Baator Hell Promotion

Hopper and Vera turned to look at the window Danya pointed at. There was a featureless face plastered on the outside of the window.

The face seemed to notice that the people in the car had discovered her, and the mouth that was originally pursed into a straight line widened and curved into a flat and terrifying smile.

Chapter 35: The Old Woman

There was a brief and terrifying silence in the carriage.

"Fog," Lati whispered into Hopper's ear. Hopper looked closely and saw that their attention had been absorbed by the widening smiles on their faces. They hadn't noticed that the background outside the window had turned into a thick, bluish fog. The mist flowed like water, and the howling faces that had been formed were torn apart and melted into the mist.

Things were getting worse. The Shadowliu pulling the carriage was a rare magical beast native to the Shadow Plane. It could leap through the shadows with the carriage, and almost nothing could stop it. Now that the fog was clearly visible, it meant the carriage had slowed down significantly, and Shadowliu was likely in grave danger.

"In the name of the Malborge court, I command you to withdraw!" Silver-haired Vera opened her left hand toward the face outside the window, the inward-facing ring on her ring finger emitting a brilliant pink glow. Hopper felt his heart pounding, as if he wasn't looking at a ring, but at an enraged Grand Duke.

The light disappeared in an instant, and everyone looked out the window at the same time.

The face was gone.

Hopper heard Vera let out an uncontrollable sigh of relief; it seemed that using the ring was also a burden on her.

"What is that? Is he gone?" Danya looked around. Her face was pale, and her straight, soft black hair made her look like a drowned corpse in the light of the Yaojing.

"Don't let your guard down," Hopper glanced out the window. "The fog hasn't dissipated, and the carriages haven't started moving again."

"That's a Doji," Lexi said seriously, holding a crystal skull smaller than her hand. "Or, in other words, an assassin."

The jaw of Leixi's crystal skull stretched out, looking at the unusual humanoid creature, two points of scarlet flame flickered in its empty eye sockets.

Lacy lowered her head, her red hair covering the skull. She kissed the skull and asked a few questions in a low voice. When she raised her head, her expression became more serious.

"Communications are blocked, I can't contact my master."

"I thought the assassin was just a rumor. I've never seen one in Avernus." Lati groped on the ground and quickly pulled out a weapon as dark as her skin from under the seat where she had been sitting at the beginning.

Hopper couldn't help but take a few more glances. She had originally thought that a big guy like Lati, who had been on the battlefield all year round, would use a long-handled axe or a giant sword, but what she pulled out was a rapier that was much thinner than her.

"Grand Duke Bayer is obsessed with bloody battles, and he doesn't like other grand dukes plotting behind his back. Other grand dukes respect his combat ability and will not challenge his nerves with assassination." Danya had obviously stayed in the palace of Malbogi for a long time, and had heard about the intrigues among the grand dukes of hell.

"Well said." A voice that did not belong to any of them sounded. Lei Xi stared with wide eyes at the black blade emerging from her abdomen, and then fell to the ground silently as the blade was pulled out.

Dojimo had already sneaked into the carriage silently.

It was like an exquisite shadow standing in a pool of Lacy's blood, playing with a black triangular blade in its hand, with a twisted but unchanging smile on its face.

Before anyone else could do anything, it took a deep breath, and thick green mist quickly filled the entire carriage.

Hopper had no weapons, so she took the most correct option at the moment - approaching Lati. At the same time, Lati shouted

"Everyone come closer to me!"

A rustling sound immediately came from the other side. The two succubi might have grown up in the palace and hadn't experienced much combat, but at least the devil's innate orderliness and obedience meant they didn't waste any time.

There was a clang of weapons scraping against each other, and when the dull sword attacked from the side, Lati narrowly swung out her rapier to stop the assassin.

Before she could pursue, the blade quickly retreated.

Hopper leaned against Lati, trying to recall information about assassins. There was so little information about them. It was said that the original contract allowed assassins to kill demons at will without trial, but their numbers were so small that they came and went without a trace, and few living mid-level or low-level demons had ever seen them.

We can only speculate based on the information we have. The freshmen on the carriage came in four groups, and it arrived shortly after Vera, the last of the group, entered the carriage. Furthermore, Vera and her group were from the Malborgi court, so it was most likely coming for them.

But we can't rule out Lati. Was she really lucky to have spotted the assassin? Why was she looking out the window, and why did she happen to spot the elusive assassin?

Finally, it was his turn. As far as Hopper knew later, the Ice Demon Igari had been sent back to Sfando five times on the charge of offending Lilith. Sfando must not dare to retaliate against Lilith. Was he worthy of him sending an assassin?

No! Hopper warned himself not to let his imagination run wild and to think about how to get through the crisis first.

The air was completely silent, and the carriage was filled with only a cold mist. The assassination demon was dangerous, but he wasn't absolutely sure he could challenge three succubi simultaneously, so he waited for them to slack off.

Wait, fog. Hopper understood, and she reached out and pushed the left side, if she remembered correctly, it should be Vera.

She elbowed him back, not sure if it was a response or just plain impatience.

But Hopper didn't need to worry about this. She looked around and hissed with the corner of her mouth:

"Tell me you have the magic to dispel the fog"

“I’m going to say no.”

"Then just wait for death"

To keep it secret, she spoke in Dragon Language. Assassins were usually vassals of high-ranking devils or nobles, and their targets were often political enemies of the devil or high-ranking officers of the devil. Hopper bet that this one had never learned Dragon Language.

"Yes, when will it be used?"

"Listen to Lati, Lati?" Hopper switched back to Hellish and asked.

"No problem, everyone, pay attention, surround me and lean against the wall."

Hopper grabbed Lil by her leg and ran with big strides. She hated this overly large carriage. All the other freshmen started moving, but the price of moving was that they were all vulnerable.

Hopper felt the wind coming from behind him, and rolled on the ground without looking back, and heard the sound of Lil's piano strings twanging.

"Now!" Ratti shouted.

A huge blast of air exploded in the middle of the car, and Hopper slammed against the wall like a fish in a storm, then tumbled down.

Hopper stood up, rubbing his chest. The entire carriage was in a mess, and all the seats were either overturned or burning.

Becoming a succubus does have some advantages. It's much more resilient than a skinny little devil, Hopper thought with a bittersweet smile.

The other freshmen also regained their footing. Aside from the unconscious Lil, no one appeared seriously injured. Standing not far from the center of the explosion was a dark figure.

Hopper's heart sank. The explosion had indeed cleared the fog. Now most of the carriage was on fire, and the fog would not gather for a while.

But it was still a long way from killing or forcing back an assassin. At least he looked uninjured except for being a little dazed by the air wave.

The assassin naturally knew his situation better, and the explosion just now separated them, making it easier for him to take action.

He maintained a frozen smile, pointed his finger at Hopper from a distance, and his whole body exploded into a ball of sparks, crossing the dimension.

The lust demon was startled, and kicked hard while flapping his wings in an attempt to get away.

No, he wasn't coming for Hopper. He wanted to kill the unconscious Lil on the ground first. When Hopper thought of this, the sharp blade had already stabbed towards the short Cambion.

Then the blade stopped.

The black hemispherical shield blocked the sword.

"It seems I'm not too late." A hoarse voice came from the dancing shadows.

A hunchbacked old woman leaning on a long staff walked out from the shadows, her eyes shining scarlet in the firelight.

Chapter 36: Simulacrum

The old woman was wearing a black, smelly leather cloak, with a long, bird-like nose sticking out of the hood. Her bony, dark purple claws tightly grasped her cane, which immediately reminded Hopper of a smug crow.

The assassin immediately let go of his sword when he discovered the protective shield, and his figure quickly faded.

Just as he was about to disappear into thin air, the old woman took out a tiny bone from her bosom, held it between her wrinkled lips, and folded it hard.

The assassin and the bones made a loud cracking sound at the same time, fell to the ground, and squirmed helplessly, as if they had lost the ability to move.

"Young man, can't you run anymore?" the old woman said in a voice she thought was sweet, but her voice sounded like fingernails scraping on an iron plate.

The old woman raised her empty hand, and a ball of purple-white starlight lit up on each finger. Then the starlight split into two, and then the two split into four. A total of twenty missiles whizzed out, and their tail flames drew a brilliant galaxy in the sky.

The assassin demon made a final attempt to roll, but the missiles seemed to have eyes, whistling and exploding on its body without missing a single one.

In just a moment, the assassin who had forced the freshmen to be helpless was reduced to a corpse full of holes.

But not a single drop of blood shed from the corpse. It lay straight and stiff, visibly turning white and brittle, crackling like ice, shattering into pieces and then melting into the wet floor.

"Hmm?" the old woman asked doubtfully. "Is it just a simulacrum and not the real thing?"

Hopper was horrified. Creating a simulacrum required a very high level of magic. Not only did the caster have to use many rare and expensive materials, but they also had to sacrifice a portion of their life force. Creating a simulacrum of an assassin demon cost far more than hiring one.

There is only one reason for doing this - the mastermind behind the scenes wants to do his best to ensure that he will not be tracked.

Who on earth provoked such a powerful enemy with both strength and financial resources?

The old woman limped over to the puddle of water - she was lame, walked to the fallen Lacy, and took out a bottle of potion.

"Someone help me open her mouth." Lati jumped up, ran over to drag Laxi up, and squeezed her pale and bleeding mouth hard.

The old woman pulled out the cork with her teeth, put the bottle under her nose and sniffed it.

"It shouldn't be bad yet," she muttered, drinking the entire bottle of potion directly.

The effect was immediate. Lacy's pale face quickly turned rosy, almost the same color as her hair. Silvery steam rose from her ears and hair. She awoke with a cough, groaning in pain from her wounds. She nearly fainted at the sight of the ghostly old woman.

"You're lucky, little red-headed chickadee!" The old woman chuckled and straightened her back. Hopper realized that she was probably not much smaller than Lati.

Her tall stature, old woman's appearance, and powerful spells all pointed to one fact: the old woman was a hag.

"Thank you, ma'am," Vera bowed her head for the first time. "If it weren't for you, we would probably all have died here..."

"There's no need for verbal thanks," the witch interrupted her rudely. Vera had clearly never been treated so rudely before, and a subtle glint of anger flashed across her eyes, but she ultimately said nothing more.

"If Lady Harsh hadn't begged me to come, I wouldn't have bothered to save you ugly little birds," the witch spat on the ground in disgust. "But you can rest assured. No matter what kind of enemies you have provoked, you will be safe under the wings of Lady Harsh."

"As for you, little red-headed tit," she turned and pointed at Lexi, her long nails covered in mud almost poking her nose, "you wasted a bottle of my precious potion. Either you compensate me before you leave Emberhold, or I will take your firstborn child as payment."

Lacy seemed completely frightened and nodded hesitantly.

"I don't know your name, my dear lady." Hopper heard that she was from the Torch Keep and might hold a high position. He couldn't afford to offend her, so he hurried forward to greet her.

"You should call me Professor, little blue jay," the hag picked her teeth. "Professor Millennium Gut, little birds, I have no choice but to obey the orders of the Strict Lady and teach ugly monsters like you magical knowledge. I have no doubt that you will have a very unhappy time with me."

Now, except for Lacy who was lying on the ground and Lil who had fainted, all the freshmen quickly lifted their robes and saluted her.

"Alright, alright, you're all ashamed of yourselves in front of my beauty," the witch said, waving her hand. "Enough of the small talk, Madam Strict is waiting for us."

She clapped her hands, and the carriage seemed to have reversed time. The overturned benches on the ground stood up and walked back to their original positions; the shattered glass trays flew back to the roof of the carriage, and were filled with intact Yao crystals again; the burning floor and walls automatically lost their charred color and were re-pasted with wallpaper. After a while, the carriage had returned to its original state.

As a loud roar like a tiger's roar and a horse's neighing, as loud as a horn, came from outside the carriage, the scenery outside the window became more and more blurred - Yingliu pulled the carriage into high speed.

"Little birds, go and rest. Sleep is good for recovery. Remember what the Millennium Sausage said, even though you are a group of owls who don't need sleep." The hag's hoarse voice made her words of comfort sound like threats. "When you wake up, you will be able to see Torchhold."

Only then did Hopper breathe a sigh of relief. Once he relaxed, he felt a dull pain in his chest and back, and fatigue and pain crawled over his body like ants.

Several freshmen looked at each other. Maybe there were a lot of disagreements between them when they first got on the bus, but after fighting together, everyone had a tacit understanding of living and dying together.

Lati waved her arms, picked up the petite Lil, and placed her on the bench, covering her with a robe. Hopper and Danya also supported Lacy, who was holding her belly, and carefully placed her in place.

Hopper chose a spot not far from Lati and lay down fully clothed. Lati had been the most nervous of the night, and now she had covered her face with her wings and sat next to Lil, purring softly.

The leather of the bench was so soft that Hopper felt like she was sinking into it the moment she laid down, sleepiness quickly creeping over her eyelids.

The succubus felt as if she had just closed her eyes when a cold little hand pushed her awake. She woke up immediately with a start, and the first thing she saw was light shining through the window above her head, casting a golden spot on the opposite carriage.

"Wake up" was pushed by Lil. "Just now, the Millennium Intestine Granny said we have arrived."

Hopper sat up and felt more pain at the place where he was hit. It seemed that his skin and flesh had become much more tender after he became a lust demon.

Across from Hopper, Vera squinted her eyes lazily, shielding her eyes from the light with her hands. Even though Hopper didn't like her personality, he had to admit that Vera was indeed proud. Her silver hair and jewelry reflected the light, making her look holy and seductive in her cool clothes.

Lati was looking out the window and noticed that Hopper had woken up and waved at her, pointing out the window.

Hopper knelt on a chair, straightened his back, and looked out the window.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of a valley with lush grass and water. Looking along the winding path, there was a solitary mountain rising from the ground in the center of the valley.

The Lonely Mountain is as slender as a tower, and at the top of the tower is a circular castle floating in the air, shrouded in clouds and mist.

However, these were not the things that attracted the lustful demon the most. She also heard the exclamations of Laxi and Danya behind her.

On the edge of a distant cliff, a sun that looked exactly like the one on the main material plane was climbing into the sky.

Author's words: Everyone reported that they were not used to the pronouns.

I thought about it and realized that I was not thoughtful enough. Now I have changed everything.

If there are any omissions, please fix them.

Chapter 37: Castle

"Okay, little birds, get ready to take off! We are already late, and we can't keep Ms. Strict waiting too long." Professor Millennium Intestine shouted.

The witch lifted her leg, straddled her staff, and kicked it hard, rushing towards the castle in the sky. Hopper accidentally caught a glimpse of her colorful long panties under her robe, which looked like poisonous mushrooms.

Hopper and Lati exchanged a glance, then simultaneously spread their wings and leaped into the air, following closely behind the old hag. Vera and Danya followed closely behind, while Lacy and Lil had to maintain a slower pace due to their injuries.

As the altitude increased, the warm, tree-scented air turned cold and sharp, stinging my face. But it lacked the heavy odor of sulfur, nor the toxic fog that would make one vomit blood. It was a rare breath of good air in hell.