Chapter 206: They Came From Hell.
I flew eastward, across the vast expanse of rainforest. Some of the treescape were newer than others, freshly regrown from the ever more aggressive warfare this place had suffered over the past year. But the result of that was in front of me now, for not a single place across the quickly passing landscape belonged to Edengar anymore. It had all been taken by other powers.
I stopped, once the plains had become visible in the distance. I flew down before I could reach it, and instead went towards one of the last cities to be conquered.
…I flew back up, once I realized I was in the wrong place. The city I was looking for was way over yonder.
I quickly reached it, and after a few quick conversations, found where Angerly was staying.
“Haell!” She sat upright and put her book down once I walked in.
“Hello, Haell,” Entrarin said a bit formally as I entered his office.
“Hey! Just thought to drop by. How’ve you guys been?”
“It’s been good,” the centaur claimed. “Hectic and difficult, but rewarding.”
“Yeah,” Angerly agreed and looked at her husband warmly. “We’ve been doing our best to stabilize things.”
I winced sympathetically, glad I didn’t have to deal with any of these bullshit. Swallowing this much Edengarian territory at once had proven to be a fucking difficult challenge, and everyday there was a new attempted uprising. Some were even successful, and those places had to be retaken.
“Why you, though? What happened to being mayor?”
“I still am,” Entarin confirmed. “But I’m hoping to move up to councillor soon.”
“Ahh. So you want some more achievements in your belt.”
“I wish to help my country, but that about sums it up in cruder words.”
I snorted. “Well, you picked one hell of a place for it. This place is one of the most heavily contested, right?” And I didn’t mean by Edengar. They still harassed us sometimes, but it was more a token effort than anything. They were happy for the relative pause in hostilities, and the chance to hold back the Angel’s Demise with the forces they’d condensed.
No, the problem was that the two New Granderas were finally beginning to schism now that their territories were brushing right against each other. The fiction that they were the same place was much easier to maintain when they were half a continent apart.
“It’s precisely because it’s contested that I’m here.”
I looked at him blandly. “Are you a masochist?” My head turned towards Angerly, and I gave her a thumbs up that she returned.
“I AM NOT!” Entarin protested. “It’d be an even greater achievement when I’ve stabilized this place, and made sure it went to Southern New Grandera. I’ll definitely be able to join the council then.”
“I figured,” I chuckled, then looked at his lighter build, and then at Angerly who never did reach Level 40. “Are you sure it’s safe for you two, though?”
“Yes. Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Uh, because someone might have you killed? Assassins? War? You’re in the warfront now, if you didn’t notice.”
“Ah. Well, thank you for the concern. But it should be relatively safe. Edengar is busy with their own problems, so we can take this time to regroup.”
“Oh, I know that. But it’s not just them I’m talking about. Your Northern neighbours could also prove a great danger.
He scrunched his brows. “You think they might send assassins after me? Or declare outright war? That’s crazy.”
I shrugged. “It’s not that crazy. You’re having troubles with territory.”
He thought for a few moments, then shook his head. “We’re not going to fight each other. We’re not stupid. I can tell you that we’ve only negotiated civilly, no matter how tense and… rude it might get. This isn’t Edengar we’re dealing with. And we sure as hell aren’t going to give them what they want by tearing each other apart.”
“Hmmm. Well, if you say so.” I wasn’t convinced at all, but it wasn’t like I was some political savant. I only thrived once the politics were done, and outright war was all that remained. “Just remember to be careful. And run if something happens.”
Entarin didn’t agree, but we all drank and made merry after all the serious talk was over. There wasn’t really much entertainment to be had in a place so recently wracked by war as this, but it was still fun to just hang out with friends.
~~~
The walls were a thousand decaying wombs. The ceiling, countless unborn that failed to ever form. A ritual circle gradually took shape in Pandemonium’s Grand Ritual Hall as I and Moonwash painted the floor in lines of red that shimmered gold. I recalled all the times we’d rehearsed this in perfect detail, for I needed to be involved with this casting. I finally got a moment to rest, once the circle was done and I had to sit in the middle.
Here I giggled, as Moonwash applied paint to my naked belly. Every inch of my red skin was drawn over, with artworks that worked so well with my Mark of The Beast. The paint used remained the same, made from the blood of demon and angel. The remains of the latter were scattered all over, in bones made into weird talismans, or flesh that was molded and preserved.
Evel would be consumed in death, to empower that which she hated in life. Arx allowed me to use her remains which we had seized together with our friends and family, while Adamo’s was still mine to keep.
‘I’m not going to be stingy. You’ll just have to help me get some more when the time comes.’
I smiled as I remembered his words then.
Moonwash finished the ritual, and she spoke its name without taking a single pause.
“Womb Rebirth of The Birthless Demon.”
It rocked my world. The whole building shook. The ritual drawn evaporated like any other, including that which was drawn on my skin. I of all people groaned, for it was just that discomforting, like something fundamental could be ripped away from me if I just let it. I didn’t, instead I only offered up some of my vast rivers of mana to the ritual. I kept a clear head as I awaited the next phase.
The flow of power reversed. A deep and insidious curse surged through my body and gathered in one spot. I breathed as my womb decayed, I frowned when it mutated, and I groaned when it was… replaced? Huh?
The curse reached deeper, where I didn’t think it was possible. It should’ve long reached the end of what it could affect; But it grasped it anyway, my soul. That was when I began screaming. I thrashed but found it in me to gesture for my friends to halt. I could take this. There was nothing they could do to help. My very being was altered, to an extent that went beyond the biological. It went beyond just me, as in this moment, I became the conduit for an infinite concept to be forever and irreversibly altered. A curse was cast that might perpetuate beyond eternity, and it was I who bore that burden.
I might have died from sheer shock, were I anyone but myself.
[A new Soul Feat has been acquired: Birthless Demon.]
[Birthless Demon: As its progenitor, you have forever and irreversibly altered the existence of Demons. Any of its subspecies may no longer be able to reproduce biologically. Instead, new demons may be born through a willing and suitable subject, and a willing and suitable demon to enact the ritual of Demonic Rebirth. This ritual is instinctively known and understood by all demons. This Soul Feat is shared by all demons. All demons now have the Hell of Creation Mutation.]
[Hell of Creation: Produce a powerful substance that embodies its origin.]
I breathed a sigh of relief. My hand shot over to my belly button, and I scraped away some white goop that smelled of nothing and tasted of nothing. There was something new inside me that was producing this… where my womb once was, most likely. I shrugged, content that I would discover what this whole business was in due time.
My eyes then widened, and my hand seeked lower to my crotch, nearly clawing at it. I sighed in sheer relief once I found that my vagina was still there. Getting rid of the potential of childbirth was fine and all, but I didn’t want to lose the pleasure of sex. I was sure none of the future demons would appreciate it either. Our bodies suffered perpetually, as it was.
I suddenly heard laughter, and I glanced over. There I saw Larah, Ragnar, and Marcus; The Demon Aspires, even if one of them had given up on the dream of demonhood. Elfrafim and Arx were here too, and it was the former who was laughing the hardest.
“You… I didn’t know this was that kind of show!” She rolled on the ground as I removed my hand from my exposed privates.
“No it isn’t,” Moonwash countered blandly.
Dawwww. That’s cute.
“Shut up!” I shouted. “You lot would be panicking too if you thought you might’ve just lost you genitals!” I’d made sure that wasn’t the case for this ritual, but getting that soul feat and that new Mutation certainly didn’t go to plan! The process was also so much more terrifying and just massive in scale than I anticipated. So who knew what else might’ve happened!
“I wouldn’t,” Arx claimed.
“You don’t have the balls,” I corrected. “But if you did, you would also be upset!”
We devolved into more laughter, until Pandemonium spat out a coat for me.
“Thank you…” It was covered in drool, but it’s better than nothing. I shrugged it on over my naked body, then shouted at my friends again when they laughed at my grimace. “SHUT UP! It’s a perfectly nice coat! Wet gooey clothing is the new thing, but I wouldn’t expect you plebians to understand.” I turned my nose up and huffed haughtily in said gooey clothing.
That only prompted more laughter.
“So, what actually happened?” Marcus only asked after they were done laughing at my expense, the bastards!
“What happened differently from how we planned it?” My girlfriend was clearly even more curious.
“Well, our main objectives succeeded, at least. I can no longer reproduce normally, and the same goes for any true demons in the future.” I launched into a more detailed explanation of exactly what I just experienced. I decided to trust everyone here with the knowledge. The information would spread if new demons were to truly emerge anyway. Secrets shared by an entire sapient species could never last forever.
“And what’s that for?” Elfrafim asked as I toyed with the white bead that came out of the hole that was once my belly button.
“I don’t know,” I happily admitted. I could feel great power from it, however, and an even greater connection, so I was totally excited to find out everything!
~~~
“Can’t you… use one of those angels for Ragnar’s ritual?” Marcus asked me one day, when he caught me alone in the courtyard.
“Yes, I can.” Just like the remains of Evel empowered the ritual that robbed me of my womb, so too could the same kind of remains make it easier for someone to become a demon. Probably.
Marcus shifted uncomfortably.
“Wel… will you?”
It was a question I’d asked myself. Thus a question I had an answer to.
“No.”
“Oh…”
“I won’t lie to you,” I sighed, but my gaze remained level and resolute. “I’m keeping it for myself. I want those angel remains. I need it for when I evolve again. And it was I who killed Adamo. So, I’m sorry to say, but if you want an angel corpse to use, then you’ll have to kill an angel yourself. I like you guys, and you’re my friends, but there are just things I’m not willing to give.”
“I… understand. I just don’t want them to die…”
“Neither do I.” I forestalled him with a hand. “But I have other goals and desires, clearly. I’ll talk to them myself.” I paused. “I never claimed to be a selfless nor benevolent benefactor. I would be sad too if they died. Try not to resent me too much for it.”
“I won’t,” he shook his head sadly, and we stood there for a few awkward seconds longer, until we both left our separate ways.
~~~
“And that’s why I won’t be giving you Adamo’s remains,” I finished. “I’m keeping it for myself.”
Larah and Ragnar shifted across from me in the lounge.
I remained silent, content to let them process.
“Why even tell us, then?” Ragnar eventually asked.
I considered this question. “Not gonna lie, it's because someone else told me about it, and I told them basically the same thing. I then thought that I should tell it to you straight, and not run from the confrontation like a coward.”
The two Demon Aspires glanced at each other.
"Marcus."
“Was it him? Was it not?” I shrugged theatrically. “Who knows. It's a mystery.”
“It’s him.”
“Mystery solved.”
They both chuckled.
“If you’re sure…” I feigned disinterest.
“We are.” But they weren’t fooled!
Wow. These two were unshakable when it came this.
They deliberated in silence after that exchange, until Larah finally spoke. “I’m fine with it. I’m… not even ready yet, to undergo the ritual.” She could still scarcely handle having curses running through her mind. I honestly wasn’t sure she’d ever get to the point that she needed to be to undergo the demonification ritual.
“It’s your angel. It’s your kill,” Ragnar then said. He, on the other hand, was ready to become an imp. “I was never going to ask for it, and I don’t really want to impose more than I already have. You’ve already helped us so much… without really asking for anything in return.”
I scratched my head. “Well, I have everything I need. Not sure what you can really give me, anyway.”
They grimaced. Oops. I shouldn’t have said that.
“I’ll try to think of something…” Ragnar mumbled.
“Ah, don’t worry about it!” I reached over to clap him on the shoulder, and we spent the rest of the afternoon drinking.
~~~
The walls of the ritual hall were more subdued today. I drew the ritual I instinctively knew, but with a few edits that should make it better. Ragnar stood in the center of this circle, and my greatest solo artwork extended unto his naked skin. Of imps in various states of activity, our biology and our magic, the powers that we held and the suffering that it brought; all of it written with my own flowing blood, mixed with a small amount of what my Hell of Creation could produce. The Hellixir, as I’d decided to call the substance.
I completed the piece with the same mark of the beast on his chest. Ragnar drank from a chalice overflowing with my blood. I did not wait for him to finish, and spoke the name of the ritual I made.
“Birth The Birthless Imp!”
My voice echoed across the massive ritual hall. Ragnar’s screams joined it as his entire body was remade. He curled up and convulsed as the curse transformed him, the hellfire removed what was once there, and the blood regrew it into something new.
Something smaller. Something weaker. Something different.
I crouched down and looked him in the eye.
“Come on. You can do it.” I encouraged the shrinking man.
“Y-yeah!” Larah echoed, our spectators now broken out of their fugue.
“Come on. Come on!” Marcus clenched his fist. “Go Ragnar! Go!”
“Don’t give up.” Moonwash’s stare bore into him. She really wanted to do this same ritual, but she wasn’t demon enough for it!
“Wake up! Stay awake! Don’t lose consciousness!” Elfrafim blurted out her advice. “That’d be bad, right?”
“It will. So do it! Be the demon you want!” Arx cheered the loudest!
It seemed to work, as the gray of Ragnar’s skin melted away to reveal the red muscles within. It was then paved over by skin just as red. His eyes turned dark and goat-like. The bones of his feet cracked and morphed into hooves. Horns pierced out of his head, like blades that stabbed him from inside his own skull!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
He screamed for one more prolonged moment, before finally growing quiet and panting. Left in the place of the ogre, was now an imp half the size.
I rushed to his side. “Well? Are you okay? Did it work?”
Ragnar glanced up at me, an evil glare in his eye. We held that stare for a few seconds too long, making the others grow worried. But eventually, inevitably, he spoke with great venom in his voice.
“Yes. I’m okay.”