• • The House of Asmodeus
• February 9, 2021

The House of Asmodeus: A Trial by Fire (Chapter 20)

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” – George Orwell

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TODAY

“They’re waking up, beloved,” Noella warns Asmodeus as he finishes healing Petra.

Now fully healed, minus her ripped pants, Mod comments asks, “Why are they waking up at the same time?”

“Could be a magic twin thing,” Asmodeus jokes, and he releases his control over blood and bone as he walks over. 

He holds his hand out to Azale to ask her, “May I borrow one of your hammers?”

“Of course,” Azale says as she hands one to him.

Beatrix and Axel are waking up, tied back to back as they sit in one of the buildings off the side of the courtyard. Asmodeus used a spell to put them all to sleep to avoid anymore confrontations. 

As the eyes of the Bone Twins flutter yellow, Asmodeus whispers an incantation into hier Reaver’s hammer, and then slams it down right next to the furies. 

Dunt!

Axel nearly jumps and his eyes blast open. Beatrix flinches pretty hard, but opens her normal purple pupils, with them dead set on glaring at Asmodeus. Asmodeus’s spell keeps them from switching between each other even though their connection has healed after Noella severed it. 

Asmodeus is still squatting down next to them, with his Reavers surrounding him. They make someone’s dank and dark living room feel small. 

The room around them shows the damage that the rebellion in Wrath has wrought on the people. Asmodeus saw the poverty of a place that was lived in but also decrepit. Those two adjectives shouldn’t describe the same place to Asmodeus, but alas it was not his Circle to do anything. Hopefully, Satan would right this wrong. 

Such a strange phrase for one to think.

“Good,” Asmodeus starts as he smiles, “you’re awake.” He’s about to stand up, and leave Azale’s hammer on the ground, but Beatrix is already prepared to speak.

“We won’t do it,” she declared, making Asmodeus stop, and look back at her. “Whatever you want from us, we won’t do it,” she repeats more clearly.

“I want you to do your job,” Asmodeus tells her, after a bout of huffing, puffing and looking around, trying to find the strength to not just hex her mind into complete servitude. He’s thought about that, he’s found the spells for it, but he won’t do it. He looks her in the eye when he tells her, “I only want you to find and possibly kill a very bad person, something you would already do on your own.”

This time Axel tells him, “The Crusaders don’t kill for kings, we do it for the people,” and with every emphasis he puts, he struggles against the ice bonds that Asmodeus put on them. 

“I am well aware of that,” Asmodeus assures them with a squint of his eye, “but I’m pretty sure the job I have for you will change your tune.”

Both of them just stare at him, Beatrix’s glare getting progressively angrier and angrier.

“You guys remember the very short war ten years ago, between the angels and daemons, shortest one we ever had I hear,” Asmodeus patronizes, pretending like it’s nothing at all to talk to them about things they know while they’re tied up.

“We were there,” Beatrix hisses. The lack of respect makes Azale clench her fist behind her back.

“And then you should remember how everyone almost died,” Asmodeus snaps back, with the same tone, but with much more unsettling eyes. His eyes flash in a way that makes them look so wide and empty that it quiets Beatrix. 

She clenches her teeth as she answers a question that was more implied than asked, “Yes, we do.”

“Good,” Asmodeus says, “then that means you remember the man who went toe-to-toe with two Archbeings running away.”

“Is that the same guy who ran you in half?” Axel questions, trying to get under Asmodeus’s skin, but really he only gets under Azale’s.

So much so, she raises her other warhammer over her head with the nastiest look, surprising the others that she would want to harm an unarmed opponent, but she hates Wrath daemons that much. 

“You insolent little,-” she threatens him, but Asmodeus raises his hand to stop her. The mere motion doesn’t register with her, but the telekinetic hold on her warhammer stops her.

Feeling his power being used to restrain her, Azale doesn’t need to be told to back off. She brings her warhammer back behind her back as she steps back. Noella moves to talk to her.

Asmodeus turns back to the Bone Twins to apologize. “I’m sorry about that, but the Reaver of Devotion is, well, devoted, she doesn’t like immature insults.” 

Beatrix cuts to the chase, “You want the Crusaders to hunt this guy down, so you-”

“Let me be clear,” Asmodeus interrupts them with his finger, “I want Coldo to hunt this guy down, you two would just be fodder to him, my Reavers just proved that me. No, I want Coldo, he has the power, you two would just be his company.” 

The insult makes Axel simmer.

“So you decided that kidnapping and mind-controlling my brother into taking you to Coldo was the way to go?!” Beatrix half-yells, half-growls in his face.

“One,” he says with a finger raised, “technically my Reaver seduced him and then I seduced him from her,” a fact which makes Axel squirm and Beatrix nearly throw up in her mouth, “and two, would you have brought us to Coldo if we had asked?”

Axel grumbles and groans, because Asmodeus was right on two accounts, though more the latter than the former. 

“Alright then,” Beatrix hisses with a nod of her head, “if you want our help so bad why attack us, why make me and my brother fight like our lives were on the line?!”

Asmodeus’s brows narrow, annoyed by the clear refusal to talk like mature adults. “Miss Bone, I know for a fact, you attacked us first.”

“I did-”

“You, attacked, us,” Asmodeus interrupts her, with a fiery glare, black smoke coming form his eyes, “and then fought to kill my Reavers, one of which happens to be one of my lovers. They did not fight to kill, they fought to earn your respect, the only ones going for killing blows was you two.

“Because trust me, if my Reaver of Seduction was trying to kill you, she wouldn’t have hit you with the flat side of her sword. She would have taken your head off.”

Beatrix grinds her teeth as she looks for something to say. Asmodeus hasn’t done much right by these two. He’s mind controlled them, he’s let his Reavers antagonize them into battle, but he can make it sound like it was their fault. It would take more effort, but unlike the Demon King, the furies aren’t that great at having verbal matches. 

They’re much better at sitting and seething in anger, growing angrier and angrier until they can’t talk anymore. 

Beatrix knows in her mind and heart that she was in the right. She did what she to protect herself and her brother, but she can’t seem to put that into words. How infuriated she must be. 

Axel’s the calmer one, the one who can entertain notions, that I can tell. 

“Tell me,” Axel tries to say, trying to control his own Wrath himself, “why we should help you?”

Asmodeus growls to himself, rolling his neck around with a this dirty look in his eye. 

“Anyone can fight a goddamn rebellion for shits and giggles,” Asmodeus claims, jumping right to insulting the Bone Twins, “but you call yourselves heroes, right?” 

The patronizing question all begins to make them seethe, Axel’s anger manifesting in smoke even as he’s bound and hexed. They don’t answer, so Asmodeus takes it as confirmation. 

“Real heroes, real protectors, they go out and get the job down before anyone can know there was one, making the sacrifice for no glory, credit, or recognition, just because it was needed, but with the way everyone has to offer jobs to you, the way the Crusaders operate, sounds a lot more like bullshit. In fact, it sounds like you guys just take pick of your choices like a frat with too many applicants, or am I wrong?”

With her canines grinding against each other, Beatrix leans forward to snarl at Asmodeus, “You are, you have no idea who we are.”

Asmodeus moves closer into Beatrix’s face, making his Reavers uneasy. “Then prove it, and take me to Coldo before someone else gives him a job first.”

Beatrix feels something other than frustration and anger for the first time since waking up. She arches her brow, confused as to why he was even worried about that. “No one else can find him,” Beatrix tells Asmodeus, like he’s a complete idiot for thinking otherwise, “we’re the only ones who could get to him, without dumb luck.”

Asmodeus tilts his head in confusion, giving Petra the chance to pounce, “So what does that mean?” She pops open her umbrella before demanding they, “Spit it out.”

Axel chuckles, knowing that the answer would be just as useful as telling them nothing at all. “He hangs out in the catacombs, the tunnels under the city,” Axel chuckles, internally laughing at them.

“No one can find him in his downtime,” Beatrix adds, shaking her head at the fact that all the daemons around her know. After a job, Coldo goes underground, literally, and he isn’t to be disturbed. “Only we can find him since we share the place.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we have you then,” Noella states as she walks closer to them, with a calmer Azale at her heel.

“Who said we would help you?” Beatrix questions. 

“Be,” Axel says.

How she says her name tells her all she needs to know before he says anything else. “No.”

“How else are we gonna get out? Besides, once we bring them to Coldo, Coldo will dick them down worse than they did us.” Axel’s logic for his sister actually does a lot to convince, and makes Petra raise her brow.

“Did you just forget that we’re right here?” Petra questions.

Mod points to Asmodeus and asks them, “Did you forget about Asmodeus? You know, the Demon King?”

“No, you just don’t know who Coldo is,” Beatrix claims.

“I saw him fight,” Azale reminds them, “he’s powerful, but I don’t remember seeing anything that warrants all this. I still don’t understand why we need Coldo.” 

“That’s because you didn’t see him fight anyone that strong,” Asmodeus answers her, confusing everyone. Asmodeus stands up tall above the Bone Twins as he asks, “He’s a demonkin takes his power from others he fights, am I wrong?”

The fact that Coldo is a demonkin shocks half of Asmodeus’s Reavers, as such individuals are so rare and powerful. 

Asmodeus takes the Bone Twins silence as confirmation, and snaps his fingers to undo their bonds. His Reavers all jump, including Noella, each readying their weapon. Asmodeus raises his hand to calm them. “Don’t worry, they know not to resist, they can’t win,” and he says this all while looking Beatrix directly in the eye.

As the Bone Twins get up to their feet, Beatrix helping her brother, their eyes start to glow all yellow again.  When they stand, Axel is still holding his ribs as if to keep himself up, and Beatrix’s arm hangs at her side in rigid form. It’s broken, and she can’t move it.

Beatrix lets out a huff, and steps up to Asmodeus, which doesn’t make his friends lower their weapons. She sizes him up now that he’s only an inch or two taller than her. 

“There are a lot of stories about you,” she tells him.

“I’ve heard,” Asmodeus retorts with an obnoxious nod of his head.

“They said you were different from the others,” she says and she turns towards the door, but when she moves her hand to the handle she turns back, “they were wrong, you’re just like all the rest.”

In turn, Asmodeus quells it all by condescending to Beatrix. “Aren’t we all?” being sure to wrap as many people as possible into his statement. The implication makes Beatrix nearly squeeze the doorknob in half.

As he spoke, Asmodeus could hear Azale’s and Noella’s hands grip their weapons. He’s actually surprised by Noella, usually she can keep her cool. Petty insults used to fuel her ego, especially when they’re from people we don’t know. Maybe this is just too honest. 

“Let’s go,” she growls as she nearly throws the door off its hinges. 

Axel groans and slumps his shoulders. He looks up at Asmodeus who gestures him along with his eyebrows. “After you, Mr. Bone.”

“Ugh,” he groans, and then complains, “did you have to piss her off? I’m the one who lives with her.”

Asmodeus sighs as he follows Axel out, his Reavers at his heels. He sympathizes with Axel, admitting, “For that I am sorry, I know how big sisters can be.”

When they walk outside, they’re back in the courtyard where they had their battle. 

As they follow a seething Beatrix, Axel turns to look up at Asmodeus. “Why do you assume she’s the oldest? We twins.”

As the Reaver of Sadism walks around him, she pats Axel on his shoulder, scaring him and reminding him, “It’s all in the tone, dear,” as she proceeds ahead of them. Mod does the same, fast walking around them to be in front with Petra.

Asmodeus has grown used to this formation that they always break into, but Axel’s notices it for the regiment that it is. He notices Noella moving closer behind Asmodeus, close enough for her white eyes to give him an intense glare. He looks past the white demoness to see the fallen angel taking up the rear.

“Do they always do this?” Axel asks as they stop in place.

“Yeah, apparently I have a problem with self-preservation,” Asmodeus tells him with a shrug of his shoulders.

“The term is ‘definitely’, not ‘apparently,’” Noella corrects, “now why have we stopped?”

Beatrix stands in the middle of the courtyard, and kneels down to the ground. She runs her fingers across the cobblestones that should have been destroyed but somehow weren’t. She searches for the right one, and presses it, a trick button.

The ground before caves in, and slides back under the ground, revealing stairs that lead to the ancient catacombs and tunnels under the capital city of Wrath. Asmodeus smirks, realizing that this is how Beatrix caught up with them. She came up through here.

Mod looks at the width of the walkway and then looks at her sword. With a gust of wind, a new skill she’s practiced, she puts it away. “Sorry, Gram,” she tells it as it fades. 

Noella moves to stand besides her beloved, looking down into the tunnel with wonder. “I’ve heard about the tunnels built by some previous Satan. Stories say that the tunnels span from end to end of the city, is that true?” she asks Beatrix.

“More or less,” the fury grumbles as she stands to her feet, perpetually in a bad mood with no signs of it improving, “they’re not as in depth as the tales would have you believe, but they helped with getting people in and out of the city.”

Petra turns to tell Mod, in reference to the recent rebellion, “If we had gotten here earlier, we would have seen more of them.”

“Are you all just going to stand and watch, or can we get get going?!” Beatrix yells at them.

Asmodeus gestures down the dark stone stairs. “After you,” he tells her.

She growls to herself and starts trotting down the steps. Axel moves to follow first, but Asmodeus stops him with two fingers to his shoulder. “Why don’t you stay by me? ” the King of Lust tells him. “Your sister’s not gonna turn around and hit me if you’re here.” 

Mod and Petra look back at the fury’s face before they follow his sister, standing between them. 

They follow her down. While Axel and Beatrix seem to be unaffected by the dark with their yellow glowing eyes, the others can’t say the same. Asmodeus takes the chance to communicate with his Reavers, but uses a spell to do so while the Bone Twins can’t hear. “Simul nostrae cogitationes,” Asmodeus chants, his voice echoing throughout the cave.

The spell came without warning, so Beatrix assumes the worst. 

She turns around with her good arm powered up, only to be met by the point of Petra’s umbrella sticking against her throat, with ice at it’s tip. 

Beatrix is first shocked at first by the succubus’s speed, but then again, the Crusader’s response was predictable.

Beatrix then looks to Asmodeus, and see a floating ball of light in his hand. It’s this simple spell levitating a foot above his palm, allowing everyone to see the condescending smirk he has for her. “It’s only a light, we can’t all see in the dark, you know.”

Beatrix lowers her hand, and after a little prod with her umbrella, Petra lowers it. Beatrix doesn’t let the little prod go, taking the moment to stare down the small succubus, but Petra only smiles up at her. With her hair fallen down around her face and her hat on her head, Sadism’s smirk only looks more crazed.

When the fury turns around and continues to lead them, Mod struggles to contain a laugh. Noella thinks, Don’t give us away, Seduction, her inner thoughts now being sent to Asmodeus and the rest of her companions.

Mod turns around to squint at Noella, choosing to smile and giggle all she wants. Her eyes drift to her King. She compliments him, Good thinking, cutie, the ruse with the light was quick thinking. She looks at Axel who stares at her confused, and licks her lips at him. It has the desired effect of making him twitch.

That it was, Azale agrees through her inner thoughts, her inner voice a little higher than her usual one. It still catches her off guard enough that she covers her mouth. Thankfully, she stands in the back. 

Thank you, Asmodeus tells them, basking in the praise. 

Mod turns around, walking with her hands behind her back, much happier with how things have improved from before. Be careful the praise doesn’t go to your head.

Too late, he tells her.

Mod giggles out loud, drawing perturbed glances from the Bone Twins, and when Beatrix locks eyes with her, Mod winks at her, disgusting the fury. When Beatrix turns around the Reaver of Seduction can’t help but roll her eyes at how easy it is to manipulate and tease these too. You’d think they were children, so easy to tease, and with a thought to Axel, and so easy to embarrass.

That’s because they are kids, Noella reminds her.

If I doubled you’re age you’d still be barely a quarter of theirs, Mod points out.

We can’t all immature as we grow older, Noella mocks.

Don’t you mean… mature? Azale asks.

She’s mocking me, dear angel, Mod tells her.

Oh, it’s harder to tell this way, Azale bunches up her shoulders as she thinks out loud.

As they trek through the catacombs, the path turns as Beatrix ignores some turns she could have made. Petra takes note of how the catacombs grow dirtier and dirtier, smelling worse and worse the farther they get from the surface. 

Someone should clean this place, the Reaver complains, pulling her floral handkerchief to her nose.

The main use for this place was thousands, maybe millions of years ago, Azale points out.

Yes, back when there was a competent King of Wrath, Noella thinks in a hush, her disdain showing even in her expression. When the ground starts to get muddy, Petra uses the wind to levitate, and Noella flaps her wings, not willing to sacrifice her white boots. 

Beatrix notices over her shoulder, finds something to laugh at for once. The cleanliness of other daemons.

Mod notices and comments to, or really at Beatrix, “We don’t all have to tough it, some of us do like be princesses.”

“The White Queen actually was one,” Petra comments.

“Technically still am,” Noella corrects as she tries to levitate without flapping her wings, “becoming the Queen of Lust doesn’t make me not a Princess of Pride.” Azale walks and holds her arms out for her. Noella is touched as she levitates down into Devotion’s arms and the angel carries her bridal style. “My hero,” Noella says.

“Of course, Mistress,” Azale says with a clean smile.

By the end Beatrix turns her head back, looking annoyed with everyone.

Maybe now I explain why we’re even talking like this? Asmodeus asks the women around him. 

You mean you didn’t just want to talk to me, cutie? Mod mocks. 

Always, he flirts, but in seriousness he adds, but I wanted to talk about Coldo, the man we’re looking for, the demonkin.

Azale adds, Every time I saw him fight I could never tell that he was a demonkin.

Noella caresses the angel’s face with her hand. Beloved, would you have really noticed it while you were fighting yourself? She asks.

I suppose not, Azale admits, but still, it doesn’t make much sense to me. 

I’m surprised you even know what a demonkin is, Petra comments, seemingly to Asmodeus. 

There are a lot of things written in my Incantorum, it’s for more than just spells, Asmodeus tells her. 

Please don’t remind me, Mod complains, pressing her hand to her skull. 

In regards to Coldo, not all have a deep understanding of these individuals. 

First, one should remember that all the Seven Demon Kings are powerful Ogre daemons. Their power over a mere idea is so great that they’re presence never truly dies.  Seven Ogre daemons developed the magic and ability to pass down their power so they don’t sink into the folds of the universe and creating a tortuous pocket-verse. That’s how all the Demon Kings passed down their position through the ages. 

But The Seven Demon Kings of Sin are not the only Ogre daemons, just as the Seven Archangels of Virtue are not the only Archangels. These fourteen are simply the only ones who prevailed and controlled their own worlds in the afterlife. 

In all, there are 12 Ogre daemons, seven being tied to Sin, and five that are not. Those five, because they failed to find any permanent world as the Demon Kings did, never figured out how to create an heir. They do create a pocket-verses when they die. They will, and some have, fallen through time and space to be trapped in a hell of their own making.

The only way to escape, is to take the risk of taking over the soul of a mortal to use as a host. The Ogre daemon and the mortal who fell to sin will have a battle wills as the mortal’s soul falls to Hell. If the mortal’s will is strong enough, it will overtake the Ogre daemon, and steal forth its power which will then transform the mortal vessel in Hell, thus forming a Demonkin. 

There are so few, especially considering that not all of the five Ogre daemons have died at all. Coldo maybe the only one.

That being said, Asmodeus has every reason to be careful. They don’t know if the demonkin simply has that Ogre daemon’s strength, or if he has some dangerous ability. Asmodeus only knows that he needs Coldo’s help, and he needs to be careful about getting it.

I don’t know which forgotten Ogre daemon this demonkin has come from, but once we find him, don’t antagonize him, Asmodeus warns. 

You don’t think we can take him? Mod asks, her nature getting the better of her. 

Asmodeus nods with understanding in his eyes, confusing Axel as he sees everyone around him having a silent conversation. A demonkin is at my level of power, and don’t forget, Zazriel has met him too, that’s how we knew to come here. Do you remember what she said?

Mod grumbles, muttering under her breath as she remembers all too well. It sent shivers down her spine. 

Asmodeus can feel the tense emotions of the others weighing on his mind as they feel similarly. 

Zazriel said, that he does not fight for the fun of fighting, but because it needs to be done. He wouldn’t mess around, he wouldn’t play with his opponent. By the end of their encounter, she believed if she and this Coldo fought to the bitter end, they would both die.

That makes Azale gulp, loud enough that Axel turns back to look at her, and Noella glares at him to turn around. 

“I hope you all are ready,” Beatrix taunts them, as they round a corner there are faint lights at the end of the tunnel.

We’re almost there, Petra thinks.

Asmodeus does his best to relate the gravity of the situation with the tone of voice in his head. Yes, and there are no buts, if Coldo attacks us, leave him to me.

Beloved-

No ‘buts’, he repeats. In truth, there are few who wouldn’t get in the way if a real fight started.

As they proceed ahead, they come out to a cave, lit by candles. The place is filled with swords, spears, and other melee weapons in crates. It seems like this was ground zero for the rebellion. Asmodeus wonders how many of the rebels knew they were preparing in the home of the Crusaders, of a demonkin even.

This room is a different cut from the gross tunnels that had been transformed into a gross sewage system. This was a place of worship, or strategy, with Wrath it’s hard to tell. Satan must have meant for warriors be down here for a long time, and Azale can’t help but wonder what for. 

The second they’re standing in this new expansive room, Petra’s feet touch the ground. Noella gives Azale a peck on the cheek before the angel sets her down.

Asmodeus no longer needs Beatrix to lead him, so he moves faster on his own. When he passes Beatrix, she goes, “Hey,” and reaches for him. There’s the sound of the wind before the fury takes a step forward, and Gram is in her way. 

Beatrix turns to a the Reaver of Seduction merely shaking her head, wagging her finger with a devious smile on her face.

Asmodeus heads on, trying to look past the weapons and the supplies. Looking for something special, something to give him a clue into this mortal. When mortals come into the Seven Circles of Hell, they can be from so many species across the multiverse. Asmodeus wonders if he’s so lucky for this Coldo to be human, something he can relate to him with.

One thing Asmodeus notices is this armor sitting on a mannequin. That’s not that uncommon in an armory, but every other mannequin is empty, and not only that, this one only holds the torso and arm pieces. 

The King of Lust inspects the armor as his companions slowly catch up. It’s not daemon in design, nor angel, but not any mortal he’s seen. Honestly, though he can only admit to being familiar with a few mortal species.

He’s not sure why, but he gets a very human feeling from it. It’s a smooth black metal, that reflects a shade of blue in the light. Over the abdomen the metal is printed into that of toned abs, something he’s only ever seen in human or regamorph designs, but he’s leaning towards human, considering regamorphs would be taller.

What seems demonic about it is how there aren’t free spots, every inch of the wearer would be covered. From his shoulder to his elbow is metal. Around the elbow is this flimsy steel that when Asmodeus touches it, feels cold, but when he moves it it’s completely opposable. It must be magical in nature. The gauntlets follow the same pattern with this smooth black metal, and silver around the joints and elbows. 

Now Asmodeus wants to know where’s the rest of the armor. I can picture someone walking around in only the armor leggings and the greaves, but the helmet too? 

He walks further down, with Beatrix yelling at him, “Don’t touch anything!”

Asmodeus immediately pokes the nearest armor plate as he walks by it, calling back to her, “I won’t,” only to make her fester some more. 

Axel is allowed to walk with her now, and he tells her, “You should really calm down, Be,” and she responds by growling in his face, making him throw his hands up in the air, squeaking, “or not.”

Asmodeus walks further, and walks under the arches of two statues, two men with giant beards holding up a city that sits upon rock, like a mountain. 

At first Asmodeus thinks they’re the same man, since they have the same chiseled face and beard, down to a ‘T’, but then he notices the different clothes. One merely wears a tunic, and only around his waist, his chest bare, and the other wears an armor breastplate, with a flowing cape. What this all stands for, and he thinks he knows, but first he has to settle on the image he sees after walking under the arch.    

Asmodeus walks forward to see a giant statue, seemingly of the same man as the other two statues were. This one wears a body of armor, and has only one eye, as if he were the older, battle-hardened version of the god sculpted before. He’s looking for a lightning bolt or a hammer, maybe a crow symbol, something distinguish this god from being Thor or Jupiter.

Lying below the statue on a cot, is a man wearing the missing armor set. The armor legs and the helmet. This helmet compasses the edges of his face, with a face plate missing from it. Asmodeus wonders why he still wears, almost as he wonders about this man’s face with the bad angle he’s looking at him from. 

The man’s arm hangs from the side with the helmet’s faceplate on his hand, and lifts it up to press into the helmet. It’s a dark silver opposed the helm’s black. It’s smooth and faceless, but is concave where the eyes would be, causing the shadows to give him some semblance of a face.

His skin tone confirms to Asmodeus that he is human, a negroid human at that, with his black skin. Being that he’s dead, his skin is very ashy around his scars, which pollute his body from below his waist, up his muscular abdomen and up to a scar that reaches up his neck and under his helmet.

He must be Norse or Roman, so Asmodeus thinks to ask, “Is that Odin or Jupiter?”

“It doesn’t matter,” this Coldo answers, “all the gods are dead,” and he pushes himself to sit up. His voice has a filter over it because of the helmet, but his voice is still crystal clear, and Asmodeus doesn’t miss a word as Coldo cuts right to the chance. “Who are you, and what are you doing with the twins?” 

Asmodeus figures, why waste time, he doesn’t expect this Coldo to be the one to shoot the shit with him and have some kind of pissing contest. 

As Asmodeus hears the rest of his entourage catching up to him, Asmodeus places his hand on his heart and openly says, “I’m the King of Lust, Asmodeus, and I needed them to find you, I need your help.”

Coldo moves his cot and stands to his feet, showing off that he’s truly a beast of a man. Not by his size, because he’s not muscular like a Roman statue, but more like someone who trains to be stronger. The muscle isn’t lean or sculpted, it’s for strength. 

He’s not particularly tall, Asmodeus is an inch taller. No, Coldo is simply a man who can fight, and his scars remind everyone of when he once did.

“You’re Asmodeus?” Coldo questions.

Asmodeus glances across his vision, a little perturbed by the question, but answers, “Yes.”

“Impossible,” Coldo states, confusing the Bone Twins, but none of the Reavers, not even Asmodeus. They don’t flinch at Coldo’s statement at all, not even when Coldo states facts. “Ten years ago, on the battlefield with the angels, I saw Asmodeus die.”