Sitting over Ena’s bed, and having redressed himself after putting the whip away, Sincir doesn’t bother trying to pretend he isn’t shamelessly watching her as she changes, causing Ena to gre at him.

  “Can you stop that?!”

  Sincir smiles. “Stop what?”

  Quickly pulling her shorts up, Ena turns away from him... Not that it does much to hide her body from his gaze.

  “I can see your boner, idiot! And why did you put my clothes back on?! You have your own clothes, don’t you?!”

  “Well, I like them... They smell of you, and they fit me pretty well.”

  Having finished dressing herself, Ena buries her face in her hands. “You know that’s an insult, right?! To the both of us!”

  Sincir chuckles. “Naw; I am still growing.”

  Ena’s gaze snaps in his direction, her eyes burning. “Motherfucker! What did you mean by that?!”

  Ena looks as though is about to actually pounce him, which would undoubtedly lead to them fucking again, when the door opens, and Eleanor stares at the two of them from the entrance, with her hand remaining against the handle.

  “First girlfriend is back... And you have guests who can hear you from downstairs,” the nephilim says, her voice cold.

  Sincir smiles at her, before throwing Ena a gnce. “Do you see, how jealous she is? She knows we fucked again, and it’s taking everything she has not to burn the house down.”

  Eleanor’s expression darkens. “One, I’m not falling for your obvious bait; Two, from the expression on the faces of your vampire friends, we have bigger things to worry about.”

  Straightening himself, Sincir drops his smile. “Tell Collin I’ll be down in a minute.”

  Once Eleanor has left, he sighs, rising, and heads downstairs as well, since there is no reason to dey.

  Spotting a full living room once he begins to head down the stairs, closely followed by a still slightly blushing Ena, Sincir nods toward the two guests present as their eyes raise to meet his; Collin, plus another vampire he has never seen before, a man in his thirties with messy bck hair and a gloomy expression.

  The vampire is a handsome fellow, but then again, they all tend to be, as a partial consequence of their curse.

  “Hello, hello... I’d offer a seat, however, as you can see, we ck the space... We do have snacks, but in name of avoiding being called a pimp again, I’m afraid you’ll have to convince them to expose their necks yourselves,” Sincir greets, causing at least three of the women present to grimace at him simultaneously, “I’m Sincir, and these are my reluctant housemates, students, and lovers, whose names I’ll skip, for the sake of brevity...”

  Once he raises an eyebrow in his direction, having reached the first floor, the new vampire lowers his head, producing a half, but gracious bow.

  “Name’s Ryder,” he greets, his voice deep and polite, as he straightens himself and meets Sincir’s gaze with carefully neutral dark green eyes, “Your reputation proceeds you, Mr. Sincir.”

  Walking by the two vampires and sitting at the couch while crossing his legs, Sincir waves his hand dismissively. “Only good things, I hope... In any case, I’m sure you haven’t come here to chit-chat.”

  No is present, and so is Eleanor, both having attentive looks on their faces and an annoyed glow in their eyes in virtue of his jokes. Esme, after pcing a brief kiss against Collin’s cheek - which Sincir assumes is her thanks for having escorted her home - walks toward him and jumps on his p, smiling and pressing her lips against his as she does so...

  ...As usual, she is completely unable to read a room, but Sincir doesn’t push her away, accepting the kiss.

  “...How was work?” he asks her once their lips are apart and their eyes meet again.

  “...Fine, but I was so worried I could barely think.”

  “I’ll tell you all about it ter... You do realize you’ve been incredibly rude to our guests, right?”

  Esme shrugs, leaning against him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders while smiling unapologetically toward the others.

  ...To say Ena and Eleanor stare daggers at her would be the understatement of the century.

  Sincir sighs. “I’m sorry, Ryder... Just ignore the women, since it seems they’ve all awaken on the wrong side of the bed today. Please, proceed with your report.”

  The vampire smiles slightly. “My Kate already drives me up the walls... I can’t imagine what it’d be like to deal with multiple of them at once. But, of course, the report: Unfortunately, there isn’t all that much to say, other than we had already presumed.”

  Ryder takes a gnce in Collin’s direction, who nods, his expression grave. “Go on, tell him what you’ve told me.”

  Noticing the attention of the room upon him, Ryder takes a small breath, before starting, his voice concise and to the point, “As instructed, during these past few nights, we camped around areas in between the city and the nest, Insect Burrows, which the cultists might use in order to travel... We were starting to grow tired of it, when st night, we were finally able to spot something moving around which wasn’t an animal, goblin, or farmer. They wore cloaks, and moved stealthily, carrying an unconscious child in between two of them-”

  “How many exactly are we talking about? And how were they able to move at night so well?”

  Having been interrupted, Ryder clears his throat. “There were three of them. And as for how they were able to see in the dark, we suspect the use of magic... They weren’t torches or candles, and they were mere humans, as far as we could tell, which leaves only one option.”

  Sincir nods. “I know they were cloaked, but were you able to spot any tattoos over their skin, or maybe even their cloaks?”

  Ryder blinks. “Runes, huh...? Or perhaps magical artifacts? I see your point, since it’d indeed be strange for these low-lives to be trained mages. I’ll ask the others ter, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spot anything of the sort myself, since we kept our distance.”

  “You did good... Were they aware, nervous looking?”

  Ryder nods, smiling slightly as he does so. “Kept gncing at their surrounding as though the devil himself was in their trail... Ironically enough.”

  Sincir throws Collin a gnce, and the vampire shrugs.

  “They’d have learned of it eventually, if we are to continue with this crazy pn of yours, and Ryder is as trustworthy as they get...”

  Sincir waves his hand dismissively. “I trust your judgment, or I wouldn’t have reveled the truth to you. More importantly, what happened from there?”

  Ryder sighs. “Nothing much, at least for a while... They seemed to know the way well enough, and they avoided farms and roads... However, once civilization grew sparse, and we entered monster territory, something interesting finally happened.”

  Leaning back against the couch while rubbing Esme’s arm, who now has a slightly nervous look on her face, Sincir nods. “I’m listening.”

  “As you predicted, they met with another group before reaching the nest...” Ryder continues, “...A single creature, to be more precise.”

  “...A demon,” Sincir assumes, to which Ryder nods.

  “It was tall, and female, with a third eye on the middle of its forehead-”

  “Short horns, bck skin, almost coal-like?”

  Ryder blinks. “...That’s correct.”

  Sincir sighs... No wonder they are grabbing children.

  “I know the type,” he tells Ryder, “Let me guess; The moment the two groups met, the demon used magic to inspect its surroundings, and you were forced to retreat?”

  Ryder nods. “Unlike the cultists, it seemed unafraid of the night, although they were clearly afraid of it... We had little time before we felt the creature’s foul magic prickling against our skin, so we were unable to gather more information.”

  Ironic description, coming from a vampire, but he’ll let it pass.

  “Do you think you were noticed?”

  Ryder shakes his head. “I doubt it... We retreated before the spell was finished.”

  So, they can feel the build up of a spell, huh?

  In any case, this solves many of the questions Sincir had about these cultists, though it also leaves many more still unanswered...

  “Were you able to follow the kidnappers back? It they came back at all, that is.”

  Ryder nods. “Two of them returned, and we followed them back to their homes... Nothing much to report there. One of them has a family, while the other is little more than a beggar, but they’re both residents of the slums. If needed, we could easily track them down again... Should we keep constant watch over them?”

  Out of the corner of his eyes, Sincir notices as Eleanor makes a sound of disgust, and No clenches her fists, both of which he ignores, shaking his head at the vampire.

  “No... You can stop stalking them now. Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll uncover more information from them, so the risk of exposing yourselves simply isn’t worth it... We’re not heroes trying to cleanse the world of one scumbag at a time.”

  “...What now?” Collin asks, “Should we also drop the stakeout?”

  Sincir sighs. “Yes... We got what we wanted from it, and probably as much as we ever will. Finding the exact position of their den as well as their numbers and battle prowess should be our next goal... However, given the nature of our enemy, sending in a mole would be far too risky.”

  Seeing as they all stare at him expectantly, Sincir smiles sadly.

  “From what you’ve told, Ryder, I have good and bad news to share...”

  “Out with it already,” Eleanor interjects through clenched teeth, “Leave being a drama queen, for once.”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “...Fine. What you saw, Ryder, put in simple therms, was a fear demon... A, lets say, slightly less pleasant species than yours truly, when I was still in Hell.”

  No blinks.

  Oops... He forgot she still doesn’t know about his real identity. Oh well, the secret was bound to come out of the bag eventually.

  “...In any case, the good news here is that fear demons are creatures prone to keeping their prey alive for extended periods of time, as they enjoy pying with them, and taking small bites, so to speak, rather than feeding to kill. The stronger the catch, the more they’ll enjoy breaking it, and your father, No, is exactly the type of man they’d take their time with... Which means we still have a good chance of finding him alive, but also, that is not exactly enjoying his time with them, unfortunately.”

  No steps back, as though having been physically hit, and Sincir smiles apologetically at her, before continuing.

  “Some of them also enjoy children, for being easier to scare, and easier to maintain under control... I was told the young ones have a peculiar taste, once upon a time, but I chose not to dwell on the matter, for the sake of my own sanity.”

  “...What about the good news?” Ena murmurs.

  Meeting her gaze, Sincir cocks his head. “Those were the good news. Were you not paying attention?”

  The half-elf smiles humorlessly, her slightly golden skin pale-looking. “No, I was... I was just trying really hard to convince myself I had heard wrong.”

  Sincir shrugs. “Whether you like it or not, those demon’s weird tastes mean we have a good chance of rescuing those hostages before their Souls are condemned to Hell, and so, whatever torture they might be going through in the meantime is a blessing in disguise... Just don’t tell any of them I’ve said that, or my good guy reputation might take a hit.”

  Eleanor shakes her head, looking positively sick, and Sincir sighs; Sonog and the others would’ve gotten it.

  “...The bad news, Sincir,” Collin reminds, to which he waves his hand.

  “I was getting there... You see, fear demons are Mind Magic specialists, which means our chances of approaching them undetected are all but null in our current circumstances, even were we to learn the exact location of their den within Insect Burrows... Also, they’re nasty bastards, in case it wasn’t already obvious enough, and they won’t hesitate to use those hostages against us if we give them half a chance to... Though I suppose this one applies to most demons.”

  Collin sighs.

  “...Hey, I told you they were bad news, so don’t take it out on the messenger.”

  “Could we go in for a frontal assault? Rush in the moment they detect us, then kill them before they have a chance to use the hostage against us?” Ryder suggests.

  “If we knew their numbers, or the exact location of their hideout, then maybe something of the sort could work...” Sincir admits, “But without that information, trying an assault is suicidal. Not to say that our main fighting force at present - my new fanged friends and current company included - are will suited for this fight, considering your rigid curfew.”

  Sincir is also concerned with his new finding regarding those crystals, but he feels now is not exactly the time to bring more bad news onto the table.

  “We could put them on coffins, or boxes, drag them near the enemy, and then wait for night to fall,” Eleanor suggests, her voice cold.

  But Collin is already shaking his head. “The others wouldn’t agree to something of the sort, and who would drag those boxes, exactly? How would we reach their den undetected, assuming we were even able to find it?”

  Eleanor tightens her jaw, but Sincir raises his hand before she can speak again.

  “Assuming I had the time, and the materials, I could craft something to avoid magical detection,” he expins.

  It’d a simir spell as the one the cultist who killed Father Anders used... If he still had his Shadow Magic, he’d be able to cast the spell without needing to craft an artefact, but beggars, choosers, and all that.

  “And what then?” Collin pushes.

  “We could use it to follow our friends deeper in without being found out, which would give us the location of their hideout, if nothing else.”

  “What are we waiting for, then?” No interjects, her fists clenched and her body shaking slightly as she meets his eyes pleadingly, “If you could’ve have crafted these artifacts already-”

  “I could’ve not, and I still can’t; Furthermore, I didn’t know the exact nature of our enemy until now, so I had no reason to. I understand your concern and your pain in view of this new information, No, but rushing in without a pn will only spell doom for us, and it’ll also erase any chances your father might still have of returning from that pce alive.”

  No averts her gaze away, sobbing softly while closing her eyes.

  Sincir doesn’t envy her position... But there is also little he do can for her at present, other than doing his best to rescue her father, assuming the man is still alive. At least, she was able to take somewhat of a break today, before this all dropped on top of their heads... It was good timing.

  “Do you have a pn?” Collin asks, bringing the attention of the room to Sincir once more, who sighs.

  “I have an idea... Not sure I’d call it a pn. In any case, I think it’s about time we involved some specialists in this whole business.”

  Ryder frowns. “The Council?”

  “The Church?” Eleanor asks, her frown ironically simir to that of the vampire.

  Sincir snorts. “Nest diving specialists, in specific... I’m almost certain I’ll have a meeting scheduled with our local guild master soon, and I suspect they’ll have an interest in helping us with our cultists friends once they hear about where, exactly, they’ve been hiding... Plus, their workers don’t sleep during the day - no offence - and I bet they’ll also be able to provide the materials I need for those artifacts, not to mention a map of the pce, even if outdated.”

  “That’s... Not a terrible idea, actually,” Collin says, sounding begrudgingly impressed, “I assume you won’t be telling them the whole truth?”

  Sincir shrugs. “I’ll keep what I can from them, but I doubt they’re stupid; They’ll want some answers. Luckily for us, the guild is a neutral entity, at least in paper, so they have little reason to turn against us, even if they know we’re less than upstanding citizens... And once they realize what they have to gain by cooperating, I figure we’ll be able to strike some sort of deal, at the very least... By any chance, one of you wouldn’t happen to have spoken with our esteemed guild master before, would you?”

  The room exchanges gnces.

  “I know my father has met with him on occasion,” No supplies, seeming to have managed to control her emotions at least somewhat at this point, “But I’ve never caught more than a gnce.”

  Collin and Ryder simply shake their heads, while Eleanor nods.

  “I’ve met him once, st year...” she says, “I had recently enrolled, and some adventures came to look for trouble because of my heritage... You can imagine how that end up. He seemed... Fair and logical, I suppose? I told him I wasn't going to put with shit if they were the ones getting out of their way to bother me, and he ughed, telling me he’d pass the word around... I wasn’t bothered again after that, though some of those losers still give me stink eye to this day.”

  Sincir nods, humming to himself. “A man who has his people’s respect, or at least their fear... I see. Thanks, love. Since he seems to have a soft spot for you, we’ll go together; Wear something nice, okay?”

  Eleanor’s expression darkens. “Just try to pimp me; See what happens,” she murmurs at him through clenched teeth, her incensed blue blue eyes making it clear she is ready to duck it out whenever, wherever.

  Oh well, so much for having her and Collin doing it... Maybe he’ll find a way to convince her ter, once they don’t have an audience.

  In any case, their meeting is all but done at this point, and Sincir tells Esme to rise from his p so he can go see the vampires out... Outside, Collin meets his gaze, gray eyes serious looking.

  “I’m sorry we can’t be of more help in stopping their madness. You’re right in that we’re not exactly heroes, but this is still our city.”

  Sincir shakes his head. “You’ve already helped plenty, and there might still be a role for you to py in all of this... Don’t disappear all of a sudden.”

  Collin sighs. “How could I?” he murmurs while shifting his gaze to meet an smiling Esme, who, smiling, walks toward him and covers his lips with hers, soft yet intensely pressing her body against his...

  Ryder clears his throat, attracting Sincir’s attention from the scene, then bows his head as he did during their first greeting.

  “I was pleasure, Mr. Sincir... Don’t bully our boy too much, yes?”

  Sincir sighs. “I’m not exactly the one bullying him at present... But I’ll keep it in mind. Also, the pleasure was mine.”

  Ryder chuckles, and once Esme is done torturing poor Collin, the vampires finally go on their way.

  “...I have a date with him tomorrow,” Esme murmurs as they watch the duo walking away, “You don’t mind it, do you?”

  Grabbing her waist, Sincir pulls her against him, causing her to yelp as he meets her gaze, staring up in order to do so. “You better make it up to him for all that teasing... Remember everything I’ve taught you, and blow his mind so thoroughly he’ll be mine forever.”

  Brown eyes gleaming, she swallows. “Gods, you’re ruthless.”

  Sincir smiles. “When it comes to sex? Yeah. Now let’s go back inside... It’s freezing out here.”

  Ena and Rez (who finally showed up now, having been hidden somewhere during their meeting) have started with dinner by the time they go back inside, while Eleanor seems to have gone out into their backyard to do her usual rage training, if her expression of anger as she swings her sword is anything to go by... No is gone, rolled up in her room again, Sincir assumes.

  “Sin... Is she really training on her underwear right now, or are my eyes pying tricks on me?” Esme asks him once they both enter the kitchen and are meet with the vision of Eleanor’s sword training through the door leading into the back yard.

  Sincir simply sighs. “It’s her revenge for my teasing today, or for having tore her clothes the other day... Just ignore her. At this point, I’ve accepted she’d rather make me angry and suffer the consequences, then behave; Well, let’s see how far she manages to push it this time before I fuck her ass so hard she’ll break our sound-proof runes.”

  Ena, having been nearby enough to hear their talk, grimaces while throwing him a dirty look.

  “Could they break?” Esme asks curiously.

  “Of course; They have a finite amount of mana powering them, and the runes themselves can only exert so much power... I wager a dragon roar or a rge explosion could easily break the ones we have set up around the house.”

  “The runes would be the least of our problems if either of those happened,” Ena points out as she walks by them to grab a couple of eggs from their cabinet, “And besides, should we really be talking about something so stupid right now? I can’t stop thinking about those children, and No’s poor father, suffering under those cultists and demons...”

  Sincir shrugs. “Well, we’re already doing the best we can to rescue them, and if you have any new ideas to share, then by all means... But otherwise, there’s really no reason to stop living our lives in the meantime, is there? Chances are, I’ll be the one going in there, and I might not come back alive, so I’ll rather enjoy things while I still can.”

  Ena freezes, one of the eggs in her grip sliding off and spttering against the ground.

  “...Sin idiot,” Rez comments from her pce near the oven.

  As Esme also throws him a look of reproach, Sincir grimaces. “What? It’s the truth.”

  JBDantas

  Demon Species

  Demon of Fear: Tall, possessing an easily identifiable third eye in the middle of their forehead, short horns, and bck skin (coal-like). As their name suggests, they feed from fear, being proficient in causing the same, both magically as well as through their actions. While their physical prowess is neglectable, their magic can be deadly enough when applied with that purpose in mind.

  Quasit: Some would call them the goblins of Hell, but they would be making a wrong comparison. While Quasits are small and ugly (resembling bat-like creatures), they are far from stupid (like goblins), possessing in cunning what they ck in natural strength. Unlike other demons, Quasits are able to feed from a few different sources, and are further separated into sub-species for that reason, which makes them special... Curiously, there are no females among them.

  Demon of Strength: Demons of Strength compose the bulk of Hell's popution, being often the image conjured in the mind of the yman over the mention of the word "demon". However, their high numbers is not a synonym for weakness, and their natural physical prowess makes them formidable enemies, specially when fought against in great numbers. Being tall, possessing bck scales, and horns, they are further divided into two distinct sub-species: High Demon of Strength, and Demon of Strength. While High Demons of Strength are easy to identify by the fact they possess wings, and their counterpart does not, both sub-species possess a natural mastery over Shadow Magic, and feed from pain.

  Devil: Often seen as the nobility of Hell, their strength and talent is only surpassed by their arrogance. Possessing red skin, horns, and wings, but an otherwise humanoid appearance, they're mainly known for their deadly fire and spatial magic, which, when combined with their natural strength, said to match that of an adult troll, makes them a scary foe, to put it lightly. While few in number, they're not to be underestimated, being able to feed from a single touch (so long as they're able to overpower their victim with their power).

  Flesh Demon: Widely known for their intellect and cunning, their goat-like appearance is an easy enough identifier; However, one would be mistake to underestimate their combat abilities, for their great intellect is often a accompanied by fwless mastery over magic, in spite of their poor physical abilities. They feed by eating the flesh of their prey (simirly to how vampires feed by drinking blood, just a lot more painful).

  Dream Demon: While few have seen these creatures and lived to tell the tale, recounting of their appearances through Hell speak of ghost-like entities, more magic than physical body, and of death. Although they do possess demon names, they're known for not responding to summunnings unless forced to, and for not forming contracts of any sort with humans. Their purpose and level of intellect is unknown, but their source of Life Force has been theorized to be sadness, as many of their victims die in their sleep, crying.

  Demon of Power: Hairless, humanoid, and deadly; Possessing physical strength said to rival that of dragons, their tall stature and gray skin gives them away at a distance... Though it might already be too te by then for their victims. Known across Hell for their assassin work and ruthlessness, they're also one of the species of demons able to feed from mere touch.

  Incubus: Unlike other demon types, and simirly to Quasits, Incubi are often seen with mockery or scorn, rather than fear, even after the rise of Varzath, The Demon Lord. Their appearance would be distinguishable from that of a human, if not for their surreal beauty, which has so few actually mistake them for a mortal. As Incubi are known for their treachery and allure, wise are those who choose to abstain from partaking in their games, and foolish those who believe themselves immune to their charm.

  The Dark Escort: More than animals, but less than demons, these creatures were created for the purpose of serving Hell's Council of Twelve, The Table, and are known for their magical skills and utter ck of emotions. They possess no demon names, having been artificial created, and are therefore unable to enter Mortal Pnes due their inability to be summoned or form contracts.

  Half-Demon: A rare find, greatly varying in characteristics depending on the demon parent, and often short lived; As their demon parents don't stay to teach or protect them, they're either hunt down by humans, or simply die of starvation, unable to learn how to feed themselves.

  Infernal Dragon: Not much is known of these creatures, as their already small numbers were quickly dwindled further by the war against Heaven. Since they’re able to travel between Pnes with a good amount of freedom, unlike demons, they'd make for the perfect weapon if not for their fiery, near uncontrolble nature.

  [colpse]