《Hero Scout》Chapter 4 - Daario Colombo
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"Give me your skin."
Daario Colombo cracked his knuckles covered in white gloves. His wholly human left hand made the familiar popping sound. Meanwhile, his devilish right emitted a dark crackling, akin to the sounds of crushing bone. Dark as night, it ended in long black claws that burst through the fine material of his glove. The Devil's hand matched the nightmarish right-hand side of his body, his single ink-black eye, and single ebony horn especially obvious signs of his half-blood nature.
"Give me your skin. I don't like to repeat myself," he said, eyeing the demon guards. They were gaunt, crimson skinned, with a mane of green flame for hair, and similar flame spurting from their swords. Their armour was thick bronze, carved into the shape of large skulls. Real skulls adorned spikes on their shoulders, and the left one laughed as it said, "Your skull is mine, little devil man!"
The demon guard charged and Daario sighed.
He waited in his suit, with a dark chain in his hand. The demon raised its blade, brought it plummeting down on course to split Daario in two - and only then did he dodge. In a swift movement, he wrapped the chain around the demon's throat and pulled. Crack. The demon's head went limp, and yet turning it continued to grin and swing.
Daario walked at a leisurely pace, eyes focused on the second demon as he felt the rush of air and heat behind him. He had measured the reach, he could feel the distance and had calculated each and every step to be just outside the demon guard's range. Daario would not allow the demon to so much as singe his precious suit.
"Narshrig, you've had your chance!" Roared the second, charging into the fray. Somehow the demon fell for the same trick, Daario stepping aside at the last moment, snapped the demon's neck then turned and kicked. The second demon fell right into the First's swing, demon fire biting into its shoulder.
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Running up and onto the demon's back with his hands in his pockets, careful not to have his shining black shoes dirtied, Daario surveyed the hell he had appeared in. While leisurely moving side to side to avoid the demons' blades and direct them into one another, Daario searched the horizon. A great obsidian citadel rose into the sky filled with fire, surrounded by a lake of burning sulphur and ten thousand demons hunting the latest damned souls to arrive.
Ashen people would plummet from the sky, and the demons would brawl with each other to claim them. Daario shook his head, noting the winner was often just bigger. No real talent here, no capable employees even amongst demonkind.
As only the first ring of hell, Daario estimated he'd be out in three weeks if he wanted to. It would take some efficient grinding to do so reliably, no doubt a few higher demons from the below levels would come up here on occasion too.
By the time the two foolish demon guards had slashed each other a dozen times over, Daario's plan was ready to be put into action.
Wielding the claws of his devil hand, Daario ripped out the pair's hearts and got to working on their corpses. First, he needed a weapon that wasn't aflame. Sharpening their horns with his clawed hand should create the skinning knife he wanted.
"So messy, you should have just given me what I wanted," he said as one of the demon's tried to rise.
"Please, let me go. I'll serve you, I'll- uek," having located the second heart, Daario pulled it free with interest. Purple and crystalline, it continued to pump in his hand. Eyes flittering to the other, the demon who had pretended to play dead tried to pull itself away.
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"Stop moving, and I'll let you live," he said, voice cold as ice.
The demon froze with fear and didn't move a single fiery muscle.
"When I'm done turning this skin into something I can write on, I'll need to carve a writing tool. Then with a bit of blood, I'll need you to sign something for me. My new employee," Daario smiled toothily to himself, the once-proud demon not liking that one bit.
He'd like it less when Daario used his special power to write the contract.
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