Round 8: Devil Terminator
The demon camp was as chaotic as ever. Some of the Chaos Ships had lost their masters and were torn apart, becoming part of the camp. More Chaos Ships arrived, filling the camp with all sorts of hellish creatures and unknown brutes. Stephanie never saw Jones again; presumably, the demon captain had fled.
He now had his own tent, where he spent most of his time meditating. In a place always filled with new recruits, those strong enough could still earn respect.
The succubus often disappeared for days without a trace, and Stephanie was too lazy to ask where she went. After all, he could make her return with just a thought whenever he wanted to vent, and Stephanie didn’t believe the succubus could find kind-hearted people here to help her break free from the control spells.
“Look! Look!”
A Berserker stood in the open area, shouting, with no one around him—everyone stayed as far away as possible due to his unbearable stench, even though he was trying his best to control his scent glands!
“Oh! Mage! Aren’t you interested in this?” The Berserker spotted Stephanie passing behind the onlookers and shouted excitedly. By now, Stephanie had become a somewhat well-known figure in the camp.
Stephanie stopped. Though he really wasn’t interested—over 99% of the goods sold by demons were fake—he didn’t want to offend a powerful demon like the Berserker. If they remembered you and held a bad impression of you, you’d have to constantly worry about hidden attacks.
“Respected Mr. Berserker, what do you have that might interest me?” Stephanie pushed through the crowd, suppressing the urge to use a scent-clearing spell, and bowed slightly.
“A Iron Warrior who specializes in digging out others’ hearts is looking for a way to restore his own body!” The Berserker crawled on all fours before standing up excitedly again. “If you can give him a new heart, you’ll gain his loyalty! How about that? This information is valuable, right? And I have the secret formula for an ancient ritual that can do just that!”
Stephanie gave a trivial small gem as payment for the information but didn’t buy the formula—it was definitely fake, without a doubt.
Stephanie was surprised to see the Metal Man, as he found his succubus clinging to him, picking through those demon hearts.
“Oh… Mr. Stephanie…” The succubus immediately fawned over the mage as soon as she saw him. “I haven’t dared to disturb you lately…”
“Shut up, you little bitch! Do you think I don’t know about the tricks you’re up to behind my back?”
Stephanie’s face darkened. In fact, he had indeed neglected the succubus’s little schemes lately, which gave him a sense of crisis, especially after seeing her seem quite close to the Metal Man.
“Are you the Iron Samurai seeking a complete body?” A mage-like figure stepped forward. Stephanie didn’t recognize him, and he deliberately avoided looking at her. “I think I have enough power to help you achieve that… My name is Calvin. I’m a pretty good alchemist, but it will likely cost something in return… How about we make a contract? Serve me until I die?”
“That’s a stupid idea,” Stephanie snapped, venting her anger on this ungrateful wretch. “Even if you can give him a complete body, he can just twist off your stupid head afterward, and the contract would be fulfilled—get lost! How did you even become a mage?”
“Hey, I’ve heard of you, the mage in the succubus’s lap…” Calvin’s mockery didn’t last long.
Stephanie, furious, chanted a spell.
A stream of magical acid hit Calvin right in the mouth, making him clutch his throat and cough painfully. Calvin muttered a few disjointed syllables, seemingly trying to counter with a spell, but failed to complete any. Stephanie pointed at him, pouring more magical energy into his body.
Calvin staggered back, walked a distance, reached out blindly, and eventually collapsed to the ground, his entire body smoking.
The two sightless demons, not knowing how many days they’d gone without food, became interested in Calvin’s corpse.
They pounced on his body, gnawing on his flesh. Soon, the stronger of the two demons lifted its head. Its mouth and jaw, like rubber scorched by fire, sagged limply down its face. The other couldn’t even lift its head; it buried it in the corpse’s chest to eat the internal organs, its head completely rotting inside—Calvin’s bodily fluids had all been acidified by Stephanie.
This scene made the succubus a little wary. Though she was confident she could control the mage, she still had to be cautious of his anger—after all, he was still a very powerful mage.
The metal man disliked mages.
He seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, his gaze toward Stephanie filled with hatred. The succubus sensed this quickly and shifted the topic. “Stephanie… I was wondering if you’ve studied fusing the flesh of hellish creatures?”
“Have you found a new master?” Stephanie’s anger hadn’t subsided. “Don’t forget—”
“How could I forget…” The succubus bowed in submission. “I just want to find you a suitable partner… After all, poor Lord Valerius has left us, hasn’t he?”
Stephanie knew that some extremely evil and twisted people sought ways to merge their own flesh with that of devils or demons, and some of them succeeded. But if this metal man wanted a demon heart…
Stephanie didn’t know.
She’d see as it went.
Stephanie and the metal man were indeed a good pair.
Nothing could stand against their alliance. The mage recklessly unleashed death under the protection of the Metal Man, while he and the Metal Man tore apart overly powerful enemies into pieces. Most of their free time was spent trying to install the Devil’s heart into the Metal Man, though they made no progress other than accumulating failures.
The power balance between the Devil and demons seemed to tilt in favor of the two non-Purgatory creatures—just in this ruined place, and only slightly.
Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
There were also some forms of entertainment in the demon camp, the most common being gambling, torture, and fighting. Higher-ranking demons didn’t participate in such activities, nor did lower-ranking ones, so many of the horrible crimes committed in the camp actually had nothing to do with demons—of course, the demons didn’t consider them crimes at all.
Today seemed as ordinary as ever. Soldiers who were fighting sought opportunities outside the camp, while those who weren’t fighting sought fun inside.
“You lost!” A few orcs laughed rudely around a young warrior whose face was pale and who was trembling uncontrollably.
“Drag him into the tent!” The warrior screamed in agony, but he couldn’t withstand the five burly orcs. The onlookers laughed maliciously, and this scene made the succubus watching from the wall chuckle.
That unlucky warrior surely wasn’t the best choice, but the succubus definitely couldn’t touch him—let alone that sullen-looking mage, not to mention that rusty, ghost-like Metal Man by the wall. No one wasn’t awed by his tireless slaughter on the battlefield. Thousands of corpses had even earned him a nickname: the Devil’s Terminator.