Rey felt like he was in an old western movie. He opened the door to the eatery or bar or whatever it was, and every conversation stopped. Demons of all kinds stopped what they were doing and snapped their head in his direction.

  Rey gave them all broad smiles. "Well, hello to you too."

  They grumbled something under their breath. Probably cursed him out or praised him for his beauty, but no one got up and threw a chair at him. And that had happened more times than he cared to count.

  The place was not that packed, but still, half the tables were full. There was a pretty enough demoness serving food and drinks. For a bar this size, he would've expected a succubus to be waiting tables and providing happy endings in the back alleyway. That didn't mean this girl wasn't doing the same. Hell, for all he knew, the chef wasn't servicing the men or women in the same manner. He had seen that happen a few times as well.

  After all, it was Hell.

  There was a pungent odor about the place, kind of like body odor mixed with unwashed clothes. It could be the dirty demons, or it could be that the owner cleaned the place by spitting all over the place.

  Rey motioned to his friends to take up a spot on the far wall. There weren't many demons seated in that part. It was secluded enough that no one would overhear their conversation, should they have to wait for the Sniffers. They made their way towards an empty table while Rey headed for the bar.

  A demon that basically looked human, save for the sharp teeth jutting out of his mouth, stood at the bar. He was stacking bottles of a dark liquid that could be blood, a very refined, hellish whiskey, or maybe a mix of both. One could only tell after tasting it.

  Rey waved a hand to him. "Boy, you must not have any problem biting into your meat." The demon stopped what he was doing and frowned at Rey. "Though I imagine it would make kissing your man or woman a bitch, since you would practically rip open their face every time you shoved your tongue down their throat."

  "What the fuck do you want?" He growled.

  Rey snickered and raised his hands. "I'm just joking, friend."

  "I ain't your friend."

  "How can you expect to run a business if you don't want to make friends?" Rey asked.

  The demon growled like a wolf. "You want something, or should I drop you out on your ass?"

  Rey quickly used Identify before continuing this line of business.

  [Demon (Exiled) – E+7]

  He smiled and raised his hands. "It's all good, acquaintance. The guard at the bridge leading into the city told me of this place. Said that his cousin ran it."

  He frowned. "That toad sent you. What for?"

  "Oh, wow, there is clearly some deep love between you." Rey leaned in. "Listen, the reason I'm here is that I need to know of the Sniffers that frequent your not-so-fine establishment."

  His frown deepened, and he looked around, making sure no one had heard. "Lower that tone. I don't want talk of Sniffers scaring away my customers."

  "Why? Are they not demons?"

  "No, they're demons, but with the tournament fast approaching. The town has been filled with Sniffers, looking to fight in the tourney, provide protection, or find non-demons hiding amongst the populace. Anyway, the ones that I've had the displeasure of serving aren't particularly nice. They come in, break glasses, and start a fight with anyone for the pettiest of reasons."

  "Not a fun lot, indeed." Rey agreed. "Are they in here now?"

  "Thank the Sovereigns, they're not, or all my regulars would've bolted."

  Rey took out a silver coin from his satchel and slid it across the table to the barkeep. "Say, will you point them out to me if they come?"

  "Why?" The barkeep's eye never left the coin.

  "I have information on a human posing as a demon. He and his family had recently come into the city. I'm hoping to sell that information to them."

  He paused and looked up at Rey. "And you're spending this much just to find out who they are."

  "Oh, I'll make double when they find out that this human has a family." Rey leaned and licked his lips. "A baby."

  The barkeep's breath caught. A slow smile spread across his lips. "Oh, they'll pay a lot for information on a baby, all right. Go, take a seat. I'll let you know when they arrive."

  Rey nodded. "Thanks, partner."

  Babies or children in general were the most innocent and pure beings. And they were the rarest commodity that could be found in Hell. Demons went wild at the thought of hunting and eating a baby or selling them to some mage for their nefarious experiments. Rey could proudly say that, even as a demon, he never stooped to that level. This was one thing that even Demon Rey refused to do. He never hunted, ate, or even sold information on kids. He had retained that much of his moral side that it never really let him do such a heinous act, or he would've been truly irredeemable.

  Of course, he wasn't above playing the part of acting like a demon who was about to do the same or sell false information for a bit of coin.

  When he reached the table where his friends were sitting, he motioned for Aearbon to move so he could take his seat, which faced the barkeep. After all, he needed to make sure that he would know when the barkeep gave his signal.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  "So?" Filomena asked.

  "The Sniffers aren't here, but he'll tell us when they arrive," Rey replied. "Had to cough up a silver coin, but we can recoup that loss once we deal with the Sniffers."

  The demoness arrived with some drinks, and they were wise not to have ordered water or anything non-demon. It looked to be beer. Filomena took one sip and recoiled, making gagging noises. Ajay and Kassandra set their mugs down after watching her reaction. Aearbon waited, watching Rey expectantly.

  "Oh." He realized that he probably couldn't drink until his Darasahn hadn't started. Rey took a sip. The thing wasn't half bad. Rey took a hearty sip and sighed. He raised the mug to the barkeep. "This is not bad. Get me another."

  The barkeep smiled. "Coming right up, friend."

  The others looked at him as if he had just complimented puddle water.

  Rey frowned. "I guess it's an acquired taste. I've had some really shitty beers in my day."

  He wasn't lying about that either. Aearbon took a tentative sip and guzzled the rest like he had been thirsty for ages, earning even more astonished looks than Rey.

  Kassi leaned in towards him. "Would you mind explaining what that voice was back there?"

  Rey frowned. "Seemed like my normal voice."

  "You know what I'm talking about?"

  Before Rey could answer, the door slammed open, and a group of five demons in varying shapes and colors sauntered in, being loud and rowdy. One smacked the hat off one demon who was trying his hardest not to stare at them. One spindly demon grabbed the serving demon and planted a big kiss on her lips. How the mug of beer that she was carrying didn't drop was beyond Rey.

  He knew who they were before the barkeep even motioned to them. He nodded his thanks and waited for the Sniffers to be seated. One of the burly ones gave them a long, hard stare as he sat down with his friends. Rey stared him in the eye, hoping that he would start something and save Rey a whole lot of trouble.

  "Looks like our guests just arrived," Rey declared.

  Everyone gave the Sniffers quick glances. Rey used Identify on each of them and was genuinely surprised, for they were all Rank 8.

  "But seeing as how this is not our establishment, then are they really our guests?" Aearbon with an intellectual question.

  "Just a figure of speech, Aearyboy."

  Rey stared at the Sniffers some more, but they already seemed high as no one sober could giggle like that chubby one with the face that screamed—come punch me in the face. Rey figured he would target him first.

  "There's one for all of us," Rey declared, happy that Kassi had totally forgotten about her question regarding Rey's demonic voice. "Once the fighting starts, no one can leave this place alive. No one. We can't have anyone reporting on us so soon."

  "But we totally just killed those guards at the gates in public. The public that ran inside the city with us must've told someone." Kassi pointed out.

  "Then we just need to change get-ups. We'll have a pick of the lot once we smite the demons in this place."

  "How do we go about doing that?" Aearbon asked.

  "First, I'll go make some introductions."

  Rey downed his mug, wiped his lips, and headed for the Sniffers' table. They noticed him coming immediately. The one who had stared at them earlier perked up immediately. He elbowed the one beside him, who had been laughing nonstop. He sniffed and quieted, and slowly, one by one, they all did.

  "Hey friends—"

  "We're not your friend," snapped the pink one.

  "Why do I feel like that's going to be a pattern?" Rey commented.

  That's always been a pattern; You just refuse to learn. Demon Rey snapped.

  No, it hasn't.

  Rey raised his hands. "Friends, I come in peace. In fact, I come with information."

  "You smell like a human," stated the pink one.

  "That is where my information comes from." Rey leaned in, placing his hands on the table. "I'm coming from the home of a human family, and you won't believe that they had a baby's crib in their home."

  They all sat straight up at that.

  "You lie," snapped the one to Rey's right, with gleaming, black teeth.

  "Oh no, I wish I were. I actually know a guy who would pay top money for a baby." He was talking loud enough that everyone in the bar must've heard, as all conversations stopped. "If you don't believe me, let me call my friends over. We ransacked the place together. The human family wasn't home, or we wouldn't be having this conversation."

  He looked back at his friends. "Guys, come here. They don't believe me."

  His friends glanced at each other, then, one by one, got up from their chairs and walked over.

  "Tell them about the human family with the baby," Rey said.

  They all looked at Rey, unsure of how to proceed, at least the humans one did. He couldn't be sure what Aearbon was thinking.

  Thankfully, he spoke first. "He's correct."

  The Sniffers looked at each other with wide grins, but there was something about the one with black eyes that kept staring at them. Their scent must've been overpowering to him or any Sniffer worth their salt, but these were either amateurs or shit at their craft.

  "Fine," the pink one said. "Lead us to these humans, and we'll pay you four silver coins."

  "Deal." Rey outstretched his arms. "Here they are. Sorry, no baby though." He gave Ajay and Filomena a glance. "Though the way these two are going, you never know when they might pop one out."

  Before the Sniffers could move, Rey activated Gravity Domain and covered the entire length of the room. Every demon that was standing dropped to the ground, and the ones that were seated, their heads slammed on the tables, and stayed there.

  "Well, friends, let's get this over with before they do anything that might bite us in the ass."

  His friends didn't waste any time. They each dispatched a demon. Rey got the pink one. He buried his dagger in the demon's skull. He didn't even need to exert that much pressure, thanks to his increased strength and the increased weight of the dagger itself.

  [You have killed a Demon (Exiled) – E+8]

  The others finished off their chosen Sniffer with ease. The other demons in the bar squirmed, shifted, and did their best as they tried to free themselves from Rey's trap. If only they knew that they were fighting against the very thing that kept them planted firmly on the ground.

  "Check the Sniffer for valuables, while I go have a chat with the owner," Rey said. He walked over to the bar and found the demon sprawled out on the floor behind the counter. "Hey, there, friend. Everything okay?"

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm Rey."

  "You killed them, didn't you?" he asked.

  "I did, and I'm going to kill everyone else in here. I can let you go if you tell me where you hide your stash."

  "It's above me, behind the two bottles of Irata Renide. There's a safe in the wall."

  Rey took the two bottles and put them in his satchel along with a few other choice alcohols. After all, why waste good liquor? He found the safe where he said it was. He opened it up and found a nice stash of coins, which he pocketed as well.

  He slashed a few bottles and doused the barkeep with alcohol. Then he smashed some bottles along the walls and on the few patrons, all of whom shouted at him to stop, as they must've guessed his intentions. His friends watched in muted silence.

  "It's time we made our exit," Rey said.

  He picked up a torch off the wall and tossed it behind him as he and his friends left the building to the screams of the demons being burned alive.