Chapter 22

  Hell was hot, noisy, and rather uncomfortable to sleep in, not to mention water was scarce. Even demons needed to hydrate occasionally — not as much as me though — and it was just one of the resources our small but steadily growing company needed — company, as I didn’t want to call this an army yet. I had several bottles of water in my magical storage dimension, but Flamey was the only one I was willing to share it with. I hoped Tarashak would decide on a city or a settlement to march on soon, because running out of drinking water in Hell was not something I was looking to experience. But after two days in camp, the demon general was still pondering our course of action. I wasn’t sure if he was overly cautious or just indecisive, but it did not bode well in my opinion.

  Over two days, more and more stragglers had been arriving, and the scouts were still out looking for more, traversing huge distances through the monster infested forest of insanity in every direction. The demon soldiers had been giving me a wide berth for the most part, which I didn’t mind, only Tarashak would come talk to me every once in a while, either to give me an update on his planning — which seemed to be going nowhere — or to check things with my Ring Management System. I had learned a lot from these checks.

  I had studied the map of the Fourth Ring, memorizing city names and locations, some smaller settlements that looked like could be relevant. I had even taken a peak at the menu that dealt with the demon lord’s castle, bearing titles such as “The Seat of His Power” and “The Centre of the Fourth Ring”. The name was … as bad as I had expected from the former ruler: Demon Lord Ugrathar’s Scorching Castle of Unimaginable Power and Suffering. The castle itself, however, as the seat of the highest power of the realm, had some interesting defensive and other functions available to it. Well, it wasn’t something that helped us in our current situation, so I hadn’t spent too much time on it.

  While city management wasn’t something a demon lord would typically bother himself with, the menus gave me some options. I could select a city located within the Ring and check various things such as the status of defensive emplacements, water source output, daily RE consumption of said city, and so on. Had any bonded general been present in the cities, I could have checked if the city was under siege or how the defenders were faring under the campaign menu. Without that, Tarashak and I had to deduce based on the available information whether a city still stood or not, and then he’d try to hazard guesses as to what was going on in said city. And he was still reluctant to make a final decision where to go from here.

  My best guess was that despite being a general, he was actually not used to making strategic decisions. Welcome to the club, general, neither was I. My excuse for that was that I was a sergeant, and all I’d had to concern myself throughout my career was to carry out the orders of my commanding officers. The more I pondered what his excuse might be, the more sure I was that the previous lord, Ugrathar the Incredibly Daft, had been in possession of the Will of the Infernal Tyrant skill as well — I had probably inherited it from him through Flamey when The Genius was deciding on our dynastic traits — and the guy had it at such a high level that whatever he ordered was simply carried out without question. In that kind of absolute top-down command structure generals didn’t have the need or the opportunity to think or to make decisions, turning them into simple lackeys as opposed to officers, and they didn’t even know it. Well, I supposed I could give the good general a bit more time to come up with something; he was still a general despite this, and he was more familiar with the Fourth Ring and everything in it — including the enemy — than I was.

  Another thing I had learned while observing demonic camp life, was what I could generously call the structure of the company, and by extension the entire army. Probably. It was more like a loose hierarchy, really, based on levels, and whether a demon was a magic oriented fighter or a physical one, all held together by a captain — Reinos in the case of this company — just as Tarashak would hold the captains together as a cohesive unit, should he ever restore his army to the size it used to be. Tarashak himself was a mage of course, so it wasn’t surprising he had built his army with a focus on magic, and that mages were generally in charge of things.

  I had observed — and I had Button confirm this — mages and warriors weren’t naturally different: they all had souls, could use Hell Mana to empower their learned and earned skills. Whether a demon became a mage or a warrior type, was simply a matter of choice, circumstance or both.

  Mages were easy to recognise; they weren’t as bulky as the others; as I had guessed while treating Reinos, their Strength and Constitution stats were much lower, sometimes almost abandoned in favour of Willpower and Soulstrength, as their chosen skills were mostly focused on casting spells, which was more demanding on their souls’ Hell Mana supply. Plus, they wore robes of different, equally horrid styles — many of them bonded items, actually — just like their boss did, and that was a dead giveaway.

  Frontline fighters were the more musclebound, bulkier ones of the lot, their Strength and Constitution taken as far and high as they could manage it, and the majority of their skills were related to their weapons. That wasn’t to say they didn’t have Hell Mana available to them — they all did — just not nearly as much as mages, as their skills and bonded weapons made use of it to empower their strikes and moves beyond what would be possible otherwise.

  Interestingly enough, the warriors had quite a few women in their ranks, as opposed to the mages who were all men. I wasn’t sure why that was. From a distance it was difficult to tell male and female demons apart, the differences only becoming obvious when observed from closer; the women of Hell were fully grown and matured versions of pre-transformation Flamey, somewhat feminine even by human standards and entirely scary looking. Their clothing didn’t help that image either. As opposed to the robes and rags of the mages, the warrior types — both male and female — wore armour: plate, mail or leather, some just raw minotaur hide, or in a few cases materials I couldn’t nor wanted to identify. Most of them seemed to prefer bonded weapons over bonded armour, said weapons ranging from swords, maces, axes, halberds and spears, all the way to bows and arrows. Honestly, none of their equipment came anywhere close to my SAC or my guns in any way, neither in their present, level-laden form, nor pre-magic. This much I could say with certainty.

  The company, in the two days since our arrival, had grown to 213 demons, of which 38 were mages — a mere three of them had been found and added to our ranks — the rest were warrior type demons. I could determine two loose roles these physically intimidating demons filled: those faster and more disciplined were chosen as scouts, the rest were basically grunts to shield the mages, or act as support personnel to carry everyone’s stuff or something. Army bureaucracy was almost non-existent here in the way I knew it, but the captain seemed to keep track of his soldiers, probably in a similar way Tarashak could keep track of his army, and I as demon lord could keep track of my realm and my generals.

  But spending two days just hanging around the camp and watching others work was boring and unproductive; a demon lord didn’t have much to do while his general was agonising over his plans, so Flamey and I had spent some time out in the Wilds, working on our levels, and other things to entertain ourselves. I had killed over a hundred relatively high level beasts over these past two days, while making sure Flamey had her share of prey as well. We’d had some close calls, but my rifle and my sidearm had not let me down whenever my swordfighting skill proved insufficient. And finally, as I dispatched the latest batch of monsters, I got the message I’d been waiting for.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  [You have defeated Hungering Flesh-snatcher, level 21. You receive EXP.]

  [You have defeated Flamescythe, level 23. You receive EXP]

  [Skill: Hell Lance reached level 3.]

  [Skill: Master of the Hellfire Blade reached level 3]

  [EXP requirement for level 18 (Human, sort of) reached. Do you wish to level up?]

  [Alternatively:]

  [EXP requirement for level 22 (Machine Armaments of the Hellfire Lord) reached. Do you wish to level up?]

  I pulled Burning Darkness out of the Flamesctyhe and glanced over at the Hungering Flesh-snatcher’s smoking remains, which reminded me of the meals a certain army cook used to forget in the oven with extraordinary regularity — basically charcoal. And it had taken only four shots of Hell Lance to overcook the large and dangerous critter, all the while fending off the burning, bladed arms of the Flamescythe, and keeping an eye on Flamey to make sure she wasn’t attacked while I was busy. I could have left her in the camp, but frankly, I didn’t trust my own army and my own general to that extent.

  ‘Daddy, are you okay?’ she asked, rushing to me and wrapping her arms around me as per usual. If I had learned anything about her, it was that she was a huge fan of hugs and princesses. She was the closest thing to normal here in Hell: just a kid trying to be a kid, albeit undeniably demonic.

  ‘I’m okay, sweetheart, more than okay,’ I assured her, smiling behind my helmet’s visor. ‘I have just levelled up, imagine that!’

  ‘Oh, congratulations, Daddy,’ she cheered for me. ‘How strong are you going to be now? Or will you become faster? Or harder to kill? Or are you going to increase your soul and your will?’ she bombarded me with her questions excitedly.

  ‘I’m thinking about just that,’ I said to her, opening my visor and giving her a smile.

  After levelling up twice herself in the past two days, reaching level 7, she was now a self-proclaimed expert on all matters related to stats and levels, as well as skills. Her grinding had been going well — with considerable help and protection from me of course — and she had found enjoyment in the process. Whenever she or one of her skills leveled, she would jump up and down with joy, asking me how proud I was of her. To which the correct answer was: “prouder than of Hell itself.” Anything less wouldn’t have been accepted.

  To be honest, her stats were looking good … for her age. And for her size. But nowhere near good enough to let her go anywhere alone. I asked her again to give me access to her stats so I could take a quick look at it before I would deal with mine, just in case.

  Name: Flamey Elizabeth Hyde

  Race: Fire Demon / Fourth Ring Native

  Titles: Hellfire Princess of the Fourth Ring - First Heir of the Hyde Dynasty

  Level: 7

  HP (Health Points): 140

  HMP (Hell Mana Points): 780

  Strength: 35

  Constitution: 60

  Willpower: 65

  Soulstrength: 84

  Skills:

  - Dimensional Storage of Unearthly Horrors (Level 5)

  - Wreathed in Flames (Level 2)

  - Princess Charm (Level 7)

  - Lost in the Fog (Level 4)

  - Touch of Hell (Level 3)

  - Dark Princess of the Saerkhan (Unique skill) Level 3

  A unique skill associated with the Saerkan dagger.

  Dynastic traits and derived skills (Hyde Dynasty):

  - Hades Heal (Level 1)

  - Demonic Humanity

  - Upstairs Mana Affinity

  - Upstairs Living

  Flamey was definitely eying the magical path more than the way of the brute, which was fine, but since she enjoyed fighting with the Saerkhan, I was glad to see she hadn’t neglected to throw some scraps to her physical stats. Her skill levels were coming along nicely as well, so I didn’t have much to complain about; she was working hard, having a good time, and getting stronger. What more could I demand of my darling daughter?

  ‘Now, as to my level-up, let’s see! I think my constitution is fine, probably, so I’m going to focus on strength, willpower and soulstrength,’ I informed Flamey, and she nodded her approval.

  ‘Oi, oi, oi, what do you think you’re doing, my man?’ Burning Darkness immediately disrupted my idyllic moment of family friendly leveling up. ‘I’m not being funny, but the new level must go to the set. In fact, at least the next five levels will have to go to the set.’

  ‘What are you on about?’ I demanded, a bit annoyed. ‘The set, and therefore you, got the last level I gained. You’re just being selfish now. There’s got to be a balance, right? I can’t just neglect my own body and stats, can I?’

  ‘Ah, listen, it’s clear you’re thinking about this the wrong way, and not taking your current situation into account,’ he said.

  ‘Oh really?’ I asked, my voice low and ready to unleash some tongue-lashing.

  ‘Yes, really. You’re not an idiot, my man, you’re a far better demon lord already than Ugrathar ever was, and that’s with just you existing and doing nothing else. No offence to Flamey, in case she harbours any residual affection for her late father,’ the sword began an explanation while not missing a chance to criticize me.

  ‘I don’t think she does,’ I said, looking at her happy face.

  ‘Right. Anyway. So, at the moment, your set’s level is higher than yours, which is a good thing, and we should keep it that way. If you spend that level on your own stats, you’ll be a level 18 … uh … demonic human, sort of, and you’ll be a little stronger, a little faster, and maybe your skills will cost a little less. And it won’t matter, because everything you do is already fully powered and amplified by your set’s levels. Increasing your own stats won’t make that much of a difference. Honestly, being a human in Hell, and in the middle of an invasion no less, is … well, not an enviable position. But your item set turns that around. That’s why we need to focus on increasing its level. Why? Because you’re forgetting it’s a bonded set. It’s a part of you now, connected to your soul, whether you realise it or not. Its levels and its powers will always, always add to yours more than your own levels could ever add to its. On the whole, you’ll be more powerful and better protected with a high-level set and low-level body, than with a high-level body and a low-level set. That’s just the way bonded sets work, and trust me, I’ve been a part of a few back in my Fifth Ring days.’

  ‘Wait! You’re from the Fifth Ring?’ I raised my eyebrows at the sword with surprise.

  ‘Ah. Come on. Is that the only thing you’ve heard from the whole lecture I just gave you?’ Burning Darkness complained.

  ‘No, I got the general idea: high level set and low-level body better than the other way around,’ I said.

  ‘Exactly,’ the sword agreed, sounding relieved.

  ‘But … Fifth Ring?’

  ‘Forged and raised, if you must know.

  ‘How did you end up here then?’

  ‘Well, there was that all out invasion of Hell and then of the surface world a thousand years ago, I think you’ve heard about it,’ he said, and judging by the sudden lack of his usual enthusiasm, it must have been a sore topic for the sword.

  ‘I do recall hearing about it. From Tarashak. What happened?’

  ‘Yeah, well, the Blessed didn’t appreciate millions upon millions of demons going around up there, so they came down here and put everyone in their places. Those heroes were no joke. Highest level creatures I’d ever seen to date. Unreal, if you ask me. Anyway, I was left behind in this ring when my then owner was obliterated. I … got lucky that time. The rest of the set did not.’

  ‘I … see. Just … how old are you?’ I asked, unable to hold my amazement back.

  ‘Ah, who cares? Lost count after around fifteen-hundred years,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘But enough about me, let’s deal with this level-up. If you understood everything I explained, then can I please have that level? Once the invasion is repelled and your rule of this ring is solidified, you’ll have all the time to level yourself up, too, and even with that I can help.’

  The problem was that he was making sense. A lot of sense. In fact, he had convinced me. He could be insufferable at times, but his enthusiasm for the set was always high, and since our souls were connected, I had a vague sense of his intentions, and they were good.

  ‘Right, okay, use the level.’ I gave my permission.

  ‘Alright, back to the camp then, it is time for a new level, a new height and a new horizon!’ Burning Darkness laughed with glee.

  I took Flamey by her hand and began to walk back to camp so the somewhat maniacal sword could do his thing.