The dragon's harem

Chapter 2344: Why is Hell Scared?

Sitting in her room, having just finished eating a large serving of dried meat, Pin closed her eyes and tried to sense all of her power. The path through pandemonium to the second layer isn’t safe or peaceful; it’s swarming with monsters, so making sure she got all of her powers locked in was a must.

But what she sensed then was amazing. She herself might be weak, No, she was far weaker than the average devil here on the first layer of hell, but she had one thing that no one else in the entire universe had, besides those close to Arad, of course.

She was blessed by countless gods, demons, and absolute nightmares that not even Asmodeus herself would dare look at.

At the top of her list was Arad himself, having granted her his Left Forearm, a newborn and growing new hell. That alone is a power that countless gods would kill for, and to leave it in the hands of such an expendable little gremlin was definitely something only Arad could afford. He was throwing divine portfolios to his wives like candy, where many would kill to keep them.

Then there was Eris herself. Pin could remember her well, ever since she was born. Eris was a cute little girl, but a vile one. Ever since she was young, she would dissect animals and people alike to study them, which was extremely easy since her mother was in Katal’s cult. But ever since Eris was born, Pin knew that she would become something great. Now, she is the Divine Goddess of Murder and the Purple Sun, a power that cannot be underestimated.

Then, she got Kali’s blessing as well. It wasn’t just her; everyone, even the newly hired maids, would get some of Kali’s blessing to protect them, and it was a hidden truth that those maids that Kali keeps annoying are the ones she likes the most, and those who receive a lot of her protection, even if they don’t know it. Pin wasn’t on stellar terms like that with Kali, but she still got power from her.

Then she got Kossuth’s blessing, which was only because Eris asked Kossuth for it, to allow Pin to easily survive Hell’s searing heat. Surprisingly, Kossuth didn’t mind at all since blessing a single little wretched imp wasn’t a big ask, but now that Pin was stronger, she was worried that Kossuth might pull her blessing off. But to her shock, Kossuth only made the blessing stronger.

Then was Isdis’s blessing, which was only possible after Kali taught Isdis how to properly do it. In short, poor Pin her little test subject. If she failed, Pin would’ve frozen solid and died seven times over.

Having all of those blessings at once meant that while she was a devil, Pin could use curses, divine magic, and even eldritch magic if the Lord’s Left Forearm was the one to act. That alone makes her almost unstoppable here, of course, unless she faces someone powerful enough to one-shot her.

As she was busy checking her own magic, someone knocked on the door of her room, and a woman’s voice called out. "Is someone there? Why is the door locked?" The voice then tried to push the door open and called again. "The room has two bloody beds! You aren’t staying here alone!"

Pin stood, sighed, and approached the door, unlocking and pulling it open. "They didn’t tell me about this. I thought I was alone." She growled at the woman outside, who sighed. "By Asmodeus’s horns, I just rented myself. You probably came before me."

The woman was tall, wearing a single baggy wizard robe with a massive hat, and had pale skin, long black hair, and bright green eyes. Looking closely at her, she smelled like a witch or a hag while looking like a thirsty succubus with her curvy build.

"What’s a witch doing here?" Pin asked, and the witch shrugged as she walked in and closed the door. "Research. What about you? Why are you only wearing thongs beneath that cloak? You don’t look like a succubus to me."

The witch sat on the empty bed, as Pin was already using one of them, and she stretched her arms. "I’m called Sofia Lawrence, a fire witch. My specialty is burning things down, and I was once called the Infernal Witch. But many just see me as a crazy arsonist." She flicked her fingers, and flames danced between them.

"Paige Isabelle Nex, a stray devil. I grew up here, and I’m trying to head back to the second layer." Pin sat on her bed. "You didn’t answer my question. What kind of research would bring a witch to Hell itself?"

"I heard Hell’s flames are immortal, and I just wanted to check them on my own. While walking around, I heard some guards talking about a devil woman who just got into the city whose fire magic looked impressive, so..." She looked at her with a smile. "I tracked you here."

Pin sighed. "Now that you find me, what will you do? Try to enslave me? Force me into a contract? Sorry, but I’m not going to play your game." She cracked her fists. "I wonder which is easier, quicker, and safer. Killing you, or running away?"

The witch laughed. "I won’t recommend fighting me, and running away won’t help. Don’t worry, I only want to observe your fire magic for a while. Pure observational research." She then stood, cracked her neck, and looked at the door. "I’ll go find us something decent to eat and drink. If you think running away is the option, feel free to escape now. Otherwise, we’ll be in each other’s care for a while."

The witch walked out of the room and closed the door after her, leaving Pin confused.

As the witch walked down the stairs and reached the lower floor, several armed devil guards were already standing in the tavern and inspecting everyone. They were looking for the devil who got into the city earlier, Pin. The rules were the rules, and no one was allowed in. Those guards were wrong to let her in no matter what, and those armed guards came to kick her out now.

The witch looked around, located the guard’s commanders, and smiled. The commander was a large devil with bestial fur and spikes coming out of his back, a spine devil. And his right hand was a red-skinned devil woman with one horn coming out of her head, a spear devil.

She approached them. "Excuse me, I want to talk." She spoke, and the commander stared at her for a second and snarled, prompting one of his guards to swing at her. This was hell, and the cost of offending an officer like him was instant death and imprisonment after resurrection. But instead of the witch’s head rolling on the ground, the guard who attacked her fell to the ground as a pile of ash.

Everyone immediately recognized that burning magic, and they were about to shit themselves when she flicked her fingers, and their commander evaporated into nothing. That witch was Tiamat herself in her human form.

She approached the commander’s right-hand devil woman and looked at her with a smile. "You’re now this patrol’s commander. Please come with me; I’d love to talk with you privately about something important."

"Yes..." The new commander nodded and followed Tiamat to the back room. A few minutes later, she came back half naked, with large patches of her body burned, her ears bitten off, countless scratches and bruises on her body, and even a few missing fingers and toes.

"We’re going back. This mission never happened." She mumbled as Tiamat walked out of the back room behind her. Tiamat then patted the new commander on the shoulder. "And don’t forget to report back to my castle later. You dared to talk back to me, so this little bit wasn’t enough."

As the guards ran away, Tiamat sighed. "Fools, almost got me in hot water." She looked at the bartender, and his body shifted, turning into that of a woman. That was Amaterasu standing there wearing a bartender’s suit and mixing drinks. "Indeed. The Lord’s Left Forearm. I can feel its power from here. No wonder Hell was trying to impress its father lately; it is afraid that he is going to abandon, and replace it with a new Hell."