The Witch's Offering Ch. 03

"How true, now open the gate, I have work to do before I come back."

Lethe smiled and threw a note that said 'Xaal's Home' on it into the glowing circle. With the demon's protections and wards on her mountain castle, the portal would find a random place nearby to open up. "See you in three days."

Xaal nodded and stepped into the circle, vanishing in a column of flame.

Lethe grinned as the light from the summoning circle faded then walked back toward the exit with a bit of extra sway in her hips. The second layer of hell was about to get a new ruler who was only one favor away from being owned by a human witch. This day had ended far better than she had expected.

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Xaal inherited the castle from the demoness who previously held her position. A masterful piece of trickery had forced the succubus matriarch to agree to a third favor just to save her life, effectively giving her life over to the upstart rival.

This was also the reason she was so extraordinarily pissed off as she landed in her courtyard and stormed into the main keep. Now she owed the witch another favor. The worst part was that she hadn't been paying close enough attention, if Ren decided none of this was for him and walked away she would still be left owing her favor to Lethe.

An imp approached her to ask if there was anything she needed. With a blast from her hand, the hapless creature was reduced to a pile of ash. Xaal looked at her hand in surprise, imps were relatively fire resistant and notoriously hard to kill. What the hell had that man done to her? Entering her throne room her breath caught in her throat as she froze in place.

"Helloo succubuss," came a rumbling voice from the man sitting in her throne.

Xaal dropped to a knee and lowered her gaze, "Milord Shai'tan. I'm honored by your presence."

"Hmmm, I much preferr thiss look to the one at the meeting earlierr."

"I'm glad you approve, Milord."

"I wass curiouss what could be so important that you would need to leave in the middle of our... ssoiree."

"I had important business elsewhere, Milord. I'm attempting to finalize my plans to become the next ruler of the plane of Lust now that Asmodeus and Lilith left to go help L—"

"SILENCE!" Her throne crumpled as the strongest demon in hell jumped to his feet, growing in size until his large black horns nearly scraped the roof of the throne room. The archdemon's voice dislodged bits of dust that rained down on the terrified succubus.

The entire castle shook with each step as he walked over to the kneeling demoness. A red-skinned finger with a black claw lifted her chin until she was looking up into his eyes. Shining black orbs stared back at her. "Azzmodeus and Lilith made a misstake. If I have your assurancess that you do not have ssimilarly poor judgment, I might be willing to ssupport your endeavorr to rrule the ssecond level."

Xaal swallowed hard, "T... Thank you, Milord..."

"Goood," said the demon, smiling as he stood.

"... but I'm afraid I will have to decline." Xaal flinched at the growl that came from above her. "Your support would lead to whispers haunting me about how I would not have ascended without your help. I appreciate your offer, Milord, but I must do this on my own."

His chuckle vibrated the stone floor, "As you wish, ssuccubuss. I advisse caution, lesst your ambition overreach your ability."

The archdemon stepped over her kneeling form and into the courtyard, a sudden rush of wind made her look back to see the courtyard empty.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," she repeated over and over as she made her way to her personal quarters. Why was he here? How much did he know? After such a high point earlier, this day had ended far worse than she had expected.