Magnus.
Magnus Caffeine. The demon king of Sloth.
A demon that came out of thin air and became the king in days.
The rumors had finally started to spread across the continents. Of course. Lilith was the first "higher being" to know about it.
---
Two servants of the Demon king of Lust were walking through the dense forest.
Heading straight towards their destination, The Castle of Sloth.
They were carrying a couple wooden boxes, untold of their contents.
One of them sighed. "I still can't believe it. It all happened so suddenly. " Then—he glanced at the other one, "Hey, how come you're carrying less?" He growled, his eyes glinting with annoyance as he compared the number of boxes they were carrying.
The second one laughed. "These ones are heavier. Moreover, even if they weren't. As your superior, I would just order you to carry more."
At first, he frowned. But easily got over it and chuckled.
Soon, they were both laughing.
Suddenly, the first one blurted out "Hey, what's your name again?"
"Hmm? Why are you asking that?"
"Well.." He slowly glanced at the sky.
.....
---
Elppa, along with his superior, Egnaro continued their walk. They went through many hardships during the transportation.
Encountering large beasts—They ran.
Almost dying from ancient traps—They ran again.
And finally, they reached the castle.
The massive castle stood like a symbol of darkness. Unlike the forest they had came through, which was all green and colourful.
The two dark pillars stood like spears piercing the heaven. The greyish metal door, as gigantic as a titan made even the huge demons look like tiny ants.
The skies had darkened here, the plants too—darkened. Not rotten, not dried. Just dark. Like a new variety.
At the huge metal door, stood...no guards? Well, the demon king of Sloth was lacking in manpower after all.
They both gulped and entered the castle. Inside, too, was filled with eerie and crimson-dark decorations. Multiple halls dividing from two directions.
Elppa didn't know where to go, for it was his first time.
Fortunately, Egnaro did. He had came here before.
He gently put the boxes on the ground, being extremely careful as he feared that if one box was damaged, he wouldn't be left undamaged.
Elppa just stood there, staring as Egnaro took out a piece of paper with a horribly drawn map of the castle.
Elppa glanced at the page, then at Egnaro. He commented.
"How have you not committed suicide yet? If I had such a skill to draw so terrifyingly ass, i would just jump in the sea of Undying spirits."
Egnaro ignored the insult, though it has struck him deeply from inside.
He sighed and showed him the map and began explaining.
"Listen.. this is where we are right now," he pointed at the gate on the page.
"If we go left, there's a 67% percent chance of meeting the Devil Chef, Gustav.
... And let's just say. We DO NOT want to meet him."
Elppa nodded. Egnaro too.
"If we go right, there's a 100% chance of meeting the Angel Of Hell, Marianne Silverine. Along with the other 33% chance of meeting Gustav again."
Elppa looked left. Then—right.
Then—at Egnaro.
"And which way is safer?"
Egnaro crumbled the page and put it back in his pocket, before picking up the boxes.
"It's quite obvious. Safer route, without a doubt, is Right. Miss Marianne is the one who we have to meet. It's just that the 33% scares me."
"How scary is that person for you to be so frieghtened of him?" Elppa asked.
"Just enough." Egnaro replied, his tone cold, legs shivering slightly.
"Well then. Let's begin." Egnaro said, quickly regaining his positive mentality.
They both turned right and walked ahead, turning left and right as if they were in a maze. The ran into a few servants on the way. It was quite strange. Well, to be exact, the servants were strange.
Demons, yeah sure. Beasts, Okay...
But elves too?!
And not just one or two.
Almost a dozen of them in sight.
Elppa hesitatedly waved back to an unnecessarily happy elf passing by around with a bucket. He took a look in the bucket, it was full of leaves. He couldn't tell by look but the aroma was enough to tell what it was.
Tea leaves. The fragrant aroma filled the hall with a craving for the bitter sweet tea. However, elppa couldn't help but sigh heavily, knowing full well he wouldn't get a chance to have them.
Egnaro was also captivated by the smell, but he resisted strongly.
They once again walked, putting the heavy weights down carefully from time to time. Demons or humans, everyone needs rest.
Suddenly, they both heard the sound of heels clicking on the cold stone floor. Each step calculated, positioned and elegant.
"Who are you strangers?" The slow yet heavy voice sent shivers down their body.
They immediately turned to see a woman standing right behind. Her golden hair reflecting the light seeping through the windows, her amber eyes starting at them with looks of judgement as she corrected her wooly white scarf.
Her blue dress covered her body from top to bottom, although it was slightly tight near her stomach, she easily hid it by standing straight up.
It was Marianne. Marianne Silverine. The Angel Of Hell.
"I asked a question." She narrowed her eyes, approaching them steadily. She looked at the boxes and paused.
"Oh... Did Lilith send you?" Her eyes slightly widening as she passed by them and took a closer look at the boxes.
"Uh.. yeah. Yes! Her highness sent us!" Egnaro blurted, straightening up as if he was being interviewed. Well, he was.
"So, she must have asked for the greenapples in return, right?" She smiled widely.
Egnaro hesitated. "What? Green apples. what's that? I get the color green but what's an apple."
He glanced at elppa. And that guy was even more clueless than him.
Egnaro looked back, at the smiling nun. He didn't know what to do. Tell her they don't know that? It was scary but it had to be done.
After a lot of thinking, he awkwardly spoke.
"Uh.. sorry. But we didn't know about that. Maybe her highness asked some other servants? We don't know what those are."
Marianne stopped smiling. She didn't reply for a moment. And for that moment, Egnaro's blood pressure kept rising.
Then all of a sudden, she covered her mouth and chuckled softly. "Don't worry. I was just testing you.
"Please put them in the kitchen over there." She directed to her right, before gasping "Ah! You can take some apples, if you want."
Egnaro and elppa nodded, heading straight towards the kitchen with confused expression.
"Seriously. What IS an apple?" He once again glanced at elppa.
---
In the throne room, where demons asked permission to themselves to even enter, there was a figure that owned it.
Magnus Caffeine. The Demon King of Sloth(or tea).
The sluggish lord rested on his throne with intense satisfaction. He was pleased by the fact that Myst wasn't there to disturb his pea-
[Wakey wakey.]
(No.) The speech bubble spurted out, hovering with astronomical hatred and anger.
Then—silence. She didn't reply back. Magnus was slightly shocked by the acceptance of his request, but he didn't pay it much attention. The more listening, the more peaceful.
However, that peace was going to end now. As a sudden shock pierced in Magnus' back, he fell down his throne.
The lazy lord, swiftly tried to scratch the itchy sensation in his back. The pain was like a bullet ant had bite him.
The sudden movement of his muscles gave him cramps, he grabbed his hand trying to calm it down. But the pain on his back was too heavy to focus on his hand.
Suddenly, his vision blured. The dizziness of the stress caught up to him. His body hit the stairs. He slipped through the several stairs down to the bottom as his body hit the ground with a heavy thud and his eyes closed shut.