Abaddon reached out and took the black floating sword from the ground.
Within the blade there appeared to be carvings of millions of screaming souls.
He wondered if this sword was truly meant to be used in combat because it seemed ready to shatter from a light breeze.
‘Analyze.’
[ Abyss King’s True Death ( Grade : ????? )
– Description : Sword cannot be used by anyone other than a ruler of the abyss who possesses death magic.
– The first of the six endings.
The dragon wanted to chuck this sword out the window.
He wouldn’t be able to use this weapon anytime soon!
Disappointment began to flood his mind only to be replaced a moment later with curiosity.
‘The first of the six endings?’ The dragon had no knowledge of such a thing and he wondered if Audrina might know.
But seeing as how even the system could not give him any more information, he figured she would not be of much help in this matter.
Sighing in defeat, he stored away the sword in his ring for now before deciding to head upstairs to show Mira her present.
The doting father did not realize it, but he began to walk a little bit faster when he thought of how grateful his cute daughter would be.
However, in doing so he ran into two of the people he least expected to see.
Asmodeus and Yara were coming down the stairs arm in arm looking like two kids in love.
He caught his parents with their lips a few inches away from each other and felt the urge to make his presence known.
“Where are the two of you going?”
“Oh! Hello, my sweet boy!” Yara quickly rushed up to her son and gave him as big a hug as she could muster.
Abaddon had to admit, he had never seen his mother quite so full of life and energy before.
While she had been happy at points in his childhood, he could see that all of that was a pale imitation of her true personality.
The smile she was wearing now was much different from any of the ones he’d seen before. Seeing her so happy, he felt as though his effort to save his father was entirely worth it for this alone.
“Your father and I are going on our honeymoon!” She excitedly explained.
Abaddon knew that she had planned this but he was still a bit sad to see his mother go. “So soon? There’s a lot I wanted to talk with you about…”
He still hadn’t told her about him taking Audrina as a wife, adopting a second daughter, or about his reincarnation.
Fortunately, one of those concerns seem to take care of itself when Yara spotted two puncture marks in her son’s neck that weren’t closing.
‘That bitch! Predator! Cougar! She’s stolen my baby boy’s innocence!’
Yara had seemingly forgotten all of the whispers she’d heard among the maids back at the castle.
Her son lost his innocence almost every night at around 9 pm and didn’t get it back until the morning.
Luckily, she was eventually able to see a silver lining within this whole situation. ‘She’ll have to address me as mother now! She won’t be able to grope me anymore either!’
“I approve!” Yara suddenly said.
“Pardon?”
“Ah… I mean we will return soon. We’ll only be gone two months at the most.”
‘Well… I guess it doesn’t matter. All of us are about to leave for the week anyway.’ Abaddon thought inwardly before giving his mother a final hug. “Alright.. we will be waiting for your return.”
The group said their goodbyes and Asmodeus transferred a short telepathic message to his son.
‘Under the tree.. I have a little gift waiting for you.’
Before the dragon could ask his father what sort of gift he’d left, the loving couple sprouted their wings and flew away.
An expression of bitter joy unknowingly spread across the dragon’s face.𝑜𝗏𝐞xt.𝒞𝑜𝓜
‘Is this what having loving parents is like? It’s a bit strange.’
However, he did not dislike this strange and warm feeling.
In fact he was already planning the next reunion he would have with them as he watched them fly away.
He would make sure that the place his parents returned to was incomparable to the one they had left.
–
After gifting his daughter with her beast egg, Abaddon headed directly to the qlipoth to see what his father’s gift would be.
When he reached the site of the tree, what he found waiting for him was not a gift per say, but rather an individual.
The beautiful dark elf Eris was sitting comfortably underneath the tree, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling lightly.
Abaddon softly approached the slumbering woman before kneeling and shaking her lightly.
Upon coming into closer contact with her, he was able to smell the aroma of fruit wine lingering off her body.
‘Is she drunk?’
“Eris? Are you alright?”
“Mmh? Abaddon?” The dark elf slowly stirred from her sleep and took in her surroundings.
“W-Why am I sleeping outside??” She asked in horror. “The last thing I remember was drinking with Lusamine and your father and…”
The dragon didn’t need to hear anymore.
When he heard his father had left him a gift he was not expecting for it to be a passed out drunken elf.
With a sigh, he scooped up the dizzy woman in his arms and began carrying her home.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“Taking you home?” Abaddon replied as if it were obvious.
“I-I can walk just fine!”
“Why bother? Just relax and enjoy the ride.”
There was silence for a few more moments before Eris’ low voice reached his ears. “I.. feel like I’m always showing you embarrassing sides of me. Even though I’m supposed to be the older one of the two of us.”
“This is not your fault, Eris. Blame that crazy old man and the blond she-devil.”
“And what about the time before this?” She reminded.
“… That was not your fault either. It aggravates me that you would think otherwise.” He did not want the elf to begin thinking that Pythias’ actions were her fault.
At the end of the day, he should have never put his hands on her. Just remembering Eris’ face as she gasped for air was enough to make Abaddon’s blood boil.
Eris once again became quiet as Abaddon continued to carry her through the streets as if she were as light as a feather.
“Am I a bad person?” She suddenly asked.
He looked at her in surprise, not at all expecting that question. “Why would you ask such a silly thing?”
Eris’ eyes took on a faraway look as she glanced at the horizon.
“When I first met Pythias, he saved me from these human slavers who were attempting to sell me to some perverted nobles. He took one look at me and declared that I was to be his wife.
At the time, I did not care for as long as I had been alive my life had never been my own to do as I pleased. He treated me well enough though and I believed myself to be happy even though Lusamine always said I was in denial. Despite everything I believed I had fallen in love.”
She suddenly turned her gaze from the horizon to stare directly into Abaddon’s mismatched eyes. “But then I met you and my heart has not known a moment of peace ever since. Every time I close my eyes, I see your face in my memories and hear your voice in my ears. “
She lifted her feminine hand with her neatly trimmed nails and placed it on his chest.
“And every time you hold me in your arms, it becomes unbearable when you let me go. So tell me, king of demons, am I not a bad person for falling in love with you, despite already belonging to another?”
Abaddon’s head was spinning.
Eris had basically just confessed, yet he did not feel good about it. He could feel how much she was shaking from the guilt of her own emotions.
Were he not in her company, he had no doubt that this conversation would’ve caused her to cry long ago.
There were a great many things that he wanted to say to the beautiful woman in his arms at that moment.
But there was only one thing that the dark elf actually needed to hear.
“You are no more a bad person than I.” He said, not elaborating further.
When the pair reached heir destination, he placed Eris gently on the ground and cupped her face in his hands.
“I’ll be leaving today for about a week. During that time, I think you should decide for yourself what you truly want. Do not worry about anything else other than what your heart desires. I’ll come to hear your answer upon my return.”
Eris’ eyes became hazy as the warmth from his hands spread to her cheeks.
She understood Abaddon’s intentions perfectly. He was giving her the freedom to choose the future that both of them would take, while placing his own desires on the back burner.
Eris wanted to tell him immediately that she would be his, but she knew that he was giving her such a long period of time so that she might shake off any lingering doubts in her mind.
The two of them would never truly be able to move forward if Eris was still harboring guilt about her past relationship.
“You’re.. a very kind man, Abaddon.” Eris chuckled.
“…I believe the armies I have obliterated would disagree with you.”
“That may be true but they aren’t able to see your more wonderful sides like I am now.” She offered him a smile that was more radiant than the sun over their heads. “Thank you.. for bringing me back.”
With great inner difficulty, she removed his hands from her face and turned around to enter the manor.
Abaddon watched her supple figure disappear into the house before letting out a frustrated sigh.
‘How can one woman have so many cute expressions?’ It had required herculean effort on his part not to kiss Eris earlier for he knew that doing so would take the choice he was trying to give her out of her hands.
He was proud of himself for his restraint, but he was also a little disappointed he would not be able to taste those deliciously full lips.
The dragon sighed and prepared to go inside to prepare for his departure when a shrill cry interrupted his plans.
“MASTERRRRR!!!”