Baator Hell Promotion

However, judging by the uncleaned sanding marks on the crown and the age of the wood, it might have been made by the dwarf himself.

The succubus could almost imagine the scene at that time, the young apprentice humming a song while carving wood, and groping to make it with anticipation and confidence in his own craftsmanship.

It's not difficult to find a magical item in Hell, but it's hard to find one that brings positive emotions - the closest demons get to happiness is when they get a promotion or successfully backstab their boss.

"I like it very much, thank you," Hopper's voice came from behind the veil. After being a little devil for too long, she preferred to keep a low profile. A crown that could be used as decoration and also cover her face was exactly what she wanted.

"You can prepare some everlasting flowers to replace the wood carvings later," the dwarf observed the succubus's head. "Try gray-purple or blue. The warm tones of ash wood are a bit jarring for your skin."

"It's already a pleasant surprise." The demon stood up, took the short cloak hanging by the fireplace, put it on, and prepared to go out.

"Welcome to visit us next time, dear lady." The dwarf stood still and bowed. "I wish you all the best in your studies."

The demon turned around suddenly, and a mischievous smile appeared on the dwarf's face. Hopper understood that he had probably guessed the purpose of buying tears from the beginning, and he said it at the end just to scare him.

Hopper walked out of the cabin and when he looked back, the entrance to the dwarf's store was gone.

She took a deep breath of the damp, sour air, spread her wings, and flew into the sky where the clouds hung low.

Epilogue

Hello everyone, this is the old lamp god.

Before I knew it, the first volume of this book was finished. A month had passed since I first wrote this story.

In fact, if it weren’t for my friends’ urging, I would never have dared to post it because of my procrastination and fragile heart.

This is my first book. When I first started writing, my editor warned me that the subject matter and writing style were unconventional, and that this might not be a hit. At the time, I was just thinking of it as a hobby, writing as I went. I didn't expect that over the past month, all of my readers have given me so much encouragement, and I'm deeply grateful.

Answer a few questions you may be concerned about:

1. Update frequency.

Because I'm a part-time writer, I can only update once a day for now. I'll tidy up the main storyline on Saturdays and Sundays when I'm free to avoid bugs. If I become more proficient in the future, I might update more. I apologize in advance.

2. Main line issues

The outline is already laid out, so the main plot shouldn't be a major issue. I actually debated whether to include stats and character sheets, but ultimately followed my heart and opted not to include a time traveler setting or directly incorporate D&D stats. Apologies to those readers who prefer to read the stats.

3. Set the problem

The main settings used are from the 3rd and 5th editions, with some settings from the 2nd edition. However, it is not recommended that you take the settings in the book as the original settings, after all, some modifications will be made to advance the plot.

If you have any questions, you are welcome to leave a message and I will try my best to answer them.

Let us look forward to the next journey starting tomorrow.

Another bow of thanks.

Volume Two

Chapter 33: Journey

Hopper woke up very late on the day she went to Emberhold. When she woke up from her sleep, she was a little confused about where she was.

Demons don't need sleep, but they can sleep when necessary, and starting a new journey is such a time.

Hopper put on his outer robe and veil and walked out of the tree hole where he had stayed last night. There was still a strong wind outside, but at least there was no hail or acid rain - in the third prison, this could even be said to be excellent weather.

"It's a lucky sign," Hopper said to himself.

If Minaunos was a mess, a land of mud, then outside the city was the mud itself. Hopper looked out, and though there was no heavy rain obscuring his view, to the end of his sight, there was only the lazily bubbling mud swamp and the sneaky twisted forest.

Hopper fished out the neatly folded pass from her drawstring pouch, already covered in markings and impromptu notes. The succubus turned her back to the wind, spreading her wings to create a small shelter so she could read the contents of the pass again.

She took a deep breath and stuffed the pass back into her bag. For Hopper, living completely apart from the other demon leaders was both novel and terrifying. Without a boss who could back her up, she felt a little uneasy.

But this feeling of unease makes her happy, and she doesn't mind adding a little adventure to her life.

Hopper flapped her wings and flew up. She had spent a lot of time looking for a tree to live in. She almost couldn't find a tree that met the requirements before the opening of the Ember Keep.

The tree Hopper chose was a yew tree that was at least two hundred years old. During its growth into a majestic giant, lightning and strong winds almost split it in half, leaving it with a crooked mushroom shape.

The succubus took out a pure white pigeon without any other color from a cage that had been prepared long ago, opened its mouth and poured a mixture of several medicines bought from the dwarf alchemist directly into it.

Hopper stood on the lightning-scorched section of the yew tree's trunk. The bird fluttered in her hands in fear. She glared at the pigeon, then snapped its neck with a clean snap and used its blood to carve a triangle into the yew.

She picked up the pigeon's body and whispered a nursery rhyme in the wind.

"Dove, dove, tell me, where is the invisible castle?"

"Dove, dove, tell me, why does the yew tree sing so sadly?"

"Dove, dove, tell me where I shall walk, where shall I set my steps?"

It seemed as if countless birds were chirping in the air, echoing her song. The wind was getting louder and louder, almost turning into a tornado, but it couldn't drown out the chorus of the ballad.

Hopper tucked her wings in, feeling like a robe tangled in a branch, ready to be blown away at any moment by a wind so strong that even a demon like her couldn't open her eyes.

Suddenly, the sound and the storm died down, and the silence, like a low pressure, oppressed the demon.

Hopper opened his eyes and saw a beautiful four-wheeled carriage suspended in mid-air, pulled by the tallest horse Hopper had ever seen.

Unlike common infernal horses, it lacked horns and smoke from its nostrils. Aside from its four canine paws, it looked more like an ordinary black galloping horse from the grasslands of the Prime Material Plane.

As if sensing Hopper's gaze, the black horse turned around. Its eye sockets were dark and empty.

Hopper held its gaze, then lifted the hem of her robe, crouched slightly, and curtsied. She wasn't used to curtsying like a lady yet, and nearly exposed her socks as she pulled at her robe.

The black horse buried its head deeply - it was returning the greeting.

Hopper breathed a sigh of relief, then dared to walk out of the triangle rune, came to the edge of the yew tree, and said to the suspended carriage:

"I agree to hand myself over to Shadowliu."

With a click, the side door of the carriage fell down and rested on the yew tree as a makeshift springboard. When Hopper stepped into the carriage, the door jumped up and closed again.

The inside of the carriage was much larger than its exterior. Although the door was closed, an exquisite glass tray filled with yao crystals was hung on the top of the carriage. The pure white light refracted through the tray, forming star-like spots of light, making the entire space not dim at all.

"Hello?" A greeting came from the seat in the corner. Hopper turned around and saw a rather tall, dark-skinned female Cambion, who was almost as tall as Hopper even when she was sitting.

"Hello, Hopper, from the Third Prison." Hopper smiled, and Cambion stood up and saluted. When she stood up, she almost touched the roof of the carriage, making her look even more muscular.

"Lati, from the First Hell" Unlike her appearance, Cambion has a very beautiful name. Lati comes from a tree spirit kingdom in the main material plane, which means a tree in bud.

After they both sat down, the carriage shook slightly, Shadowliu started to run, and the scenery outside the window turned into uniform blocks of color and lines.

"Do you know what we will learn in Emberhold?" Lati asked as she moved closer. Only when she got closer did Hopper realize that her skin was very smooth and delicate, with a light gray color that had a silky sheen.

"I don't know." Hopper felt that Lati was not as strong as she looked. Her questions revealed her longing and panic for the future.

The succubus shook her head, her veil and long hair swaying slightly. "I have never heard of Emberhold."

"Even you succubi don't know?" Lati's eyes widened and she said quickly, "My mother said that Torchhold is a school for succubi."

"Perhaps the nobles' succubi know the specific details," Hopper spread her hands. She was also very interested in the Torchhold, but her guide didn't reveal much information. "I'm just a newborn in the Third Hell, and no one taught me in advance."

"Me too. My mother only taught me how to fight. Even my grandmother decided to send me to Torchhold for further training. Have you ever been to the battlefield of Avernus?" Perhaps because of the similar experience, Lati was obviously much more enthusiastic. Once she started talking, she seemed to have no intention of closing it.

"I haven't participated directly, I've just watched from afar." Hopper was a little uncomfortable with her initiative. Devils usually kept their distance from each other, and excessive enthusiasm always made Hopper nervous.

"I participated in it. I killed three Babu demons myself. Do you know Babu demons? They are those sneaky Tanar'ri with red slime all over their bodies."

Hopper was beginning to regret talking to her. Lati continued to ramble on about the battlefields of Avernus, and the succubus was thankful for her veil, allowing her to turn and look out the window without being rude. Then she was surprised to see the carriage slow down.

Although it was still a swamp, the swamp outside the carriage was very different from the one where Hopper had boarded. Now the swamp outside the window had become a patchwork of muddy ponds on the hard mud, and leafless black trees grew on the chalk soil.

The carriage was parked above a dead yew forest. The compartment was so soundproofed that Hopper couldn't hear a thing, and from her angle she couldn't see the visitors outside.

The carriage door opened again, and both Hopper and Leti turned to look at the entrance.

Cambion and Lati, who came in, were the very opposite of each other. She was less than five feet tall, holding a skull harp in her arms, her pale blue face tense and without a smile.

"Hello? I'm Lati, from the First Prison." The tall female Cambion seemed unaware and still took the initiative to step forward and say hello.

Chapter 34 Girl

The gray-haired, blue-skinned girl stared at Lati for a long time, so long that Lati stopped smiling.

The new arrival, Cambion, wore an expression that was neither arrogant nor wary, but rather... bewildered. She was like a child still recovering from a dream, a long time before finally waking.

She held the harp in one hand and lifted the hem of her skirt with the other to return the greeting to Lati.

"Lil, from the Fourth Hell"

Hopper's ears twitched. The Fourth Hell, due to its extreme heat, was quite unsuitable for mortal life, and certainly not for a newborn. This child's parents were probably not simple.

The succubus introduced herself, and Lil responded in kind. Now Hopper felt like she was some dilapidated mechanical lifeform that had been in storage since its creation and had only recently been unpacked.

"Lil likes your skin, it's the same as Lil's," the girl said, rarely taking the initiative. Hopper and Lati looked at each other in surprise, and then she lowered her head and glanced at herself.

Well, moon white and cornflower are both blue.

"Does Lil know what we are going to do?" Lati asked with concern as she pulled the girl to sit down.

Hopper swore he had never seen such a passionate devil—unless he wanted something from him.

Lil leaned back in the leather chair, dangling her legs, her hands unconsciously strumming the harp. Her voice, as thin as a mosquito's, was almost completely drowned out by the tinkling of the harp.

"The mothers want Lil to be a good devil and go to the nuns in Emberhold to learn how to become a real devil."

Hopper rolled his eyes. The only useful word in her words was "moms", which at least suggested that her guardians were probably succubi.

However, Firna, the Grand Duchess of the Fourth Layer, and her father, Biril, were renowned throughout Hell for their romantic and suave nature, and there were even multiple versions of their relationship. Given this premise, the idea that Lil's mother was a succubus was practically non-existent.

Lil's arrival interrupted Lati's description of the battlefield, and Hopper thought she would stop talking about it. However, on the contrary, with an extra listener, Lati seemed to be more interested in talking.

Lil might not be very quick to react, but she was a very good listener. Not only did she listen attentively to Lati's endless chatter, she even asked a lot of questions.

Just when Hopper thought he would spend the journey listening to Lati repeating the wonderful dragon language dirty talk between herself and Tiamat's dragon demon officer in bed, the carriage stopped again.

Hopper glanced out the window. The scenery outside was completely beyond her comprehension. She was sure she hadn't left the Third Prison yet, but the outside looked like a plateau with a black sandstorm, completely different from Minaunos with its torrential rain.

The side door of the carriage, which had been only one person's width when Hopper entered, was now a magnificent golden archway, and Hopper doubted the carriage could fit through it itself.

Three succubi walked in from the luxurious archway, and the one with short silver hair and an arrogant look was particularly conspicuous and stood out.

Hopper and the two fellow passengers he had just met were all wearing long rainproof cloaks and robes to avoid the rain. The silver-haired succubus, on the other hand, wore nothing but a longsword belt and a few delicate pieces of jewelry, radiating her charm and warmth.

"Ah, sisters, it seems there are some who are more active than us," she said in a sexy, hoarse voice. The two demons behind her were not as beautiful as she was, and their clothes were much more modest, almost like two maids.

"Vera, dear," the black-haired succubus on her left tugged at her hand with a hint of advice, "let's sit down first."

The succubus known as Vera glanced around the carriage, ignoring Lati, and lingering for a second on Hopper's veil and Lil's harp, then chose a seat farthest away from them and sat down.

Her two sisters smiled at the earlier passengers and sat quietly near her. Fortunately, the interior of the carriage was completely different from its exterior, being as large as a hall. Otherwise, it would have been really awkward to sit with this proud young lady.

Lati hesitated several times to speak, and Hopper felt that she must want to talk to him, but Cambion was only half a devil after all, and many succubus would not even look at Cambion.

The succubus with carrot-like curly hair sitting on Vera's left seemed to notice Lati's embarrassment. She moved closer and extended her hand to Lati, with a wary but polite smile on her round face.

"I'm Lexi, and this is Vera and Danya," she introduced to the passengers at the other end. "We're all from the Sixth Prison, Malborgi."

Lati tugged at Lil, who stood up and shook Lacy's hand. The two Cambions pulled their coats together again and curtsied once more. Only Hopper remained still—she, too, was a succubus, and didn't need to salute a demon of her own rank.

After Lati finished her greeting, she began to introduce the passengers who had arrived earlier to Lacy. When she heard Hopper's name, Vera, who had been pretending to look out the window, turned around and looked at her with interest:

"Are you Hopper? I heard mother say that you might be going to that damn place called Torchhold in the near future. It seems the rumors are true? Are you the little devil promoted by Lilith?"

"Yes," Hopper replied coldly.

The silver-haired girl was stunned by her attitude for a moment, then said gloomily, "Little devil, you'll soon realize that Baator isn't a place where you can rise to unlimited heights just by looking at someone important. Let me give you a piece of advice: every succubus will eventually face the question of loyalty, and the only queen of the succubus is Her Highness Gracia. Foolish people who don't understand the current situation will quickly disappear."

As expected, Lilith's favor easily brings trouble. Hopper looked at Vera coldly, but her threats were simply boring.

The title of Succubus Queen was resounding, but the succubus Gracia could directly control were primarily those she had commanded before becoming Grand Duke of the Sixth Layer. Her promotion to Grand Duke by the Lord of the Nine Hells was too recent, and her plan to bring all succubus under her control was explicitly opposed by at least three Grand Dukes, including Grand Duke Bayer, the commander of the Bloody Battle, and Grand Duke Flying Insect, Lilith's master.

"I don't know what Her Highness Gracia thinks, but how can you be so sure of Her Highness Gracia's thoughts? Maybe the Queen of Devil doesn't even know who you are," Hopper replied.

Vera stood up and reached for the sword at her waist.

"Do you want to fight on the way to Ember Keep?" Hopper tilted his head to look at her.

"What? Are you scared?" Vera snorted and loosened her hand slightly on the hilt of the sword.

"Vera..."

"Don't pull me, Danya, I must let her see the decree of the Queen of Devil"

"Not this, look at the window!"