Chapter 11: Demon Kings Recovery

  The doors to Lucifer’s room opened, and the person who walked out was none other than Lucifer himself, buttoning up his shirt. He already had his pants and shoes on, and just before the doors closed, a glimpse of two people lying in his bed could be seen.

  He reached the doors of the throne room, and they opened for him. Lucifer entered and headed straight for his throne. As he sat down, Kane appeared before him in a flaming tornado.

  “My lord, how was your rest?” asked Kane.

  “Hmmm, I didn’t really have time to rest. It was a very long and rough night, and I feel more tired than I was yesterday,” replied Lucifer.

  “I can imagine that,” said Kane.

  “Hmmm, repeat that,” said Lucifer.

  “Oh nothing, my lord, just a slip of the tongue,” said Kane.

  “You don’t even have a tongue,” said Lucifer.

  “Exactly,” replied Kane.

  “Anyway, I have four more days before I’ve fully recovered, so it’s fine,” said Lucifer.

  Today was going to be a slow day, Lucifer thought, since he literally had nothing to do.

  “My lord, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Kane.

  “Hmmm,” responded Lucifer.

  “We have attacked the humans twice already, so if I may ask, why haven’t you used Hell’s powerful creatures?” asked Kane.

  “Hells powerful creatures? Oh, you mean Hydra, Sabertooth, and Cerberus. Well, to tell you the truth, I actually forgot about them,” replied Lucifer.

  Kane was stunned by his response.

  “My lord, you forgot about the creatures that are imprinted on your arm?” asked Kane, disbelief in his voice.

  “Yes, I forgot about them. But it’s better that I did forget, because if they were there, the demons would have never been able to fight the humans to their heart’s content, and the humans would have been too scared of those creatures to give their all against the demons,” replied Lucifer.

  “Well, that might be true, but I can’t believe you actually forgot about them,” said Kane as he facepalmed.

  “Well, now that you’ve reminded me, I should go and pay them a visit,” said Lucifer.

  Lucifer disappeared from his throne, and Kane followed shortly after.

  They reappeared on the roof of the Demon King’s castle, where Hydra slept.

  It was easy to find her due to her massive size. She lay at the center of the roof, coiled up like a spring.

  As Lucifer and Kane walked closer, she opened her crimson-red eyes.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Demon King. What a sight for sore eyes you are. And I see Kane is with you as always,” said Hydra.

  “Nice to see you too, Hydra. And of course he’s with me. He is my adviser after all,” replied Lucifer.

  “Adviser, you say? When was the last time he advised you on anything?” asked Black, one of Hydra’s three heads.

  “Quite recently, actually. It was when I was fighting the guardian of the first floor,” replied Lucifer.

  “I see, so you fought that gigantic snake. I wonder who won that fight,” said Blue, another one of Hydra’s heads.

  “Well, it ended in a draw, thanks to someone’s interference just as it was starting to get exciting,” said Lucifer, hinting at Kane.

  “Hahaha, imagine that—the guardian of the first floor drawing in a fight with the Demon King. That’s hilarious,” said Red, one of Hydra’s three heads, laughing.

  “Well, anyway, I just came to see if you were still alive and to tell you that sometime in the future I’ll be calling upon you,” said Lucifer.

  “Hmmm, we see. Well, it’s no problem. Hopefully you don’t forget about us again,” replied Black.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Heh, I see you heard about that. Well, I won’t forget again, so rest assured,” said Lucifer, a little embarrassed.

  “We’ll believe it when we see it,” said Red.

  “Now, I’ve been meaning to ask, but what exactly happened to Kane?” asked Blue.

  “Well, I’ll let him explain that to you while I go see the others,” said Lucifer as he sprouted his wings and flew off.

  As we know, Hydra has three heads, and those three heads cannot possibly share one brain.

  Therefore, each head has its own brain, its own personality, and its own abilities.

  Hydra uses three different types of powers, and Lucifer named each head according to the ability it uses.

  Black uses dark magic.

  Red uses fire magic.

  Blue uses water and ice magic.

  Lucifer was flying above his kingdom, but he couldn’t see Sabertooth anywhere, so he decided to go see Cerberus.

  He arrived at the gates of his kingdom, and there, lying in wait, was Cerberus—the three-headed gatekeeper of Hell.

  Lucifer landed a few meters away and walked toward him.

  Cerberus opened his yellow eyes and glared at Lucifer.

  Similar to Hydra, Cerberus was massive. When he stood up, he towered over Lucifer.

  “Man, you are huge, and you’ve got some guts to be looking down on your master,” said Lucifer.

  “You’ve never had a problem with me looking down at you before, and I don’t believe you have a problem with it now,” replied Cerberus.

  “Well, that is true, but then again, I’m not used to people looking down on me,” said Lucifer.

  “You would be used to it by now if you weren’t always so busy and came around once in a while,” said Cerberus.

  “Would you look at that—did you actually miss me that much?” asked Lucifer.

  “Hah. Me, miss you? Don’t make me laugh. You are my contractor, so it’s only natural that you come and check on your contracted creatures, is it not?” replied Cerberus.

  “Hmmm, come and check on you? Are you kidding me? You are a big boy—the guardian of the gates to the Demon King’s castle. Why would I need to come and check on you?” said Lucifer.

  “Hmmm, you have a point there, but then again, I didn’t say you should come and check on me,” replied Cerberus.

  “Yeah, sure you didn’t. But anyway, in the near future I’ll be calling upon you, so you’d best be ready,” said Lucifer.

  “Hahaha, I’ve been in Hell for so long that I’ve forgotten what the outside world looks like. But if it comes to being ready for battle, then I’m always prepared,” said Cerberus, excitement clear in his voice.

  “Well, that’s good. Now, I didn’t see Sabertooth anywhere near here. Do you have any idea where he might be?” asked Lucifer.

  “Of course. There’s only one place that battle freak would go—the Wildlands,” said Cerberus. “A place filled with all sorts of powerful monsters, the craziest of creatures, and the largest ones as well.”

  “There are giants in Hell?” asked Lucifer, a surprised expression on his face.

  “Well, if you consider cyclopses, orcs, wererhinos, and were-elephants to be giants, then yes, there are giants,” replied Cerberus. “Though, considering your height, I suppose they really are giants to you.”

  “What do you mean by my height?” asked Lucifer, his face forming a frown.

  “I won’t beat around the bush, Master—you are very short,” said Cerberus bluntly.

  “Are you kidding me? I’m not short. I used to be taller than Kane, and I’m taller than Ammit and Astarte. I’m roughly the same height as Apollyn, but Mephistopheles is definitely taller than me, and well… most of the elders are taller than me,” said Lucifer.

  “Master, the key phrase there is used to be taller than Kane. And when it comes to the Demon Lords, you’re only taller than the women, which doesn’t count since women aren’t normally tall. You said it yourself—most of the elders are taller than you. So just accept it, Master. You are short,” said Cerberus, laughing.

  At that moment, Kane appeared a few meters away from them.

  “Kane, tell Cerberus here that I’m not short,” said Lucifer.

  “Um, my lord, I’m sorry to tell you this, but you are in fact short,” replied Kane.

  “Arggg! Fine, I’ll just leave it at that. We’ll agree to disagree,” said Lucifer.

  “Oh no, Master, there’s no agreeing to disagree here. The vote is two against one, so the verdict is that you are short. Just accept it,” said Cerberus, laughing again.

  Lucifer looked visibly annoyed, then glanced at Kane, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

  “Tch, well whatever. By the way, how’d you know that this was Kane?” asked Lucifer.

  “Master, you did shout out his name when he arrived. But besides that, who else would be by your side everywhere you go besides Kane? His appearance and power might have changed, but not to the point that I wouldn’t recognize him,” said Cerberus.

  “I guess you do have those super senses of yours. Figuring out that it was Kane would’ve been simple for you,” said Lucifer.

  “Master, I’m curious—what exactly did you do to Kane?” asked Cerberus.

  “What makes you think I did anything to him?” asked Lucifer.

  “Only you would have the power to change someone else like that. It requires an immense amount of power, and if I remember correctly, you are filled with more than enough of it,” replied Cerberus.

  “Well, you’re not wrong about that. But anyway, I’ll let him explain it to you. I’m going to look for Sabertooth,” said Lucifer as he sprouted his wings and flew off.

  “He has changed quite a lot, don’t you think?” asked Cerberus.

  “Yes, he definitely has,” replied Kane.

  “It feels like just yesterday when he was a tyrant, giving orders without a second thought. He had no interest in conversation and did whatever he pleased. Now, though, he seems to be enjoying himself quite a lot,” said Cerberus.

  “Well, the doing-what-he-wants part hasn’t changed in the slightest, but the rest has,” said Kane.

  “Who would’ve thought we could joke about the Demon King’s height? Back when he first took the throne, he was serious about everything.”

  He paused for a moment.

  “Now he actually laughs along with us. Honestly, the Demon King now is better than the one he was back then.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” said Cerberus.

  “Do you think he might show the humans a little mercy this time around?”

  Both of them looked toward Lucifer as he flew farther away.

  “Nahhh,” they answered in unison.

  “Now, onto another subject,” said Cerberus.

  “Tell me, what exactly happened to you?”

  By then, Lucifer was already miles away.

  He flew over the Forest of Slaughter, a stretch of land that spanned nearly two hundred miles.

  After clearing the forest, he headed straight for Ammit’s kingdom to check on things, since she wasn’t around.

  He landed before the front gates.

  The guards immediately knelt and welcomed him.

  The gates opened, and he entered.

  Along the way to the castle, several demons knelt the moment they saw him.