Houses of black stones and trees rose from the ground. With no trace of rhyme or reason in their structure, with one step we would enter a house and with another be in the middle of the street. Demons of all kinds, though mostly humanoids, strutted about the place and conversed with each other in their quack language.
A few eyed us weirdly, but no one seemed to find us suspicious.
Unlike the other demons, Dantalian didn't rule over an entire country, but just this city. In return this city had become one of the most important places in all of hell with every end of commerce blooming from here.
"That Dantalian is strangely talented," muttered Noa. Her hair was still tied up in the bun I had made and the horns we had stolen neatly perked up from her head, stuck to it with my psychokinesis.
"While it is true, the other demons are all idiots," Titania said.
Acting like we were meant to be here was the best course of action.
Anyone here could be Dantalian.
Just like she had done to me, Dantalian had taken over the minds of most of her residents and turned them into puppets that would follow her orders. It was similar to Lethe's curse, but still starkly different. Not only could Dantalian command them at her will, but she could also transfer herself into them and even link senses should she want it.
"I don't think she would know," Noa said. "But if we act suspiciously, any of her pawns could report on us."
We wore long coats, stolen from other demons, and hid our faces well, but we could still not be sure.
"Oh hey, let's go get a bite for now."
At Noa's insistence, we stepped inside an open-air cafe that stood under a three-story stone building.
A little imp wearing a tailcoat bowed as we entered and showed us to the seats with a good view outside. The cafe overlooked a busy commercial street in the haphazard place. With wide roads and paths flowing out and gargoyle statues overlooking the place, there was a lot of beauty even in this location.
The imp placed a menu in front of us and bowed again before setting off. We were seated at stone chairs with leather cushioning, a misshapen table in front of us.
Interesting. It was very interesting.
Noa sat and peeked outside while I leaned back on the chair.
"What a dilemma," Noa muttered.
People would flow in and out of this place at any time, and the castle at the center of the city where Dantalian should reside was well guarded.
"Even if it wasn't guarded, it's important to strip down every single person here before killing her or we'll be repeating the same thing again."
"Hey, Eugene, should we just burn the entire country down?"
"That's pointless. We were hasty, it's only natural for a demon that has lived thousands of years to plant some of her vessels in other countries as well. Heck, there could be some in the human world and maybe even in the higher plane."
"So burning the place down is out of the question?"
"Not really," I raised my hand and called the imp over. "I think… hell can be pretty useful."
Noa tilted her head to the side. The imp came over and smiled brightly.
I pointed at some of the items from the menu and then Noa did the same. We watched its back as it walked away.
"Things like that," I said. "This table, this place, these demons, they are all unique. Heck, even the motorcycle is awesome."
"I agree, do you want it for yourself?"
I nodded.
"We have the way to go to Hell and back, it's something few others possess."
"You're planning to bring a part of it up to us. No, maybe even link the two places?"
I was a combatant, but I was also a lord.
"I own Apollon, it's already on the path to be the greatest city of our realm, why not take it a notch higher."
Noa lowered herself on the desk even further and hummed.
"Even during the war when all three realms had united, we didn't do something like that."
We were planning to bring the outer gods back out. Uniting the three was a matter of course, except I was interested in doing it on my terms.
The reason.
Well, there was nothing much.
I wanted to grow stronger, and Noa wanted to feel the thrill of fighting the outer gods again.
"For now, let's take care of this problem," I said and the imp returned with a tray in his hand. He placed some weird drinks in front of us and some weirder blood-red pastries of sorts before walking away.
It looked exactly like pastry.
Noa pulled it to her end, picked up a fork, and tore into it. She swooped it up.
Instinctively, I opened my mouth.
"Hm?"
Ah fuck. I was so used to the receptionist feeding me pastries in a cafe that I didn't realize.
I turned my face away, which incited a grin from Noa.
"Why, open up."
"Don't mind it—"
"Say 'aah.'"
The other demons were looking our way and giggling.
I held in my embarrassment and bit on the pastry.
"Hm, it's not poisoned. You can thank me later."
"Hehe, trying to be coy now?"
"Just eat it."
"Say 'aah' again."
"Just fuck off, would you?"
Noa giggled even louder and bit on the pastry.
"Uwek! It's salty!"
"HAH!" I laughed and the other demons looking our way laughed too. Nosy bastards.
After that, Noa and I sat in silence. With our eyes stuck outside on the streets, we sipped on our coffee-like thing that was surprisingly appetizing.
The wind which should have been dry and painful felt calm here. The red skies merged beautifully with the black of the city and a strangely cool atmosphere spread over as many demons of all kinds moved around.
It was harmony. Harmony far greater than what could be found in our land.
Harmony that existed only because everyone here suffered. With the world itself as their enemy, they learned to accept each other as allies no matter how different they were.
When the cups almost emptied out, Noa spoke up.
"Let's not destroy the entire city."
I nodded.
"Titania, is there any way to tell the vessels apart from normal demons?"
"Hm…" Titania muttered. "I am not sure. There should be, though. I think one in ten demons are her puppets here, and puppets can never be people."
I slammed my hand on the table and stood up.
"Then, let's find out."
"How so?"
"Simple. We'll just kidnap ten and find out the one."
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