Chapter 526 - Devil"s Ways
The palace was huge, every entrance was enough for a giant to fit in with ease. The whole building was not essentially made for humanoids or people with the stature of a normal man to walk around. It was too large that moving from one area of the palace to another would take a considerable amount of time.
The interior of the palace was full of demonic soldiers, they were far bigger than the ones that Dave fought in the Underworld, the underlings of the Ash King. And amongst them roamed the Stalwarts, free to do whatever they pleased.
The palace had gigantic pillars that supported the ceiling, and some Stalwart had climbed up the pillars and rested alongside it like giant lizards.
The whole palace smelled of sulfur and stank of an acidic smell of burnt rotten flesh.
Magmatic pools were situated around some of the pillars where demon soldiers and Stalwarts alike rested within.
Dave kept walking forward, even the Demon Soldiers would give way to the ma.s.sive Stalwart. The chosen Stalwart that Dave had possessed was easily thrice the size of any of the regular ones around him.
So far, he had no idea where to find the flame. Nor was he able to locate it using any means. Also, he couldn"t just ask for where the Flame is, even if any of the demons here knew, Dave was a Sworn Stalwart, and those don"t talk.
While Dave was thinking about where to go next, a wave of nausea a.s.saulted him.
"s.h.i.+t!" Dave cursed the Sworn Stalwart was trying to wrest back control.
He forgot to keep an eye on the Creature"s HP, and looking at it right now, it was already above the 80% mark.
Dave needed a way to force the Stalwart back into submission, but here, in the domain of Asmodeus, any single mistake would mean his life.
Dave turned his head, found a pa.s.sage that led away from all monsters, and scurried toward it.
The pa.s.sage was a wide and long tunnel, it led down, to G.o.d knows where, but as long as no creature was there, Dave could use the [Aura of the Infernal Tyrant] to make it submit. But in the presence of other demonic creatures, he risks exposure.
The tunnel was pretty long, and it extended to a length unknown. Dave had yet to reach its ends when he developed a splitting migraine. He was about to lose control.
"h.e.l.l with it!" Dave cursed and used the Aura of the Infernal tyrant.
However, the moment he did, he instantly regretted it, wis.h.i.+ng he never did.
The splitting migraine immediately stopped. But right in front of Dave a being materialized.
A three-headed creature was right in front of it. A man with the body of a swine, the head of a dragon and a goat, and the face of a human, void of emotion and expressions.
"Dare thee use my own skull in my domain? Such guts. Do you wish me to show them to you?"
Dave immediately understood something related to his ability. The skull that looked down upon all creation, the skull of the Infernal Tyrant. It was the Skull of Asmodeus himself, for only a G.o.d could look down upon all. And it was mentioned in the d.a.m.ned skill"s name.
***
You"re feeling an irresistible pressure. You cannot move, you cannot talk until given permission.
You"re in the presence of a hostile G.o.d.
***
Dave cursed inwardly, the worst-case scenario happened. He never got his hand on the flame, and he was already facing Asmodeus.
The dragon head part of Asmodeus snorted, and the human head spoke, "You"re not supposed to be here, chosen. I gave you the ability to defy death, but you failed in defending my son. And now he is back to embryo form. You"re to die."
Asmodeus held a scaly hand forward, but stopped, a wide grin appeared on his human face. "You"re in there! If I didn"t look closely, I"d never notice it. d.a.m.n you may be, draugr! You came to deliver yourself to my hands!"
Dave"s vision swam, and he found his neck locked tightly against the G.o.d"s hand. He was forcefully ejected from the Stalwart"s body, his possession dissipated and he was now being held by the neck.
"How fate smiles to me, and how cruel it is to your demise. But it continues to skip my thoughts. In what imagination or circ.u.mstance had you decided to visit one that would rip your flesh from your bones, grind your soul to glistening dust, and burn you day and night for all eternal d.a.m.nation?"
"Kinda.. hard… to speak… with your hand… on my neck… bro."
Asmodeus dropped Dave. The latter stood up and faced the furious diety. "I guess there is no need to even bind me."
"Yes, no need indeed, for you"re in my domain, and all in here is a prisoner."
"s.h.i.+t, I guessed as much. Well, how can I say it…"
Asmodeus, bemusedly had a schadenfreude smile, waiting for Dave to finish explaining himself so he would start his torment. G.o.ds had no need to be hasty, they had all the time in the world.
"Well, this might sound awfully weird…but I need your help."
The smile on Asmodeus"s face froze, "Come again?"
"As I said, I need your help."
"You seem to be awfully mistaken your position, son-slayer."
"Hold up, I don"t deny the fact that I killed your son."
"I know, I was there."
"Right, but. What do you think about the calamities?"
"Wretched creatures, pretty good, and I like them a lot."
"If you did, then why did you help capture them."
"So, you even know of that."
"Yeah, I guess you didn"t like the way they treated the world."
"In a sense, their mindset is closest to ours."
"I call bulls.h.i.+t."
"Child, I"m about to torment you, harm you in ways you never witnessed before. Be cra.s.ser and you"re little time of respite that I have given you right now will end."
"Right. Let me rephrase before you start cooking my brain for your supper."
"Ah, an excellent idea, I"ll keep it in mind. For now, speak."
Dave gulped. "Way to go, give the guy more ways to enjoy himself."
"Right then, demons, your kind. You want to destroy the world."
"It is indeed the thought."
"But you also want to rule over the destroyed remains."
"Once again, correct."
"Enslaving those who survived the apocalypse brought by your army of h.e.l.l and all."
"You have said nothing to pique my interest so far."
"I"ll get to that, now as for the Calamities. They want to devour it. Body and soul, if they were left running amok, they"ll eat up every plant, drink up every river, kill every man-beast and creature that lived. They"ll turn this world to extinction, leaving you demons with nothing to rule."
Asmodeus didn"t speak, hinting that Dave was still correct.
"So, as far as I know, Demons aren"t really interested in ruling over total ruin. Because there will be nothing to rule then. No one to torture and starve or make suffer. And I doubt the calamities will be that interesting, as far as I have seen, they"re mindless immortal beings. They"re pretty annoying and impossible to control. And I see no interest in torturing something or even ruling something that cannot be reasoned with to do your bidding."
"You have forgotten the resources that I would have to spend to retake the world after they are done with."
"Yeah, they will amount to nothing but sacrifices made in the hope of gaining a destroyed infertile world."
"All of this, I have known the moment the first Calamity walked the earth."
"I bet you do. But I come to you with a proposal." Dave looked Asmodeus in the eyes.
"I fail to see anything you offer would allow your survival or escape from this place." Asmodeus looked at Dave bemusedly.
"Wait until I drop the bombsh.e.l.l. I"m willing to sign a contract with you." Dave smiled.
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