The third episode began with Asmodeus trying to reach the prostitute from the previous day. He called her, but she wouldn’t answer. He sent his subordinates to her house and her brothel, but she wasn’t there either.
"Where is the girl?" Asmodeus asked the mistress sitting on the edge of his bed.
Unlike the previous day, her face was not covered by any masks.
"I don’t know," Mistress Bella answered, shaking.
For a second, Asmodeus observed her.
He moved closer to her, caressed her cheek, and moved his hand down to her trembling shoulder. He slightly lowered her dress, revealing severe marks left behind by whips. How the woman was still sitting straight was a miracle.
Discolored as her skin looked, Asmodeus only found it charming. Like meat, beatings often made people tender. All she now needed was a bit of his gentle touch.
The carrot was especially effective once the subject had experienced the stick, or so he believed.
Asmodeus licked Bella’s wounds and whispered in her ear, "You are not lying, are you?"
His voice was both chilling and reassuring.
The mistress quivered. "I swear on my mother’s grave that I am not lying."
Asmodeus stared at her before lightly pushing her down. He climbed on top of her, caressing her wounds.
"I believe you," he whispered in her ear.
As the mistress breathed out a hot breath, the scene changed.
In a private room of the restaurant co-owned by Beelzebub and Belphegor, Satan stood gazing at the seven paintings hung on the wall. Each was a canonically accurate depiction of one of the seven devils of Hell.
The door opened, and Beelzebub and Belphegor entered.
For a short while, the three talked idly about business and health over lunch.
"So, what is this about?" Belphegor suddenly asked, languidly playing with his pasta.
Satan turned to him with burning eyes, causing the youngest to lower his gaze. Beelzebub watched the two with interest while stuffing his mouth with all sorts of cheeses.
Satan put down his fork. "How old are you, again?"
"Twenty-five," Belphegor answered.
"Twenty-five..." He took a sip of his wine and turned to Beelzebub. "And you?"
The gluttonous man put up three fingers on one hand and one on the other.
"Thirty-one, huh," Satan scoffed. "Sedentary stooges, you two are."
He laughed heartily, but his brothers didn’t.
"I will be quick about it, then." Satan put forward his callused hand. "Join me in taking down Lucifer. Support your oldest brother’s—mine—rightful rule."
"No," Beelzebub sharply uttered.
He was staring daggers at Satan. A drizzle of blood had not pulled him away from his food, but a threat to Lucifer certainly did.
"How long will you act so loyal? Have some shame," Satan growled. "He treats us like disgraced dogs. We bark when he wants us to; we roll when he motions. What sane man kills a captain of the Altobelli family? How much longer will you remain loyal to his tyranny?"
Beelzebub looked him dead in the eye. "I said ’No,’ did I not?"
"What is wrong with you?" Satan clutched his wine glass tighter. He turned to Belphegor. "What about you? Will you join me?"
Belphegor shook his head a bit nervously.
"Speak up!" Satan yelled, shattering the glass in his hand.
"No, I said! No!" Belphegor shrieked frantically, like a man repeating someone else’s words.
Angered, Satan kicked the table before getting up.
As he was leaving the room, Beelzebub called him.
"Brother!" he shouted. "The family head will be hearing about this!"
Satan turned to him with murder in his eyes. "I dare you to do it."
As the door was slammed shut, all that remained in the room was a gluttonous man who had lost his appetite and another who was clutching his knees while breathing roughly.
Meanwhile, Mammon and Leviathan were sitting at an outdoor café.
Surprisingly, it was the envious Leviathan who had invited Mammon. He wanted to see if he could find out what the meeting between him and Satan last night was about. He knew it wouldn’t be easy as Mammon was a sly one, but he had to try.
As the lunch continued, talks strayed towards their family and upbringing, eventually reaching their mother.
"She was always demanding on Satan, wasn’t she?" Mammon mused. "She pushed him the hardest."
"Why can’t you be like Lucifer?" Mammon mimicked his mother, his voice high and nasal. "What’s wrong with you? How many times must I tell you, Satan?"
"Satan, blah, Lucifer blah... What a dumb whore. She made him angry, didn’t she?" Mammon ranted.
He scoffed, shaking his head. "She was the one who nurtured his tendency to be easily angered, and now, we have to deal with it."
"What are you complaining about?" asked Leviathan. "You had her attention, and she gave you everything you wanted. What has you so mad?"
"Oh, talking back, are we? What, are you jealous, little brother?"
Mammon laughed, ridiculing Leviathan.
"Oh, don’t be. You have to be deserving to be loved the way she loved me. She was aware what a nutjob you were, always believing in your own conspiracies. And she knew an envious snake like you could never be satisfied, so she never gave you anything."
He leaned a little closer to Leviathan, his eyes smiling sadistically. It was as if he was somewhat aware of his younger brother’s intentions for arranging the meeting.
"And she never gave you her love," he chanted rhythmically.
There was joy in his voice as he mocked his brother relentlessly.
Beelzebub and Belphegor were sitting in Lucifer’s office.
"Did he, now?" Lucifer muttered, clearly disinterested.
He walked away from his window and sat back down on his chair.
"We should prepare before he reaches others," said Beelzebub.
It was sound advice, but Lucifer—proud beyond measure—shook his head.
"Leave him," he said.
"Why? We should move while he hasn’t—"
"I refuse to play to Satan’s moronic whims."
Beelzebub tried to change his brother’s mind, but prideful Lucifer wouldn’t listen. Satan, in his eyes, wasn’t even a threat.
"If left alone," — Lucifer lit a cigarette — "like a child denied attention, our angst-filled older brother will settle down."
He puffed out a ring of smoke and grinned, amused by the absurd prospect of his brothers coming for his seat.
"What if others join him?" asked Beelzebub.
"Who, exactly?" Lucifer smiled. "Mammon knows better than to cross me; Leviathan is obsessed with Asmodeus; and Asmodeus finds Satan repulsive."
His scornful eyes turned to Belphegor, who had been extremely quiet the whole time.
"What’s wrong with him?"