Page 48 of Liberating Water

“I’m just trying to figure out how we went from one of the lowest of the Greater Demons being awoken to having them all awake and terrorizing the world…” Parker asked, scratching his jaw as he squinted at the screen.

Mr. Creed scowled at him. “Did you not hear a word I just said?”

“No, I got all that, but these smaller symbols don’t show any clues to more of the Greater Demons waking up. On that note, what do we know about the Dark Lord? Is he really the ruler of Hell, or is that just another title like the Grand Duke of Hell? He might not be able to wake up the stronger of the greater demons,” Parker asked, starting to ramble as he thought out loud.

“Enough,” Mr. Creed snapped. “We are losing sight of what’s really at stake here.”

Hudson shifted so his elbows rested on his knees, looking at Mr. Creed. “I don’t think so. Parker has made a few good points. From what we know, there are demons of all kinds, ranks, and species, but never once have we been told who the true ruler of Hell is, with seven princes claiming that job.”

“This is what you want to debate now, Mr. Lacy, while there is a serial killer on the loose?”

“Once again, I believe you are taking this in the wrong direction. Yes, we need to understand Ubel and what he’s trying to do, but that doesn’t mean all of Hell is behind this. The Dark Lord could also be part of the Greater Demons of Solomon or one of the Seven Princes of Hell, we just don’t know because he is using another name. If all the Seven Princes of Hell decided to wipe out the Earth, then I don’t think the Elementi could stop them,” Hudson challenged.

Slowly, I raised my hand, knowing that I might be fanning the flames with this question. “Ah, sorry, new to all this, but how do we know the Greater Demons are all asleep?”

“Many people try to summon them, but you have to have enough power to pull them out of Hell. Those of weaker power are not as affected by leaving Hell, but these are. They need demonic power to live off of, and there isn’t enough here for them. Think of it this way, the higher the rank the more demonic power they need. The Seven Princes of Hell are at the top, then the Greater Demons, higher-level, mid-level, then lower demons. So, to Mr. Creed’s point, by having these people changed by the demonic serum, they will become hosts and provide more demonic energy on Earth for them to live off of,” Micah explained. “So way back in BC times, when Solomon called his legion of seventy-two Greater Demons and enslaved them to build the temple, they became too weak to leave Hell once they returned. As far as we know, they have been in slumber ever since—or at least that is what we are led to believe from what we’ve been able to pull out of the lower demons. No one truly knows what goes on in Hell, and we have to go by what the angels have provided for us and knowledge we have gathered over the years.”

Mr. Creed took a book off his desk and brought it over to me, holding it out. “This book contains all the names of those seventy-two Greater Demons and their abilities, along with the other basic types of demons. This is where we will be starting your education that has been ignored for far too long.”

“Would it be worth asking the Dark Lord who he is?” I asked, looking at everyone.

“What?!” Mr. Creed gasped. “Why on earth would you do such a thing? Knowing a demon’s true name is to gain power over them. It is the one thing you need to know in order to summon them here.”

“Even if he doesn’t answer, I’m sure I will get more information out of him. He loves to taunt me with all I don’t know,” I pushed, needing to find something good out of this special attention the Dark Lord kept showering on me.

Mr. Creed harrumphed at my comment. “If you weren’t as ignorant as a baby deer then I might ponder the idea, but there is no way I would let you deal with something so sensitive.”

Micah tensed, hugging me tightly. “Watch it, Creed. I like you, but I won’t let you talk to her that way.”

The two were locked in a battle of wills, eyes narrowed at each other before Mr. Creed turned away first. “Fine. Let her do what she wants, but if she ends up killing herself or getting tied to a Greater Demon, then that is on you lot.”

“Perhaps it would be better if we went back to the symbols? We found more last night. I know Micah figured a good majority of them out, but is there anything we missed?” Hudson redirected.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, there was something on the body you all missed. Carved into her back was another symbol, and this one was to feed the energy of this sacrifice to another. I didn’t recognize the marking, so it could very well be this Dark Lord of ours, but it still lets us know that there is a more powerful demon here that needs the demonic energy to survive. If they can’t get it directly from Hell, then it seems they’re going to make it here with spells until they can distribute the serum,” Mr. Creed announced.

“Fuck—this just got a whole hell of a lot worse,” Parker muttered.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Mr. Creed said with a nod of his head.