"Ow!", he yelped in pain.

Finally collecting himself, Argyle found himself in a world of fire and ruins.

Surrounding him was a destroyed landscape covered no longer in green grass, but flames and infernal flora. Black grass grew where death was, blood fungi lived where blood was shed. It was a world of death, a world of demons.

"Roth, what the hell was that? What's wrong with you?", Argyle finally turned to his demon and scolded him.

The demon shook its head, shaking off its confusion.

"Bad, bad cannon", grumbled Roth.

Their discussion however was interrupted by a massive explosion in the distance, shocking Argyle.

"What was that?", Argyle shouted, running up the hill to find out.

With Roth floating behind him, Argyle ran up to see a terrifying sight.

A battle was happening on the ground below. The wasteland of ruins was filled with an army of demons, pushing forward. On the other side, was a much smaller army, though they were easily matching the advancement of the demon army.

Argyle became wide-eyed as he noticed the defending army was wielding the very same weapons he saw demonstrated in The Citadel-- The Mana Cannon. Hundreds of them being utilized on the battlefield, easily vaporizing thirty demons in one shot.

The soldiers on the ground utilized similar technology-- swords of magic beam, hand-held pistols firing magic bullets. Though one thing Argyle noticed, much to his surprise, though they were within the demonic plane...those technology-wielding soldiers were humans.

"Roth, what is this? What is happening down there?", Argyle asked.

"War. Bad humans use bad cannons", Roth sadly said. "Roth hates war. Roth wants to go back to Argyle's world"

Argyle felt bad, sensing Roth's sadness, but he wanted to find out an explanation."Roth, I need to find out what's going on here. How can there be humans here, in the demonic plane?

"Roth seemed hesitant but he answered. "Humans came from hole"

"Hole? What hole?", Argyle asked.

"Hole came a thousand years ago. War started a thousand years ago", Roth said.

"Roth, take me to this hole", asked Argyle.

After a few bits of convincing, Roth took Argyle a mile east of the battlefield, towards a more desolate wasteland.

Peeking from the hill, Argyle saw the hole. A massive hole in the middle of the wasteland, seemingly going deep to the center of the earth.

"Roth hates hole", Roth grumbled, unamused.

"Roth, I need to go down there", Argyle hushed.

Though he disagreed, Roth followed Argyle behind. Discreetly going down the hill towards the hole, Argyle could see more humans coming in and out of the hole-- soldiers guarding the perimeter, some hauling more cannons out.

Fortunate enough that the hole was as massive as a city, there was a lot of openings where the hole was not guarded. Quietly sneaking pass, Roth grabbed Argyle and flew both of them down the hole.

Hundreds of kilometers they went down through the darkness. Argyle's heart thumped, anxious. What could be down there, he wondered.

Closer and closer they went to the bottom; Argyle was shocked seeing a ruined city lying on the bottom of the pit. Though he could sense a strange sensation of familiarity, it was all shattered as he saw a familiar white building.

"The Citadel", Argyle muttered. Standing tall still, though he could tell the magnificent structure was weathered by time.

"But how can this be?", Argyle wondered when suddenly a beam of magic bullet struck Roth.

In a painful yelp, both of them fell down onto the ground. Tumbling painfully, Argyle could fell a few of his bones were broken. But he didn't care, turning his attention immediately to the wounded Roth.

"No, no, Roth, please!", Argyle tended to the bleeding demon, unconscious on the ground.

"Step away from the demon!"

Surrounding them were human soldiers, wielding those magic guns with them.

Argyle didn't hear them however, as he was much too worried about Roth.

"You're human. Why are you helping the demon?", the soldier asked.

"You hurt him", growled Argyle, tears of anger in his face. In his wrath, Argyle casted a fire spell. His unbroken arm glowed red, ready to strike the soldiers.

"Warlock!", the soldiers screamed, and they began to shoot.

As they did, Argyle instantly changed his spell to a defensive one, surrounding himself and Roth in a protective barrier.

As the firing ceased, the soldiers looked on in awe at the unscathed warlock.

"Your kind was exterminated hundreds of years ago. How are you still here?", the soldier asked, fear began to culminate.

Argyle could feel Roth's life was wasting away. In his desperate grief, Argyle chanted his final spell-- a forbidden spell of soul bonding.

"I will not let you die", Argyle whispered to his friend.

Placing his hand on Roth's chest, Argyle let the demon's soul flowed into him, becoming one with his own essence.

As soon as the bonding complete, Argyle spread his newly formed wings and sent a blast of wind, knocking the soldiers away.

"Fire! Fire!", the soldiers desperately tried to take down Argyle, but the angered warlock had had enough.

With his magic boosted with demon soul, Argyle easily burned the soldiers with infernal flame with a snap of his fingers, leaving charred ashes where they stood.

The warlock finally calmed himself down as he heard more footsteps running towards him. Blinded by rage of the death of his friend, Argyle attacked the humans, destroying the ruined city even more.

The powerful warlock was made even more powerful than even an arch-demon, and he easily devastated the humans.

But it was not enough for him. Every one of them must suffer...Argyle casted his summoning spell, summoning himself back to his world, taking him back to the middle of The Citadel, a moment after he traveled away with Roth.

Flying above the city, Argyle looked down at it with contempt, and he knew what to do.

The arch-warlock extended his arms towards the farthest corner of the city and with magic powerful enough to shatter the continent, he destroyed the ground around the border of the city and pushed the city down with a force strong enough to crush the planet.

Down, down, and further down the whole city went. In his rage, Argyle screamed his grieve out as he sent the city down into the abyss. Afterward, he sealed the hole, throwing massive rubbles into it, piling it high up until a mountain was created above where the city used to be.

One last roar he let out; his scream was heard all around the continent.

It was a signal of a new era as those who were unfortunate enough to hear it would remember. Argyle's mind was lost, lost within his grieve and the madness his demon friend must endured.

"The age of men is over", Argyle declared. "The age of demon has begun"

r/HangryWritey

Edit: spacing

It had been the talk of the whole continent for a few weeks then, a resounding no from the magic-wielding community: The Cult of Technology, a group of non-magical people, had made a buzz of a new future, a future without magic, a future where no magic is needed to combat the wild unpredictable nature of the supernatural.

In the courtyard of The Citadel a crowd had gathered, of warlocks, witches, and non-magical people alike. Protests were voiced, but the Citadel was a place of free thinkers, where knowledge was sacred and protected.

Argyle pushed pass through the crowd, it seemed like the whole city was packed in between the white walls of The Citadel, all the way to its massive front gate. He had heard, of course, of The Cult. Of their claim that they invented a way to combat magic without having to learn magic.

"Preposterous!", he thought.

Being a lifelong student of magic, Argyle had studied it for decades. Even achieving the level of a warlock and integrating with his own demon-- a powerful arch-demon named Roth. The idea of the end of magic was beyond his comprehension, and he was there to see for himself the spectacle of the supposed future.

"Ladies and gentlemen, bear witness to the next step of our world!", shouted the man in white coat, the leader of The Cult.

As most of the crowd booed, Argyle finally reached the front of the crowd. In the middle of the courtyard stood members of The Cult, all dressed in white coats, surrounding a massive device made of metal resembling a cannon.

"Long has this world depended on magic as means of warfare! Long have us, those who are unfortunate enough to be excluded from the world of magic! But no more! We can fight now!", shouted the leader.

"Behold! My invention: The Mana Cannon!", the leader presented the giant device behind him. "Yes, what you've heard is true! We managed to harness magic in its purest form and strip it away from a human vessel and combined it technology! This is a marvel of both nature and human capabilities, ladies and gentlemen!"

As most of the crowd booed even louder, the leader signaled his followers to proceed with the demonstration. A whirring sound came from the cannon as it powered up. Beams ran through its sleek metallic body, what the crowd could sense was a powerful amount of magic, charging inside the device.

Argyle couldn't help but felt curious. Never had he faced such amount of magic before, not from a single weapon at least.

His attention then shifted to the followers of The Cult as they wheeled in a few large cages. His heart dropped seeing what's caged inside: demons.

"We will demonstrate the power of this weapon, ladies and gentlemen! With the help of our test subjects!", the leader smirked.

Argyle felt sickened by the sight of it. Despite being a nuisance to humans, Argyle couldn't help but sympathized with those imprisoned demons, as his closest ally was one of them. His stance was controversial in its own way, but it was always accepted as fighting fire with fire.

"Ready the cannon! Wait for my signal!", ordered the leader as the caged demons were lined up right in front of the cannon.

Argyle's heart ran fast, not wanting to see the intentional massacre. But to the worry of the crowd, something happened to the demons.

Somehow, they went berserk. Wildly they thrashed around, biting and scratching the cage bars even if it mangled their teeth and claws.

The crowd went wild in shock as suddenly the demons broke free out of their cages and attacked the cult members, strangely even they latched onto the cannon and started biting it.

It was chaos then as the crowd ran away in panic, so were the cult members including the frightened leader.

Some of the braver witches and warlocks who had faced the frontline of war charged to defend The Citadel of the demons, including Argyle.

Quickly he chanted his summoning spell, invoking the pact he made with the dark forces. "To this plane I summon you, Roth the Foul, and do my bidding!"

A magical circle was formed out of Argyle's magic, and from it emerged a demon. One of the most powerful in his realm, the arch-demon roared loudly.

"Sorry to summon you in such inconvenient time, Roth. But we have some unruly demons loose within The Citadel", informed Argyle. "Now, Roth, attack!"

But Roth stayed still, much to Argyle's confusion.

"Roth? What are you...?"

As Argyle looked back to his demon, he was shocked as Roth was growling in wrath. His eyes were red, like those demons running rampant in front of them.

"Roth! Stand yourself! No!", Argyle shouted to his demon, grabbing his legs before he flew towards the cult members, but the demon was too powerful, and Argyle was dragged along.

Much to Argyle's horror, Roth began to attack the cult members before turning his attention to the cannon-- scratching and biting it though the metallic body was way too sturdy.

Huffing, Argyle quickly chanted his reverse summoning chant to send Roth back to his realm.

"Back to the fire I command you!", he shouted.

A magical circle once again was formed, swallowing Roth and by accident, Argyle as he was clinging to the demon.

The world swirled around him, and Argyle finally dropped onto hard ground.

The fiery plane of Hell was especially quiet that night. The eternal screaming was not as deafening as usual, the demons were especially chirpy in their torturous ways.

A bright gleam of light suddenly appeared up above the sky of Pandemonium-- the capital city of Hell. An angelic being gracefully floated there. Her four feathery wings flapped gently, burning the damned around her in heavenly fire.

The angel grimaced seeing the scenery around her. The sulfuric smell, the endless screams, the eternal fire...she hated it, she really hated being there. But she was there on business, on a personal call by the big boss of Hell himself, and she'd never turned down a professional call, even one from her banished brother.

*Knock knock*

The massive black wooden door echoed as the angel firmly knocked it.

"Come in", a familiar voice welcomed her from the other side and the door opened by itself.

The angel stepped in. Walking confidently towards the big desk made of the same black wood. Opposite it sat the king of Hell himself, Lucifer, the fallen angel. Draped in black velvet suit, the Devil was as his usual charming getup, though his face was unusually unkempt.

"Lucifer, why did you call me?", the angel asked, not wasting any time.

Lucifer sighed. With a defeated look he stared down at the mountains of papers strewn about his desk before he averted his gaze up to meet his guest.

"Lailah, I need your help", Lucifer said with a meek voice.

The angel called Lailah raised her brow. With one hand on her hip, she leaned towards the desk, smirking and scoffing.

"You need...my help?", she chuckled. "We've never been close you and I, Luce. Even back when you were still in Heaven. In fact, you were a bit of a bully. And now, you called for me personally?", Lailah stated in disbelief herself.

"No, why did you actually call me, Luce?"

Lucifer waved his hand, gesturing Lailah to sit down as a story was about to come.

"I uh...have an issue regarding childbirths", Lucifer said cryptically. "And you as the angel of conception and pregnancy...I thought this would be your specialty"

"Wait, wait...you're having a kid?", Lailah asked, snapping forward.

"No, no, not me", Lucifer waved his hand. "It's a human. A human man whom I made a deal with years and years ago"

"Uh-huh", Lailah sat back, arms folded judgingly. She had never been a fan of Lucifer's dealing with mortals. "And I'm assuming he would give up his offspring in return of something?"

Lucifer sighed deeply. "Yep"

"Okay...so what's the problem? He changed his mind? He refused to give up his child?"

"No, he did. He did so willingly", Lucifer corrected.

"So you refused to fulfill the end of your bargain?", Lailah asked again.

"No, no, I did. I gave all that he asked"

"So what's the hassle then? He gave you his child and you gave him his deal, no problem here", Lailah shrugged.

"Well, here's the problem...he gave me his children. Plural", Lucifer said, grabbing a piece of paper in front of him.

"Thirty-two of them to be exact"

Lailah went quiet and she pursed her lips. "Uhm...what?"

"And if this report is correct...another twenty-three to be born in the next two years. He's a sperm donor...a very active and sought after at that"

Lailah's expression changed from a stoic disbelief one to a sudden outburst of laughter. The angel laughed and laughed uncontrollably, which much to Hell residents' dismay, an angelic laugh brought about pain to them who heard it.

"This isn't funny, Lailah! This wasn't a part of our bargain! This mortal is mocking me!", the prideful one lamented.

Lailah's laugh had evolved into a snorting and hiccupping one with tears streaming down her face.

"OH THIS...THIS IS PRECIOUS!", she roared. "I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL EVERYBODY IN HEAVEN!"

"Lailah, enough!", Lucifer slammed his fist onto his desk, breaking it in half. The papers flew all around the office room.

"What do you want me to do, big brother?', Lailah said, finally quelling her laughter as she wiped the tears off her face.

"Uhmp, I don't know. Cancel these pregnancies? You can do that, can you? Just...do your thing", Lucifer waved his hands about.

"Do my...thing?", Lailah chuckled. "Yea, I don't work like that, Luce. I'm not a flying abortion clinic"

"Why don't you just go down to Earth and, I don't know...do your thing?", Lailah clapped back mockingly. "Cancel the deal or something. Make a new deal with the guy?"

"No, I don't work like that! A deal made is to be honored! That is my way!", Lucifer protested.

"Well, I don't know what to do, Luce. Sounds like you have to keep giving the guy whatever he wants"

Lailah stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?", Lucifer called out her sister.

"Home. I can't help you, Luce", Lailah said. Stopping in front of the huge door, she turned one last time.

"Maybe, had you been nicer to me before you fell, I would've entertained the idea of helping you", Lailah smirked.

Exiting Hell's office, the angel spread her wings and ascended back to Heaven. Still giggling inside, seeing her fallen brother squirmed was the most exciting thing she'd experienced in a very long time.

As she exited Hell's outer layer, Lailah made a mental note to herself: when she's back home, she's going to track down every single pregnancy sired by the human...and make sure every single one of them came to term.

r/HangryWritey