Death Row

Ishani falls to the ground while Hunter rushes to her side. 'Was I fighting her all along?'

[Yes]

'What should I do?'

[Easy solution would be to give her your blood]

'... But my regeneration ability is locked so I can't do that. What can I do instead?'

[Nothing. Give me control]

'You're going to save her?'

[No, I intend to poke her left eye. Of course, I'm going to save her]

'Thanks.'

Hunter's pupil disappears momentarily and when they return the demon, Waleed, was now in control. He places his index finger on the battlemage's forehead before giving control back to Hunter.

The gray-eyed woman blinked as she takes in her surrounding. "Hunter? Is it really you?" She said, a bit groggy.

"Yeah ... Sorry about that," he apologized.

"It's fine ... I feel fine," she said rising to her feet and stretching. "What did you do?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel energized and well ... Really well. I'm pretty sure you broke fifty percent of my bones during our fight," she stated.

"Sorry about that," the sprite apologized again. "How did that even happen?" He asked.

"Well, you started whispering something about Zoe and I tried to get you to snap out of it but you attacked me."

"Again, I'm really sorry for that. I thought you were the demon that attacked us," he stated.

"It's fine. Besides, I'm okay now," she shrugged. "Just one thing," she said, slowly walking up to Hunter.

"What is i—" Before the sprite could finish his thought, he felt a sudden pain in his abdomen as Ishani punches him so hard and knocks him off his feet. "Ouch! What was that for?" He grumped.

"No reason at all, I just wanted to punch you." Ishani picks up the compass from the ground and inspects it.

'I guess I kinda deserved that.'

"Wow! It's in way better condition than I thought," she said. "Let's go."

"You know, I'm surprised you haven't asked how my powers work. Most people would have asked by now," said Ishani.

"I'm not claiming to know how they work but I do know it's not a conjure but an attack," Hunter said.

"Yeah ..."

"How exactly do they work?" The sprite asked.

"I'm a battlemage but I do have mage abilities although I still need my lance to use my full power," she explained.

"And the conjure-like attack?" He asked.

"It's a trick I use to make my attacks look somewhat interesting," she said. "Instead of the overused energy beam, I try to make my attack look like an animal or something else. Also, most people are unaware and block the attack instead of dodging it thinking it's a conjure," she added. "What about you?" The dark brown-skinned woman asked. "Earlier you seemed to have summoned those three to fight for you," she stated.

"Yeah ... I have necromancer abilities," he revealed.

"For real? That's a lost art, you know that right?"

"Well ... I do have it," Hunter said.

"So those three people you summoned were people who were buried here previously?" The battlemage asked.

"No," the sprite shook his head. "They're from Earth," he stated.

"Oh ... Did you know them?" She asked.

"Not really. The two men are souls that Merlin took for his experiments," Hunter explained.

"I heard about that. To think he was among those calling for your head when he was a chaos magic user," she said. "How are you able to control them though?" She asked.

"Long story short: I took them from Merlin before he could use them," Hunter stated.

"Hm. What about the girl?"

"That's where it gets complicated," said the sprite. "I won't say I knew her but I've seen a bit from her past," he said.

"Like time travel?"

"No," he shook his head. "I've seen a bit of her memories," he clarified.

"But she's not one of Merlin's victims, is she?"

"She's not. I took -- I killed her."

"Oh. How did that happen?" She asked.

"I -- I can't say."

"I understand."

They continued in an awkward silence, both of them saying nothing as they quietly followed the compass to locate the pure demon.

...

Later, they arrive at another region in Hel. The sky in the region was dark, only brightening momentarily when lightning flashes in the sky. The place was quiet, only sounding temporarily with the rumbling of thunder that succeeds the lightning.

Soon, they sighted a building, on a cliff, tucked away at the far end. The compass pointed to the building and so the duo made their way in, hoping that their search would soon come to an end.

Hunter was the first to enter the building, moving cautiously while his eyes move side to side in search of any unnatural or malicious being inside.

"State your business; while you still have tongues," a voice echoed.

"Naamah? Alastair sent me," Hunter said.

"Well, well," she said, stepping out of the shadows to the front of the sprite. Naamah looked like a human female in her mid-twenties. The pure demon was wearing a white long-sleeved turtleneck shirt with bishop sleeves and dark shorts, blue earrings, and black high-heeled sandals with blue heels that made light noises as she approached the sprite.

Naamah had long blue hair with pink streaks and bangs. Her eyes were turquoise with a beauty mark under her left eye. She was also wearing two blue bracelets on both of her wrists and matching rings on her ring finger and her pinky finger and had pink nail polish on her fingernails and toenails. "Looks like he didn't forget about me after all," she said.

"No, he didn't!" Hunter shook his head. "He always talked about you and how he wishes he could come here," the sprite said.

Naamah narrows her eyes. "He never once mentioned me, did he?"

"Not even a single time," Hunter confessed.

The pure demon's lips curl upward before she moved backward and sits on her throne of bones and skulls that Hunter did not see when he first walked in. "I admire the honesty but I don't think you're here to remind me that not only am I alone but I've also been forgotten. What does he want?" She asked.

The sprite sighed. "Well," he began. "My friend was kidnapped by this guy called the Adversary --"

"How?" Naamah interrupted him. "The Adversary can't be in your realm, he's been killed there before," she said.

"Yeah ... She was sacrificed to him by the Darkforgers," he explained.

"Sacrificed? That's not good," she shook her head.

"I know, which is why I'm here. Alastair said you'd help me rescue her," Hunter said.

"Is that really what he said?" She queried her turquoise eyes darting to Ishani's face and back to Hunter's. "It's a tempting offer and I'll really like to help but I can't," she declared.

"Why not? I'll pay for it if that's what you want," Hunter said.

"Again: tempting, but no. Sure life is a bit boring for me right now and I could do with some stretching but I can't, so I will not accept your offer. If you want to save your friend, you'll have to do it on your own."

Ishani steps forward. "You better be joking! Bitch, we didn't just go through hours of literal hell for you to refuse us," the dark brown-skinned woman shouted.

"You can yell all you want," Naamah said calmly. "I can't help you. Besides, it wouldn't be in my best interest to do so."

"Unbe-fucking-lievable!" Ishani cussed before storming out. Hunter sighs before following after her.

"Can you believe this?" The dark brown-haired woman said once they were outside.

"Hm ... I know what our next move is," Hunter said.

"Really? What is it?"

"We summon Bahajid."

"You think he'd help?"

"No. But he did say he knows everything so he must know what contract is forbidding Naamah from helping us," Hunter stated.

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, she was very specific with her words; saying how she would love to help and never once saying she won't help only that she 'can't'"

[Look at you, figuring out things without my help]

'Get out of here!'

"You're right," said the battlemage. "But do you really think she's under a contract that forbids her from helping us?"

"I don't know, which is why: Bahajid! I summon thee from the depths of whatever shit hole you're at!"

"My, it's like you get even more aggressive each time," a voice that resembled that of a little child said from behind them.

The duo turned around to see Bahajid staring at the both of them with his arms folded together. "That's ... Never say that again!"

"So?"

"You know why I summoned you, cut the crap," Hunter frowned.

"I do, I do," he laughed. "I have to admit I didn't expect it so soon though," he said. "So you want to know who Naamah is contracted to so you can pay the holder to release her from the deal?" He asked.

"Precisely."

"Well, what are you going to give me for that information?" The pure demon asked.

"I just knew you were going to say that," said Ishani. "I've been learning a lot about demons since I came down here," she stated.

"What can I say? It's our nature to be like this," the violet haired pure demon shrugged.

"I could give you the spell to bypass Lilith's traveling ban," Hunter said.

"And what would I need that for?" He frowned. "I love it here and I don't think there's anything your realm has to offer that I don't know about. Also, I can't sell the spell to anyone since Lilith can sense when they are used and almost every demon here is afraid of her," he stated. "Besides, they are many who already know about the spell; Naamah, Alastair, Lilith, The Adversary, The Gatekeeper, Vali, and a few more others. That spell is not the most sort after thing in here," said the pure demon.

"What exactly do you want?"

"Information. I want really, really, valuable information," he said licking his lips.

A scale suddenly appears between them both. "This would measure the value of the information we're passing to each other," said the pure demon as a ball appears in his hand and he places it on one side of the scale.

The scale tips to one side and the demon forms another ball and throws it to Hunter who catches it. "Think of whatever information you have for me and the ball would glow then place it on the scale. If your information outweighs mine or is equivalent to it, I'll tell you all you need to know," he stated.

Hunter squeezes the ball a bit as he tries to think of something that could be of value to the pure demon. "I can't think of anything," he sighed.

"My, oh my. If only you had accepted my offer for your initial request to be for free, you wouldn't have been in this predicament now," he said grinning from ear to ear.

"Nevertheless, I have another offer for you," said the violet-eyed demon.

[Tell him about me]

'Huh? Are you sure?'

[Yes. Tell him]

"Forget it. I have something for you," the sprite said. The ball glows and Hunter places it on the scale. It tips to the other side, Hunter's information far outweighing the pure demon's.

"My .... What do you have for me here?" He said with a grin as saliva trickled from his mouth.

The demon eagerly picked up the ball to hear what information Hunter had that was so valuable. He squeezed onto it and heard Hunter's voice in his head. 'The Dark Majesty is back.'

The violet-haired demon's eyes widen as he looked at the sprite. "This ... This is --"

"Now tell me what I came for."

"I ... Right. Naamah is contracted to the one known as the Master of the Paper; Vali. As much as it pains me to admit, I do not know the full details of the contract but I do know that it limits her movement in Hel to very few regions."

"Why is he known as the Master of the Paper?" Ishani asked.

"Because his power comes from the deals and contracts he signed with others and he has hundreds of millions of them," said Bahajid.

"I see. Where can we find him?"

"Hm? I guess your information was more than mine so I can help," he mumbled, more to himself than to the duo in front of him.

The pure demon raised his hand and a portal appeared behind the Metropolitan School of Mysticism students. "It will take you straight to his compound."

"Why didn't you make us one of these when I was looking for Naamah?"

"And rob you of the 'first time in Hel' experience? Where's the fun in that?"

Hunter shakes his head and the duo makes their way for the portal, Ishani jumping in first before the pure demon spoke. "Hunter?" He called.

"You know my name?"

"I know everything!"

"Except for the full details of Naamah's contract with Vali!"

"Salt in wound Hunter, salt in wound."

"Heh."

"The information you gave me ... Don't tell it to anyone if you value your life and that of the ones close to you," said the pure demon but Hunter could tell that wasn't a threat. Rather, it was a warning as most demon would do whatever is necessary to find the Dark Majesty.

"Same goes for you."

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