The Married Life Of Immortals

"I am not the bad guy here! Why won't you listen to me!"

"Because I don't want to," Bane called back, and Misery ran after him.

"Do you treat your wife like this?!"

Bane stopped, and took in a deep breath before turning around. "My wife is a much better sport than you are. She also puts up a fight, and doesn't take my shit sitting down. I have been cut, stabbed, burned and frozen by her more times than you can count, so don't try to compare yourself to the woodland hurricane that is my wife!"

"Woodland?"

"Nevermind," Bane said, and waved it off. "It is a type of tree, but it doesn't matter."

"Then stop saying weird stuff, and listen to me! If you go to fight the Demon King right now, you are going to have to fight more than just him!"

"Ugh, more of this pussy crying! I came here to fight stronger demons, so let me! Gah, you act like you haven't watched me beat the life out of every demon we have met over the last month!" Bane complained, but they had drawn a crowd, and a white skinned demon in a black suit the same size as Bane stepped out and pointed at him.

"You want to fight the king? Are you new to the city?" The demon asked, and Bane nodded to both, but then the demon looked over at Princess Misery with narrowed eyes. "You keep strange company as well... Come with me, if you are looking to fight King Baalaniur. I will give you a rundown on how Cleaverland works if you are gunning for the top."

Bane shrugged, and nodded about to leave with the demon, but Misery grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?! You know that a demon never does anything for free!"

Bane just shook his head and kept walking. This demon clearly knew something, but if he tried to swindle Bane, well, it was probably in his best interests not to. Bane was not in the greatest mood after putting up with the princess for the last month. More than once he had considered feeding her to one of the demons, but she proved to be a useful vacuum when they came upon large piles of dead demons. That happened more than Bane expected, but it just told him that demons killed for the fun of it, not just to survive.

"What is your name?" Bane asked, and the demon eyed him, but didn't look at all intimidated.

"Lex, and you are?"

"Bane. Now, where are we going?"

Lex pointed at a run down looking building, but all the buildings looked like they were built using more alcohol than nails. There was also a lot of smoke coming from the building, and it reeked of booze and sweat.

"You're taking me to a brothel, aren't you?"

"Brothel? Are you looking for fun?" Lex asked seriously, but Bane shook his head.

"No, but thanks anyways. So, what are you doing, and what do you want?"

Lex snorted, but didn't say anything until they were inside, but the place was crowded with demons, so Lex led them upstairs to a room. Once the three of them were inside Bane and Misery took a seat on one of the two red velvet couches that had a table between them that looked to be made from an assortment of demon bones. Once Lex took his seat, he spoke up without prompt.

"You seem to be in much better shape, Princess Misery," Lex said with a smile, and then looked at Bane, putting both hands up. "I didn't bring you here because I want to turn you in. I just recognize the princess since I knew of her before Baalanuir took over. No, if you are looking to fight him, great I say, but things have changed since the princess was last here."

Misery frowned. "What do you mean, changed?"

Lex leaned back and shrugged. "The castle was destroyed, and now a giant black cube floats in its place. Any that want to challenge the Demon King have to enter it, and fight their way up."

"Simple enough," Bane said, and started to stand up. "Point me at the cube and I will be on my way."

Lex shook his head. "The princess already told you where it is, and you could just ask any random demon you see. No, the location isn't important, but what is on the inside is. This place is meant to test you in ways that you could hardly fathom. It is not just about your opponents in your fights, but the terrain itself. The cube is a legendary item known as the Halls of Darkness, and it was thought to have been lost during the great war, but here it is. The Demon King is smart, and he uses it to his advantage."

"What does this 'Halls of Darkness' do?" Bane asked as he sat back down.

"The Halls of Darkness is a legendary treasure that can reshape itself however the owner wants, creating a dungeon-like area. There are multiple areas inside that you will have to get past if you want to reach Baalanuir, and I happened to know information about each of the rooms and the demons guarding them," Lex said, giving Bane a winning smile.

"Alright, slick. I am sure that you have been waiting for this, but just know that I am not in the mood to mess around. Name your price, but if your request is too steep, just know that I will just hold you down, and let the princess chew off each one of your limbs until you tell me what I want to know," Bane warned, but Lex wasn't the least bit fazed.

"First, I want to know what your plans are, and by that I mean, what do you plan on doing after you have killed the king?" Lex returned, and Bane shrugged.

"Go looking for Demon Lord Gustave. I have a bone to pick with that son of a bitch," Bane growled, making Lex's frown deepen, and then he looked at Princess Misery.

"Is he serious?"