4. Into the lair

Little light enters these underground tunnels, I've been walking for some time while being led by the two sketchy men. Pretending to be helpless is quite fun, I have to admit.

- Where are we going?

- To meet the boss, then we'll tell you more about the jobs we offer.

At least they still pretend to be cordial, but I can already here some cries for afar, this will be no ordinary job.

- Wait here, the boss will be here in a moment.

- Okay.

They must think I'm stupid, I just saw the man lock the door in what pretty much looks like a cage. I look around for a moment a find a young girl curled up in the corner.

- Hey, are you alright?

She is sobbing, and won't answer.

- I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help.

- You can't help me, we both are going to be sold.

This was a surprise, not a big one, but a surprise, these assholes are human traffickers, even worse, child traffickers.

- We are both getting out of here, I promise you this.

She doesn't answer. Somehow I'm glad I decided to follow this assholes and be able to put a stop to this now before they can reach or even kidnap Alice, I can't let this continue happening so close to my home.

- Hey, trust me. I'm not an ordinary kid, I'm skilled at magic.

The girl's eyes seem to light up before she answers.

- Are you really here to help? I'm not the only one being held here, I got dragged here with two of my friends, they must be in other cages.

- Yes, I'll help you but I'm going to need something from you though.

A couple of years ago I discovered an interesting ability of mine, probably one of my gifts as a demon. I was playing with a small toy outside Alice's aunt's house and a squirrel took it and started running away, in my desperation I yelled at it to let it go, and to my surprise, it did.

After that, I tested it on another animals, giving them orders and they would always follow. I decided to call this gift "Authority", as I believe it's a result of my autorithy over lesser beings, though I was yet to test it on humans. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

The girl nodded at my instructions, her face was hopeful now. It didn't take too long for a man to arrive at our cell and speak from outside the door.

- The girl must have told you already, but you won't be leaving for a while. Pretty boys like you fetch a high price.

For the first time, my good looks had a negative impact on my life, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

- Hey what's so funny? Shut up or I'll give you a beating.

- Open the cell.

I did my best to use my gift, and a second later, the man started unlocking the door.

- Wha-What is happening?

The man seemed confused so I gave him another order.

- Sleep.

In a moment, he lied on the ground and started sleeping. I turn to the girl and she had her hands on her ears, just as I told her to.

- That was amazing! I never knew magic like that existed, what is it called?

- Voice magic, now follow me, we're going to save your friends.

I was quite surprised she believed that stupid name I came up with on the spot. But I was happy to see she looked excited now.

As we walk through the tunnels, we find ourselves on a bigger room, with a bunch of men around and many cages, probably holding more kids. I whisper to the girl.

- You stay here, I'll take them out and...

I hear a loud shriek, the girl just got stabbed on the back by one of the criminals.

- You two are problems.

Anger. The stab was lethal, the girl dies just seconds after and the man takes his blade out and tries to stab me as well.

- Stop.

The man becomes frozen mid swing, he seems confused and a little scared now.

- Kill yourself.

The face of the man becomes horrified as he takes his own blade and slits his own throat. Blood. More anger.

I walk out of the tunnel, into the big area and yell for all the criminals to hear me.

- Bow!

Their looks of laughter and mockery became confusion and fear as each one of them was forced to bow before me, against their wishes.

- You are the demon king! you've come back to earth!

That voice from one of the bowing criminals startled me, they shouldn't know my name, how could he call me the demon king?

- What do you know if the demon king?

- That his voice holds power over all mortals, just like what you did just now.

- Is that all?

- I'm Grant, the leader of this organization, we will follow you, my king.

Another shock from this bowing criminal's words. Would they serve me? Having this much manpower will help me find a way back home faster. But, would they stop their crimes? Do they even deserve to keep living? They don't, they just killed a young girl and who knows how many they sold.

- None of you deserve to live, scum. Die!

I almost fainted right after, I head the corpses of the criminals hit the ground as life left their bodies. I just ordered them to die and they did, I didn't order them to take their own lives, I ordered them to die and their bodies complied.

I started laughing, overjoyed as I know the extent of my gift. Though I didn't laugh for long, as i remember there were cages on this room, the creeping feeling of uneasiness started to fill me as I walked to the cells, to find the bodies of young girls and a few boys inside.

- I ordered them to die too.