Rey looked behind him and saw the star-crossed lovers walking hand in hand and giggling like they were newlyweds. He smiled at Kassi, squeezed her hand, and kissed it lightly.

  She smiled but also frowned lightly at the gesture. Then noticed that whatever it was between Ajay and Filomena had been resolved. She smiled at him. "You did the right thing, even if we did have to endure some awkward sounds all night long."

  "Well, I guess they figured they don't have a lot of time together," he replied. "Speaking of not having a lot of time together, neither do we, so maybe we should also start making those awkward noises as well."

  She snorted. "You'll just have to wait a little longer. Besides, we should be focusing on other things. We're almost here."

  She was right. They had almost arrived at their destination—Rulziras, the capital city of the Kingdom of Night. As difficult as it was to pronounce the place's name, the same couldn't be said of its inhabitants. He hadn't spent much time here. After all, it was only he and Kassi left when they had stumbled upon the place, and had to run quickly as the Sniffers they were going after got hold of their scent.

  The place was like Dracula's castle had mutated and spread its gothic vibe to the entire city. The whole place was basically the opposite of the two towns that Rey had been to in this timeline. However, it was just as dirty as the two before, with drunk demons lying everywhere, shitting and pissing in the streets. The whole place was a mess, honestly, and they were here to clean it up.

  Another thing that was probably a remnant from the time when this kingdom was still a part of Hell was the moat that surrounded the outer wall of he city. He wasn't sure why they still had it. It wasn't like they were going to get attacked by anyone else.

  There wasn't much of a line on the bridge that led to the archway into the city. If he really wanted to, he could lead the others across the river and into the gap in the wall, and they would be in the city without causing any scene, but that would be counterproductive to the reason they came to this city.

  "Okay, who has some chains or cuffs that would hold Aearbon?" Rey asked, coming to an abrupt stop.

  They all looked at him with confused looks, as if he were mad. He wasn't sure why, but they had been doing that a lot lately.

  "Why do you need those?" Kassi asked.

  "Also, why do you need to cuff me?" Aearbon added.

  "What did I say about questioning my methods?" Rey reminded them. He waited, and no one produced any chains or cuffs.

  He looked to Kassi. "You didn't buy any chains when you went grocery shopping with Gloria?"

  "Why would we need chains in the first place?"

  "How are we supposed to do the freaky-freaky? Ajay knows what I'm talking about."

  Ajay just shook his head as Filomena stared at him pointedly. "What? I didn't tell him anything about wanting to use chains or tie you up during foreplay, sex, or any other time, no matter how much that may spice up our time together. I don't have thoughts like that."

  "But you've clearly thought a lot about it," Filomena said.

  Rey couldn't help snickering. He elbowed Kassi lightly. "Oh, he's in trouble again."

  She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "Just shut up, and what's your plan?"

  "I guess we can do this without chains. Just follow my lead and Aearbon, uncover your face."

  He nodded and undid his wrappings. Was it wise to follow this course of action? Probably not, but he was here to make a scene, and what better way to announce his coming than to bring one of the rarest species in Purgatory with him.

  As soon as they saw Aearbon's face, demons stepped aside and let them pass. Rey wasn't expecting this, but seeing a nine-foot-tall walking tiger would make anyone, demon or not, Google 'how to stop my soul from rectally exiting my body.' Nobody stayed cool when confronted by a skyscraper-sized murder cat. Plus, Rey was sure that the Tigermen were infamous in the countryside, so that helped too.

  They walked straight to the guard who was checking on the crooked cart of a demon with red skin and hairy protrusions that resembled horns. The demon gave one look towards Rey's striped friend and hurried on through the archway. The guards, however, were another story.

  The one on the left wielded a crooked halberd. He looked mostly human, aside from the blueish tinge to his skin and the snake-like, reptilian eyes. The other one could've been his brother, but with red eyes. Overall, they didn't seem particularly threatening. That was until he used Identify on them.

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+8]

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+8]

  He raised an eyebrow at that, and a slow smile split his lips.

  "Friends!" He exclaimed with open arms.

  "We're not your friends," barked the one with red eyes.

  "Yes, you are. We got along famously in our past lives." Right until I speared you in the gut.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  They shared a glance, and Mr. Blue Skin sniffed the air loudly, which made Rey double-check himself to make sure all part of his skin was covered in demon blood.

  "You smell like a human," stated Blue Skin.

  "No, sir. Demon through and through," Rey said. "And so is my family." He motioned to his friends. "But that Baaghror…" He slunk towards him. He lowered his tone. "…is not."

  All his friends tensed up at that. Maybe it was a good idea to tell them what he was planning all along, but then he needed their reactions to be genuine. Aearbon, however, looked like Rey had betrayed him, which was just the reaction he wanted from him.

  Rey went on. "We caught him trying to flee a massacre that he and his group had created. These naughty, naughty pussies massacred the entire town of Terga. I had a really good friend there. So sad, or it would be if I didn't owe that drunk asshole money." Rey chuckled.

  The demon laughed along with him.

  Rey leaned closer to him. "Guess what?"

  Red eyes frowned. "What?"

  "The Tigerman still has his soul," he whispered. "I was hoping that would be enough as a token of my gratitude for giving us entry into the city."

  The guard's eyes widened as soon as he had mentioned that Aearbon had his soul. He forgot all about Rey and moved towards Aearbon, sniffing the air.

  "Are you a Sniffer?" Rey asked.

  His partner nodded. "That's right. No one with a soul gets past us."

  "Nice. What else could be expected from Prince Razgorels's soldiers"?

  The guard smirked. "That's right."

  Rey flung an arm over his shoulder and picked out a silver coin from his satchel. "A trinket for your time."

  He quickly pocketed the coin. "What do you need, friend?"

  "There must be more Sniffers in the city. I know of a clutch of humans hiding in a grove by a stream close to the plains. I'm just trying to make an honest living by selling some information. That's what I do."

  The guard nodded. "Go to The Witch's Cauldron. My cousins, the barkeep, has some Sniffers as regulars."

  "I see." Rey nodded and shanked him in the neck a couple of times. He died gargling on his own blood.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [You killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+8]

  The blue one turned around, eyes wide. "What the fuck are you doing?"

  Rey looked to Ajay. "I think they need a big bonfire."

  Ajay smiled. "It will be my pleasure."

  A thin stream of fire exploded out of his hand and set the demon's head on fire. The demon didn't even get a chance to scream. His head simply erupted in flames. Rey would be lying if he didn't say the smell of the burning meat didn't make his stomach rumble.

  Rey looked to the stunned demons on the bridge. "Well, what are you waiting for? The way into the city is clear. Move it before more guards come mooning us with their questionable hygiene."

  The demons on the bridge started screeching, screaming, and causing all sorts of mayhem. Half ran the way they had come from, and the other half, the daring ones, took advantage of the situation. They ran right past the burning corpse of the Sniffer and right into the city, causing more chaos, just what Rey needed.

  "Well, ladies and gents, we should move along and Aearbon, marvellous acting, I must say, but I would suggest you keep your head covered from now on."

  With that, they followed the press of demons who kept throwing them fearful glances as they entered the triclops's city. His friends followed him as he took them through winding streets with open gutters and demons dozing off in the street, under the influence of one drug or another.

  They came across a group of naked women who were being whipped in the streets, and Kassi came to an abrupt stop.

  "Kassi, keep moving," Rey warned.

  "But these women—"

  "Demons," he corrected. "They're demons, and they probably deserved it." She snapped her head to him. "I know it sounds harsh, but they're probably runaway slaves or did something that pissed off their betters. Look, it's not like they're treating the men any better."

  Rey pointed down the street where the men were getting a similar treatment. Some were even being castrated before they were nailed to the city's walls. Rey came very close to getting that treatment. If it weren't for his friend, Nodrut, he would've found himself short a cock. It was sad, Rey had to kill him eventually, and it wasn't even his fault. Nodrut just got caught up with the wrong people, who were paying Rey quite a sum to hunt him down.

  "This is barbaric," Filomena stated.

  "This is Hell," Rey pointed out the obvious.

  "Hey, what are you looking at?" Snapped a fat demon with a leather whip in his hand. He pointed to Kassi. "You looking to buy one of these whores or do you just like to watch or maybe..." He leaned in. "You like to be whipped." He winked and grabbed his crotch.

  Rey laughed. "She's accounted for. Maybe, you should stick to your business…" Then he called forth his demon side and growled the words in a voice that he didn't know he could still use. "Or I'll rip out your tongue and jam it up your asshole."

  The words came out in his demon voice. It was like a demonic version of Batman's voice. Almost like two people were speaking at once—one too shrill and one too heavy. He reserved this voice only to make demon shit in their pants, and it had the intended effect.

  The demon gulped and backed off. "H-Hey, I didn't mean any offense." He quickly turned around and started whipping the demon women again, while throwing nervous glances at Rey.

  "Now, can we go?" He asked.

  "What was that?" Kassi asked.

  "What was what?" He feigned ignorance.

  "You know what?"

  He winked. "Story for another day."

  She stared at him a moment longer before nodding. They moved off, and Rey asked around for some directions after they put enough distance between themselves and Hell's worst soundtrack, aka the screams of all the tortured slaves. The Witch's Cauldron wasn't far off from where they were. A few turns, and they found themselves in front of a brick building that had at least three patrons sleeping off the effects of whatever they had just consumed, and another two who were violently regurgitating what they had just consumed.

  One demon finished throwing up, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and grinned at Ajay.

  "Some men just can't handle their liquor, eh boy?" He slurred.

  Ajay chuckled nervously. "That's right."

  Rey watched the drunkard stumble on down the street and then fall face-first into an open gutter.

  Rey snorted. "That guy's having a grand old time. Now, when we get inside, it's best you all stay back and find an empty table, and when I give the signal, you come on over, that is if the Sniffers are in."

  "And if not?" Filomena asked.

  "Then we see what delicacies this fine establishment has to offer."

  They nodded, and once again Kassi's eyes lingered on him.

  Oh God, she's not going to let this go any time soon, is she?

  Rey opened the door to the eatery and walked into the place that he would be destroying soon enough.