The Flame Demon felt as though it was reliving a humiliation on par with when it had lost to a mere lackey.
Perhaps even worse.
It was not sure. It had been beaten senseless.
How could there be such a bizarre team?
Maybe I should just die.
As it frantically parried, the Flame Demon thought to itself.
It could die and return to the Abyss, start everything over. If it had clawed its way to its former position in the Abyss once, it could do it a second time.
Could it—though?
It cursed in demonic profanity.
It was merely fooling itself.
If the people before it were not silenced, word of its sacrifices to the Dream Demon through others would surely spread. It might even have already been reported to their superiors.
If that happened, the demon race would eventually find out as well, considering the Dream Demon's "demonic connections."
It refused to cooperate with other demon leaders and believed every demon should find release in their dreams.
Naturally, the other demon leaders believed it ought to be "released" too.
They had not succeeded so far simply because it was too powerful to provoke.
But ordinary demons that made sacrifices to the Dream Demon were another matter.
If they could not beat the greater demon, could they not beat it?
Demons discovered to have sacrificed to the Dream Demon had never met good ends.
Nor would the Dream Demon protect its "followers."
Few demons actually believed in that nonsense about finding release in dreams. One side completed the sacrifice, and the other gave them some power.
It was a transaction, not faith.
A transaction made necessary because demonic power could not descend directly across planes and had to be delivered through rituals.
And since it was a transaction, there was