Lucifer Reborn by Dante King (ebook reader play store .txt) 📕

get down and dirty. “Demons beat the shit out of each other—it’s supposed to teach you how to deal with combat in the real world.”

“And to prepare for the day of Judgement,” Xora intoned solemnly.

Mareth snorted. “Day of Judgement? You don’t really believe in all that, do you, Xora?”

The rusalka looked extremely put out by Mareth’s questioning. “Of course I do,” she said in a haughty tone. “One day will come the summons from below. All demons will invade the world of the living, and the final battle for existence will begin.” She grinned widely, showing those needle-like teeth she’d almost sunk into Maddie’s flesh. “I, for one, do not wish to be caught flat-footed on that day, succubus.”

Mareth gave the rusalka a dubious look. “Most of us aren’t quite as hardcore as Xora here,” the succubus explained, putting a hand on my shoulder. “The Day of Judgement is just a myth, like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and a woman who does anal after she’s married. Nothing for you to worry about…”

I wasn’t worried about it. I was, in point of fact, watching the fighting. Most of it seemed to be happening on those far-flung islands connected to the plateau by chain bridges. It didn’t take long to figure out why.

Out in the distance, a purple-skinned imp sent a fireball the size of a building screaming through the void. It soared toward a beautiful succubus, who at the last moment raised her wrist and sent a sheet of ice arching upward in a shower of needles. The two bursts of magic collided, and both competitors dropped to their knees to begin channeling the next assault.

“Magical battles are conducted a safe distance away from spectators,” Xora said, confirming what I already knew. “The further you get from the main plateau, the fewer rules you must follow, as well.”

“People you fight in the real world aren’t going to be following any rules,” I growled, remembering the monstrous looks in the eyes of the demonic student body as they tried to force their way into Maddie’s trunk. “It’s kill or be killed. Dog eat dog.”

“Just so,” Xora said, amused. “Which is why we allow our students to get plenty of practice in. Observe…”

Out on the main plateau, a battle royale had just begun. A large number of demons formed a circle around a smaller few, yelling and chanting with the thrill of battle. Within the ring, demons sparred with vicious-looking edged weapons, their blades covered in blood and gore. A goat-headed monster swung a polearm at one of its fellows, missed, and got a pair of daggers in the lower back from an imp for his trouble. Sensing weakness, the rest of the competitors jumped into the fray, hacking and slashing at the goatman’s body.

“Holy shit,” I groaned, covering my mouth with a hand. My face paled as the demons hacked the goatman to pieces. The weapons they used looked like something out of a video game, but the inhuman shrieks, the entrails, and blood steaming on the ground—all of that was real.

“You seem upset,” Xora teased. “Surely you’ve grown desensitized to such violence by now? After all, we’ve put so much of it in your films, your video games…”

I was still thinking about Maddie. This is what those demons would have done to her if they’d gotten their hands on her.

“Pretty fucking savage,” I grunted, watching as the demons stepped away from what was left of the goat demon. Its horned head lay in the dirt, only strands connecting it to its shredded torso. Beneath that was little more than a puddle of slurry. “This is what you were looking forward to, Christina?”

It was Mareth who figured it out. “Oh shit,” the succubus giggled. “You think he’s actually dead, don’t you?”

Huh?

My confused expression told her everything she needed.

“Hey,” Mareth yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Capras! Get the fuck up!”

The goat demon’s decapitated head shuddered. With an irritated bleat, it blinked—and the hairy head slid back down onto its neck, the wound sealing as if it had never been there. Within moments, the goat’s body stitched itself back together, becoming whole and hearty once again.

“Nice moves,” the goat demon called Capras bleated at the imp. “But the rest of it was a cheap shot!”

The imp laughed and clapped the goat demon on the back. “It’s only because we’re so scared of ya, Capras! You know we’ve got to get you down first if the rest of us have any chance to win…”

“He’s alright,” I muttered, shaking my head as the rest of the demons celebrated. Capras went from the inside of the ring to the periphery—apparently the rule was you left once you were downed. “They didn’t actually kill him…”

Xora laughed. “This is Hell, Luke,” she said, her tail curling around her gorgeous ass. “Of course you cannot be killed here—where would you even go? All injuries incurred within the arena are healed automatically by the demonic wards set up by the School. They hurt, certainly—but it is our hope that pain will train demons to be more cautious when dealing with actual combat.”

“Uh huh,” I said, watching the remaining demons spar with their weapons. “And what happens if a human gets disemboweled in that Arena, Xora? Do I come jumping back up, like everyone else?”

The rusalka paused only a moment—which told me that she wasn’t 100% sure. Had anything other than instant healing ever happened to someone who was hurt in the Arena?

“Of course,” Xora said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “You and Christina both. You can try it out now, if you like—we have time.”

Suddenly Christina was at my side, tugging at my robes like a bratty teenager. “Let me do it, Luke,” she said, a manic grin spreading across her demonic face. “I want to get in there