The Scumbags Guide to Enslaving Demon's

The ringing ledger remained alive.

Its pages fluttered open in Austin Veyron’ s hands as the team hurried through the crumbling final audit stairwell. Every time its black cover brushed up against his fingers, the crownless path before them rearranged. Doorways formed out of stone walls that hadn’ t even been corridors moments before. Corridors folded out from behind them.

The inner court was trying to determine if it wanted to trap them or transport them there.

"Choose one destination," Nahlia said. "The route file is reactive. Counter instructions will fragment the path."

"We get Maelis out," Elena stated flatly.

"We destroy the Queen’ s connection to Grand Meridian," Veyra finished for him.

Rin looked back at the alarm echoing behind them. "Let’ s assume we live long enough to do one of those things."

Austin Veyron stared at the parchment. Words that had been written directly to him glowed bright red on the page. ’CANDIDATE AUDIT — QUEEN’ S ATTENDANCE REQUIRED.’

Vharra wasn’ t leading soldiers after them. She was giving them further access.

"That is our destination then," he said. "We take her door. We rescue Maelis. We make sure no one else can find those pages again."

Everyone else agreed with him. Not because Austin Veyron told them to, but because they each answered yes themselves.

The stairwell without a crown unspooled before them.

It ascended towards a thin flight of stairs that climbed up into a city built inside of the palace. The inner court was more than one hallway. It was a series of obsidian balconies and chained bridges connected by floating glass rooms overlooking pools of light. Adults demons wandered around like they were nobility in formal court attire and armor. Some wore gold collars visibly around their throats. Others tucked them underneath their garments.

The expedition weaved through shadowed doorways. Seven’ s white eye dimmed. Tessa stuffed the recovered transfer book back into her pocket. Nahlia scanned every glyph carved into the walls.

"Those are summon orders," she pointed out. "I know some of the ancient ones. Construction. If we destroy the wrong glyph the entire stairwell could come down on us."

A bell chimed directly above their heads.

Guardians emerged from the inner court balconies overlooking them. Dark armored figures with featureless masks who wielded slender chain blades. They didn’ t swarm at them like the market wardens had done. Judges of the inner court bided their time around them, blocking off paths of escape and waiting for orders from their queen.

Veyra lifted her hand towards her sword.

Austin Veyron shook his head. "Not yet."

His seed quieted beside him, but he could feel it attune itself to the patrolling wardens. It knew their routes. It could guide him through how their orders worked if he only asked. Instead he addressed them verbally.

"We come in peace."

A guardian stepped forwards.

"Candidate Veyron," the masked demon announced. "Her Majesty wishes to give you audience without accompaniment."

"No," Austin Veyron replied bluntly.

The wardens closed ranks around them.

"We can take your companions elsewhere."

"No." He wouldn’ t abandon them. Damn it — not now when-

"We are providing you an audience with the queen."

"We refuse."

The guardian tilted its masked eye towards Austin Veyron crowned, complete with a golden chain collar around his neck. "You are refusing Queen Vharra’ s request."

"I refuse your conditions."

The first chain blade sliced forwards.

Rin deflected it with both of her daggers. Metal clattered across the stairwell. Veyra rammed her shoulder into the nearest guardian, tossing it clear off of the rail. Sarielle’ s silver blaze cut a swath through the floor, splitting the arch through them in two. Austin Veyron grabbed the central authority chain from the nearest mask and ripped the collar sigil free from it.

The guardian stopped moving.

He hadn’ t eaten its seed. He had cut the order that instructed it to attack him.

Its armored boot lifted off the ground behind him.

The covered guardian stumbled backwards with its mouth agape against its helmet.

"Move." Austin Veyron gestured for them all to continue.

It stared down at the open stairwell. Then towards the other guardians. For the first time since attacking it lowered its blade away.

Visions from the inner court alarm began to escalate.

More would be coming after them.

Nahlia found an obscured doorway filled with runes. "This door will never leave. It transports to an observation room."

"Will it take us to Maelis?" Elena called back.

"It can transport us to anyone Vharra wishes observed."

The door clicked unlocked and swung outward, revealing a spherical room covered entirely with mirrors. Some of them showed different people locked away somewhere on the inner court. They sat behind bars or sat at desks filing paperwork. Some of them were slaves getting thrown into arena fights. Every single person had a claim number floating above their heads.

Then one of them moved.

Maelis was standing inside of it.

She had found an armory and taken weapons from three separate inmates. Fire licked across her hands as she led them down corridors made of floating smoke.

Elena put her hand up against the glass. "She’ s moving."

"She will be transferred to the throne room." Nahlia said. "Lady Vharra wants everyone in this party accounted for."

The glass went dark.

Lady Vharra herself appeared in the mirror.

She didn’ t appear like the overwhelming void that description online made her out to be. She was a mature demoness dressed in dark crimson robes and wore her crown sitting comfortably around her shoulders, her expression far too calm to reflect the slaughter surrounding them. Chains of gold ribboned up from underneath her collar down to her hands and ankles.

She had chosen not to hide her superiority from them.

"She doesn’ t seem how I imagined," Rin whispered.

"Don’ t," Elena growled. "We won’ t get anywhere if we-"

"Come before my door, Austin Veyron." Vharra cut them off. "You have struggled for so long against your given status. Allow us to barter for your servitude."

Instead the mirror became a map of the court. One highlighted path streamed from the observation room towards two obsidian doors located at the courts center.

One path led to Maelis.

One was simpler.

The other would drag them through every level of security the palace had to offer.

Veyra tugged on Austin Veyron’ s sleeve. "She wants you to make a decision."

"She wants him to give up on Maelis." Elena stated harshly.

Austin Veyron glanced at the blueprint, then back at the transfer ledger. Vharra barred every exit from the observation room besides the two doors in front of them. Come to her alone and earn her trust. Save Maelis now and sacrifice any opportunity to take down the networks hierarchy. Prove the seed what he can do and fight for your own ascension past her.

He hated that the last option sounded the most tempting of all three.

"She won’ t let us linger." Tessa hissed quietly. "If we wait for those alarms to-"

"She has more to show you than you think she does." Nahlia replied.

Tessa smiled then. "We don’ t have to go through the door she wants us to."

Nahlia smirked and dug through the transfer book until her fingers brushed against the lingering memory of the last audit. "There’ s a observation path rigged into this building. Somewhere. I can’ t look without accessing one of the initial claims."

They were prisoners all of them.

Mirrors trembled around the observation room.

Maelis looked up at them like she could see them as well.

"I will grant you access." She announced. "I will claim them all. Friends."

The observation room began to quake.

A pathway illuminated from the throne doors to the claims archives.

Straight through the governance core of the inner court.

Vharra smirked then, and something twisted in Austin Veyron stomach.

Pride. Anticipation. Something that he refused to give her.

"Well." She started. "You are quick learners."

The mirrors turned black.

Together the whole team traveled through the hidden route.

At the end of it open doors made of shadow swung free with nobody touching them.

Lady Vharra waited past them on the other side alone under a chandelier made out of broken contract chains.

"Welcome." She greeted them. "I have a bargain for you, Devourer. Claim it and you will never hunger again."

Behind him the observation route sealed shut.

In front of him Maelis warmth burned past the throne doors somewhere near enough to hear stomping beneath the ground.

It wasn’ t an offer of ascension. It was a cage masquerading as everyone he cared about.

Austin Veyron crossed the threshold anyways with every person from the expedition behind him.

Vharra’ s smile cracked a little.

"You came with backup."

"I came with people that can say no to me."

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