Yo everybody, sorry it's taken so long. I have some excuses though. I had an accident and was in the hospital before having to stay at my dad's for a decent amount of time. I'm still recovering but I am back home now so while I'm still hurting pretty bad and that is limiting my writing time I am back in the lab officially.

On top of that now that I'm back, myself and several friends have gotten Helldivers 2 and have been loving that game to death. So with my limited time at my pc split between that and writing, my productivity is at an all time low.

Despite that we are getting close to finishing up this story so let's get cracking.

King of Hell

Chapter Seven

Tipping Point

The war still raged. It had tipped back and forth but steadily the Underworld itself was changed. Minato often wondered if that had been a part of Zekram's plan or if everything had been more up to chance than even he had realized.

Gradually the professional and veteran forces of the loyalist army were ground down while the recruitment for the rebellion only grew with time. The continued tyrannical acts of the current Maou only seemed to grow worse and more deranged as time wore on and the vast majority of the devil population was turning away from their traditions of subservience and loyalty to strike out against the corrupt leadership that had failed them.

That was wonderful for their faction. Minato was quite pleased to have been behind the defection of several figures and groups across their home. However even with superior numbers on their side now, the war was certainly not over. While the core of the Loyalist forces had been carved up a new focus for it had developed. Filled with conscripts fueled by fear for their families and psychopaths fueled by their own demented hunger and lust for violence and cruelty, the new Loyalist army was even more brutal than before even if it was far less efficient.

Now the old satans rarely won a victory, but any victory the rebellion gained was paid for in such pain and bloodshed as to leave bitter tastes in the mouths of all who remained after the fighting was done.

As had become common, Zekram turned to Minato to solve the new problem and break this near stalemate that plagued their forces.

"Killing their troops on the field of battle won't ever be enough to break the enemy down." Zekram pointed out as the armament between himself and Minato slid into its second hour.

"Destroying cities wholesale will drive recruits back into the arms of the loyalists. As it is, we're making progress." Minato pushed back. He didn't want to imagine the plan that Zekram had put forth let alone complete it.

"How many more will die before that progress is enough to see the end of the war? Already fields rot for lack of farmers to harvest them. Businesses are shuttered because all the workers are carrying blades and slaughtering one another across the underworld." Zekram argued.

"Don't appeal to my compassion. I know you don't care about the low class devils dying in droves. They are hardly even people to you." Minato spat back.

"But they are people, and our people. Devils are on both sides and if we want an underworld to still exist after this war we have to end it sooner rather than later. That means doing things that we don't like."

"Myself and my friends seem to be the ones doing things we don't like. You just stare at maps and reports." Minato sniped back though he felt disgusted with himself for it. He was venting his anger at the war onto Zekram and the older devil was letting him in his own way.

"You're right. The war hangs on the back of you and your friends." Zekram said with a sigh. "What do you wish to try instead?"

Minato paused at that. He was asking what he would give as a strategy. Any petulant anger still swirling toward Zekram rapidly fled his system as he turned his mind toward something to give them more of an advantage and push things even more into their favor.

"Lately reports have been saying that Loyalists have been using Kharnath as a supply depot for most of their forces. If we can hit that and destroy the supplies or seize them without massacring the populace then maybe we won't just take that from the enemy, we'll show even more people why it is we're in the right."

"Hoping to weaken the enemy and strengthen us. Still, how exactly do you plan to hit one of the enemy's most prized locations?"

"Not alone."

"A given."

"Well, if Sirzechs and the others have their forces lead an attack against the enemy main lines, I can deploy with a smaller force around the enemy and assault Kharnath. We can secure or destroy as much of the supplies and equipment as possible before retreating before the main force of the enemy can even react." Minato pointed at places on the maps before them.

Zekram hummed in thought as he stared at the maps. It was doable, narrowly. But Minato and his troops would have a very slim window before the enemy would realize what was happening. Once they did, the majority of their forces couldn't help him and his own troops if things came to the worst situation.

"You're confident in this plan?" Zekram asked.

"Well I'll need to tweak specifics like who does what and goes where but yes. It will help our cause the most." Minato replied confidently.

"Then gather your friends and brief them on the operation. We'll call it Operation House Fly. Because I want your presence to feel about on par with a house fly before you finish. I can't lose you Minato. You're my right hand, and the future of our people." Zekram stared at him with more emotion in his eyes than the younger man had ever seen before.

It brought a smile to his lips.

"It's hard to get rid of me, Master." Minato said with a grin before heading off to gather his comrades up and explain the plan to them.

The plan had gone perfectly. At least it had until Minato realized they had simply pulled some truly bad luck. The loyalist forces were all stationed where Minato and his comrades had expected except for an entire division of the loyalists most elite forces which had just cycled back into Kharnath to resupply themselves. Four times the size of Minato's small force of raiders and all battle hardened veterans and some of the only true professional soldiers left in the enemy army.

The battle turned into a rout for Minato's troops in moments as they were assaulted by numbers they couldn't handle attacking from every direction. Unfortunately, despite the division of veterans not being at the front to combat the other forces of Minato's friends, their numbers were still too great and defenses too well prepared to fall easily to the attack.

Just as Zekram had warned, Minato and his troops were on their own.

It didn't take long before Minato began resorting to his desperate last measure. Displacing each of his soldiers individually back to their base of operations was incredibly taxing. The act of creating massive portals for a few moments had been bad even with the help of Ajuka, however creating hundreds of tiny displacements scattered throughout the burning city of Kharnath was exhausting in a fashion that Minato had never imagined before hand.

He rescued all of his forces that he could though leaving himself for last. Unfortunately he wasn't simply transporting numbers of soldiers from one place to another, he was also fighting a battle with numbers that would make him a legend if he could pull out a victory.

Spinning around the slash of a young devil soldier's sword, Minato brought the black blade that Sirzechs had given him down on the hapless trooper, bifurcating him. Given no rest, Minato was already moving to avoid a blast of black demonic power from a pair of casters flying somewhere above him.

As he did so his mind finally locked onto another one of his soldiers and in a blink they were returned to safety behind the front line. His mind went searching for the next, trying to pick out the traces of energy among his forces still fighting for survival in the city streets. Just as he had locked onto another they were cut down by a blast of some spell with a feeling of cold.

He had no time to mourn the fallen soldier as he again was forced to dance around a salvo of spells that blasted apart the stone work of the ancient city streets at his feet. Molten rock bit into his flesh with tiny pinpricks of fragmented cobblestone but he didn't stop his movement as he displaced a piece of the burning stone with enough kinetic energy to fire it like a cannon through the chest of one of his attackers.

The counterattack had the desired effect as the enemy charged him once again giving him the opportunity to claim several more lives with his sword. It wasn't nearly enough though. He'd exhausted himself rescuing his soldiers and now was fighting on fumes, rather he was fighting only on pure willpower.

His mind couldn't find any more of his forces in the city, at least not in range of his sensory abilities which were decent enough to cover a large area. Stumbling for a moment, Minato caught himself on the corner of a ruined brick building before slowly sliding down it and turning his head to watch the approaching collection of devils.

Sweat ran into his eyes and he grimaced expecting the end to some soon. It took quite a lot of effort to even lift his sword up. His arms ached after having carved through a hundred or more devils with his strength alone. Sadly it wasn't enough and there were still more.

"You could have saved yourself, why save your men?" One of the elder devils, perhaps one of the few remaining veterans of the old loyalist army asked as he stopped in front of Minato.

Minato didn't care to answer the man. It changed nothing, and he was fine with his choice even if he wasn't pleased with his coming demise.

"No answer or just too tired? Either way, it's your lucky day. You are on a special list." The devil said before nodding to a handful of other serious and clearly more elite of the devils who advanced with a set of manacles.

That simply wouldn't do.

Minato pulled one last time for a displacement. He couldn't go far. Not all the way back to camp but maybe to the end of the street, the other side of this group. Maybe just enough room for him to try and slip away and hide till he could rest enough.

His magic felt as though it was tearing at his very organs as he collapsed onto the cracked stones of the street a short distance away. Halfway to where he had wanted perhaps.

"You could have saved yourself…" The devil said with some emotion in his eyes as he stepped over Minato.

Now the black and red blade in Minato's clenched fist could barely leave the ground. It didn't matter. The man stepped onto his arm and brought a glowing hand up to level a spell with Minato's head.

"Sleep." The old man said almost kindly.

Minato slept.

When his eyes began to flutter open the first thing he recalled was blurry motion all around him. The second was an awful smell, like burnt hair, vomit, and other bodily fluids all combined. The third, just before his vision truly cleared was the sound of screaming and mad laughter all around him.

"He's waking up." A voice called out from beside him as his vision finally began to clear.

The group of loyalists that had captured him were nowhere in sight but this new group was far from the soldiers he had faced. In their place a motley collection of ugly and even in some cases fully deformed rejects surrounded him as they drug him bodily down the stone corridor. Their uniforms amounted to whatever clothes they had with a black arm band decorated with a simple four pronged pitchfork. A formerly unofficial mark of Loyalist sympathizers. Clearly now it had a bit more of a real place as a symbol.

Minato didn't get much more of a chance to take in their appearances before a thick green glob of phlegm splattered into his eyes. He struggled to free his hands to wipe away the filth but the chains the men were all dragging him by kept his hands far from his burning eyes.

He grimaced and fought to keep a steady expression as the men all giggled like children at the drool act.

"Oh we are just going to have so much fun with a spoilt brat like you in here. Welcome to Ahris, boy." One of the men barked out between his wheezy laugh.

Ahris prison. He had feared as much when he found himself being drug down the hall by his wrists. This place was a hell within the underworld. Once used for only the most vile of criminals in the underworld, slowly it had become the pit where those the Maou and their supporters would drop those enemies they had not yet decided to kill. Typically because they felt a certain amount of suffering had to come first.

Since the war had started, Ahris had become bloated with prisoners. Poor souls broken through heinous acts that tainted a soul to simply imagine.

"Take him to cell seven-forty-three. Captain will be in to meet him whenever he gets bored with two-nine-eight." One of the more senior looking guards said at a checkpoint set up between an intersection of hallways. Nearby the sound of a woman screaming in ways Minato had never heard before echoed out of a cell clearly marked with two-nine-eight.

As they drug him away one of the men laughed and told him how lucky he was. Evidently the captain had a special liking for whatever poor soul was imprisoned in that cell and probably would be there for hours. It didn't make Minato feel any better of course. It only made him more disgusted with what the loyalists had fully degraded into. There was no longer even a veneer of propriety left among their force. Base cruelty and monstrous behavior.

As they finally reached the cell he would be placed into, the guards locked his chains into contraptions on the wall that kept him from moving all the way to the door before adding another chain attached to an incredibly heavy weight to his ankles. Of course both were inscribed with seals and spells to keep him from using any sort of demonic power or magic. He was going nowhere. Not anytime soon anyway.

"See you soon." One of the guards chuckled as they slammed the heavy metal door.

With his guards gone, Minato hung from his chains for a time. Still somewhat groggy from his capture and the effect of the chains that kept his abilities in check. The only slightly muted sounds of the other prisoners throughout the prison being abused echoed into his cell and slowly it truly sank in just how bad his situation was.

Despite that he refused to simply give up. He couldn't accept that.

Hour after hour he tested his restraints. His muscles ached and cramped but there was nothing more to show for it. Nothing but exhaustion.

Sadly as he stopped the officer the other guards had been speaking about opening the door. He was fat but sported large muscles behind his bulk. Before he even stepped into the cell, Minato could smell him. He practically oozed with the rank scent of sex and blood. Sweat and other things.

"Well, you're almost as pretty as the last one I was working on." The man said as he closed the cell door behind himself and opened up a magical circle before drawing out a set of tools, each more menacing than the last.

Minato could feel his heart begin to thump faster in his chest even as he tried to put on a strong face. As his torturer drew out a file that wouldn't have looked out of place in a set of woodworking tools, he steeled himself as best he could for the pain to come.

"We'll start small. Don't worry we have some of the best healers in the Underworld. They need the practice and we give them plenty to work with. So we'll have plenty of time together, you and me." He laughed softly as he stepped over to his prisoner.

Grayfia had long lost faith in her fellow loyalists. She wondered if she could even be considered one of them any longer. Gone were the soldiers and warriors she felt she could respect and follow. Even her own beloved father had begun to slide into degrading actions to stimulate his willingness to continue the fight. A man who had been once the pinnacle of justice and right action for her was now becoming as corrupt as those he was forced to vow himself to.

At times it felt like Grayfia alone, or at least with only her hand picked squad of elite female soldiers, remained sane among the loyalists. Of course that meant that she and her troops were beginning to feel a bit ostracized from their comrades.

As she stepped beyond the threshold of the infamous Ahris prison, Grayfia was suddenly fine with that ostracization. Better that than being truly considered part of this horror show. The prisoners she could see were clad in shredded rags that barely covered their privacy, and in many cases failed even that. Accompanying such filthy appearances were bruises, scars, and even open wounds.

"Are all of your inmates in such a state." One of her subordinates asked a guard.

The man had the gall to chortle in humor as if proud of his work. "These are the lucky ones. Mostly low level or uninteresting prisoners. Be happy you aren't on the other side lady. You would definitely be considered interesting."

He leered at the woman as he spoke. At least until she struck him hard enough to rattle his teeth.

"Be mindful of your betters cur." She hissed.

Now sullen, the guard rubbed at his jaw as he moved ahead of the women to lead them further into the prison. He signaled for the next set of doors to open allowing them to pass by the first cell block. Grayfia and her troops winced at the pungent scent. Worse than that of the battlefield in all honesty. Far more lingering as well.

"Commander…are we sure about this? I can't imagine the victims here being up to the challenge." Her second in command, Ariah, whispered to her.

"We have to. We've made our choice and this is the only way forward that I can see. Besides, I can't stand by while this is happening. It's time we stopped blinding ourselves to reality and accepted the fact that we are on the wrong side of this war."

"As you say, Ma'am." The other woman responded with a nod.

She did raise a good point. They had hoped to be brought into Ahris under the pretense of retrieving a specific prisoner for the Maou. One that Grayfia had thought dead only a few days prior, just as much of the underworld did. The plan relied on them finding him, freeing him, and then freeing the rest of the prisoners and rallying them to stage a mass breakout with hopes of rejoining the rebel armies.

Looking at the state of the prisoners however, Grayfia was beginning to doubt that they could stage a proper breakout at all. Starving, injured, and altogether beaten down, the inmates looked impossibly weak compared to their guards.

As they passed an open cell with several guards hanging around the door, Grayfia got a good look inside as a poor woman was brutalized by another handful of guards. She could only avert her eyes as they kept walking. The poor woman wasn't even screaming, no doubt already used to such terrible actions.

"No matter what, this horrible place burns today." Grayfia bit out only loud enough for Ariah and a few of her other soldiers to hear her.

"Almost to the registration office, Ma'am." The guard said as he had a final set of doors opened up and they marched past a few less brutalized inmates. All of them were women and they looked more like the walking dead as they mopped and cleaned the office area of the prison.

"At least it doesn't smell like a clogged toilet here." Ariah mumbled as they walked through what could only be considered the nicest part of the prison.

"Let us focus on the task at hand ladies." Grayfia said loudly enough to rally the attention of all of her subordinates.

"Ma'am." They replied crisply getting a roll of the eyes from their escort.

"The captain's office is right in here, though he prefers the term Warden with his new responsibilities." The guard said as he motioned toward the last door in the hallway.

"What happened to Warden Orzak?" Ariah asked.

"It was decided that my predecessor wasn't hands on enough with his work. So after some time spent learning my methods directly he was relieved of his position." The Captain said as he approached from the direction of another cell block.

Grayfia struggled to keep her face stoic as the scent and sight of the man bombarded her. The smell of blood and sex wafted off of him coupled with several other bodily scents that made her stomach churn in disgust.

"Captain." She said flatly.

"Commander Lucifuge. It's a true honor to meet someone such as yourself." He all but licked his lips as he stared at the beautiful woman before him.

"Quite. Now I believe you should know why I am here, yes?" She asked, trying to hurry things along.

"Ah of course. Although I must state my objections. The prisoner in question has yet to be properly processed. He's still clinging on to some hope, even after my own personal attention."

Grayfia felt her chest tighten at that. She hadn't told her followers of her own personal reasons for choosing now of all times to attempt this operation. If anything they believed simply that Minato was a perfect opportunity due to his close camaraderie with his fellow rebel leaders. The truth for Grayfia was that, Minato was one of the very few devils in the underworld that she had ever truly felt comfortable with and able to respect.

"How has the processing progressed if you don't mind me asking? He hasn't broken clearly but…" Grayfia trailed off.

The man laughed and her fists clenched. "When he was first brought in I really thought it would take no time at all. I mean he is, or rather was a real pretty boy. Thin and lean, all classic beauty like a lot of pillar families. Surprised me. I can respect a fucker that can take what I've done to him, even if it pisses me off that I'm not meeting my milestones for cracking through him."

"Why even keep trying to break him then? It's been some time since he was brought in. What could he possibly have for us in information?" Ariah asked.

The Captain stared at Grayfia's lieutenant for a long moment before he began laughing enough for his gut to bounce and sway back and forth.

"Information? We don't process these scum for information. No, no, no. They have to be broken to teach them their place and eventually be an example to all the other scum being put into their own places. Take my cleaning girls there, for example. Seven-four-three-three, come here!" he barked.

A thin young woman with messy blue hair scrambled to his side, clearly fighting back a shiver. It only grew worse for her as the man ran a greasy hand down her side and reached back to grip tightly to her ass.

"See this? This one has been fully processed and is in the late stages of rehabilitation. A perfect servant just like she should be. Show them your marks." He ordered.

The girl immediately began undressing without a second thought. She had clearly been conditioned through intense bouts of pain. Before Grayfia could attempt to move them away from this madness however the girl's thin uniform had fallen around her ankles and Grayfia became sick at the sight before her.

Thin scars criss crossed her body and crude tattoos had been drawn across her once beautiful skin. Piercings decorated her like a piece of art, but the marks themselves degraded the woman with vile terms and titles that made Grayfia want to strike the man there and then.

It was worse when the Captain helped himself to her with his probing hands and fingers.

"Captain, I think that's enough of a demonstration. I don't feel like you appreciate my schedule, playing around like this." Grayfia said sternly.

"Ah, forgive me. I got a bit carried away. Return to work, leave the uniform where it is. I'll return for you in a few moments." He laughed as he turned and motioned for Grayfia to follow after him.

"Ariah, why don't you and the girls stay here and make sure any additional paperwork is handled." Grayfia ordered as she followed after the vile slob in front of her.

"As you wish ma'am." Ariah said before nodding to the others who casually spread out around the office area and drew close to the guards milling about. When the signal came the heart of Ahris prison would fall in a single moment.

His breath came in rasping gasps as he tried to hold on to the brief space between torture sessions from where he could take a moment to rest. This specific moment had lasted longer than most others had. Something was happening.

Though the pause in the endless cycle of torture and half assed healing wasn't his main reason for believing something was happening. No, it was the ice cold blasts of water they had washed him with today, and the new prison uniform that actually covered his form once more. Rather than make him happy at being clean and dressed in more warm clothes, he could only dread what was coming next.

As the door banged loudly and was shoved open by the Captain, Minato tried to brace himself for whatever was to come. Rather than any kind of pain or some soul crushing sight, Grayfia Lucifuge stood before him in the flesh.

Minato remained on his knees, arms extended over his head by chains as he stared at her. His mind tore itself in thoughts about why she would be there before landing solidly on only one thought. She was to be his new torturer. After all she was the enemy still and despite a few positive interactions throughout their lives they were duty bound to face one another.

It was almost ironic. He had spared her because he couldn't bring himself to deliver a bomb to her home. Now she would pull him apart.

That hung in his head until Grayfia smoothly turned and beheaded the Captain with a blade of ice.

The silver haired woman didn't even look at her victim as he dropped to the floor with blood rushing from where his neck once sat. Instead she was staring at Minato as he knelt before her.

"You look terrible." She said.

Minato couldn't help but laugh at that. Her words struck him as odd, even if her voice was filled with worry and concern.

"I apologize, I didn't realize I was going to be entertaining such a fine guest." He joked.

The woman shook her head in apparent exasperation as she retrieved the keys from the dead captain and began unlocking the cuffs keeping Minato suspended. As soon as she did though she had to catch him before he collapsed to the floor.

"Minato?" She asked as she tried to help him to his feet.

"I-I'm sorry. Just give me a moment." He said with a shaky breath.

"I have you. We're getting out of here. We're going to free the whole prison and kill the guards. Then we'll reunite with the rebel armies." She told him as he slowly regained his balance.

"Death is too good for these bastards, but it will have to do. You're defecting?" He asked her as he realized the gravity of what all of this situation meant.

"Yes." She said simply.

"I'm so glad. I hated the idea of facing you in battle." He admitted.

"We don't know one another all that well, Minato." She reminded him.

"I still hated the idea of it. Besides, for not knowing one another all that well, you are here rescuing me from Ahris prison of all places. Turning on your own people, your family." Minato pointed out.

Grayfia was silent for a moment. She didn't deny it though. A thought of pointing out the political help it would be for her to defect with Minato in hand perhaps danced across her mind but she didn't voice it. Instead her response meant far more was passing through her mind.

"So I am. Maybe I'm a fool. Let's get going." She said, helping him along as they moved into the corridor and headed toward the offices once more where the sound of fighting was coming from.

As they entered the area Minato took in the sight of several women, who were clearly Grayfia's subordinates based upon the lack of prison uniforms, who were either finishing off the remaining guards lying dying on floor or activating the controls that could open cells across the prison.

"We don't have time to unlock the chains of every single prisoner, but most aren't chained down in their cell like you were." Grayfia said.

Minato turned his attention to the gradual crescendo of sound coming from around them in the rest of the prison. The sounds of a mass riot coupled with the security feeds displayed above the controls showing prisoners swarming their abusers filled Minato with a sudden passion.

He pushed away from Grayfia for a moment, though she had to catch him again as he stumbled with his still shaky legs. He activated the spell seal on the counter to make prison wide announcements.

"Fight! Kill the guards and fight for your freedom!" Minato hollered, all of his typical decorum and charisma traded for a wild ruthless bloodlust. One shared by all the others held here at Ahris.

"Grayfia Lucifuge and her soldiers have given us this one chance! Fight for your freedom with it! Help one another and break out of this shithole and get home to your families! It's our only chance!" He roared into the spell spraying a little spit as he did so.

Roars of agreement echoed down the corridors as the inmates kicked their efforts up into a new fervor. Doors that had not yet been opened were pried out of their frames by the stronger inmates and chains clanked against the floor as the guards' keys were put to good use. Hordes of prisoners stormed through the halls as they battled with the already dwindling numbers of guards.

"That will do it." Ariah commented flatly.

"We need to get going. Come on." Grayfia said as she helped Minato toward the door surrounded by her troops as well as the prisoner women that suddenly had a spark of life in their eyes.

Ariah froze suddenly. A small magical circle around her ear activating. She paled before turning to Grayfia.

"Ma'am. Your father has arrived." She said gravely.

Grayfia grimaced. She'd hoped that they could pull this off before other loyalist forces realized what was going on. The moment she pulled her troops out of position in her father's formations she knew it was risking his attention. She had just hoped that they'd had more time.

"Minato, can you displace us?" She asked him.

"Not yet. Well, you and me, but not all of us, and definitely not even a fraction of the prisoners." Minato admitted.

"Then we have no choice. The riot will buy us some time, but we don't have the force to fight off the Lucifuge legion."

Minato grimaced at the fate of his fellow prisoners. His heart went out to them, but staying here to try and fight wouldn't help them. It would only delay the inevitable. Their only hope was for the prisoners to buy them some time with their lives.

So this was a long time coming. Only a few more chapters in this story.

Till Next Time.