The Lost Lord Ch. 11

You know that moment where you get so into something, let's say a book or a movie. You get so into it, you dream about it that night. That dream is the most surreal and realistic dream you've ever had, and then you wake up, realize it was a dream, and you get ready for the day. Well, Rainer is not having that moment right now.

No dream or CG infested movie could compare to the sights Rainer was seeing. People, buildings, and nouns of all sizes swarmed Rainer's eyes. Demons of all shapes and sizes walked to and fro across the streets, some quickly and others at a leisurely pace. Rainer took his time to admire the sights, clearly looking like a tourist. A building next to him had an ebony spire along with plants on the rooftops around it, something akin to the Hanging Gardens. The city mostly reminded him of, or at least the area he was in at the moment reminded him of Istanbul in the 1600s. Every now and then, Rainer entered a new "region" of the city; each region seemed to resemble different areas around Earth. One area a 1200 British community, another area was filled with architecture somewhat resembling Aztec and Mayan culture, and a third area contained buildings and whatnot he couldn't recognize, most likely native demonic culture.

Throughout the streets, Rainer noticed something about the buildings. There were a large amount of brothels. Each one Rainer passed was either what you would expect of a normal brothel, or a particular one catered to a certain fetish or "group" of people. He passed one, and several of the women plying their "wares" waved and gestured towards him seductively. Each of those places looked visually enticing, wafted a sweet smell, or you could hear the moans of a vocal copulation.

He also noticed that it wasn't uncommon for the male and female demons to go the bare minimum of clothing, or without any clothing at all. In fact, he even noticed several demons engaging in certain sexual acts in areas less traveled by the people, alleyways, corners, or behind large objects. There was a good number of succubi were selling themselves their clients, even a handful of male demons selling themselves. It was truly a free city. Rainer could safely say this was probably one of the most lax cities in the area, or all the circles... Except for the sloth demons.

Rainer sat down on a stone bench in order to rest his legs. Sights like these almost made him glad he left his life on Earth to come here, who knew places like this existed except for the ones who lived in them... Of the denizens of the city he saw, the majority were succubi and incubi. However, Rainer saw plenty of demons without wings, or horns, or tails, or even none of those appendages at all. Those ones must of had them hidden like Rainer did. Anonymity must be hard with distinguishing features like those.

Rainer focused on one rather fat demon, it had a diminutive tail as the sole demonic appendage Rainer could see. The demon must have had strong legs in order to support its large body, its arms were longer than normal, and its face was just as large as its body. The demon was colored tan, a normal color. Instead of lust, which Rainer expected to feel from a citizen of the Land of Lust, Rainer felt gluttony. He didn't know how he was "feeling" the sinful auras from each individual, but he noticed that if he focused on one demon in particular, he could tell what sin a demon was aligned with. In any case, that particular demon completely resembled what Rainer would expect of a demon from Gluttony. Apparently one didn't have to be of Lust's decent in order to be in the Land of Lust, which should have been obvious as each of the circles are connected by portals; so obviously demons of other circles could enter another circle.

After observing a couple more demons, an interesting event happened. Two demons met up in the middle of the square, near Rainer's bench, and began to converse.

The first demon was a blue demon, blue skin and appendages, wings, horns, and tail. It was an Incubus of Lust. He was also very slender, though Rainer noticed toned muscles on the uncovered parts of the body. Rainer also saw that he was holding onto a plain staff. The second demon was brown; it had horns and a tail but no wings. Rainer felt Wrath emanating from it. He was well built and looked experienced in combat. A large scar decorated his left shoulder. He also wielded a shield and sword, both of which were fastened on his back.

The first demon began to speak, "So, Avandar, I honestly didn't expect to see you here this fine day. I could have sworn you despised the Tension District in whole." Apparently the area Rainer was in was called the Tension District.

Then the second demon named Avandar spoke in a slow and rough tone, "I damned do, and my first defeat was in this very square. Thanks to you. Now let's just get this over with. I'm damned eager to get back to Gaarde."

"Now now, Avandar, you don't just rush things like this. We take it slow, and quicken the pace, and then at the peak, its over." Sexual innuendos from a demon of Lust, Rainer wasn't surprised, and apparently nor was Avandar.

"Get that damned talk back to the brothel. I'll have none of that here. I'm expected back at Black Steps, so let's get this over with." Avandar reached for his sword and shield, sword on the right and shield on the left. "I can't stand having a loss over my shoulder, I wanted to end your damned existence on the same spot you beat me last time, Cairz."

"So you say, but can you achieve? Very well, one of us will be ended here." A duel to the death, Rainer was morbidly interested. The first demon named Cairz readied his staff into a martial arts type position.

The people around the square made room for the two demons and gathered around to watch. Two succubi sat down on the bench with Rainer, but they were focused on the fight. Rainer could hear bets being made on the side. It was apparently commonplace to see a fight every now and then in the streets of this city.

A demon walked out from the crowd and spoke, "If it's all right with you two, I'll mediate the duel."

"Agreed." Said the two demons simultaneously.

The mediator placed his hand in between the two duelers. He yelled out, "OK, FIGHT!" He lifted his arm and retreated back to the crowd.

Avandar landed the first blow. He twisted around in high speed and lashed out with his sword, he kept his shield centered on his body to guard and unarmored spots. Cairz simply raised his staff and blocked the blow, he twisted himself and struck out with the end of his staff, and then he twisted the staff to attack with the other end of the staff. After Avandar blocked both blows, he lashed out with his shield to bash his opponent.

Cairz ducked and then yelled out, "Burning spirits! Lend me your power, lash out in the form of a deadly claw!" Fire came out the end of his staff in the form of an arm with claws. The fire claw grew and reached out to lash at Avandar. The Wrath demon wasn't fazed, instead he stepped back and took a deep breath, a very deep breath. He then blew out the air with the force of a small hurricane. The fire claw went out, Cairz frowned but didn't budge a step from the gale.

Avandar unleashed a flurry of blows with his sword. Most were either dodged or blocked, but one managed to scrape the clothing and skin of Cairz, causing him to bleed. Cairz then swept his staff up and knocked the blade out of his way. He thrust forward with the tip of his spear. Avandar punched with his shield and knocked the thrust away. Cairz brought his staff back and pushed Avandar backwards a couple steps while jumping back himself a couple meters.

Cairz shouted out another incantation, "Staff! Lose cohesion! Burning spirits possess and empower this staff!" Cairz was forced to nimbly dodge a blow at the end of the incantation, as Avandar strongly slashed at his opponent in an attempt to disrupt the incantation. The staff immediately went limp after the words and began to glow a soft red-orange.

Cairz seemed unaffected the heated limp staff in his hands. Like a whip, Cairz flailed around wildly, attempting to disorient and land a blow on Avandar at the same time. Avandar couldn't keep up with the whip like staff and covered his head and neck with his shield. Cairz crouched down and swept at Avandar's legs. The whip wrapped around the legs and Cairz pulled, Avandar fell on his back and received burns on his legs. Cairz looked down on Avandar and yelled out, "Burning spirits! Lend me a dragon's breath to scorch and raze!"

During the incantation, Avandar took in another massive deep breath as a last resort. His shield would only protect part of his body; the rest would be scorched and crippled. Both fighters let out their breath, large amounts of fire flowed from Cairz's mouth, a cyclone of air came out from Avandar at the same time.

"Ach! Hah... You penetrated me... I'm out, see you later..." Rainer and the crowd of people was surprised to hear those words come out of Cairz, it looked as if his breath of fire was about to win. Avandar had thrust his sword into Cairz's throat, causing the now lifeless body to bleed on Avandar.

"Damned innuendos to the end. At least I'm done with him." Said Avandar as he pushed the dead body off of him. He pulled his sword out of the dead body and fastened it as well as his shield to his back.

The majority of the crowd began to cheer. Some were handing bags, of what Rainer assumed currency, to other demons, as they must have lost their bet. He managed to snag bits of commentary about the fight just now. "Pretty skilled fire mage there." "Yea, never saw a dragon's breath attack that large in quite awhile." "Black Steps got some pretty skilled people with them." "The guy got overconfident was he had that fellow on the ground, mistake right there."

"This is... Quite the city." Mumbled Rainer under his breath. He got up and dispersed with the crowd into the streets. He eventually came to a stone building with a canvas covering the front of the building. Rainer noticed a sign on the building and read it, "'Humanesque'... I am hungry, I never would've expected to see the deliciously simple and fat food of my homeland."

"Hmmm? You looking to have some of food?" A voice called out from the inside of the building. Through an opened door, Rainer could see an Incubus staring at him. The Incubus was dark green and had all of his appendages out. Apparently demons came in all sorts of colors, Rainer had seen an entire rainbow of demons around the city. "C'mon in, I'll give you a drink on the house."

Rainer was unsure on whether to take up the seemingly kind demon on his offer, but he saw no harm in it. He walked in to see an extremely well furnished establishment. He didn't recognize most of the objects in the building, but he saw some things he remembered from Earth. There were a couple other demons eating plates of food. Each was eating a delicious item of food any human could find at a roadside establishment meant for truckers and travelers. "I didn't expect to see food like this in this city." Rainer confessed to the apparent Incubus who called him in.

The Incubus prepared a drink with bubbles coming out... A soda? Wondered Rainer. "Here have it, this is apparently a popular drink in the human world."

Rainer took a sip and immediately recognized the flavor. It was a classic Pepsi drink soda. "I didn't know they had this stuff here..."

"Really? Restaurants like this are quite popular here, you're not a resident of this city I take it?"

"Ah, no. I just moved here." Rainer debated in his mind whether it was ok to give out information like this, but the Incubus seemed friendly enough."

"Eh? That so? Where're you from then? By the way, it's Emiel."

"Ah, I'm Rainer. I just came from Earth, ah, the human word." Rainer realized he could have made a big mistake with his words just now. That could've been a big flag to those people Caetorum was talking about.

"No shit? No wonder you seemed relieved to have that drink. Heck, I make it a statement that I give out free drinks and food to anyone who goes to the human world. I hate the damn angels who monopolize the place. Human world ingredients for their food are expensive, but it's worth it. Anyone who goes to the human world against the angel's treaty is fine by me."

Either Emiel was extremely good at lying, or he was true by his word. He didn't feel like he was lying, so Rainer went with his instinct. "Well, I've never been to this city, so I'm just doing a little sight seeing. I'm surprised, really."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I just saw a fight a small while ago... Are those even allowed?"

"Yup, definitely new here. Lust, Wrath, and Pride are the only three circles that allow duels in the middle of cities, as long as if there is a fair mediator. Other circles allow fighting, but only in arenas or if an official allows and supervises the duel. But that doesn't stop illegal fighting there. That didn't happen to be the fight between Cairz and Avandar, did it?"

"Yea, it was actually. Why?"

"Just curious, Cairz is a well known member of the Shiirran, a gang like mercenary group. Avandar is a member of a well-known and big mercenary group named Black Steps, I heard the leader of that group is a black demon."

"Black demon, huh... Gang like mercenary group?"

"Well, to put it in human world terms that you'd be familiar with... They're like an underworld gang that forces 'protection' on places like mine. Though the plus side is that they actually protect the places, so there's generally no violence around stores and restaurants."

"Yea, that's different from the human world."

"Well, I got some customers to feed, you come here again and I'll get you a good human meal for free. Good luck in the city, Rainer."

"Yea, thanks for the drink, I'll definitely come back for some human food." Rainer had now gotten somewhat used to referring to Earth and its denizens as the human world and humans. He finished up his drink in a final gulp, handed the glass to Emiel, and left the building.

"Hmmm, nice place." Rainer looked at the building one last time and turned around to find a surprise. A succubus was staring straight at him in the face, he didn't recognize the demon lady, nor did he feel like she was decent. She had violet skin and appendages. She was wearing a blue robe that emphasized her features in every way, it hugged her hips and pushed up her cleavage. She seemed to like jewelry, a diamond stud on her nose, long gold earrings with a red and blue gemstone on each, and a silver tiara with multicolored diamonds embedded. Her dark blue, almost black, hair was short, only reaching halfway down her neck.

In order to break the awkward silence, at least for himself, Rainer spoke to her, "Uh, hello? Do I know you? Or can I help you with something?"

"... Would you like to know your fate?"

Odd question, thought Rainer. "Uh, what do you mean? Some sort of fortune telling?"

"... Yes. Please take a seat with me." The succubus pointed at a nearby stone table with wooden chairs off to a deserted corner in the street.

Unsure with what to do, Rainer followed, besides if anything happens, Caetorum told him that one of his guards would be watching over him for trouble. The two took a seat and Rainer got immediately uncomfortable. "Uh, sorry for asking, who are you?"

"... Irrelevant. Should you need to know, you will find out soon enough. Your desire to know will be denied, for now" The strange succubus pulled out a bag from somewhere and emptied the contents onto the table. She spread them in a perfect semicircle. "... Now please, take one. It is a simple divination, but precise on fate."

Rainer hesitated, wondering which card he should take. He counted twenty-two cards; he vaguely remembered that the twenty-two cards were the major arcana of tarot card decks. He chose one that was just left of the middle. He flipped it over and saw a priestly figure.

"... The Hierophant. I was right to assume you are the Lord of Lust."

"Eh? What was that?" Rainer didn't hear her words.

"... Nothing. The Hierophant represents destined power and knowledge... Either in the future, or now." Rainer rubbed his eyes, unsure of what to make of the divination. He figured that if magic and demons were real, so was fortune telling. The succubus then asked, "... Would you desire a more precise fate? The single card is purposely vague."

"Uh, I guess. Fate can be changed, after all."

"... Rare words from one so young. Very well, give me back the card."

Rainer handed her the Hierophant and watched her do her thing. She shuffled the deck, spread them around the table a few times, and spoke some words that Rainer assumed was an incantation for divination. She spread them again, in a perfect semi-circle. "... Now choose one and place it here."

Rainer did as she asked. He took a card from the far left, turned it upright, and placed it at the designated position. He chose two other cards and placed them in the positions the woman chose.

"... First is the past. Temperance in reverse. You were out of balance, unsociable, for yourself... Second is the present. The Fool. Youth and inexperience. You are seeking adventure, a new beginning... Third is the future. The Chariot. Your emotions and dreams will drive you to make things happen, however, what kind of things?"

Rainer shriveled his nose and made an indifferent face. The past was right on the marker. The divination for the present was correct so far. The reading for the future, seemed positive enough, but she was right, what kind of things would he accomplish? "Now please, who the heck are you? At least give me that much."

The woman stayed silent, when she began to move, she gathered the cards and once again laid them in a perfect semi-circle. Rainer understood what she was telling him to do and chose a card. He turned it over and was rather surprised.

"... The Lovers. That is who I am to you. It represents that we need to decide on the course to take, to give guidance to ourselves. Basically, the answer won't come to you, you come to the answer. And... Ahn!" She trailed off and blushed at the end of her words while letting out an oddly cute squeal. Rainer didn't understand what she was getting at, so he leaned back in his chair, pondering her words. And that's when another interesting event happened.

"Check that out! Now what might you, a beautiful succubus, be doing with this scrawny little piece?" Rainer cocked his head towards the direction of the voice. A group of six demons, four of them incubi, were walking up to the table Rainer and the violet succubus was sharing. "Now c'mere little lady! You'll have plenty of fun with us."

There was no way trouble wouldn't occur with these folks, thought Rainer. Though he wasn't sure that if the violet succubus would actually take them up on their offer, Rainer seriously doubted it. His doubts were soon confirmed.

The succubus took a card and held it up, "... The Devil. No, I will refuse your banal babble; I will not meet your desires. Please take your leave."

"Hey now! I don't remember giving you a choice on the matter, did I? If needed I'll have Ezaer here take care of your friend." A threat came out of the lead incubus's mouth. The one named Ezaer walked towards, ready to take action.

Isn't there supposed to be a personal guard protecting me? Not that I need it, Wondered Rainer.

"Ohhhhhhh damn! Myyyyyy first time guarding that cute little Lord offffff Lust and heeeeee disappears the moment IIIIII slightly move myyyyy eyes off him. Dea's gonna kill meeeee! Now where are you, cute little Lord of Lust? ♡"

In any case, Rainer was unfazed, these people resembled Mandal and his cronies in every way, "Yea, I'd like to see you try." Upon the end of his sentence, he lunged forward with his newfound demonic speed. He was thankful he had gotten used to it, barely, in the fight against the angels. He still needed practice of course, but he was well versed enough in a fight to handle thugs in the human, and now, demon worlds. He latched onto the face of the one named Ezaer, and slammed it against the stone table. Instant KO. They're not so tough after all, if they knew how to fight, like that Avandar guy, then they would have definitely dodged or countered him effortlessly.