- Satan -
(Far into the past)
Satan stands across an exhausted Moloch and Baal who were leaning on their weapons for leverage. The battlefield around them was littered with black and red demon corpses. This was one of many battles the three had with one key difference this time around.
"For the last time, you lose," Satan insulted.
Moloch and Baal were covered in bloodstained black armor. Baal was missing an arm, Moloch his leg. The two decided to remain adamant even in what was certainly their final moments.
"You think this is over? It ain't over till you slaughter every last one of our kind!" Baal yelled.
"It doesn't end here," Moloch spat. "If you think our commanders will just sit back and let you be the demon lord you're a fool!"
A bolt of lightning struck through what was Satan's illusory clone, fading it. Satan who had been flying above the battlefield sighed.
"Kill them all? Spare them? Kill them all?" Satan went back-and-forth.
The fighting continued briefly until Moloch and Baal retreated. Satan came to a decision soon after this encounter. He called both demon lords immediately and requested a face-to-face meeting, something that had been unheard of among their kind. To be safe, he told the two that he would be bringing his army and that any attempts to ambush him would be met with extinction.
The two demon lords agreed, canceling any plans they had to try a surprise attack. They knew he could back up his claim and weren't going to push their luck anymore. The things they had said previously were nothing more than blustering.
Satan requested to meet on the battlefield they had just fought on. He wanted it to be absolutely clear that this negotiation would either go how he wants or would end in bloodshed.
A stone table was set up in the middle of the corpse-littered ground. Satan had arrived first with his army in tow, fully expecting the two demon lords to try something reckless.
Satan stood 7'2" tall with front-facing black horns on the side of his head. He had a black hood draped over his head with a black wrap covering his eyes. He picked his teeth with his black claws as he waited, revealing his triangular teeth. He kept his wings outstretched as a sign of dominance.
He kept picking at his teeth with his index claw, giving the two demon lords a max of ten minutes before he gives the execution order. Moloch and Baal showed up, apologizing that they had to remove their armor first.
Baal stood 7'3" with curled brown horns. He was wearing a long black coat that went down to his knees. His bald head and red skin seemed to accentuate his yellow-orange eyes and razor-sharp pupils. He spat to the side of the table, revealing his needle-like teeth and purple tongue.
Moloch kept his eyes on Satan as he took his seat. He was wearing a baggy brown robe that made a clinking noise when he sat down. He was the shortest of the three, standing 6'8" tall with four gray horns, two facing forward, two facing up. He had a sharp chin with a thin white beard. His scleras were black with red pupils in the middle.
Satan waited until they were both seated before speaking. He found the clinking noise suspicious.
"Did you bring blood vials?" Satan asked Moloch.
Moloch put up his hand, causing more clinking. "Forgive the rudeness, but I always carry them on me. I came to this meeting looking to reach an agreement, not to fight."
"He can bring his vials, but I can't bring my hammers?" Baal said in an irritated tone of voice.
Satan started to pick at his teeth again. He had fully prepared for this to go poorly, so any bickering was expected, if not somewhat entertaining.
"Either of you starts anything then you'll both die," Satan warned. "Feel free to start the fighting with each other if you want, I can wait my turn."
Moloch and Baal looked at each other, fully realizing the situation they were in. The fact that this meeting was taking place on a fresh battlefield that was still littered with corpses of mostly their soldiers kept them from arguing further.
"What is this meeting about?" Baal asked. "Do you finally want to ally or are you looking to enslave us?"
"Neither," Satan answered. "I want you two to go live in another part of this world, away from me and my kin. Keep to yourselves, do whatever you want so long as it doesn't involve me, and we can exist peacefully with one another." He smiled.
Moloch seemed more confused by the offer than Baal. He stroked his beard while eyeing the wrap around Satan's face.
"Why would you offer us peace? What do you have to gain from it?" Moloch asked.
"Peace. Thought that was obvious enough, guess not," Satan answered, resting his chin on his clenched hand. "I find our "conflicts" boring. I'd rather focus on other things now without you two pecking at me constantly."
"Why not just exterminate us then?" Baal grunted.
Moloch looked at Baal with a look that screamed "Why would you ask that?" as he gripped his hand around his beard.
"I don't want to exterminate demons," Satan sighed. "You wanted to keep fighting, you dragged me into a fight, you lost, here we are." He lifted his chin off his hand and interlocked his claws. "Besides, I think it would be more fun this way."
"Fun?" Moloch and Baal both asked.
"Of course!" Satan responded enthusiastically. "Why wouldn't it be? This world is only fun if there's chaos, and letting you two live is truly chaotic!" he laughed.
Moloch and Baal had fought Satan's army multiple times. There had been a large number of requests for an alliance, so they weren't unfamiliar with his mannerisms, and yet this caused them to pause for a moment.
Baal respected Satan's strength, though he would never say it, or show it for that matter. At first, he hated him for always hanging back with his illusion magic, but it didn't take many losses for him to realize that he wasn't just outmatched in wits, but strength as well.
Moloch had often thought of himself as the brains to Baal's brawn. He would fight on the front-lines, similar to Baal, but still believed that he was the smarter of the two. He had thoughts of offering a secret alliance of his own with Satan, an idea that was quickly thrown out after thinking about the disastrous result that Satan said no and told Baal.
"You still worship Chaos?" Baal chuckled.
Satan's mouth changed from a smile to a frown. This shift caused a ping of fear to go off in the two demon lord's minds. Moloch nearly ripped his beard off in anger at Baal's rudeness.
Satan spoke slowly as he responded, "Chaos is now and forever my lord. I don't tolerate killing my kind, disloyalty, or insulting my God. I'll forgive the slip for now, but consider it one of the last kindnesses I'll be giving you."
Maybe it was defiance, maybe it was coming off a combination-high of battle and blood loss, but Baal decided to push his luck further, "You hate disloyalty yet you allow Asmodeus and Belphegor to run around scheming?"
Moloch was seconds from outright attacking Baal. He decided that to avoid an unwanted fight he should simply apologize for his ally's foolishness and hope Satan was more reasonable than he would be in this situation.
"Forgive him, I think he forgets his place in all this," Moloch said, glaring at Baal.
Satan tilted his head and started to pick his teeth again. He didn't speak immediately, choosing to let the things that had been said hang in the air for a little bit for speaking.
The moment Baal and Moloch's face's filled with anxiety, Satan spoke, "I find their machinations cute. Should the two of them ever do something genuinely threatening I will punish them appropriately," Satan scowled. "Anything else you want to question me about, or should we just continue the battle now?"
Baal had been leaning forward, trying to act strong in the face of what was most certainly capitulation. He leaned back, feeling genuine fear. This was the first time he had seen this side of Satan in person.
"I'm sure he meant nothing by it," Moloch assured.
"I'm sure," Satan gave a crooked smile. "Before he ruins this for both of you let me get to the point. I'm demanding a non-aggression pact. I would say "proposing", but let's drop the facade shall we?"
Moloch and Baal found themselves wholly at the whims of the demon before them. They knew they were beaten, so they agreed.
"Good," Satan said. "No conflicts, no alliances, and you two go further north. I don't care what you do with your current territories, so long as you don't live in them anymore."
Satan conjured a piece of paper in a puff of flame. "This is a warden's contract. You'll both sign this, then we'll go our separate ways."
"Is this a magical binding?" Moloch asked.
"No," Satan answered. "The magical binding aspect only applies to prisoners. Signing this just gives me easily retrievable proof of your agreement."
Moloch and Baal signed the paper causing it to disappear into flames. Satan stood up.
"Enjoy your new lives." Satan waved before flying off.
After this meeting, Moloch and Baal brought their armies further north into the Otherworld. Their combined strength made conquering two demigod territories easy. They established their place in the world, vowing to grow their strength and spread out further.
The two soon realized that they had been large fish in a small pond, failing to expand their influence without massive losses. They were just strong enough to defend their territory, but not strong enough to gain more. This frustrating fact would later lead to the creation of the Underground.
They both agreed that if they couldn't have more they would simply take from the shadows. They would seek out other races that felt stagnated in their conquests, offering promises of a land of pleasure and control where they could take out their frustrations on lessers.
Time passed and The Underground became what it was before Lucifer and Kahvis's attack. Death had paid little attention to the conflicts of the three demon lords, trusting that whatever it was Satan would come out on top. That was until this problem started to involve humans.
Satan would be asked by Death why he allowed them to leave and "infect" another part of the world.
Satan would respond, "If you want them dead, you kill them. This isn't my problem anymore," with a wide smile.
Death was furious. He struck Satan and gripped his hand around the demon lord's horn. "If this problem grows out of control you will pay for it."
"Go act scary with someone that actually fears you," Satan laughed.
Death snapped the horn and walked away.