Chapter 715: As It Seems…
Lucifer stepped into a large dining hall that was as ominous as one might’ve expected.
The walls were painted a deep red color not much different from that of blood.
The floors were a deep black stone, darker and more exquisite than even granite.
A chandelier made of human bone hung in the air above the long table that was slowly filling up with food.
Though it was deliriously unappetizing looking.
Demon meat tends to lack that ‘A-5’ level of appeal…
Fruit from the qlipoth trees are the only kind of vegetation that grow in hell, so they’re typically served with Lucifer’s every meal.
“It’s not often that you decide to sit down and eat a meal… I wonder what sort of occasion could have brought this about.”
Lucifer glanced at one of the three women sitting at the table already.
She was pure white, like a snowflake, but nothing about her felt cold.
Her skin, eyes, and even her short, floating hair were all bone white. She was pretty, gorgeous in fact. And her proportions were both realistic and charming.
This was Naamah. One of the Four queens of Lust, or The Devil’s Twisted Angels of Prostitution.
Lucifer couldn’t deny her surprise at this sudden turn of events, because he usually never eats.
Not only does he not require sustenance, but eating in hell isn’t exactly all that satisfying due to the limited options and usual poor taste.
“Perhaps I was just feeling a bit in the mood for it. Appears to be a good thing too, since we are soon to be welcoming guests.”
At the side of Naamah, another of the four sat beside her.
Eisheth Zenunim is even more attractive than Naamah and does not resemble a bloodthirsty corpse.
She has refined, olive skin and oily black hair that is slicked back in a professional style. Her eyes, like many residents from Tehom, are red with black sclera.
“I… Guests? Who possibly??” She leaned forward.
“Family, if you can believe it. It’s like were suddenly popular.” Lucifer of course sat at the head of the table, as giddy as a king of hell could be.
The women at the table shared stares amongst each other.
Lucifer hadn’t been in very many jovial moods lately all things considered.
So to see him suddenly so jolly that he could give St. Nick a run for his money was undeniably jarring.
“Ah. They’re arriving in here now. This’ll all be so fun!” Lucifer clapped his hands.
His brides still didn’t understand what was happening.
They couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary in the air, and their senses were extremely attuned to any disturbances or changes within their domain.
They would know even if one of the 72 was trying to worm their way in here.
So had the fallen one finally lost his mind, or was he noticing something that they didn’t..?
“Let them in.”
The opposite doors to the dining hall swung open and a wave of heat washed over everyone inside.
The women stood up in alarm and adopted more defensive stances than normal.
The first one to step through the door was an almost familiar face.
A tall man wrapped in deep grey skin paired with long silver hair.
His golden eyes were as hard as stone as he looked around the room.
“So, the prodigal son returns. And with a growth spurt too apparently! How neat!” Lucifer clapped.
Asmodeus’ already cold gaze became even less friendly somehow. Amusing his father greatly.
“Come in, come in! You and everyone you’ve brought with you should all sit down with us. We’re just about to get things started!”
A creeping darkness naturally followed Asmodeus. It obscured all additional figures that lurked behind him.
The only thing that could be seen was the glow of their otherworldly eyes.
“Ashmodai..?”
Lilith was the oldest and most infamous of the four and the most dangerously beautiful.
She was once a beautiful and fair raven haired maiden, but living in hell for so long had almost mutated her, giving her skin a slight purple tinge as if she were carved from a block of amethyst.
At the sight of a new and much more attractive Asmodeus, she didn’t bother to hide her wandering eyes or interest.
Lucifer quite honestly could not have cared less.
The angels of prostitution have a special ability that some would call ‘unsettling’.
Even without touching you, they can make you experience ‘echoes’ of certain acts that they would like to enjoy with you.
Think of it like a super pleasureable gust of wind.
It isn’t mind control, or even a hallucination, but something carefully toeing the line in between.
It’s also how these sinful angels bring men, women, angels, and anything else with a set of genitalia to their very knees. Their desire to experience the real thing makes them submit easily.
“You’ve grown up… exceedingly well.” Lilith purred.
“Indeed… I never would have guessed that you would get this… big.” Naamah licked her lips.
Asmodeus felt a certain ‘chill’ run across his body.
Dual pairs of lips glided across his skin in individual directions.
They both started on opposite sides of his neck before working their way down the front and back of his figure.
It was a dangerous attack. The kind that would strip most beings of their rationality outright.
And while it did have an effect on Asmodeus, it was not what the women would have labeled as ‘desireable’.
“Don’t piss me off.”
Asmodeus’ first words spoken were cold and layered with a deep disdain. It firmly established the line that should not be crossed.
But it wasn’t well known whether or not he had successfully scared off the women, or just made himself a bigger target.
“Why are you hiding all of the guests you brought with you??” Lucifer asked. “You’ve developed such poor manners in your time away.”
There was movement behind Asmodeus, and another of the uninvited guests stepped into the room’s view.
Even Lucifer rose up within his seat at the sight of him.
“Well… You’ve certainly developed well, haven’t you? Your prior self is a far cry from this specimen I see before me… Have you gotten darker by chance?”
All three of Abaddon’s eyes narrowed.
“Well it was just an observation..” Lucifer poked at the food on his plate. “Besides, it doesn’t really matter, does it..? Guys like us… we’re just walking around in decorative shells anyway.”
Neither Lilith, Naamah, or Eisheth let Lucifer’s seemingly off handed comment escape their notice.
Before they merely stared at Abaddon with such a blinding amount of lust that it was debilitating.
Now they were less concerned with how uniquely attractive he was and instead focused on the potential danger of his presence.
Meanwhile, the alarm bells were ringing intensely in Seras’ head.
Without drawing attention to herself, she contacted her husband silently.
‘My love, something is-‘
‘I know. Don’t do anything yet.’ Abaddon responded.
“I would have gladly welcomed all of the company you brought to the table, but it seems as though they’re a little busy at the moment, aren’t they?” Lucifer said.
Lilith wasn’t the only one of the brides who was confused. “I don’t understand..?”
“Can’t feel it, you dimwitted woman?” Lucifer mocked.
He smiled before revealing the most alarming piece of information that the angels of prostitution had heard in the last couple millennia.
“Right now, our realm is being put to the sword… or the flame I should say.” Lucifer shrugged.
“””WHAT?!”””
“All seven layers, the castles and armies of all 72 princes, and even that little pond that you like to skinny dip in, Eisheth. Tragic. Truly.” Lucifer shook his head.
The women thought he was joking.
As mentioned earlier, these women are nearly as attuned to the happenings in Hell as Lucifer is.
They knew it when Beleth was busy torturing new wicked souls for shits and giggles. Or when Belial was making new familiars to wipe his ass.
Under no circumstances should an entire war have been going on outside their walls and they couldn’t feel a thing.
“Don’t joke with us Lucife-“
*Thunk!*
A horrifying sight was unfolded when Kanami stepped into view of the room and tossed a decapitated head onto the dining table.
When it rolled to a stop, the sitting rulers of Hell were staring at a deceased Paimon, the second of the 72 and the one who bore the fiercest loyalty to Lucifer.
“No…”
“T-This..”
“His nose is in my fruit salad..”
Each of the girls reacted in their own differing ways.
Lucifer lifted up the head of his former aide and stared into it for a long time without saying a single thing.
There was no rage, betrayal, anger, or anything on his face.
It was kind of like he was just inspecting a box of cereal at the grocery store.
“This is… unfortunate. I was going to invite him to dinner too.” He muttered as he put the head down.
Abaddon started to say something when his father suddenly beat him to it.
“Where is my mother…?”
“Hm? Oh.” Lucifer snapped his fingers and the door on the opposite side of the room creaked open.
Footsteps approached as a fourth nude woman stepped into view.
For the first time, Abaddon and Kanami were laying their eyes on the grandmother who was responsible for the creation of their wedding crests.
And their hearts immediately sank to the bottom of their feet.
Not thirty seconds after she opened her mouth, Asmodeus flew into such a rage that he immolated himself in black flame.