The devils marched away from the gate, then hid it away with a weaved spell of shadows and nightmares, a swirling cloud of black dust and smoke engulfed and masked it with the natural darkness of the cave.

When the gate disappeared, it became particularly indistinguishable from the cave’s darkness. This would keep it hidden from scrying magic and other pesky mortal searching methods.

There were seven devils in total, and their targets were four: a weak human kid, and a red wyrmling, then two powerful creatures, a Nymph and a Demonic Slime.

Since their targets weren’t in the same place, they had to split up first. Their split was simple and rational. It didn’t matter how powerful they were; they wouldn’t underestimate the Nymph and Demonic Slime.

Even though the plan wasn’t going as expected, their orders remained clear. As long as they didn’t get any new orders, they had to carry out their mission to the end. Secure this place and prepare a front to attack the main castle and kidnap the newborn goddess.

Their client wants Lucy, and they don’t care to know for what. All they need to know is that she is a newborn goddess who still lives in the mortal world, making her a prime target.

But for now, securing the gate and the area around it is their first priority. Once this place is safe, more devils and monsters can crawl out of hell, and one massive attack should be enough to enable a devil lord to swoop in and snatch Lucy.

She is a dangerous opponent, but not so powerful that a devil lord can’t bait her into hell.

A single devil would hunt the human kid and wyrmling; the remaining six would deal with the remaining two. The plan from there is simple: they’ll make sure the Nymph and Demonic Slime are split apart, then kill them.

Three archdevils trained and honed in the blood war should be enough to get this wrapped up quickly. Some of them here had even killed demonic slimes solo. Those slimy monsters feed on demons and get their power, so they are usually seen as inferior demons.

The devil woman looked up with a smile. Her nose wiggled, and her ears twitched. She could smell him from here, the human kid. She’ll secure him first, then go get the wyrmling. She doesn’t want him to get accidentally killed in the chaos in case the fight with the Nymph and the demonic slime gets out of hand.

"So you can go take care of those two. I’ll go catch my new pet." She giggled, flying away with a large grin on her appallingly beautiful face. Her body turned into black smoke, and she flew through the cracks in the cave walls, heading to the surface to catch Agnar.

The other devils sighed, then started heading toward their target. Unlike her, they got real dangerous foes to deal with. A deadly Nymph and a strange and powerful Demonic Slime.

The problem with the Nymph is that they have to face her blindfolded, and the troubling part of fighting the demonic slime is that they don’t know what kind of demon it ate last.

****

On the surface, Agnar was alone in the forest, sawing a dead spruce tree. Dead trees weren’t uncommon in this forest, but most of them were too massive to be useful to him, so he had to go far away from camp to find smaller ones.

"Help!" It was then that he heard a cry, a girl calling from the depths of the forest. It was strange; no sane person would travel through this blizzard unless they were adventurers. The problem here is that adventurers know that calling for help in the forest would most likely draw more monsters than help. Especially here, where there is almost no chance that a human is nearby.

Agnar’s saw slowed a bit, and he looked back. The voice didn’t fade away; it kept crying and calling for help. Even though the wind was strong, he could also hear a faint growl, probably that of wolves.

Now, he noticed another red flag related to why they would call for help. Did they hear him sawing the trees? That is a possibility, but it’s also impossible. With the blowing wind, he can barely hear the saw himself, and he has pretty good ears.

He stopped sawing the tree, put the saw down by its side in the snow, and started walking toward the voice, holding his axe in his hand. After walking a fair distance, he noticed that he was getting further and further away from the camp in a straight line.

It wasn’t strange for an accident like this to take him away from the camp, but to take him away from the camp in a straight line, even though he found a tree randomly in the forest, it made him suspicious that it was a trap.

Soon, he saw it. A broken carriage, red blood everywhere on the snow, and a pack of four wolves ganging on a young woman, tearing her limbs from limbs.

She saw Agnar and screamed, not for help, but for him to run.

"Run! Call help!"

It was just natural; he was just a kid, and it would’ve been stupid if a grown woman asked him for help. He should be able to drive wolves, and a better use for him is to call for help.

But would a human in such a situation really have the will to think straight? Probably not. Something wasn’t adding up, and Agnar could smell her. She smelt awful, like rot and mold, but in there, there was a hint of a sour and sweet smell mixed in.

He wants to save her, but all of his senses are tingling really badly.

But Agnar wasn’t a normal kid, so he ignored her words and approached, holding his axe in hand and looking at the wolves, the scene, and the crying woman.

As he approached, he lifted his arm and swung down. The axe didn’t hit any of the wolves, but stuck right in the middle of the woman’s skull, causing her to gasp in disbelief.

"The blood isn’t frozen, four wolves are too few for a pack, the carriage looks weird, and you smell like shit. In fact, I know that smell well. A friend showed it to me before." Abel had once called Agnar and given him a candle to smell, saying it’ll help him tell a few dangers apart.

Now, that had turned to be really helpful.

The woman’s eyes opened wide, she gasped for air, and smiled. In that instant, the four wolves let go of her limbs and lunged at Agnar, forcing him to step back and take a leap.

The woman stood and touched the gaping wound on her forehead. Looking at her bloodied hand, she licked her fingers with a grin. "Smart little boy, now I want you more and more."

A pair of leathery black wings burst from her back, and two horns took form on her skull. She started walking toward Agnar as her wolves surrounded him, "I needed a new pet, and you shall become mine."

Her body changed and grew younger until she matched Agnar’s height, her black eyes turned blue, and her reddish hair turned as black as coal... "Want to play a bit with me then? It’s more fun than getting eaten by my little pups."

Her eyes flashed with a dark pink radiance, and a wave of mental magic washed over Agnar, trying to wash away all of his senses.

But then, nothing happened.

She remained frozen for a bit, wondering why he wasn’t getting on all four and barking like a good dog. Her curse worked on everyone she met, even powerful devils. There was no way a mere child of the mortal world could resist her charm.

"A succubus? Now I’ve got a few things to play with," Agnar smiled. "A friend of mine wanted to get one of your kind... you’ll fetch me enough money to buy a house, and gods know I need that."