Chapter 200: A stick and a..?
Chapter 200: A stick and a..?
After the Master of Sin left, Enforcers became temporary keepers of Dis. They, though, had to find themselves a replacement too, because I after I made a few more flight devices for the unlucky souls that will be chosen to act as messengers, I had an important task for them. There was no time to lose.
I gathered Enforcers on a rocky, smoky plane of the Fifth Circle, one that didn’t differ from all others. Stone ground and flamerock cubes that littered it, with the ceiling of the circle shrouded in smoke. Occasionally, a bird will fly by, but seeing so many demons together, retreat before anyone shoots it.
“Our first battle will start soon. Don’t ask me when exactly, but soon.” To my annoyance, God of Rogues was too vague in that regard, even when I asked him second time. But he shared some useful information about God of Monks’ abilities with me, so here was that. “We have to make traps, and we have to learn to work together. You only ever fight in a quartet, are you, Enforcers?”
“This is how it had been for a long while now,” the sword enforcer said in a low, rumbling voice. “The Master of Sin preferred to send us ahead to test his enemies, so he could decide to fight or to give up.”
“Did you die often?” I wondered idly.
“Sometimes one, or even two, would, but the last time that happened was two decades ago! And all four of us were killed even earlier. We didn’t work for the Master of Sin back then. We didn’t die once under him.” The chain enforcer boasted proudly. All his thoughts were on his face and tongue.
No, I couldn’t keep calling them this way. Especially if we were to work together… “What’s your names?”
The sword demon was called Kuut, the chain demon was Tremble, the scythe demon just called himself Scythe, and the spear demon introduced himself as Mandril. Because of being hunted by gods, I kept my name to myself. Though, like most people out there, Enforcers also just assumed that Devourer WAS my name.
It could’ve been, it really could… if I didn’t remember, if vaguely, that it sounded like a stupid name.
“Alright.” I addressed Enforcers again. “Let’s talk about our tactics. Gods are faster and stronger than you… or even me. They also have many tricks in their pockets. I won’t even talk about spellcasters. No, the focus is on the one we will have to beat… whenever he appears—God of Monks.”
Enforcers listened me intently, but I was disappointed to find out that their knowledge about gods ended on the fact that they existed. Well. Very few worshippers of them out here. Especially after said worshippers were sent to Hell for no good reason…
I recalled what I remembered, and that God of Rogues told me about God of Monks. “Our current enemy specialises in close-range attacks, but he can use simple magic, too. Specifically, elemental attacks. Summon fires to burn—” Kuut snorted at the mere idea that fire can hurt the fully transformed demons of the Fifth Circle, “—water to trip, air to bludgeon, earth to entangle and so on and so on. He also has great mobility, especially horizontal, that he uses to run circles around his opponents while throwing flurries of strikes upon them, dodging any they throw back. So if we deal with that, we will destroy one of his chief strengths and also his main defence.”
“I can tie him up with my chain,” Tremble offered eagerly. He loved to stop the fast ones. I had to cut him down, though.
“He’ll just break it. Or dodge it, more likely. No… the best tool for that would be my web.” To demonstrate, I spat a little on my fingers and made an invisible string of it. Enforcers looking in confusion at my spread fingers. “It’s invisible. So. I will put a bunch of webs around that area, so God of Monks could walk into them. Your task is to remember the exact position of each and every one so you won’t get caught, too.”
Enforcers exchanged uneasy glances. “What if we get caught?”
“Before the fight—I will cut you out. In the fight—I will let you be my meat shield. Don’t want to die again, learn fast.”
It quickly turned out that this wasn’t enough motivation to push Enforcers’ battlefield awareness to the level I needed if I were to work with them in the limited time. The simple enough task of crossing a stretch of a field with a few webs stretched across was too complex for their poor memories. They got stuck over and over again.
I tried using good old physical stimuli to hurry things up, but it was no good, either. Pain was an unpleasant thing, yes, even for demons—but we got used to its existence so much that it was less of a threat and more of an annoyance, unless you went with full on torture, and I wanted my Enforcers whole and ready to fight.
I still didn’t know what to do when God of Rogues called me through the mirror again. This time, finally, with something concrete.
“Devourer, my ally… I will have God of Monks coming to Hell in two more weeks. Is that enough time for you to prepare? I hope it is. Well, between you and me, we definitely will gut the old stuck-up, won’t we?” In the mirror, God of Rogues was smirking like a person who knew something I didn’t.
I bared my teeth at him. “Sure. Two weeks—and what’s then?”
“Nothing until we are ready, as long as we keep God of Monks dead for good. But that’s on you. And it will be your problem first of foremost if you fail. I will deny everything, and who will they believe?”
The answer was clear enough. So I had to win, and to eat God of Monks into the oblivion… and to find out a better way to train my fighters.