Rey had practically smothered himself in the furs of the Wargoths he had killed. Well, smothered was a strong word, but he wore a huge fur on his back and used its head as a hoodie to cover his face. So, full on caveman mode. He had also painted any exposed part of his skin with the demon's dark blood, followed by smearing it on his clothes, as well, to hide his human scent.

  A lot of the demons didn't have the Identify skill, but then they didn't need to. They could smell humans, or more precisely, they could smell their souls. Kassandra devised this getup, and it had worked for the most part, but then he could never be sure, because they had been attacked a few times until they got it right.

  Oh, how I miss those days, when things were simpler.

  Well, it wasn't like they weren't even more simpler now that he had the power of foresight, or well, as close to foresight as one could get. But now, he was lonely, that's all. With no one to talk to, he was losing his mind just a tiny bit, and he thrived on talking to people.

  Congrats, you started Hell's tour early. Demon Rey snapped.

  He sighed. There was always he for company. He hefted his scythe on his shoulders and stared up at the wall of interconnected bones in front of him. The bones weren't regular bones. They were the bones of a demon called Draminor, which grew to be so large that even T. rexes would be like toddlers compared to them. Their average height was seventy to eighty feet. They were comparable to dragons in size. However, dragons beat them in everything else. Their bones were large enough to be used for a variety of purposes, including building walls, apparently.

  Personally, he thought building a boundary wall with bones was entirely stupid, as there were massive chinks between the bones. Spaces large enough that he could easily sneak through, and that had been the first thing they had tried in Rey's last playthrough, only for everyone to run for their lives and back out through the same hole they had entered.

  Beyond these walls lay the city of Narkathai. He didn't have any fond memories of this place aside from getting shanked by that one demon who said that he would lead them to the best weaponsmith in town. Luckily for Rey, he knew where the best weaponsmith was, and he didn't need to get shanked this time.

  He drew a deep breath. Let's meet the locals…for the fifth time. It's starting to feel like a bad MMO side quest.

  He moved for the gate, and there was a pair of demons that stood guard with a Wargoth roaming in between them.

  Uh oh, this could be trouble.

  The Wargoth could sniff out his real self, and then he would be back to slicing and dicing his way into the city. But they had seen him now, and there was no way that he could turn around without arousing suspicion that he was a smuggler. Just like humans, some demons were smugglers who smuggled drugs, weapons, and rare minerals into the city without notifying the leader of the city, so as not to get filched for most of their stuff.

  As it turned out, demons were quite like humans in that regard, but they were even greedier.

  He nodded to the guards as he approached the gate. The Wargoth was immediately growling at him. After all, why wouldn't it be since Rey was wearing his kin's fur and was slathered in their blood.

  The guards looked like a pair of demonic humans who had chunks of flesh missing in places that showed their bones and raw muscles, which were rotting in places. It was just his human nose, but they reeked.

  He was sure he should know their names, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember. They had taken to paying them off for looking the other way in his last life. After all, they were only demons who loved to take their money, while being completely oblivious that they were humans.

  Rey quickly used Identify on all.

  [Wargoth (Exiled) – E+4]

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+6]

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+6]

  Rey shook his head lightly. He hated this kingdom. This wasn't even the strongest city. Hell, it lay on the outskirts, and yet the guards of this place were as strong as that fucking Unokir.

  Rey smiled at them. "Hey, friends—"

  "We're not your friends," snapped the one on the right. "State your business."

  Rey didn't let his smile falter even as the Wargoth continued to growl at him as if he were the tastiest bone that dared to be trapped inside living flesh. Of course, the one on the left kept an eye on the dog. He frowned at Rey, wondering why his dog was having a fit.

  Because the wargoth just realized he's the smarter one.

  "But we are," Rey replied. "Don't you remember your old friend, Rey. I've visited this city many times in the past, and I've been a very generous friend. Very generous."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  At that, even the other demon lifted its eyes from the dog, who might as well be a nuisance at this point.

  Rey reached into the bag of coins that he had acquired from the satyr and pulled out a silver coin, making their eyes bulge for a moment.

  "This is making my bag too heavy," Rey said. "Would you like to lighten my load?"

  The one on the right licked his lips. "Of course, friend."

  He almost dropped the coin in his outstretched hand, but pulled it back. "I don't think your dog likes me much. Can you make sure that it doesn't raise any concerns or comes after me? I would hate to be disturbed as I peruse your wonderful city."

  The one on the left kicked the Wargoth. "Shut up, bitch."

  It whined, then bared its teeth to the guard, but one fierce look, and it quietened and sulked into the corner, but its hateful glance never left Rey.

  He dropped the coin into the guard's outstretched hand. "Thank you. Now, make sure you spend it wisely."

  "Oh, we will." They snickered amongst themselves.

  Knowing them or well, demons in general, they would spend it on drink or whores. Actually, a bit of both, and his demon side was so jealous. Rey had more than enough money that if he wanted to, he could've bought all the succubuses in this shitstain of a city, but then every single one of those succubuses would know he's a human at the first touch. And they would try their best to suck his soul right out of his dong.

  He let that thought leave him like a fart in the wind, as he entered the city where he had no friends.

  The city looked exactly as one would think a demonic city would look. There was hardly any order to the place. Druggies lay everywhere, who couldn't be any worse than the mindless demons that littered Hell. The houses had no uniformity to them at all. Some were tall and thin, while others were squat. Some were made of bricks, while others were made of mud and bones. Some had flat tops; others were gothic, horror incarnate. Zarius had issued a decree to all the Kingdoms to maintain a semblance of order, but then this wasn't Hell. It was Purgatory—the two Kingdoms ruled by Zalathar. So, of course, they would love the chaos of their Sovereign.

  The smell alone would've been enough to knock out an elephant, or make it use its trunk like a hose and wash the filth of this place. He noted more than a few demons, pissing and shitting on the streets. He hurried past them because he could tell from the smell alone what they had eaten last night.

  He moved through the zigzag streets where more than one demon gave him a long stare, but his getup kept him safe. Besides, he wasn't worried. After all, he was Rank 5 and was probably the strongest Rank 5 demon in Purgatory. He was sure he could dogwalk Rank 6 demons. But he didn't want to get so ahead of himself and tempt the cosmic 'fuck around and find out' gods.

  But it looked like his costume hadn't fooled some. He noticed a pair of demons following him for the past two streets, but he could be wrong. So he took a turn into an alley that people usually only went to when they wanted to get shanked in the butt or shank someone else in the butt, with more than just a knife.

  They thought they would be doing the shanking in the butt, but no, Rey was the butt shanker this time. Pucker up your butthole, buddy, my blade is itching to penetrate something.

  Just as he expected, they turned into the alley, and as soon as they did, Rey turned towards them.

  "Oh, looks like I made a wrong turn," Rey said.

  "No, you didn't," said the one on the right.

  "You just made the perfect turn, friend," said the other

  There was something in that voice that gave Rey pause. He couldn't help but feel that he knew that voice. It wasn't masculine, but for some reason, they were pretending to be. It was very clearly a woman trying to pass off as a man. She stood a whole head shorter than her companion, but was dressed in loose clothing so one couldn't see her form. It was just dark enough that Rey couldn't tell their face.

  "Oh, you knew which way I wanted to go." Rey made an impressed face, though he doubted they would be able to see him. "You must be telepaths."

  "What the hell is that?" Snarled the male.

  "Yep, just as I expected, you're dumb as shit." He shook his head.

  It was Rey's own fault for forgetting that this was a city of dumb as bricks cutthroats and thieves. Well, that could be said of all cities in Hell. After all, they were demons. Backstabbing was their main hustle. Something they put on their resume at the very top, even before their own names. How else was a rival group supposed to know what you did when you wanted to switch groups?

  Rey could've gone on about how they didn't want this fight, but since he was on his own and these were just demons, he let his demon side win, which he had put to sleep for a long time.

  Yes, let me out. Demon Rey said with relish.

  Shut up.

  Rey walked towards them without a care in the world, and as he came into the light, the female one faltered. Maybe it was his tool that scared her.

  She backed up a step, but it was too late for her.

  He activated Gravitational Attraction and changed gravity for them. The walls pulled on them, and they slammed into them for an intense make-out session. They both cried out, and the female demon's true voice emerged.

  Rey knew that voice, but he couldn't remember anyone important enough in this place that he would remember their name, save for the weaponsmith. Unless his memory had gone to shit, Neriath was an old, gruff guy who liked to chew on maelroot, which was the tobacco equivalent of Hell.

  Rey dashed forward, and even after three days, he was still surprised at his own speed. The demons were as well. The male demon's eyes widened, and Rey finally got a good look at the female demon. Immediately, his eyes lit up, and his lips split into a wide grin. He knew that under his demonic hood, he must've cut a hellish look.

  He drew his dagger and killed the male demon, who was flailing about like a fish stuck to a wall, which wasn't far off, as he indeed looked like a fish stuck to a wall, with his gills on either side of his neck.

  So, Rey slashed open his neck and let him suffocate to death. He didn't need to make him suffer so much, but then how would he have fun with the other one?

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+4]

  "P-Please, don't kill me," cried the woman. "Please let me go, and I promise I won't come after you."

  "You say that now, but I know you're going to run to your boss, and I'll be facing a whole neighborhood worth of thugs."

  "N-No, I promise you it was just me and him," she dribbled out. "We saw that you looked to be an easy mark and decided to see if you had anything of worth on you."

  "And you didn't bother to Identify me?" Rey shook his head. "And here I thought I taught you better than that."

  She frowned and squinted at him. "Who are you?"

  Rey took off his hood. "Nice to see that you've been using your demon race to the full effect."

  "R-Rey?"

  "The one and only." He let her drop to the ground. "Long time no see, Gloria."