Lilith opened her eyes and expected to be greeted by the smiling face of her servant with sweet scent of morning tea, brewed and served with mint or lemon filling the room, but that morning was different…. Her eyes met nothing but sheer white. She couldn’t basically make out any figure around her; it was just a vast endless space which somehow felt familiar but strangely bizarre. She tried to make a sound, at least to try and call for help but her throat was too dry and her lips were too shaky that she could not even produce a single sound. Her heartbeat was too loud in the silence, that she was afraid that the sound of it may wake any lurking monster or ghost sharing the place with her. Time seemed running slowly for her and she knew she could not stay there any longer than she should.

She scanned the surrounding and licked her dried lips before getting on her knees slowly, but suddenly her head hit a hard metal, causing her to yelp in pain. She quickly brushed her head, noticing the slight bump on the painful spot. ‘Damn!’ Lilith looked up and couldn’t help herself to feel bewildered by the fact that there was a metal plate hanging, closely on her head.

‘This is…!’ Lilith swore that her breath was held for a second before she quickly turned her attention back to her front and shocked to see bars of steel, stood vertically around her. In a matter of a second, a sudden revelation dawned upon her. ‘Oh shit! I’m caged.’ Lilith quickly threw her weight on the metal bars and pounced on it a few times with hope that she could break it. “Help me! Anyone!” Lilith shouted as loud as she can as she continued to pound and pull the metal bars until her own hand bleed. She couldn’t think of anything else but to get herself out of there.

“Hee…he…he…” A low and eerie giggle broke the silence and muted Lilith completely. Lilith held her breath and listened carefully as maybe her head was going insane. But the laugh came again and this time louder… “Hee…he…he… The cat has awoken.” The voice sent chills down her spine and as quickly as her thought began to function, she quickly screamed as hard as she could for help and pounded on the metal bar harder. The swollen and bleeding hand of hers trickled down her hands to her arms and yet, she could not stop. “Lilith…Lilith…”

Lilith’s breath started became uneven and panic took over her body and all she could see was her death. Lilith saw a pair of hand reached out in front of her but she was too scared that she closed her eyes while struggled inside the hard clutches of the faceless man. She could not imagine her life ends like this. ‘Not now and not here!’ The struggles became intense and the grip on her arms tightens as she finally has the guts to pull away as hard as she can and kicked the man hard.

Thud!

A loud bang echoed through the room, awakening Lilith from her dream. As soon as she opened her eyes, the familiar sight of her room greeted her. The red velvet curtain with decoration of black roses on its lower hem, the black painted, window pane and the the soft, comfy bed under her brought a sense of familiarity to her frightened, confused mind. Lilith grabbed the blood red sheet so tightly that she could feel her rage and fear concentrated in it. Slowly, Lilith peered over the bed and there, on the hard, cold floor, sat a tall, waist-length black haired man with eyes as golden as the sun, staring back at her. ‘Oh!’ Lilith was taken aback as the one she kicked was no more than her own servant.

Sebastian Witansweb looked like a man in mid-twenties, although he had reached more than age of triple of centuries. Standing tall and elegant in his deep, black overcoat with a single belt wrapped around his neck, loosely like a collar that revealed small part of his chest, he almost looked like a knight clad in wisdom and experience. As a demon level 2, the second highest rank of demon who only answerable to the Demon King…Sebastian had no exception. He has lived such a long time only remembering himself devoting his loyalty; body and soul to Queen Lilith, the 7^th generation of Maoh. The black, metal chocker around his neck spoke a volume of it.

“Good morning, master.” Sebastian ignored the awkward moment of silent between them and quickly came back to his service. “Today, I prepared your favorite morning tea, black elves’ blood with an oil of behemoth. Since today is weekdays and a lot of works are waiting for attention, I’ve added a drop of human soul to it so that it may calm you.” Sebastian handed the cup to the still, sweating lady and smiled reassuringly. “…especially after a nightmare.” Lilith blinked a few times before reaching for the cup. The tea tasted bittersweet with a hint of sweet, metallic taste. After a few seconds, her body felt lighter, as if the wind has lifted the burden on her shoulder.

“What’s the schedule for today?” Lilith’s cold tone asked as she slipped herself to the side of her bed while her servant quickly reached for the house slipper he placed under the bed the other night and helped her put it on.

“There is no word from ‘him’ yet. I supposed you may use the time to rest.” Sebastian walked towards the black closet and looked through the mass collection of black attire, suitable for the day. “The previous journey you had, must have exhaust you. It might be a good idea to catch up with your study.” Finally, Sebastian pulled out a black, simple robe from the closet and set it on the bed.

Lilith stared into her reflection on the black drink and got lost in her own thoughts. The nightmare that she had was not unusual. She had nightmare a lot of times and took pleasure out of it. Most demons would wake up in joy after having a nightmare. Sweet dreams that the human had, would be the one that cause a demon, especially Lilith a bad day…a real bad day. But why did this particular nightmare felt so different? Something big was coming and she could feel it... Sebastian saw her change of expression but he didn’t make any effort to say anything. The demon king doesn’t usually fond of somebody disturbing her thoughts. It is a violation to her privacy and Lilith held her privacy high above the rest. Sebastian cast his gaze outside the window and couldn’t help himself to stare at the beauty of the sky.

The cloud was clear and the sky was blue. Sebastian could see a peak of a mountain among the peak of the nearby, barren hills stood out among the beautiful, calm sky. A couple of large crow flew off, leaving the scene for speck of food to fill the stomach. It is extremely rare to see such beautiful scene. Mostly because the weather in this world changes unpredictably, depends on the mood of the master of the world. Most of the time, the sky will be gloomy and sometimes, stormy as the master he currently serve, do not like clear sky too much and prefer to be hidden in the dark. Sebastian stared at the mountain before a cloud of darkness caught his attention. A gloomy, raging sky peaked from behind the mountain before it made a full appearance. A distant roar of thunder shook the once calmed land and before he knew it, the sky poured a heavy, violent rain.

Sebastian immediately turned towards his master and expected to see her smile. But what he saw shook his body in terror and before he knew it, his basic, survival instinct caused him to step back, away from the demon king. Sebastian rarely looks at Lilith in the eyes because a demon king’s eyes are one of the most lethal weapons she has. With a blink of her eyes, she may turn someone into dust. But her orbs today, were black, almost too black compared to the normal color as if a vast black hole just resided in there and her face was cold as stone. Sebastian could see the intense, furious black aura penetrating around her body and as his experience tells, this wasn’t storm…

It’s a hurricane!

“Leave!” The commanding voice boomed through the entire room like a massive thunder, shooting Sebastian with fear and panic. The last thing he saw before he disappeared from the room was the image of death itself…

It has been a few hours since the demon king went berserk in her chamber and the castle has been quiet ever since. The storm has seized, but wool of grey cloud still hung heavily on the sky. Sebastian looked over his shoulder towards the window and bit his lips. She was carefully not to portray too much emotion in front of her subordinates and always just simply retired to her room and came back fully composed. But this was different. She lost control of her emotion. Something must have really troubled her…

As he was about to turn around and make his way back to the inside of the castle, whisk of dark air brushed through his long hair, pulling his attention towards the railing where a piece of paper mysteriously appeared on the brick. Sebastian took the paper and began reading it. The content of the letter was almost the same as the one they have received a few months back except for a few lines where new instructions and names were written neatly. Sebastian has read much of this type of letter before that he remained indifferent. He continued a few more lines before a familiar presence drew his eyes away from the white paper.

“Words?” Lilith asked with a smirk on her face. Sebastian politely steered his eyes towards the letter despite a thick smell of blood hung around Lilith’s small form. She found her prey…a fresh one too.

“A group of semi-demons are causing disturbance in human world. We are told to settle them.”

Lilith raised her brows and haughtily remarked. “Settling a group of semi-demons apparently below my league.” 

“The semi-demons were the one who was involved in Mictlan War. It seems that they have been plotting an attack towards the shrine of god. A couple of small fights had occurred between the clerics and the semi-demons. The clerics took it as direct breach of the nonaggression pact, so to solve the problem, The Truce decided to settle it at once.” Lilith casted her gaze outside while processing the new information. The Mictlan War was the most gruesome war ever occurred between the demons and heavenly beings which sacrificed millions of lives from both sides. It went on for a few thousand years before god decided, enough is enough.

 A nonaggression pact was created and forced into their hands that required both parties to make sure the lords and the heavenly beings will not create any fight and their underlings stay leashed. However, being the adversaries, many semi-demons and low-ranked demons try to create a riot and it’s only up to the demon lords to make sure they are kept in check. This adds a mountain of responsibility on the lords, but over the option to see another terrible bloodbath, they decided to endure the burden. Demon Lord Lilith who’s one of the oldest demon lords alive, never too fond of collaborating with the clerics as they often find faults and reasons to disagree about almost everything, but going against the pact meant to declare a war towards the gods and throw the demon world into an imbalance. It is highly unlikely to be a smart move to make. Thus, the Demon Lords who, previously, never answerable to anything but themselves, chained by the pact and became a servant to gods once again.

Lilith clenched her robe and cursed the semi-demons silently. They, who dare to act so recklessly and made her travel to the dirty human town just to clean up their mess…

Those low-life demons should be given no mercy!!!

---

West City, Zeaheyl. The House of Thor.

“High Priest!” A man clad in white robe ran across the corridor while waving a piece of paper in his hand wildly. Another slightly older man in white and golden robe turned towards the runner with a questioned look. The younger male stopped in front of him and panted heavily.

“What could have possibly made a fine priest to be in such a terrible state?” The High Priest asked. An aura of composed, calculative man emitted around him as he offered an assuring smile to the sweating priest.

The priest took a few heavier, deep breaths before he showed the letter. “The Dark Lords have sent a Dark Lord Lilith over. They said the assignment was made by the Truce to settle something.” The High Priest frowned before reaching the letter and read it slowly. The years of experience has taught him to look out for details. After a few minutes, the High Priest turned towards the younger priest in a slightly shock expression.

“Tell the crusaders to be ready at the front gate. We must not let the demon be unattended!” The young priest quickly nodded his head before he ran off to deliver the message. The High Priest knitted his brows, thinking what could have possibly happened to make a demon lord to visit the Supreme Shrine of the god, Thor. But whatever it was, he could imagine it was nothing good. The High Priest walked across the corridor towards a large garden where a huge fountain stood tall among the beauty of colorful flowers and plants. He touched the running water and watched at his blurry reflection before his keen instinct caught a dark, heated air behind him.

The High Priest turned quickly. A full form of a tall, black haired and eyed man, clad in black cloak with silver dragon adorned at the hem and went up to his chest and his shoulder pads made out of dark, blue dragon’s tailbone, stood behind a slightly shorter female with long, black hair clad in well-adorned, red, dragon’s bones button-up, robe decorated with crafted blue, sphinx’s large paws as her shoulder pad. Her eyes were deep black, almost too black that it seems like a hole punched into the white orbs. Her stare was sharp and filled with years of wisdoms that the High Priest couldn’t help himself but feel intimidated with. This wasn’t the first time he encountered a demon, but this was the first time that he felt such a dangerous, cunning aura came from a demon of her size. It was as if he could smell the drenched of blood emitting from her skin and a thick, inviting darkness just from her presence.

Compared to countless demons he met before, this particular, small-framed demon was indescribable…

The High Priest gathered enough courage to speak, but the female demon beat him to it. “I can smell your fear, priest.” The voice was eerie, almost lifeless yet full of sinister. “It smells…sweet.” Lilith smirked at the nervous man before slowly advanced a step. “Have you no faith?” The High Priest took the sarcastic remark defensively before he wet his lips and spoke confidently.

“Only god may make me kneel.” Lilith sneered.

“Lies…” Lilith whispered dangerously before she slowly approached the priest and stopped half a meter away. “A sin you have committed…you so-called saint.” Lilith stressed her words, taking the pleasure of watching the high priest sweated. The smell of fear drawn Lilith closer to the edge of hunger, yet her mind mentally reminded her of the nonaggression pact they have sealed.

“Only god may judge my sin, you dark spirit.” The High Priest muttered confidently, despite the fear quenched his heart.

“You’re flattering me, human. You, who never lay an eye on the face of god, speak with such arrogance. Another sin…and still counting.” Lilith stared deeper into the brown eyes before she crossed her arms below her chest in poise.

“Compared to you, a filthy demon who will never enter the gate of heaven, a man such I, only live at the mercy of the god who created us all from a smallest bit of earth.” The old man answered with a newly gained confident before he too, crossed his arms on his chest.

Lilith stared at him for a few minutes, but as she was about to retort, a group of sword-armed men clad in metal, armored robe, surrounded them with their weapons pointed towards the two demons. Sebastian, who saw the guards, measured their strengths and silently collected dark energy in his body. He was confident that Lilith could pick on it too, but if they were to wield the first blow, he would be ready to defend his master. Lilith eyed the fierce-looking guards indifferently before she turned towards the High Priest.

“You dare to breach the nonaggression pact, human?” Lilith mocked.

“My man meant no harm. You are the one who trespassed into the holy shrine. The question should be meant for you.”

 “I came here by the courtesy of the Truce. So, stand down, priest or the next topic they will discuss on is about Mictlan War II.” The High Priest thought about the threat for a while, before he signaled the guards to lower down their weapons.

The Truce is a new order created by gods consists of only the senior demon lords and the representatives of gods, whose mainly act as the guardians of the nonaggression pact and monitor on the relationship between the gods and the demon lords. Sebastian snickered silently at the idiocy of human being before glancing towards the sky. While Lilith and the High Priest shared a staring battle, Sebastian noticed the sick color of the sun at the far horizon and alerted that night shall arrive soon. Demons are at full strength when the sun completely retired and that would be the best time for the semi-demons to make their moves...and also the best time for them to catch those insolents red-handedly.

“Master.” Sebastian interrupted with no hint of disrespect, before Lilith grinned dangerously and broke the cold stares.

“This place is large enough to counter them and since this is the holy shrine, the power of Thor is enough to delimit their strength. We will summon them here, Sebastian.” Lilith stared right into the high priest’s eyes and smirked mockingly. “Under the nonaggression pact between the angels and the demon lords, these petty clerics would have no power to stop us, unless if they so wishes to break the contract.” The High Priest held his words and clenched his grip tighter. After a few minutes, the clerics entered the corridor, leaving enough space for the demons to do their job without getting in their way. Even though the High Priest felt deride at the fact that the demon lord was taking advantage of Thor’s protection circle over the shrine, he had no power to prevent the two immortals from doing what they please. So, to save face, he felt compel to cooperate.

Sebastian stood beside the High Priest in order to make sure the clerics would not do anything stupid while his master has her hands full with the semi-demons. Lilith glanced towards the sky, calculating the pace of the winds as she was reading the vibration of the earth under her feet and studied the surrounding carefully. After a few minutes, she finally touched the running water fountain and focused her energy on the element.

Water is the best medium between space and time as it is an element easy to be found anywhere on earth, even deep underground. Its calm nature allowed Lilith to tame it and manipulate her energy through the substance as to create a warp portal and forced the semi-demons into it. Lilith found the source of the particle and channeled her dark energy into it, turning the once clear water into deep black. The High Priest gasped at the sudden change of the color of the water, but made no effort to say a word. He had seen many possibilities that demon could do with their supernatural power, but this was nothing like he ever seen before. 

“In my already sullied name, with the power of the dark lord vested in me through my predecessor and the lords before him, I summon thee to this impure garden of Thor.” Lilith muttered as five to six dark shadows emerged from the water. Lilith stepped back as the shadows became bigger and crawled out of the fountains. Boisterous whispers and murmurs of the semi-demon filled the already dark sky like the growled of the dog. The semi-demons looked confuse as to why they were dragged out of their hidings and into the holy shrine. The semi-demons looked the same as their faces were hidden behind the heavy, grey cloaks.

“You called?” One of the semi-demons spoke, but Lilith couldn’t tell which.

“You were responsible for a couple of fights in the town, vermin. You have solely disgrace the order of the the Truce according to the Dark Law, Schedule 66 of Chapter 69.” Lilith gathered her energy as a dark ball formed in her left hand.

“The Order of Dark Lords has bound themselves to the voice of god. It is a disgrace to the whole demon!” The semi-demon hissed loudly. Lilith could clearly smell the scent of anger seeped through their breaths, but instead of feeling invited, Lilith felt dirty by their insolent behavior to disobey the command of Dark Lords.

“To the top of that, your action has forced me to stain my throne by standing in this impure ground of god. You, of all rest, shall be given no quarter!” Lilith’s voice boomed through the temple as the dark energy in her palm flew into 3 different paths and slathered the semi-demons into half. Two other came from different directions jumped to the air with their long claws barred before Lilith focused on their rotten hearts and turned them into molecules of air. Five others emerged from the fountain and began attacking, but those who came near dispersed into the air as Lilith stayed on her ground unmoved. After a few more attempts and kills, the garden finally freed of those vile creatures, except for Demon Lord Lilith and another one who remained, kneeling to the ground for the fear of demon lord’s power.

“Do you fear me, my son?” Lilith spoke with compassion as she walked slowly towards the shaking demon that crouched away as she closed in. “Do not fear me, for I held the womb which your ancestors bore from.” The semi-demon stopped as its head moved around as if trying to consider the call of its originator. Lilith bended over and touched the scorched face of the demon with a smile. “What have they done to you?” Lilith whispered with a tone of pity and gentle gaze. “My son, you have gone through a lot. Let this mother end your pain.” The demon stared deeper into the mother orbs as a curve of smirk formed on Lilith’s pale face, before her face twisted in disgust. “My servant has not eaten for awhile and his power so much craves for the soul of your kind. Now, be of service to this mother.” Lilith threw the demon with her middle finger below its chin, before it landed in front of Sebastian, who quickly grabbed the demon’s head and suck its soul out of his mouth, eyes, ears and nose.

The clergy looked at them in disgust as Sebastian threw the scrawny left over to the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Satisfy?” Lilith asked.

“My craving calls for human’s soul.” Sebastian answered while he bore his eyes towards the High Priest with a devilish smirk.

“There’s a cell beneath this ground where they kept prisoners…”

“Wait!” The High Priest cut Lilith’s words furiously. “Those prisoners are not for the like of you!”

“Are you saying you would not pay for our service? We have cleaned your town and yet you defy our wishes… You are really the ungrateful son of Adam.” Lilith smirked as she lowered her eyes in hostile. “Do not worry. Allow this demon to force those defiance into charity one last time and least your burden.” Lilith signal to Sebastian with a nod before the 2^nd ranked demon disappeared into air and came back again after a few seconds with his face fully colored with the elegance of whiteness and his eyes shone with the soul of those prisoners. Lilith smiled at the re-energetic servant as she cast the last smirk towards the High Priest, before both of them disappeared into the air, sucking all of the scent of death along with them.

As soon as they disappeared, the High Priest let out of a heavy sigh. “High Priest Ember…?” One of the priests asked in concern at the High Priest’s worry.

“That demon is one of her kind.”