by Eric Vall
Chapter 1
“Good lord, Jakey,” Todd whistled as we watched the chaos from afar. “This wreck makes my room in the castle look like a germaphobe’s.”
The imp wasn’t wrong. Cupi, Gula, Todd, and I were standing at the top of a large hill as we stared down at the small town below. Debris littered the streets of the city, composed mostly of hunks of brimstone, metal, and glass. Windows were broken, signposts were torn out of the ground, and the walls of the dwellings were peppered with elephant-sized holes. The citizens of the village must have bunkered themselves up inside, because not a soul was out and about during the disarray.
I’d made a lot of changes since I’d killed Azazel and became King of the Fourth Circle. The first order of business was to eliminate the “medieval” aesthetic he’d forced onto the entire landscape. Now, the residents of the Fourth Circle got to live their lives as modern citizens, with electricity, running water, and houses made of metal and brimstone instead of wattle and daub.
Thanks to the leadership of Daniel, the Shade who had led the band of freedom fighters who helped me defeat Azazel, the people met this change with the utmost enthusiasm.
Then again, how could you not be enthused when the ruthless demon who had been torturing you for centuries was usurped?
“What’s our plan of attack?” Gula asked aloud. “I’ve hunted plenty of creatures down here, but I’m sorry to say I’ve never encountered a Behemoth before.”
“We have to tread carefully,” Cupi warned. “These things may look like big, lumbering brutes, but they’re actually pretty intelligent. They were one of the first creatures the Exalted One created, after all.”
“Then how the hell did it end up down here?” I questioned. “Shouldn’t it be on some isolated tropical island or something like that back on Earth?”
“Perhaps,” the fit blonde succubus continued, “but the Exalted One created the Behemoth before any other living thing in the universe, and it refused to obey him. Having a creature this powerful and intelligent that refuses to listen to the highest power of the land? That obviously wasn’t going to work. He banished it to Hell and then started over on the rest of the living things.”
“Ohhh,” Todd mused. “So the Behemoth was a beta test? One that went horribly wrong.”
“Sounds like it,” I agreed with a chuckle. “But then, how did Azazel figure out how to control it down here?”
“He used mind control,” Cupi explained. “All of the creatures in the Fourth Circle, from Leviathan to this Behemoth to the vargrats, were held in check by a powerful telepathic spell. Now that he’s dead, they’re running rampant. Why do you think we’ve had to respond to so many incidents lately?”
“That explains a lot,” I sighed.
The succubus was right, this was far from the first incident we’d had with wild animals since I’d ascended to royalty. A few weeks ago, there was a violent infestation of bats that had plagued the village of Sadon. Then there were the vargrat attacks in Helena and Doran, as well as the case of the mermaids trying to drown everyone in the port city of Tybalt. We’d been able to stop all of those rampages fairly easily, but I could already tell this one was going to be a much bigger challenge.
When I finally saw the Behemoth, my fears were confirmed.
A deep, mighty roar echoed through the streets of the city, and then the creature burst forth through the wall of a gas station with a spray of rubble.
The monster was nearly fifteen feet tall and five feet wide, with thick and rubbery dark gray skin. Cupi had warned me before its hide was so thick, regular weapons couldn’t pierce it, and only our Hellfire magic could do any damage. Even though the monster’s skin was leathery, it hung over its body like a series of armored plates for maximum protection, and four stubby, muscular legs nearly as wide as tree trunks carried its momentum forward.
The Behemoth’s head was like nothing I’d ever encountered before. It was elongated, yet still rounded at the sides and wide enough to cover the girth of its body. It had a giant white horn on each side of its skull that curved out in front of it like an angry bull as well as a large, sword-like appendage that sat just above its nose. Strangely enough, underneath each of the side horns was a human-like ear composed of the same leather hide as the rest of its body. When it finally opened its mouth to bellow, I noticed the Behemoth only had eight teeth in its mouth, four massive incisors and four equally large molars.
One thing was for sure. Getting caught up in those jaws was an instant death sentence.
“That’s one ugly motherfucker,” Todd observed. “I’d say it’s a face only a mother could love, but now that we’re seeing it up close, I bet she saw it for the first time and demanded they put it right back in! I wonder how that works with the horns and all … ”
“Focus, Todd,” I commanded. “We need to stop that thing before it causes more damage to the city. I didn’t spend all this time rebuilding the Fourth Circle just so it could be destroyed by Azazel’s pets.”
Todd summoned red Hellfire into his hands and then engulfed his body with black magic.
“So what’s the dealio?” he asked. “Do we go for the weak spots between the flaps of skin? Does he have an ‘instakill’ button somewhere on his body?”
“We’re not trying to kill him,” I reminded the team. “We’re going to go for a non-lethal takedown.”
“Non-lethal?” Gula gasped. “On that thing? I’m not even sure if the God Bomb could bring it down.”
“The God Bomb is out of the question,” I shot back instantly. “We used that to defeat Azazel, but we’re really, really lucky Lucifer hasn’t sent his minions to investigate so far. If what Cupi has told me is true, using Divine magic in Hell is breaking so many metaphysical laws.”
“It’s true,” Cupi acknowledged. “I’m surprised you haven’t been summoned to the Ninth Circle yet. The last time somebody used Divine magic down here, Lucifer fed them to a pack of vargrats.”
“That’s actually not as bad as I would have thought,” I pondered aloud.
“Oh, that’s not all,” the blonde succubus continued. “The vargrats were commanded to leave the perpetrator alive. Then, once he was all beaten and bloody and his body was covered with open wounds, Lucifer tied him to a couple of horses and dragged the poor soul over a field of salt. Then, once that was done, the Prince of Darkness quartered him using the same horses.”
“That’s still pretty--”
“Slowly,” the succubus added with a grim nod. “You could literally watch all of his tendons and flesh tear away from their joints as he was ripped apart. The whole process took five minutes. At least, that’s what Sister Superbia has always told us. I wasn’t there personally.”
“See?” I turned to Gula. “We can’t use the God Bomb.”
A chunk of brimstone hurled in our direction, and the four of us were just able to duck out of its way before it smashed into the soft ground behind us.
“Okay,” Gula panted as she placed her hand over her heart. “Non-lethal. On that thing. Got it.”
“It’s not his fault he’s rampaging,” I argued. “Just think … if we do this right, that little guy will be our pet. You’ve always said you wanted us to get an animal.”
“I was thinking more like a cat or dog,” Gula mused as her face contorted into disgust. “Or even a rat or a snake. Really, anything but that ugly thing.”
“Come on, Firecracker,” Todd giggled, “if nobody ever loved the ugly creatures, my mom would have never fucked my dad. And then the world would be short one Toddster.”
“That’s not a world I want to live in,” I laughed and played along with the imp.
“We need to focus,” Cupi hissed. “If we don’t stop him soon, he’s going to cause even more mayh
em.”
“Alright gang,” I said as I motioned for them to huddle. “I’ve got like, eighty-percent of a plan. Cupi and Todd, I want you to keep the Behemoth contained. He’s already made a huge mess, but it’s mostly been contained to this part of the city. It’s you guys’ job to keep it that way.”
“Aye-aye, Jakey,” Todd said with a salute, and Cupi followed with a nod.
“Gula,” I ordered as I turned to the curvy redhead, “you and I are gonna be the heavy hitters in this situation. We’re gonna throw everything we have at the beast and try to weaken him enough so we can capture him. Then, we’ll take him back to the corral near our castle.”
Gula rolled her eyes. “And then he can be our bestest friend,” she sighed. “I get the gist.”
“Good.” I nodded one last time. “Let’s get to work.”
Without missing a beat, Cupiditas summoned forth her black angel wings with a flash of purple Hellfire. Then the succubus made a running start for the edge of the hill, leapt up into the air, and took flight.
Todd was right behind her, but his movement was much less graceful. The imp dashed toward the ravine as fast as his tiny legs would take him, and he waddle-ran until his feet went over the edge. He must have timed the jump poorly, because he let out a grunt of surprise as he tripped over his feet and tumbled downward. Seconds later, the imp’s body zipped up into the air, guided by his black Hellfire.
I glanced down at the Unhallowed Sword sheathed against my side, but quickly decided it wasn’t the right weapon to use. The jet-black sword packed a punch strong enough to take down the dragon Leviathan, so it would easily make short work of the Behemoth.
That was about as opposite of “non-lethal” as you could get.
Instead, I opted for my khopesh, an enchanted weapon modeled after the ancient Egyptian blade. It was a short sword made of pure silver, but what really made it come in handy was the fact that the blade was segmented into three sections. The blade started out straight, and then it curved into a “c” shape before returning to a more subtle curve at the top. This made the khopesh lightweight, swift, and easily used to disarm.
I summoned red Hellfire into my hand and then moved it across the blade.
As I readied my weapon at my side, I saw Gula summon her massive, double-sided battle axe. It was probably the most powerful weapon any of my succubi had, and I was extremely glad it was fighting for our side.
Then both of us let out a battle cry as we charged down the hill and into the chaos below.
The Behemoth was already focused on Cupi and Todd, both of whom were floating just above the ground a few yards away from the creature. He grunted angrily as he stomped his feet into the pavement like a bull about to charge, and then he barrelled forward, directly at the imp.
Seconds before Todd was skewered on the monster’s horns, he zipped to the right and out of harm’s way.
The creature smashed into a nearby wall and sent rocky debris flying in all directions.
“Toro! Toro!” Todd cackled as he positioned himself behind the creature and used his flaming red hands as a makeshift banderilla.
The Behemoth pulled its head out of the wall, jerked its body back around to face the imp, and bellowed in rage. Specks of green spittle flew from its mouth as it roared, and then it charged Todd once again.
“Ole!” the imp exclaimed as he flew up and out of the way of the attack.
This time, the creature’s gait wasn’t halted by any physical structure. Now, it was charging directly at Gula and I.
“Hold your ground!” I commanded as we continued to approach. “We need to get as close as possible to make this count.”
Gula looked horrified, and I didn’t blame her. She may have been the mighty hunter of the Fourth Circle, the woman responsible for going out into the Hunter’s Plains and catching food, but she’d never encountered a monster like this before.
As the gleam of the Behemoth’s horns grew closer, I started to get a little bit nervous, too.
Once the creature was about ten feet away, I gave the command.
“Now!” I grunted, and Gula and I both shot off in separate directions.
Before the creature could halt its momentum, I flipped around and blasted it with a handful of yellow Hellfire-encased shuriken. At the same time, Gula unleashed a red fireball nearly double the size of her body.
Both of our attacks hit the monster square in the side, but neither of them had any lasting effects. The shuriken bounced off his thick, leathery hide harmlessly, while the wave of incendiary Hellfire simply caused the beast to slightly stumble to the side.
Small chunks of pavement were tossed into the air as the Behemoth skidded to a stop, turned around, and stared us down. Now that we were closer to the beast, I could see its eyes were sunken-in and beady, and its armor-like skin was covered with textured ridges all around his body.
The monster looked back and forth between Gula and I, and then it slowly began to saunter forward.
“Why isn’t it charging?” Gula asked with a twinge of fear and confusion in her voice.
“I don’t know!” I admitted. “Cupi said this thing was smart. Maybe it’s trying to confuse us?”
As if right on cue, the monster took a step toward me and then instantly whipped around, lowered its head, and ran full-speed at Gula.
It all happened so fast, there was no time for the redhead to get out of the way. She raised her hands in front of her face as she braced for impact.
I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Instantly, I summoned forth my purple Hellfire and used it to create a two-story wall of protective flames. The Behemoth smashed into the barrier, and the impact of the blow caused me to stumble forward and my spell to flicker.
Fuck, this thing was strong.
The creature reared up on its hind legs and began to smash its flat feet into the wall repeatedly. Each blow felt like a twenty-pound sledgehammer against my body, and I didn’t know if I could hold my spell for much longer.
“Yo, ugly!” Todd whistled from above and unleashed a hailstorm of tiny fireballs. “If there’s one good thing about you, it’s that your body isn’t as ugly as your face!”
The tiny projectiles crashed into the Behemoth, but they seemed to do little damage. He continued to thrash against my shield.
Suddenly, Cupi swooped onto the scene with her enchanted polearm in hand. Then the fit succubus zipped down and lodged the blade of her weapon into the creature’s eye.
The Behemoth let out a wail of pain, flung his head to the side, and sent Cupi somersaulting backward through the air. She caught herself on her wings, but I could see her leather armor had been ripped straight across the chest to reveal a deep, bloody gash.
However, her plan worked. The creature’s full attention was now on the woman who had just blinded him.
“Non-lethal!” I hissed at the blonde. “You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep doing shit like that!”
“It got his attention, didn’t it?” Cupi argued. “Sia can heal him up once he’s in our care.”
Before I could argue any further, the monster took a running start, squatted down ever-so-slightly, and then launched itself into the sky. The thing may have been squat, but holy fuck, did it have a set of leg muscles. The Behemoth’s jump put him within striking distance of Cupi, and his muscular jaws snapped shut just below her feet. As the massive monster landed against the ground, the impact sent a shockwave across the landscape that knocked Gula and I on our asses.
“Jesus,” Todd exclaimed in disbelief. “This guy doesn’t skip leg day, bro.”
The imp darted down toward the Behemoth and did a quick strafing run. He released fireball after fireball as he passed the creature, and each of the tiny red projectiles hit its mark.
The beast shook its head in annoyance and snapped at the flying imp, but he was much too slow.
As I pulled myself to my feet, I noticed a thick concrete wall about a hundred feet away. It was the s
ide of a massive stadium, the kind that used to house the Fourth Circle’s annual jousts before we took over. The walls of the renovated coliseum had to be at least five feet thick to support such a massive load.
That gave me an idea.
“Guys, get him over here!” I commanded my team.
Todd and Cupi were now up in the sky on either side of the beast, and they both hurled fireballs in an attempt to corral him back toward me and Gula.
The monster shrugged off the attacks as he grew increasingly flustered, but he didn’t budge. Finally, the two airborne members of my team flew in my direction, and the monster ran behind them in hot pursuit. Todd and Cupi flew off in opposite directions, but the Behemoth didn’t know which one to follow.
We were going to give him an answer.
With her axe still in hand, Gula clapped her hands together and slowly created a large ball of flaming mass. She let out a loud yell of frustration as she released the attack, and the fireball smacked the rampaging monster directly in the side of the head.
He stumbled to the side, shook off the attack, and then charged the redhead.
“Ya know, Jacob,” Gula started as she readied her battle axe, “I’ve been watching a lot of baseball lately, and I’ve been thinking of starting up a softball league down here. You’ll have to tell me if my swing is good enough.”
When the Behemoth was just a few feet from the succubus, Gula swung her mighty axe and smashed it against the monster’s head as hard as she could. There was a dull thunk, and the bulk of the creature was knocked out of her path and directly toward the concrete wall.
I looked deep down into the pit of my stomach and tried to summon up my bronze flames. I thought about how it was unfair such a majestic creature was being forced to destroy things, all because that fucker Azazel had it under his spell. I thought about how Todd, my women, and I were all stuck here in the Fourth Circle with no way out. How, if we didn’t find a solution, we’d be stuck here for all eternity.
That was pretty fucking unjust.
The bronze Hellfire spread across my left hand, and I launched it at the concrete wall. The second my spell struck the colossal structure, the rocky material began to vibrate violently as its atoms were split apart and it became ethereal.
