Cain sighed, looking at the bath's ceiling as he awaited Glasya's reply.
"Cain, I convinced her." Lolth approached him, with Glasya slowly trailing behind.
"Father is imprisoned in the serpent maze below Nessus. Silver said he would free him if I brought you to Cania." Glasya said as she glared at Cain.
[Nessus is the ninth layer of hell, while Cania is the eighth layer.]
"The one who imprisoned Asmodeus is a blond devil." Cain looked at her.
Glasya nodded, "A tall woman with long blond hair and feathery black wings."
"And let me guess that she has a rotting curse." Cain scratched his head, "Those two weren't joking."
"She looks like her." Glasya pointed toward Alice, "But she is more mature, like in her late thirties.
Cain stood, "I need to check on her."
"Hold, what about the abyss war?" Gracie caught him, "She is right." Lilia stared at him.
Cain thought about it for a moment, but Sofia grabbed his shoulder. "Leave it to us," She said, smiling.
"You will go?"
"We will go," she looked back at Alice, "The two of us should be able to reason with them and fight if needed."
"I would go as well-nya," Selena smiled, her opal white fangs glowing.
Lilia flew between them, "Then let's split into three teams. Cain and the maids will lead the abyss war. You girls go deal with hell, while the rest and I will find the tarrasque." she smiled.
"Will you three be okay?" Cain looked at them.
"We will retreat immediately if something bad happens. I know the lower layers are dangerous." Sofia replied with a smile.
***
CRACK! BOOM! Phlegethos's sky exploded as Tiamat flew in her draconic form, roaring loud enough to shake the whole layer. The devils crawled back into the cities, staring at her while shaking.
Fierna and her father stood before the gates, awaiting the dragon's landing, "Queen of the dragons, what brought you to our domain?" Belial asked with a worried face.
Sofia stared at them with her five heads wiggling, "We're just passing by. Where is the gate to Stygia?" Her red head growled.
"Where?" Fierna looked up, seeing Alice and Selena standing on Tiamat's back.
"The gate is under the castle. Is lord Cain the one who sent you?" she asked with a smile, "We won't be moving otherwise," Tiamat's body exploded in blazing flames as lands in front of Fierna.
"Follow me," Fierna said with a smile as the devils in the city panicked, "Are you letting the dragon queen into the city?" One of them growled, and Belial glared at them.
"She is just passing by, or do you want to fight her?" With Belial's sharp glares, all the devils shrunk in their homes.
"Do you mind if I ask what kind of business you have in Stygia?" Fierna, "That if Lord Cain doesn't mind me knowing, of course."
Alice stared at her, "Our business is down to Nessus. We don't care about the layers in between,"
Fierna stopped, staring at them with a scared face. "Nessus? You have to face the ice hero to get there."
"The ice here, Silver. The absolute zero whose own aura turned Cania into a frigid wasteland." Sofia stared at her, "The plan is to sneak around. And call Cain if we had to face him."
"What plan won't work." Belial said, staring at them, "Sorry for cutting your girls' talk, but Silver is a different breed."
"What do you mean-nya?"
Belial scratched his tiny beard, "Silver is an expert in cold magic and had gotten the title of Ice devil slayer from how much he massacred." His eyes flashed red, "He can even freeze time itself."
Alice stared at him, "Are you sure about that?"
Belial nodded, "Time already flows differently in Cania due to his existence. I would suggest avoiding the layer by using the devil dungeons." With a flick of his finger, a black book appeared in his hands.
"What is this book?"
"It contains maps and general information about each explored dungeon. Feel free to use it as you like, or call lord Cain before you enter the layer." Belial smiled.
"You're nice for a devil-nya." Selena stared at him.
Belial stared at Fierna, "Nice depends on strength. Knowing your strength and Lord Cain's arcane might, we won't dare play tricks."
Alice looked at Selena, "Don't let their nice words deceive you. They are still plotting devils."
"I'm planning to play nice until I get close to Lord Cain," Fierna said with a smile, staring at Sofia, "Would Tiamat let me get close to him?"
"Who told you about that?" Sofia glared at her.
"The birds, or let's say the new queen and kings of the first layer." she smiled.
"Spindle and Malta? Did they start a relationship with you already?" Alice smiled.
"This is the layer of the law. Of course, we'd tend to a new ruler." Fierna smiled, "But I would warn you from Malta, she will throw Spindle in a heartbeat."
"What are you talking about?"
"She is only staying with Spindle in the hope to get a chance to sneak to Lord Cain's bed. Make sure you stand for the little one, albite he is strong." Fierna explained.
"Each one had motivation," Sofia said with a smile, "But we will keep Cain safe."
As Sofia looked ahead, they reached the gate of Stygia. A large metal trap door with a frozen aura seeping from the corners.
"This isn't Cania-nya?"
"Stygia is hell's original frozen layer. Cania was a cursed toxic land before the Silver froze it." Alice replied, remembering what she read in one of the books in Tiamat's library.
"Be careful. The ruler of the layer is a powerful ice devil named Levistus. Don't trust any word that bastard says. He's a menace." Fierna said, looking at the trapdoor.
Belial approached them, "Levistus is frozen solid inside a massive iceberg called the tome of Levistus." He looked at them, "Silver froze him there," He glared at the girls. "If you don't me be getting blunt."
"What?" Sofia stared at him.
"Tiamat, don't fuck around with Silver. He froze a being immune to ice magic, reshaped a layer of hell with his own power, and scared Asmodeus." He glared at her, "I know you are immune to cold due to your white dragon head, but that won't mean anything against silver."
"That was blunt," Alice stared at him.
"Same goes for curses. No matter what, don't fight him." Belial grabbed his necklace, tore it off, and threw it to Alice. "Hot-swap. Use it, and I will switch locations with the three of you, even in frozen time."
"Father, what are you doing?" Fierna stared at him.
"Giving them a safety card. In exchange for making a place for my daughter." He stared at them.
"You will die if we used this." Sofia stared at him.
"I told you my price."
"To convince Cain to make a spot for Fierna?"
"He is the only one I could trust in a fight against Silver." He smiled.
"Father!" Fierna shouted.
***
"Hoho!" A voice laughed in the frozen wastelands of Cania, sitting on a mountain of ice while drinking.
"The girls are coming," He watched Sofia and the rest through a thin sheet of ice.
Slowly, he stood, flicking his arm to show another location. Asmodeus(Alice) is frozen in a mountain of ice with the massive Maharaja pinned to the ground with massive glaciers. The bath's old lady lay unconscious in a coffin of ice.
"You three are strong, but you lack determination." He smiled, "Even I wasn't able to convince that idiot of speaking up." He smiled, staring at the real Asmodeus chained in his cell.
"Say, why won't you tell the world the truth?" Silver smiled, "We old farts shouldn't carry it too long, you know?"
Asmodeus looked up, "Silver, you bastard." He growled, "If I spoke, the world will fall into chaos. It was the whole reason I was imprisoned here by the gods."
"Fuck the gods. Tell the world that they are the ones responsible for their suffering. Each cleric who prays in his life is damning himself into an eternity of slavery under his god." Silver shook his wine glass.
"Mortals shouldn't know that. If they stopped praying, the heavens would fall." Asmodeus growled.
"Chauntea's followers end up as a fertilizer for the new growth, Moradin's followers end up as charcoal for his forge, and Corellon's followers end up as his literal slaves." Silver smiled, "Those are the good endings. What about the people worshipping Lolth? Mystra and the other gods? There is no heaven up there. It all crumbled when AO died!"
"Father didn't die! One day he shall return," Asmodeus growled, "Here I shall wait, till the day my brother arrives."
Silver burst, laughing, "Adam? Chad Lisworth will never make it here. I shall convince him to show the humans the truth!"
"You shall die when you two clash." Asmodeus smiled, "The like of you will never stand up to my brother."
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