"According to what I could find, the Heart doesn't hold much of Azaroth's power." Levia explained, her lips trembling as his thumb caressed their outline. "The Heart isn't a source of power, but an amplifier of power. It amplified Azaroth's powers, pumping energy into his other powers, like a true heart."

"Sounds about right," Amon said with a half-smirk. 'That's why, unlike what I had expected, devouring the Black Stone increased my Strength, Agility, Vigor, and Endurance Stats substantially.'

He silently brushed her lips for a moment before asking. "What else is there? Other than the Heart."

Levia hesitated. "That's difficult…"

"Tell me anything you know." he said. "Even if it isn't a sure thing."

Levia felt a shiver crawl down her spine as his hand lay on her knee. "According to legends and scripture I was able to decipher, Azaroth was split and sealed into five Artefacts." She explained. "Azaroth's Heart, Azaroth's Eye, Azaroth's Blood, and two more that I do not know about."

"I see." Amon nodded. 'The sources of power by themselves are much less valuable than when they're coupled with the Heart, so it's a good thing I obtained the Heart first.' He thought.

"Vulkan might know about Azaroth's Blood though." Levia whispered.

"Vulkan."

"Yeah…" She said, tilting her head. "He's going to be trouble." Levia scratched her head. "He…"

Her words trailed off as his hand moved up from her knee to her thigh. She immediately blushed, clearly not used to being touched this way.

"Some trouble is nice." He whispered in her ear.

***

Akane and Syl remained standing in the same spot, unsure whether to enter the church or not.

'There might be traps inside.' Syl thought to herself. 'You never know… The Demons are staying put. That's a telltale sign, isn't it?'

'I have a bad feeling about this place.' Akane thought, the hairs over her tail standing on end.

Rika and Rita were still sitting on the ground, their wrists bound by the cuffs of corruption.

"This is bad, isn't it? For us." Rika muttered under her breath.

"No kidding," Rita answered. "It's only a matter of time until Vulkan realizes. I left immediately without saying a word."

Akane's ears twitched. "What was that?"

Rita froze. "Nothing."

Syl sighed and walked closer, spear resting against her shoulder. "Your mistress seems keen on joining us. How about you earn yourselves some points? They've left you with us, cuffed, and at our mercy. You know what that means, right?"

Rika clenched her teeth and lowered her gaze.

"We can do with you as we like." Syl added.

"Don't get so full of yourself." Rika sneered, spitting on the ground. "If it were just the two of us, I'd have snapped your neck a while ago."

"But it's not just the two of us," Syl said, spinning her spear. "Huh?"

Rika gulped as the tip of Syl's spear kissed her neck.

Still, she refused to talk.

"Vulkan will be coming for us." Rita finally said, earning a disapproving frown from Rika.

Akane frowned. "Who?"

Rika groaned. "Vulkan, the Demon General."

Syl's eyes narrowed. "General?"

Rika nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. He's a pretty big deal."

Akane crossed her arms. "Demons have an Army? Why would there be a General."

"It's not exactly an Army." Rita sighed. "It's a pecking order. Lower Demons are at the bottom, then regular Demons, Demon Commanders, Generals, and above them… The Demon Lords."

Syl's spear tip dipped slightly. "And the Demon King rules over them."

"Jarath." Akane said suddenly. "He was Demon King, wasn't he?"

Rika and Rita exchanged a glance before nodding.

"Right." Rika answered dryly.

"Vulkan," Syl started. "Is that who the Hobgoblin Chief deals with?"

Rita pressed her lips together, doing her best to suppress her laughter.

"I'm guessing not." The female Hobgoblin said with narrow eyes.

"The Hobgoblin Chief deals with an envoy." Rika said. "He might be a Demon Commander. A Demon of middle, average rank might be more likely."

"Tian." Rita explained after shaking her head and shaking off her laughter. "He's a runthemill Demon and is usually sent to deal with the Hobgoblins."

"How do you know that?" Syl asked. "Are you working with that Vulkan?"

"We had a temporary thing going on, I guess." Rita nodded. "Levia just completely broke it, though, hence my presence."

"Tell me more about Jarath." Akane wanted to know more about this shadow of a memory refusing to reach the surface of her mind.

"As you said, Jarath was Demon King." Rita explained. "The Demon King rules over all Demons. There have only been five Demon Kings in recorded history. Jarath and Azaroth were two of them."

"So this is a Demon King's Church? Does it actually have a link with Jarath, or was it just named after him?" Syl asked.

Rika and Rita looked at one another before shrugging.

"You don't know, huh?" Syl scratched her head, slightly annoyed.

Akane rubbed her temples. "So we're standing in front of a church built for a dead Demon King, surrounded by two Demons who answer to a Demon General."

"Pretty much." Syl nodded.

"We don't answer to Vulkan!" Rika protested. "And we're cuffed! Don't make your situation look worse than it is! We're the ones in trouble if anything!"

Akane and Syl ignored her protest.

The female Hobgoblin exhaled through her nose. "At least now we know who's going to be coming after us now." She sighed. "That's progress, in a way."

"I guess so." Akane nodded.

Rita gave a humorless laugh. "You don't get it. Vulkan is much bigger than any one of us. Much bigger than all of us combined. Even if the four of us, with Levia and your guy, were to fight against him six-on-one, we would pathetically get crushed by ants."

Akane and Syl stared at each other for a moment.

"Better make sure we don't get caught." Akane said while nodding.

"Yep." Syl nodded as well. "Gotta keep running."

"You can't run away from a Demon General…" Rika sighed.

"We're completely fucked…" Rita muttered.

Syl and Akane pursed their lips while looking at the dejected expressions on the Demonesses' faces.

"What you gonna do?"

"It is what it is." They shurgged.

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