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Road to Darkness

"Belial, watch out!"

Malkar did not hesitate to shoot towards the goat demon, but he was not aiming at the demon, merely towards a hellhound behind him that would caught him unaware. The shot hit, but it was not fatal. Nevertheless, it was enough for Belial to realize that someone was behind him, during which he promptly incinerated him. As he did so, he saw the dragon, Itresil, controlling the land around her and opened a crevice that trapped and crushed several hellhounds that was unfortunate enough to be there.

"I didn't know you can do that!" said Zardes over her back.

"This is the Underworld, and it is close to my domain," said Itresil. "I have the power of hell to assist me, and I'll be sure to unleash it against my enemies."

"I hope that's always the case."

"Oh, but I don't want any collateral damage."

Before long, their attackers were either dead or seriously injured, also dying. No one was able to escape the combined might of a dragon and an Infernal. Of course, the rest of the group helped, too.

Their journey in uncovering the secrets of the bat prince of darkness continued with them collecting Infernal Texts. Malkar deduced an instruction within the journal's passage on where the next entry might be. Following the instructions, they pressed on while also trying to hinder the progress of the Cult of Barbatos with their own pursuit.

As the objective became clear, so were the danger. They had almost no time to sleep as everyone was kept awake by the constant ambush. They also tried their best not to visit any more Ash Hound villages unless if the Infernal Texts were found in one, to reduce the risk of the peaceful Ash Hounds being used as leverage, and also to protect them. They were not trying to raise an army to fight another army. Belial and Zardes believed that a small group like them would be enough to tackle everything thrown towards them, especially since everyone in the group were all specialists of any form of combat.

As their travels became increasingly dangerous, they became desperate to decipher what's left of the Infernal Texts. They could not hide from the Cult, and at one point they even tried to protect Malkar while he uncovered the journal's contents, with Belial shouting the translation as he was being attacked.

Then, after relentless attacks and ambushes, the attacks slowly slowed down to the point that no one tried to attack them. They wondered what happened, with Belial simply saying, "Maybe they're out of fodder."

After more than a week of constant attacks, they could finally breathe easily, making it easier for them to start reading the journal properly. They stopped by an Ash Hound village to rest and resupply. It was tiring and adrenaline pumping to the point that it started to become a dangerously traumatic experience. The deaths and the violent manners of their deaths shook Zardes and Malkar, as both were raised on the surface and they only experienced a rather traumatic, but not as traumatic as this. The only true demon in the group was obviously immune to the repeated violence, while Ammon, Gehen, and Damos were trying their best to cope. Even if the Underworld was generally violent and for the most part lawless, the people living in it were not demons.

As everyone rested, Belial started helping with the journal, with Malkar keeping tabs of what they had found so far.

"So, the Ashen Kingdom was once a thriving community of demons, both the Outer Ring and the Circle," said Malkar. "It was older than Asdal was by a thousand years. Do you know about this, Belial?"

"Nobody ever told me about it, so you know the answer."

"But a thousand years old kingdom on the Ashen Lands would surely alert you. I mean, by Asdal's time it's already a giant point on the map."

"But this place was five circles above me and I had major responsibilities back then. You don't let a fucking newbie of a demon summoner to summon a demon prince by accident."

"You mean, you were summoned accidentally before?"

"Not unless you want to have your ass dragged down there."

"That's harsh."

"And I'm a demon prince, so deal with it. Anyway, Asdal found out that the kingdom was not what it seemed. In this journal he did not draw a connection to Barbatos yet, but he knew that the demons that lived there enslaved the ash hounds to do work on a road system. However, Asdal did mention that the road served another purpose, other than transportation."

"What kind of purpose? Does it have to do with the phrase 'road to darkness' from the journal in the Temple's basement?"

"He did not tell, but you did mention something interesting."

"About the journal in the Temple's basement?"

"That blind hound was one of the cultists worshipping Barbatos, but for some reason the dark bible used was in fact a journal. It could not be right. Someone must've swapped it."

"Asmodel, then?"

"I suppose so. The hound was also blind, so I guess whoever swapped it did it right under his nose."

"I guess he played you along for a long time."

"Yeah, I know."

"Anyway, no. I don't have any idea about that phrase. It sounds important, but it's too cryptic to tell. Maybe Asdal scattered secret codes on the journals."

"I'll try and find any. Meanwhile, I have a request. The journal mentioned several generals that became Asdal's friends. Do you know who they were?"

"I know two names. Sahel and Thienan. They are the oldest of my generals and they had not been dethroned by lesser Infernals for a while. The rest I knew in the past. I think they lost their seats of command a while ago."

"Okay, so..."

"I know what you're going to say next. I won't do it."

"I haven't said anything yet."

"You're going to ask either one of them up here, so they can talk about the road. To do so, you need to summon them, and I happen to be their leader, so I know a shorter way to summon them here without possessing anyone. The problem is, if either of them is not in their post, someone incompetent will take that post, depose said general, and I'll lose the momentum of conflict. Basically, I won't risk my territory over your attempt to crack Asdal's journal."

"Uh...well. I was hoping if you can communicate with them."

"There is no direct line from here to the Fifth Circle! We need a scrying mirror big enough to draw their summoning circle."

"Can't you do it on a small reflective surface?"

"Have you ever summoned a demon before?"

"No."

"A demon circle has many details too hard to draw in small circles. So, find a different way to decipher it."

Malkar, slightly annoyed, said, "I think even a demon prince can't know everything."

"And I thought we established that already."

"But Asdal is your vassal. You should know something about your subjects, right? Can you come up with anything, Belial?"

Belial thought hard on this. Malkar was right in assuming that he knew about Asdal, but it was over a thousand years ago. Also, even if Asdal eventually returned to the Fifth Circle, it would be hard to find him among the lower demons, especially if something happened to him along the way.

He then realized that to know their next move, they needed to contact whoever knew Asdal personally. That led them to the two generals that knew Asdal as friends. It was difficult, given the constant conflict that made the prince desperate enough to risk mortality by traveling to the surface and uncover the secrets of the Infernal Texts. But, with the Texts directly linked to them, he had no other alternatives.

"Alright," said Belial with an exasperated sigh. "I'll call one of them up here and let them tell us about it."

"You said it's risky. Why do you change your mind?"

"Three reasons. One, we won't make any progress without them, two, we won't bother them for too long with an incomplete circle, and three, Azazel."

"Incomplete...circle? Azazel?"

"Yeah. I gave that son of a bitch temporary command over my army, so if he's doing a good work down there, nothing's wrong when I get back. Then, about the summoning, for a Circle demon to be fully summoned, you need their summoning circle. However, there is a way to summon them for a limited time without botching the summon."

"And that is?"

"By using my blood to call them."

Belial then proceeded to open his palm and, using his other hand's sharp claw, started cutting it open to reveal fresh, black blood of a demon. Malkar, in his studies on Circle demons, always found comparison of the black blood to the immense evil the demons had (because, of course, they were true demons). However, by time, he started to believe that it was their blood, not anything evil.

Belial muttered some words before he put his wounded palm on the gray ash. All of the sudden, there was a burst of hellfire around him that alerted the rest of the group. The Infernal then quickly made a crude pentagram and said, "Sahel, heed your prince's call."

As he said that, the fire around him slowly lessened in intensity and he stepped out of the circle. Another figure's body started to form inside the circle. It was a kneeling figure wearing what looked like an armor covering most of his caprine look. The armor was sharp-looking and perpetually on fire, apparently for defense and offense. On his side was a greatsword as long as Belial's height and black in color. It almost looked like a simple heap of iron, but it wasn't.

The Infernal inside the circle then looked up, and said, "Great prince of violence, I answer your call."

"Sahel," said Belial with a nod. "What is the situation down below?"

"We are still holding, my prince," said Sahel. "Your decision to give Azazel temporary command is wise, but we still need your presence."

"I hope, for his sake, he's doing his job properly."

"Oh yes, my prince. He knows what he's doing, and I dare say that he's as good as you."

"Then I still have time. Sahel, do you know an Infernal by the name of Asdal?"

"Asdal? Oh, I know him! He was the Infernal who traveled to where you are now to, uh...engage in some debauchery like those Lust Demons?"

"Yeah. He's quite vivid about it in his journal. You're his friend, correct?"

"An ally, to be precise. But, he considered me a friend and, well, he's trying to make me come up there and abandon my post. We were still in contact until one day, he did not even call me."

"He's dead, then?"

"That's the best possibility. If he is, he should be down here somewhere."

"Don't bother searching. I don't think he's even in the Fifth Realm. Anyway. Sahel, the journal mentioned a road. Do you know what it means for Asdal? Does it have anything to do with Barbatos's kingdom?"

"A road, eh? From what I heard of Asdal, the roads were extensive," said Sahel. "It connected the kingdom's major settlements. They were black like soot."

"So, there was a road," said Malkar.

"Did Asdal told you about the road?"

"He did say something cryptic. He said, 'All roads lead to darkness'. I assume it has something to do with Barbatos, but maybe because it's his kingdom, after all."

"Darkness and that bat goes hand in hand, Sahel. It must have something to do with Asdal's journal. I think you should read it. Malkar, give him the journal."

The hellhound did so. Sahel then proceeded to read whatever was on the book. He seemed intent on reading everything, which worried Belial, as the summoning time was almost up.

"Huh, interesting," said Sahel. "The first word on the chapter's start was rather...decorative, I'd imagine.

"Humans usually do that for chronicles or official writings," said Malkar.

"But Asdal was not a mortal, hellhound. Asdal never bothered to do that, but for some reason, he did. Maybe that will help. Anyway, my time's up. Before I go, my prince, I need to be sure on when you'll be back."

"When I finally get that bat, which will happen soon," said Belial. "For the meantime, bear with Azazel a little more."

"Don't be long, or else the throne's no longer yours," said Sahel with a smile. He then vanished as fire engulfed him. The summoning circle went dark. Belial chuckled. "Cheeky fucker," he said.

"So, I guess his summoning did give us a hint, after all," said Malkar. "Maybe we could form some secret message from the words like the way we decipher the locations for the rest of the journals?"

"At least now we are getting somewhere," said Belial. "All this waiting start to bore me."

"You're the only demon in the group. Well, Itresil's a demon, but she is one of us now. So, the others are not keen on seeing so much blood and flesh."

"Three thousand years of constant fighting might help you. Still, this calmness worries me."

"Worries you how?"

"They are not attacking us with savage and killing intent. They are learning. I hate that. That is when your enemies become less predictable and you'll need to match their wits."

"Which is the most sensible thing to do."

"Yeah, you're right. You keep on doing what you're doing. I'll take watch."

Malkar did so. While the latest journals were in their possession due to circumstances, Malkar wrote down the translations of the previous journals and managed to use them in conjunction with the latest journals. He just hoped that Asdal kept the style constant, or else they would need to backtrack. Still, there was no peculiarity when they read the journals, so Malkar assumed that they were the same.

It did not take long for Malkar to get the words together on a separate piece of paper. As he suspected, it was not that easy. The words were also jumbled, and he needed to arrange them to make a sentence that make sense. However, he quickly found out that it was not complete, and they still needed to find more journals.

They knew where they needed to go early on. Asdal had been constant in the code of finding the next journal. With the help of the ash hounds in the village they stayed in, they knew where they needed to go next to find the next journal. However, there was lingering discomfort about the sudden stop of the constant attack. Even if the cultists knew that fighting was rather unnecessary and rather disheartening given the body count, they should've known that the group could be worn down by simply keeping up with the attacks. Of course, Belial and Itresil would keep the fight alive, but they could not continue on, as they knew that if Malkar was gone, a chance of finding the next journal entry would be zero. Malkar was the only one in the group who knew how to decipher the journal. His experience as an archaeologist and a linguist helped him immensely, so in any sense, he was a specialist in keeping their journey alive.

Even so, he appreciated the downtime and chose to use this time to continue reading Asdal's journal. The Infernal's life of debauchery and self-discovery was rather interesting given that they happened to be more than just a journey. He was unknowingly put into a conspiracy far more than his journey, and knowing that something was wrong, he relayed everything he knew through his journal in hope that anyone, preferably his Infernal allies, would know. From Sahel's recollection, his journals could not be known by an Infernal if it wasn't for Asmodel. The Infernals were far too busy (and rathe simple-minded to dismiss Asdal) to worry about a journal.

They wouldn't know that the journal could be a key to help their own defenses.

Still, even if they know, no one would be able to decipher it unless they knew Asdal personally. Any chance of that someone being an Infernal and knew Asdal's quirks would be low. Even Sahel, who Asdal regarded as a friend, only saw him as an ally and nothing more.

All these thinking made Malkar tired. Yes, he should've been awake in case anything happened, but thinking about things made his eyes tired. He needed a little rest. Still, he knew better to just lay on the ashes and close his eyes unprotected. He then simply walked towards where Itresil was lying down and tried to rest.

Except for some reason he could not. Lingering questions were still in his head, trying to wrap on the words in Asdal's journal. What did he mean by 'All road lead to darkness'? Also, there were mentions of a Barbatos's Vessel being 'not only a vessel, but something more'. He did not wish for Ammon to suffer more facts that his race was in fact artificial and was created by Barbatos to fulfill his own yet unknown goal.

He really wanted to think more about it, but as he started making more questions with no answers, the more frustrated he was. He really wanted to go to sleep, and as his frustration grew, so did his fatigue. He soon dozed off as he did not find any answers.

As Malkar slept, Itresil saw the hellhound sleeping by her side. She chuckled at how the academic hound managed to find a good sleep. He was clearly out of place among the others who could fight a large group. The dragon knew Malkar could fight. She knew he could shoot without flinching, and his aim wasn't bad. However, his lethality was still questioned. Yes, he could handle a gun. Yes, his aim was good, but could he kill? Itresil knew that most hellhounds, especially a surface-born half-hellhound like Malkar, did not grow with the violence of the Outer Rings. Yes, the hellhounds were civilized, but outside the walls of major settlements were danger.

As she thought about Malkar, she was staring at him, and Belial, who was on first watch, saw this. He then said, "Finally got himself to sleep, huh?"

"I suppose he's tired. His work isn't done."

"No, it's not. In fact, he worked himself too hard. You know how things are lately. You know, despite his lack of skills in combat, I admired him."

"A demon prince admiring a half-blood? That's new."

"I respect anyone who's willing to fight back. Winning is another matter."

"You know, dear prince. I think you're closer to that of a pride demon than a wrath demon at this point. The willingness to fight back is simply a matter of pride, after all."

"Don't you dragons have something about your pride or something? A dragon's pride is powerful or some shit like that?"

"I don't apply. I'm a demon, remember?"

"Look like a regular dragon to me."

Itresil then simply opened her maws, showing Belial that she was not just a hell dragon. Belial could see a second row of teeth behind her normal row of teeth. She also let her outer teeth stretched out, making her look far more terrifying and looked like a teeth monster than a dragon.

"Yeah, show that to your colleagues. They'd think you're a monster or something."

"I do this to my enemies and to other demons if they doubt my origins," said Itresil.

"And you conceal it well. Let's talk of something else, shall we? Why the Outer Rings? Why get away from your domain? Won't you lose your immortality?"

"Back then, when I first got to the Outer Rings, the Invasion of the Surface World had not happened. I think it was, uh...200 years ago, give or take. Ifrit Schelkz and his posse went through the circles of hell around 110 years ago. I was not around the area, but I did know one of them who was a demon dragon, but she was not a true dragon, merely a dragon-wyvern mix. I think her name was Angelus. Anyway, the reason I got away was simply boredom. Also, yes, I was concerned about finite life, but I came to respect how important a short life was and living forever would never satisfy anyone. When you know your life is finite, you'll make every moment of your life the best you could. That's how mortals cope with mortality."

"I understand some of it," said Belial. "Ammon talked about life and its meaning. He did it even more when he found out that he was not of natural birth and was the creation of my bitter enemy who happens to be my brother."

"But why are you up here in the first place? You can just ask one of your people to come and get the Infernal Texts."

"Well, Asmodel told me that those Texts were secrets to something that could cause chaos to our domains. He claimed that they were Infernal Texts, but I happened to find out that some of them were Asmodians and he was playing with us."

"And you listened to him," said Itresil. "Clearly your suspicions are misplaced."

"Hey, I did a mistake, alright? Don't remind me of it. I mean it."

"Because you'll kill me?"

"That, too."

Itresil smiled. "Too bad for you, I am a demon. Well, former demon. So, I am the only one in the group who has the guts to talk about it. Don't worry. I know the others already guessed it, but they are hesitant to talk about it."

"Teasing me won't get you anywhere," said Belial with a huff.

"But it's amusing to see you squirm."

Belial just gave out a frustrated grunt before he resumed watch, while Itresil gave a wide grin when he wasn't looking, giving her a more demonic visage. While Itresil had lost most of her mischievousness and manipulative tendencies, she still had them. It was one of many things that made her life out of the hell circles amusing. She must admit that life on the Outer Rings was rather dull when she came. Yes, there were dangers, but she was the apex predator there, so she had no competitions aside from some territorial hell dragons.

And that's what bugging her. She had never been to the Ashen Lands before, simply because she was not interested about the relatively peaceful area that was, until recently, had meaningful activities. No one was attacking them or attempting to. Yes, some attackers would try to stand up and fight, but an imposing demon dragon and an Infernal demon prince would demoralize them. That would be normal. No one bothered to attack them. Were they scared, or were they devising a trap? Even worse, they could wait until the group let their guard down before they attack.

Of course, with Belial and Itresil around, that would not be the case, yet the silence and peace bugged her. Something wasn't right. Belial did not seem to see it, but she felt something...sinister. It felt like the darkness emanating from one of the Argoon dragons living in Pol Hain's lighthouse ruins. It was somewhere around her, causing the already cold atmosphere to drop even colder.

But as she started to try and pinpoint the source of the aura, it was gone. Was it a taunt? An invitation? Belial seemed to notice it, but he shrugged it off. Possibly that whoever possessed the darkness was not on par with his own powers.

But it was clearly strong enough to make Itresil aware. It was a demonic level darkness, not draconic as the old black dragon had. This was a sinister source full of blackness and evil that was more than a discomfort.

It was as if the prince of darkness beckoned and challenged her.