Vaela, wielding a new sense of purpose and an unyielding resolve, marches out of the coffee shop, phone in hand as she scrolls through potential seduction targets. Lilith floats over her shoulder, giggling with glee as Vaela skips past small-time politicians and businessmen and pours over the profiles of royalty and rulers of militaries, nations and corporate empires.
"My kitten is truly becoming a tiger!" she gushes.
"How about him?" Vaela smirks, pointing to the profile of world-famous businessman and inventor, Thalos Virellin."
"Oh… A magi-tech mogul. Not a bad choice. But why him?"
Vaela flicks to a news app on her phone and shows Lilith a trending headline. "He's sucking whole industries dry through magical automation. Millions of jobs gone. Livelihoods destroyed overnight. Something needs to be done."
"And?"
"And… his company practically controls the magi-tech industry. He's connected to almost every government and major corporation in the world. I get him, I get access to everyone else. He has to be at the meeting."
"There it is!" Lilith cheers with a clap. "That's my girl."
Vaela struts through the lobby, glowing, her high heels clicking with confidence as the two discuss the logistics and particulars of their next target.
"Oooh, he's Elven," Lilith exclaims, licking her lips as she reads his profile. "They're magical lovers. Literally! Veeery patient, a session can last days if—"
But before she can say more, her body jerks, a deep tinglie biting at her spine. She swings her head toward the hotel entrance, her eyes narrowing on the large, glass doors.
Vaela turns to follow her gaze and openly gawks when she realizes who's entering the lobby.
The doors slowly part, and a man steps through. Tall, silver-haired, gleaming in all-white. His aura is magnetic, his expression fanged and wicked, and his glowing, golden eyes flicker with a faint tinge of sickly green.
"V-Virgil…" Vaela mutters under her breath as he walks toward her.
She freezes in place, overwhelmed, unprepared and crushed under the weight of his physical presence. He moves past her as if she doesn't exist, floating by like a demi-god. Untouchable and unbelievably beautiful.
Then, behind him, another figure moves toward them. Taller, broader, wearing a smile that reeks of ulterior motives and dressed in a plum-coloured suit tailored to inhuman perfection.
Lilith drops to the ground as he approaches, her skin losing its color and her wings shrivelling into her back.
Vaela startles as the demoness slumps to the floor next to her. "Lilith, what's—"
"No!" Lilith gasps.
The figure locks eyes with her, freezing her in place. Then, flashes her a wide, fanged grin.
She tries to scream, rant, curse and explode into flames. But she can barely move. Barely breath. Her black heart pounds in her chest like a war drum as she stares across the grand, glittering lobby at him.
The archdemon of greed.
In the flesh.
"Bilial..." Lilith whimpers, her voice barely a whisper, her breath caught on the impossibility standing before her. "It can't be!"
Her body trembles and her mind reels as she tries to make sense of her sight. He was there, in the mortal realm. Physically.
It broke every law, every pact, every unwritten agreement that has ruled the nether realms for eons. One archdemon is allowed to walk the mortal realm. No more. And Lilith's time has come.
"Lilith… what's happening." Vaela mutters as she watches the demoness trembling next to her.
"Run!" Lilith whispers. "Run, Vaela!"
"W-What?"
"Run!"
Vaela hesitates, staring at the frozen Lilith beside her, a tear rolling down the demoness' cheek.
"Vaela! Go!"
Vaela turns, stumbles and breaks into a sprint.
But as her heel touches the marble floor, the sound of snapping fingers echoes across the lobby and Vaela instantly freezes in place.
And so does everything else.
The lobby, the world, the very concept of time.
Everything.
A suffocating silence falls over the lobby as the entire world stands still. People float mid-step, falling flower petals hang weightlessly in the air, even Vaela, mid-sprint, stands silently behind Lilith, frozen in place as her eyes pool with tears and her face twists with fear.
Lilith gasps.
She tries to move, teleport and transform.
Nothing.
She tries to summon fire, shadow and minions.
Nothing.
"Impossible!" she whimpers, her fear now raging like an inferno inside.
Then, a slow, deliberate clap rings out across the lobby, piercing and powerful like pounding thunder.
"Well, well." the voice comes. Rich, lazy, smooth as honey and twice as sticky. "Still the most beautiful. Still the most dramatic…and still ... not mine."
He walks through the frozen world around him like he owns it, his plum suit shimmering like oil as he moves. Lilith watches as two, long, curved horns slowly ooze out of the black, slicked-back hair on his head. His eyes blaze with green flames, like two venomous emeralds in the husk of a dead god.
"Come…" he smiles, even wider. "Let me have a look at you."
He lifts his hand in front of him and flicks a finger lazily.
Lilith shrieks as she's yanked through the air like a ragdoll by Bilial's telekinetic touch, her limbs flailing uselessly beside her.
He stops her inches from his face where she dangles like a broken toy.
"Mmmhmmm." he moans, licking his salivating lips as he shamelessly ogles Lilith's naked body. "Absolutely exquisite. How do you get more beautiful every century?"
"Fuck you!" Lilith snaps.
"Oh, Lilly, let's save the foreplay for later, shall we." he chuckles. "What's it been, two? Three thousand years since we've been out here together? I've missed you Lil. A lot more than you think. And, you know how it is. I always get what I want. Kingdoms, empires, souls…"
He leans in and slides a finger along her chin. " But you slipped out of my grasp. And you have noidea how much that irks me."
"Don't touch me!" Lilith barks. She spits at him, but it vaporizes into steam before it reaches his skin. "You bastard!' she hisses. "I made the mistake of loving you once. Never again!"
"You did always have a thing for theatrics." he chuckles as he twirls his finger, turning and flipping Lilith in mid air as he inspects her like a collector's item.
"I've been here for centuries, Lil. Quiet, patient and growing my power. My curse spreads like a rot, slow and silent. Every time someone takes a little more than they need, when they choose power over progress, gold over grace… they feed me."
He turns and gestures to the frozen Virgil, standing tall and dapper in a white, victorian-style 3-piece suit.
"And now… I have him. The perfect vessel. His heart hollowed out, consumed by greed, and blessed with a hearty helping of my power. He's my latest masterpiece. Veeery powerful."
Lilith grits her teeth. "So what now? Another cleansing? You gonna burn it all down like last time?"
Bilial bellows a laugh that shakes Lilith to her bones. "Why would I do that when this world is feeding better than ever. Look around you, this… it's just a fraction of my power. This age of commerce, social hunger, endless consumption… it's a feast!"
He slides his finger along her cheek. She tries to recoil, but is frozen in mid air.
"But… now that you're here. It means a cleansing is at hand, right? Can't have that now, can we? Let's see what you had instore for this realm."
He pokes a finger against her temple, causing her to scream as his searing magic tore through her mind. Thoughts, feelings, memories and every moment spent with Vaela is laid bare in an instant. Their past, their seductions and their plans for the world.
He pulls back and sighs like someone that just finished a glass of fine wine. "I must admit, you've found yourself an excellent vessel." he says, as he walks toward Vaela. "But she stands no chance against my Virgil. Not anymore."
He gently brushes a strand of hair from Vaela's cheek. "He's going to devour her. Strip her to her soul. And she'll thank him for it."
Lilith flares with rage.
"If you ever touch her again," she snarls. "I will drag you down to the pits of the Nether myself, and rip the greed from your fucking flesh!"
"I've missed that fire of yours." he chuckles. "And relax, I won't kill her… or you. Where's the fun in that?"
He pulls Lilith toward him with a curl of his finger. "Besides… you know how much I love having you around. Reminds me of the good times we had." he grins as he slides a hand up her thigh. "Maybe we'll have a few more?"
"I'd rather you just kill me." Lilith sneers.
"All in due time, Lil." he laughs as he slides his hand through his hair, folding away his horns.
He turns to Virgil and with a flick of his hand, reality resumes again.
Time snaps back into motion, footsteps ring out across the lobby, conversions resume and a cacophony of consumption blares in every direction.
Bilial walks away with Virgil striding ahead of him like nothing happened.
And just before they leave the lobby, Bilial turns back to Lilith, and his eyes meet hers.
Green. Glowing.
And promising ruin.
Then, like a puff of smoke, he disappears around a corner