Before Arad and Kali could head out to see the demon lords she called, they had to get things sorted here first. Roa’s situation was still unsolved. The demons in this layer are waiting for Kali to emerge with her head and declare a new demon lord to rule this layer.

How surprised would they be?

Kali walked into the castle’s balcony and looked at the city. Hundreds of thousands of powerful demons were all staring at her, waiting for her to throw Roa’s corpse down. But what came next made them all fall silent.

Roa walked to stand behind Kali, and everyone cried. Did she turn into a demon lord? Did she have something that impressed the goddess? Having the support of a whole layer of the abyss and failing to become a demon lord is a ridiculous failure, and she shouldn’t be spared without a valid reason.

"Roa would keep ruling this layer. I’ve determined that even though she failed to become a demon lord, she still has the potential and will need to achieve greatness, so much so that my husband is allowing me to take her in as a mistress. If anyone has any questions, feel free to come inside and ask me."

Kali didn’t need to explain much to them; in the demon’s world, power was the only law. If the demon goddess said something, everyone would just take her word for it. Not because she would be saying the truth, but because she is powerful enough to make her words real.

Inside the castle, Arad was still sitting on the demon lord’s throne as the other demons started returning to their posts. By his side, Roa sat on a stone chair, looking at the hall with a scared and worried face. She still couldn’t believe how powerful Arad was, and that she was allowed near him.

She had thought that by becoming a demon lord, she would be powerful enough to stand on his level, the person who gave her this layer to rule, but in fact, she was wrong. Even becoming a demon lord wouldn’t have been enough.

It made sense; this dragon had slain gods, defeated demon lords, and even bedded their demonic goddess of destruction.

Kali walked into the hallway and looked around, a smile on her face. She clapped her hands, "All demons, out! You two beside the throne, stay." She pointed at the two demonesses whose sole job was to clean the throne.

Out of everyone in the castle, those two had to be the weakest. One looked like a woman of poisonous vines and flesh-eating leaves, and the other looked human, but had three breasts, four eyes, and sharp horns growing from all of her joints, like elbows, knees, and even her shoulders.

Everyone left, and Kali approached the two servant demonesses. They immediately knelt and started shaking. They were already terrified to the bone to stand anywhere near Arad and Roa, but to think they would be glared at by their goddess.

"I’ll send you two with Roa to a calmer place, where you’ll find humanoids who are much weaker than you two. Obey them, don’t harm them, and do whatever they ask. Your job there is simple: wash Roa and her ready for the night. I know she doesn’t understand how to care for herself, as all she thinks about is fighting and beating things down."

The two demonesses looked up, and Kali smiled. "Things like shaving and flushing her back end. The maids there will show you what to do." She looked at them with a grin. "Get her decently ready, and I might allow you two to sit and watch in the room. Keep working like this for a few years, and you might earn yourself a bed beside me."

"As you order!" The two Demonesses stood and led Roa away through the portal Kali opened for them, only to end up inside Arad’s private quarter, facing a human maid. That maid was Lexi, Aella’s mistress.

She glared at them for a moment, then pointed down. "Kiss my feet."

The two demonesses looked at each other for a second, and then knelt down and started kissing her feet. Lexi smiled, lifted her skirt a bit, and reached down. Pulling her underwear aside, she started pissing on them.

The two demonesses almost snapped at that moment. The humiliation and insult had long surpassed anything they could forgive from a human weakling, but they didn’t snap. The veins on their faces faded away, and they kept kissing Lexi’s piss-drenched feet. It was Kali’s orders, and they won’t fail her.

"GOOD! They are safe!" A third voice boomed, and Lexi’s body disappeared into nothing. She was nothing but a mirage and an illusion conjured by Merlin’s maze.

"Sorry for the illusion." Merlin walked into the room and looked at them. Roa immediately recognized her and knelt down. In the past, Merlin was the one who summoned her to a fight where she first saw Arad.

As the two demonesses realized they had been played, the two of them stood, threw one glance at Merlin, and realized she wasn’t a human. "Quite..." But before any of them could fully stand, Roa forced them to kneel back down.

"This place is filled with weak human maids, so I can’t really let two demons with anger issues in. So how do I know you two are safe? Do something outrageous enough to anger you, and see if you have it in you to endure." As Merlin stood above them, she added with a smile. "Of course, if you’re disappointed it was an illusion, I can ask the real one to do it for you."

The door in the back opened, and Lexi walked in. "Lady Merlin, did you call me?"

Merlin pointed at Roa and the demonesses. "Take them into the bath and show them how to get ready for the night. This one is the main lady; she is a mistress just like you, but feel free to order her around. Those two are her servants, the ones you’ll teach." Merlin walked away, "Roa, I tested your servants, but what about you? I can trust you won’t cause trouble around here, right?"

"You have my word."

Back in the abyss, Arad found himself alone with Kali and Diana, the three of them waiting for the meeting to start. But Arad had to ask. "Who did you invite?"

"Twelve Demon lords, demoness only, and each of them has a power or a reason to be useful. In the end, we’ll need people that you can directly control to help rule the abyss." She looked at Arad with a smile. "If you’re to bring any resemblance of order to this place, you’ll need them."