Demonic Devourer's Development

I went to Naread and with a flick of my claws, cut him free. The giant centipede immediately crawled fully out of its burrow and spread the fin-like flaps at its sides with visible relish.

"Ah, freedom again!" Naread curled around himself. He still had some web stuck to his face. Some got even into his unblinking insect eyes. I wondered if he even noticed it, and if he did, what he was going to do about it without hands.

Then, to my surprise, the piece of web moved from Naread as if an invisible hand pulled it off.

'What magic was that, Pest?' I asked. What I really was curious about was how much more magic Naread knew, and how dangerous it could end up being for me.

'Simple telekinesis… Low-level, really low-level.'

'Hmm… What do you think about Naread's magic power? Is he dangerous? Can you sense his abilities?'

'I can sense some minor spells on him. Stat enhancements, probably. I will be able to cast them soon, too! But besides that, I don't know. He probably knows something for attacking, too.'

'If he does, why didn't he free himself from the web without pleading for my help?'

'How would I know? Don't think that if we both are draining curses, I magically know everything this chatterbox thinks! Maybe he didn't want to blast his own face off.'

While I consulted with Pest, Naread finished cleaning himself and focused on me again. I didn't sense hostility from him, but I didn't dare to lower my guard, especially after being tricked once already…

It wasn't a nice feeling, to be tricked. Now, back in the awful days in Hell—and they sure were awful—almost no one bothered with this sort of thing. It was kill or be killed all the way, and half of the demons were too mad to converse with you, not to mention do anything more cunning than attack from an ambush.

And not a single draining curse in sight. Oh yes, I remembered why, now—because they had no souls and therefore no afterlife. They were bound to the mortal realm until their deaths, which they feared like only immortals could.

"Well, now that this funny misunderstanding was cleared, what are you planning to do, Voren?" Naread asked. "You must've had some goal when you came here. You said you looked for a monster immune to venom? What for? Hey, maybe we can help each other. In fact, if you agree to my proposition, you will help both me and yourself! I'm sure that what I'm going to offer was nothing you didn't want to do by yourself."

"Oh, yeah?" I looked at Naread sceptically. "Who's to say that you won't lie to me just like Marianna?"

"Hey, me, lying? I'm not at all like that conniving lizard! I'm an honest person, honest to my exoskeleton! All my ancestors back to the original curse were honest people, and so am I." Naread curled in a question mark-like figure that somehow expressed affront despite him inhabiting a body of a giant centipede. "Look, it's a simple as… what is a very simple thing? A rock?" Naread effortlessly flicked aside a head-sized boulder with a tip of his tail. "I suppose rocks are simple enough."

"If you were going to offer something, ten cut to the business."

"Right, right. Why so much hurry? Just relax and listen. Marianna tricked us both—now let's trick her! Say, you go back to her and pretend to be me! Tell her how angry you are that she sent you to me. Or, I mean, how angry I am that she sent you to me?.. Uh…" Naread shook his head. "Well, you get it. She will think that I'm right under her nose, but in reality I will follow you behind, and while she is distracted, demolish her entire treasure hoard!"

I blinked. "Treasure hoard?"

"He-he, yes! Didn't you know? Dragons are like magpies, they loooove shiny stuff. Hoard everything that sparkles, and Marianna, well, she keeps the hoards like souvenirs from the dragons she left behind. She'll be so pissed to see it all gone in flames!"

This plan… it had one great flaw from my point of view. If there were treasures, I wanted them for myself! But maybe there was a way to achieve that… First, I needed to know all the details.

"How would you get past Marianna unnoticed? You are a huge damn centipede, and she isn't blind."

"Oh, that's easy. I will turn myself invisible! Then I will cast some buffs on you so the magic from them would distract Marianna from me. You will talk with her, and at that time, I will sneak right past her and burn everything in her treasury."

I narrowed my eyes. "You know, you are still too huge for sneaking around. Why not do it other way around? You go to Marianna and pretend to be me, and I will go into her treasury."

Naread curled on himself. "I suppose that will work too…" He didn't sound very enthusiastic about it, but then bobbed his head in something akin to a nod. "Yes, yes, it will work splendidly. Oh, but you never told me what you were searching for a venom-immune monster for, Voren!"

"And I don't want to. It's irrelevant," I cut off. "Either way, it's decided. Since you don't seem to have wings, and I do, I will go ahead and wait for you near the entrance to Marianna's lair. Then, when you come, you will make me invisible and prepare whatever other spells you needed."

"That's reasonable. The road there is quite treacherous on foot, or even on many-many feet!" Naread wiggled some of his. "It will take me a few hours to cross. Please be patient. It's not like you have anyone who's waiting for you—no, it's you waiting for me. I'm sure Marianna doesn't wait for any of us, either, ha-ha-ha. Oh, I want to see her face when we are done…"