Lich for Hire

The tiflings ultimately scraped together roughly seven hundred million gold for Ambrose.

That was all the gold they could produce on short notice. What remained would have to be settled in kind.

The least valuable of their remaining possessions was land. Ambrose didn't even bother negotiating properly—he threw out a flat offer of ten thousand soul-coins for the lot and called it done.

The price was absurd, and everyone knew it. The combined holdings of these nobles amounted to nearly a third of the kingdom; converted to gold, the figure would be in the tens of billions.

But Ambrose's reasoning was simple. "Once you're in Hell, I can just take the land."

The tifling nobles bristled at the arrogance, and might have pushed back until Ambrose recorded a short video from the Umbral Depths and sent it through the mirror. There lay an undead army that stretched into the horizon, stocked with high-tier undead of every variety.

After that, no one said another word. A force that size could go to war with Lyon directly. The Unholy Kingdom, already destabilized, wouldn't last a day against it.

Though the deal was atrocious, they accepted it anyway. Land they couldn't take to Hell was worth nothing once they were dead.

In the span of a few days, Ambrose became the largest single landowner in the Unholy Kingdom. Along with the land came large numbers of slaves, and every structure and facility on those holdings.

He had stripped the thirteen Impure and their families of their most valuable assets.

His prices had been insulting throughout, reducing each asset to a fraction of its worth—and yet, when the accounting was done, he delivered all one and a half million soul-coins as agreed. He even added a bonus of a hundred thousand, claiming he felt sorry for them.

The tiflings took this as a sign of generosity. Several revised their opinion of him entirely, and expressed their gratitude with touching sincerity.

Only Domina Lowry remained suspicious. She had heard enough about this man's reputation. Nearly everyone who knew him mentioned his greed and cunning in the same breath. She did not believe someone like that would hand over soul-coins out of pity.

Soul-coins could be exchanged with any lord of Hell for virtually unlimited advantages. Why would he simply give them away?

Something was wrong. But rather than raise the alarm, she waited until the others were busy scrambling for gold, slipped away to her private chambers, and summoned Sariel.

As the mastermind behind the kingdom's infernal pact, Domina Lowry still had the standing to call on her.

As the hellfire blazed, Domina Lowry began to tremble before she even drew near. That pain had been burned into the deepest layer of her soul. She didn't need to feel it again—the mere anticipation was agony enough.

She dropped to her hands and knees, prostrating herself on the floor, unable to look at Sariel's burning form.

She managed a few groveling words of praise, but then couldn't hold back any longer. "If I were able to offer you a great quantity of soul-coins, would you spare me? I will do anything, anything at all, if it means escaping the torment."

She had sold an entire kingdom to escape Sariel's fire, but now, she was descending to Hell anyway. These soul-coins were her last foothold.

Sariel looked at the trembling, abject creature before her and let a smile spread across her shattered face.

She played innocent. "Soul-coins? Where would you get soul-coins? Do you even know what kind of soul qualifies as Hell's currency? Do you know how to make them?"

Domina Lowry's pulse quickened. Sariel was interested, that much was clear.

She produced two soul-coins and held them up with both hands.

Sariel drew them to herself with a gesture.

She examined them with an expression of careful appraisal and then asked, "Not bad. Fine quality. How many of these do you have?"

Domina Lowry's eyes widened with hope. "Many. Tens of thousands. Would you accept them in exchange for your forgiveness?"

Sariel appeared to consider this. "Possibly. Though tens of thousands won't quite be sufficient."

"Please, tell me how many of them you want. Whatever the number, I will find a way."

Sariel smiled. "At least a million. That would give me reason to genuinely consider pardoning you. And naturally, the more you bring, the more favorably I shall look upon you."

"A million..." Domina Lowry's body went rigid. The thirteen Impure had liquidated their entire combined fortunes to acquire one million six hundred thousand soul-coins. Divided equally, that was barely over a hundred thousand per person. Sariel was asking for a million from her alone.

"Having second thoughts? That's a shame. You've been through the hellfire enough times. Perhaps you've grown accustomed to it. Don't worry, once you arrive in Hell properly, I'll make sure to introduce some variety." Sariel laughed. "You should have thought about this outcome before you betrayed me."

The word "hellfire" struck Domina Lowry like a physical blow. Her body shook so violently it felt as though her bones had already been turned to cinders.

"No! I can do it. I will find a way. Please, I will bring you what you need. I promise."

"Good. I look forward to your offering. But if you disappoint me..."

Sariel vanished without another word.

She had left before Domina Lowry could even ask for a contract. That troubled her.

But then again, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. She couldn't read the infernal tongue, so she wouldn't know even if Sariel changed the terms.

Based on what she knew of Sariel, however, the fallen angel considered herself above deception. A verbal agreement from her was worth something.

But still... the thirteen Impure had one million and six hundred thousand soul-coins in total, and she alone needed a million of them.

The Unholy Council had been deadlocked over the distribution of the soul-coins for days.

The complication was that different noble houses had contributed vastly different amounts of gold. Some wanted the soul-coins split proportionally; others insisted on equal shares.

Sadio Luce was the loudest proponent of proportional distribution. He had contributed three hundred million gold, more than anyone else, and would not entertain the idea of equal distribution. He had also, as it happened, been quietly conducting private transactions with Ambrose on the side, thereby accumulating a significant personal reserve of soul-coins.

How to divide the rest of the coins up was an open question.

Domina Lowry sat and thought through her options in silence. Then, she headed into her alchemical laboratory.

After having given up on being an infernal knight, Domina Lowry had focused all her efforts on alchemy. Her achievements had even earned her the title of distinguished scholar in Alkhemia.

She stayed in her laboratory for a day and a night. By the time she walked out, weary and worn, she had a slender glass vial in her hands, filled with a gaseous alchemy product.

The thirteen Impure gathered for a new day of discussions. The main topic, once again, was the distribution of the soul-coins they had acquired, rather than the means of dealing with Lyon's invasion.

They had sold all their possessions and even forcibly demanded gold from the populace as part of the war efforts to purchase a million and six hundred thousand soul-coins from Ambrose.

Sadio Luce had demanded, from the very beginning, that the soul-coins should be split according to how much each of the Impure had contributed.

But others immediately countered, claiming that he had already taken advantage of them by conducting a personal deal with Ambrose on the side.

The other Impure who had contributed more than average began to chime in as well. The discussion devolved into an argument.

Even the leaders of a kingdom would drop their gentlemanly act and fight tooth and nail for whatever profit they could glean as they fell into Hell.

Domina Lowry sat through all of it in silence. She said nothing. She simply reached into her coat, produced the small glass vial she had spent an entire day preparing, and eased out the stopper.

A faint, almost imperceptible fragrance drifted from the opening. Within moments, it had spread through the entire chamber.

The others didn't notice. They were too busy shouting at each other, faces flushed, breathing hard—which meant they were drawing the vapor in with every breath.

Gradually, the shouting grew quieter. One by one, the Impure settled back into their chairs, a profound and irresistible drowsiness settling over their faces.

One of them suddenly lit up with a magical glow as some defensive equipment triggered to purge an abnormal status. He lurched upright in alarm, aware he had been targeted. Then the dizziness hit him and he sank back down.

Domina Lowry watched the old associate she had known for decades until he slumped again into his chair.

Some magical equipment could eliminate the effects of alchemical compounds, yes, but most defensive magic purged existing conditions only. It didn't grant immunity.

The vial had been open long enough that the compound now saturated the air entirely. Purging it once accomplished nothing. The next breath would only reintroduce it.

Not everyone was so easy to handle, however.

Sadio Luce, the loudest voice in the room only moments ago, had clearly sensed something was off. He had activated his own cleansing equipment and slapped a hand over his mouth and nose.

"Domina!" His voice came out muffled and furious. "You treacherous woman, what do you think you're doing?!"

Domina Lowry sighed. "Nothing complicated. I just want to survive."

She threw a second vial at him. He dodged, but the vial shattered against the wall behind him and detonated in a burst of concentrated vapor that closed around him like a fist.

A moment later, he hit the floor.

Domina Lowry rose from her seat and walked slowly around the room.

When she had confirmed that every last one of them was in that suspended state—not quite asleep, not quite conscious—she spoke in a low, measured voice. "Listen carefully. When you wake, you will set aside all disputes and surrender your soul-coins to me for unified management..."

Everything Domina Lowry had just done, Sariel and Tiamat watched from Hell with great interest.

Tiamat said, "I do enjoy a good falling-out among villains."

Sariel smiled as well. No devil disliked this kind of theater. Though she couldn't resist adding, "That lich calculated all of this. He predicted even Domina Lowry's betrayal. He warned me in advance, which is the only reason I was able to play my part convincingly."

Tiamat said, "A pity. He's firmly set against us. He wasn't working for our benefit. Rather, he's planning to use us for something. He must be."

Sariel agreed it was a shame. She had a fondness for bold warriors, but she didn't turn her nose up at intelligence either. What she lacked most in her ranks were precisely the kind of minds that could think three moves ahead. If a lich like this had been willing to serve her... The thought was almost too good to entertain.

"Don't underestimate him, but don't worry either. They have no idea what our real plan is. Let's see just how far this lich can go."