AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And if an entire compound of armed people come down on us with silver bullets?”
“We’ve handled a group before.”
CRACK.
“Of inexperienced cannibal cultists who didn’t understand what they were getting into.”
Paimon clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “Now, that’s unfair. They were Baptists.”
“I’m being serious.”
“Well, the throat-ripping will just have to be even more efficient.”
“Do you take anything seriously?”
The demon king gives a wave. “In Hell, everything is serious. Better to try to not let it get you down. And as for our mission, we can be serious when we get there. If this is your last time on Earth, best to enjoy it, don’t you think?”
“Enjoy this apocalyptic hellhole?”
“Oh, I’ve been in enough holes in Hell—”
Lauren?iu clicks his tongue. God, he’d really fit in with the upper echelons who have always seen Paimon as flippant and callow. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Decorum is for when I have the crown on, and even then...you know, Lauren?iu, I never asked to be king.”
Lauren?iu regards the demon king pointedly. “You don’t know the privilege you have. To be a powerful being. To be able to go where you want, do what you want.”
CRACK.
“I understand why you’d say that. It came at a great cost.”
“Did it? You went from being one of innumerable angels to...”
Paimon smirks. “One of innumerable fallen angels.”
“To a King of Hell. Not all of them get to be that.” How many are there in all the different regions? Fifty, at most? The rest are dukes or marquises or princes. Few are kings.”
“What can I say? I have a good tongue.”
“Many would give anything to have your crown.”
Paimon raises a brow, suddenly very serious. “Like you?”
CRACK.
Lauren?iu doesn’t answer, afraid of the riposte.
The demon king begins to pet his dog and go back to watching Adrian. “You could do it. I see it.” Lauren?iu stares, unguarded, disbelieving. “You could, and you’d be damned good at it. But it’s not all fun and games. It’s hours of listening to souls. Hearing their woes. Settling disputes, especially with all the different fights and shifting borders between the circles. It’s a lot of responsibility.”
“I think it’s a fair trade. At least you can say that your position matters.”
Paimon hums. “Does it? I’m not so sure. Hell is Hell. Pretty it up a little, and it doesn’t become Heaven.”
“It doesn’t need to be. There was a reason you rebelled. Left.”
“Kicked out and fell thousands of feet with burning wings, but yes.”
Lauren?iu glances from the water up to Adrian on the roof. “Do you think they’ll let us in?”
