Chapter 109: What About The Throne?
Misery nodded with a tired look. "Supposedly, Demon Lord Gustave dropped him over here, and now he wants to fight him. I don't know the exact reason for it all, but he is just as crazy as he sounds, but I don't doubt him."
Lex looked back at Bane, and then shook his head. "What after that? Are you going to start hunting for the emperor of all demons?"
Bane raised an eyebrow. "That is a thing, or are you just making shit up to make a point I am not getting?"
Lex sighed, and shook his head. "What part of the world are you from that you don't know this? The Emperor is the strongest of all demon kind. He rules over all the lands and the races, but the Demon Kings and the Demon Lords are the most powerful beings under him. Kings rule over the lesser demons, and the Lords rule over the kings, somewhat. They are mostly meant to carry out the will of the Emperor."
Bane tapped his chin, but then shook his head. "Nah, not really interested in the big guy. I might fuck everything up if I kill him, and I don't think that would be good for anyone. No, I just have a debt to settle with Gustave."
"Just Gustave? Why are you here to kill Baalanuir?" Lex asked with a confused expression.
"I am looking to kill demons. Lots of them, but they were spread out pretty bad in the wastelands. Misery told me about this city, and her issue. I decided on a reward, and now I am going to do what I was asked to so I can get said reward," Bane explained, and then crossed his arms. "I personally don't want to be in this god forsaken world any longer than I have to be, and I think Gustave is the reason I am here."
Lex only heard half of what was said as he ran both his hands through his hair. This creature's brashness was stressing him out.
"So, let me get this straight," Lex said after a moment. "You plan on killing the king and all his men, and then just leaving? What about the throne? Do you not care about it?"
Bane furrowed his brow. He hated when people didn't listen. "Did you miss the part about me leaving this world? I am not a demon, and shouldn't even be in this world, but that damn Gustave sucked me in here for some reason. I thought this was supposed to be training, and it kind of is, but not really. It is starting to feel like I am just going around to clean up the trash."
Lex didn't respond right away. "Why did the Demon Lord take you?"
Bane snorted, but paused before speaking. There was no easy way to really explain things, and he was not feeling like explaining about the rogue AGI in his head that forced him to come, so he decided to play dumb.
"Now isn't that the golden question? Who knows. I don't know what that guy is thinking, but he wouldn't shut up about me being maidenless, so I am going to beat his ass, and then go home. So, what do you want? To be king?"
"You are just going to hand over the kingdom?" Lex asked, but then shook his head. "If you aren't going to claim the throne, then what will become of Cleaverland?"
Bane shrugged. "Hardly my problem when the princess is sitting right beside me. She is the one that asked me to do it, so I assumed she was going to take over."
Both Bane and Lex looked at Princess Misery who could only look back like deer in the headlights. While that was her plan, never could she have imagined it would come this close to fruition. Now, she wasn't sure if she could run an entire city of demons alone, and it was clear that Bane was not going to stick around to help. That didn't leave her many options, so she turned to Lex.
"What do you actually want? Do you want to be king? Or is there something else?" Misery asked, and Lex nodded without looking away.
"I don't really care about the throne, but if taking it will allow me to have you, then I will take the job," Lex said without taking his eyes off her, making Misery put her hand to her mouth in shock.
Bane made a puking noise, and both of them looked at him. "Can you do that bullshit on your own time? You can have the capital after I am done, now give me the info you promised, or I will make good on my promise of holding you down!"
Lex waved his hands and nodded. "There are five rooms to the Halls of Darkness, and there are multiple different demons you will have to fight along the way. Just give me a minute, and I will get some skin to write everything down so you don't have to remember."
Lex then got up and left the room, leaving Bane with Misery. As soon as the door closed, Misery looked at Bane. "Are you really okay with just giving us the city?"
"You became us pretty quick. Weren't you the one telling me to worry about him, yet you are the one ready to shack up with him? Don't get me wrong, I don't give a shit what you do, but it feels, I don't know, sudden?" Bane asked, and Misery smirked at him.
"I was able to feel that he is much weaker than me while we were sitting here, so I am not worried. If anything, this works out for me. Demons hardly take females seriously, so having a handsome male figure head I can hide behind will be a dream. I also happen to know Lex a bit, and he is a decent demon," Misery said, and then paused. "At least, from what I can remember. I didn't recognize him at first, but he was one of the lower ministers that served my father when he was alive."
Bane nodded. "Good enough for me. So, will you be doing any work, or are you going to just play queen all day and let him do the work?"
"You are an ass. Why is that your default personality?"
Bane chuckled. "It's my best feature, but also my form of small talk. You can learn a lot about a person by riling them up, especially when people try to act differently than their nature. This is just me embracing my true nature!"
"To be an asshole!"
"See? I knew you weren't stupid," Bane chuckled, and Misery looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel when the door opened back up and Lex walked in.
"Did I miss anything?" He asked as he walked into the room to hand Bane several pieces of dried demon skin that were covered in ink writing on both sides.
"Just this creature in his true nature, being an asshole!" Misery snapped, but Bane just ignored her and took the skin from Lex.
Bane looked over everything quickly, and then pulled out the cube Misery had given him, and the pages sucked inside. He then stood up and made for the door.
"You're just leaving me now?" Misery asked, and Bane looked back and nodded.
"I am not going to listen to you whine the rest of the way about every demon I go to fight. You also have a job to do. Remember the reward that I asked for. I expect the storage devices ready for me after I kill this Ballin guy," Bane said, and then left without another word.
"Just where did you meet that demon?" Lex asked after a moment, but Misery shook her head.
"He found me, and I tried to kill him, but he defeated me, and then made me his slave and guide... He also fed me and helped me get stronger by doing so. He didn't have to, but he did, and refused all my sexual advances. He is also not a demon like he said."
"Not a demon? Then what is he?"
"Something much worse. A human."