Author note: welcome back readers! Sorry for the delay, I was sick as a dog and couldn't write despite wanting to. Thanks a million to my 20-25 followers and favorites, I am having a blast writing this and your support makes all the difference. In no particular order, I name these special folks: AlchemyWriter, Asmadey, Bri2.23, Bud200, CaosD, Fus Ro Duh, Gerden360, Halopro, IAmAbyss, KunoichiBeastKnightress, LocomotiveClown, Luan Furtado, MrFoxHoundSir, Park1117, Shadow queen 579, SplatoonFriend, TheRedPheasnt, The Shadowscythe, Twiphase, avatarange, falloutaki, grapejuice101, kyrogue23, 10, akira45, pilitaangomas, and victoriashivers724. Enjoy the read!
Chapter 36: If I were a betting demon
Taylor sat crossed legged and arms crossed on the floor of the parlor as they tried to coordinate their flame tendrils. They recently had been able to summon four at once, but the fine control was proving tricky. No matter how they tried, they couldn't get the four tendrils to act independently from one another, as they either kept moving together in pairs or it wouldn't move as they wanted. Thus, they were sitting and trying to multitask the movements as the others sat around boredly.
They listened passively to the sound of heavy rain pattering against the hotel building in the background. Outside of Exterminations, one of the things that would keep Sinners inside were acid rain storms; even with demon regeneration, being exposed to that amount of corrosive could melt their bodies faster than they could heal, killing a demon temporarily. Oddly enough, structures like buildings were safe from the caustic deluges, but they chalked that up to it being Hell.
They huffed in annoyance; the day had dragged on slowly, despite the morning trust falls and afternoon redemption activities Charlie had them do. Feeling stir-crazy, they restlessly gazed around the room and observed Angel reclining on the couch on his phone while Sir Pentious sat in an armchair idly flipping channels on the television.
They glanced over at the screen and listened to a commercial for an assassination service for living targets on Earth called I.M.P. They hummed along with the jingle before Sir Pentious changed the channel and a curious promotion came on: another service where three angelic cherubs would protect the living on Earth on behalf of souls in Heaven.
'Why would this play in Hell if Sinners can't use it? they wondered briefly before the channel changed again.
Shaking their head, they got back to their task. After trying unsuccessfully for several minutes, they groaned in frustration.
"How do you do it, Angel? You have three sets of arms and can get them to do what you want, but I can't get two to work! Argh!" They whinged to the spider demon.
Angel sniggered at the fire demon's theatrics.
"Guess I'm a natural talent, Fuoco! But what did ya expect?" He said proudly as he ran one set of hands through his hair while the other kept tapping away on the phone to show off. Taylor rolled their eyes and huffed testily. Giving up for now, they stood and extinguishing the tendrils before striding over in the direction of the bar space. They called out to the winged cat demon.
"Husk, you up for a game? I'll take anything at this point." They said tensely as they moved toward the small gaming table to the left of the bar. The cat demon grinned and nodded as he put down the glass he was cleaning and joined them.
"What're ya in the mood for?" Husk asked with an excited chuckle.
Taylor considered the options. Since their bonding moment with him and Angel, the grumpy cat demon had been friendlier and was more readily inclined humor their frequent requests for lessons on casino table gameplay or sleight-of-hand tricks. The timing couldn't have been better: their next target was a top-level member of Overlord Caesar's gambling network, and they were going in as a casino dealer this time around. They had never gambled in their life, so they had a lot to learn: from the rules of several different table games, calculating payouts and house or customer percentages, hand dexterity, and how to both spot cheating and successfully cheat. The final wrinkle was perfecting their ace up their sleeve to ensure their plan would work, making Taylor a little high-strung as of late.
"Hmm, how about Texas Hold 'Em?" Taylor decided, being their worst game.
Husk's grin grew smug.
"Your funeral." He looked over his shoulder and shouted out to the parlor. "Angel, new guy, you in to trounce Taylor in poker again?" He said good-naturedly. They heard the two agree and get up from their spots.
"Nuh-uh, I'm dealing this time 'round." They replied as they moved behind the table and got the decks and chips out.
"Come on, Fuoco, how else am I supposed to pad my wallet? Crack is expensive ya know." Angel ribbed as he sat down.
Taylor chuckled as they got everything ready.
"Fine, we'll take turns being dealer. And I'm wearing my shades, I need the handicap!" They conceded as they dealt out cards and prepared for a long and, most likely, expensive night ahead.
Taylor stood against the wall of the gambling hall, waiting for their target to arrive. They were disguised as a red fox demon dressed as a croupier in a formal white button up shirt with a black waistcoat, formal black slacks and shoes. The room had several half-moon tables for card games and roulette and a few rows of slot machines on the other end. The walls and the tables were decorated with mounted antlered skulls and fire throughout, tying in with the Overlord's appearance. The room was packed and noisy; the sound of chatter, laughter, musical tones, beeps, and clanks from several slot machines in action all at once. They regretted picking a form with enhanced hearing, as the sheer amount of noise and light was starting to overwhelm them, but they tried to put it out of their mind for the job ahead.
One of their contacts walked past them, but not before they slowed and uttered briskly.
"High-roller Blackjack table. You're up."
They nodded and made their way over to a green table with four occupants. Three of them were more contacts planted at the table; the fourth was a haughty-looking Minotaur demon in a black suit sipping from a glass of spirits while scanning the room. Upon arriving, they greeted the group politely.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your patience. Let's get to playing, shall we?" They said as they shuffled the cards, collected money, and exchanged it for chips. They focused their gaze on their target's chest area to give the impression of focusing on the cards and to hide their glowing eyes.
For the first couple rounds, Taylor let the Minotaur demon have an equal number of wins and losses while they kept warming them up. The demon was aloof, with the only form of communication between them being taps, waves, or other hand gestures as the game continued. Before long, he looked flush and tugged at his collar before flagging down a passing cocktail waitress. Taylor grinned as they looked down to collect the cards and chips.
Another round started as they worked to dwindle the target's chips by rigging the game against them. Using the different techniques Husk taught them, they subtly reordered the cards to their favor by palming, switching, and hiding cards. In between, they demonstrated clean hands by flipping their palms up to give the impression that nothing was amiss. As they continued their scheming, the sweaty Minotaur had removed his suit jacket and was fanning himself with a coaster as his breathing got heavier.
By the tenth round, the now tetchy Minotaur put down more money to replenish his chips as Taylor decided to add insult to injury. They subtly gamed the field to ensure the other players won their rounds handily while forcing the target to bust and lose their chips. All while keeping lively small talk with the table. They observed the Minotaur demon get increasingly heated as their hand gestures became brusquer and their brow stayed in a permanent scowl. His fur was matted with sweat, giving him a disheveled appearance despite the dapper clothes.
'He's close to blowing a gasket. Better wrap things up.' Taylor noted as they prepared for another round. They dealt two cards for themselves and the target, revealing a Jack face card and an ace, a blackjack and a winning combo with an extra payout for the Minotaur demon. The demon smiled greedily and wiped his sticky brow, as he had just bet all the rest of his chips. Taylor flipped their second card, revealing their total to twenty-one, another winning hand ordinarily, but superseded by a blackjack. The Minotaur's grinned down at the cards excitedly as Taylor declared:
"Twenty-one. House wins." They said plainly.
The Minotaur demon's eyes darted up at the fox demon incredulously as the spoke for the first time.
"Are you blind? I got blackjack, so I won. Give me my payout!" He shot back angrily.
"I'm sorry sir, but your total is twenty. House wins." Taylor insisted as they collected the rest of his chips.
The Minotaur demon looked down at his cards again, and in place of the ace he saw before was a king face card, bringing his total to twenty and not a blackjack. He sputtered and turned red as he stared back at the cards in disbelief. All at once, he shot up like a rocket, knocking his chair back, as Taylor flinched back and stared wide-eyed.
"I don't know what you did, you lying piece of shit. But I'm gonna-" the Minotaur shouted before his rant was cut off and his eyes turned glassy and he swayed. He lurched for a moment longer before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards with a crash. The group was quiet for a moment as they waited for the Minotaur demon to stir, but he was out cold.
Taylor sighed as they rubbed their eyes with one hand and waved the other around the room. The packed room dissipated and the king card reverted back to an ace, leaving only Taylor and the four contacts left in the room. The noise was still present as Taylor opened their eyes and looked over to the other players.
"Alright. You three, good job. Go out through the back and get far away from here." They instructed as they indicated to the back. They looked to the last contact. "Make sure the front door is locked, and go wait outside. Once I'm done here, we get out too." The four nodded and got moving as Taylor walked over to the unconscious Minotaur demon.
Focusing their gaze on the awkwardly sprawled demon's wrists, two yellow manacles with thick bundles of chains manifested before them. Steeling themselves, they got to work on the first set. They gathered the thick bundle of chains and crushed them under their fingers as they willed the silver flames to come to life. They yanked back hard before the monochromatic blaze engulfed their hands and some of the chain length. They felt the bundle start to stretch and melt as they braced themselves. Suddenly their vision swam with a flash of fleeting images that made them unsteady and their stomach clench. They stood there, wobbling slightly, as they waited for the dizzying whirlwind of pictures to finish. Once their vision was clear again, they took another step back to increase their leverage and jerked back hard. The chains rattled tremulously before they splintered with a thunderous clang that rang out over the ambient noise of the casino machines. They let go of the dissipating chains and put their hands on their knees to catch their breath and settle their stomach.
Once they felt well enough to proceed, they moved to the other side and bent down to collect the second bundle. But before they could pick anything up, they heard sharp snapping and crackling noises in front of them. They darted their eyes up at the unexpected sounds confusedly to find the source. They looked over at the side of the blackjack table to see that the mounted skull decoration's antlers were splintering and twitching, as if possessed. Taylor's eyes worriedly flickered down to the yellow miasma to check for an energy sphere before another snap got their attention. Suddenly, one of the antlers shot out like a spear at Taylor and they barely had time to twist out of the way to avoid getting gored. They took a step back and stared back in horror as the antlers kept rattling and twitching as more points started to move.
"Quite the clever trick, the mirages." Called out a crisp and refined voice nearby.
Taylor turned to the side to the unexpected being and they went into a cold sweat. Standing with poise, arms behind his back and a flaming teal glower was the gambling Overlord Caesar. His lavender and gray two-toned skull was surrounded by a mass of teal flames that stretched out to the rest of his body; two fiendish looking downward pointing antlers curled back near his face, making Taylor guess he was the reason why the mounted head attacked them. He sported a dapper gray suit jacket with coattails that was open to see a blue and teal outline of his ribs along with black slacks ending with small teal points that served as feet.
'Shit! Another Overlord? How did he find out about the plan?' Taylor fretted.
Their gaze was wrenched from the Overlord as more snapping and crackling around the room had their head dart around to see all the mounted heads on the game tables and the walls began rattling and crackling in unison, unnerving Taylor as they started to panic. In a flash, several antlers shot out at them. They jumped and dodged as they ran towards the slot machines and jumped behind one to avoid the spiked assault.
"You're quite agile; it's no wonder you've been so hard to catch." He complimented in a neutral voice. "Normally I'm loathe to damage my equipment, but these are extenuating circumstances." Caesar commented with an air of indifference.
Taylor heard more snapping somewhere near them and then a crash as one antler passed right through the slot machine they were hiding behind and all the way through their forearm. They screamed as their arm was on fire and blood dripped down the length of the antler. They hastily summoned a flaming dagger with the other hand and cut through one side of the antler with a quick slash. With gritted teeth, they pulled the obstruction out with a whimper, dribbling blood on the floor. They could barely move their fingers, making them worry a nerve was hit. Breathing heavily and holding their injury with the dagger, they heard Caesar call out from the same spot in the room.
"Oh? A fellow pyrokinetic I see. Well, in that case, let's see whose fire runs hotter. Shall we?" He said with a snap of his fingers.
The room grew warm as a swirl of teal fire came barreling around the corner and toward Taylor. They grunted as more antlers shot out behind them, forcing them to run forward. They extended the length of the dagger point and slashed down against the fire, bisecting the fireball and jumped between the two halves as it singed their waistcoat. The two halves ignited the slot machines as the music and beeps became distorted from the heat.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice that one of my gambling halls had schedules shifted to be woefully understaffed at this hour? You're getting sloppy, Dealbreaker." Caesar chided.
They saw the Overlord scowl at them as they lifted a flaming hand and more teal blazes appeared. In their periphery, Taylor saw a yellow glowing sphere hovering aways behind Caesar near the gaming table. Acting quickly, they put their long dagger in their teeth as they used their good arm to summon a flaming wall of red fire that snaked toward the Overlord. It blew through the teal flames like it was nothing and encircled him, containing the flaming demon. Seeing their chance, they made a mad dash for the sphere, dodging and ducking shooting antlers trying to impale them.
They got to the sphere just as the gaming table antlers shot out at their chest. They leaned back and threw themselves across the floor and grasped the energy sphere as they slid under the table. Energy spread through their body like a wave as their heart raced and their vision grew clearer. With a cry they dropped their weapon as the bones in their injured forearm painfully snapped back into place and muscle and nerve regrew and attached to the newly repaired bone. Once the pain subsided, they gingerly moved their fingers and watched the wound close just as the euphoria hit, making them laugh in excited relief.
Their jubilation was cut short when they heard an irate shout and they quickly picked up their flaming long dagger and got up from under the table. Caesar looked livid as he dissipated the red flames with a furious swipe of his arm. His suit jacket and coattails were blackened in places.
"Not bad, but I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that, Dealbreaker." He said maliciously as he raised his hand and a barrage of teal fireballs descended at them.
Taylor willed the dagger to extend to a flaming sword as they moved toward the teal flames and slashed them when they got close. In a flash, Caesar appeared in front of them and Taylor swung to get them to back off. To their shock, Caesar held back the flaming sword with one hand as Taylor struggled to push forward. With the other hand, Caesar reached back and threw a flame ball point blank at their chest, knocking the air out of them and dropping their sword as they were thrown across the room and slammed into the wall before they crumpled to the ground. Groaning in pain, they shakily picked themselves up and held their chest as their breath came in heaves.
'Nope! Screw this, I'm out of here!' Taylor decided, seeing as they were outmatched against an Overlord. They glanced quickly to locate the nearest exit as they saw a menacing looking Caesar walk calmly toward them in their periphery. Adrenaline coursing through them, they made to flee.
Before they could react, they felt sharp searing pain in their arms and legs as they were speared through both arms and legs by several antlers. They shrieked and instinctually became engulfed in yellow fire. The antlers snapped and splintered as the flames and heat burned them to ash, causing the fire demon to fall on the floor, shaking in pain as their wounds bled. With a painful groan, they managed to get to their knees and tried to stand, only for the pain to be too much and their legs gave out from under them with a cry. Breathing heavily and their limbs throbbing, they heard footsteps slowly approaching and looked up fearfully.
The flaming Overlord walked over slowly, with a malevolent grin so wide they didn't think was possible for a skull to make. Their panic rose as they tried to get up again, only for their legs to fail to hold their weight again and they fell back on their knees painfully. They tried to summon their flame tendrils, but it just sputtered out in their panicked state. As a final attempt to keep him away, they shot out a stream of flames from their palm, only for the Overlord to walk through it easily. Exhausted and shaking, the flames went out as the Overlord reached them and they stared back helplessly.
"How disappointing. Based on all the rumors, you seemed like such a threat." He said coldly.
Tears started to cloud their vision. Their breathing became erratic as their mind raced to find a way out of this mess. The Overlord reached out a flaming hand toward Taylor's face as they stared back wide-eyed in abject terror.
'What do I do? What can I do?' They thought hopelessly.
"Oh dear. Have I come at a bad time, little one?" rang out the tuneful voice of their patron in their head.
Post script author note: in case it wasn't clear, The Overlord Taylor is facing is the unnamed one that was in the Overlord meeting that Alastor went to in the main series. He nods to Rosie and sits next to Zeezi in the meeting, and I think it's a shame he didn't at least get a name. I found his design cool and thought he looked like a gambling man, hence the theme naming. If/when he's named officially, I'll go back and correct it. Thanks for reading!