When Exedra began telling his story, the looks of disbelief were prevalent.
Soon a sudden idea crossed his mind and he activated his new hive mind skill.
He wasn’t sure if it would work but since the girls recognized him as head of the family and thus were submitting to him in a way, he had no trouble showcasing his memories.
He showed them almost everything without restraint.
The girls were awed by the things flashing in their minds.
Buildings the likes of which they’d never seen, strange automations that transported people, and even miniature metal boxes that showed other little people inside.
But probably the most surprising, was the fact that their husband used to be human.
When the girls saw the man who looked nothing like their husband, they couldn’t have been more shocked.
Or so they thought until they saw the way he lived and died.
He faced every kind of abuse under the sun, be it physical or verbal.
They saw him chastised and bested by bullies everyday, only for him to come home and receive the same treatment only much harsher.
In the end, they watched as he was beaten and mocked in the middle of the sidewalk by some random man before his life there ended and he met Yaldabaoth.
They saw his miraculous yet strange wishes, and even his first memories from waking up in this world.
When all had been revealed, the girls stared at him like he was a completely new person.
A look that did hurt him a bit but he tried not to show it.
“You..you’re not Exedra?” Lailah hesitantly asked.
He thought deeply about how best to answer this question.
“I am, and I am not. Our souls have been taken and fused together, both of us acting in accordance with the will of the other.”
Lailah seemed to grasp the concept behind his words but still she found them unbelievable.
“I can’t believe you used to be human..” Bekka muttered before realizing something.
“Hey you cheated! I worked for years to learn to handle weapons and all you had to do was make one stupid wish! That’s totally not fair!”
Exedra could not help but chuckle at the the truthfulness of Bekka’s statement and his nerves immediately relaxed a little. “That’s true I did cheat.”
“Hmph, as long as you don’t cheat on me I can forgive you.” Bekka pouted.𝑜𝑣𝔩xt.𝗇t
“That’s not important!!”
Valerie rushed forward with a sparkly look in her eyes and little Mira still in her arms.
“What was all that stuff you showed us??”
Her passion as a craftswoman had been set ablaze when she saw all the fantastic machines she couldn’t even describe.
“You… don’t care that I’m from another world?” Exedra stared at her in disbelief.
“Hm? Ah..” Valerie seemed to realize that it must’ve taken a lot for Exedra to reveal the secrets of his past like this and endeavored to calm down a bit.
“Well not really? This is the only version of you I’ve ever known so while it’s certainly surprising I don’t really care all that much.” She nodded after much thought.
“I don’t care either.” Lisa walked forward and wrapped him in a hug.
Seeing her husband in any form having to live such a hard life was harder than she cared to admit and she just wanted to smother him in love at the moment.
“We all love you as you are.” Audrina spoke up.
“Regardless of what exactly that entails there is no way for us to see you as anything different than the man we love.”
“Oi! He’s not yours yet!!” Bekka growled.
“Not yet~” Audrina’s eyes flashed a dangerous violet.
Bekka simply ground her teeth together and did not say anything further.
The rest of his wives elected to ignore the two of them and Exedra found himself wondering exactly what he’d missed in their conversation earlier.
“So is this system thing the reason you’re able to get super rare things like affinity stones?” Lailah suddenly asked.
Audrina’s attention was broken from Bekka as she just heard the most impossible statement imaginable. “Affinity stones?!?”
“And is that why you can see evolution conditions?” Lisa pondered.
“He can what?!”
“Well yes, that’s why.” Exedra nodded, ignoring Audrina’s outbursts.
“Such an incredible thing…” Lisa muttered. “Where did you even find the inspiration to wish for something like that?”
“A lot of stories and games from earth have similar concepts.”
He neglected to mention he spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours consuming such media.
Even though he trusted his wives completely, some things must be taken to the grave.
“Then… why did that god choose you of all people?” Bekka asked.
“I’m not certain.” Exedra shook his head.
“I believe he may have wanted to use me for some purpose but when my body was reconstructed by my grandfather, I was cleansed of all of his touch and influence.”
“A-And your grandfather is where you got them?..” Audrina’s eyes drifted towards the sky where the Rabisu were still in flight.
He nodded, still unsure why she was so uncomfortable with them.
They were demons sure but surely they were no more frightening than anything else she’d seen in her thousands of years of life.
Before Audrina could ask any more questions, Exedra suddenly felt something on his leg.
He looked down to see Thea hugging him tightly with tears in the corners of her blue eyes.
She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to.
Exedra knew by her kind nature that she was hurt by the images she’d seen and was now trying to offer comfort to the one affected.
He felt strange being comforted by a girl that was no older that eleven but he picked her up and returned her hug all the same.
‘Really… such a kind child I have..’
…
The group ended up sitting under the tree for a long time.
Exedra told them stories about his old life, what his world was like and even why he decided to abandon his humanity.
The group listened with bated breath as they heard the most harrowing stories imaginable.
Unexpectedly, Exedra felt great.
Not having to lie to his family about his powers or circumstances was more liberating than he could’ve ever imagined.
Everyone asked lots of questions, most of which he was able to answer to the best of his ability but when Valerie began asking him about the science behind technology, he consistently drew blanks.
Finally, when Exedra was answering a question from Lailah about what exactly a ‘high school’ was, he got a message from the system.
[Your demonic progeny are in the process of awakening!
[Number of demons created successfully: 2,701.
The group suddenly saw Exedra’s eyes take on a distant look and he smiled in satisfaction.
“Honey? Did something good happen?” Lisa asked for the group.
“I’m not sure.” Exedra rose up from his seat against the tree with both of his daughters clinging to him like koalas.
“Let’s go find out shall we?”
Exedra wasn’t sure what the temperament of the humans turned demons would be, but if they were too confident in their new powers and dared to revolt, he would put them down.
– 2 Days later.
Exedra and his wives were currently asleep in a very large bed in their new mansion.
It took some getting used to but eventually the group was able to feel right at home in their spoil of war.
Thea and Mira were both sleeping comfortably in a room right down the hall.
They were of course offered individual rooms but because Mira had never had a sister before and Thea had ptsd from being alone, they preferred to share.
Audrina had elected to spend most of her time as a cat and also made herself at home in their room.
Suddenly a light knock sounded at the door and Exedra’s eyes immediately flashed open.
He wiggled himself out of the embrace of his four slumbering wives and went to open the door.
Standing shyly outside was a young demon woman in a maid’s uniform.
“P-pardon the intrusion lord A-Abbadon but she is awake.” She stammered as the beauty of the man in front of her left her completely mesmerized, however she tried not to stare too hard or the sleeping lionesses in his bed would remove her head from her neck.
Exedra nodded and dismissed the girl before he shut the door.
He slipped on his usual outfit of simple black pants and a bright red cloak before he quietly kissed his wives on the forehead and exited the room.
Outside he saw more demons quietly working to redecorate the mansion to the standards of he and his family.
They bowed deeply as he passed by them in the hall and he offered them words of encouragement via hive mind.
‘Thank you for your hard work.’
Their bodies trembled as they were overjoyed to hear praise from the one they now viewed as god.
They made silent vows to continue serving him even more fervently than before!
Exedra felt their overflowing gratitude through their connection and chuckled as he continued on his way to his destination.
Eventually he reached the cells underground and stared with a smirk at the woman chained in front of him.
The angel Malenia stared up at her captor with hate filled eyes that contained imperceptible traces of fear.
She still remembered the sensation of days of torture that plagued her mind from the last time she fought him.
While she would never allow herself to be seen as weak, inwardly she was almost terrified enough to lose her mind.
Something that someone like Exedra, who could see emotions, did not miss.
He chuckled before kneeling in front of the terrified angel.
“What’s this? Looks like my little bird doesn’t like her cage.”
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