***The Infernal Plane of Lust***

***Amon***

Only after fully waking up from my dazed state, did I realize that I was lying in a rather embarrassing position with my head in Isabella’s lap. The succubus was grinning down at me with a more than expectant and, as I found, stupid expression. Not that I had something against a beautiful demoness giving me a romantic lap-pillow per se, but I had reasons to be wary of this demoness.

The situation truly felt like fate had decided to turn me into some character from a cheap soap opera since Isabella had taken full advantage of my fainting. And then there was the issue that we were being watched. Not even the alluring curves of her round bosoms directly above my face could distract me from that.

I quickly came to the decision to forget about congratulating myself for my accomplishments and shot to my feet, unwilling to show any kind of weakness in front of my minions. I mean, the damage was already done, but I would be damned if I actually enjoyed the situation.

“Aw!” Of course, Isabella had reached out and tried to hold me down, but I had been too fast. She pouted about her failed attempt at restraining me, but she quickly got up herself while my minions were studiously watching the scene with smug expressions.

This wasn’t a damned soap opera!

“What?” I asked, daring any of them to say something disrespectful or to point out the obvious.

I may have gotten myself abducted and died, but I was sure that I could teach each of them a lesson if the situation required it. My evolution had been extraordinarily painful, but now that it was over I felt better than I ever had in my entire life.

The others showed no intention of challenging me. Even the generally slow Shax averted his eyes.

Apparently, they figured out on their own that I hadn't been abducted by accident. And that I had been waiting for a chance to execute the plan on a solo mission, even going so far as to reveal the soul-staff, and that everything had been going accordingly.

Which reminded me of my equipment! The staff and my storage ring with most of its contents were gone for sure, but replacing those items was just a question of making new ones. Admittedly, the staff required a few days of effort but compared to the gains it was a small price to pay. Plus, I had already some ideas on how to improve on the original design.

After all, it was just a pieced together copy of the original Amon’s spellwork that I had stolen from his artefacts. I felt more than ready to create something truly of my own. And I still had the necessary materials. Wisely, I had decided some time ago that something like a ring was far too easy to steal. Therefore, I kept only a part of my mundane equipment inside it.

After all, this was the Infernum. Chopping off hands was entirely within my fellow demons’ range of capabilities.

I reached up for my horn and felt for the runic inlay that was functioning as a secondary storage device. Normally, death meant also the loss of all equipment. Though that apparently didn't apply to items that were anchored to the body at the moment of death.

Thanks to being observant, I had watched other demons respawn with their runic tattoos intact. Things that were considered a part of the body at the moment of death would apparently be recreated with the respawning demon – and that included the runic inlay with the storage dimension which I had attached to my horn.

Up until now, I hadn’t been sure it would work, but this was proof. Already, my mind spun down a myriad of paths as I thought of the possibilities of how to cheat the system. Was it possible to duplicate expensive items in this manner?

The higher one’s soulcount, the less feasible it would be. But what if I made a contract with someone who had just a few souls and made the necessary modifications – and then killed him? Was it even necessary to use a contract? Could I just use a weakened enemy to duplicate items?

Wondering how I could exploit this further, I summoned a mundane robe and trousers, having no desire to parade around naked any longer than necessary. “One would expect that the Planar Lords could revive someone with at least some basic clothing. They already take most of the tenth that is lost when someone dies.”

“How many?” Isabella asked again with that husky voice of hers while I was getting dressed. There was more than just excitement and expectation in her voice, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly it was.

I only hoped that me having a few freighters' worth of souls in the bank wouldn’t make her even more determined to go after me. Her desire for some kind of partner made me feel somewhat unsettled. There was definitely more to her intentions than she had made known. Funnily, I couldn’t even accuse her of being a gold-digger, since she had shown interest in me long before I lucked into my current wealth.

But lying to her in this matter probably didn’t serve much of a purpose. Especially, since she created that bond with me. She couldn’t use it to control me. That much was certain as far as I understood, but I had a feeling that it was likely for her to be able to judge my approximate power well enough so that she would know if I lied.

I closed my eyes and went into myself, turning my full attention to my soul-well. The vast majority of the new souls were nothing special, allowing me to immediately dismiss them as worthless. But there were a lot of them!

“One million, four hundred thousand – and some change,” I replied once I had a general idea of the actual number. Sorting them out and going through the memories of the more interesting ones would take me weeks or months. Nuking the legion’s base had gotten me souls from every social class throughout the mortal planes. Unfortunately, most of them were utterly useless to me. I wasn’t especially interested in what a cook’s life could teach me.

Taking inventory, I realized that some of them didn’t even have that long of a life…

I was slightly appalled, but only because my fellow demons apparently didn’t understand that the soul of some teenager or a kid wasn’t even worth a decent meal to a proper demon. For a demon to go after such measly souls, it was like a wolf hunting mice.

“Oh, tails and horns!” Kitia clapped her hands like an excited child. “That must mean that you really got their legion commander! And he must be a powerful one. It’s a pretty good guess that their legion has some ten thousand soldiers. I only got a short glance when I flew up a few dozen metres earlier, but your nuke killed at least four thousand of them, leaving only those at the front-lines alive. Their camp was completely wiped out. If I take a guess that the average warrior holds around five thousand souls, then that’s approximately four hundred thousand lost souls from their deaths alone – just from the small fry! Then we have to consider that the Anima Stone will have taken its toll for your resurrection. Normally, it takes fifty percent. But you went straight over a million, meaning that you also killed some of their big-shots!”

“How are you not a quivering mess?” Uphir asked with wonder in his tone. “That evolution of yours was bad, but it wasn’t that bad. I expected you to evolve several times in a row…”

I huffed and crossed my arms in front of my chest, knowing that I had the worst of it already behind me. “I already was at my third adult stage after the competition in Baaar, so I evolved only once for breaking the million-mark.” The important difference was that this time I got to keep my souls.

“Wait, what!?” Isabella interjected. “You certainly didn’t have over a hundred thousand souls when I met you!”

I scratched my upper arm, conscious of the circumstances, and unwilling to admit my weakness.

But Philomena had no qualms about outing me. “That was because he totally lost it with all those souls’ memories taking over his mind. Back then in Baaar, I thought we would have to put him down ourselves before he went completely feral. As the raid leader, his contribution was considered the most important, meaning his share of souls was much larger than ours. Getting so much at once clearly was too much for him back then. He went berserk at the competition, right until Ostreios himself showed up and forcefully bound him to the Lode Stone. Then the Demon Lord totally handed Amon his ass. Ostreios spawn camped him over a dozen times until Amon regained his wits and destroyed…” She stopped talking when she noticed my expression.

I glared at the larger demoness until she got the hint. “In any case, that’s something we don’t talk about. Ever!” I clarified for her.

Uphir decided to speak up. “Now that we are talking about powerful demons being after us, shouldn't we worry that Amon just made another powerful enemy?”

“No. Why?” I frowned.

Our rogue raised a finger as if to teach me a lesson. “You just got about a million souls that are statistically unaccounted for. That means that you either killed one very powerful demon with that nuke, or you got several stronger ones. I would hazard a guess that there were at least a handful of strong defenders who did nothing else besides watch their Anima Stone, even if this battle wasn’t fought between two especially strong legions. But five people with a few hundred thousand souls each still wouldn't give you that much. 500k per person would mean something around 50k for each kill, substracting the resurrection fee means still just around a 100k all together for you.”

He shook his head. “No, that nuke of yours took out someone really powerful. Someone with more than ten million souls. There is no other way I could explain your balance otherwise. I would imagine that such a person wouldn't take kindly to having a tenth of his wealth stolen just like that.”

I stopped smiling. Facing someone at least ten times stronger than the current me was daunting. Even with my newfound wealth of souls, to say the least. But hadn't Ex explained that souls alone weren't a reliable measure for a demon's true power? The soulcount was just an approximation.

Still, someone who could gather a few million souls and die rarely enough to keep them in a place like the Infernum had to be powerful!

On the other hand, that nuke had killed him, so he wasn't some invulnerable being who couldn't be overcome. And I doubted that he would simply dash right into Khorne's legion to get his souls back after having suffered one setback already.

Jebril pointed an accusing finger at me. “Ha! So Uphir is right! You totally didn't think of the possible repercussions!” She was clearly losing it. “Do we have to flee to another plane? I don't want to leave Lust! The things I've heard about the other planes are horrible, especially Pride!”

“It's alright.” I stopped her with a wave of my hand. “All we have to do is to ensure that this Khorne wins his war! Even if that unknown demon really decides to take offence for being killed.” Would he really decide to persecute me for his death? After all, he fought this battle, meaning he must have expected the possibility of his death. And isn't Khorne's legion commander a more likely target for his ire? For all that demon knows, the nuke was his idea.”

Isabella slapped me on the back of my head. “Think before you spout such nonsense!”

I turned on her. “And what's wrong with my solution?”

“Aside from the fact that you don't want Khorne, or any other Demon Lord, to rule the entirety of Lust,” she whispered. “Even if you fight on Khorne's side, that man has no reason to protect you from your enemies even if you were one of his minions.”

I pursed my lips, unable to refute that my initial idea may have been a little too naive. It relied on social status and the goodwill of the faction I chose to support. That was a stupid way of thinking for someone who grew up in the Infernum. The only way to live my life as I wanted was to become more powerful. Powerful enough that nobody could touch me.

“You may be right, Isabella,” I admitted. “But what's the problem with someone ruling all of Lust?”

The succubus sighed and rested her cheek on one hand. “Khorne doesn't want to just rule all of Lust. He is gathering his powers, and once he has enough of it, he can challenge Lust – the Planar Lord – herself. Maybe he will play at being her Yod for a while, but that’s certainly not his final goal…”

“What’s a Yod?” I asked.

Jebril sprang in with an explanation. “It’s a title, and it’s given to the strongest demon on the plane – if there is someone who can claim it. The Yod is speaking and acting directly for the Planar Lord, like an avatar. You even know one. Ostreios is currently Gluttony’s Yod as far as I heard.”

No wonder he wiped the floor with me.

Isabella continued. “As I said, Khorne has higher aspirations than that in the long run. It will be all of the plane's demons under Khorne against a being that's comparable to a god. Just imagine the kind of massacre that would be. My mother told me a tale of the last time it happened when she was a young lass, and let me assure you, it wasn't a pretty one. It didn't even end with the last challenger winning against Lust. The Planar Lord killed her and left the plane shattered. It took centuries to rebuild.”

“A god, heh...” I scratched my chest, wondering. “Just how powerful is this god supposed to be?”

Isabella rolled her eyes. “Don't worry, you will meet one sooner or later. There are enough of them roaming the mortal planes. Be glad that they avoid the Infernum due to its laws and that we only have one.”

“How powerful?” I repeated my question.

“Insanely powerful.” Kitia shuddered while she reached for the hilt of her blade to reassure herself. “I was once summoned to a mortal plane as an imp and caught up in some kind of holy war. The other side got assistance from their god and he annihilated the mountain which our fortress was on with a flick of his finger. I was with my summoner at a remote position, so I got to see it before the shockwave killed us. Later, I was told that he was just a lesser deity and that a full-fledged god could obliterate entire continents or worlds if they wished to do so.”

That sounded like an old wives' tale to me, but I had to admit that dismissing Isabella's mother's story outright would be stupid. I knew that there were powerful beings out there. All tales had some kind of truth. I couldn't imagine a Planar Lord or a god walking around and soloing entire legions, but they may have their ways. Some extremely old demon who came across some powerful synergy between his abilities might be capable of horrific things. Something as simple as a nuke was already a dangerous thing. What kind of weapons could I come up within ten thousand years?

“Why don't you try searching your soul's memories for some encounters with gods?” Philomena suggested. “It's relatively unlikely that you hit the jackpot with some enlightening memories since gods aren't as common as Isa made it out to be, but it's possible.”

“I will try once I have the time.” It wasn't the worst idea. There was a definite possibility that a powerful demon like that legion commander might have kept several such souls for the sake of knowledge. He wouldn't have necessarily taken them from mortals himself, but traded for them for the knowledge alone.

Sometimes, the simple knowledge of a critical event alone could increase the worth of a baker's soul immeasurably. I grimaced. Did that mean that I would have to pay more attention to every single one of my souls?

My further musings were interrupted when Ebandon and Ex, together with some other demon arrived at the scene.

Ex approached and slapped me on the shoulder. “You did better than I anticipated! Originally, I gave your group that task to teach you defeat, but look at you, turning an impossible task to your advantage like it’s nothing.”

“Yeah,” I scratched my chest awkwardly, unsure of how to react to the praise. Aside from Isabella, nobody had done so before with it feeling genuine. Then I processed his words. “Wait, what!? Did you really just admit that it was you who made us sit on that pile of trash for hours when we could have had some fun by joining the battle!?”

Ex shrugged. “Losing battles is a part of one’s growth, and I had a feeling that you never suffered true defeat.”

“I am not so sure of that!” I countered with a grudging tone in my voice. But he was right on some level. I had a talent for turning bad situations in my favour.

Ebandon inserted himself into the conversation. “Well, well. That’s why we are treating you as our newest prodigy! We just came over since legion commander Shamkart wanted to see you.” He waved his hand at the new demon who commanded a special presence with that fancy sceptre which he carried like a king his crown.

Shamkart spread his hands with a toothy smile, but thankfully he didn’t try to hug me – I would have hit him for sure.

“I just wanted to see our saboteur who decided the battle in our favour with a single blow! Be assured that Khorne will hear of this feat! I am not so vain as to take all the glory of victory for my own when I just seized the opportunity to capture the enemy’s Anima Stone.” Then he frowned and turned slightly more serious. “But do tell, just how did you manage to sneak that behind their lines. I mean, it’s impossible to guard against all threats the multiverse has to offer. But a nuke, every legion has detection spells against such things.”

“I carried it inside a spacial pocket,” I replied confidently. “It was intended as a MAD device in case I encountered a far superior foe and was in danger of being captured.”

His expression fell. “You are aware that there is a good reason for not carrying nuclear materials inside spacially distorted pocket dimensions. There is an inherent risk of setting off a reaction…”

“What I said!” Philomena interjected, once more voicing her objection to my practices.

“Just a small one,” I reasoned. “The statistical chance to set off the reaction is negligible and is outweighed by the advantages. The math says that carrying around a nuke inside a pocket dimension should be feasible for at least a few months until the chances of setting off a chain reaction trend towards one hundred percent. The possibility of causing an explosion within the first few weeks is miniscule.”

The appalled faces of the demons who were surrounding me said that they didn’t find the statistics agreeable.