Chapter 44:

Lost at sea

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE LAY A FINGER ON MY FUCKING DAUGHTER!" Was the last thing Tempest heard when a seemingly tiny fist hit her square in the jaw from the side, knocking the wind out of her and causing the giant sea serpent to plummet to the ground with a pained roar.

Landing before his daughter, Lucifer gave her a quick hug as he spoke "Sorry I'm late, sweety, if I knew you were in trouble sooner, I'd have come right away"

Hugging her father back tightly, Charlie spoke "It's ok dad, I'm just glad you're here"

Their little moment was interrupted by rumbling as the giant serpent woman slowly got back up, flames now erupting from the corners of her mouth "HOW MANY OF YOU FUCKERS DO I HAVE TO DEFEAT BEFORE I CAN FINALLY GET TO PABLO?!"

Rolling up his sleeves, the king of hell spoke up with a big, cocky grin "Oh it's just me now, Miss "Tempest" , you see, you threatened my daughter's hotel…and now, I'm going to fuck you up!" tho his emerging horns would quickly pull back as he turned to Charlie for a moment and gave her a thumbs up as he asked "I said it correct this time, right?"

Giving him an awkward thumbs-up back, Charlie just smiled as her father quickly turned back towards the deep-sea demon as his horns re-emerged and he flew up, beginning to pummel the giant female serpent with punches, angelic beams and blasts of hellfire.

It was honestly impressive to see the king of hell fight such a massive opponent singlehandedly with apparently one hand behind his back, being cheered on from the ground by his daughter, her partner and Lute, all the while Adam was wordlessly watching the king of hell fight, making him realize he could have absolutely had his ass handed to him on a silver platter back when he attacked Charlie's hotel directly.

"YES, WAY TO GO DAD, FUCK THAT BITCH UP!" Charlie excitedly yelped out, doing little jumps as she did so, which caught Lucifer's attention as he began to play with his opponent a little, hurling one-liners and insults her way, as if barely even trying.

That was until he made a thrusting motion as a joke, and as he stopped to look at his daughter's reaction with a big grin, he made one fatal mistake…..he let his guard down….

DAD, LOOK OUT!" Charlie yelled out too late as by the time Lucifer turned back to his opponent, the last thing he saw was the car sized palm that was heading his way at breakneck speed as Tempest unceremoniously swatted the king of hell away like a mosquito.

Being hurled outside of the whirlpool, Lucifer would barrel his way into pentagram city, only to come to a stop against the clocktower of the heaven embassy, falling to the ground, unconscious.

Even tho he had no serious injuries, it was clear as day that the king of hell was no longer in the fight, causing Charlie's heart to sink as she fell to her knees "We're…..we're gonna fucking die here….."

As Vaggie hugged her girlfriend, Lute looked upon them, her gaze shifting between the enraged overlord and then back to Charlie and Vaggie…this person….who put everything on the line to help others….who sacrificed so much to save her people…..

Making a split second decision, Lute got up with sheer determination on her face as she barked out orders "Charlie, Vaggie, Adam, you 3 create a diversion! Try and keep her busy and off my back for as long as possible!" at which the 3 of them looked at her in surprise before Vaggie spoke "And what are you going to do?!"

Lute would respond "I'm bringing the wounded inside, to safety. Try to buy me as much time as you can, ok?!"

The 3 of them exchanged glances before saluting to Lute, even Adam joining as they spoke "YES MA'AM" before all 3 of them took to the skies and began to twirl and whizz by the giant overlord's face.

Seeing them doing their best to evade Tempest's attacks and managing to hold their own, Lute took a deep breath as she ran towards the nearest unconscious body, which happened to be the cannibal queen Rosie, pulling an arm over her shoulder and carrying her inside.

As Charlie, Vaggie and Adam tried to keep the sea serpent overlord's attention focused on them, buying Lute as much time as they could, slowly, one by one, the former lieutenant would run between the battle field and the hotel, eventually carrying a slowly awakening Emily inside, who spoke in a weak voice "Lute? What happened?" before her memories was jogged as she yelped "IS SERA OK?!"

Giving her girlfriend a firm nod, Lute spoke "Going for her next, can you walk?" to which Emily nodded "I think so"

"Good" Lute piped up "Take care of the wounded, I'm going for her next"

As she dropped Emily off safely within the walls of the hotel, true to her word, Lute dashed towards the crater where Emily and Sera fell, finding the high seraphim bleeding but alive, her breathing labored as she was barely conscious, the icicle impaling her stomach having almost completely melted now.

When she was flipped on her back and saw Lute's face, her own face would pull into a grimace as she wheezed out "Why….always….the stomach…..just like last time…."

Lute somehow managed to hook one of Sera's arms over her shoulders as she spoke "We got time for jokes later, we need to get you inside"

Next came Velvette and Ashley, then she went back for Carmilla and her daughters as one by one, Lute singlehandedly carried everyone to safety, long as Charlie, Vaggie and Adam managed to keep avoiding Tempest's wrath.

Eventually, almost everyone was inside, leaving only 2 more demons….

Swallowing her pride, Lute had hoisted one of the 4 arms of the pimp overlord Vallentino over her shoulders as she began to carry him towards the hotel doors.

Somewhere in between this, apparently, the tall moth overlord had regained consciousness.

Being disoriented at first, it would take him a few seconds to get his bearings and realized where he was or what was happening, as he realized he was being carried….

Looking to his side, he found Lute, carrying him by one arm hoisted over her shoulders.

Confused, the tall adult media overlord weakly mumbled "What….w-what are you doing?"

"Saving your goddamn life, asshole" Lute just sternly barked out as she dropped him off at the hotel, into the arms of a awaiting Vox, who wrapped his arms around the tall demon, hugging him tightly before he gave Lute a nod, as he whispered "Thank you"

Looking around inside the lobby, slowly, everyone was coming too again as Emily, true to her word, had begun using her angelic magic to take care of everyone's injuries.

Nodding to herself, Lute once again unsheathed her sword as she ran outside and began waving her arms at Charlie, indicating to the 3 of them everyone was safe as she brandished her sword.

"Alright Tempest…ready or not…here I come…."