Xavier stood, pacing back and forth in the tavern's main room. He had a decision to make and while he was pretty sure what direction it was going to go, this one mattered to his boss. The investment was a failure, and it was time to cut his losses and move on to new opportunities. There were still a few avenues where this could be recovered, maybe some low probability scenarios under which it would still end up being a win for the home team, but things had to change. The time for a scalpel was over.

  Xavier finally turned, staring at the three other living figures in the tavern. A few corpses y on the ground, remnants of the vilgers they killed when they arrived, but the three figures were who mattered. Oh, and there were some women tied up in a back room. He could hear them sobbing, but he'd get to them ter.

  The first figure was Daniel, his most foolish minion. Daniel had joined him a few months prior when he ran into them in Utah, willingly signing his soul away to Asmodeus without even caring what he had done, just for the chance at power. And he had gained in power, using the devil's favor to gain levels, gear, and prestige. The former quarterback now stood, suspended a foot in the air in a ball of malevolent glowing green energy, as he waited Xavier's judgement. Daniel was dressed in pte armor with a giant sword and shield on his back, ornate skulls and arcane symbols etched into the armor. Daniel ... had promise, at least in theory. Unfortunately, he let the second figure boss him around because he was such a fucking cuck he couldn't stand up to women.

  Xavier turned again, staring at the second figure suspended in a ball of green light. Karen was just a revolting bitch on so many levels. He did have to admit none of those were physical levels, however. Physically, she was fucking stunning. The former cheerleader had an absolutely massive chest, flowing blond hair, and bright blue eyes. Her face could unch a thousand cum rockets and if she had danced for money in Vegas, she'd have commanded top dolr. Karen would have been a truly legendary escort on the strip, a constant celebrity favorite. She wore the most transparent and flimsy bck lingerie, ciming it enhanced her healing skills. Karen had fishnet stockings and high heels and constantly fell out of her dress, tits popping out and distracting everyone. However, it all changed when she opened her mouth, at which point Xavier realized her parents were prophetic and someone needed to drown the cunt in a barrel of piss.

  As he turned to the final figure, Xavier rubbed his forehead in frustration. He hadn't wanted to waste this investment, it wasn't going to look good on his quarterly report, but the business demanded it. Zoltane, his lieutenant, sat in the corner of the tavern holding a disembodied head from one of the farm girls in the town. The creepy mage was holding it up, waggling the jaw, and talking to himself with the head. Zoltane was one creepy motherfucker, even for Xavier. Xavier had found the mage in Vegas, in what had once been a brothel. The mage had apparently walked in, killed all the hookers, and reanimated their corpses and had gone on a two-week-long bender, snorting cocaine and fucking the zombies until their bodies eventually fell apart. When Xavier had asked, Zoltane replied that they cried a lot less after sex when they were dead. As much as Xavier tried to prevent Zoltane's weird habits from ruining the atmosphere, Asmoedeus had finally intervened and told Xavier to let the mage be himself.

  "Oh Zoltane, you're such an amazing wizard. I love your spells, can I suck your cock?" The mage was speaking in a falsetto voice, pretending to be the skull.

  "I don't know about that, Cindi, what would your mother think if she saw your corpse getting fucked by a master wizard?" Zoltane replied to himself, this time speaking in his normal voice.

  "She'd be fine with it, Mister Zoltane! In fact, she might ask to join in if you could find her corpse as well! I think you left it in the back room. It's mostly intact."

  "Well, if you insist. I do love keeping families together, and I'd hate to disappoint the two of you wonderful dies."

  "Zoltane," Xavier cut in sharply. The mage gnced up at Xavier, a grumpy expression on his face. "Can they hear me?"

  "Yea, they can hear just fine. They're just not allowed to move or talk. Oh, and they feel like spiders are crawling in and out of their nose and ears and pee hole at all times."

  "What? How does ... never mind." Xavier sighed and walked over, standing in front of the two floating figures. "Daniel, I had higher hopes for you than this. You've let Karen boss you around time and again, wasting our efforts. First, it was that damned waitress in the middle of fucking nowhere. You panicked and revealed too much information and Zoltane had to go clean up your mess by yering a series of curses on her. It was good work, but it put him out of commission for a month with how much energy he had to expend. And still someone managed to unravel them without detonating the curses. Second, it was that idiot in Nickel - "

  "Dolr," Zoltane interjected.

  "Whatever the fuck. If it's not a hundred dolr bill, I don't give a shit what they called that pimple of a town. I've had piles of cocaine bigger than the airport they built it around. Anyway, it was that idiot in Dolr that you went and again revealed information about our pns to. And told him to go kidnap your old cssmates and turn them into sex sves. I can respect turning a bunch of stuck up high school sluts into sex sves, but if you're going to kidnap whores, just kidnap them and rape them yourself. Quit outsourcing it to morons who fuck it up. We just found out that your friends rescued a dozen bitches from that Warren guy and killed him in the process. No idea if they got information about me from him."

  Xavier stood between the two, gncing between them. Their mouths stuck open in a screaming expression, but their eyes tracked him, wide and full of fear. Xavier turned and nodded toward the mage, "Let him talk, but nothing else."

  Zoltane pointed and muttered a word under his breath.

  "OH FUCK THE SPIDERS IN MY DICK! AIE! MAKE IT STOP!"

  "Zoltane! I need him to talk, not scream," Xavier said crossly. Zoltane muttered again and Daniel seemed to take a breath and calm.

  "Holy fuck, I'm so sorry Master Xavier, Master Zoltane. Please don't put the spiders on me again! I'll do anything!"

  "Look, Daniel. Our time together has come to an end. You're still sworn to Asmodeus, your soul is his, and it's not worth killing you. But you're a liability to my operations and so you're going to be more like ... an independent contractor as opposed to one of my core associates. I want you to go find a new pce, grow strong, conquer things, and then come back and meet us here this time next year. Show me how much initiative you have, how you can win one for us. How many souls can you bring to our dark lord?"

  "Yes sir, absolutely. I am so sorry, I'll do that. You won't regret it."

  "Great, now the other one," Xavier said to Zoltane, gncing back at the mage. Zoltane rolled his eyes and gnced at Karen.

  "Are you sure you want to let her talk, boss? I don't think it's worth it." Xavier gred and Zoltane sighed, raising one hand and pointing it toward the two suspended figures and muttered some words.

  "I swear to you, Xavier, I will convene a council with Asmodeus, and he will see things my way," came Karen's loud and angry voice as the spell changed targets and let her speak. "I have told you time and again that killing those cunts Alice and Bridgette is the single most important priority you could possibly achieve, and you have ignored me at your peril! I WILL SPEAK WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR!"

  "Can I have her body when you're done? I'll treat it well," Zoltane asked, gncing at the skull he still held. Xavier pinched his nose in frustration.

  "Shut up, Zoltane. If anyone is going to hate fuck her, it's going to be me, and it'll be while she's still alive. Once I kill her, I don't give a fuck what you do as long as I never see her again. Look, Karen. You're an insufferable cunt. Nobody likes you. That said, I don't think you're wrong. I think we should hunt down and kill your friends. But you're so fucking irritating that I don't want to be around you long enough to figure out how. I'd rather give myself a dick tattoo with a rusty needle than be around you for even one more hour."

  "I will have your job for this," Karen screeched. "Asmodeus is going to fire you for incompetence and promote me to lead this pack of morons!"

  "Daniel, take this bitch and get the fuck out of my sight. I expect you to find and kill your old friends and then you, and only you, come back and meet me here next year and tell me how it went. You can kill Karen or keep her, your choice. If I see Karen again, I will gut her like a trout and hang you with her intestines. If you do anything less than have a complete success, I'll kill you both and then let Zoltane py dress up with your bodies."

  Xavier turned, gesturing at the mage. "Get them down." The mage turned and snapped his fingers, the two prisoners falling to their knees in the tavern. Karen stood, gring at Xavier, and opened her mouth to start ranting again. Daniel quickly stood and punched her in the mouth as hard as he could. Karen screamed as she fell backwards in a spray of blood and teeth.

  "Shut the fuck up, Karen," Daniel snapped. "Are you trying to get me killed?" He turned to Xavier, staring at the tall man and scowling. Xavier looked down, smirking as he saw Karen sobbing on the ground. Her tits had, as usual, fallen out of her dress and the slut was now naked from the waist up and covered in blood. Her expression was one of abject terror as she gnced between the two men. It was a good look on her, Xavier thought. He suspected it might have been the first time that Daniel ever actually put her in her pce.

  Xavier thought for a second, then snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, I know what I'll do. Since Asmodeus owns both of your souls, I can make a few adjustments - especially given the rather extreme situation we find ourselves in. Hold on please." He closed his eyes and channeled his energy, fire beginning to smolder the air around him as the temperature in the tavern increased dramatically. When Xavier re-opened his eyes, he saw the world in a new light, the power of Asmodeus running through him. His veins thrummed, and he could feel the energy of the greater devil within him. His potential was without limit. Karen screamed again in horror as he took a step forward, kneeling next to her.

  Xavier reached down, grabbing her by the throat with one hand and prying her mouth open. He raised a hand and a barbell piercing materialized in it, right as his hand fshed out and stuck it through Karen's tongue. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she passed out from the unexpected pain. Xavier stood, dropping the limp woman to the ground and ughed cruelly as her head bounced painfully off the wood floor. He then turned to Daniel, pressing a hand firmly down on the younger man's shoulder.

  "Daniel, she's all yours. She can't talk unless you let her, and you have the ability to torture or kill her through the piercing. Just wish it and it's done. Get that cunt of yours under control. I'm not fucking around anymore, no more friendly Xavier. Kill those two bitches that Karen keeps ranting about and return victorious, or you'll wish I fed you to the hogs by the time I'm through with you."

  Daniel nodded his understanding, picked up the unconscious Karen in a fireman's carry, and walked out, Karen's head bouncing off the door frame as he left the tavern. Xavier turned, grinning maliciously. Asmodeus was going to be so pleased with how he'd resolved the situation. Now he just needed to find two more idiots willing to sell their souls for power to take Daniel and Karen's pces.