Asmodeus was sitting on the walls outside the city as he watched the ongoing battle.
‘I want to go back into a coma… ever since I woke up it’s been one surprise after another.’
Not only did his son seem to have been influenced and strengthened by his father, but his mother had even given her grandchild possession of her personal army!
And he had somehow come into possession of a qlipoth seed!
Something he hadn’t seen in thousands of years!
“Your son’s wives are quite impressive, aren’t they, my lord?”
Asmodeus looked to his side to see Lusamine sitting next to him happily. Next to her were Eris and Zheng who were also watching the battle with great interest.
The demon lord eventually realized that while he was lost in thought he’d been absentmindedly staring at the women below.
‘So these are the rest of his brides…’
“Indeed they are… a dwarven hybrid with colossal strength, an animus witch overflowing with mana, a vampire demigoddess and a lightning dragon.” He muttered.
“And to top it off…” He focused his fearsome black eyes on Bekka’s back, unable to believe what he was seeing. “A beastkin with the void element.”
He fought the urge to scoff. How could one man possibly have so much luck?
“The what!?”
“She has the void element?!”
“!”
Zheng, Lusamine and Eris all gave Asmodeus shocked looks.
The ancient demon merely nodded, not elaborating further.
“Jeez I swear! It’s like your son’s dick unlocks their hidden potential or something!” Lusamine complained as she threw her hands in the air.
Asmodeus was used to the crudeness of his best warrior but he still fought the urge to vomit when it was centered around his child.
Instead he focused on another aspect that she’d wholly missed.
“Do not demean the efforts of these women by insisting that their strength is due to my son.”
Exedra may have been their motivation, but the power they each possessed was due to no one but themselves.
Nobody else said anything as they pondered Asmodeus’ words.
But Eris inwardly had begun to harbor dangerous thoughts.
‘Is this the kind of strength it takes to stand beside him…?’
–
Lailah summoned Apophis as she had so many times before, only this time was slightly different.
The witch had long discovered her familiar’s ability to alter his size, but just how big could he get?
The answer was incredibly frightening and yet ridiculously simple.
He could be as big as she wanted.
Provided that she fueled him with the necessary mana, Apophis could grow to horrifying proportions.
If Lailah continued to evolve and expand her mana pool, Apophis could grow until he could wrap around the world entirely.
The legend of him swallowing the sun entirely no longer seemed so inconceivable.
Apophis appeared in a flash of red light and quickly drew attention.
With Lailah sitting cross legged on top of his head, the pair were truly the mother and son incarnation of beauty and the beast.
As if by prior agreement, everyone on the battlefield froze and stared in awe at the newcomers.
Apophis was currently a staggering twenty five meters tall, the largest Lailah could make him without suffering complete mana exhaustion.
Valerie : “Show off!”
Lisa : “That’s… new?”
Bekka: “Very impressive… I wonder how strong he is?”
Mira : “Mommy is so cool! I wanna ride on brother Apophis too!!”
“HIIISSSSSSS!!!!”
Apophis lunged forward at the speed of lightning and bit into the nearest phoenix invader.
Whether it was killed by his massive fangs that were now longer than a truck or it’s incredibly toxic venom, it made no difference in the end.𝗈𝚟𝗅xt.𝒸𝑂𝑚
The phoenix struggled for only a moment before it’s flames sputtered out and it slumped over in the mouth of the enormous snake.
He immediately swallowed the now dead bird whole and let out a satisfied burp.
“How cute~” Lailah said as she patted her serpent’s head lovingly. “Eat your fill but remember to save some for the rabisu, okay?”
Apophis did not respond but Lailah knew he would obey her.
Her sweet boy was just a little shy when it came to affection that’s all!
Aerin watched in horror as the giant red cobra set out on the task of filling it’s stomach.
The flames of her subordinates did not seem to be doing anything at all and it seemed as though they were going to lose the fair ground they’d just gained.
Deciding to forget about the small fry around her, Aerin instead flew towards the giant red cobra in the center of the battlefield.
Lailah looked up at the approaching enemy and felt it’s powerful aura.
Apophis however was unfazed and hissed as he prepared to store this bird in his stomach along with it’s kin.
Lailah was really tempted but unfortunately she had already made a prior agreement. “Settle down, son. Bekka called dibs on that one already.”
Apophis thumped his tail in frustration, causing a small earthquake for those on the ground.
Aerin suddenly sensed danger and dodged.
She spun around madly in search of what had set her off but found nothing but empty air.
‘Am I losing it? I was sure I felt something!’
Aerin looked down at the ground and saw an individual waiving at her.
She had inky black skin and hair paired with vibrant orange eyes and a bestial smile.
“Hoh! Pretty impressed you managed to dodge that!” Bekka said with a smirk.
The leader of the phoenix army suddenly felt the need to adjust her previous assessment.
This person… she was incomparably more dangerous than the giant snake.
–
Back at home at the manor, Exedra was finally showing signs of regaining consciousness.
‘What is this… it feels so hard to breathe.’
The demon lord slowly opened his eyes to see a sight that warmed his heart.
Audrina and Thea were both sleeping comfortably on his chest, both girls snoring lightly as they dreamed of god knows what.
While Exedra was enjoying this, he wanted all of his family to be present for something like this.
‘Where are the rest of the girls?’
As if to answer his question, the sound of Apophis thumping his tail against the ground and causing a small earthquake soon reached his ears.
His entire body jumped at the sudden sound and he immediately sat up, inadvertently scaring both of the girls awake.
“Ah!”
“Kyaa!”
Both of them soon realized Exedra was awake and their surprised screams soon turned into ones of joy.
“Father’s awake!”
“You idiot we missed you!”
The demon lord was stunned by this sudden reaction and while he was happy, this wasn’t the time.
“What are you girl’s doing there’s a battle outside!”
“Don’t worry father, everyone else is handling it!” Thea comforted.
“Huh?”
“Never mind that!” Audrina suddenly interrupted.
She grabbed her husband by the face and made him stare into her pinkish violet eyes that were terribly unfriendly at the moment.
“What were you thinking using a power like that for a stupid spar?!”
Exedra suddenly gained the urge to tease his wife even though she was currently gripping his head like a basketball.
“I wanted to put on a show for my wives. Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes it made me very we-” The vampire realized her daughter was sitting on the bed a few feet away from them. “That’s not the point!”
“You damaged your soul and were unconscious for two days!”
“I was?” Exedra asked in surprise.
The last thing he remembered was collapsing on the grounds outside and waking up here. He simply felt like he’d had a bit of a longer nap than usual but nothing that drastic.
“”Yes.”” Audrina and Thea said in unison.
He suddenly felt horrible. He’d left his wives defenseless when he overused a power that he didn’t even understand.
“I know that look and stop it.” She warned.
“Why do you think I’m in here with you? Our family doesn’t need us to protect them, they are more than capable of fighting on their own.” Audrina said comfortingly.
Exedra suddenly smiled helplessly and relaxed.
His worry had gotten the best of him and he had forgotten that the women he loved and the army he’d raised were all perfectly capable.
He actually started to feel a bit useless!
Audrina chuckled at the crestfallen look on his face and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
“Would you like to go watch our family’s victory in battle?” She asked cheerfully.
Exedra of course did not refuse and he quickly stood up.
He desired to see the power of those around him with his own eyes.
Unfortunately, he was still not aware of the two very big surprises waiting for him.