The Lost Lord Ch. 22

And if Asmodea knew anything about her beloved Rainer, she knew that his strange skills and unrivaled tenacity would bring him farther than anyone else in this city. Rainer had the... Grimoire after all, she didn't know much about it, but she speculated from the information the previous lord revealed that the... Grimoire contained a compendium of every spell in existence, and it supposedly even updated itself when a new spell is created from the imagination of all mages. Not even the previous Lord of Lust knew what it was, but he knew enough that only a man with his power could wield it, the power of the Lord of Lust.

"I see. While I have no wish to welcome your group and you yourself, I understand that help is necessary. You know better than anyone on how to lead your group, please lead as necessary. Though find Caetorum before you do. He should be in the main tower in the back of the sixth terrace." Advised Asmodea without once looking at Emiel's face. She made it a point to never look at that bastard's face as much as possible.

"Ah, one more thing!" Emiel said in revelation as he remembered something. He pirouetted and snapped his fingers while chanting a short spell that allowed spatial transportation of objects. Considering the size and distance that Emiel of the object Emiel had to transport, he wasted a good deal of energy, though not enough to prohibit himself from walking and annoying Asmodea. "I present to you the captured leader of Black Steps, Xizaen."

Asmodea tilted her head at the object that appeared before her. It resembled an egg, though in a brilliant opaque blue crystal. On a closer look, there was a body located inside of the crystal, which in deed resembled a black demon that could be no other than Xizaen. Asmodea rubbed her eyes, while she did hear that her beloved Rainer placed Xizaen under an extremely powerful petrification spell, she found it hard to believe and attributed to Emiel's frequent exaggerations.

"Obviously our young lord's spell would wear off the moment he left the vicinity, so I cast a [Crystal] prison spell, type blue sapphire. It constantly drains a person's magical power and energy, the perfect prison for a black or white demon, though troublesome to cast and place. Since he was petrified, I found it quite easy!" Explained Emiel with a seemingly straight face. "Oh, and I decided (on the little lord's request/orders) to place him in your care. Have fun! And make sure you detain him properly before the spell wears off! Bye, bye!" And with that, Emiel swept his arms in a downward arc, causing him to sink into the ground thanks to his earth magic. He liked to transport via underground tunneling, which frequently pissed off Asmodea and others as he could instantly disappear without anyone's noticing.

"Son of a bitch..." Cursed Asmodea. "GUARDS!"

'Rain Rain... I sure hope you're safe.' Asmodea whispered to herself as she stared at his handiwork

-

"Wow, this is more fun than I thought." Rainer told himself quietly. After trapping Xizaen with a petrification spell, Rainer had managed to slip through the city down to the first terrace and over the walls.

Due to Rainer and his frequent forays in the crime-ridden city he lived in, he found himself trying to make himself "not seen". He had always found himself light on his feet and quite nimble. His imagination always made him pretend to be the "honorable assassin" for kicks as a kid.

Now it was the first time ever Rainer could try out his stealth skills, which turned out to be more effective than he expected. Of course Rainer utilized several spells, thanks to the [Emperor]'s assistance, in order to aid his venture.

Eventually, an hour before evening, Rainer was nearing the main encampment of Arazra's troops. As expected, there were numerous demons patrolling the area, officers and foot soldiers. There was also a veritable supply of demons flying in the air, keeping a sharp eye out for intrusions just like Rainer.

Rainer peered over a large brown boulder, he could see three demons patrolling several meters nearby. If he made any strange noises, the soldiers would without a doubt investigate and find Rainer, thus Rainer stayed as quiet as possible. What Rainer needed, in order to bypass the prying eyes of the patrolling soldiers, was a good disguise. And those soldiers would provide it. Of the three, there was one demon that looked Rainer's size.

'Perfect!'

"Fweeeee!" Whistled Rainer, calling the group of soldiers near him. If it was just one demon, Rainer could easily dispatch him with a blow to the back of the neck or temple. If it was two soldiers, Rainer planned to take out one of them with an instant blow and punch the other demon's vocal cords to stop his scream and then take him out. Three soldiers would prove rather difficult, and difficult was coming to him in the form of three demons.

'Perhaps a spell?' Wondered Rainer.

"Sound Disruption.

The chitters and chirps of the chatters and smirks

Become disturbed and disrupted and diminished

All sound enters oblivion

By thy [Emperor]'s grace."

The surroundings became unusually silent. The guards who were investigating the whistle suddenly turned from side to side due to the feeling of complete silence. I realized that everywhere around me was completely devoid of sound. Perfect time to take out some enemy soldiers.

Smiling maliciously, Rainer vaulted himself over the boulder and rushed at the demon soldiers. They each instantly saw Rainer and tried to call out, but couldn't due to Rainer's spell. Realizing their predicament thanks to magic, the soldiers tried to draw their weapons, only two of them did successfully.

Rainer, while running, picked up a sharp rock and tossed it at one of the soldiers with his immense strength. The rock instantly crushed the soldier's skull. Rainer saw that the soldier he just killed was a member of the eighth district, the other soldiers belonged to the seventh and tenth districts respectively.

The seventh district demon sliced down at Rainer's position with a semi-circular two handed axe. Rainer stepped to the side where the tenth district soldier was waiting with his curved sword ready to strike. Rainer caught the demon's hands and they both struggled for dominance.

Rainer flashed a mocking smile at the demon, who sneered back. Accompanying the smile, Rainer kicked the demon in his most vulnerable spot, the groin. The demon keeled over while soundlessly screaming, trying to grasp himself through his thin armor. Before the seventh district soldier came over, Rainer struck the rolling demon in the temple, knocking him unconscious.

The final demon came lumbering over, swinging horizontally at Rainer. Rainer ducked down to his legs and kicked at the demon's knees. Rainer underestimated his own strength and accidentally smashed in the demon's kneecap. Like the other one, the third demon clutched his knee, trying to howl in pain. Saying sorry in his mind, Rainer knocked the third demon unconscious.

'That was quite thrilling.' Rainer told himself while trying on the demon's armor. It fit close to perfectly.

Up until this point, Rainer had never seen himself kill anyone. Yes, he knew that he had killed the jaguar man, Yaotl, but he fell immediately unconscious after and the next second he realized it, he was in the bedroom of the palace. And just now, he had killed a demon and knocked two unconscious.

Rainer looked at the corpse whose face was smashed in by the rock he had thrown. Rainer knew he should have felt disgusted and remorseful considering he had just killed a living being. Yet he couldn't help but wonder one thing, 'Why don't I care?'

Demons are the essence of Sin. Compared to humans or any other species in general, demons feel much less when it comes to sinful and despicable acts. Basically, Rainer didn't care as much when he was a human about whom he hurt or killed. This is the main reason why demons have so many wars and are so open to death and other malicious acts. His morals were severely damaged against his will and it was unlikely he would get them back.

Paying the dead body no mind, Rainer found his way into the enemy encampment. The main encampment was surrounded by the camps of mercenary forces a considerable distance away from the main walls of the first terrace. In the center of the camp, were the portable buildings where various leaders lived in. Rainer now realized how little thought he put into this, by now, he was definitely going with the flow.

There were two people he wanted to find, the first is Zazie and the second is Lauren.

Though how? That was the real question.

Remembering the rarity of black demons, Rainer sucked in his appendages so that he could traverse the camp without being mistaken for Xizaen or another black demon. Just like a war camp from a movie, there were numerous tents and portable buildings of many kinds and flavors.

'Zazie... Zazie... Where in the heck are you?' Wondered Rainer as he tried his best to be soldier-like while also surveying the camp for any useful information.

Rainer then realized he completely forgot about how he communicated with Zazie last time, through the [Emperor].

Taking the tarot card out of his pocket, Rainer could feel its latent power as always. He had utilized it quite frequently lately, borrowing its power in order to stabilize his strangely unstable magic. He hoped one day he wouldn't have to rely on the [Emperor], as he did take it from Zazie. Rainer also wished he had the Grimoire with him, but that object's presence was too unsettling for other demons it seemed, and he would be recognized with it immediately, so Rainer left it at the palace.

He held the card before him while hiding behind a thick vine tree and tried to speak to the card, "Zazie? You there?"

"...Yes, my lord?" She answered in less than three seconds. As before, the voice seemed to emanate from the card and directly enter my mind.

"I'm here in the camp, where's Lauren exactly? Sure you said something about a tree, but I don't know which one it is she's bound to."

"...I believe I mentioned the largest and thickest tree around, the Yew Spirit. It was summoned by Hezazias as a sort of guard in order to prevent any except those authorized to reach its charge."

"If that's the case, how in the heck do I even get past it? If I destroy it, if I can, it'll definitely alert everyone around that I'm here."

"...I am at the service of my lord, please find me and I will give appropriate assistance. The [Emperor] will show the way to its partner, the [Empress]." Said Zazie in the form of speech I hate the most, riddle language.

The voice disappeared from the card and its power waned once more. I hid the card in my hand and tried to make sense of what Zazie said. As if I had animal instincts, and thanks to the [Emperor]'s influence, I had a mental itch tell me which direction I should head in.

Following the mental directions, I eventually found my way to the portable building Zazie was located in.

On a side note, portable buildings were structures that could look like any piece of architecture you wished and you could easily teleport them across large distances. The upsides are obvious, a comfortable and movable home. The downsides are also fairly obvious: they are very expensive, they cannot traverse worlds or realms (they must stay in the Land of Lust), and if you screw up once in the transporting procedure, you could distort or even destroy the portable home.

Zazie's portable home resembled a closed pagoda on the outside, complete with a rigid red rooftop and tiles, sliding panel doors, and even a stream and pond system where water flowed from the top of the pagoda into small pools in rocks that were attached to the building.

'Extravagant...'

Rainer walked up to the entrance of the pagoda, but was immediately stopped by several guards. "State your business with Miss Zazie, Desire of Lust.

These guards belonged to the loyal group of soldiers and retainers each member of the Pillar of Sin owned. Rainer was informed of these groups of subordinates that each pillar member had, and that each of them were assisting in some way around the city. They were all probably even fighting in the city's defense right now.

"Ah... Zazie sent for me." Stuttered Rainer, trying to scramble for sentences that may get him in to talk to Zazie.

"Do you have any proof? We obviously cannot and WILL not let JUST anyone see the Miss." Remarked the seemingly stuffy guard.

'Damn prick.' Rainer thought to himself before asking, "Will this do? Obviously Miss Zazie wouldn't hand this out to JUST anyone." Rainer showed them the [Emperor].

"That's! How did you get this? Answer right now, swine. We will not stand for Miss Zazie's personal possessions to be stolen. Hand over the card now, or face slaughter!" Yea, he's a prick.

"...[Hermit]." A familiar voice chanted out loud the name of another major arcana card.

"Eh? Did you hear Miss Zazie?" Asked one of the guards alongside the one henceforth known as "prick".

"No... HEY! Where did the robber go? You three, search for him now, recover Miss Zazie's possession!" Ordered Prick.

"Yes, sir." The three soldiers jogged off, apparently in search of Rainer, who was standing right in front of them the whole time.

'Was that another power of these cards?' Wondered Rainer, his question was immediately answered by Zazie's voice through the [Emperor].

"...Yes. The [Hermit] has the ability to make it so the user or a close friend is practically ignored by every person, unless someone focuses very clearly or if affected makes their presence known. Please, come in."

Following Zazie's words, I walked into the pagoda, going right in front of Prick's eyes. I even waved my hand several times in front of his face, and though he didn't see me, he saw something and strained his eyes to divine its identity.

The inside of the pagoda was completely different than what its oriental architecture suggested. It was as if the outside took on the looks of an ancient geisha or bridal maiden, and the inside instantly became a modern woman with a PhD and a CEO position. I saw modern, and praise to whatever higher power that demons had, furniture from Earth. I saw couches, chairs, sofas, tables, hassocks, rugs, a sink, lighting, a ceiling fan, a magic powered stove with human design, and even lamps. Just what sort of Shambhala did I walk into?

It almost seemed as if I was back home, safe in my haven of modern appliances and furnishings. If only there was network television and Internet access.

"...Ah, my lord. It has been, um, been a while." Said a familiar face and a much more familiar voice, Zazie.

Zazie resembled the same succubus since we last met, though with a different dress and jewelry. This time, she wore seven different piercings around her ears, nose, and eyes with each piercing a different color of the rainbow. An extravagant tiara adorned her head with a gold platinum mold as well as a brilliant and superbly cut diamond in the middle. Two fingers on her right and one on her left hand had crystal rings made of topaz, amethyst, and malachite. Around her neck was a silver choker with a rosary hanging around her neck where a single blood beryl sat in the center. All of her jewelry perfectly accommodated Zazie's luxuriant orange and green dress that seemed as if it was made of spun moonbeams, probably was. She also had impeccable, though not excessive, make up. She had a sort of Egyptian princess set of eye shadow and a fitting intense red-purple lipstick. All in all, Zazie perfectly resembled the Desire of Lust, especially when she desired material goods.

Rainer remembered what Asmodea said about the rankings within the Pillar of Lust, not socially but ranked in terms of "Who would win if there was a tournament or battle royale to decide who's the best and strongest". Asmodea rated herself quite humbly and Zazie quite highly: Zazie would be in first, Teras in second, the late Tozomat in third, Little Rouge in fourth, Asmodea in fifth, and Caetorum in sixth.

"Ask me now, and I still probably would have a hard time believing you're a member of the Pillar of Lust. Though if I think about it, you're perfect for the part. You fit desire, you're really damn strong and have plenty of abilities, and you're plenty beautiful, Asmodea described you to a 'T'." Rainer said absentmindedly, completely unaware of his compliments and their effects.

Zazie instantly turned a shade redder compared to her normal violet skin and appendages. She clearly remembered her divination from before. Rainer had asked, 'What am I to you?' As Zazie would not reveal her name or what she was at that time. Pulling a card from her deck, she found the [Lovers]. No matter how times Zazie performed a reading where she was directly involved with someone else, the [Lovers] had never appeared. Yet for the first time, that card showed up when encountering the young Lord of Lust. Fate had a funny way of showing itself.

"...T-Thank you. I am just a simple servant of the true Lord of Lust, you." Zazie said as monotonously as possible so her words wouldn't betray her feelings. All her life, the only partner she ever desired as a succubus was a partner of the destined sort. And her divinations would reveal that, and it did.

"Can't you just call me Rainer? Or hell, even call me by my last name, Sonian, if you want. Getting called the Lord of Lust, young lord, little lord, my lord, lord anything is getting on my nerves. No worries though, it's not a priority at the moment.

Rainer couldn't help but notice Zazie's abnormal breathing, though he didn't pay it much attention. What he was paying the most attention was Zazie's more attractive features. Rainer's incubus mind took over and observed Zazie's exceptionally attractive body. She had plump breasts, which were natural to succubi, yet they seemed a bit smaller than the average succubus, probably smaller than Aureal but bigger than Nerissa. Her curves that showed not a hint of fat rounded up nicely when it came to her butt, giving a bubbly and soft feeling. Rainer could even see Zazie's violet tail poking its way under her dress and between her legs. Zazie was also tall, taller than most of the demons he had even encountered so far. Though he wouldn't say Zazie was top tier basketball player tall, she was noticeably taller than Rainer and probably even Caetorum. Zazie seemed quite fit to be an underwear model instead of a dress model, though she still looked fantastic in her current dress. Zazie even had a set of silky violet hair that streamed down her head. It was an unusual style, the left half of Zazie's face was covered up by her hair, though her right half was bound back by the tiara.

"...I, um. I cannot, my lord. It is a matter of duty and rightful subservience. It would be disrespectful to-" Zazie was interrupted by Rainer's sudden annoyed words.

"I don't want to be a tyrant or some dictator that just orders everyone to do my bidding. Please, just call me a normal name, I've given up on many things, but I'm not going to on my name." Begged Rainer with a tired face.

Rainer had been given many new names and titles recently, such as: the Lord of Lust, Ruler of Sin, Asmodeus, and any variation of lord and ruler there could be. It would be impossible to get everyone to continue using his name, but Rainer wanted to get as many people as possible to use his regular name.

Zazie, wordless, deeply considered her lord's request and couldn't help but wryly smile. "...Very well, my lord. I will now only call you Rainer as you wish." Her plush cheeks burned even hotter and turned a darker shade of red than before.

"Well, getting to the point, can you help me rescue Lauren?" Asked Rainer.

Zazie put on a serious expression and answered, "...While I cannot help you directly, as that would blow any cover I had. I can lend you another one of my cards, which should help you. This is the [Hierophant]. It will transform into a helmet which will allow you to perfectly transform into any being you have seen previously, it is famously known as the Tarnhelm."