Page 11 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires

“I’m a tasty treat for sure, but I’m not here for conflict or conquest.” His fanged teeth twisted into a sick smirk. “The name’s Corson, and I’m merely here to—”

“Shut up!” I crushed his heart in my hand.

Corson bit the air, playfully panting. “Bossy.”

“You attacked Walter. There’s only one recourse.”

“How’d you know I was in trouble?” Wally asked.

“Now is not the time for your inquisitive prodding.”

“Hmmm.” Corson wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m always up for a bit of prodding.”

I snarled.

Corson huffed. “The tension here is so not my vibe.”

As much as I’d like to say my investigative skills had improved, how I’d solved Mora’s mission about the intrusive demon that’d broken into her Diabolic Oasis, my arrival was purely happenstance. Whenever Wally activated his devil essence, my body shuddered ever so subtly, recalling every day spent with the devil’s might coursing through my being, reliving every eon spent at Beelzebub’s feet, serving the god-king who reigned with a callous cruelty unlike any I’d encountered since my lifetimes in his Hell.

Despite the fact essence remained veiled and hidden from detection, my instincts were synced onto every movement of the devil essence radiating within Wally. And since he’d acquired it, he never accessed the power so heavily, potent and destructive in the air. It served as the only proof I required that he was in danger.

“To be clear, he attacked me.” Corson pointed a gold-painted clawed finger at Wally as if he’d ever provoke a fight. “I came in peace, merely attempting to deliver a message.”

“Liar.” I lunged forward, slashing my claws at his throat.

“Bezzy, no!” Mora leapt from the finely hidden threads of her essence, positioning herself between Corson and me.

Of course, she proclaimed herself the only demon allowed to weave her essence in such a manner, but she allowed anyone of a Diabolic nature the privilege of accessing her threads. She said it was a sign of her graciousness. I said it was further proof she loved having as many people inside her as possible.

“What is your problem?” I growled. “You’re the one who told me to kill this guy.”

“Of course this is a case for Mora.” Wally pouted. “So much for chivalry.”

“Are you whining?” I glared. “You’re the one always telling me not to kill folks.”

“That’s before he attacked me and tried destroying my shop.”

“I did no such thing,” Corson commented.

“Bezzy, focus. Perhaps on his official banner of passage.” Mora kept her telekinesis trained on me, an effort to deter me should I attempt to strike this foul demon.

I scoffed. As if she could.

“I didn’t realize Lilith was sending an ambassador.” Mora curtsied.

“Why would you?” Corson shrugged. “You don’t even have an embassy in this shitty dimension. How is one meant to be greeted upon their arrival?”

“Well, usually they arrive at one of the official gates,” Wally interjected, a moody expression on his face and a tangent ready to explain the sophisticated complexities of how the Diabolic Oasis had several points of entry for incoming and outgoing traffic.

“A truly disgraceful display on my part.” Mora smiled, adding this cutesy inflection meant to come across as delicate, which only made her sound pitiful.

Anything involving devils resulted in Mora’s immediate submission. Not that I could blame her. If one deemed her world a threat, they’d shred the walls and burn the magic holding this place together until only cinders remained. But I figured the Diabolic Oasis wouldn’t catch any devil’s interest, a meager pocket portal at first glance and barely anything more than a tiny realm veiled inside another world. Our dimension wasn’t even linked to the infinite web of dimensions creating the ever-expanding universe.

Mora’s city was more like a downloadable content to the mortal world. I shivered at the idea of the game of life that was being a boring, basic mortal. Yuck. But unlike DLC, Mora’s world would never become anything more than an added extension. Downloadable Loser Content because only losers paid extra for game add-ons when they were just gonna buy the special edition that included all the add-ons later anyway. I stared at Walter, the truest victim of DLC syndrome. Unlike him, I had the patience for slow-moving mortal time and always waited until I could make Wally procure the deluxe special versions of the games I indulged in.

“What’s this about an official banner?” Wally asked, squinting his eyes as if that’d somehow assist. It wouldn’t. Even I didn’t notice the display right away since I no longer lived in Hell or entertained demon delegates sent on Diabolic business.

“When a devil wishes to speak to another, they often use a proxy since so few deign to step foot outside the glory of their own dimension,” I explained, biting back my sarcasm as best I could.

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