head and exposed her perky b-cups to the warm air of the warehouse. Her pink nipples were small but thick, and they both stood at attention to greet me. Much like her face and shoulders, the woman’s skin was covered with adorable freckles all down her body, from her slender neck all the way down to her tight, toned abs.
As I fumbled to take off my dirty white shirt, Ariel got busy removing her pants. Once I yanked my shirt over my head and threw it to the ground beside us, the beautiful redhead was fully undressed.
My eyes traveled up her statuesque body, and I started with her cute feet before I slid up her toned legs and stopped on the small patch of fire-red hair that adorned the slit between her legs.
I didn’t think there could have been a more perfect body had the Exalted One sculpted it himself.
Ariel bit her lip and looked at me hopefully.
“Well?” she asked. “Do you like what you see?”
“Doesn’t my rock-hard erection tell you that?” I laughed and motioned to my cock.
“It’s just … ” she trailed off nervously. “I’ve never slept with a demon before. Let alone a Demon King. I feel so … naughty, you know?”
“Then don’t think of me as a Demon King,” I nodded and moved in closer, “think of me as Jacob Ralston, the little ‘ol Kansas City boy who got in way too far over his head and just wants to make things right.”
“I-I think that might help.” The redhead grinned and took a step closer.
Now, our bodies were only a few inches away from each other, and I went in for it all. Our tongues danced in each other’s mouths as our hands explored each other’s bodies.
Ariel’s skin was soft as silk, and her body was as tight as a well-tied knot.
We kissed passionately for a second or two before I made my move. I reached down, placed my hand on the back of Ariel’s thigh, and then raised her leg so it was on my hip. Then I forcefully pushed her backward until her back was firmly up against the wall of the warehouse.
