Chapter 6

  I brought up the menu on my NeuroHUD and disabled the automated gun turret as I approached the shuttle wreckage. It wouldn’t shoot me or the drone, but I wasn’t sure how its software would process Flamey bouncing up and down on my pauldron. Home sweet home, coming into view between the flaming pillars, only a few more seconds of sprinting away. I put the whimpering demon girl down as soon as I was in arm’s reach of the shuttle hull, whirled around with rifle in hand, aiming where I was expecting Big Red to appear. Sure enough, the drone came in first, and the two and a half metres tall, robed figure came running right on its heels. I stepped forward, red dot right on the guy’s chest, and I bellowed at him through my helmet’s PA.

  ‘Halt! You are entering sovereign Allied Systems territory. I am authorised to use lethal force.’

  Maybe it wasn’t the opening line the situation called for, but under stress people tended to fall back on practiced routines, and I was no exception. Well, it did the job, and the demon slid to a halt not five metres from me, from the shuttle, and Flamey whimpering on the ground behind me. I was fully aware I was the kidnapper in this setup, but I decided to look at it another way: I was also the one who had saved these two sods from falling victims to some serous war crimes. I had the moral high ground, didn’t I? Come to think of it, it was probably pretty easy to have any moral high ground in Hell. Damn.

  The demon studied me for a few seconds — or at least that’s what it looked like to me — narrowing its bright, yellow eyes, his wide, almost lipless mouth opening and closing, revealing his sharp, pointy teeth, the pillar-fires reflecting on his shiny black horns. He then glanced at Flamey, probably to make sure she was still alive. His gaze found the minotaur champion crushed under the wreckage, and the perforated body of the previous demon lord, presumably Flamey’s father. Shit, I hadn’t thought of that; I didn’t know how emotional little demon girls could get, but I was fairly certain depositing one next to her dead father was … insensitive at best.

  ‘Greetings, Hellfire Lord!’ the demon addressed me as he bowed deep. His voice was deep and gruff, but I could understand his words clearly. Must have been that demonic language skill or trait at work. ‘I don’t know what an Allied Systems is, but I come seeking an audience under the most dire circumstances.’

  Hm. Rather eloquent for a demon. Then again, I didn’t know much about his kind yet, so there was that. But wait! Hellfire Lord?

  ‘Button, how does this fellow know Hellfire Lord? Isn’t it what the stupid sword named my SAC?’ I whispered.

  [Demons are intuitively able to glean information about other demons in close proximity. Usually, this ability stops at knowing prominent titles and a feel for their counterpart’s overall strength expressed as levels.]

  Button informed me, then displayed my current titles for me.

  Titles: Hellfire Lord - Hellfire Champion - Weirdness Incarnate (LOL)

  ‘Wait, wait, wait! When did this happen? I thought I was a demon lord or whatnot!’ I screeched while still whispering.

  [Burning Darkness took the liberty to alter your titles some time ago to better suit you.]

  That cursed, overenthusiastic, metal toothpick! And he hadn’t thought of removing “Weirdness Incarnate (LOL)” while he was at it? And how in the name of everything holy had he managed to do that in the first place? Wait!

  ‘Can I have look at this guy’s titles then?’ I asked Button.

  [Displaying titles: Archmage / Demon General of the Fourth Ring]

  Right. I turned my attention back to the still bowing demon before me. Addressing him as general felt a lot more familiar than archmage, so I went with that.

  ‘Audience granted, general, say your piece!’ I said to him curtly.

  And he understood me. The demonic language trait was great. The demon straightened and took a step towards me, all the while I had my gun trained on him. And I had to look up at his face as he was almost a meter taller than me.

  ‘I am Tarashak the Smoldering Storm, lord. May I know your name?’ he said, looking down at me.

  ‘Hyde. Name’s Hyde.’

  ‘Hellfire Lord Hyde! Why have you intervened in our fight, and what is your purpose here? It’s been a thousand years since the Fifth Ring last sent a champion up to our realm.’

  Hm. Tarashak the Smoldering Storm was clearly mistaking me for someone else. And I didn’t know what to say to that.

  ‘Are you unhappy? If you’d prefer to be dead, I can arrange that for you.’ I said, trying to stall and figure out how to handle the fellow. Maybe I should just give him Flamey and send him on his way? I didn’t have any plans with the little demon princess, and neither did my sword, the damned thing.

  ‘I would … not prefer that, lord Hyde,’ the general said, his voice a bit uncertain. ‘However, my question remains. What is your purpose here, lord and champion of the Fifth Ring? Is this the beginning of an invasion?’

  ‘No, you already have one of those going on by the look of it,’ I said to him, wondering why he thought I was from the Fifth Ring, and what to say to him. I literally had no plans, only a set of objectives. ‘Well, as to why I intervened … hm. Let’s just say I dislike the Third Ring scum, so anything to piss them off is a win.’ I said, thoroughly unhappy having to resort to quoting a sentient buttering knife.

  ‘Third Ring scum indeed.’ The demon sneered, his yellow eyes gleaming dangerously. ‘And an impulsive lord of the Fifth Ring who avoids answering my question of what his purpose is. This does not bode well.’ He sounded like he was thinking aloud rather than talking directly to me.

  Misunderstanding aside, the guy was beginning to annoy me.

  ‘I may be impulsive, my good general, but that’s not your problem. Just go, I won’t kill you or anything.’

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  ‘Hm,’ the demon hummed. ‘Perhaps not that impulsive. A demon fit to rule is a demon of immense power, but also one who is master of himself first, of others second.’ He glanced at the late demon lord I had previously introduced to the wonders of high velocity AP rounds. ‘The current dynasty of lords had been falling short for a long time. Once again, Hellfire Lord, what is your purpose here? Are you to take over? After all this time, are the dreaded armies of the Fifth Ring coming forth to conquer all and reach the Blessed of the surface world?’

  I had no idea what he was talking about. I really didn’t, but before I could ask Button to enlighten this hapless human who had found himself caught up in some Hell politics, the demon girl behind me started groaning loudly, as if in unbearable pain.

  I didn’t move and kept my gun aimed at the tall demon. Tarashak the Smoldering Storm, however, began to fidget, looking over my shoulder, trying to get a better look of the sorry little demon kid. Once again, I felt tempted to just give her to him, send them on their way, and call it a day.

  ‘The sole heir is injured. Dying,’ the demon stated. ‘It is a shame. She had promise. To be more powerful and better than her father before her. With her the dynasty will vanish. Let me put her out of her misery!’

  ‘Are you … going to kill her?’ I asked, utterly shocked.

  ‘Fate found her at a young age. With time she’d have had the means to protect herself and to become a proper ruler. It is what it is,’ he said coldly. Like a demon.

  I sighed. I did not like the idea of letting her die. I had snatched her from certain death once, and I knew it would bother me for a long time if I didn’t even attempt to do it again. I was a soldier for god’s sake, so I had no problem dispatching an enemy; I was trained for that and had done it on numerous occasions. But I was also a medic, trained to save lives on the field. Well, it was time to see what my bonded medical suite could do.

  ***

  ‘Right, listen Tarashak the Smoldering Storm, you stay where you are and don’t do a thing. Got that?’ I said to the demon.

  He nodded as I put my rifle back into its slot on my back. I opened the cover of my sidearm’s holster on my leg — it would be quicker to get to if the general tried anything. I was sure it would be less effective than rifle rounds, but I was also sure it would still have some shock value and give me enough time to draw my main weapon. Then I knelt beside the heaving, groaning demon girl, and had my first proper look at her, while keeping an eye on the other demon.

  Flamey — with her namesake flames long gone — was naked. And she was indeed a girl, everything a human female would have was there. I just had to overlook the blood-red skin, the horns, the weirdly cute but at the same time terrifying face, the sharp teeth in her lipless mouth, and her elongated limbs. The only thing that looked normal-ish was her long, black hair. She was writhing and grunting in pain, her eyes tightly shut. It was time to have a closer look.

  I took out the diagnostic scanner from the medkit and turned it on. The software connected to my SAC, and the appropriate window popped up on my NeuroHUD. I initiated a scan, and to my surprise, instead of messages like “unknown lifeform detected” or “what the hell is this thing”, it simply scanned Flamey’s body and displayed the results.

  [Temperature: 42 degrees celsius.]

  [Heart rate: 102 per minute]

  [Blood pressure: 70/50]

  Well, that was a high heart rate and low blood pressure, at least for humans, and that temperature would have been a serious problem. Was this normal for a demon?

  ‘Button?’

  [The average body temperature of a demon of the Fourth Ring is 48 degrees celcius. The average heart rate is 80 per minute, average blood pressure is 90/60]

  The information came, and it was worrying. What was this with an average temperature of 48 degrees? Was Flamey actually cold right now? Hm. Combined with the high heart rate and low blood pressure … internal bleeding perhaps? A bad one.

  [Internal bleeding detected in lower abdomen.]

  The IFD suite confirmed my thoughts. She was going into shock, and she needed to be stabilised and treated. Maybe even by surgical means. The problem was that while the scanner could do simple imaging, it wasn’t a replacement for a full MRI you could do in a field hospital. I had the basic tools to attempt to open her belly up and look for the source of the bleeding, I had painkillers — which may or may not work — but I really thought this had to be treated in a proper hospital with proper IV fluids. Which I did not have on hand. What I had on hand was something else.

  ‘Button, is this something those weird healing spells could handle?’

  [Yes. Your Hades Heal spell, especially if you guide it based on the information available through your bonded IFD Suite, is capable of healing injuries such as this.]

  That was good news. How much did that spell cost? 40 HMP per cast? How much did I have?

  HMP (Hell Mana Points): 56

  That was not so good. It was ticking up slowly, but damn that stupid sword gobbling up all that stuff. Now I could only use the spell once.

  ‘Alright, how do I do this?’ I asked Button.

  [Place your hand on the area you wish Hell Mana to travel into, visualise the work Hell Mana needs to perform, then recite the name of the spell while focusing on the Hell Mana stored in your soul. The skill will then activate and perform its task to cast the spell.]

  ‘Good stuff,’ I muttered, not having the faintest how to even begin.

  Flamey groaned and opened her eyes, staring into the closed visor of my helmet. They were bright yellow cat-like eyes, a lot cuter than the ominous stare of the archmage general observing us. She didn’t look scared, not even curious. She looked … resigned, the knowledge that her next minute might be her last evident in her gaze. If she at all wondered who I was or what I was doing, I couldn’t tell. Damn, demon or not, I wasn’t going to let this kid die now, was I?

  I took a deep breath, and I looked for this brand-new soul of mine. I turned my focus inside me — it was easier than I had thought it would be — and for the first time I felt my souls’ presence and the Hell Mana it contained. It was … not exactly pleasant, but a somewhat strange and soothing thing to feel. Hm. Not a lot of Mana indeed. Right. I put my hand on Flamey’s belly, and I envisioned the mystical energy entering her body, exploring the inside of her lower abdomen, finding damaged blood vessels and organs and patching them up … somehow, and then clearing out spent blood, clots and other undesirables, then refilling her veins with fresh blood. I visualised the process again and again the best I could, making small adjustments to the instructions, until I felt confident I got it reasonably right. It was surreal. It was unheard of. But for some reason I believed it would work. And it was time.

  ‘Hades Heal!’ I recounted the name of the spell.

  Then the magic happened.

  ***

  Flamey groaned louder as a black and red mist formed around my hand and seeped through her skin like water disappearing into dried out soil. I kept that hand on her belly and held her down with the other as she began to wriggle and struggle to sit up.

  ‘Shhhh! Stay still sweetheart!’ I hushed her. ‘It’s gonna be fine.’

  [Hades Heal has reached Level 1]

  ‘Not now, damn it!’ I snapped at Button.

  I hadn’t known spells or skills could gain levels, but that was something I’d have to deal with later; Flamey was whimpering louder, wriggling harder, and even through the gauntlets of my SAC I could feel things were moving inside her lower abdomen. Something was definitely happening in there, and when finally the last of the black and red mist vanished — which I thought was Hell Mana itself — I ran the scanner again and watched the results on my NeuroHUD. Temperature and heart rate were about the same, blood pressure was slightly better, but this time the scanner didn’t pick up on any internal bleeding. That was good. It had worked.

  ‘Stay still!’ I told Flamey, and I sprung to my feet to get a thermal foil blanket from my medkit. I tried to wrap it around her, but she was still fidgeting around, trying to sit up. I had never been in a situation where I had to treat a kid for anything, demon or otherwise. I didn’t have children of my own either, so I wasn’t sure how to calm her down. In the end, I did what I would have liked to happen had I been in her shoes: I helped her sit up, leaned her against the shuttle’s hull, then I pulled a Crunchymel bar from my carry bag. I opened the wrapper and put it into her hand. Flamey stilled completely, staring at it with her wide cat-eyes, and when the sweet scent finally hit her, her nostrils flared and she sniffed. She looked at me, then at the chocolate bar, then at me again. I nodded to her. For the first time in the history of the universe, a demon of Hell took her first bite of a Crunchymel bar, and judging by the expression on her face, she was hooked. Huh! Kids.