The man watched the girl's face flush. The veil rippled, as though mimicking her anger. Her silhouette started to glow as her thoughts drifted more and more towards the golden liquid. Touch it, my dear. Savour it.

The girl withdrew, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He managed another few minutes of her exchanging idle conversation with the other teens before he waved his hand, bored. The projection disappeared, plunging the room into darkness once more, save for the small balls of flame held by the demons crouching on either side of his throne.

"What do you think?" he said to the multi-legged demon in the corner.

Its feathers perked at his voice, but its single eye remained staring at the ground. It shuffled. A dark look flitted across the man's face, which looked no older than twenty.

"I see," said the man, cocking his head at the demon. "No, no, I can see why you would think that. I am rather disappointed, too. Perhaps I gave her too much credit. Perhaps she needs more... encouragement. It has been many years, after all."

He sighed, crossing his legs in front of him. The slits in his long black robes parted as he shifted his pose. He stared into space in deep thought for several minutes. His golden eyes flickered.

"Azyazel. Welcome back."

The multi-legged demon shuffled back, disappearing into the shadows. Another creature stepped forward out of the dark. He had hair that mimicked the flickering of flames, wafting in the non-existent wind. Black, pupil-less eyes gazed across the semi-darkness at the blonde-haired spectator who had his back to him.

"I trust your quest was successful."

"Yes, my king."

The blonde man chuckled.

"There is no need to stand on customs, my good friend." The king waved his hand at the rippling veil again and, instead of displaying earth, this time three feeds appeared side-by-side. The first one was of humanoid creatures but with scales instead of flesh. Three of them sprinted with all their might to their houses, big towers of an opaque crystalline structure. Hot on their heels were four-legged creatures, streamlined and graceful in their gait. Death burned like Azyazel's flames in their eyes.

One of the humanoid creatures fell. He was immediately ravaged by the pursuers. His companions could only look over their shoulders in terror as they continued their run, but eventually only one was left. The screams of her friends echoed throughout the tiny room from the projection. With her weaved hair plastered to her face and her slit pupils dilated, the last one stumbled into the crystalline structure, slamming the door behind her with a loud tinkle.

The fear was almost palpable, even in the spectator room. The pursuers shifted, becoming wraith-like creatures that passed effortlessly through the gleaming black door, leaving a glimmer in the crystal. Their features twisted, eyes blending into their other orifices. Their bodies had no discernible shape, merely grey vapours that expanded and contracted with each breath of excitement.

"Oh, my. Your underlings have evolved to quite the graceful beings," commented the king, eyebrows raised and a smile playing at his lips. "I remember last time the poor souls barricaded themselves inside some pathetic construction and they just bashed their way through. Simply barbaric, I must say."

"Thank you, Cimerus." Azyazel's black eyes didn't move from the live stream.

The humanoid had already stumbled backwards, horrified. Above her, severed body parts of her family hung dripping with blue blood from the ceiling decorations. A few droplets splashed onto her shoulder, meandering between the multi-coloured scales. She skidded as she tried to stand and flee, and instead fell back onto all fours, emitting a hellish screech in her fear. Her slit pupils were so dilated her irises could barely be seen.

The wraiths shifted again, becoming mannequin-like creatures with stiff, jerky movements. They had no faces, merely jagged scarlet scores where the facial features would have been. Deadly claws glinted in the weak light. The atmosphere in the room became heavy as lead, the demons' desires for bloodshed suffocating.

The king watched the chase with only half the attention. The middle projection was of an endless starry night. There was none of the terror like the feed to the left. As far as the eye could see, there were only dark, bubbling liquid on the ground, reflecting the glitter of starlight. It was so peaceful a passer-by could mistake it for just a regular night.

"How disappointing. I thought those night creatures would put up more of a fight."

Azyazel raised an eyebrow, which was also aflame.

"You do?"

Cimerus chuckled. "Of course not. There is nothing that can stand against our forces, and I have sent Abbadeon to that realm. None of those night creatures stood a chance against us.  Three invasions, and then that was it. Pitiful, really."

"In other realms, these creatures' stories are spread far and wide." Azyazel showed a flicker of a grimace. "Most of them ludicrously over-exaggerated. Super strength, super speed, deadly presence, mind control... one wonders if the originator of these rumours even had any brains."

Cimerus also raised an eyebrow, a smile toying at his lips. He straightened his legs in front of him and smoothed out the creases.

The rightmost projection showed several furry blobs hanging from the ceiling from chains. Bodily fluids splashed into the chasm beneath. Every so often, one of the blobs would shiver and the chain would tremble, as though the blobs were shaking and pulling at it. The sounds of metal scraping on metal echoed in the chamber depicted.

A young girl walked into the scene, her hair tied into pristine pigtails on either side of her head. She looked little older than five years old and had a manic grin on her freckled face. In one hand was a long curved knife, stained dark, and in the other a fluffy rotund toy. The hanging blobs squealed at the sight of her – although they had no discernible eyes – and the girl's grin stretched even wider as she took in the view.

With grace, she tossed the fluffball in her hand into the air. It thrilled with desperation, its surface rippling and the hair standing on end. It landed on one of the sharp meat hooks dangling from the ceiling, expelling a wet squelch. Its fluids dripped down. All the balls shivered at the same time.

"That is the last one," announced the girl, bearing pointed teeth in her grin. She raised the knife and ran a forked tongue over the blade, before licking her lips. Her eyes flashed yellow.

The knife clattered to the ground. Her hands morphed into claws, covered in red scales. Her body lengthened, extending the length of the dungeon with a muscular tail. Strong legs hit the stone ground, displacing dust and debris from the vault overhead. Deadly eyes set deep upon a huge skull gazed with anticipation at the quivering masses on the hooks.

She reared her head back, letting out a scream of delight – the cacophony echoed around the dungeon room – and opened her mouth. Glistening saliva slipped beyond the razor-sharp teeth and hit the fluid-stained stone ground.

A blast of fire erupted from her throat and engulfed the balls. They screeched, shivering and straining against the metal and the heat, but to no avail. The light swallowed them, and within seconds there was nothing but charred meat on the hooks, which were so hot they glowed.

"Piricca has outdone herself again," said Azyazel, breaking the silence at last.

"Yes, indeed. Piricca is like a younger version of myself—" Cimerus broke off and chuckled. The fire-breather shifted again, back to the girl with the pigtails. "That is, of course, if she were not thrice as old as I. I often forget, with that young human appearance she fancies so."

"I can never fathom what the appeal is of human forms. You, Piricca, Abbadeon... human forms are pitiful."

"But that is what makes it so much fun, my friend. The limitations compared to our usual lack of rules – it is akin to a master of an art purposefully crippling himself to make a game more even, to prolong the enjoyment, to give the enemy hope. The crushing is that much more satisfying at the end."

"I shall never take upon a human form," Azyazel said, disdainful.

"You perhaps may, in the near future."

Azyazel's black eyes flickered. Cimerus waved his hands again at the projections and they vanished.

"You are sending me to the human realm?" The disgust was barely detectable in the demon's cool voice.

There was a silence with a hint of anger trembling in the atmosphere. Electricity crackled overhead. The fire atop Azyazel's head burned an intense white-blue.

"You do realise what else have their eyes on that realm, Cimerus?"

"I am very aware. I am not speaking about invading that realm... just yet."

The crackling ceased. Azyazel's hair became red again.

"You mean..."

The king stood up. His black robes fluttered until the hems just swept the glittering black floor. He turned on the spot, his golden eyes gleaming.

"Yes, Azyazel. I have found her. At last!"

He began to pace back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. His robes flowed like water, blending in with his movement. The room was silent; his footsteps made no sound on the smooth ground.

"All these years, searching and searching, thinking she was lost for good. I cannot express my joy enough." His voice was even, but there was fire in his eyes. "Much has changed, but Lilitha will be back with us. That is one thing I can guarantee."

"Would you like me to send our demons to retrieve her, Cimerus?"

The blonde man shook his head. "No. Not just yet. Her potential is not fully realised. She is still ignorant of her true self."

"So we await her realisation?"

"We shall, of course, be sending her... help, along the way." Cimerus stopped pacing and met Azyazel's black eyes. The flame-haired demon hadn't moved from his spot. "I have some suspicion it may be a difficult task for Lilitha. There are other supernaturals in her realm who have been erasing other-realmly creatures at an efficient rate – for humanoids, anyway," he added.

"You wish us to dispose of them?"

Cimerus clicked his tongue, deep in thought.

"No... I am sure Lilitha will do that herself once she awakens. It will save us the trouble, also. Those creatures are strangely human-like. It makes me wonder what their true motives are. Surely one cannot survive on one's happiness of saving the world?"

"Human sentiments have worked in stranger ways."

"No, but that is the thing. None of those... things are humans, and yet they act very much like one. It is humorous seeing how they are convinced they can live in harmony with those ignorant ants instead of killing them all."

"Perhaps that is why we have survived for so long and humans have not."

"And will not." Cimerus swept his robes around him and sat back on the throne again. Azyazel didn't move, watchful of the king. "We have come far, Azyazel. Never have more realms been conquered and never have our troops been so powerful. And we are just missing Lilitha, then the full invasion will commence."

"What are your orders for rousing Lilitha?"

"Continue as you were. The first step has begun. We just need more encouragement on that side and eventually, she will see our ways. She will return home of her own accord."

Azyazel bowed and exited, plunging the glittering room in almost pure darkness as the flames of his hair left with him.

Cimerus rubbed his right fingers together, his brow knitted.

"It has been so long, my dear sister," he said softly.

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