X X I V - [ D A E M O N ]

circleis nowhere near a threat for a demon like me.

The Hellhounds come in groups of four and five at once like a pack of wolves, but despite their remarkable number, the demonic canines still don't pose that much of a threat.

To be honest, getting them to make way for me is the trickier part, considering the fact that they won't stop jumping around and trying to get a bite out of me, but there's nothing a little hound-whacking can't do and within minutes, the creatures are either laying dead on the ground, limping away from me or growling at me while slowly backing away. They know that it's useless to try and kill me when I am the actual ruler of Hell, but they still attempt to look frightening anyway before running towards the woods that this level predominantly composed of.

As I watch the remaining Hellhounds disappear among the trees, the ones dead on the ground disappear slowly and vanish into thin air.

? ?

The apparent answer is a no.

Soon after I asked that question in my head, I hear a series of buzzing sounds coming from behind me, and I turn my head to see giant insects the size of an average man advancing towards me with their weapons pointed at me.

.

As one of them open its wings to fly at me, I throw my arm to the side and the locust follows, being unable to control its own body anymore. The other three springs into action immediately after, perhaps attempting to bring their friend to justice—but only to fail in doing so.

Swerving when one of their skeletal arms nearly grab me by the neck, I elbow the locust and break its own instead. Its friends stop coming after me, and for a moment they do nothing but simply stare at their fallen friend. I do, too, only realizing now that I still have it in me.

"Alright," I say aloud to no one and nothing in particular. My voice seem to snap the locusts back to reality, and they all jerk their heads up simultaneously to look at me. "Which one of you is next?"

The two looks at each other as if they are actually human and are silently debating whether to volunteer to sacrifice themselves first or the other.

"Either way, the two of you are going to die, you know?" I remind them, cocking an eyebrow as if saying, .

Finally, they dash towards me with their spears raised above them, ready to stab it through my heart or even try to injure me in any way. I rhythmically and easily avoid their attacks, though, and I'm able to deliver a hit or two with no problem. The sound of bones cracking don't exactly disturb me, but let's just say that I haven't gotten this much action in almost a decade so it somehow refreshes me in a way.

"Told you so." I shrug, throwing aside the last locust—or what's left of it, at least.

My thoughts are cut off by a growl so loud it makes the ground shake.

Eyes wide and a bad feeling in my gut, I swivel my head to the side and blink hard once, twice, thrice. It's as if the creature before me is something I haven't seen before, but I know damn well that that's not true at all—I've seen it alright, but never have I ever needed to it.

The Behemoth's size is astounding, to say the least. Its got to be at least forty foot long, with claws as big as myself. Its face resembles somewhat like a kraken's, but it mostly looks like a more intimidating dinosaur.

The beast growls once more, demanding my attention; if only it knows that its gotten it the moment it growled the first time.

The Behemoth does not waste time, stomping towards me with its large tail swishing behind it. It claws at me but I manage to dodge it, though just barely. This seem to anger it, because before I can even recover, the Behemoth tries to plunge its one claw at me, but I veer away from it and it rips through the skin of my chest instead.

I look down as thick, red liquid start oozing out of the long gash. It doesn't exactly hurt, but seeing that the Behemoth even managed to lay its claws on mepiss me off.

"," I mutter, and let my own claws show. My fangs slowly grow out, and wings the color of midnight sprout out of my back.

I zoom upwards into the sky until my eyes are levelled with the Behemoth's. I stare right at it, and it looks at me back with a taunting look in its eyes.

"," I mutter, and the Behemoth visibly twitches in response. At first it seems to be trying to keep its composure, but soon it can be clearly seen that it is struggling to control itself. It starts thrashing about its head wildly, as if the Behemoth's suddenly gotten a strong migraine of sorts.

I know, because I've been in its place myself during my training to becoming Satan.

See, when you are in the Lucifer line, being the superior of Hell is pretty much inevitable and that would mean loads of training to become one starting from a very young age. One of them involves blocking anyone from entering your head and controlling your mind; and, in return, you learn how to control theirs.

The Behemoth continues to move spasmodically, trying hard to take charge of its own mind and body, but to no avail. Within minutes I am able to take over its mind, and I put the creature down so that I can move on the next circle.

I smirk—No, not only God has control over the Behemoth

As expected, a gate appears once the beast has fallen and I hover towards it—the sooner I get out of here, the better.

Upon landing, a question that brings my worries from earlier back into my mind pops up: ?

I furrow my eyebrows as I walk in the gate, confused but most of all anxious about my right hand.

? ?

Taking in a deep breath, I stride in the next circle, knowing well that there will be loads of question that Feia will be answering.

Of course, how .

I sigh as I eye the fiery pathway before me. I've always wondered why people associate fire with Hell, but this seems to be going on for so long now that I don't even bother trying to change what people associate with anything anymore.

Alright, Daemon. It's not like you can feel pain.

I take a step onto the molten rock, expecting the walk across to be like the usual walking business, but as I feel a sharp pain at my heel, I can't help but jerk my foot back to my starting position.

"!" I curse, and check to see that my foot is, indeed, ablaze.

Stunned, I stare at the pathway in complete disbelief. It takes me a moment or two to finally realize that anyone who enters the Inner Circle are probably to feel the pain whether they like it or not, so the only way to pass the levels is to suck it up and try to refrain from screaming too much.

Once more, I draw in a deep breath. If I've learned to ignore pain during training once, then I sure as shit can do it again. Besides, Feia's probably made it past this circle with no problem, so it should be the same with me.

I press my foot against the hot rocks once again. I hear the sizzling sound of flesh burning and smell the smell of it, but I ignore it and continue walking towards the other side.

There isn't that much pain to be felt—either that, or I really just used to all this physical pain. I guess its a perk that comes with being Satan—you get pushed to your limit so often that you just get used to it in the end.

Towards the end of the level, I don't think that I can even feel anything at all. I reacted the first time I stepped on the lava, sure, but that was because I took me by surprise—I didn't expect to feel pain once more and I was simply caught offguard.

Stepping onto the cold ground on the other side of this circle, I let out a relieved breath and enter the gate that awaits me immediately without even checking on the soles of my feet. I know that it will heal on its own, so at least I don't have to worry about that.

.