Depthless Hunger

"Troulon." Omilaena regarded him with an icy expression. "I'm surprised you aren't dead."

"Demonic rule has actually been quite beneficial for me." The man called Troulon readjusted the cuff on one of his sleeves, as if Kai touching it had been distasteful. "But we aren't here to discuss my life. The question is why, after being banned from the Great Library, you decide to return."

"Clearly I'm just showing my friends the sights." Omilaena smiled mockingly while she gestured to them, and in the process a needle glittered between her fingers. She was taking this so seriously, Kai got a better look at the man's soul.

Name: Troulon

Total Power: 732

Gray Demon: Topaz Rank (450)

Paper Artisan: Garnet Rank (175)

Physique: E-6 (98)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

He had over 700 Power, stemming primarily from his Gray Demon ability, and he was also something called a Paper Artisan. Judging from his soul and the conversation, he wasn't a pure demon himself, just using a demonic art. Strangely, his Physique and Soul were relatively low, as if he wasn't primarily a fighter. They could presumably beat him together, but he didn't seem stupid, so he must have allies.

If he was working with the demons, of course he did: the entire city was filled with them.

"Thanks to the new leadership, I can be more proactive," Troulon said with a thin smile. "If you truly don't mean any harm, then I'm afraid I must ask you to come with me."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not."

The two of them moved with blinding speed at the same instant. Kai could barely follow the movements, but he thought that a piece of paper slipped out of Troulon's sleeve and sliced like a knife. Omilaena deflected it with her needle and the steel bent at the impact. Their movements were so subtle that the people around them didn't even seem to have noticed that a fight had started.

Kai would ruin that secrecy with his explosive techniques, but he didn't want to leave Omilaena to fight alone. In the instant he hesitated, Zae Zin Nim acted more gracefully. Her hand reached out toward the man's next slash, almost like a mere friendly gesture.

When the razor sharp paper met her palm, blue flames flickered out. Kai expected them to consume the paper instantly, but it seemed to resist, only the outermost layer catching fire. The demon user still took a step back, shook off the flames with a frown, and then hesitated.

"You aren't traveling alone anymore." The statement seemed obvious on the face of it, but Omilaena nodded seriously as if it had more meaning to the two of them.

"And I'm not here to cause any trouble," she said. "I have no more interest in the Great Library. Didn't you always care about the letter of the law? I'm not in violation of anything, whereas you're starting a fight in the middle of critical infrastructure."

"This isn't the Commonwealth you fled." Troulon was readjusting his sleeve again. The motion seemed restrained and civilized... and Kai had no idea whether or not it was a prelude to more violence. He wished that he'd been using the Thunderbird essence, but he didn't dare make changes to his soul in a situation as fraught as this one.

Before the conversation could continue, someone else landed on the walkway. Lightly and gracefully, yet with a sense of power that made Kai nearly take a step back. It was a pure demon, a lithe woman taller than everyone there but him. She wore the black uniform of most of the others and she tilted her head to the side as she regarded them.

"Troulon... what have you found?"

"This is a Library matter, Lilaetiel." Troulon adjusted his sleeve again, but this time Kai was fairly certain that he was nervous.

"But such a delicious morsel... you can take the other one, I want her." Lilaetiel twisted to the side, head first and then body following almost like she was a puppet. Her gaze was fixed directly on Zae Zin Nim, whose eyes widened as she understood.

As Kai examined the new demon's soul, he realized that this was what they'd feared.

Name: Lilaetiel

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Total Power: 908

Gold Demon: Spinel Rank (207)

Demonic Cultivation: Earth Soul (465)

Physique: D-0 (200)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

>

Lilaetiel was a demonic cultivator at the Earth Soul stage, which meant that Zae Zin Nim was her preferred prey. And with 908 Power, she might be able to take what she wanted. She didn't possess any of the beauty of a cultivator or elven glamour, just predatory grace.

Worse, Kai could feel other demons closing in on them.

"We need to take this to adjudication, Lilaetiel." Troulon used her name again almost like a mantra. She didn't seem to be listening, her breaths coming faster as she stared at Zae Zin Nim.

When the demon took a step forward, Kai acted first. He tried a punch and she knocked it aside with contemptuous ease, then grabbed his neck without even looking at him. But Kai hadn't used a serious attack intentionally, because what they needed more than power was an opening.

The hand on his neck was trying to crush or drain him, but it failed on both counts. Lilaetiel's head twitched toward him, puzzled, and in that moment Zae Zin Nim struck her with a palm.

Somehow the demoness blocked the attack, but the ripple of blue flames still sent her skidding back. Now she and Troulon stood side by side opposite them and the crowds were beginning to scatter as they realized what was happening. The Crestguard stood unmoving around the pit, nearby warriors seemed glad to escape, and other demons were arriving.

He had no idea whether that was their salvation or their destruction. Zae Zin Nim's martial arts stance had frozen into pure tension, while Omilaena stood deceptively relaxed. Neither of them had fled, so he gathered up his own strength, ready to reveal his monstrous soul if necessary.

Several more demons surrounded them and Kai could tell they were strong, but there was no time to examine them carefully. Troulon spoke first, turning toward the most powerful. The demon was using a shroud, but Kai could tell that he had over 1000 Power.

"Lilaetiel is out of control again," Troulon said dryly. "We can't attack every traveler, especially not those from Cloudspire. We have more and more guests these days."

"That is the demonic way." The leader spoke in a lifeless voice as his red eyes swept over them. "But these appear to be dangerous guests. Are you claiming one of them?"

"I... do not." Troulon's eyes flickered briefly to Omilaena. "I suggest we move to adjudication to avoid further problems."

"Very well. This way." The leader of the demons turned away from the others and the entire group began to move through the city.

After a short distance along the raised walkway, the leader snapped his fingers and a white slab of marble floated up underneath him. The other demons stepped off as well onto additional slabs. After a glance at the others, Kai's group all crowded onto a single slab, which began flying them across the city. This was better than being surrounded, though they still had demons around them and couldn't control their path.

"That was a demonic cultivator," Zae Zin Nim said grimly. "What's stopping her from attacking me?"

"They don't always follow rules, but they do have them." Omilaena shook her head. "If we get the right adjudication that will be some defense."

"Who's this Troulon?" Kai asked. "How do you know each other?"

"He's one of the scholars at the Great Library. He used to be a simple, thoughtful man... he was a Paper Artisan more because he loved books than because he loved combat. But it looks like he decided to join the demons and he somehow thrived under them."

"And is that going to be a problem?"

Omilaena glanced toward him and shrugged. "Focus on the adjudication. Demons fear one another more than they fear their prey, so they love to get in one another's way. I didn't expect us to attract attention so soon, but this is our best hope at getting through."

Before she could explain anything else, the floating marble slabs arrived at their destination. There was a great gold and white building in the center of the government district, lit with a massive number of glowing spheres as if showing off their abundance. Yet there was something strange about it... unlike the rest of the city, there was no one moving around the building.

When they landed in a courtyard, the demons rushed them inward, not giving them any time to look at a grand hall with painting of the Commonwealth displayed on the sides. Instead they pushed inward to a large chamber with a circular floor and hundreds of seats, enough to house a large council.

There wasn't any council now. A few demons lounged around in the seats, and their escorts joined them. It was a strange sort of audience, with just a few predators scattered around the hundreds of chairs. They didn't seem to particularly respect the grand chamber, it was just a room to them.

Except for a single larger seat opposite the entrance. It had once been a grand throne, but it sat blackened and twisted. Kai felt an intuition that it must have been struck by Matiavel the Destroyer... even though it sat empty, the demons stayed away from the seat.

"Lilaetiel is stalking cultivators again," one of the demons threw out casually. "Will you get over it? You're not getting to Sky Soul like this."

"I didn't start it! He did!" Lilaetiel had been been twitching in her seat and now thrust a finger at Troulon. He was sitting in one of the lower seats around them, nowhere near as confident as the true demons. When attention turned toward him, he rose and bowed rigidly.

"I was dealing with a matter related to the Great Library," Troulon said. "I apologize for wasting your time with it. I could have resolved things quietly myself."

"You wanted to take her brains!"

"I'm getting sick of this." A shorter demoness with her feet up on the chair in front of her glared at everyone involved. "Just mark them all as off-limits and be done with it. This is a huge waste of time compared to our real problems."

"I agree." The nameless leader of the group sat near the blackened chair, and when he spoke up the others at least looked in his direction. "I saw their abilities and it would be more trouble than it's worth. Let them go. The cultivator is off-limits, Lilaetiel."

She let out a shriek and tore one of the chairs from its moorings, then hurled it hard enough that it shattered against the opposite wall. A few of the other demons laughed or sighed as she stalked out. Kai kept his eyes on her and noted that she stared at Zae Zin Nim all the way out. Demonic law seemed like a very thin protection against someone like that.

"Then are we done?" Troulon asked the others. "I can handle the details so y-"

"Wait." A deeper voice growled from the side and Kai saw a massive demon get to his feet.

This one was about as tall as he was and heavily muscled. He wore the same sleek pants as the others, but his loose shirt bared his chest. Also unusually for a demon, he had a large beard of straight black hair. When his eyes passed over the group, they settled on Kai.

"The others are strong enough," he grated, "but not that one. That one is just prey. I want him."