Hell's Consort

[A/N: This had 1600 word count]

Newest Chapter of the Highest Tier (May 2022)

*******************************************************

Archdemon of Sloth

Prince of the Seventh Circle of Hell

*******************************************************

Archangel Azrael had lied to him when he said that his Angelic Legion needed help in defeating his own kind.

In fact, the Guardian Angels were doing well for themselves,

Yes, they had it all under control and his presence weren't required.

Sloth glanced up at the red sky, viewing one Duke of Hell producing one monster after another.

The Duke of Hell realized that the Angels guarding the Autumn Palace could easily wipe them out if he didn't raise the number of demons in the abandoned Legion and increase their lethal capacity at an insane level.

Still, Sloth assumed it was a losing game anyway.

Archangel Azrael's Angelic Legion wasn't underestimated.

Every demon in Hell is aware that these scythe-holding, grey-winged angels in black robes calling themselves the Messengers-of-Death, were the best demon assassins out of all the Angelic Legion and they also work under Archangel Azrael's command.

Sloth had no idea if Luxen's Duke was aware of it but he didn't even stand a chance.

Now, that Beelzebub and Luxen was out of the picture, the Duke must have pushed himself to lead the rest of the Legion to victory.

Yet, one thing Sloth had noticed was that... all new creatures summoned from Hell were just one rank lesser than the Dukes.

He shook his head and clicked his tongue. 'Typical Demons.'

Sloth wasn't even surprised how predictable the Duke vwas.

Honestly, he didn't even have to lift them a finger to do something about them.

How could they win this battle?

'Not smart enough, aren't we?' He smirked and settled his hands on his hips.

Of course, they had no desire to be overpowered.

The Duke were capable of calling more demons in the Material Realm to aid him in this battle... except for the Archdemon Royalties.

It wasn't like he was underestimating ArchangelAzrael's Angelic Legion.

Sloth had sensed the Duke's enormous greed of not wanting to be controlled by an Archdemon who would just thank him, claim all his hardwork in invading a Kingdom and throw him to the Ninth Circle of Hell after he was done being useful.

To prevent all that, the Duke just increased the Angelic Legion a chance to defeat them with ease.

Archangel Azrael must have simply found him bothersome and made some believable excuses to throw him out of the Emerald Room.

The stupid part was Sloth had believed them.

It turned out that he was only there to watch the Messengers-of-Death show off their true power.

Sloth sat upon the grass and leaned his back against a tree trunk, monitoring the battle between Archangels and the Demons above the dark the red sky, while creating some garlands for Lune as a gift, congratulating her motherhood.

Sloth idled past the garden and caressed each flower petal before plucking them out.

It might appear like he was being impulsive but he suddenly remembered the interesting dream he had about her sister-in-law bathing in the lake.

When the ladies-in-waiting helped her take off the veil over her head, her long, thick hair had tumbled in winter hues under the moonlight.

The soft breeze made each strand look like silk ribbons.

Rose blossoms woven into invisible threads were placed on her forehead. That was the look that Sloth had fallen in love with, in his dream.

It took him that long to realize that she became more beautiful everyday as the babies grew in her stomach grew. Heat radiated through Sloth's chest from the recollection.

He couldn't explain what he felt but he wanted to replicate that moment in real life.

Perhaps, he was just glad about becoming her children's uncle.

That's it.

Sloth whistled happily as he wove such vibrant garlands similar to the dream he had of her.

He was also satisfied at the subtle and calming fragrance of the flowers he chose.

When Sloth had returned to the Emerald Room, he had tightly gripped the door upon opening it after seeing Lune's physical vessel began to disappear from his eyes.

Sloth's wide grin changed into a gasp, his mouth falling open in shock.

He had dropped the rainbow-colored floral wreath of from his hand instant he saw the black halo around her head and the glazed look in his eyes.

What is happening here?" He demanded.

The twins must have sensed the dark energy manifesting around Lune's aura that they weren't able to recognize their mother anymore.

When the newborn babies started shrieking and crying, the birth attendant immediately separated. them from Lune.

"Lilith happened. All of a sudden." Archangel Azrael responded shortly, pulling the birth attendant from the bed to keep the babies as far away from Lune as possible.

Sloth had returned to the Emerald Room after observing the War between Azrael's Angelic Legion against the Duke's demons and arrived to this?

His cold hard eyes were full of accusation as he regarded them.

Sloth could see Lilith's Archdemon Spirit forcefully separating itself from his Mistress' physical vessel against her will.

It was clear that the Archdemon of Envy was attempting to possess Lune again from the frightening expressions she wore but both Archangels couldn't even manage to finish the job?

Lilith still refused to give up even if her leather-like bat wings had spread on its own, demanding to be free from captivity.

She, herself, must have been unaware that her consciousness had refused to be trapped any longer in another physical vessel who continously fought for its dominion.

Lune, only wanted one, and only one thing.

Autonomy.

Sloth assumed that giving birth was the last danger that Lune would endure, it turned out that the Archdemon of Envy had returned once again to screw her over.

Archangel Ariel and Azrael's formidable power and strength had spread in the Spiritual Realm far and wide and Sloth ha d begun to think that their astounding reputations were mere exaggerations to intimidate the Archdemons ruling their own Circle of Hell.

'Such shameless heavenly beings!' Sloth thought as he clenched and clenched fists. 'What more does Archangel Azrael need to accomplish the job after tricking me to go outside? Had he done something dangerous to Lune while he was gone?'

At this point, hot steam must have come out of his ears.

"What have you done? I told you to keep her alive." Sloth had made sweeping arm gestures out of frustration. "You even bragged that you are powerful than the Three Fates, Azrael."

Archangel appeared dumbstruck.

"There is nothing i could do about this. The fruit of the Four Seasons had singled her out despite being the owner of the physical vessel. Not only was it trying to eliminate Lilith after the Empress' physical vessel had continuously rejected her. It's also kicking Luna out of her own body." Archangel Azrael explained, his countenance smooth and expressionless.

"You forget that this woman was still an Archdemon." Archangel Ariel reminded him.

Sloth wanted to run towards her and hold her hand but shock had made him stay in his place as he watched the person he loved the most slowly deteriorated into nothing.

He clenched his jaw and shook his head in denial, dreading about their future.

For some inexplainable reason, pain and sadness had merged into one inside of him.

It forced him to turn around and leaned his back against close the door, staring down at his hands.

Lilith had gritted her teeth as she tried to cling to her until the end.

The pain was too deep yet he couldn't muster any tears for this kind of emotion.

This strange grief was too complicated for him that he would rather freeze it into ice, let it go until it shattered into pieces.

It will cease to exist--both Mistress and his grief--and then he could move on from it.

If Sloth could have spared Lune's soul for his, he would have taken her position in a heartbeat.

Perhaps, it was also time for him and Ravin to also disappear.

No.

He had to think about saving her first and seek other alternatives in case they could do something about it.

Sloth got a hold of himself, opened his eyes and entered the Emerald Room again.

He closed the door shut and faced the Archangels head on.

"Everytime I tried to touch the Empress, she complained that it hurt so bad." Archangel Azrael glanced down and added. "The Empress hadn't reacted like this before when we helped her get through her childbirth."

It was the first time Sloth had witnessed him looking a bit guilty.

Archangel Azrael's movements might seem functional and precise when he offered to take the silver-haired baby from the birth attendant so that he could carry her himself but his dark eyes seemed unfocused.

The Archangels had attached her wrists on the thin towels tied to the bedpost so that she wouldn't break her bones from having a go at breaking them into unusual angles.

An Archdemon at its weakest will be distressed from being sorrounded to Heavenly Beings in this closed chamber.

"Yes." The birth attendant nodded in agreement as she rocked the twins expertly in both arms. "Her previous reaction wasn't this extreme."

The old woman's maternal gestures seemed so natural as if she had been looking after babies for centuries.

She didn't even require any help from the rest of the Cherubims who kept themselves occupied by cleaning up some vomit on the floor as well as changing the bloody sheets with pristine ones.