When Abaddon awoke, he was still laying on the partially destroyed beach on Upyr.
He wasn’t quite used to waking up in his monstrous draconic form, but strangely enough he was still quite comfortable.
Finally opening all six of his eyes, he was mildly surprised to find that his family hadn’t left his side.
Even his children were now here and both Apophis and Mira had taken on their true forms and were now comfortably laying against him along with Seras and Lisa.
Upyr did not see the sunlight so there was no way to tell time but based solely on the creakiness of his bones, he knew they must have been outside for a few days.
‘What kind of king goes missing right after he is crowned… I can already hear Isabelle’s complaints about paperwork.’ He thought.
Evidently, it seemed as though his thoughts were heard by all of his wives as their eyes immediately snapped open like they had been possessed.
“HE’S AWAKE!” they all exclaimed in unison.
Once again, all of the wives threw themselves on top of Abaddon’s massive body and began to cry tears of joy.
Their loud voices woke the children up as well, and they in turn began showering their father with affection.
The members of the family who did not have giant transformations looked rather silly by trying to hug a dragon who was 75 meters tall, but in this moment no one really seemed to care.
“I’m alright everyone, really.” Abaddon said.
His middle head seemed to be the one that did all of the talking, while his other two were busy nuzzling against his dragon wives and daughter.
Bekka: “Y-You slept for two days!”
“Ah, is that all? I would have thought that it would have been longer.”
“IT WAS LONG ENOUGH!”
“…I suppose so. I’m sorry for worrying you.” he said sincerely.
The next twenty minutes were spent with the family all huddled together, not saying a word.
Eventually they separated from the enormous dragon and finally let him have a breather.
But once that was done, it was time to talk about the hard subject.
“We saw it you know…”
“We read your mind…”
“Is it really gone?”
Abaddon checked and no matter how many times he called out for his system, the familiar gamelike panel did not show up in his retina. “It is.”
He thought he’d feel a bit more upset that his greatest cheat had suddenly been ripped away.
But when he remembered the threatening words of Samael, he became glad that their connection was cut.
‘I swear that if it takes everything that I have, I will strip the flesh from your ancient bones!’
Unconsciously, Abaddon began to release a bit of his horrifying pressure.
Normally such a thing would not have been an issue for his family that had become relatively used to it by now, but in his natural form and freshly evolved, even a small amount of his pressure was in an entirely different league.
His family reflexively leapt back, and all wildlife within several miles simply fell over dead.
Entei who was hiding in some nearby bushes simply passed out after wetting himself.
Abaddon only realized what he’d done after he saw the looks he was receiving from everyone.
“Ah… apologies.”
Through great effort, he managed to suck his pressure back into his body and the air became significantly less heavy.
Mira hesitantly walked forward and gave her father a concerned look. “Daddy.. can you really not control your powers?”
Abaddon’s reptilian eyes took on an embarrassed look as he shook all three of his heads. “Not at the moment, no.”
It was already requiring quite a bit of his concentration to keep all of his current abilities under control.
He shuddered to think of what would happen if he lost control again and his power over death was accidentally released.
The area for several kilometers would suddenly become a barren and lifeless wasteland.
“Are you sad?” Mira suddenly asked.
Her mothers worried this might have been too sensitive a subject, and they immediately tried to silence her.
“Mira, that’s-“
“I don’t know if-”
“Not really.” Abaddon said.
His answer surprised everyone on the beach into a stunned silence and he chuckled before extending his wing and allowing his much smaller daughter to climb aboard him.
“Do you know what someone told me recently, my daughter?”
“What?”
“That I was nothing without their help and I never have been.”
Needless to say, the young ice dragon did not take very kindly to that revelation and her eyres became hard and unfriendly. “Do you want Mira to kill them?”
“No, daughter. I’m trying to-“
“Mira wants to kill them.”
“I got that. ” Abaddon said with a laugh that caused the sand around them to vibrate.
“But my daughter, don’t you think that this man is looking down on your old man too much?”
“Yea!”
“Exactly.” Abaddon said with a nod. “Which is why I see this as an opportunity. When I kill the devil himself I will have done so under my own power. My victory, my supremacy, they will be undeniable.”
Abaddon’s wives were the most moved by his powerful declaration.
They understood full well how great a treasure their husband had just lost.
The system not only expedited his growth, it allowed him to gain new and more frightening abilities, powerful weapons and armor, and even affinity stones.
Yet instead of being sad about what was clearly a great loss, instead it seemed like his will burned even brighter than before.
They would have considered it to all be an act if they did not have access to his mind and emotions.
“Do you think it will take you long to regain control of your abilities, father?” Apophis suddenly asked.
Abaddon suddenly fell into a deep thought.
“I’m not sure, but I would be lying if I said I did not want it to drag out a bit. I want to… understand my body and powers in a way that I haven’t tried to before.”
How hot could his flames get?
How great was his control over gravity?
Could the powers he already had open the door to newer and more devastating abilities?
He wanted to take the time to learn all of it without skipping over a single detail.
“That’s very admirable honey, but… is there a reason why you’re so adamant about this?” Lisa asked.
She knew that her husband was fully aware of the timeline they all had looming over their heads.
If he was saying that he wanted to spend more time than needed on understanding and mastering his powers, then he must have a more pressing reason than his inevitable conflict with Lucifer.
Abaddon’s eyes took on a complicated light before he sighed and decided to come clean. “Before I fell asleep two nights ago, I checked my new conditions after evolving to the second stage.”
“What were they?” Audrina asked curiously.
“Conquer or destroy the dwarven continent.”
“Conquer or destroy the phoenix continent.”
“Become the undisputed ruler of demonkind.”𝐕xt.𝔬𝚖
The silence that followed after Abaddon voiced their next steps was deafening.
Unlike with the conquering of Upyr, Abaddon did not have a foothold in the land of the dwarves or the phoenixes.
That meant he would be going in as a hostile invader and waging war against two entire continents along with two demigods.
But it was his mention of having to become the undisputed ruler of demons that seemed the hardest.
The other six sins are naturally unruly, and the idea of them willingly submitting to him seemed like a fever dream.
The biggest issue was undoubtedly Lucifer, the sin of pride.
He would undoubtedly take any attempt to be above him as the highest of insults and would undoubtedly enter into a rage fueled frenzy.
As the only living demigod who was closest to Helios in terms of power, he was more than capable of wiping Abaddon and everything that he had built off the map.
To prepare for the inevitable confrontation from these three looming behemoths, Abaddon had to develop everything that he had well past their normal limits.
“So… we’re going to war.” Lailah muttered.
“We are. Are you afraid, my love?”
Lailah suddenly puffed out her cheeks like she’d just herd an inconceivable insult. “Of course not! I was just thinking that I have to start learning more offensive magic!”
Apophis suddenly twitched and he looked at Lailah like he’d just been shot. “Mother…Am I not enough?”
“Of course you are, my sweet boy!” Lailah immediately threw herself at her son that was still in the form of a massive snake. “I just want to be able to help our family a bit more, that’s all!”
This scene earned fits of laughter from the entire family and Abaddon could not have been more relieved.
The notion of going to war might have terrified a more normal family, but his seemed to think of the task as just another day in their life.
He was grateful that even on a battlefield, his wives and children would always stand beside him.
Abaddon closed all six of his eyes to concentrate, and in a moment his body burst into a column of purple fire.
As soon as it disappeared, the dragon was back in his humanoid appearance and looking no worse for wear.
He realized controlling his transformation was virtually the same as controlling his powers.
Both were apart of him and as such, they were subject to his will.
He showed a smile of pure joy as he thought of the potential future ahead.
“Come along everyone, we’ve quite a bit of work to do.”
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Special thanks you to Jayhawklive for sending me a luxury car and sponsoring this bonus chapter!
It is incredibly appreciated and I cannot thank you enough.