Between the crisscrossing Lava Rivers, pillars of fire erupted from the barren ground, warping the air.
Returning to Hell from the Main Plane felt to Beludona like coming home to... Hell.
Beyond her window stretched a maze of Obsidian buildings. Beludona had yet to move out of the Obsidian home she had lived in for decades, and now she had changed her mind about leaving.
Devils had no friends. Only blood or self-interest bound them together. So Beludona called the two devils she had met in this devil Hatchery—Frigga and Alaina—her "companions."
Their "clothes" offered about as much protection as the leather armor she used to wear. Beludona had been to the seaside, and she thought even the shells on Sandy Beach were bigger.
They had gone ever deeper into the business of "sales," sometimes even playing the girls themselves... Beludona, at least, had a line she would not cross.
Beludona gave her envious companions a brief account of how working with a human had earned her promotion to a devil. "You should thank me. I've decided to share the opportunity with you."
Frigga and Alaina exchanged a glance. Frigga struck a sinuous pose. "Beludona, does that promising young City Lord like devils?"
Beludona's face remained blank. "Put that act away. We're devils, not succubi selling ourselves!"
The selfishness of devils made Alaina secretly delighted. "Then what should we do to please this human City Lord?"
Beludona took out the Magic Stone. "Make Magic Films all the rage in the Hatchery."
Of the three Magic Films, Beludona thought devils would like "Betar's Redemption" best.
Andy's fair deals aligned perfectly with devils' understanding and practice of "order." And Andy's imprisonment mirrored their own plight: they were trapped in the Abyss. Hundreds of its layers had been explored, but devils held only