***The Infernal Planes of Lust***

***Ashley***

One strike. That was all it took to send Amon flying and crashing through a wall with enough force to make it seem like a cannonball had been fired inside my home.

The moment Amon’s attention had strayed towards Isabella, Khorne had taken his chance and charged his opponent. It was a beginner’s mistake, but one that cost the young demon. Or was he actually an old one? I still had trouble believing that this Amon was indeed the Amon Chaogenito of lore. The very one who had conquered Gluttony and spit into a Planar Lord’s face.

His newest mistake had only made his name more at odds with his behaviour.

While some of Khorne’s men rushed towards the broken wall to check on his adversary, I looked down at the contract that sealed the mating between Isabella Ashborn and Amon Chaogenito. A bond that would bind them together for the rest of their existence.

I had to assure myself that the letters which made up Amon’s name were indeed correctly written and that there wasn’t some weird spelling mistake. A name-alike, so to speak. But that was almost impossible. My daughter had sealed the contract in blood, which meant no finagling out of it with something so obvious like a false signature.

“Are you serious!?” Khorne screamed at my foolish daughter. “You would take a weakling like him over me? Just wait until I am done with the worm and-”

“So what!?” Surprisingly, Isabella wasn’t intimidated at all. Instead, she stood straight and stretched out her chin, daring to talk back the Demon Lord who was right in her face. “Amon isn’t weak. We share a bond, just so that you know. I can feel that all you did with your attack was to make him mad.”

She held up the token that Amon had given her as if she would actually use it.

Maybe she would. I wasn’t so sure by this point. I had never expected her to pull a stunt like stripping naked in front of a crowd just to prove that she was carrying an egg.

It gave me just a little bit of satisfaction to find out that my line wouldn’t lose out on a succubus descendant. There were already too few of us. But the way Isabella had gone about it spoke of short-sightedness.

At least her threat gave Khorne pause for long enough that something else distracted him.

A scream drew our attention and Isabella used the chance to dash away, towards the protection of Amon’s minions who had also drawn weapons of their own. They had arranged themselves back to back with Kasdeya, Claire, Danielle, and Felicia. Which only proved to me that the four of them were in on this mess.

I narrowed my eyes, only now realizing how foolish I had been. If anyone would have been able to ‘misplace’ that historic record, then it would be Claire.

Isabella finally reached their protective circle and joined them. At least the meddling child had some shreds of common sense left.

I turned my attention to the hole in the wall and watched as a severed torso came flying out, creating a trail of guts and blood. One of Khorne’s men had found the soul mage – alive and angry as it seemed.

Then Amon stepped back into the ballroom and spread his wings wide. The smile on his face was unnerving, especially because most of his right cheek was missing. Khorne’s fist had hit him with enough force to rend flesh from bone.

But as I watched, the flesh knit itself back together while broken teeth were pushed out of his jaw and replaced by new ones, showing Amon’s enlarged canines in all their wicked glory.

One of Khorne’s men was struggling while Amon held him up with one arm. The minion’s form withered away and died in the soul mage’s grasp, the life seemingly being sucked out of him. Feeble hands clawed at Amon but were unable to reach his face.

“I thought this was a duel?” Amon croaked with a strange new inflection to his voice. “Aren’t you taking me seriously, Khorne?”

I wasn’t sure whether this new undertone in Amon’s voice came from the injury or if there was something darker at play. It sent shivers down my spine nonetheless.

The soul mage’s aura had also changed, reminding me of the untamed chaotic regions that surrounded the relatively orderly Infernal Planes. They were the border zones where the Infernum ended and gave way to a far more sinister place that knew no rules.

The minion’s struggles stopped and Amon dropped the body.

Its withered remains shattered on the floor, leaving nothing but a pile of dust.

“I am Amon Chaogenito! The Slayer! Eater of Souls! I conquered Gluttony and scorned the Planar Lords! And you are badly mistaken if you think Isabella to be yours!”

Then Amon moved and it was like an explosion had gone off inside the ballroom. I could barely comprehend the after-image of his clawed hand grabbing onto Khorne’s face while their weapons clashed. A shower of sparks flew through the room, forcing me to back off and cover my eyes.

And then the two of them were gone.

The castle’s protective wards transmitted the consecutive shock waves of the two of them punching through four of the castle’s inner walls directly into my body, and then they broke through the outer wall and were gone from my awareness – out into the storms.

“Aah…” I couldn’t help but let out a sound of agony as I felt my metaphysical body being torn.

“Mother!” Hellith caught me by the upper arm and prevented me from falling while I concentrated on the wards to quickly patch the hole and restore the castle’s structural integrity. No matter the architectural craftsmanship, if the castle’s magical protections failed it would be just a very short question of time for the storms to grind the castle to dust.

I would have preferred if the wards weren’t linked directly to me, but there were few other choices when someone wanted to maintain a structure like this in the open.

“Are the wards failing?” Hellith asked with more than a little unease in her tone.

For a moment, I wasn’t sure. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to handle the two idiotic men making a return trip through the castle. It was hard enough to block the occasional skyscraper-sized boulder that threatened to smash my home to smithereens.

But when nothing happened for a few more tense seconds, it seemed like the two had taken their business outside.

Once I was sure that the magical reinforcements would hold despite the damage that had been done, I grit my teeth and steadied my feet. “You can let go now, Hellith. If people would just stop messing up my castle, that would be wonderful.”

Hellith quickly let go of me and took a step back.

When it seemed like the violence had ended for the moment, Isabella left the protective circle of Amon’s minions and approached me. “Mother, I-”

I held up a hand to stop her with a decisive gesture. Right now was not the time for excuses or apologies. I would get to the bottom of who was involved in this mess and see to it that all of them would receive their due.

Right now action was required. I had to somehow save this mess – if that was possible.

There was only a short time window for me to act while Khorne was occupied with Amon.

Though... I stopped myself; I shouldn’t dismiss the possibility that Amon might actually win.

‘Everyone!’ I sent out a mental command to all of my daughters. ‘Leave the ballroom with haste and block all the exits, but don’t warn Khorne’s minions! Now!’

“Wha-”

Isabella wanted to ask something, but Hellith quickly prevented her from doing so as she flew bodily into her and covered her mouth. She dragged Isabella to Amon’s minions and ushered them towards the hole that Amon had created when Khorne punched him through the wall.

My daughters silently retreated, abandoning Khorne’s men where they stood. It was a quick and silent exodus that happened if not organized, then at least decisively.

They knew better than to disobey my orders.

Next, I sent another mental command towards Irkos, not knowing whether it would reach the recipient. Maybe it was possible to stop the worst from happening.

One of Khorne’s men approached me. “Mistress Ashley, I believe something might be afoot, because-”

He didn’t manage to get any further, because I summoned and buried the assassin’s soul dagger inside the demon’s chest, then retrieved it in the same, smooth motion.

The crowd was still confused by the most recent developments and my daughters’ silent retreat, so Khorne’s minions didn't realize right away what I was doing.

Smiling as if nothing was wrong and letting my aura loose, I managed to approach four more of the dazed males before Khorne’s men comprehended that a Demon Lord was going rogue right in their midst.

But by that point, my daughters had barricaded the exits and evacuated Amon’s minions.

***The Infernal Planes of Lust***

***Amon***

Shoving Khorne’s head through several walls was very satisfying. It had been a long time since I was able to let loose without holding back. My last training session with Ex’Zibril had been too long ago and my own minions just weren’t up to the task. They managed to put up a decent fight if they ganged up on me, but it just wasn’t the same as single-combat.

We exited the castle through a final wall and I immediately felt shards of ice needling away on my skin. But instead of retreating, I screamed and pushed onwards, through the storm, right until I buried Khorne’s head in what appeared to be a rocky cliffside.

It was hard to tell for sure where we were exactly since the range of sight out here was restricted to a few metres.

Khorne finally managed to gather his wits and struck out with his free hand while he simultaneously untangled his sword from its stalemate with Myriad Deaths.

My weapon had taken the form of a halberd, but the shorter reach Khorne’s weapon allowed him to slide his blade past Myriad’s shaft.

I beat my wings, quickly floating backward and out of his reach as I used telekinesis to guide Myriad.

Somehow, Khorne managed to block all strikes while he forced his way out of the cliff. He looked furious, to say the least.

One more time, Myriad was blocked and then Khorne threw a spell at me. Ghostly chains of light tried to entangle me, but thanks to my enhanced senses I could see the threads of power that Khorne used to guide the spell. I pulled on the magic that connected him with the chains and he lost control.

I gathered power, remembering Ex’s lessons to ignore the fancy stuff. During combat amongst equals, there was no time for abilities without immediate effect. My ball of energy released and shot at Khorne, guided by my telekinesis.

Khorne screamed and punched my attack, dispersing it as if I had shot a ball of water at him.

Then he vanished and Myriad sliced through empty space.

Something struck me from behind a moment later and I felt my magical protections buckle beneath the assault.

Roaring, I turned, my tail slicing at Khorne. The tail-blade caught his upper thigh before he vanished once more, drawing blood.

At the same time, Khorne’s sword had cut my upper arm, sending an icy chill through my flesh.

I didn’t even bother to hide my regenerative abilities this time and simply ripped the affected flesh out. Then I sped along the cliff’s side, hoping to buy myself a few precious seconds to regenerate while I tried to sense Khorne’s aura. His ability to vanish without a trace was highly bothersome.

A tug in the magic around me was the only warning before my shields were tested once more and I was sent hurtling across the ground.

The wind and ice all around me were disorienting, but I was aware enough to orient myself so that I could land feet first on a gigantic boulder that was blown along by the storm.

I pushed myself off, towards where I suspected Khorne to be. Myriad came slicing out of a snowdrift and found its target.

My adversary managed to deflect my weapon once again but had become visible in the process. Feeling euphoric for having seen through his spell, I was right on top of him and grabbed the hand that held his sword while I laid into him with my fist.

I wasn’t a fan of using internal mana manipulation for brute-force combat, but Ex’s methods had a certain appeal at that moment.

Khorne retaliated in turn, and for a few long seconds, we were just two barbarians punching each other like there was no tomorrow. Fists flew and tails slashed as we tried to cause as much damage and pain as possible.

Then Myriad returned from its trajectory and Khorne kicked out, separating us once more.

I caught my weapon this time and kept it close while we re-engaged.

A short series of blows followed before we both had to evade a house-sized boulder that threatened to crush us. Khorne disappeared in the storm and the next few moments I had to fight for my life as the storm seemingly intensified.

The ice tried to scrape the skin off my flesh and a series of demon-sized rocks tried to brain me. I could have probably tanked a few of them with my shield alone, but not when they kept coming like droplets of rain.

We have to get out of here. Look down to the ground. Use the trenches that the larger rocks are digging as cover!

It felt humiliating that I had to hide from a force of nature, but the other was right. Staying in the open was impossible.

As soon as I reached the trench, I felt the tug of Khorne’s magic once more and the Demon Lord materialized in front of me. He didn’t even bother to strike at me from the shadows this time.

“Look at you.” Khorne sneered. “You can’t even hold yourself together out here. You look like a bundle of torn clothes, just that in this case, your skin is the cloth. Hahaha!”

I touched my collarbone and felt only raw flesh since the storm had taken its toll on me. The pain was bad, but I was holding it together.

The other kept supplying me with its special brand of chaos magic, just as he had done when we had fought the titan. We had cast the spell as soon as Khorne had sent us flying out of the ballroom. Only that this time around, I was in complete control.

After hours of trying to blend ourselves together and to use our body as if we were one mind, this felt almost natural.

Khorne kept on monologuing, even though he also looked a little worse for fear. One of his eyes was closed and bleeding from when I had delivered a good one with the knuckle of my fist. My tail-blade had inflicted numerous cuts and scratches, but nothing truly incapacitating.

“…you are a fool to play that little succubus’s guardian. Do you believe yourself to be something like a chivalrous knight? You should know that she is only using you. That’s what succubi do and you are a fool to play along to her tune!”

“Yeah, yeah.” I spit a mouthful of blood on the ground in front of Khorne, enjoying the moment of relative peace that the trench provided. The blood was frozen before it touched the ground and the howling winds that still managed to get past the trench's protection dragged it away.

I screamed right back at Khorne, trying to make myself heard over the storm. “Keep on yammering about how the world is using me. At the end of the day, what’s between Isa and me is our business. We demons are using each other, that’s how the Infernum works.”

Then I smiled. “And I must say that Isabella and her sisters have given me plenty of fun in return. In fact, they shared my bed each night since I came to this castle thanks to you. It’s a shame that I have to kill you now since I really don’t have anything against you aside from you trying to lay your claws on my woman.”

“I will kill you for this,” Khorne growled. “Very slowly.”

I readied Myriad Deaths once more. “You may try, but you will fail. I have denied the Planar Lords and laughed in a god’s face. And once everything is said and done, I will be the one who decides my own end. Someone like you is the least of my concerns.”