Page 15 of The Fearless Witch

My back smashed into the ground and I felt my spine snap. Pain exploded everywhere, but I pushed it away, trying to get myself to sit only to realize I couldn’t move. I must have hit the steps because now I lay sprawled on the ground below the platform with the two other princes watching me from above.

“He lasted longer this time.” Belphegor studied my broken body before turning to the other two. “Did I make the trials too easy, or did he get more powerful?”

Leviathan crouched on the edge of the platform, his long, scaled tail wrapping around him while he sniffed the air. I strained to get up again, but the pain was too blinding, so I just slacked against the cracked stone, trying to breathe through the nausea. The biggest downside of having a human body was that I felt it all—the pain, the pleasure, the weakness…

“He smells even more like magic than before. I guess his witch is alive again. No wonder he has been coming here so often.” Leviathan grinned, letting his forked tongue swipe over his black teeth. “Getting cocky, are we? I almost feel like cheering for you sometimes—when you’re not facing me, of course.”

Asmodeus’ heavy steps made the others turn. I braced myself for his final attack when I noticed his wings were slack against his body and the bored expression was back on his face.

“There is something else.” Asmodeus rubbed his chin, another smirk blossoming on his lips. “I can sense a new weakness in him, an attachment he didn’t have before.” He stopped by my side, looking down his nose at me. “And the thing about weaknesses…” He placed his giant foot on my chest, shifting his weight until my ribs cracked. I cried in pain, but the agony helped me clear my head just enough to speak.

“I surrender!”

The words were barely louder than a whisper, but the demon prince immediately stopped.

“I… surrender,” I repeated through gritted teeth, looking at him through the red curtain of blood on my face. My humiliation burned harder than the pain, the helpless rage spreading until I could feel nothing else. Still, I continued because I knew that just giving up wouldn’t be enough to save me. “This lowly servant admits… defeat.” The words choked me, but I forced them out. “Long live… Prince Asmodeus.”

Leviathan’s scoff made me seethe, but I didn’t dare look away from my opponent. Asmodeus’s face remained completely blank as he pulled his leg back and retracted his wings with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Disappointing, as usual,” he sighed.

“Maybe we should get his witch next time,” Belphegor chirped with excitement. “I always wanted to meet her. It’s not often that someone evades Hell for so long.” Her face disappeared from my view, but I could feel her dress shuffling nearby. “I’m sure her story would be more entertaining than… this nonsense.”

“Or maybe,” Leviathan cut in, his voice moving away as if he was following her. “We can get her and use her against him. She is the source of his power, no? If he comes to challenge again, we kill her. If he doesn’t, we keep her alive. I bet we won’t see him for a while!”

Belphegor replied something, but they were already too far to distinguish the words. Only Asmodeus lingered, studying me like he wanted to say something. Or maybe he was just admiring the damage he caused.

I ignored the blood that had gathered in my mouth, trying not to choke on it while he still watched. A sigh escaped my lips when he turned away, but then he suddenly stopped.

“The reason you keep failing is not the lack of strength, but the lack of resolve,” he said quietly, not bothering to look back. “You can’t expect to gain something big without risking something of equal value. Challenge us properly and fight till the end or don’t show up here again.” He left, his heavy steps echoing through the chamber. I closed my eyes in relief when I heard him speak again. “If you don’t, next time I face you, I’m going to destroy your meat suit and shatter your soul into so many pieces, it will take you a hundred years to collect yourself.”

He didn’t bother waiting for a reply. I tried to get up, afraid that one of them might come back to finish me off, but my body refused to cooperate. Fuming and cursing under my breath, I lay there while the sliver of power I had left mended my broken vessel bit by bit.

I must have passed out, because when I opened my eyes again, the torches in the cave had burned out. I wasn’t sure how long exactly I had been unconscious, but when I tried to get up, I was actually able to. Blood covered everything from the floor to the walls. My blood.

And I… I hadn’t managed to leave a single scratch on Asmodeus’ damn body.

A roar tore from my throat as the anger poured out of me, and by the time the echo of my cries faded down, I was panting.

‘Maybe we should look for another way,’ Cyrus said hesitantly while I staggered to my feet. ‘Maybe…’

“No!” I snarled, pressing a hand to my chest where the wound from earlier was still trying to close. “I’m not giving up! This is the only way we can survive in Hell!”

‘Then maybe we should leave Hell and live above,’ Cyrus whispered in a hopeful voice. ‘At least there, we can have friends and family and…’

“Don’t be stupid,” I spat as I dragged my feet toward the exit of the cave. “Family and friends were why you ended up in Hell in the first place. We can only trust each other. I’ll get us that power even if it kills us. I’d rather die than be betrayed again.”

Chapter 7

Celeste

‘I’m going to kill him. The first chance I get, I’m going to kill that bastard,’ I thought as I tried to adjust more comfortably on the floor. The gag was back in my mouth after he got annoyed with my voice, and now the taste of bile and desperation was the only thing I could focus on. That and the pain in my ass, legs, and shoulders. The stupid shackles didn’t even let me stand to alleviate the discomfort, and he hadn’t bothered to offer me the perfectly good bed he didn’t use.

Snarling again, I tried to adjust against the wall, but I lost my balance. The gag muffled my scream, but it did nothing to cushion my fall. I landed on the side of my face, twisted in an even more uncomfortable position, and closed my eyes while counting to ten.

A low creak had me tensing and through the locks of messy hair, I noticed the door opening. I held my breath while I listened for the incoming steps, preparing myself mentally for his mockery, but I heard nothing. I couldn’t use my power to check what had entered the room, and thanks to my fall, I couldn’t see anything other than a very narrow space beside the table.

No movement. No smell. No sound at all.

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