The Tropical Sunrise Resort (formerly the Obsidian Fortress) was a complete success.
The walls were a soothing coral pink. The terrifying spikes had been sanded down and replaced with imported palm trees. The screams of the damned had been replaced by a light, instrumental bossa nova track that Kaelen was nervously playing on a magical lute in the corner.
Maya reclined on her plush, pastel-colored sunbed, her Tom Ford sunglasses gleaming in the magically-induced sunlight.
Her stomach gave a small, polite rumble.
Instantly, the entire balcony froze. Kaelen stopped playing the lute. Malakor dropped the tray of tropical drinks he was polishing. Vermithrax and Ignis, who were busy braiding a hammock out of indestructible dragon-silk, snapped their massive heads toward her.
"I'm hungry," Maya announced to the dead silent courtyard. "But I don't want heavy food. I want something light. Fresh. Like... really good sushi."
Malakor the Demon Lord cleared his throat, his red bowtie shifting. "S-Sushi, Lady Maya? We have the finest fire-roasted Hellboars in the realm! Or perhaps a lightly seared basilisk?"
Maya pulled her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. The temperature on the balcony dropped twenty degrees.
"Did I say Hellboar, Jeeves?" Maya asked, her voice dangerously quiet. "I said sushi. I want ocean-fresh, melt-in-your-mouth seafood."
Kaelen frantically stepped forward, bowing so fast he almost snapped his own spine. "The Abyssal Kraken Sea! It is only three hundred miles to the East! It is completely infested with mythological leviathans, ancient krakens, and tide-callers!"
Vermithrax scoffed, his draconic pride flaring. He stepped over the hammock, glaring at the Demon Brothers. "Do not listen to these ground-dwelling bellhops, Lord Leo! Ignis and I can fly to the Kraken Sea and return with the finest catch before these pathetic demons even find their boots!"
Malakor's eyes glowed with competitive fury. "Oh, is that a challenge, you overgrown iguana?! The Vanguard of the Apocalypse are master fishermen! We will bring back a feast worthy of the Great Patrons!"
Leo chuckled, sitting up and adjusting his floral shirt. He clapped his hands together. "Alright, boys. You want a fishing tournament? You got it. Maya and I want the best cut of sashimi this dimension has to offer. Winner gets a five-star review and a twenty percent tip."
Thirty minutes later, the deadliest ocean in the Eight Kingdoms was turned into an absolute circus.
The Kraken Sea was normally a place of terror, where dark, churning waters swallowed entire armadas whole. Today, it was a warzone of desperate customer service.
Kaelen had used his ultimate shadow magic to conjure a massive, ultra-luxury yacht for Leo and Maya, complete with a viewing deck. Leo was leaning over the railing with a pair of binoculars, while Maya was getting a pedicure from two terrified sea-nymphs they had drafted along the way.
"Over there on the right!" Leo cheered, pointing toward a massive demonic warship.
On the deck of the warship, Demon Generals Pavan, Karthik, and Aman were in the fight of their lives. They weren't using fishing rods. They had literally attached a massive, indestructible mythril chain to a siege ballista.
"PULL!" Aman roared, his muscles bulging as he cranked the massive winch.
"It's pulling us under, you idiot!" Karthik screamed, digging his spiked boots into the wooden deck as the warship tilted dangerously to the side. "It's a Class-S Megalodon!"
"Just hit it with the anchor!" Pavan yelled, frantically swinging a five-ton iron anchor over his head like a lasso. "If we don't get a good filet, the human is going to cancel our resort!"
Before Pavan could throw the anchor, a massive shadow eclipsed the sun.
Vermithrax the Dragon King folded his wings and dove from the clouds at Mach 4. He hit the water like a bunker-buster missile, sending a tidal wave crashing over the demon warship. A second later, Vermithrax erupted from the ocean, completely soaked, with a struggling, three-hundred-foot-long Megalodon clamped perfectly in his jaws.
Ignis the World-Burner hovered nearby, gently exhaling a very precise layer of fire over the shark to lightly sear the exterior just the way Maya liked it.
Vermithrax flew over the luxury yacht, dropping the massive, perfectly seared mythological beast onto the rear deck with a heavy thud. He landed gracefully, bowing his massive head.
"The Sovereign of the Skies delivers, Lord Leo!" Vermithrax boomed proudly, shaking the water from his scales. "A light appetizer!"
Maya lifted her sunglasses, looking at the creature that was currently taking up the entire back half of the multi-million-dollar yacht.
"It's a bit large," Maya critiqued, tapping her chin. "I wanted bite-sized. But the sear is excellent. Kaelen, get your brother and slice this up. Thin cuts. And fetch the soy sauce."
Malakor and Kaelen, completely drenched in seawater and thoroughly defeated in the fishing tournament, hung their heads in shame.
"Right away, Lady Maya," Malakor sighed, pulling out his legendary, soul-reaping battle-axe and carefully beginning to julienne the Megalodon into perfect, bite-sized sashimi pieces.
Leo clapped Vermithrax on the snout. "Good hustle out there, Vermy. You're definitely getting Employee of the Month."