Hell's Consort

Newest Chapter of Highest Tier (May 2022)

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Archdemon of Sloth

Prince Sloth from the Seventh Circle of Hell

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It appeared like thousands of demons had found their hideout and planned to attack.

Sloth paused from his manic pacing to look at Archangel Azrael and gestured at the door.

"Can you sense that?" He whispered alertly, feeling the adrenaline rushing inside of him.

As she tried to weigh the level of danger in this situation, Archangel Ariel closed her eyes as if she was trying to tune into something.

In that few seconds where she had pursed her lips in concentration, golden marks of swirls, sacred geometric shapes and angelic symbols glowed in her pale face, neck and hands.

She must communicating with her fellow Angels, trying to figure out what had already happened outside.

"The demons are trying to burn down the Autumn Palace with Hellfire and bury us here." Archangel Ariel informed everyone as he wiped the sweat trickling in his brow.

He was already feeling the heat of the Hellfire roasting the room from the outside if that strange burning smell was an indication.

The birth attendant remained silent as she coaxed Lune to bend her knees and spread her legs before adjusting the drape over her abdomen.

"How did the Demonic Legion found us?" If Sloth wasn't mistaken, Archangel Azrael told him that Beelzebub and Luxen were defeated in the Archdemon Tournament. Why? "Did Lilith manage to control the remaining Legion now that Luxen was gone?"

It must be a coincidence. There is no way that Lilith could have summoned these demons when she was trapped in the Emerald Room."

Like him, Archangel Azrael had to do a double take at the Empress, who had her arms strapped down to a T-position away from her sides unto the bed post, to make sure that the sedative had made her unconscious throughout the procedure.

"She didn't even had the strength to untie her wrists from the ropes." He noted. "She wasn't in control now."

Hopefully, she wouldn't feel any pain from this and Lilith wouldn't just wake up out-of-the-blue and interfere.

"The Dukes of Hell were next to the Demon Hierarchy. Maybe, those high-ranked demons have caused this." Archangel Ariel said.

Groaning as if he was the one in pain, Sloth closed his eyes shut and winced when he made the mistake of glancing at Lune's direction again.

Nevermind.

It was too late since he had already seen what the birth attendant had done next.

After the initial incision the birth attendant had expertly made on Lune's lower abdomen, the sharp scalpel in her hand carefully slashed a second incision to open her uterus.

She had used a variety of these instruments in cutting through multiple layers of her body--skin, a bit of fat, abdomen and the uterus--to reach the babies.

She had taken great care not to injure the fetuses now that the princess' membranes had been ruptured.

Out of concern, Sloth had positioned himself near Lune's head so that he could provide support by offering a drop of blood for her to drink from a cut on his fingertip to prevent excessive bleeding.

He must have done the right thing because Archangel Azrael didn't stop him from doing so.

The emerald floor throbbed, their legs shaking from the sudden earthquake.

Some of the Angels had hovered even if the birthing chamber could barely accomodate the span of their wings.

Sloth had heard the thrumming noise from the ceiling.

When glanced up, he spotted a long crack that was about to collapse and fall over their heads in a minute.

"We must hurry. Ariel! Encase the walls with ice so that the Hellfire wouldn't melt the precious emerald crystals. I will attempt to feed the Empress with the magic fruit again once your ice magic becomes stable."

Archangel Ariel nodded.

She raised her arms at shoulder level and the air temperature inside the Emerald Room lowered.

Through sheer angelic power, she manifested extremely thick, rigid and durable ice walls around them to defend them from Hellfire just like what she did to the Garden of the Four Seasons.

The atmosphere sorrounding Lune's limp figure remained cool, keeping her tissues moist from the enemies' heat.

"Cherubims. Help your fellow Angels outside in defeating the stray demons. I only brought a few of you with me here so as not to draw attention--"

Sloth cut him off. "Not that effective, aren't we, Archangel? Your carelessness must have led them to trail after you." The insult was deliberate on Sloth's part. "You have endangered Lune's life."

"Shouldn't you do something about that as a Familiar instead of blaming me?"

Wide-eyed, Sloth pointed at himself innocently. "You mean, me?"

"Yes, You. I have Angels from my Legion stationed outside to guard the Autumn Palace. You should help the Cherubims in destroying those who wish to harm your Mistress even if it's your own Kind."

Sloth's voice rose in anger. "Just because you told me that, doesn't mean I should do it."

Where does your loyalty lie? You had a blood oath with this woman that you will keep her safe." Archangel's response was cold.

Sloth had kept Lune safe the whole time he had been with her as an Archdemon Familiar.

This Azrael had no right to judge and attack him when he just got here.

"You do know a lot of things, Archangel. Why are you even doing this to my sister?"

Archangel Azrael paused just to turn his head towards him in frustration. "This isn't the time--"

"Tell me just one thing why Lune's childbirth required an Archangel's interference." Sloth began. His aim wasn't to distract the Archangel and endanger Lune. He only wanted for his questions to be answered and he thought it was the perfect time to ask. "The Three Fates had already predicted she would die."

Do you want her to die?"

Sloth's eyes went wide. "Of--of course not."

The Emerald Room was busy as one Angel assisted the birth attendant by handing over the birthing instruments she needed, the other had stretched the incision to either sides wide enough to pull out the newborn babies while the remaining one had to separate the abdominal muscles before holding the uterus open with his finger to protect the any part of the twins from unintentional injury caused by the sharp tools.

Suddenly, Sloth had heard suctioning and immediately checked where the sound came from.

Archangel Azrael had suctioned some yellowish liquid from Lune's stomach by manipulating its flow with the palm of his hand, transferring it to another empty container, to make enough room for the birth attendant's hand to extract the newborns.

"It's more important to me that this woman's babies are born and that she is alive." He replied as he focused on his task. "Will that be enough as a reason?"

Do you know her personally? Have you met before? Are you to help her and what are you to her?" He fired so many questions at him that his words tumbled over each other. "What are your motives?"

"You should go outside." Archangel Ariel, the caretaker of the Garden of the Four Seasons and the female angel from Ourania's painting, interrupted them with gritted teeth.

Sloth turned to smile at her, finding her irritation amusing. "You are not my master."

"Suit yourself." Archangel Azrael sounded bored yet disappointed. "If I wasn't so busy here, I would have--"

"Azrael! Be careful with the fluids!" Archangel Ariel warned. "You almost spilled them back inside."

Archangel Azrael's lips had pressed into a mullish line

Sloth couldn't use his magic in the Emerald Room, anyway.

Should he kill his fellow Demons and make himself useful?

Without his knowledge, Lune had changed him for the worse and all he wanted was to return at that particular moment where he wasn't a Familiar yet.

It was time to act like he didn't give a f*ck just like what he used to do in the past.

"My bad for distracting you. I shall go outside and leave."

Archangel Azrael told him for the last time. "Announce to my Angelic Legion that you are the Empress' Familiar."

Compelled to deliver the last word, Sloth had to turn around to face him. "Do you get a kick out of annoucing my slavery to the Angelic Race, Azrael?"

Azrael couldn't be bothered to respond so he just gave him a half-shrug.

"I am leaving my Mistress' life and the children entirely up to all of you." He opened the door before giving them a graceful bow, "Please don't break my heart."