by Eric Vall
“Those boxes of artillery are still on the ship,” I explained. “We have a small following of Shades who are willing to help us in the fight. Can you deliver these weapons to them before you leave the Fourth Circle?”
“We’re not keeping it for ourselves?” Eligor asked curiously.
“There’s no way in Hell we can carry around that much artillery,” I explained. “But a small army of Shades can. Besides, this is gonna be a stealth mission. You can’t really be ‘stealthy’ if you’re going around firing off a machine gun.”
“I see you’ve never played Hitman, bro,” Todd mused. “There’s nothing stealthier than killing everybody so there’s nobody left to sound the alarm.”
“I will deliver the weapons to your friends,” Charon agreed. “Good luck, Jacob.”
The ferryman gave us a slow nod, and then he turned around and headed toward the boarding ramp of his boat.
“Wait!” Tris called out as he left. “What about the little one?”
The ferryman stopped in his tracks, turned to us, and made a downward motion with his hand.
“That old thing?” he asked. “I don’t need it anymore. You guys keep it. You’ll need it to get to Azazel’s castle. If you follow the River of Souls, it goes directly past the King of the Fourth Circle’s dwelling. Not to mention, if Jacob becomes the new ruler of this place, he’s going to need a way to travel through the different Circles … ”
With that, the man in the purple robe whipped around and marched up the ramp of his ship ominously. The ramp began to glow with purple Hellfire, and then it lifted itself up into the air and retracted back into the vessel itself. There was a loud clanking of metal as the anchor lifted up out of the water, and then the sails on Charon’s boat turned toward the horizon. The ship began to drift down the river, and the ectoplasmic trail of Shades detached from Todd’s dingy and started to follow Charon like a loyal puppy.
We watched as the ferryman’s ship disappeared over the horizon, and then we were left all alone.
“I can’t believe this is it,” I observed as I sat down on the sandy beach. “Our next stop is Azazel’s castle. No more side quests. No more time to power up or grow our connection. We’re really about to head over to his castle, free your Sister, and kill that son of a bitch once and for all.”
“Yeah, bro,” Todd added. “Who ever would have guessed me wasting our rent money on an ancient book would lead to us standing in the literal Fourth Circle of Hell?”
“Actually, that’s one of the more logical predictions I would have come up with,” I chuckled. “Now, having a cult following and acting as Heaven’s bounty hunter? That’s something I never saw coming.”
“We should get a move on,” Eligor interjected. “There is no way word of our plight hasn’t spread around the Fourth Circle. The longer we wait, the more time Azazel has to prepare. And, it should be obvious why we don’t want to give the Father of Warfare any time to prepare.”
I pulled myself to my feet, looked around at my friends, and patted my breastplate triumphantly.
“Then let’s get to it,” I said as I observed their nervous eyes. “Next stop, Azazel’s castle.”
Chapter 16
The current of the river was fast and swift as it carried us closer and closer to Azazel’s castle, but the boat ride toward our final destination was eerily quiet. We had set off down the River of Souls nearly an hour ago, and it was at that point that our mission had become as lively as a funeral procession.
The flow of the river was so strong we didn’t even have to row. Instead, we all just crammed into the small dingy and sat in silence as we moved through the Fourth Circle.
I suspected we must have been getting closer, because the happy, vibrant colors of the landscape began to fade away. They were replaced by a strange mixture of rocky brimstone and dead, brown grass that stretched out as far as the eye could see. To make things even stranger, the sun seemed to change colors in the sky. Instead of the normal light it provided to the rest of the Circle, everything in our current environment was covered with a splash of deep red.
It was unnerving, to say the least.
“There it is, guys,” I heard Gula sigh. “Azazel’s castle.”
I looked off in the horizon, off to where the succubus had been pointing.
That’s when I saw it.
Azazel’s castle stretched high above the landscape. Even from as far away as we were, I could guess it stood at least twenty stories tall and stretched a mile wide. Unlike everything else in the Fourth Circle, Azazel’s dwelling was a combination of modern and traditional architecture.
Its exterior was made up of black brimstone boulders that were held together by some sort of mortar or grout, but the entire exterior appeared to be polished down so it was nearly chrome-like in appearance. The castle also had your typical medieval components, such as multiple towers, a thick wall with a drawbridge, and a large keep encrusted with jewels and stained glass artwork.
Most peculiar, however, was the tower that stood at the center of the structure. It stretched upward as if it were reaching for the heavens, and it was taller than any other part of the castle by a mile. It came to a head with a massive triangular point.
“That’s where Invidia will be,” Gula explained. “It’s the Warfarer’s Keep, the place where Azazel likes to keep all of his prisoners of war. It’s heavily guarded, and there’s only a handful of ways we can get up there, so it would be the perfect spot to hide her.”
We were now about a mile out from the castle, so I used my telekinetic Hellfire to guide the dinghy to the beach. The five of us exited the boat, pulled it up further onto the rocky ground, and turned our attention back to the castle.
Then we gathered up every single weapon and item we could carry on our person and set off on foot toward Azazel’s dwelling. Even with our bag full of gear, armor, and weapons, we made decent time and arrived near the gates in about twenty minutes. Once we were about five-hundred feet from the entrance, we ducked behind a large rock formation so we could devise a plan.
“So, I’m assuming flying up there is out of the question?” I pondered aloud.
“That’s a bingo, dude,” Tris spoke up. “You see all those towers along the outside wall? They’re full of archers. The second we try to fly up there, we’ll be shot out of the sky.”
“Then we’ll have to go in from the ground,” Eligor growled.
“How are we gonna do that?” Todd questioned. “It’s not like Azazel is gonna see us coming and bring out the welcome wagon.”
“Not for us,” I said as the lightbulb went on in my brain. “But he might for Eligor!”
“Are you suggesting using me as bait?” the knight asked curiously.
“Not bait,” I clarified. “A ploy. You walk up to the gates, explain that you have an urgent message from Lilith, and then demand they let you in. Todd can come along with you as long as he stays invisible. Once the two of you are inside, you take out the guards and let the rest of us in.”
“That’s pretty complicated,” Tris sighed. “Why can’t we just use your green Hellfire to teleport inside the walls?”
“Seriously?” Gula retorted with a roll of her eyes. “Azazel has a powerful counter-curse over his dwelling for that exact reason. We lived here for many millennia, Tristitia. How do you not know this?”
“I never asked,” the brunette succubus admitted with a shrug. “It’s not like I wanted to spend that much time in the castle, anyway. I high-tailed it to Earth Realm any chance I possibly could.”
“Fair enough,” I grumbled. “I wouldn’t want to be around that fucker twenty-four seven, either.”
“Then it looks like your charade will have to do,” Elgior confirmed with a nod. “I just hope it will work. As you know, Lilith and Azazel don’t exactly have the greatest relationship.”
“No,” I agreed, “but they’re both still high-ranking demons under Lucifer’s command. They have to at least pretend to play nice in order t
o keep up appearances.”
“Or he could let Eligor in just so he has an excuse to kill her in private,” Tris interjected. “That’d be quite the twist.”
“Pffft,” Todd scoffed. “That’s why I’m going along, Slothy. Things start to go south, and the Toddster will be there to swoop in and save the day!”
“Azazel might be sadistic and vile,” Eligor explained, “but he’s still a demon of honor.”
“We literally watched him rip an innocent man in half one time,” I reminded the knight. “After the man had helped him find us. I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘honorable.’”
“Was the man a human?” Eligor questioned.
“Well yes, but--”
“That’s why,” she confirmed. “Azazel thinks humans are the absolute slime of the Earth and that their only purpose is to serve those who are ‘fit’ to rule over them. He has no honor toward mortals. A demon or angel, on the other hand? Yes.”
“I hope you’re right,” I sighed. “Because if you’re not, things are gonna get messy for you and Todd.”
“We’ll be fine, bro,” Todd reassured me. “We’ve got one of the most badass warriors in the entire universe sneaking into that castle. And if things start looking bad, he’s got Eligor to back him up.”
“Right,” Eligor sighed. “It’s now or never, Todd. Let’s go.”
The imp gave us one last flex to show off his muscles, and then he disappeared in a flash.
Eligor stepped out from behind the boulder, faced the castle, and began to make the long trek toward its front gate.
“Good luck,” I whisper-shouted to the knight.
Tris, Gula, and I watched anxiously as we saw Eligor’s scantily-clad figure strut up to the front gates like she owned the place. Finally, she stopped, looked up at the guard tower, and raised her hands to her mouth.
“My name is Eligor, fallen knight of the Divine and right-hand to Lilith,” she shouted, and her voice echoed across the landscape. “My mistress wishes me to deliver a message to Azazel. I demand a quorum with the King of the Fourth Circle, immediately.”
There was silence for a moment, and I could hear nothing but my own heart pounding in my ears. Then, there was a booming mechanical sound of chains turning on a wheel, and the gate lowered to the rocky ground with a large crash.
Eligor gave a nod to whoever had just lowered the door, and then she cautiously entered through the brimstone archway. The second she was through the gates, the mechanical sound started again, and the large wooden door closed up behind her.
Was this going to work? Or was Azazel onto us? He already knew we were down here in the Fourth Circle, and he surely knew we’d eventually be coming for him. We’d been careful to cover our tracks as far as Eligor was concerned, so now we just needed to hope we’d covered them good enough.
If Azazel’s minions recognized the knight as an enemy, we were fucked. If they only recognized her as Lilith’s messenger, however, we were gonna storm the castle, and the first phase of our final battle would begin.
The tension was so thick in the air that it almost cancelled out the putrid smell of sulfur.
Almost.
“I don’t hear any fighting,” Gula observed. “Is that good or bad?”
“It could be either,” I admitted. “We just have to wait and see.”
The three of us continued to peer out from behind the rock formation, completely on edge.
Finally, the sound of clinking metal filled the landscape, and the massive wooden door was lowered back down to the ground. As it fell, I could scarcely make out the image of a small, red figure standing triumphantly on the edge of the door. Todd had his hands on his hips in a superhero pose as he rode the falling behemoth to the ground, and then he skipped happily off the second it crashed against the brimstone.
“Heeeeeeyyyyy yooooouuuuu guuyyyyyssssss!” he called out.
I leapt out from behind the boulder and made a “shhhhh” motion to the imp. Then, I waved the succubi to follow, and the team sprinted to the gate.
“How’d it go, Todd?” I asked as soon as we were on the bridge.
“Way better than I could have even dreamed, Jakey,” Todd explained. “I totally snuck up on those bastards, snapped their neck all spy-like, and then gave ‘em a Stone Cold Stunner just for good measure. Eligor helped, too.”
“I believe I killed three of the demons,” the blonde knight corrected as she appeared at the gate. “You only killed one.”
“Hey, that’s twenty-five percent of the work,” Todd said with a shrug. “I’d say I did my fair share.”
“Mhmmm.” Eligor sounded unamused, and then she turned to me. “We took them out stealthily. Swords through the heart of the first two, and then I smashed the third one’s head in with a rock. I don’t know how Todd killed the last one, but apparently he did it silently.”
“I told you guys,” the imp sighed. “I totally sliced open his throat so he couldn’t scream, and then I gave him the Stunner.”
“I thought you snapped his neck?” Gula asked curiously. “Or did you cut his throat open first?”
“Yes,” Todd said with a nod.
“So, how long do you think we have until they realize their guards are gone?” I asked the blonde knight.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “We bought ourselves some time thanks to our stealth takedowns, but there are dozens of guards all over the castle. I don’t know how we’re going to be able to sneak past all of them.”
“I don’t think we can,” I sighed. “But we can take them out as quietly as we can. Is there a spot in particular where they would be concentrated?”
“The dining hall,” Gula said as the lightbulb came on in her head, “but that’s generally only during lunch or dinner hours. They used to go crazy for my vargrat flank steak. Hell, when they smelled that, they’d come running from all around the castle!”
Tris gasped and slapped Gula’s shoulder.
“That’s it!” the brunette succubus explained. “We need to get you down to the kitchen and get you a-cookin’.”
“You really think that’s going to work?” Eligor scoffed as she pulled the lever to close the drawbridge.
“I know it will,” Tris explained. “Look, these demon minion dudes might look scary, but they’re stupid as shit. I seriously never understood why Azazel swore by them.”
“Because they’re the perfect grunt,” Gula answered. “No personality, driven by primal instincts, and too dumb to talk back. You should remember how many times our mouths got us in trouble, Sister.”
“Alright, so they smell the vargrat meat and come running into the dining hall,” Todd said as he tried to follow the plan. “Then what?”
“Then, I bring the fucking roof down on top of them,” I explained. “If Gula’s right, and the majority of the guards will be in there, then I can use my bronze Hellfire to destroy the ceiling, and they’ll all be crushed by the falling brimstone.”
“Won’t that alert Azazel to our position?” Eligor questioned.
“Probably,” I continued. “But do you have another plan? We could always just bring it down and then run.”
“Orrrr, this is crazy, but hear me out,” Todd interjected. “You could totally Temple of Doom the bastards. It’d be a lot quieter. And a lot more fun.”
“Todd … that’s genius,” I said as a massive grin spread up my face.
“I’m not following,” Eligor muttered.
“Once all the demon grunts are in the dining hall, I can make a giant cube of purple Hellfire around them,” I explained. “Then, before they can fight back or sound the alarm, I can bring the walls together and smash them like insects.”
“I … I actually like that idea,” Eligor said in shock. “Good job, Todd.”
“No biggie,” the imp said nonchalantly as he picked at his teeth with a claw. “That’s why I’m in charge around here, Goldilocks.”
“There’s just one issue,” Gula sighed. “The daily shipment of vargra
t meat doesn’t arrive until late at night, when the hunters return from the Hunter’s Plains.”
“Then we’ll have to improvise,” I said as I nodded to one of the fallen demon grunts.
Gula gasped and put her hands over her mouth.
“Y-you don’t mean … ” she stuttered.
“Hello, Clarice,” Todd giggled creepily and immediately followed with a creepy-ass slurping noise.
“I know it’s not ideal,” I admitted, “but we have to work with what we got. Besides, Gula, you’re the greatest chef I know. If anyone can make dead demon smell like a vargrat, it’d be you.”
“I’ll take ‘phrases I never thought would be said in the history of the universe,’ for two-hundred, Alex,” Tris joked with an extended finger.
“Alright.” Gula cracked her hands together in anticipation. “Then let’s get started. This demon isn’t going to cook itself.”
“That’s the spirit,” I chuckled. “Everybody grab a body.”
Tris, Todd, Eligor, and I each picked up a demon corpse and flung them over our shoulders.
These things had only been dead for a few minutes, but they were already beginning to reek. To make matters worse, their bodies were filling up with all sorts of gasses, and they were bloated beyond belief.
The four of us followed Gula toward the kitchen quarters of Azazel’s castle. If I thought the outside of the structure looked eclectic, then I had no words to describe the inside.
The interior of the dwelling couldn’t decide if it was a medieval castle, or some twenty-something’s man-cave. There were bright red carpets with frilly yellow trim laid out on the floor to mark the pathways, but then there were neon signs with pin-up girls and beer logos all over the walls. To make things even stranger, every now and again we would see a hand-painted portrait of the demon fucker. There were dozens of these pictures, all with Azazel in a different pose, with clothing from all different time periods.
If I really did take over this place, I was gonna need to hire an interior designer to fix this trainwreck.
