Hell’s Consort

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THE ARCHDEMON OF SLOTH

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He saw that his sister-in-law was asleep on his favorite couch, but he had no gall to wake Lune up because she seemed tired.

Lune's hair had her head bowed as the curtains of her silver hair covered her pale face.

She kept nodding drowsily, and her legs were tucked underneath her transparent gown.

He watched his sister-in-law's tiny nipples with clinical interest.

Sloth hadn't noticed her choice of clothes before at the throne room, but now he wanted to wake her up and asked about it.

He had kept his promise and only slept in his bedchamber for an hour.

Honestly, if it wasn't for his servant Philip who woke him up and shook his shoulders so wild that his brain might think there was an earthquake, Sloth might have broken his oath.

Sloth had prided himself as an honorable man, so he had to drag himself to the Library of Congress and face her sister-in-law even if it killed him not to lie down in bed all day.

His two loyal servants had left them alone in his study to bake some cookies and treats and made herbal tea for their guest if she drinks it.

Common sense had taught Sloth that sleep and paralysis potions weren't allowed on the first meeting.

Lune was his first guest in his Kingdom.

He must meet her expectations.

Lune was a new Archdemon, so maybe she would ask him questions regarding that.

Sloth thought that her queries might be easy to address.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he found out that Lune wasn't as annoyingly arrogant and quarrelsome as the Archdemon of Envy.

Sloth and Lune get along as they rode on the Pegasus, so that was progress.

As Sloth watched Lune with cool precision, he had this urge to satisfy this sharp, unexpected curiosity flaring within his existence—a thirst for knowledge—every time he came unto something new and shiny.

He was always intrigued by observing what it will do.

He was lucky that it fell right into his hands without much effort.

Sloth had been an Archdemon for a long time.

He had enjoyed his time alone--sleeping and reading the collections he had acquired both in Hell and in the Upper Realms.

Sloth didn't ask for anything monumental from the creatures who summoned him.

Yes, they would live a miserable life due to unconditioned curses placed upon them the moment they gained access to Archdemon magic.

Sloth had never asked for someone's soul in exchange to bind them to a life of servitude in this Kingdom.

He wasn't that harsh of an Archdemon.

Sloth had a particular interest in mortals, and he would strictly bind contracts to this specific race, nothing else.

If these humans had no sorcery and healing books that didn't interest him, Sloth would give humans access to Archdemon magic in exchange for all of their memories, storing them into one of his books on the top shelves.

The top shelves contained all the forbidden books, and all their records were written all over them, and only Sloth was the only one who can access it.

Sloth had heard that Humanity had called his binding contracts, 'Alzheimer's Disease' and 'Amnesia.'

It left people into empty husks of themselves while he gained their memories of joy, love, anger, fear, and sadness.

These were the best stories that would put a smile on his face, helping him sleep at night.

Even if Sloth didn't have any memories of when he used to be a shaman in his past life, he still had other people's memories to keep him entertained for a lifetime, and that was enough for him.

Sloth summoned a long and polished wooden stick and held the end of it, reaching from his seat and across the table.

He poked her sister-in-law with the stick for fun.

It barely even touched her chin, and Lune had already grabbed the stick and pulled it sideways.

Poor Sloth had a delayed reaction!

He hadn't let go of the stick, and he ended up face-first on the table.

In his effort to avoid leaning on the table because it was made of glass and it wouldn't carry his weight, he made his right hand to land on the floor.

It was a terrible idea!

Sloth hadn't estimated the distance and placed his hand to the farthest right of the glass surface.

With his mouth hanging open in shock, Sloth could only watch the scene from a third-person point of view as he saw the future flash before his eyes.

The tabletop overturned, and it broke into jagged edges.

Sloth crashed onto the floor.

His sister-in-law had jumped on top of him as she positioned her left leg and the wooden stick around his neck and chest. 

He lay on the shattered fragments, bleeding.

Sloth couldn't move at all, for his arm had been pinned by one of Lune's legs while his other arm was secured by her strong hand.

His sister-in-law was strong and heavy.

No joke.

Lune felt like she weighed more because the more she moved, the more his body pressed unto the broken glass, piercing his Archdemon wings. 

It didn't only hurt.

It was severely uncomfortable.

She had quick reflexes, Sloth would acknowledge that, or it could be that her movements had moved like a blur, and he couldn't follow.

Was it his sin which had caused him to lose against this woman?

He narrowed his eyes at her sister-in-law. 

Lune wasn't appreciative of his hospitality and goodwill at all.

Sloth and his servants had been kind to her.

They didn't lay a finger on her even if she was vulnerable while sleeping, not even her hair.

Sloth gave the lady a gift.

That was the firstborn of his pet wyvern.

Wasn't that enough?

Slowly shaking his head, he gave the fledgling Archdemon a bitter smile. 

Women—no matter what Realms—could never be trusted.

They were crazy, and he would rather be alone than having a wife like this.

Ravin and Luxen would regret their position once they figured out an arrangement for this savage lady.

Sloth's  voice was deep and quiet when he asked, "Would it be justifiable for me if I poison you for this?"