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Zerrex ground to a halt, swallowing thickly and once more sitting beside Sin, somehow tasting Daria's flesh in his mouth again as he looked away in shame... but Sin stroked gently along his back and said meekly: "I... I could try and find her here, Lord Zerrex, if... if you wanted me to."

The reptile blinked in surprise, then he looked at her for a few moments before quickly shaking his head and swallowing again, murmuring: "No... no, I couldn't, I don't want to see... I mean, I do want to see her, but... she's probably not in Hell, and even if she is, I... she wouldn't want to see me... she probably wouldn't even remember me, with how old a demon she would be by now..."

Sin only laughed faintly, looking down and mumbling embarrassedly: "I get the feeling you're hard to forget, Lord Zerrex... but... I... I think that she would. I'll... I'll let you decide that, though."

She halted, then took his hand and continued in a stuttering voice: "But... but you know, it... you've come out the other end okay, after everything you did. I... I know how mean it sounds, but there are... you did okay." She finished lamely, and flushed deeply as she looked away, whispering: "You didn't turn into something hideous like me..."

"Sin..." Zerrex gazed at her quietly, but she shook her head and leapt quickly up to her feet, flushing and striding a few feet away as she clasped her hands together tightly. The Drakkaren looked at her for a few moments, and then she lowered her head, gazing back at him with a shameful look in her eyes.

"My name is Sin... because I am the First Sin... not the sin of procreation, but the Sin of tampering with nature..." Sin slowly turned around and shrugged off the shoulder straps of her dress, but she kept her arms tightly over her body, holding it up as she gazed at Zerrex, before red tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, as she whispered: "I loved God... I loved all my brothers and sisters... but I feared Mephistopheles. And so I permitted him to do what he would to my body, and I gave birth to the terrible demons that were sealed deep in the bowels of Hell, all of them given unspeakable names by God... and the tampering Mephistopheles did to me was torn out of my body. It's so strange, that his fate was to be killed by an undead mortal on the physical plane, his own natural servant... and I... I am left here, to suffer my punishment until he who is worthy returns to the throne..."

She gazed away as her bloody tears fell to the ground... and then she dropped her dress, and Zerrex's voice caught in his throat, a shudder rolling through him at the sight of the female's body... or rather, the lack thereof. Her stomach had been ripped to shreds, and spikes of bone stuck out here and there, along with long coils of intestine and bloody flesh that hung almost to her ankles, Sin hanging her head as she quietly let her body go limp... and Zerrex saw a terrible, dog-like face slowly rip its way through an intestine in her stomach before a monstrous puppy covered in spikes crawled out of her stomach, then made its way up to a massive gouge just below her breast and squirmed back inside her, as several other similar creatures barked and hissed inside of her stomach.

Sin rose a hand and snapped her fingers quietly, and the miniature dog-things retreated, her body bulging in obscene ways as she whispered in a shuddering voice: "M-My apologies, Lord Zerrex... the... the Seethe Hounds react to l-light... although my body constantly heals itself, they're always feasting on my entrails... and if I try to remove them or heal too much, they eat their way in through my v-v-v..."

She broke off into a sob, and then grit her teeth and controlled herself with a slow breath... and Zerrex paled as chills wracked his body, before he whispered: "And... and you've suffered like this since... since you came to Hell? Since Hell was created?"

"The Seethe Hounds are the last children of Mephistopheles... but unlike the other children I... he... I bore for him..." She broke off, then swallowed thickly, whispering: "They are living damnation... they can only be commanded by the one who sits in the Central Throne... I-I'm sorry!"

Sin suddenly turned away, jerking her dress back up over her terribly-wounded body, and Zerrex saw one of the Seethe Hounds snarling at him through a gaping hole in her upper back before it was covered by the dress, and she quickly slid her straps back onto her shoulders as she dropped her head in her hands and began to cry loudly... and a moment later, Zerrex quietly hugged her body, and she threw herself against him as she cried, her bloody tears flowing from her eyes as her body reverted for the moment to its natural Naganatine form, shoving her face against his chest and smearing him with her blood... but the Drakkaren didn't care as he held her tightly, closing his own eyes tightly and rocking slowly with her on the spot.

After a while, her tears dried up, and Zerrex gently carried her downstairs to the futon, laying her down on it and holding her gently as she looked down miserably, whispering: "I... I'm sorry... I haven't always been so weak, Lord Zerrex... but my punishment is heavy on my shoulders and..." She looked up at him weakly, and once more he was suddenly looking at a Drakkaren that strangely resembled his mother as she said quietly: "I'm sorry. I don't want to complain or whine..."

"Stop that..." Zerrex chided softly, and he held her tight against his side as he gazed down at her quietly, making a bit of a face and admitting that he felt a terrible worm of discomfort at holding her despite his best efforts not to... but goddammit, if I can hold Feldspar, I can hold her. And it's not that I don't want to comfort her... it's just... "I... I have to admit, what's wrong with you is... pretty damn terrifying. How... how have you survived all those years, with those things inside you, in... that kind of pain?"

Sin shook her head slowly, murmuring softly: "You... it's sick, but you get used to it. I can feel them squirming around inside of me even now, and yet... I dunno, I'm just... it doesn't bother me like it used to." She halted, then looked up at Zerrex... and the Drakkaren leaned down and slowly licked one trail of her bloody tears from her cheek, and Sin flushed deep scarlet.

She didn't say stop, though, only continuing to gaze up at him... and he quietly lapped up the other trail of red tears as well, before gently wiping at her face with his thumb, and she smiled weakly up at him, blushing and looking down." T-Thank you, Lord Zerrex. I... since... I know... I mean, I obviously can't have sex with you... but... I really do like you, and I want to be your friend..."

"You are a friend." Zerrex said empathetically... and somehow, that made it easier to hold her, easier to force away whatever strange feelings he had before he asked slowly: "But... you are completely incapable of having sex, aren't you?"

She nodded quietly, looking and staying the same deep red as she mumbled: "The Princess... I... there's a reason I serve her... because it was my Lust as well as my fear that got me into this position I'm in now." She looked down, whispering: "I knew what I was doing was wrong... that the children I bore were not Nagantine nor angel, mortal nor beast... but I bore them anyway, because all I wanted was the glory of how it felt when he fucked me..."

It sounded so strange coming from her, admittance of such mortal emotions and moreover, use of such language... and Zerrex looked at her oddly before she glanced up at him, asking meekly: "Yes, Lord Zerrex? I'm sorry, have I offended you?"

"No, it's just... the way you are now, you seem like delicate china." He smiled faintly as he touched her cheek, and she flushed deeply again. "Like if I pushed you too hard, I would break you... I never would have guessed there was a rebellious, rough young girl in there once."

"I still like it... I still... I mean..." she stammered, looking embarrassedly up at him, and then she glanced down, whispering quietly: "I don't want to repeat my past mistakes. I'm a demon now, and I don't want to suffer this punishment forever... but... I guess my only hope is that one day the Center Throne is filled... and maybe... maybe then..."

She looked longingly up at the sky, and Zerrex nodded a bit as Sin pushed herself quietly away, glancing down embarrassedly... but the Drakkaren understood. She never liked to be touched for very long, still had a lot of obvious trouble with physical contact... but what she did today took more courage than I have... and I think it's a huge step forwards between us. After all, Lily still won't tell me whose daughter she is and what kingdom she's supposed to inherit... and Selena took a good few years before we started really trusting each other, too. "Hell is Hell."

"Hell is Hell." Sin murmured in agreement, wrapping her arms around her stomach and closing her eyes... and then she let out a soft sigh before glancing up and adding quietly: "I'm sorry, Lord Zerrex, but Queen Feldspar instructed me specifically to leave the house while she's here, and I don't want to displease her by still being present when she appears... I think it wouldn't bode well for any of us. I... I'm going to retire to the Marquee Sur Noir for a few days... but if you need me..."

"Just say your name." Zerrex nodded and gazed at her quietly, and then he reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently, and she flushed a bit before nodding as the Drakkaren let his hand drop away, smiling at her faintly. "Thank you for everything you did today, Sin... and take care of yourself. I'll see you in a few days."

Sin nodded to him quietly, then she stood up and walked off the futon, almost limping before she took a deep breath and slowly faded out of reality. Zerrex watched her vanish, then stared at the spot where she had stood only moments before, shaking his head slowly and murmuring quietly to himself: "The world just keeps growing stranger and stranger down here... Sin... I hope you're taking care of yourself."

Over the years, Zerrex had learned a bit about the Marquee Sur Noir from Selena, Amiglion, and Feldspar, the last of which was still drooling over him and offering up information on any and every subject she could, which included Sin. She had been very negative about all the time he had been spending with her, acting incredibly petty and jealous... and it probably didn't help matters that technically, Sin was a higher-ranking handmaiden than she was, meaning the only reason she took Feldspar's orders was because of her meek nature and the fact she loathed conflict of any kind.

But Sin was far more powerful than she let on if she was capable of controlling the Marquee Sur Noir, which was a sort of battleground reserved specifically for demons too dangerous to be permitted to fight in one of Hell's other arenas, for whatever reason. It was used only for lethal combat, and every demon that died there fed the strange world-between-worlds more power, adding another row of seats in the stands or strengthening the already-indestructible walls further and making them even more insurmountable to whatever was trapped inside the huge center ring of the coliseum. But worst of all, even angels were unable to see inside the battleground without use of some special spell: only a true-blooded demon could hope to survive the terrors of the Marquee Sur Noir.

What made it worse was the fact that there were demons far stranger than the ones borne from the bowels of Hell in that world, with all sorts of weird and terrible abilities and their own kind of magic. And it was a world that Sin had almost unique control over, capable of banishing other demons to that world and protecting them inside it as she willed... and the reptile wondered quietly what other sort of abilities she possessed, and how different she would be without that terrible wound in her stomach.

It brought to mind the reactions of the others, and Sin's own words: the ones ordered to watch him had been instructed to treat him with absolute respect. It made him wonder how she would have treated him otherwise... and how she would behave if he wasn't around. Would Sin still be so quiet and polite, for instance? He mused a bit as he leaned backwards, laying back on the futon and murmuring softly: "Is what I'm seeing really real, or is this just some strange illusion all orchestrated by the Princess?"

He shook his head slowly, then made a face when a white portal appeared and Queen Feldspar stepped through it, a crazy grin on her features as a long green dress swayed around her body... and of course her scales today were a bright evergreen that matched this. It irritated the Drakkaren how many different shades she liked to change her scales almost as much as it irritated him how possessive she could be. You know, especially due to the fact that she married me without my consent. "Zerryberry! Darling, it's wonderful to see you again."

"Lady Feldspar. The same to you." Zerrex stood up and walked over to her, holding out both his hands to her... and she immediately laced their fingers together, gazing at him adoringly with a terrible mix of servility and adoration, her blue eyes burning as a sharkish grin spread over her muzzle. She squeezed his hands tightly, then laughed as he added mildly: "I think you're just a few hours early, though."

"Oh, I just couldn't resist, Lord Zerrex..." The demoness gazed up at him happily, licking her muzzle slowly as she gazed over him, sliding her hands along his wrists and up his arms until they wrapped tightly around his neck, pressing to him with a teasing purr. "After all, how could I stay away from you another moment when I ache night and day for you..."

The Drakkaren glanced down at the locket she wore, before he managed a weak smile up at her, feeling a bit nauseated. After all, the locket had a portrait of him, colored with his own blood in different shades of red and blacks. It was a bit disturbing, to say the least... but when she'd started making rather heavy hints that he should get her something, he'd finally had this etched out... but Feldspar had insisted she add a bit of her personal touch to it, and it had apparently thrilled her to use the Drakkaren's blood as her ink... but on the other hand, it had left Zerrex felling horribly sore for weeks afterwards, and he still felt ill with how much she'd drained out of him just to etch that little portrait. "I'm... I'm glad then. I was missing you too. I really was."

His words were obviously forced, but the female giggled and beamed at him, hugging him tight again and grinding against him seductively as she licked her lips slowly. "Well then, Lord Zerrex! It's wonderful to hear... and I have many, many stories to tell you, all about the palace and the war... all these things you love to hear about, and of course we'll have a great supper together... and a far better dessert..." Her eyes half-lidded as she gazed at him lustfully, murmuring teasingly: "No other male can please me anymore... it gives me more pleasure just to masturbate to memories and thoughts of you, how powerful, dominating, and rough my lover, my husband, and my master can be... and I'm here to please his every fantasy..."

Zerrex carefully pried her off, but before she could pout, he stroked her face gently, and she gave a girlish blush at the contact, gazing at him with adoration. "And believe me I... I'm really looking forwards to that. But I uh... I was just thinking that I should really... um... we should go out somewhere nice for dinner." Zerrex said lamely, trying to keep himself from throwing her across the room as she slowly began to push towards him again with a bright grin, all the sapphire and emeralds on her rings and the bangles on her wrists sparkling with unnatural intensity. The reptile had learned she charmed every single gemstone on every trinket she owned... her specialty, after all, was material magic and alchemy along with her control over water, and she had a deep affection for anything that looked ‘pretty,' in a word... and thus he'd learned to never, ever touch anything ‘pretty' she owned, lest he set off some terrible magical trap or effect. Just like when she knocked me out that one time...

She pushed one of her hands against his chest, and he could almost feel the magic emanating off them as she said lovingly up to him: "Well, Lord Zerrex... I did take the time to reserve us a table at that one restaurant you liked so much, the Mortal Crane... after all, you seemed to adore that... what was it called?"

"It was a lobster platter." Zerrex said mildly, rubbing the back of his head slowly and looking down at the demoness as she looked happily up at him. Her terrible saccharine sweetness was making him feel like was getting diabetes as she slid away from him and spun around, dancing and leaving flickering blue motes of light behind herself as she laughed and moved in a slow circle around the Drakkaren, the motes thickening into watery bodies that immediately began to move in time with Feldspar as she spun and danced through the room.

He watched as the demoness spun and arched her back, threw her arms out and moved with terrible elegance as her almost-solid water copies moved in time with her, following her lead as she continued to laugh, almost knocking over his shelves, as the water nymphs splattered against the walls and lost their form before solidifying again as they moved in a terrible ballet through the room. Zerrex swallowed and stepped backwards, then reached out and snagged Feldspar as she began to dance by, and they spun in a circle together, hands locked as Feldspar threw her head back with a sigh of pleasure, the water beings circling slowly around them before dissolving and evaporating again, leaving them in the middle of a lazily-spinning cyclone.

Feldspar threw herself against his strong body after another movement, letting out a long sigh of pleasure and closing her eyes tightly as she murmured: "Oh, I love you, my darling... I love you so much..."

Zerrex swallowed, then managed an incoherent mumble in return, looking up with a pained wince to the ceiling. But between having her clinging to him and her inadvertently destroying his entire home, it didn't leave the reptile a whole lot of choice... and a moment later the Drakkaren glanced over at the shattered circle of glowing runes, wishing idly that it still worked. Of course, the first time Feldspar had tried to force her way in and found the protective circle blocking her passage, she'd demanded it be destroyed... and when Zerrex had honestly said he'd had no power to destroy it, Feldspar had thrown a tantrum, wrecked half the house, and then attempted to erase the circle... but her own magical abilities had been repelled, and all she'd managed to do was damage the runes before Zerrex had sighed and given her explicit permission to portal into the house whenever she wanted, which had solved the problem.

On the other hand, it also meant that Zerrex could rescind his permission whenever he wanted and block her out... but in that case, Feldspar would probably level the entire house. Already she had shown a nasty tendency to go psycho whenever things didn't go her way, such as the way she'd reduced several Masters to dust when they'd refused to let her drag Zerrex outside the Circle of Lust. She had almost started a full scale war between herself and the Masters... and Zerrex had been forced to order her firmly to stop and say he'd much prefer that they eat at a restaurant inside the Circle. She had pouted for a while, but then relented... and the Drakkaren wondered sometimes who was really in charge here.

Likewise, he had never seen Feldspar's true form... but he'd heard rumors that she was truly hideous, comparable even to the Terrors that were forever locked away in Hell's deepest guts, imprisoned far below the surface and somehow providing Hell with a limitless supply of power... and specifically, the Scholars. The Drakkaren got the feeling somehow that the Nameless demons Sin had given birth to were also the Terrors... but the Drakkaren didn't want to make any guesses, knowing that Hell's history was too vast to rule any possibilities out.

The only thing Zerrex knew for sure is that Feldspar might not be physically skilled... but she had terrifying magical powers that could whiff him out in a moment just like a candle if she ever willed it. There was too much about Hell he didn't understand, there were too many things he was still learning despite having spent over two thousand years in this terrible place... and Feldspar was still also his best source for information, especially with almost everyone else he knew out on the battlefields, engaged in the terrible civil conflict that was still plaguing the land. She was privy even to information that Sin didn't know... and despite the arguments he had seen her engaged in with the Princess, she was still the closest to the monarch, even if not the highest in status.

The two looked at one another, and then Feldspar took his face in her hands, smiling teasingly as she said softly: "I gaze into your eyes, Lord Zerrex, and I can see that look you always get when you want to hear my stories... and I must say, you're one of the best listeners I've ever met." She let out a happy sigh and pressed against him tightly, murmuring gently: "What adoration I feel for you, my handsome King... you're such a strange creature. You know as very well as I do that any day you wanted, I could have you removed from here... and yet for some strange reason, despite your thirst for knowledge, you insist on punishing yourself here! Come with me, Lord Zerrex, come and sit on my throne..."

Her chest began to heave and she began to pant, a deep blush suffusing her features as she reached up and grabbed his shoulders, her claws digging into him as she growled hungrily: "It's funny we're in this circle, because my lust for so much grows so fast when I'm here with you... if you want to know all my secrets, then I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything! But I need to know why... why do you insist on acting like any weak, stupid mortal that gives in too often to his desire to fuck, why do you insist on staying here and serving out your hundred eternities of punishment? Why, Lord Zerrex, why, when we could be together! We could rule this entire world!"

Feldspar's eyes turned pure blue, her breath hot as it washed over Zerrex's face, the demoness's body seeming to thicken and bulge as she gazed up at him hungrily... and the Drakkaren swallowed, grasping her hips and pushing her body back a bit as she continued to look at him with her eyes solid, burning blue. He gazed back into them, as a snarl twisted over her muzzle and her body flexed, claws digging deeper into his body and causing him to wince, trying to shrug free.

"It's... it's my duty." Zerrex said finally, and he could see blue veins pushing out under her scales, pulsing slowly and glowing like neon lights as she looked up at him with those terrible glowing eyes. "I earned this punishment myself, and now I should ensure that I live it all the way through to the end. If I skip out or cheat... it takes away the value of the experience, it cheapens who I really am."

"Silly mortal emotions... isn't it also said that only a masochist incurs pain when there is no need for it?" asked Feldspar, and her voice had taken on a terrible unearthly quality as her horns lengthened, her eyes burning as she squeezed tighter into the reptile's shoulders, a bead of blood slowly running down his chest. "Come now, Lord Zerrex... you must cast off these ideas that you still base your life around, when you have started a life in Hell, a life not of the mortal plane, above mortals, without need for mercy or emotions..."

Zerrex winced again, then he cursed under his breath and swung his arms up, knocking hers loose and pushing her roughly back as she blinked, her eyes returning to normal as the long, twisting path of blue vanished from beneath her scales, and the two looked at each other as he asked coldly: "Queen Feldspar... aren't demons even slaves to their own emotions, their passions, just as mortals are? Don't they base their entire existence around emotion, around what they feel, and don't you believe that the greatest path to becoming a demon is through passion and emotion?"

Feldspar immediately looked away at this, sulking and muttering: "I don't want to talk about this anymore... let's not argue, Lord Zerrex." She stepped forwards immediately, looking up at him with her hands clasped together, her eyes shining as she said childishly: "Come on, lover, we don't need to fight like this, it's just so silly, isn't it?"

"Yeah... alright." Zerrex sighed a bit as he nodded, reaching up and grasping her shoulders as she looked up at him with a wide smile, leaning forwards and kissing his cheek as he added softly: "So would you like to go out for dinner now or... is there something else on your mind, Feldspar?"

The Queen lowered her head thoughtfully, swaying a bit on the spot and pushing her hands gently against the male's strong chest. "I'm not so sure... I think we should... do something fun together..." Feldspar grinned widely, leering over him, and the reptile felt a shiver of disgust roll through his body at how quickly and easily her mind slithered back to the same train of thought. "We could fuck... or go out, and pick up my Master some more slaves... perhaps we could find that darling girl Lily you like so much? I'm sure she'd love to be one of your wives..."

The Drakkaren felt like punching her, but he took a slow breath and resisted, instead saying mildly: "I dunno if I'm in the mood for that right now... and I thought you wanted to go and get something to eat, anyway, didn't you? I wouldn't want to leave you waiting for a meal, and I have to admit it's a rare treat I enjoy myself..."

"Oh, Zerrex!" Feldspar laughed to herself, leaning backwards and grinning wider as her hands slid down over his abdominals, grabbing the waistband of his pants firmly as she looked into his eyes with entertainment. "You're such a sweetheart, you know that? This is why I do so enjoy our time together... you're always so understanding and so loving... so tender despite how deliciously you hurt me when we fuck like animals..."

She slid against him, panting a bit against his neck as she nipped at his throat, and he tilted his head upwards, wincing as she began to slowly lap from his shoulder to his cheek, growling in what she probably thought was a teasing manner. It only succeeded in making him feel uncomfortable, however, as she left a long trail of saliva along the side of his neck and twisted her body against his with a remarkable lack of talent. How many years has she spent in Hell, again? Maybe her punishment was always being a lame fuck...

Then hurt her. Beat her. Rape her. Kill her. Take what you know you could goad her into letting her take... her body is weak compared to yours, she relies on trinkets and magic... you possess more than enough strength to take whatever you want from the weak slut... hissed the dark voice in his head, and Zerrex heard his other constant voice, Ravenlight, mutter something about avoiding doing anything stupid... which was disturbing, due to the fact that Ravenlight wasn't supposed to be the voice of reason in his head.

Feldspar was staring up at him, though, waiting for some sort of response... and Zerrex hesitated before simply kissing her lips, and she immediately worked her maw against his hungrily in return, their tongues twisting together for a moment before the Drakkaren broke the kiss, and she let out a loud, pleasured sigh. "See, Lord Zerrex? This is why we're absolutely perfect for each other... we don't even need words to communicate our love for each other..."

"Right..." Zerrex said slowly, and then he asked carefully, so as not to upset the unbalanced female: "So should I go and get some money, or would you prefer to pay for the meal, with as generous as you like to be?"

She blushed and giggled at this, covering the end of her muzzle with one hand as she said playfully: "You're such a charmer! But silly, I'll pay, of course... but you know I'm not so generous, all my money comes from the royal treasury... it's all my pleasure to offer what I can to you and pay for these silly little dates we go on."

She snapped her fingers to create a portal beside them as she took his other hand firmly, squeezing his fingers uncomfortably tight, and she immediately dragged the Drakkaren through this before he could say anything, and he staggered a moment later into the street outside an expensive, classy restaurant. He blinked, looking back and forth dumbly as demons looked at them curiously from where they were lined up along a stone walk, standing behind a black rope guarded by a massive draconic demon with a large, spiked â€" and bloodstained â€" cudgel resting beside him, dressed in tight black clothes and wearing a pair of sunglasses obviously stolen from the mortal realm.

The demon glanced absently over at them as Feldspar strutted down the carpet leading straight to the doors with a with a teasing smile, and the bouncer did a double-take, his glasses falling off his muzzle as he immediately ran to the doors, pushing one wide and bowing deeply to Feldspar. Zerrex made a bit of a face as he followed quickly behind the demoness, giving a glance to the draconic demon and feeling awkward as they stepped inside, a waiter immediately running out to greet them with several deep bows.

He guided them quickly over towards a table, Zerrex glancing back and forth nervously at the looks they were getting, before his eyes settled on a group of soldiers at one table who were muttering together, doing a very bad job of appearing incognito as the Drakkaren leaned towards Feldspar and asked in a mutter: "This is in the Eastern Province, right? And this is safe territory, you're sure?"

"Of course, darling." Feldspar said absently, waving a hand to him... and the reptile didn't like the way her eyes flicked quickly to something else in the room as she sat down at the table before glancing up at the waiter and raised a hand. "We'll have a bottle of Black Petal Wine, and we'll start with an appetizer of boar stew and a basket of plain buns, if you will."

"Of course, milady." The waiter bowed, then the lizard demon glanced over to Zerrex, asking curiously: "Anything else, your lordship?"

"Just a Frost cola and some toast, please and thank you." Zerrex said mildly, tilting his head towards the soldiers and watching them out of the corner of his eye as one of them threw a carton of cigarettes at another, who grunted something irritably and then quickly left, apparently under the false pretence of needing a smoke. He listened through the chatter to the sound of the heavy boots of the last as he made his way for a side door, and then the Drakkaren turned his attention back to Feldspar, who was looking at him oddly. "I don't like this. They looked like Az'Iriel's troops..."

"Darling, you worry far too much... besides, how could you tell? It's not like they're in uniform or anything!" Feldspar laughed a bit, shaking her head slowly and looking across at him with entertainment as she laced her fingers together lightly. "Now let's talk for a little while, shall we? I'm sure there's a million things on your mind, my Zerryberry, that you'd like to talk about or have explained... you're such a curious little creature, after all..."

She smiled across at him, but her eyes flicked anxiously to the side despite what she had just said herself... and the Drakkaren wondered what the hell was going on for a brief moment before he crossed his arms and said mildly: "Well... sure. What's happening on the Western Front?" Something relatively harmless...

"Oh, not a whole lot... I hear that's where Inquisitor Selena has been dispatched to." Feldspar replied dryly, but she seemed happy to be talking about something other than the possible soldiers surrounding them, as Zerrex looked back and forth, taking in the other far-better dressed demons throughout the room and noting the fact there was a rather wide space around their table, on the second landing and almost dead-center in the room. "Lord Zerrex, is something the matter?"

Normally you don't notice me not paying attention to your ramblings unless I haven't spoken for the last hour or so... "No, I just... feel a bit underdressed." The Drakkaren made a bit of a face, not having to fake his discomfort here as he nodded a bit to a demoness in pearls, sitting across from a male in a full suit and cape who had a silver collar and matching cufflinks. "I mean, I look like I just came in off the street."

"We did come in off the street." Feldspar looked confused for a moment, and Zerrex wondered silently if she could be any more of a ditz before she added in a gushing voice, gazing over him hungrily: "Besides, you're the sexiest male I've ever seen, Lord Zerrex... you shouldn't worry so much about what everyone else is wearing, not when there's plenty of other things to worry about, like your slow ascent into demonhood."

The Drakkaren made a face at this: it was a subject she constantly-insisted on bring up, no matter how often he noted he was uncomfortable talking about it under any circumstances with her. "Feldspar, you know how much I hate-"

"Oh, here's our food!" she interrupted cheerily, clapping her hands together as the waiter came back holding a large tray, which he set down on the edge of the table in order to serve out its contents. This caused Feldspar to grimace, for whatever reason, as she muttered: "And this is supposed to be a high class restaurant..."

The waiter blushed a bit and looked as if he wanted to say something in return, but thankfully he restrained himself, to Zerrex's relief: the last waiter who'd said something back to Feldspar had ended up being blown apart, and what little had remained had been evaporated. As a Queen, the demoness felt she was entitled to whatever she wanted, however and whenever... and that meant she could also punish whoever displeased her for any reason.

Of course, by the time he'd left, Feldspar had forgotten whatever qualm she'd had, saying cheerfully: "Well, wasn't he nice and prompt? We should dig in!"

Zerrex took that to mean he should start eating as much as possible: Feldspar, on the other hand, would eat borderline-anorexic quantities and then complain loudly she was full, which Zerrex had discovered was impossible in Hell. It was possible to get fat if you were lazy, but impossible to get full eating, thanks to the way the Plane of Hell worked and the simple fact most of them were technically just solid forms of energy wandering around in a quasi-physical form. It was too complicated and technical for Zerrex to understand fully, but he grasped the concept, at least, as he stirred his stew a bit.

It was nice and hot, and he ate heartily as Feldspar picked at a bun, looking across at him in the old measuring way that always meant trouble was coming soon. The Drakkaren made a bit of a face, but at least for a little while she was quiet... and he regretted looking up at her for a moment as she said immediately: "We should toss you in a vat of virgin's blood. I hear that helps out demonic evolution."

"Feldspar..." Zerrex said tiredly, then he paused as the waiter approached again, likely to take their order. He wished absently for a menu, but since they claimed to sell every type of mortal food available here. "Look, they're ready for our order."

"Excellent!" Feldspar brightened at this, crossing her arms and sitting back as she glanced over to the waiter, and Zerrex let her take charge again as she said cheerfully: "We'll have a fresh fish each, whatever's the catch of the day here, four double-patty cheeseburgers â€" that's what they're called, right, cheeseburgers? â€" a platter of fries, and those things you like, the ring-things, what are they called again?"

"Onion rings, please." Zerrex said politely, nodding a bit to Feldspar, before glancing to the waiter and adding mildly: "And a refill on my Frost, thanks. I'd also like a pot of green tea-"

"Blackleaf tea!" Feldspar interjected, then she looked across at Zerrex with a blush, touching the end of her muzzle gently and saying courteously: "You'll like this brand much better, Lord Zerrex, I assure you..."

Yeah, I'm sure this has nothing to do with the subject we were just talking about... "Sure, then. I'll trust your judgment, my darling." His sour tone was apparently missed by Feldspar, who giggled childishly, but the waiter's mouth twitched a bit before he bowed to them both and strolled away to give the chef the order. Immediately, Feldspar glowered after him, and the Drakkaren said mildly: "Well, it's a good thing I'm not eating too much... mortal food is very fattening, after all."

Feldspar looked nauseated at this, glancing down over herself and hugging her body tightly, and then she mumbled: "You know, I don't feel very hungry tonight... I think I'll just have a cup of tea instead, when the food comes..."

Zerrex looked across at her with badly-faked concern, asking dryly: "Well, don't you want to try the fries, at least? They're very greasy, but they're good nonetheless... it's just one of many examples where something healthy has been turned into something delicious."

"I... I'll be right back." Feldspar jumped up to her feet and strode quickly off, and Zerrex muttered something under his breath as he went back to eating in peace for a few minutes, at the same time glancing over at the soldiers and wondering where the hell their buddy could have gone off to. Worse still, the two left looked nervous and kept shooting glances at him... special ops they're not. They're more like plainclothes cops on their first sting operation after only a few months' experience...

Zerrex shook his head a bit as his spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl, and he put it aside to munch quietly on some toast as he looked around the room for Feldspar. She had either gone to change their order â€" unlikely â€" or to throw up â€" not that she was bulimic or anything â€" and at this point, he just hoped that everything would move along at a faster pace so they didn't end the night with yet another fight.

Every time he went out with Feldspar, something bad happened... but worse yet, Feldspar seemed to enjoy causing confrontations with anything she came across that challenged her absolute authority, especially when they wandered into other provinces. She also seemed to like shoving Zerrex into fighting things that he had no business fighting, like officers from other armies or off-duty Inquisitors... and the latter had ended nastily a few times. Officers knew when to back down, but Inquisitors much preferred to fight to the death, lest their precious reputations be tarnished from being defeated by an Initiate... but he always tried to look on the bright side and think of it as good training.

He knew Feldspar had been reprimanded several times for starting undue chaos by the Princess, but for whatever reason, the Princess hadn't yet forbidden Feldspar to come see him, as she had tried to forbid the others... but Vampire still snuck his way over on occasion, and Blake ‘happened' to bump into him a few times with a book or two for him to read, and even Lily he'd seen once, and she'd explained she'd just been curious to see how he was doing and what he was up to. She missed him, she'd said... and he missed her, too.

He glanced up as the waiter returned with another large platter... and Feldspar shoved him over bad-temperedly as she walked up behind him, splattering food and beverages all over a group of demonesses in expensive dresses and causing several of the Dius to shriek with anger... but at a glance from Feldspar, they immediately quieted and shrank away, the waiter mumbling apologies as he began to clean up, blushing deeply. It attracted the attention of one of the bouncers in the room, the huge draconic creature slowly beginning to make his way over with a club hanging from his hand... but as he passed a pretty marble fountain, several coils of water shot out, wrapped around him, and dragged him into the water, which went back to being glassy and calm a moment later, even as it began to slowly turn red.

Zerrex winced at this, as Feldspar sat down, looking ill... and then she looked across at Zerrex as she absently wiped a bit of black ooze away from her jaws with her napkin, asking in a weak voice: "Am I pretty?"

"You're always pretty." Zerrex said gently, then he paused and added slowly: "But I'd be able to tell you with much greater ease how beautiful you are if I could see your true form, Queen Feldspar..."

Feldspar hesitated at this, looking flustered and angry and embarrassed: in other words, trying to avoid the subject altogether as best she could, but unable to think of a way how before the Drakkaren added in a low voice, leaning in conspiratorially: "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I saw Selena's true form... and I have to admit she didn't look that bad. I bet you must be far prettier than her, though..."

Infuriated envy turned immediately to a pompous smile, Feldspar holding herself tall... and Zerrex knew he'd hit the right button as she held her claws out, looking over them slowly and saying idly: "Well... perhaps I am. You're such a silly, though, Lord Zerrex... she's hideous in that body, and she'll always be infinitely uglier than me... but if you were able to bear to look at her, then I suppose I could show you what I really look like... although I must admit I'm not as beautiful as I am now..."

Zerrex forced himself to smile, saying in a sickly-adoring voice: "Oh no, I'm sure if anything, you'll be even more beautiful with all that extra power I'll be able to see in your wonderful body... after all, you're always stunningly-gorgeous to me..."

Now Feldspar grinned widely, crossing her arms and licking her muzzle slowly as she leaned across the table, saying hungrily: "Well, tell you what then, my darling... I'll show you... but I want you to fuck me hard in my real body if I let you see..."

The Drakkaren nodded immediately, saying in a voice he barely kept stable: "It would be my pleasure, Feldspar... perhaps it'll be even better than your... already so tight and hot little body here..."

Feldspar giggled like a schoolgirl, leaning back as Zerrex looked down into his empty bowl, wondering if he could pass off vomiting into it as nausea rolled through his stomach at the very thought of how loose she'd probably be in her real body... and then he paused, his eyes flicking to the side as he heard the even march of heavy combat boots over the floor above.

A Naganatine with black scales and cold, scarred features was leading a troop of soldiers with him... and on either side of him were two figures Zerrex recognized, feeling a terrible sinking feeling in his gut. Icarus... and the Countess. They must have been revived in Hell by Az'Iriel... it hasn't been nearly long enough for them to have crawled out of the Plains of Despair...

"Oh my... it looks like you were right. Silly me, we must be on the side of the province occupied by Az'Iriel's forces..." Feldspar said slyly, and then she rested her arms on the table, glancing idly over as minotaurs and lizard demons clad in full armor came in and sat down at the closest available empty tables. "Golly, perhaps we should leave out the side door, since that looks like the Commander of this entire region, Lieutenant-General Argalox."

"You knew this was going to happen." Zerrex said coldly, and Feldspar only smiled at him childishly, her eyes burning as she shrugged a bit, before the Drakkaren's eyes returned to Argalox and the pair of demons that had been destroyed completely on the Physical Plane... well, I know for sure I took care of Icarus... but I didn't hit the Countess hard enough to destroy her. It must've been Marina or one of the others...

He stood up and left quickly with Feldspar, knowing they were likely walking into a trap â€" or at least he was, as Feldspar giddily led him to the side door, her eyes alight with some terrible lust as she shoved a waiter out of the way and threw them open... and they stumbled out into a wide stone alley that had already been blocked off on either side by soldiers and armored transports. The Drakkaren snarled, but Feldspar only laughed as she spun around on the spot with him, looking across at him with a wide grin: "What fools! They think they're a match for us, or even for you, Lord Zerrex!"

Zerrex let go of her hands, stumbling backwards himself but causing her to fall over with a loud squeal, the demoness landing heavily on the pavement with a snarl as her eyes turned bright blue... but they were saved an argument as Argalox strolled out with the Countess and Icarus behind him, his silvery armor glinting as he looked down at Zerrex disdainfully from a towering seventeen feet of height. "What a splendid show. Lord Zerrex, there is a direct order from Prince Az'Iriel to exterminate you on sight to all demons of the Northern Realm... and since you have so-gladly set foot in territory currently owned by the Northern Province after we received an anonymous tip you would be dining here tonight... I have no choice but to destroy you myself. And surely you recognize you cannot stand up to a Naganatine... we of the First Breed are far more powerful than a mere... demonic initiate.

"For entertainment purposes, however, I have brought along two old friends of yours... Icarus and Sveletchechnya, or simply the Countess." Argalox bowed backwards, spreading his arms wide as the two stepped forwards, Icarus grinning and the Countess raising her hands to assume a ready stance. "They boast that in Hell, they should be capable of destroying you. I, for one, have faith in your abilities, Lord Zerrex, and I look greatly forwards to testing you myself. And oh, Lady Feldspar?"

Feldspar looked over at him with a grin as she stood up, her eyes still burning... and then there was a loud crackle as she was frozen helplessly in a huge rectangle of ice that came to life around her, Argalox's eyes turning completely black. "Stay cool and take a seat at the sidelines. I'll deal with you in a moment."

The Naganatine rose a finger, and the block of ice slowly slid to the side as demonic soldiers crowded the doors along with interested patrons and curious onlookers... and Zerrex grinned widely as he slowly cracked his knuckles, looking coldly across at Icarus and the Countess as the Naganatine stepped back into the crowd. "First off, Lieutenant-General, I want to thank you for your... calm and cold reception."

A chuckle ran through the crowd at the pun, and Argalox looked entertained himself at the fact he hadn't been the only one to make a bad joke, before smiling as his eyes turned pitch-black again at the reptile's next calm words: "And I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to finish these two off... even I can feel they don't have enough spiritual energy to return to life if they have another fatal accident."

They both snarled, then Icarus barked: "We're both far more powerful in Hell, Lord Zerrex! You're a fool to act so cocky when you don't yet know the full extent of our powers!"

The Drakkaren glanced measuringly over them both, his emerald eyes narrowed as he took in every detail of their forms. Despite the boast Icarus had just made, the demon was lacking his huge metal wings and instead had a large pair of useless-looking, leathery ones coming from his back... and his body was covered by a plain black uniform with the Red Cross of Az'Iriel on both biceps, just beneath the plain metal shoulderpads he wore. He had no armament Zerrex could see on him, either, meaning that he either planned to use magic or his fists... or, more likely, some hidden weapon he had up his sleeve or on his back.

The Countess, meanwhile, was wearing the same costume she'd been in before, except it was of black leather this time instead of red... but her crown was missing, as were her masks. He definitely expected her to use some sort of magical abilities, with how the last battle had gone... and then she hissed: "Don't think that we're the same as we were before, Lord Zerrex! We've been back for a thousand years and we've been training hard in order to ensure we defeat you... we won't just lay back and let ourselves be beaten, like what happened last time!"

"So everyone's life is on the line... excellent." Zerrex said softly, then he rose a hand and let his body fall loose, saying calmly: "Come."

Immediately, Icarus ran forwards as small spikes of metal shot out of his knuckles, and he threw a hard punch at Zerrex as the Countess clasped her hands together and began to chant... and Zerrex immediately kicked Icarus hard in the stomach with a simple forwards boot and sent him flying into the demoness, and they crashed to the ground together amidst a howl of laughter from the crowd, Argalox covering his muzzle to half-hide a smile of entertainment. The Drakkaren grinned himself, but at the same time he looked quickly over the Naganatine, who honestly worried him a lot more than these two bumbling morons did: after all, not only was he a First Breed... he had just literally put Feldspar on ice.

Icarus leapt up, and the Countess pulled out two curved, boomerang-shaped blades, throwing both of them at the Drakkaren... and Zerrex created a sphere of energy, using this to deflect the blades before throwing it in an easy motion at Icarus as he charged forwards again... and this time the demon howled in agony, flying into the air and crashing into the wall high above the soldiers amid loud jeers... and Zerrex dashed through the cloud of smoke a moment later, heading straight for the Countess as she shrieked and held her hands out, the boomerang blades leaping off the ground and throwing themselves at the reptile.

The reptile caught Icarus a moment before he hit the ground and spun around with him, hurling him into the twin blades, and the demon screamed as they collided with his back, one of them chopping off his wing before Zerrex leapt at the Countess and smashed her across the face with a hard right hook. She staggered, shrieking in pain, and the Drakkaren's following punches smashed into her stomach, her face, her kidney, and then he grabbed her shoulders and simply shoved down as hard as he could.

She fell to her knees before screaming and arching her back as her collarbone snapped like a twig... and Zerrex slammed a knee up into her chin once, twice, and then he simply smashed a hard punch in a downwards arc across her featureless head, and she fell limply to the ground. The Drakkaren grinned... then snarled and cursed a moment later, staggering forwards as Icarus's spiked fist slammed into his back, before several more punches struck his body as the demon yelled and more flailed than struck at him.

The reptile threw himself forwards, leaning into his stumble... and then he twisted around and swung his fist out in a backhand, and it caught Icarus in the face and knocked him sprawling to the ground. The Drakkaren-demon grunted, cursing and shaking his head quickly and looking dazed... and then Zerrex grabbed him and spun him over before slamming his hand into his chest and closing his eyes as he seized not the Drakkaren, but instead the energy he could feel burning through the reptile's body.

Icarus screamed in fury and agony, his body spasming as he flailed his arms at either side, and then he bucked as Zerrex grabbed his skull with his other hand, wincing and jerking back hard as his muscles flexed and he snarled... and a moment later, he was holding some barely-visible, mostly-transparent spirit in his hand made of writhing dark energy... and Zerrex pulled. Just as he had so many years ago now with the Possessed creature, when he was still alive, he pulled as hard as he could with his body... and Icarus's ethereal voice screamed before the energy simply exploded into motes, and blue lightning sparked over Zerrex's body.

Icarus's corpse rotted quickly away into dust, and the Drakkaren kicked a foot through it before turning around as the Countess tried to crawl to her feet... and he simply stomped down on her neck before twisting viciously, and there was a last burst of purple light before she, too, rotted rapidly and turned into ashes that floated slowly away... and Argalox slowly began to clap.

The Drakkaren glanced slowly up at the cube of ice that Feldspar was in, watching water run down it in rivulets before he turned slowly around to the Naganatine, a last arc of blue energy circling him before he clenched his hands into fists... and he could feel his body burning with fire, wanting to pant like an animal but restraining himself as his heart pounded in his chest. He had just done what he'd promised not to do to Little Arcy, when they'd met at what now felt like a million years ago. He had eaten the energy of another demon... and in doing so, he had torn out his soul and ripped that to shreds before feasting on it as well, like a monster from Hell in the old legends... and Argalox said softly: "No wonder the Warlord is afraid of you... you can kill demons without the use of a Divine Word or any special implements. I am impressed, Lord Zerrex, and I may have underestimated you now that I feel your true power with your blood boiling... but the Countess and Icarus were weak and foolish.

"They had indeed trained, but they had not yet returned to full strength... and they had forgotten you are no longer a crippled mortal, but a demon. You are only an Initiate, but you are a demon nonetheless... and I will recognize you and honor you as such." Argalox knelt and bowed his head forwards slowly, his cape puddling around him as he closed his eyes... but then he smiled grimly as he stood up and tore the latter off, throwing it aside as he slowly pulled off the long gloves he wore as well. "I'm looking forwards to fighting you..."

Zerrex grunted as he stepped backwards, watching as the Naganatine brushed off his armor idly before slowly drawing his sword... and it was like nothing the reptile had ever seen before. It looked almost decorative, with the strange design near the base and the twisted shape of the handle... but the serrated edge that went almost a foot up the back of the blade from the golden hilt and the sharp, deadly edge on the front of the long, six-foot blade said otherwise. The Drakkaren thought even the hollow circle of metal at the base of the blade was sharpened... and the tip of the blade curved abruptly backwards, giving it a slight, barbed hook that would make it difficult to judge the swings the blade would take.

It seemed to pulse with light in the thin, black-scaled hand of the Naganatine as he faced the reptile, and then he asked softly: "Would you like a weapon? And shall we use magic or not? I'd like to invite you to use your spectacular energy abilities, at least... I'd like to see how I stand up to them."

"I'll use them if you earn the privilege, how about that?" Zerrex readied himself with a smile, shaking his head and adding softly: "And no... I'll fight you as I am. I wouldn't want to dirty your soldiers' weapons, after all... but you fight me at your full strength, and I'll fight you at mine." He paused, then tilted his head forwards. "I get the feeling we'd be friends if we weren't enemies."

"Fate always stacks the deck." The Naganatine straightened, and Zerrex heard a crackling before he looked down in surprise as a thin sheet of ice formed over the entire alley, the First Breed smiling again as his eyes turned solid black. "I'll do my best to live up to your expectations then, Lord Zerrex... after all, if you kill me, then this entire area will be given an order to go into full retreat... but don't worry. I'll make sure to come back and see our fight through again to a different conclusion."

"We'll see about that." The Drakkaren set himself in a ready position, keeping himself calm and ready against the cold ice. I should've trained harder on that stupid wax paper exercise with Requiem... "Let's go, Argalox."

The Naganatine immediately rushed forwards, then halted and allowed the skid to carry him the rest of the way, anchoring himself against the ice as he swung viciously upwards with the sword... and Zerrex ducked and swayed to the side before swinging one leg into Argalox's... but the Naganatine was like a metal wall, and the Drakkaren cursed before reaching up and grabbing the pommel of the First Breed's sword as he tried to slam it down into his skull.

Argalox snarled and immediately swung forwards with a punch, and Zerrex blocked that with his other hand, his arms crossed over his chest before the Naganatine's tail swung forwards between his legs, and the twin whips on the end of the flexible appendage wrapped around his waist tightly as the First Breed grinned... before looking surprised as Zerrex shouted the simple incantation for the ‘Force' spell, before the Naganatine was blown off his feet as Zerrex shoved both hands forwards and released his fists.

The reptile fell over onto the ice, dragged a few feet forwards himself from the Naganatine's tail even as it released him... but Argalox was already climbing back to his feet, treating the ice like it was solid ground as Zerrex winced and kicked up to his own feet... and he promptly fell forwards onto his face.

Argalox snorted at this, then held out a hand towards the ice... and it immediately began to shoot up in long, deadly spikes in a line headed straight for the reptile, and Zerrex stared before rolling quickly out of the way, and the line of spikes shot past him before Argalox leapt towards him... and Zerrex snagged one of the spikes of ice, tearing it off the ground and hurtling it at the Naganatine.

The First Breed cursed in midair and knocked the deadly spike away with a flick of his sword, shattering it into pieces as Zerrex threw himself backwards, sliding to safety as Argalox landed in a crouch. The reptile managed to sit up this time before Argalox ran forwards and thrusted the blade forwards... and Zerrex swung his arm up at the last moment, striking the flat of the blade and knocking it skywards, the Naganatine stumbling backwards in shock before Zerrex kicked him squarely in the shin.

He slipped on the ice, falling to a kneel and sinking the long blade deep into the ground, leaning on it with a curse... and a moment later Zerrex shoved himself off the ice awkwardly with his hands and slammed a foot up into Argalox's face, knocking him backwards with a roar of pain and a splash of blood as the crowd gasped. Zerrex fell flat on his stomach with a grunt of his own, wincing and clawing at the ice as he tried to get to his feet... but Argalox was already sitting up, rubbing at his head as he slowly shook it, looking stunned before he snarled and snapped his fingers.

The ice beneath Zerrex immediately shot up in a long spike, the reptile gurgling as the spike of ice went through his lung and hefted him roughly five feet into the air... and Argalox walked slowly past him as the Drakkaren hung limply on the cone. The Naganatine grasped the handle of his sword, then jerked it firmly free from the concrete, and he rubbed his hand idly along the flat as he said mildly: "I may have misjudged you, Lord Zerrex, but as you can see, our abilities are now clear... although admittedly, with my abilities so much more developed, this battle was slanted and unfair, so-"

The Naganatine turned around, and stared at the Drakkaren, who had one arm out pointed at him, and a beachball-sized orb of energy with a dark, sparkling core pulsating slowly on his palm as Argalox stared dumbly for a moment... and then he winced as the sphere fired towards him, bringing up his sword to try and block the ball of energy uselessly.

It vanished from existence upon touching the blade, and Argalox looked surprised, relaxing even as Zerrex covered his head... and a moment later, as the Naganatine opened his muzzle, a massive shockwave of energy ripped through the air and Argalox was sent flying backwards with a roar of pain, the ornate blade flying high into the air as he struck the ice hard and rolled along it until he crashed into the heavy transport blocking one end of the alley, leaving an enormous dent and almost knocking it over as he fell into a crumpled heap.

Zerrex, meanwhile, had rolled backwards along the ice with the spike of ice buried through his body mostly-disintegrated by the force of the blast, and he had landed on his stomach at the end of a set of long claw-marks buried through the ice until he'd managed to stop himself. He panted hard as he winced and slowly stood up, holding the bleeding hole in his stomach, then he looked dumbly upwards a moment later, as the huge sword clattered to the ground and slowly skidded along the ice towards the Naganatine, who was forcing himself to his feet, several pieces of his metal armor falling uselessly away as soldiers nervously picked themselves up from the ground, everyone staring at the shallow but wide crater the shockwave had left in the solid ice-covered concrete.

Argalox slowly walked forwards and picked up his sword as he began to murmur an incantation, and then he snapped his fingers, and ice slowly coated his broken armor and formed a heavier protective casing around his form. He smiled coldly as he wiped at the blood on his face, then he licked at his palm slowly as he said quietly: "I wasn't expecting that at all... and I can see you're already starting to heal. You have an incredible regenerative capacity and enormous power... all thanks to that wealth of energy in your body..."

He paused, then snarled another incantation that Zerrex didn't recognize, and a moment later the Drakkaren felt a block of ice shoot up around him and encase him, feeling the terrible prison solidifying around him as he rose his arms... and a moment later, all he could do was stare, unable to even blink as he tried to shake loose... but the ice wouldn't permit it. Every sound was muffled, everything was blurred... but the Naganatine was preparing himself for a charge, and Zerrex felt his teeth trying to grit together as he madly tried to think of an incantation that could even buy him time... and a moment later, he felt his features tighten as Argalox charged and he did the first thing that came to mind.

A portal opened in front of the block of ice as the demon charged in towards him... and Argalox tried to stop, but passed through it a moment later, and immediately the portal closed. The Drakkaren let out a sigh of relief as soldiers looked nervously back and forth, the Drakkaren shuddering as he began to throw his entire body back and forth, not sure where he'd sent the creature or how much time he had... and then he leaned hard forwards and the ice block tilted forwards and...

Landed with a useless crunch. He felt it weaken slightly, and he could move a bit... but now he was facing the ground... and a moment later, he felt a boot kick the block of ice bad-naturedly, and Argalox shouted at him in a muffled voice: "Cute Zerrex, very cute! Next time you pull a stunt like that, try to send me to somewhere better than a strip bar!"

The Drakkaren winced... then his eyes widened as he tried the same trick again... except this time, it was the reptile who vanished through the portal he created in the ground, and Argalox cursed, looking back and forth and snarling... and a moment later, the huge block of ice fell out of the air, and the Naganatine looked up in horror before the Drakkaren and the heavy frozen prison he was inside landed on top of him and finally shattered.

Zerrex coughed and gagged as he immediately crawled free, shoving chunks of ice out of his way and shivering as Argalox groaned, shaking his head slowly before his eyes widened and he kicked Zerrex hard in the stomach, snarling and leaping to his feet as the reptile skidded down the ice with a wince, looking towards the Naganatine as he leapt towards him with the sword pointed down, stabbing viciously at his heart... and the Drakkaren caught the cold flat of the blade between his hands as Argalox leaned down as hard as he could.

The reptile felt his muscles straining, but the horrified look of the Naganatine told the reptile that despite his leverage and full strength, he was unable to force more than a few inches forwards... and immediately, Zerrex shoved back before gritting his teeth as Argalox started a spell that would most likely end with the reptile's death. So, before the creature could finish it, Zerrex twisted the sword to the side and let go... and Argalox only managed a shallow cut into the Drakkaren's bicep as the blade buried deep into the ground beside him.

He let out a furious curse, interrupting his own spell as he leaned forwards... and Zerrex kicked the creature in the head as he rolled backwards, at the same time reaching a hand out to grab the hilt of the blade and stop himself from falling over again on the slippery ice as the Naganatine collapsed in a heap with a grunt... and finally, Zerrex managed to leap up to his feet, at the same time spinning and ripping the sword free of the ground before leaping forwards as Argalox tried to sit up, and burying it down through the First Breed's chest.

Argalox's eyes turned black and glowed, red pupils slowly curling into being as he leaned upwards with a long, low death rattle, his jaw twitching as his limbs spasmed out to the side... and Zerrex could feel his energy leaking out of his body as he forced the sword down all the way to the hilt with a roar, pinning him to the ground as blood leaked out of his maw and down his chest... and they stared at each other before Argalox suddenly bucked with a scream of agony, and Zerrex leaned forwards, howling in pain himself as dark energy shot out of the creature and wrapped around the Drakkaren, twisting and forcing its way into his body as he felt the First Breed's terrible strength shoving into his own form...

And a moment later he collapsed, inadverntantly crushing the body of the Naganatine as Argalox turned to nothing more than brittle stone and dust... and the reptile looked up a moment later to see Feldspar smiling, her palm pointed towards the reptile as she breathed softly and grinned widely before murmuring gently: "Beautiful, Lord Zerrex... you have done beautifully. And now you have the powers of the Naganatine in your body..." A pause as she glanced over him, and then she cursed under her breath, murmuring to herself: "Damn... why? Why won't you corrupt..."

"You... you planned all this?" Zerrex looked down in horror at the stone death-mask face of the Naganatine, and then he stood and snarled, ripping the huge sword out of the petrified being's chest and feeling like charging, like cutting down Feldspar with this weapon as the golden blade glowed white in his hand. "You put me up against him, risked my life in order to... to what, rip his soul out and put it into me? You goddamn lying bitch, you never were in trouble, were you? You let this all happen, you were the one who dropped the anonymous tip!"

"That blade is used to trap the souls of demons, and then it eats them to heal the user and increase the weapon's own power... it's a cursed blade, however holy it looks." Feldspar said absently, as if he'd asked for an explanation of the sword instead of shouting at her angrily. "So when you pinned him with the sword and inadvertently made his soul vulnerable, I simply redirected his demonic energies â€" his life-force, if you will â€" into your body before the sword could eat it. It's all very poetic, really... the tragedy of Argalox Cra'Vel Lor Dan, a dissident of Heaven, brother of Sin, and reputed to be related to Az'Iriel Thull..."

"Wait..." Zerrex halted, as something clicked inside his head, and he whispered: "Wait. Is... is Az'Iriel a Naganatine? Is he one of the few Nameless born of Sin and Mephistopheles?"

Feldspar only smiled at him and winked slowly, and then she turned around and waved to the soldiers, shouting firmly: "All of you now serve the Southern Throne. Spread the word that all who do not wish to die will immediately join the Southern Province's Military, and will pledge their allegiance to the Princess instead of the Warlord! Is this clear?"

There were murmurs of consent as heads bowed, and Zerrex stared in horror at the malleability of the soldiers, opening up yet another set of questions: had they been killing their friends, brothers, sisters? Were they treated like the pieces of a board game, being constantly flipped around and ordered to join another side? Is that why... why it was so easy to tame those demons on the mortal realm, why they so gladly reinforce one another?

And now Feldspar was strutting towards him over the melting ice, smiling teasingly as she licked her muzzle slowly. "We should see what you can do about ice magic, now... you might have gained new elemental controls, after all, with that energy, his spirit inside you... and perhaps later we can add that bitch Selena to your body... Gods, the energy you're giving off as we fuse more and more souls into your own, and you're so powerful you just devour them right-"

Zerrex backhanded her hard, sending her to the ground with a surprised yelp, and she stared up at him in horror as he pointed the sword at her, trembling in fury. She looked horrified as she reached slowly up and touched her muzzle, blood dripping down her face... and perhaps for the first time, she realized this wasn't like the night when she'd married him. He was far stronger now physically, at least... and his ability to control his pain and energy has trebled. And armed with this sword... I could kill her. I could chop her in half and rape her if I wanted to... and she deserves it, she deserves worse...

"Master Zerrex..." she whimpered, sliding forwards on all fours past the blade... and Zerrex booted her hard in the face, sending her crashing onto her back with a shriek, staring up at him in horror as she whispered: "Z-Zerrex... please, please... you... you aren't acting like yourself, please stop hitting me, we can do that later, but this... you're hurting me..."

"Stay the hell away from me, Feldspar... and that's an order." Zerrex snarled... and then he slashed the sword down when she started forwards, leaving a shallow wound in her neck and slicing through the thin metal of the locket's chain, the trinket falling to the ground as she stared in horror up at him. "Just leave me the hell alone... and when you come back to see me, I want you crawling on your knees and begging like the slut you are for forgiveness, and I want you to give me something of real value to me... not the worthless shit you usually do."

She opened her mouth to whimper something, tears flowing from her eyes, and the Drakkaren roared: "Enough!" It made her twitch backwards in terror, touching the sluggishly-bleeding wound on her neck as Zerrex snarled again furiously, and then he created a portal and clenched his eyes shut, saying coldly: "Just leave me the hell alone right now, Feldspar... leave me alone, or I'll kill you."

He turned and left quickly through the portal, stepping into his own home and throwing the sword down onto the floor, then he grabbed his head and fell to his knees, arching his back and letting out a loud, miserable howl before falling forwards and slamming his fists into the floor, shattering the wood as he leaned forwards, misery and pain pulsing through his body. He could almost feel the other demon's souls worming around inside of him as his own energy took over theirs, ripped them apart to banish them forever from all planes, as his body accumulated more and more corruption and power from the evil acts he'd committed... and then he sat back and let out another scream of frustration and rage.