As tall as a building, more dangerous than a bear on cocaine.

  The gigantic dragon threatened to crush her with its mere presence, and yet Abigail could not take a single step.

  Adramelech stood before her and Leonard, his wings spread in the cavern, his paws plunged into the lava. Slowly lowering his snout to Abigail's level, the Infernal General asked her once again where Lucifer was. As if her fear, so raging, had short-circuited itself, the young woman didn't even flinch as she stood straight before the dragon. Her voice firm and resolute, she replied that she hadn't the slightest idea.

  Enraged, the Father of Dragons rose and unleashed a roar that shook the cavern walls and dislodged stalactites from the ceiling. Plunging towards the lava, some nevertheless crashed against the dragon's back without causing him any real harm. Adramelech then raised his fist and brought it down with all his might on Abigail, who, more out of reflex than genuine self-defense, raised her hands in front of her.

  A crash echoed through the air and seemed to spread throughout her body, to the point of driving her into the rock of the bridge.

  However, despite the shock, Abigail was still alive. Opening her eyes to understand how, she discovered a familiar layer of light around her hands, illuminating the surroundings. The miracle plunged everyone into silence, and she seized this opportunity to counterattack.

  The young woman then seized Adramelech, stunned by the events, with her fist and, despite the enormous difference in size, pulled him towards her. While Leonard was surprised and exclaimed in surprise, the Father of Dragons stumbled and crashed against the bridge wall, his snout just a few feet from Abigail. Without losing a moment, she lunged at him and struck him with a blow commensurate with her newfound strength. In a surreal vision, Adramelech was violently repelled, staggering against the cavern wall. A spectacle which, alas, Abigail could not fully witness, collapsing the next second.

  When she opened her eyes, she was lying on a sofa in the middle of a living room with large bay windows. Her throat was dry, her muscles ached, and Abigail looked for something to quench her thirst. She was delighted to discover that a kind soul had left her a glass of water on a nearby coffee table. Getting up with some difficulty, she reached for it, drank it down in one gulp, and sighed with satisfaction as she put it down. Now that she had quenched her thirst, Abigail, curious, went over to the large windows.

  Before her eyes unfolded Hell, so clear and precise that she could have mapped it from here. Nestled on the mountainside, her dwelling opened onto the infamous central plain of Hell, where its river meandered between the various cities. She recognized the westernmost one, notably by its strange pyramid shape encircled by high walls. Without difficulty, Abigail then identified the capital, Pandora, as the city further downstream, at the very heart of Hell: its plateau and its palace, before which the rest of the city unfolded in a perfect grid. Further east, a third city rose, at once closer to her human expectations but also to what she imagined futuristic cities to be: filthy, inward-looking, and where survival was a daily struggle. Finally, in the far East, a gigantic and majestic wooden titan stood, its foliage casting its shadow for miles around.

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  Suddenly, a vermilion eruption shattered the anthracite landscape, and from the volcano's depths, a lava flow erupted, some hundred meters east of her line of sight. If any doubts lingered in her mind, they were dispelled by a voice behind her. Abigail turned to face Adramelech, a cup in each hand, cautiously approaching her. In his human form, the Infernal General inquired about her well-being and offered her a brew to help her recover from the effects of their fight. Had she not noticed the bandage on his cheek, she would have remarked that he was visibly more battered than she was, a comment she refrained from making. Nevertheless, she remained suspicious and preferred to keep her distance for safety's sake. This did not escape the sharp eyes of her host, who took care to reassure her: while she rested, he and Leonard had had time to discuss and clarify their situation.

  Slightly reassured, Abigail tasted the contents of her cup. Indescribable, the beverage was thicker than coffee but thinner than soup, delighting her palate as it slid down, its warmth radiating sweetly through her throat. As she savored it, Adramelech complimented her on her stroke.

  “Your power is absolutely astonishing. I’ve never seen anything like it,” admitted the Father of Dragons. “But as a result, I don’t really know how to help. Sorry. We’re missing quite a bit of information. Yes, Leo gave me a rundown of what you’ve been through, your apparent resistance to magic, and pretty much everything else. Anyway, since we don’t know much, we need to gather some information first. And for that, there’s nothing better than having you tested by Lilith’s machines. We’ll go see her; it’ll be simpler.”

  "Um, Adramelech?" Abigail interrupted as he turned on his heel. "Can I ask you something first?"

  "As long as it doesn't concern your power, go ahead," he replied, stopping.

  "Why?" she asked simply, seeing the incomprehension reflected in his eyes. "Why did you take me in after what happened? And... why this anger towards Lucifer?"

  “Ah, those ‘whys,’” he noted, scratching the back of his head. “Why did I even take you in? That’s the easiest answer: because Leonard managed to talk some sense into me. Sure, with a few good whacks to the face, but still. As for the rest, it’s resentment towards Lucifer. What he did wasn’t your fault, and I attacked you as if you were him. For that, I owe you an apology.”

  "Apology accepted," Abigail agreed, before adding with a laugh. "I did the same thing the first time I met him: I thought he was one of the guys who assaulted my sister. So I hit him."

  "He does have a punchable face" Adramelech joked, pretending to stand up. "Is that all? Can we go now?"

  "Wait!" she interrupted, sensing that he wanted to avoid the second question. "Sorry to insist, but I want to know why you're so furious with him."

  “There’s no way to escape it, is there?” he sighed, collapsing onto the sofa where she had slept. “Because of his departure, Beelzebub seized power. And he made our lives a living hell. The dragons that flew freely in the skies of Hell? He locked them underground. The fallen ones who had followed us from Heaven? He hunts them down and slaughters them relentlessly. So, sure, Lucifer might have needed to leave, but everything that happened afterward is still his fault. Now, if you have any other questions, you can ask them as we walk: let’s go.”

  "Uh, Adramelech?" Abigail ventured, the fallen man's ardent gaze making her feel like a tightrope walker above a volcano. "I can't fly, though."

  "Don't worry, Leonard already told me," he reassured her, the anger in his eyes subsiding. "She's going to teleport all three of us to the foot of Lilith's mountains, and from there you'll climb on my back and we'll finish by flying."

  "And, uh... What about Lucifer?" she asked anxiously.

  “… We'll see about that later, youngling.”

  " “youngling” is a bit inappropriate," Abigail raised an eyebrow, unaccustomed to such terms. "I'm 29 years old, after all."

  "And I am billion years old, youngling" double downed the General. "So come on, let's go."