The phone didn't ring that night.

Or buzz or glow or do... whatever it was going to do when someone was trying to contact me. You get the idea.

It wasn't like there was anything I could do on my end; there was no button to activate the mirror, and so far my hopes of a demon call center were still nothing more than a far-off dream. The only demons I had access to were Mr. Burns and Coaline, and they were busy filling out the guild’s next order.

It would be a real shame if we went through all this trouble just for my planned coup to fall through because Rel couldn't provide the necessary weapons to convince the Guild that she really did have control of my operation.

Of course, that left me in the spot of being stuck with nowhere to go. I was completely at the whims of the other players on the board.

“And here I said I'd never wind up in this spot again…” I let my head fall back against the hard stone of my cell.

It was the middle of the day. I had been in this cell for a little over 18 hours now, by my reckoning, and they had yet to feed me once. Classic interrogation tactic. Luckily, this wasn't the first time I've been hungry. No, as long as they thought these lighter tactics could bear fruit, I would at least be spared the torture.

I… had no illusions about myself and torture.

The heavy clunk of a door opening drew me back to the present. I glanced up towards the staircase coming down towards the cell just in time to see two armored men dragging a familiar face down the stairs.

“Got your friend.” One of the men grinned at me. He had a crooked nose, and I made note of that for later. “Looks like you're up the creek now, girl.”

I said nothing. Instead, I just waited as the guard opened the cell and tossed Electra inside. She landed with a groan.

“Just got a new batch of weapons too!” the other man said. He twisted, showing off the sword on his belt. “Straight from that ‘Devil’s Foundry’ of yours.”

System Messages Summon Demon has increased to lvl 10!

You've reached lvl 7. 5 stat point awarded

This time, I looked down to hide my smile. Turns out, even if I wasn't focusing on my skills, there were plenty of things I could do to raise their levels while going about my business. I just hadn't thought about it recently; the consequences of having too many important things to do.

But I certainly hadn’t been idle. Especially not when it came to my demons.

System Messages Now that your skill has reached lvl 10, it has gained a new passive, please select on passive ability from the list below. Demon's Sight -- You can now see through the senses of your demons within a 1 kilometer radius Demon's Might -- Your demons are now much stronger, and can take more damage before being banished back to the demon plane Demons Light -- Your demons have a reduced upkeep cost and draw in mana from the environment instead as long as they remain bound to you

I sucked in a breath before putting it to the side for the moment as I looked over Electra’s injuries. She was beat up, but as long as she wasn’t bleeding internally, it looked like she’d be okay. Well, probably.

Facial wounds always bleed more than you’d think.

The two ‘adventurers’ gave a few more rude remarks before leaving us behind, the door slamming shut behind them a few moments later.

“Hey.” I tapped Electra’s shoulder. “You still with me?”

“Guh.” She rubbed her face. “F-fuck you, Empress. If this is still your plan, it sucks.”

I chuckled. Normally I would have dropped her for that remark, but it seems like she was still playing ball. Loyalty deserves a reward doesn't it? Instead, I sat down, pulling her head into my lap as I gave her a second to recover.

“The best plans usually do.” I shrugged. “Though, I don't remember telling you to get caught…”

Electra groaned again. Her hand flopped back down to the stone, silver manacles flashing in the light. Looks like they bound her class the same way they did mine.

But unlike me, Electra had another trick or two up her sleeve. This might work out after all.

“Yeah well, you didn't tell me that your little waifu was planning a coup either.” She glared up at me. “Don’t you think that would be need to know information? Also,” Electra glanced around the cell, “she seems to be doing a pretty dang good job of it…”

“Yes…” I sighed. “I was expecting a bit more time, but what can you do? It's not like I can predict the day or anything.”

Electra hummed, pushing herself upright. “Did you…” She paused, giving a quick glance around the room.

“I checked.” I shrugged. Tapping my ear. For listening devices, I mean. I could see she got the memo. “No way… out… that I could find, of course, who knows?”

She swallowed, rubbing her arms. “Think it’s worth it?” She made a talking gesture with her hand.

“I mean.” I waved a hand. “You and Wonderman managed well enough that one time.”

“Well, duh.” Electra rolled her eyes. “We knew what was going down.” And they’d used my own listening devices to pass along false information.

I rubbed my forehead. Fucking heroes. They were always a thorn in my side. “That… wasn’t my best moment.”

Electra gave a slight laugh. “Yeah, tell me about it. So…”

I patted the pile of straw. “Man, what I wouldn’t give for a two-way cell phone connection right about now.”

She laughed again, but looked relieved all the same. Good, she got my message about where I’d stashed the mirror.

“I got caught talking to your kuudere.”

I blinked. “What even is a—you know what? No. I don’t want to know.” I shook my head.

“Yeah, I figured you’d hear about it from her soon enough.” She smirked.

This time it was my turn to breathe a sigh of relief. So she’d gotten Rel the other mirror. That meant, if everything was still going to plan, she’d contact me the moment it was ready for us to spring our trap.

But she’d already delivered the weapons. It wasn’t like I had a big stockpile of scrap metal for another batch after the first, and I’d dismissed most of my sea demons before I went hunting for the killer hummingbirds.

What was she waiting for?

I glanced back to my own status screen. With a quick press of a button, I could find out. Hell, with Electra here, I could probably bust us out on our own.

“How’s your hair?” I glanced back over at the hero. “Looks pretty messy after they got to you.”

Electra blinked, then she snorted. If I remembered correctly, that was the same coded phrase she and Wonderman had used to talk about her charge levels after I’d trapped them both in the trick fortress. She’d let my bots catch her when she still had half a tank, and made me believe otherwise.

That was back when I thought she was just another fashion obsessed, corporate sponsorship chasing hero.

“Yeah, they didn’t touch this ‘do.” She grinned. She tossed her head, and I saw the barest spark jump from one point to the other. “I… can’t say the same for the rest of me… ugh.” She rubbed her arms again. “My bruises are gonna have bruises after this.”

“Rather.” I looked back at my status. “Hey, come look at this.”

She glanced over, and I willed myself to share my screen with her. She read the new entries, before grinning. “Noice!”’

I sighed again. “Is it though?”

She looked at me again. “The heck do you mean?”

I looked between Demon’s Sight and Demons Light, holding back a groan at the truly awful pun. “I’m just thinking about what we’re going to need… to get out of this mess.” My demons were relatively cheap to summon, but they were expensive to maintain. Blue was the most expensive, but even two Foundry Imps and the five jellyfish demons I’d had took up pretty much all of my mana regen.

I still wasn’t back at full, even now. The band at my wrist cut my recovery rate down to almost 0. The upkeep passive would potentially change that, making sure I was ready to go when Rel got the last few pieces into place.

But what if she wasn’t putting those pieces into place? What if all of those pieces were already exactly where she wanted them?

“C’mon, you can’t really be thinking that…”

I looked over at Electra, drumming my fingers on my thigh. “Trust is a two-way street,” I said. And really, that’s what I’d be saying if I took the Demon’s Sight perk, that I didn’t trust Rel to do her job, and I needed to double check all of her work.

Nevermind that, outside of this situation, the reduced upkeep would just be infinitely better. I had so many ideas for demons, for what I could use to streamline production, to handle complex tasks like call centers, to build up an industrial base necessary to create the world I’d promised to show one girl.

The one girl I was supposed to be trusting right now.

I…

Electra smacked me upside the back of the head, and I flinched. “What the fuck was that?” I glared at her.

Electra just rolled her eyes. “I know what it looks like when you get all up in your own head.” She crossed her arms. “Like, uh, I don’t get the why of… uh…” She glanced around the room, trying desperately for a word that wouldn’t blow our whole little ruse open.

“Yes,” I said. “That.”

“Yeah! That!” She grinned. “But anyway, if you’re gonna go, might as well go all the way, right?” She rubbed the back of your head. “It’s usually how it works out the best for you, isn’t it?”

I blinked. “Is it?”

“Well, yeah?” Electra shrugged. “When was the last time you backed down for anything? You know, other than when we blew up your robots in your face and forced you to run away and all of that.”

This time, I chuckled. “I guess I do have trouble letting go.” I turned back to my screen. “And you’re right. I should know what my choices are, and stand by them.” I selected Demons Light with a mental flex, watching as the skill was added to my character sheet in its new, updated form.

Immediately I felt my mana start to tick up again, and I let out a sigh of relief. I’d been running on as little as I could manage, just to keep all the demons I needed active. It meant that my summon skill had grown quickly, even though the rest had stagnated.

I quickly distributed the rest of my stat points into mana and regeneration.

Status Unspent Status Points: 0 Physical Strength: 2 Endurance: 3 Agility: 5 Dexterity: 4 Ethereal Charm: 3 Faith: 1 Attunement: 11 Soul: 12

“Wow, Empress, your build sucks.”

I jerked away from Electra, unsharing her. “That’s none of your goddamn business.”

She laughed, holding up her hands. “Just saying.”

“Just saying, she says.” I rolled my eyes. “Shove off.”

We were both silent for a moment. Then Electra spoke again. “So, what next?”

I hummed, glancing towards the pile of straw where I’d hidden the mirror. My hand sought its leather pouch unerringly. I pulled the enchanted piece of glass out, looking into its silent depths. Right now, it only showed my reflection.

Nothing more.

“Now,” I said. “I guess we wait and see what the people above have in store for us.”

“Hurry up and wait, huh?” Electra leaned back, pillowing her head on her shoulder. “Sounds familiar.”

“Indeed.”

It was just past midnight when the mirror finally lit.