The Demon Treasury

Seizing this brief respite, Noah hurriedly sought a path to the lower levels of the palace, jumping into the tunnel from which the imps had emerged, and chasing down the stairs leading deeper.

"How far is the treasury from here?" he asked, sliding the Charred Ring onto a clawed imp toe, from which it emitted a faint heat.

"I need to think," Gladius muttered. "Not every palace is structured alike. But don't worry, those little ones are buying us time. They should be able to hold off for about ten minutes."

Noah could faintly hear the sounds of flames exploding and demons howling in the workshop above, followed by a momentary silence.

"Why did it stop all of a sudden?" Noah looked up, hearing only the continuous crackling of unextinguished flames.

"Ha, ha," Gladius chuckled dryly.

"What do you mean?"

"It means you'd better run fast, or the fire will catch up to us," Gladius urged. "Also, according to my vast experience, rolling on the ground is faster than running for an imp."

Many sections of Gladius's palace had been remodeled to better suit its new master's aesthetics. The sharp patterns on the walls had been erased, replaced by ever-burning torches and flame stars. Gladius extinguished the burning hallways with an obsessive attitude, marking the walls and floors with its preferred sharp patterns, proclaiming its dominion over this place.

Noah could not gauge the vastness of this hall as he passed through endless corridors and vacant rooms, encountering no other demons. It seemed the place was deliberately constructed as a maze, and the palace was tall, its very shape stretching upward like a blade.

"My underlings and servants used to live here," Gladius observed carefully. "Now they've all been harvested, left helpless without my protection. Their demonic essence has been extracted for enjoyment, their souls distributed among the imps to elevate them to servants of the Flame Demon King. They're likely not here, but dispatched to attack other territories. I've brought you to a poorly defended palace, with only that spawning pool guard still looking for us."

Noah couldn't understand why the demons, who didn't need grand palaces, would move rocks and compel millions of imps into their service to erect vast hollow stone halls. Innumerable demons fought day and night, civilizations flickered out in an instant.

"Why do you want to know? You'll understand. As my power grew, I came to loathe the lowly demons wandering aimlessly on dry land."

Noah kept running. The castle sank inch by inch, forcing him to climb higher and higher, lest he slip.

"The initial game was simple. I rewarded those who could keep up with me and destroyed those who couldn't. It was a delightful feeling watching them strain every nerve to keep pace with me."

Noah leaped down the steps designed for particularly tall demons, carefully, to prevent breaking his legs.

"Then the game evolved in complexity. I kept them constantly on the move, and they grew accustomed to obeying my commands, becoming anxious without them. To keep those restless little demons busy, I had them mine rocks and polish plates for centuries, then assemble them into palaces. I erected tens of thousands of such palaces during my reign, and the one we're in now is rather small..."

They passed what resembled a prison area, with countless bizarre creatures shaking stone bars, pleading at Noah in strange tones. Were they from other conquered worlds? Long-limbed, limbless, metallic in form...

"As time went on, I no longer needed to command. The imps themselves differentiated into strong and weak. Higher demons, eager to gain my favor, took it upon themselves to command the imps to create spectacles, forging various blades to win my heart. Power and desire entwined, inseparable. I arrogantly surveyed the expanse I ruled in Hell, ensuring every demon clearly understood that the Blade Demon, Gladius, was once a very powerful lord."

To Noah's surprise, his endurance seemed inexhaustible. He ran without tiring, unlike a human. Was it because this body was specially designed, or did every demon possess extraordinary endurance?

"You'll come to enjoy it too. Forcing your will onto others, making them submit to your ideas, watching thousands bow before you, your commands changing the fate of countless beings. Creating your own rules out of the existing order, altering the laws of all things to your liking and whim. Those who don't seek such a life are only fit to be kept."

Gladius's noise pounded his brain, denying Noah any peace.

"What do you think? Climb up, Noah, release your utilitarian spirit, trample everything beneath your feet."

"I'm not like you," Noah said internally.

He turned to see a particularly large door constructed of a different material from the surrounding rocks, resembling foreign jade.

"Is this it?" He called out.

"Yes, we've arrived," Gladius confirmed.

Following Gladius's direction, Noah halted his steps in front of the palace treasury door.

"This is where the treasures are kept?" Noah touched it instinctively, only for the entire door to burst into flames, forcing him to retract his hand.

A strange flame demon's head emerged from the fire, bellowing angrily at Noah.

"We meet again! Gladius!"

"What now?" Noah looked at the fiery face, furrowing his brows.

"Cut it down!"

Noah thrust the blade of his transformed right arm into the door's fiery face. It proved to be a mistake; his demonic shell touched the flame and quickly began to melt within the blaze, the heat piercing through the demon skin, crackling as the scales burst under the intense temperature.

"You're finished! This place is no longer yours!" The Flame Demon pressed on against Gladius. Noah could sense Blade Demon's growing restlessness; Hell seemed to trigger its boundless rage. This was its homeland, its territory, now taken by its kin.

"Cut them down!" Gladius pressed.

"You're too hasty; we can't defeat it!" Noah leaped back as an explosive flame pierced through his right arm. His power waned rapidly, no match for the Flame Demon before him. The law of the survival of the fittest in Hell was more severe than he imagined. The stronger the demon, the more significant the advantage, and the lower demons stood no chance.

Flames spread across the palace walls, with more demonic heads emerging, all mocking the tiny Noah and Gladius. Some were laughing faces within fireballs, some had numerous charred horns, some faces were charred with crimson eyes, some completely carbonized, some wore metal masks, others branded deep on their faces, and some were just a whirl of fire... Countless powerful demons emerged from the firewall, laughing at Gladius's vulnerability.

"You're finished, but you came back. You're finished—and you dared to return!"

"Your territory has been divided, your cities shattered by firestorms, your kin and servants all destroyed!"

"Looking for a place to stay? Too late, Gladius! The caverns no longer belong to you!"

"It's sharing a soul with a human now, look at it, look at what it's become!" The demons emerging from the fire spoke sharply, and Noah nearly felt Gladius's indignation, almost wishing he could cut them all down.

These demons were on their way here, Noah could feel it. The entire palace was shaking, with distant sounds of lava flowing and behemoths running. These powerful demons were eager to extinguish Gladius right here, thrilled at the prospect of personally destroying a demon lord.

Bang!

Was a demon pounding on the palace? Such tremors! Even the faces on the door trembled.

"You'll be the Slaughter King's favorite weapon." One of the demonic heads opened its mouth wide, and a massive fireball lazily flew towards Noah.

He didn't dare delay, darting away just as the fireball accelerated and hit where he'd been standing moments before, turning the solid floor into a glowing, swelling mass like dough.

Flames chased Noah down the corridors, with countless powerful flame demons closing in from outside. The fiery projections in the sea of flames roared with rage, not hiding their bloodlust. To personally kill a demon lord would be a feather in their cap, and Noah knew these demons would not let him go.

Everything was melting.

Fire demons of various shapes and ranks roared, disturbing Noah's peace with their noise and carelessly spewing flames around the palace. The walls beside Noah melted like mud, and he felt himself nearly catching fire.

But with a sizzling sound, the entire jade door to the treasury melted away as well. The attached faces of flame consumed themselves, gradually disappearing. Noah suspected they were just avatars, not the real bodies. Without a stable source of souls, they couldn't burn indefinitely.

He rushed through the burning treasury door. The world tilted before his eyes, the palace foundations dissolving. Noah felt unsteady.

Countless pillars surrounded him, each holding one or two exquisite items of varying colors and types. Many had bizarre appearances, perhaps brought by demons from other worlds—a glistening gemstone armor with fastenings on either side, likely meant for some creature; a sword suspended in the air, casting out indigo waves that calmed him as he drew near; a quarterstaff that seemed to move on its own—was it an illusion?

Noah withdrew his gaze, touching a skin hanging from a pillar before him. It had a glassy appearance, semi-transparent, with a colorful galaxy flowing beneath its translucent substrate. A pair of sorrowful eyes wept silently on it, its touch moist and warm, starkly different from the dry and barren world of Hell. It seemed to plead with him, hoping he would take it away...

"Can you stop looking? This place is about to collapse. We need to run," Gladius said.

"Then tell me what to take!" Noah complained. "Which ones are truly useful?"

"I've forgotten, as I said, I've built too many palaces, and then accumulated too much over the years..."

Boom! A crucial pillar supporting the palace seemed to collapse, tipping the entire treasury in one direction. Noah slipped unexpectedly, tumbling toward the south side of the room along with a pile of heavy armor, jewels, and mechanical devices. He saw a silver-white gear-like ring, presumably of dwarven craftsmanship, a sword emitting the cry of a bird, and a hazy mural depicting a multi-eyed beast with trees on its back.

"Let's get back!" Noah grabbed a few convenient treasures, and to his surprise, he saw the treasury's dome heating up, ready to melt. If it did, this place would be harder to navigate and hide than the armory.

"Stand firm," Gladius murmured.

Another colossal blast sounded, and the floor beneath Noah suddenly gave way. Gladius had cleaved a massive chasm, just wide enough for Noah to fall through.

His body dropped downward, clutching the hastily collected treasures.

"Look, we're going back! To the world of humans! Roll away, Hell, roll back! This dilapidated imp hatchery!" Gladius sliced open a long chasm below them, cutting through the rift between worlds. Noah should have fallen freely into it.

"Don't rush."

Noah heard someone speaking. Why wasn't he falling into the rift, returning to reality?

He found himself suspended in mid-air, the flames and stones around him frozen still.