A Taste Chaos Ch. 03

Xixian thought for a moment and then responded. "We will be able to depart back to the Capital by sundown tomorrow. It's just started the night here and it should only take a day to finish crating and transporting all of this to the camp with the number of troops we have available. We have secured 1000 troops that have volunteered to stay behind and begin work on clearing, cleaning and reconstruction of the fortress. I know you don't want it just abandoned."

Damiex nodded at that and paused for a moment. "Xixian make sure the volunteers get double pay while they are here after we leave. That's some hard and dirty work they have ahead of them and it's very appreciated that they volunteered. I want to reward our people and not rule through fear. Every demon knows that gold inspires along with drink. How will they be relieved?"

Xixian smiled widely once again pleased at how thoughtful and generous his Lord was. "When we return I will immediately organize a large caravan to depart back here. It will take a day or two to load and organize and then several more to make it here, but we will leave plenty of supplies behind and they will be relieved not only with supplies but also workers and laborers within a week. In truth it won't be that bad of a job."

Damiex smiled at that and acknowledged it. "Good, I'm impressed with how much you've thought out already, very well done and thank you. Take whatever gold you need to make sure that there is plenty of meat and wine in the caravan that relieves them. They deserve to celebrate and have some comforts."

Xixian shook his hand. "Of course my Lord. Your people are already fiercely proud of you and devoted to you. Your first major battle as the Lord of Lust and you very expertly demonstrated to all why you are the Lord. You inspired your people and saved many lives. We were expecting heavy loses initially but you alone broke the enemy. Your troops love you and are in awe of you. You keep giving them gold, food and drink and chances at advancement and it will only grow from there. You keep on the path you are on and the entire Circle will stand behind you and become the most fanatical and loyal forces in all of the Circles of Sin."

Damiex shrugged nonchalantly and replied, "I just want to improve what I can and that means the Land of Lust and all of my citizens. If that makes them happy then great, I just think it's the right thing to do."

Xixian bowed low and Damiex saw that all of his friends and lovers were bowing their heads to him as well. "We know my Lord, that's what makes you so special and why we all love you as our Lord. There had never been a Ruler of Sin like you before and we are all so grateful that you lead us. You inspire like none before you and you care more about us and the Land than any other. The wisest decision the previous Lord ever made was placing you as his successor."

Damiex heard Asz chuckle in his head at being talked about but just seemed to radiate smugness at finding and choosing Damiex. Durandal just purred and gave a sense of agreement with Xixian.

Humbled by everyone Damiex kept it simple. "Thank you Xixian and my family. I will always do my best and will always rely on each of you for your thoughts and feelings. Now I think it's time to head back to camp. Is everyone ready?"

A chorus of yes' sounded out and they gathered behind Damiex save for Xixian.

"I still have much to accomplish here for now my Lord so you and everyone else go ahead. I will report in the morning when you wake."

Damiex nodded. "Very well, but I want you to rest too Xixian. It does no good for my Captain to be run down trying to do everything himself. Delegate what you need and setup shifts and then retire yourself. That's an order Captain."

Xixian smiled warmly at him and bowed. "Yes my Lord, thank you."

Damiex nodded and then drew Durandal and with a quick slash opened a portal to the camp and walked through with everyone following him. Alizay was waiting for them right outside the main entrance to the tent and quickly guided Damiex and Serenity inside and to the head of the large table setup in the dining area. Layla and Ariel sat on either side of them and his Sins and ladies sat down around them as Alizay served Damiex and Serenity as others came in and served the rest. Conversation was animated as everyone spoke about different aspects of the fights and battle.

Damiex just took it all in and was glad everyone made it through without any major injuries. When he was done eating he had Layla and Serenity curl up in his lap while he held Ariel's hand and everyone relaxed and talked and laughed. It had been a long month and it had all led up to this, but it was finally over and you could tell by everyone's lighthearted mood. Several hours later everyone was getting tired and the little party broke up.

Damiex and the ladies retired to the bedroom and Zaxen and Cassius headed for their own quarters. This would be one of the rare exceptions where none of the Sins would be on guard tonight. Being in the middle of the remote mountain range and surrounded by thousands of troops it just wasn't necessary tonight.

*****

Several days later back in the Capital...

The wind whipped past Damiex's face as a large grin was plastered to him. He could feel Ariel's arms wrapped around him from behind and her prodigious breasts pressed hard against his back as the engine noise climbed as he raced down the streets.

This was the first time he had been able to get on his new motorcycle that Samara had delivered. He didn't know a whole lot about it but it was bright red from a company called Ducati and it was something called a Panigale V4 R. Damiex didn't know what that all meant but damn was it fast and he loved racing down the streets of the Capital on it with Ariel wrapped around him behind. Speaking of Ariel another damn was in order because she looked fucking hot on the back of his bike today.

She had on an elaborate black leather bikini top barely holding in her massive breasts and a pleated black leather miniskirt showing off miles of leg that disappeared into a set of heavy buckled and chromed boots with a gold chain wrapped around her waist and hanging on her hips. She looked like sex on wheels and Damiex was smiling that she was all his. She was currently screaming and yelling in delight as they weaved around corners and raced through the streets.

Eventually they made their way in front of the tall white marble building and Damiex parked the bike in front of Samara's. Ariel climbed off the back and quickly plastered herself to Damiex's front and began making out with him deeply. When she finally broke the kiss she was gasping for air.

"Oooooooh I really like your new toy lover! It gets me all kinds of hot and bothered. Take me for another ride somewhere private when we are done here. Those delicious vibrations are wonderful and I love holding onto you as we race by everything."

Damiex just smirked, "Sure thing babe. But you're gonna have to pay for the ride. Ass or cash?"

Ariel bit her lip and turned around grinding her ass into his groin as she brought his hands up to cup her tits.

"How about some ass lover, something nice and tight for you to sink yourself into?" She sexily growled out.

Damiex leaned down and bit her ear sucking on the earlobe, "You've got yourself a ride slut."

Ariel groaned and shivered at that before she threw a smile at him over her shoulder and led him into the boutique. They found Samara up in her office working on some papers.

Samara looked up and smiled at who had come into her office. "Well hello you two it's good to see you what brings you by today? Was that your motorcycle I heard out front?"

Damiex smiled at her as Ariel and Samara embraced.

"Yes it was. First chance I've had to get out on it but I love that red rocket, thank you again."

Samara smiled as they sat down on the couches. "I'm glad you like it, she was special to track down. Congrats again on eliminating Silence, Silaz and his ilk were a blight on the land. It's good that they are gone. I have been hearing some unique rumors though."

Damiex smiled, "Yeah, that little trip didn't take as long as we were expecting, we were in and out in just two days."

Samara smirked, "Well there's this wild rumor flying about but most people are pretty skeptical on it. Some people are saying that you Damiex, singlehandedly took out all of the defenses of the fortress in a single move but I really don't believe it. I know that fortress, it was huge and one of the stoutest defensible locations in the Circle. I know you are powerful Damiex, but not even a Ruler of Sin could have done that alone, even the Warmaster who is now the oldest and strongest of the Rulers couldn't have done that. So what's the real story?"

Damiex just grinned a silly little grin and shrugged, he wasn't one to toot his own horn. Samara turned to Ariel though who had a wicked pleased smile on her face and was just nodding her head yes.

Samara's mouth dropped open and she blurted out, "Bullshit! There is no fucking way, it's impossible!"

Ariel laughed lyrically, "Oh no it's all true Samara."

Samara leaned forward a look of wonder on her face. "Details girl, details!!"

Ariel raised an eyebrow and looked at her lover who once again shrugged as of to say 'I don't care either way' to her.

"Ok I will share, but we are happy to keep it at just rumors for now so keep this private. In time it won't matter but for now just let the rumors do their work."

Samara nodded excitedly, "Sure thing. Now tell me what happened."

Ariel leaned back and took a drink of coffee. "Well the first thing to talk about would be a misconception we all had at the start. You said that the Warmaster is now the oldest and strongest demon in the Circles now right?"

Samara looked a little confused, "Well yes, it was Asmodeous our previous Lord, but with him gone that title goes to the Warmaster now."

Ariel smirked, "No, no it doesn't. That title now belongs to Damiex. When you first met him he gave you a taste of his power, remember? Even you were impressed with just how powerful he was."

Samara narrowed her eyes and nodded yes. "Yes, I've met many Rulers of Sin over my lifetime and it was surprising that his power was on par already with most of them even though he is so young."

Ariel nodded and continued. "Well when you met him the transference and integration of Asz's power was just starting, no one expected it to grow much for many hundred years, it takes a long time to build power as you know. Well something strange has happened with Damiex, the transference is nearly complete but his power has grown tremendously. He had been hiding it from us but especially Desire who is his primary mentor in magic. Apparently he didn't want to worry us, so he kept it quiet."

Samara's eyes were wide, "Just how powerful is he now?"

Ariel smirked, "There are two comparisons I'll give you to put it into perspective. Compared to when you first felt his power compared to now I'd say that that level was only about 15-20% of his overall power now. Let's also compare the Warmaster, which was your earlier benchmark. If the Warmaster's power could be represented by the size of something, let's say that your entire store which is rather large represents just how much power the Warmaster can muster. Damiex's power would be represented by the entire Palace..."

As Ariel was talking Samara's eyes just kept getting bigger and bigger, when she was finished Samara's eyes were nearly bulged out and she had a trace of fear in her gaze as she stared at Damiex.

"There is nothing to fear Samara we are friends and allies. I'm still just me."

Samara blinked at that but relaxed and soon a small smile was on her face. "So what are you exactly Damiex?"

Damiex shrugged again, "Not sure exactly. I don't think there's ever been someone like me before. I'm part black demon, part Asgardian God, and Chaos Born. Take your pick at what may have caused this."

Samara turned to Ariel, "So what happened at the fortress? I now understand just how powerful he is but what did he do?"

Ariel leaned backed. "He called on just two spells. Two spells to bring down the entire fortress. If his goal had been to destroy it to the last brick he probably could have done it with just one spell, but his goal was to keep most of it intact and just shatter their defenses and he did that. The first spell he called a storm, but it wasn't like anything I've ever seen before. It was so black and so large that it turned day to night temporarily, but the power you could feel was terrifying to be honest. Between the lightning and thunder and the screaming wind it was like being at ground zero of Armageddon. The power of the storm just kept building and building and when it finally broke then blood red lightning rained down on everything in a blinding sheet. It lasted for a few minutes and the entire valley was blinded the entire time."

Ariel picked up her coffee and took another sip, "When the dust and our sight finally cleared the entire outer wall was destroyed and any defensible position in the fortress had been taken out as well, but the massive gate remained. He cast one more spell, he melted and ripped a meteor from the rock underneath him, a huge solid molten mass of stone and metal packed with magic and then hurled it at the gate. One moment the gate was there, the next it was simply vaporized in a catastrophic explosion."

Ariel paused and kissed his cheek lovingly as she wrapped her arms around him before looking back at Samara.

"They had 5000 demons at the fortress and we brought 10,000 to overwhelm them but expected to bring home only half that number. Damiex not only shattered their defenses but he also shattered their spirit. We lost less than 200 demons ourselves compared to 5000, he saved all of our troops' lives."

Samara was silent for a while, "I really am not sure what to say to that. There's a piece of me that is going extremely awed and excited to have a Lord that is so powerful, it means the Land of Lust will become one of the most powerful Circles of them all. But there is another piece of me that can't get a grasp on it. I mean it sounds almost like a fantasy, and in truth it's pretty scary too, that kind of power..."

Ariel nodded soberly, "I know what you mean. But then I remember the man, his heart and soul that is behind that power and it reminds me not to worry. If there is anyone who can handle it and not be corrupted by it, it's my man. But that instinctual fear you had is very real, that's why we are just letting it be as rumors right now. We don't want anyone, especially other Circles to react in fear and irrationally start a war with us or anything. Remember, what we told you is just for you to know. If you do share it, keep it quiet and only share with the top level of Scythera and those that will keep their mouths shut if you choose to share at all."

Damiex clapped his hands together, "Speaking of the fortress there were two reasons why we wanted to come by today besides just visiting. I'll just lay this out there, I want to give you the Black Fortress."

Samara jumped up spilling her drink on the table, "WHAT?!?!"

Damiex and Ariel both broke into laughter at her reaction. Samara was breathing quickly but sat back down and just stared at them. It was Damiex who broke the silence.

"Yes, I'd like to gift you the Black Fortress. I'll make this plain and easy. I really like you Samara, but more importantly I really like what you and your group is doing not only with my new projects but your own ideas and how you are improving things here in the Land of Lust. Your bringing in new technology and ideas from Earth. Your building entirely new markets as am I, but your approach is very balanced and that is what is so important to me. Yes you're out to make a profit, but that is not your primary focus. You're not ripping anyone off and you've already started working with other businesses to expand as well. You're working with the economy not against it. It's not just you getting ahead, your pulling others with you."

As he spoke Samara started to smile and by the end she was sitting upright and back straight and you could see the pride shining in her eyes. "Thank you Damiex for saying that, it means a lot to me. I took it to heart when you said you wanted me to not only succeed but to help the Land of Lust as well. You handed me a golden opportunity and I've just been doing my best."

Damiex smiled widely at her, "You've done a tremendous job so far. That's why we are going to do another round of investments with you. You and Scythera are going to grow into one of the biggest trading partners in the Circle. I want us to expand to all of the other districts and remake part of the Circles economy and then I want to grow it large enough for us to be able to trade in volume with the other Circles. We won't have any source of souls for the economy and have to trade with other circles for them. Instead we will build up new areas around human agriculture and new technology."

Samara had a grin on her face that was positively giddy, she struck out her hand which Damiex took and shook firmly before she responded. "You got yourself a partner and a deal!"

Ariel spoke up at that, "Take a few days and come up with some proposals. Our Lord is willing to invest a lot of money in this. We want you to be as aggressive as possible and ramp up and expand across the circle as quickly as you can so long as you can maintain supply and quality. Scythera needs to grow and grow quickly. Whatever you want to subcontract out and bring others in on is fine with us, but we want you leading it and holding the reins. When you've got everything together come to the Palace since you, me, Willow, Zaxen and Alizay all need to work out the plans together. You'll also need to expand your operations on Earth."

Samara nodded, "Yes that's true. I've always wanted to break into new areas, nows the time. Lucky for me I have a long time trusted subordinate who is one of the very rare and few in the Hells whose can open her own portal. That's how we've been able to operate for so long. We've stayed off Heaven's radar by not hunting souls, and we are very discrete. I think we will need to expand into Japan, the UK, Germany, and Argentina."

Ariel had a slightly confused look on her face. "Ok I get Europe and Japan, but why Argentina?"

Samara explained, "Argentina has a large cattle and agricultural presence and will be perfect for that aspect of this project."

Ariel and Damiex looked at each other and nodded. "That's just another reason we trust and believe in you. You have the knowledge and know how to put it to use. Let's talk about the Black Fortress for a moment. I already have a large caravan en route to it as we speak and they are going to start on the reconstruction. I'm willing to split the cost with you but you'll need to send some of your own people as well. I'm sure the one thing that you've been worried about is how remote it is. I want you to use it as a headquarters but as it stands it's far too removed from everything for that to be effective. I'm solving that by having a gate put in that will connect to wherever you want."

Samara looked up at that, "How are you managing that? Don't get me wrong it solves my problem and I'm very grateful for your generosity, but the gates between the circles are old and very rare."

Damiex grinned, "I've been doing a little experimenting with Amaranda. Using a combination of the magic that powers the existing gates and Durandal's ability to cut through dimensions, I've found a way to make my own permanent gates. It's a personal project that I will be deploying over time to different parts of the Land of Lust. I'll be focusing on each district first but I'm going to build a network to increase the ease of travel across the circle. Since I personally am building them though I'm keeping it quiet since I don't want an outpouring of demand over them. But I've already put in the plans for the Black Fortress and they will construct it alongside the repairs and changes you instigate as well. Here are the original plans for it that we found so you have something to work with."