The Dive: Birth of a Wordsmith Read online

  “Yes, we come from above the sand.”

  “Good. Then you will help us.”

  “Uh.. what exactly are you wanting us to help you with?”

  “We require you to fight god.”

  ….

  “Say again?” I was absolutely certain I misheard them.

  “We require you to fight god.” Nope, I heard right.

  “Sorry, I think there is an error in your translation spell. You want us to fight… god?” When the two demons nod in perfect unison, I shudder slightly. “And… why?”

  “For the good of your world.”

  Denise sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but could you explain further? Just suddenly telling us to fight god… That’s not something you ask a normal person.”

  “Nevertheless, it is required.”

  After the left demon speaks, two red orbs appear in the darkness behind them, slowly moving forward to reveal they are the glowing eyes of a more human-looking demon. A succubus, if I had to guess, and the name the Worldlore gave me confirmed it. Aside from the horns and the tail, she looked like the picture of human lust, possessing an hourglass figure that shouldn’t allow her to maintain balance, her assets held in place by black layered armor which almost seemed to cover up everything except what it should, displaying a vast canyon in her chest. Like her eyes-which were now black instead of red- her hair flowed down to her waist in long black strands. When she spoke, her voice was soft, yet commanding.

  “You are the humans? I see.. I had been hoping for more. Still, if you want a proper explanation, you should come with me. Coming this far shows at least you have the brains, though your skill is still in question.” She turned on her heels, and walked back down the hall she came from. Immediately, the two sentinel demons moved to either side of the hall, putting their backs to it to grant easy passage.

  “So… follow?”

  “Sure… this will be interesting.” I gripped my staff until I was white knuckled, and walked behind the succubus. Denise followed right behind me, never taking her eyes off of the two sentinels in case they attack.

  “For the record, I’ve got a bad feeling. If something happens, this time it’s your fault.”

  “I can live with that.” I nodded, fighting against the very nature of humanity to keep my eyes north of the equator when I looked ahead to follow the demon in front of us. I swear, she must have noticed and added a little extra sway to her step to mess with me.

  A bit further down the hall, and we came to a large door blocking further access. It seemed immensely heavy, and would likely require insane strength to open it, but the demon guiding us just laid a hand on the door and pushed it open casually. “Please, come in.”

  She held the door open, and light flooded into the hall. After letting our eyes adjust, we slowly stepped forward. Inside was a vast hall, suitable to be called a throne room, well lit by torches and stones scattered across the ceiling that seemed to glow. At a glance, this place seemed far too big to be underground, given how deep we should have been, but there were no windows, nor did I remember seeing any formations that would account for this.

  Coincidentally, my mental map had changed as well, suddenly expanding outwards to show a network of caves and hallways, with rooms, and entire buildings underground. “It’s a demon city…”

  The succubus guiding us looked back and grinned. “Correction, it’s the demon city. One could say it’s not even part of the world you know. In other words, honored guests, welcome to Hell.”

  I stopped in my tracks for a moment, stunned by her sudden revelation. It took several seconds before I was able to gain enough composure to make a joke. “Huh.. I always figured hell would be hotter.”

  “Of course not. That’s just a show we put on for the tourists.” Her grin widened as she returned my joke, before laughing. “Now, I assume you both want to know why a beautiful woman like myself has suddenly dragged you both into the pit of damnation.”

  “Of course. Normally, people have to get married for that to happen.” I chuckled, and Denise smacked the back of my head, though she was smiling as well. I guess that jokes really do lighten the mood.

  The succubus let out another laugh, and shook her head. “Very true. Well, I’ll be honest with you. There has always been a balance maintained in this world. Light and Dark are meant to be equals, and thus a treaty was formed eons ago that neither would attack the other directly.”

  “And let me guess, some demons have been getting smited lately. Smited? Smitten? Whatever.”

  “Well, not precisely, though it is close. Across the land are entrances to Hell like the one we came through. They are hidden among the landscape, and the only way to enter them is with the permission of someone from the demon race. However, lately any demons that have been leaving through these entrances have been slain within moments by angels. As you can imagine, that is quite the breach of treaty.”

  I nodded, thinking it over. “May I ask, were there sometimes other people accompanying the angels? It might have seemed like they were controlling them.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, though really it was hard to see such a beautiful woman as threatening. “Yes, many times such were spotted. I would like to hear what you know of the subject.”

  “Directly? Not much, but I would assume that this has all started within the last three weeks or so?” When she slowly nodded her head I continued. “I think that the people accompanying the angels formed contracts with them in order to summon them to combat.”

  “To do so, one would need direct contact with the angel in question, yes?”

  “As far as I know. I’ve never managed to bind anything without meeting it.” I nodded to her question.

  “So, they would have had to gain entrance to the city of angels, and the angels would have formed this contract… I see… if they are acting under the control of a third party, it would explain how they avoided the treaty. Though they do the damage themselves, the treaty ignores it because they are not truly in control of their actions.”

  “That seems to be the case.” I nodded again, and the succubus woman continued along her train of thought.

  “But, to form such a contract, they would have knowingly used it to attack demons. This is proven by how many of our gates have been attacked in so short a time. So, they are supplying both information and troops without breaking the agreement’s law.” She let out a sigh, and crossed her arms beneath her chest. Slowly, she walked across the great room, sitting on a red throne at the far end. “This.. is quite troublesome.”

  “Oh.. don’t tell me… you are the queen of demons, aren’t you?”

  “Of course. This is a time of war, so matters of importance must be handled directly.” She smiled to me like it should have been obvious. “My name is difficult for your human speech, so you may address me as you like.”

  “Hmm… well, may I call you Lilith? It was the name of the first true demon from my world’s legend.”

  “Your world?” She perks up suddenly, as if hearing something interesting. “And yes… that name sounds quite good. So, would you elaborate?”

  “Well, it seems relevant to the certain situation, so okay. Myself, and I believe those who formed the contracts with the angels, are travelers from another world, who come here to explore a life in this land.”

  “I see, and your companion? Is she one as well?”

  “No, Denise is from this world. Or, well, the human’s world.” I smiled to Denise sheepishly at the mistake. Remember, this is hell, not earth.

  “Right… and would you tell me of your world’s Lilith? I admit to being curious.” She crossed her legs and leaned forward, looking at me with an expression of utter curiosity.

  “Okay… but I beg you don’t get offended if some of the details seem strange.” She nodded, so I continued. “One of the main legends about Lilith in my world is that during the time of creation, God formed two beings from clay. The first humans, Adam and his partner Lilith. However,
Adam wished for his wife to submit to his rule, while Lilith believed they should be treated as equals since they were made in the same way. As such, she was cast from the garden and a new wife was made for Adam from one of his ribs.

  “After being cast out, Lilith became an evil creature, thought in equal parts to be an incarnation of lust, and a child-killing witch. Eventually, she came to meet Asmodeus, the King of Demons, becoming his queen. Most people in my world associate the term demon with evil and calamity.”

  The succubus, well I guess it’s fine to call her Lilith now, nodded. “Yes, that is true for this world as well. Still, aside from the child-killing bit, it’s quite an interesting story. Sure, there are demons that would kill a child, but there are also mothers who would drown their own infants. Simply because we are of the darkness does not mean we are evil. We are simply free to live as we wish.” She taps her chin in thought as though thinking it over. “If I had to put it another way, we have the freedom to choose, making us too chaotic for the angels that abide strictly by their laws.”

  “I see… so rather than a battle of good and evil, it’s a fight between order and chaos.” I let out a sight as I nodded.

  Lilith snapped her fingers and pointed to me with a smile. “Exactly! I knew you’d get it. I admit, though, I’m impressed that those angels could come up with such a roundabout way to attack us. They usually charge in, halos blazing.”

  “Well, I think the bigger question is what you want to do about all of this? As you said, they aren’t technically violating the treaty, so you can’t attack them yourselves out of vengeance.”

  “Nor can we enter their lands. We can either meet on the surface world, or act through emissaries such as yourself. And taking a strategy from those stuck up angels.. I’d rather not.”

  “I understand. So, you don’t wish to form a summoning contract with me, what would you like to do? I agree that the methods they’re using are underhanded. To be honest, so far you seem pretty nice. Definitely not what I expected when I identified your race.”

  She let out another smile, with just a hint of wickedness. “Oh, and just what did you expect?”

  “Well, from what I’ve heard, succubi are sex demons, who live for their carnal desires and steal the souls of their lovers.” I shrugged casually, and she scoffed, her eyebrows knitting together.

  “Men! It was supposed to be sexy demons, not sex demons. Figures, one look at an attractive woman, and everyone assumes we’re going to spread our legs at the first opportunity. And to top it all off, they make us sound evil by taking souls from our partners! Well, I might have stolen a soul or two in my time, but never after a good lay.” She huffs in frustration, and then glares at me when I start laughing uncontrollably.

  “Sorry! Sorry.. it’s just… well.. I didn’t expect you to act so.. normal.” I shook my head with a grin, and Denise just looked at me like I had a deathwish.

  Lilith smiled to me at my comment, “You, human, seem quite amusing.” Her glance swept across to Denise. “Can I keep him? I promise I’d take really good care of him.” She winked playfully, and Denise blushed.

  “No! And.. w-why are you asking me?” She stuttered out, eyes glancing side to side.

  “Oh, relax. It was a joke! I’d only hang onto him for a few days, a month at most~.” She laughed, and then did her best to regain composure. “So, there are a few ways that we can solve our problem. The first is to change the location of all of Hell’s gates, the second is to negate all summoning contracts with angels. And the third is to change the treaty to include what they are doing as hostile actions. The problem is, these are all equally impossible!”

  “Well… maybe… I might be able to help, actually. I’ve no idea if it would work mind you.” I thought out, and there was a new look in Lilith’s eye, a predatory gaze that seemed to want to look right through me.

  “Do speak, if you believe you can achieve the impossible.”

  “I know a unique form of magic, and if I apply it right… I could maybe alter a magical contract? I’d have to see the contract myself for it to work though.” I glanced towards Denise, worried about what could happen next.

  “Would you be willing to teach this magic to the demons?” She slowly broke out a grin that covered her entire face.

  I smirked to her, “Absolutely not. The only thing that keeps you guys in check are your contracts. I can’t just give you the power to rewrite them whenever you feel like it.”

  Her grin froze, and I felt like she was about to crush me. Then, suddenly she began laughing again, and it took her quite a while to stop. “Too true! Very well, I won’t press you for it. It would be a convenient thing to have, but you are right. Many of my kind require the rules imposed by their contracts to maintain the balance.”

  “Like I said, though, I’d need to see the contract myself in order to change it.”

  “Ah, well… that is both an easy task and a difficult one all at the same time.” She sighed, straightening her legs as she shrugged.

  “How so?”

  “You see… the contract was forged in two copies. One copy rests with the king of angels, while the other rests with the queen of demons. But this is no mere piece of parchment. The treaty between us is a magic as old as the world, with the contract forged into our being. As long as I am queen, and he king, all of our subjects are bound by its law.”

  “Okay.. so.. to put it another way… you yourself are the contract? Well… that makes it harder. Not impossible, but it’d take some time. I’m curious, what would have happened if we kept going without a demon to guide us here?”

  “Oh, you would have fallen into a den of chimera, followed by a field of blood vines.” She shrugs as if it is of no consequence, and I shudder. “Likewise, if you had taken the wrong path at the entrance, the way out would have collapsed and you would have been roasted in hellfire.”

  “I.. am really glad you stopped me.” Denise looks to me with a pale face, and I nod in response.

  “Okay.. so, in order to modify the contract, I need a spell that allows me to view it. Unfortunately, I don’t know any spells like that.”

  “Nor I, human. The contract was designed to be irreversible, hence fusing it with both parties in such a way that neither can read it.”

  “Oh, and you’re going to keep us here until we solve this, aren’t you?” I asked, smirking up to Lilith who let out another laugh.

  “Well, I would certainly like to have you as guests here, but to force you to stay… I do not believe it would be in either good taste nor would it aid you in solving the issue. Though, I do grant both of you access to the gates of Hell, to use as you wish and visit any time.”

  New Quest!

  The war between Heaven and Hell

  The demon queen Lilith has asked you for help defending her people from the attacks of the angel race, which has formed a contract with foreigners in order to allow them to safely violate an ancient treaty.

  Difficulty: B

  Reward: Maximum friendship with Demon race

  Penalty for failure: Slight loss of friendship with demons, negative impact on the war.

  Glancing over to Denise again, I nodded. “Is it possible to use a communication spell to talk to the outside world?”

  “Afraid not, though if you step outside the gate, it will become so, and you may re-enter when your message has been sent.”

  “Then… I believe it would be best for us to stay for now.” As I said this, Lilith’s face lit up. “Our original purpose in coming here was to train the two of us. I assume that you have someone that could help Denise master her sword while I work on the contract?”