CHAPTER 441: YOU SMELL NICE

Malachi thought he’d already seen everything that today had to offer.

He was proven wrong when a talkative messenger demon pulled a flaming scroll out of it’s ass.

"There, see?" Andy pointed to the unraveled parchment. "Says right here I’m supposed to come to this spot and bring a fella in black to Lord Lucifer. That’s you, right? Course’ it is, so let’s boogie! We can’t stay around here too long, you smell better than a bleeding virgin..." The demon’s mouth watered.

"... I what?"

"Not your fault, mate. I’m not blaming you since you’re, you know, new. But you’re really gonna wanna learn to suck in that power of yours quickly, or get some form of protection. Traveling around like this is just irresponsible!"

Malachi had no idea what the demon was talking about. The only thing he knew for sure was that Lucifer had called for him and was his best chance at getting out of here.

"Sure, sure, whatever, just hurry up and take me to the guy."

Andy was aghast.

"Soo disrespectful... kids these days don’t know how big the world is."

"Shut up."

"Yes, sir."

Andy threw the scroll into the air.

A flaming pentagram appeared above their heads. Andy gestured for him to go with both hands.

"After you." He performed a poorly executed curtsy.

Malachi stared at the demon momentarily before he flew directly into the ring of fire. Cheerfully, Andy followed after him.

-

Malachi wasn’t expecting any part of Hell to feel pleasant. And yet, when he emerged on the other side of the pentagram, he was hit full force by a bitter chill.

It was nowhere near as contemptible as the heat he felt before. He almost felt like he could stay there forever.

The thing that made him feel the most comfortable was the dark.

He wasn’t sure what had changed, but the world had become devoid of light.

The only sources of luminosity came from a series of lit torches. There were hundreds of them, lining a beaten path that led all the way towards an ominous castle like nothing Malachi had ever seen before.

It was almost as big as an entire town.

"Pretty swanky, right? Apparently, when the dark lord gets bored he adds on another amenity or two. I hear the parties are legendary!" Andy swooned.

Malachi didn’t care to listen to the demon any longer.

The castle appeared to be at least two miles away, so he flew full speed towards them hoping the demon would not catch up.

But Malachi was still not quite used to the new level all of his powers were at.

As a result, his haste flung him right into the front gates of the castle. Whatever foul brand of metal these things were made of was even harder than the cave he ran into earlier.

Luckily, he didn’t lose consciousness this time, but his head was ringing like no one’s business.

"Wow... THAT was embarrassing. Really cool, but embarrassing!" Andy yelled from behind him.

As Malachi held the bridge of his nose, he looked back at the area he had covered and a bit of awe washed over him.

He wasn’t even sure it took him a full second to cross such a noteable distance. The wind pressure he created blew out every single torch along the beaten path.

*Creak!*

The heavy metal doors lurched open after Malachi slammed into them.

More torches lit up a dark courtyard filled with thorny black plants.

They led all the way up to the front door that was already beginning to open.

Malachi decided he had had enough of levitating, so he gently lowered himself to the ground and walked.

As he moved, there was a series of clear crunching noises that came from beneath his feet.

Malachi could only grimace. Now, it seemed like even walking was too difficult for him.

More than anything, what he needed right now was an opportunity to stop and figure out what he could do. But that absolutely had to wait until he was out of Hell.

Nyx had told him a long time ago that time moved differently in the underworld realms. It had no real constant, so an hour here could be days on earth.

Malachi promised the girls when they got married that he wouldn’t pull any more disappearing acts.

Andy had finally caught up with him and followed behind silently for the first time since they met.

The little demon kept his gaze on Malachi’s footprints. "...Are you sure you were just born, new guy? You really are giving off... a lot of power."

Malachi ignored him and pushed the doors to the castle open.

"Oh, my. Is that you, Thanatos?"

Malachi’s entire body stiffened as he came face-to-face with his first female demon.

She was a temptress in every definition of the word. Her every feature, despite appearing unnatural, did nothing to hamper her attractiveness.

She had odd, pale grey skin with a subtle purple hue.

A crown of at least five horns decorated the top of her head like a crown.

Her eyes were permanently glowing bulbs of green plasma. They were haunting.

She wore a royal black gown that barely kept in her natural assets. Her wings were smaller than Malachi’s and numbered only two.

She leaned her body forward and her chest nearly spilled beyond it’s thin straps.

Her voice was probably the worst thing about her. It was soft, and sultry, and sexy all at the same time. There wasn’t a box she didn’t check.

At first glance, one might not have thought the demon was all that appealing.

But the longer one looked at her, her features gradually began to shift to the preferences of the beholder.

And it didn’t even seem like it was something she was doing intentionally.

"My Queen..." Andy dropped into a full prostrate with his forehead pressed against the floor.

"Lord Lucifer asked me to transport this lowly newborn from the first circle to your glorious abode. He is rather rude, but I managed to get to him before he was defiled and I resisted my own urge to defile him despite his sme-"

Malachi placed his foot on the back of Andy’s head.

He applied the faintest amount of force into his leg and pushed his foot through flesh and stone flooring alike.

Malachi jerked his foot out of the ground and kicked off the black blood covering his shin guards.

Once he was relatively clean, he moved past the demoness as if she wasn’t even there.

That would have to go in the column of stupid mistakes he had made for the day.

"Wait a minute, boy."

Malachi felt his new body betray him. He couldn’t take another step forward and not even his powers seemed to want to listen to him.

"He was right, you know... You do smell quite wonderful. Why, it almost makes me want to try a bite myself before I send you off to see him."