The Scumbags Guide to Enslaving Demon's

The first arrow clipped Seven in the chest.

It punched through hard enough to knock him backward across the summit of heart-road. Chain head embedded itself into his armor and Seven grabbed on both ends to tear it free.

"Tower defense active," Seven called. "Recommend immediate movement."

Kaela made no effort to wait for another suggestion. She led Orena, the assembled sanctuary volunteers, and freed scouts down the stair exposed toward the outer gate. Moving openly in shouting groups loud enough to draw attention from the pale archers above.

The distraction worked.

Austin Veyron ducked through a broken service arch with Elena, Sarielle, Rin, Tessa, and Seven beneath the citadel platform.

The underworks was hotter than heart-road. Pipes as black as shadow trailed up the walls pumping dull red light up toward the engine looming above them. Every few seconds the citadel would tremor from Veyra’ chains pulling energy through it.

Tessa stopped next to a rusted valve. "This is an exhaust channel. Looks like Orena was right."

Elena unfolded the map plates. "Engine core is up above here. We need to shut off these valves first or Veyra goes into backlash."

A chain fell from the ceiling.

Rin sliced it free before it could reach ground.

Then ten more fell.

Corridor filled with raining metal. Sarielle’ silver sword spun in tight circles slicing links that snagged Elena’ arms. Seven hugged the wall to steady himself against buckling pipe. Tessa and Rin worked on valves in tandem; one keeping the wheel from spinning while the other forced knife into contact seals keeping it locked.

Austin Veyron used Root-Graft to freeze the floor where pipes had eaten away at it.

Every chain he touched cried out at his hunger.

[Sovereign energy available.]

[Command role available.]

Vharra’ voice whispered through his wrist.

{The engine recognizes you. You could end this with one command. Order them to kneel. Order chains to unbind. Take the citadel for yourself. }

Austin Veyron curled his fingers tighter around black burn on floor.

"Don’t listen," Sarielle hissed.

"I am trying," Austin replied.

"You are doing more than that," Elena scolded. "Stay with us."

Wall exploded inward.

Three heart guards stepped through the doorway. Adults in black armor with silver bands locked across their eyes. Hooked spears hung from their belts each directly connected to engine’s pipes.

Heart guard slammed spear into Tessa’ side.

Austin caught it with his forearm instead. Hook slashed cleanly through Root-Graft into muscle. Pain surged through his arm.

Guard grinned at his mask.

"Devourer," guard rasped. "The sovereign has been waiting."

Austin Veyron headbutted him and tore spear free, slamming it into the wall.

Second guard punched Seven. Third stepped toward valve controls.

Rin intercepted him halfway through the door, blades whirring against chainmail. "Poor timing," Rin growled.

Kaela’ radio buzzed against the outer wall. "Archers are pinned down. How much time do we have?"

Elena eyed the vibrating pipes overhead. "Not enough."

Tessa reached for first valve.

Engine screamed above them.

Every chain within reach of corridor locked tight. Heart guards stumbled backward as blood-red light spilled from their armor. Austin could see their chestplates contract into sigil pattern: no longer chains at all but looping command signed bridging them directly into Veyra’ execution syntax.

He could devour the loop.

Locking down further would stall their systems.

Mean potentially project every ounce of Veyra’ torture into him.

"Do it," Sarielle said, already reading his mind. "I can cut the kill command."

Austin looked at her. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I am." She hesitated. "No. But I am choosing to."

He opened DEVOUR.

Command loop surged through him like molten electricity. For a moment Austin felt all three guards through Root-Graft: fear, pain, exhaustion and that terrible knowledge someone was actively trying to kill them and they couldn’t do anything about it. He felt Veyra levitating above them in heart of engine silent save for scream she couldn’t make.

Austin swallowed the command like he wouldn’t the soldiers.

Silver bands slipped from guards’ eyes.

Each guard dropped to his knees.

One laughed at his own hands. "I can hear myself think."

"Good," Austin Veyron said. "Run."

Guards scrambled backward.

Second valve unlocked.

Lights flickered out along corridor.

Above them, Vharra’ voice glitched, rough edges no longer smoothed over.

**Break what I constructed for you. **

"It wasn’t constructed for me."

Doorway at end of valve ramp shook from footsteps of final heart guard charging down hall. Last valve sat just beyond a gate made of bone-white metal. Similar resistance sigils to those on Tessa and Orena’ wrists were carved into lock; half eaten away at by black glass.

Tessa rubbed her fingers across them. "They got our blueprints."

"Can you unlock it?" Elena asked.

Tessa nodded.

She pressed bloody hand against lock and Orena hooked hers next to hers. Carvings flared to life, quickly identifying allies citadel assumed it would delete.

Gate clicked unlocked.

Engine core levitated in chamber behind gate.

Heart sized black crystal with chains looping around black hole of smaller links below it. Veyra hovered directly above engine core, every chain leading through her armor drained into fragment cage strapped around her chest.

Austin Veyron’ stolen black fragment pulsed against his spine.

Both fragments vibrated together.

Veyra cracked her eyes open.

"You came," she rasped.

"I wouldn’t miss it." Austin closed distance between them. "Show me where we cut."

She gritted jaw. "Don’t touch the core."

Engine projected text in stream of red light.

[DEVOUR CORE: Gain Sovereign Heart Authority.]

[Alternative: Sever chain lattice. Estimated captive survival probability: 18%..]

Room went silent.

Destroying the core granted Austin enough power to pull entire citadel apart from walls. Freeing Veyra left them walking into a trap constructed around heartbeat of a girl who’d been tortured half to death.

Sunrise crept across reflective towers.

Execution chains began falling again.

Elena stepped forward. "We are not taking an eighteen-percent chance unless Veyra volunteers."

Heart guards had chained Veyra’ arms behind her back. Blood trickled out from underneath commander’ chest plate, but she met Austin Veyron eye to eye.

"This core will turn you against her," Elena said. "She wants you to devour it. That is how you math works in your favor."

"I know."

"Then kill her." Elena stated flatly.

Rin peeked at math displayed by engine’ red-light interface. "Give us an eighty-two percent chance."

Veyra cracked a weak smile. "I survived worse."

Austin hated that answer because it was Heroic. Heroic answers let everybody else pretend sacrifice was noble.

"No," he said. "We go back to math."

Engine thrummed louder.

Vharra phased into black crystal heart next to her daughter, her reflection massive and still. "There is no going back. Devour the core and become whatever you will have to be to defeat it. Or stand idle while a woman you care about powers my destroyer into existence."

Memories of every justification Austin Veyron used to allow himself to be cruel bubbled up inside him. Older version of himself would call option two fair. Kill Veyra. Grab the core. Trust game of raw power balance the difference for him. Accept collateral because it just had to be.

He looked down at every person in the room instead.

Elena traced patterns through chains connecting engine lattice. Sarielle held sword to silver kill-switch stitched into jacket cuff. Tessa linked hands with Orena over faint glowing carving in ground that matched one etched into their wrists. Seven squeezed engine’ support brace tighter than he had any right to with every muscle in his body while red-hot arcs drilled through him.

Nobody was going to wait for Austin to ascend and save them.

"We break the math."

Sarielle looked up from slicing line free. "How would we even do that?"

He held both hands up to engine comm. "They’re attempting to use combined fragments to issue us a command. We send her false data." He turned to Rin and Tessa. "Your carvings match that of kill command.’ Assuming signal can be overwritten, can you reverse them?" He glanced to Elena. "And can you keep Veyra calm if we unchain every prisoner at once?"

Elena snagged dangling chain with heel of boot. "Maybe."

"We don’t have a maybe," Austin said. Execution chains plummeted again, merciless in descent.

Day broke against glass.

Now or never.

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