Chapter 888: Whatever Changed Inside You
"We have confirmed the existence of Dragons, Your Majesty."
Static crackled through the magical communication device.
No answer came at first.
The officer holding the crystal swallowed as he stared across the ruined sea. Behind him, sailors limped across the fractured deck, dragging wounded men away from broken railings while engineers desperately reinforced the ship’s leaning mast.
Half the fleet was gone.
Several surviving vessels burned in the distance, their hulls split by waves created from a battle they had never joined. Others floated without sails or engines, carried helplessly by currents still disturbed from Leviathan’s death.
The officer pressed the crystal closer to his mouth.
"Your Majesty?"
A deep voice finally answered.
"How many?"
The officer glanced toward the coast again.
Smoke covered Grigor.
The city’s outer port had almost disappeared beneath collapsed stone, wrecked ships and blackened water. Far above the coastline, winged figures moved through the lingering storm.
Some carried the wounded.
Others descended toward the fortress.
"I cannot confirm the exact number," he replied. "At least three displayed unmistakable draconic traits. Possibly more."
"Possibly?"
"One transformed partially during combat. Another breathed fire powerful enough to affect Leviathan directly. There were also several women with wings, but their exact species remain unknown."
The voice on the other end became quiet.
The officer adjusted the spyglass against his eye.
He saw the one with violet-black scales first, and swallowed his saliva at her current state.
Velvet hovered above the ocean, helping lift wounded Valkhries from the water and wreckage despite her current state. Her damaged wings struggled against the wind with such weight, while most of her plump, curvaceous figure was on full display, barely covered by natural dragon scales across her crotch, buttocks and nipples.
Despite this state, she appeared to refuse to land until every nearby soldier had been recovered.
Farther away, Valena carried two knights beneath her arms while flames leaked from between her lips.
Then there was the white-haired woman.
Even at this distance, Serena’s presence made the officer’s skin crawl. Her fox-like transformation had faded, but darkness still moved around her feet like a living shadow.
"Sir?" one of the younger scouts whispered. "Should we continue observing?"
The officer lowered the spyglass.
Albrecht glanced at the officer beside him, shaking his head as he sighed at the bloody state of Caelith, who suffered great damage to protect their fleet as it fled from Grigor’s makeshift port during the chaos.
"No."
The scouts glanced back and forth between their captain and the one commanding their fleet with strange expressions.
"But our orders were..."
"Forget it, our orders were to confirm the rumours and we have done."
His gaze moved toward the burning wreckage surrounding them.
"We confirmed them."
The communication crystal crackled again.
"What of the Demon Emperor?"
Albrecht, the wounded Caelith and even the officer froze at the males question. There wasn’t a person in sight who could have missed the battle.
He had watched that man split Leviathan in half.
He had watched him fall, rise, fight again and stand inside an explosion that should have erased everything nearby. Then he had watched eight blood-red wings emerge from the emperor’s back, covered in eyes.
"I believe he survived."
"You believe?"
The officer tightened his hold on the crystal, enduring the glares of the priests behind him, still furious they’d lost the dragons, their hearts for this mission.
"Though he managed to fell the beast, he seems to be gravely wounded."
Albrecht’s eyes widened at the officer’s report; he also saw Asmodeus fall after suddenly growing eight wings... but somehow he couldn’t help but glare at the man.
"I cannot confirm because he is currently surrounded by his women. I cannot see him clearly."
A pause followed.
Then the voice on the other side spoke.
"Withdraw."
The officer’s shoulders loosened.
"At once, Your Majesty."
The communication ended almost immediately, with the officer glancing towards Grigor one final time. He couldn’t understand the aim of this goal at first. Why make a peace offering and treaty if they were just going to do nothing but suffer losses...
’Now I understand...’
The emperor never cared about them, the demon emperor or their losses from the start.
It was always about those two women.
While he was watching the distant flowers floating on the ocean across the ruined sea, one of the dark purple eyes on Asmodeus’s blood wings opened and stared directly at him.
"Eh?!"
The officer froze.
Even through the spyglass, miles of storm and smoke, he felt as though the eye had focused on nothing else but him.
The eye watched him for less than a few seconds before it closed.
"Turn the fleet around," he whispered.
The sailors nearby stared at him.
"Captain?"
"Turn us around!"
The remaining ships began their retreat.
Whatever it was, he didn’t wish to be close to that thing for a second longer; the eyes on the demon emperor’s wings gave him an eerier feeling than Leviathan’s.
Like something not meant to exist in this world.
***
Asmodeus watched the distant fleet disappear through the fog.
Or rather, part of him watched.
The strange eyes across his newly transformed wings continued showing him fragments of the battlefield from every direction. He saw Brando carrying Alan toward the ruined cabin. Logan stood beside the remains of the Kraken Slayer with both hands gripping his beard, staring at the destruction as though someone had killed his children.
Yet his human eyes remained closed; the countless eyes on his wings observed the world in strange colours, shapes and methods.
’What the hell...?’
Strange sounds echoed in the back of his mind, and yet he understood... Those sounds then formed images and memories.
He watched valkyries crawling from the sea.
His wives supporting one another.
Black ash drifting above the ocean where Leviathan had disappeared.
Too much.
Every movement entered his mind at once.
Asmodeus squeezed his eyes shut.
The eyes upon his wings remained open.
"Stop."
Nothing happened.
Axiom hummed softly in his hand.
"I said stop."
The dark purple eyes blinked twice before all eight wings folded inward and dissolved into crimson mist behind him, and silence returned to his mind.
"Husband?"
A gentle voice greeted him after his pained shout.
"Ngh... oh? Asmodea... your thighs are nice and soft as usual, haha."
’That was unpleasant... like watching several different movies and listening to dozens of bands at the same time on full blast.’
Asmodea ignored his compliment and just smiled gently while stroking his hair with a faint giggle.
"Be careful, husband. You almost collapsed again."
"Ah... I will."
"You scared me."
Her voice had become quieter.
Asmodeus glanced down at the hand resting over his chest.
"I know."
Around them, the wilted blood roses created by Asmodea slowly broke apart. Their petals drifted across the ocean, dissolving into red light before they touched the water.
Asmodea sat with her legs folded beneath him, breathing heavily as she watched the last of her flowers disappear.
"I really hate fighting at sea... the salt ruins my hair."
Vinea lowered herself onto the same cluster of petals. She glanced at her sister before snorting and dropping beside them with a huff.
"You did well, little sister, but please stop complaining... look at the state of our dear husband and our homeland... You should be proud of what you managed to protect with your magic, okay?"
"Sister..."
Erika landed beside them next, blonde hair tangled by sweat and blood. Both of her swords vanished into golden light as she looked over Asmodeus from head to toe.
"God, why does he look so damn hot even when in this state?!" Her voice echoed through the air as most women seated close by couldn’t help but peek at Asmodeus, then nod faintly before smiling.
’Haha... doesn’t she know I am awake?’
Because he couldn’t open his eyes, the sounds and voices of his wives became quite novel, as were their movements and how their voices changed upon seeing his state.
One by one, his wives descended onto the last floral boat made by Asmodea, all sitting around him as he tried to recover fully.
When Axiom absorbed the core of Leviathan, he felt his own existence touch something that he subconsciously felt he shouldn’t. The experience shocked him. Thus, he couldn’t help but remain still, enjoying the hands of his wives stroking and caressing him in his weak state.
’Was that the difference between the creator and the self-proclaimed gods?’
Serena descended last.
Her fox mask had vanished, and the darkness surrounding her body faded with every step. Her white hair fell over her face as she landed unsteadily on the remains of Asmodea’s flowers.
"How is he?"
’Ah... she’s in empress mode...’
Asmodeus couldn’t help but smile.
Serena slowly approached, asking a simple question with her stoic tone, and yet he could hear the pounding beat of her heart growing faster the longer it took Asmodea to respond to him; despite her cold exterior, he knew the truth all too well.
’She’s about to cry.....’
Serena made it two steps before her knees buckled.
The moment her body dropped, Asmodeus vanished from Asmodea’s knees, and with what little energy remained inside him, he pumped it into his body.
Then cast a simple teleportation spell.
Woosh!
"Ah....?"
Serena gasped as she found herself on her back, two thick muscular arms and a burly, tanned body pressed against her.
"Are you alright, my lovely empress?"
Despite his weakness, he couldn’t let her fall.
Asmodeus knelt beneath her body, pulling her tightly against his chest, the dull thump of her heart racing, sending comfortable tingles down his spine.
However, before he could comfort her properly, tears began to flow down her cheeks as she clung to his chest, her ample breasts crushed against him as she slowly began to wail.
"My love... I thought you were...."
"My Empress, please don’t cry."
Unable to bear her tears, he lifted her chin and stared into her beautiful silver eyes.
Then kissed her.