For as long as he could remember, Asmodeus had lived his life single mindedly and without any real meaning.
As a demon who was created to embody attraction in it’s most primal and depraved state, he had lived 20,000 years with the goal of seducing others and making them fall into a pleasurable abyss of which they had no desire to escape from.
But as a being who was also aware of the softer aspects of life, it was always in the back of his mind that he was missing something.
He knew what love was, and was even capable of mimicking it, but he had never been able to experience it for himself.
He thought that if he collected more women, there would be no more feelings of emptiness and he would finally reach true bliss and understanding.
And then he met Yara.
From the moment he found her on that battlefield, he realized that there was no amount of women that could mimic the amount of dopamine that flooded his brain whenever he looked at her.
He who was created for the sole purpose of seducing others, had fallen totally in love with a woman that was not even a tenth of his age.
And today, that abundance of love seemed to be more prevalent than ever.
As Yara came to stand in front of her husband, he took a moment to savor her appearance that was akin to a dream.
“You look beautiful my love.”
Yara giggled beneath her veil from the unexpected compliment. “Fufufu~ You can’t even see me yet honey.”
“Well then let’s fix that.”
Finally, Asmodeus lifted up the veil that covered the face of his beloved and he very nearly lost all composure.
Yara was always divinely beautiful, but today her existence seemed to be almost transcendent.
Her face was lightly decorated with just enough makeup to highlight her natural, beauty without taking away from it.
The sunlight glistening off her full glossy lips was so bright it was almost blinding, creating a picture of a woman who seemed angelic in origin.
“I fear I must retract my previous words. Beautiful does not even come close to describing the vision in front of me.”
In response, Yara blushed slightly and fought the urge to look away in embarrassment.
The princess considered herself to be used to compliments, as she was always the most beautiful woman in whatever room she entered.
But whenever Asmodeus would complement her, she felt as if she were hearing words like that for the very first time.
When the officiator stepped up to begin the wedding, both Yara and Asmodeus seemed to be lost in their own individual worlds as they stared at each other.
Neither of them heard anything the poor man said, they were both too busy questioning how they could be so lucky as to find someone who loves them so much.
While they weren’t exactly paying attention, that didn’t mean that they missed the most important part of the ceremony.
“Asmodeus Morningstar, do you take-“
Before the officiant could even finish his question, the fallen demon lord reached the limit of his patience and decided to cut this ceremony short.
Reaching out, he immediately pulled his wife in for a kiss that contained all of his feelings.
The officiant was flustered at first and once he saw that Yara had no intentions of forcing a separation, he knew that his duty for today had reached it’s end.
“Ah… Then I now pronounce you two husband and wife.”
“Hooray!”
“They look quite happy together.”
“Such a beautiful day indeed.”
Cheers and applause filled the air as the guests watched two lovers embrace each other as husband and wife in every sense of the word.
Although there was one person who was not as enthusiastic the rest.
“For how long are they going to remain like that!? He is going to suffocate her at this rate!” Helios growled.
Fits of laughter rang out amongst the crowd as attendees got to see the dragon king’s nature as an overprotective father for the first time.
Abaddon merely shook his head wryly as he considered Helios’ behavior to be silly.
But then the dragon thought of his own daughters and how he would react when it was time for them to get married.
Suddenly, he understood his grandfather completely.
‘You have my sympathies, old man. No father should ever have to experience a pain as great as this.’
–
When the couple finally separated, it was time for the most anticipated part of the ceremony, and a great many dragons seemed to be excited.
Suddenly, the glass roof on the garden opened up and allowed the warmth of the setting sun to bathe upon all of the party goers.
Yara’s body was suddenly enveloped in a column bright silver flames that seemed to ascend all the way towards the heavens.
When the fire disappeared, all that was left behind was a beautiful silver dragon that was about forty meters tall with bright amethyst eyes and a thin body.
“If you don’t mind, my husband and I would be honored if those of you who are able would join us in our first flight.” Yara said gently.
The first flight is a wedding tradition that’s customary between two dragons.
It is a rather simple yet meaningful event where the two newlywed dragons engage in a relaxing soar through the sky while surrounded by family and friends.
It is intended to symbolize seeing the world together as husband and wife for the very first time.
Even though Asmodeus was now a nephilim, he still wanted to participate in what he considered to be a meaningful rite of passage.
Asmodeus sprouted his own white and black wings and the two glanced at their son and his family before taking off into the sky.
Abaddon and his wives all showed happy smiles before they prepared to follow behind them.
Taking the lead, the red king leapt into the sky after his parents and his own body became embroiled in a column of dark fire.
Almost immediately, the jaws of almost everyone in attendance went slack as they stared at the back of a rapidly disappearing three headed dragon.
“That’s…”
“Has he always looked like that…?’
“How is this possible… he is the same as the king..?”
All eyes simultaneously drifted to Helios to see what his reaction would be, but the dragon king had an excellent poker face.
He was just as surprised as everyone else, but he would never show it.
Abaddon’s family were the only ones immune to this revelation and were only focused on following behind him.
The daughters of the red king were the next to change and take to the skies.
While Mira became a snowy white dragon, Thea used the newest ability of her armor to give herself wings made out of liquid metal.
She’d practiced this ability a few times before and did not seem to be any slower than her younger sister who’d had wings all of her life.
Seras, and Lisa quickly became dragons as well and allowed their sisters and son onto their backs while Audrina changed into a very large bat that was over thirty meters in height.
When the entire family of the red king was in the sky, Helios, Darius, and Iori joined as well.
Helios seemed to be slightly annoyed by the fact that he was being ridden by a drunken dwarf but he ultimately decided not to retaliate.
They were followed by various noble dragons, two demon kings, and four fiery red phoenixes that seemed to light up the sky.
Those watching from below would all stop and stare in wonder as a massive parade of monsters flew silently over the kingdom of Antares with no real destination in mind.
It was truly a spectacle unlike any other.
–
When the party returned to the garden, night had already fallen over Antares.
Now the event had turned into a small dinner party with fancy food and drinks the likes of which Thea, Mira, and Apophis could barely pronounce.
At the edge of the garden, Helios and Iori were staring at each other face to face without saying a word.
The first prince was very clearly in turmoil, as he leaned up against a tree and held onto a glass filled with liquor.
“We should have a conversation now, shouldn’t we?” Helios said after a long silence.
Iori, who was normally always respectful in the face of his father fought the urge to scoff.
“Why are you so interested in talking to me now? When I tried to find you after the match in the colosseum you would always avoid me.”
Helios seemed to be immune to the accusatory tone as he had purposefully made himself scarce to avoid answering his son’s questions, but that was merely because he did not believe that anything he could say would be of comfort.
It was a hard thing to hear that you were never going to be like the man you idolized no matter how much you tried.
“I know the answers that you seek, son.” Helios said as he stared into his own empty glass. “But before I tell you, you must decide whether or not you will allow this information to hold you back, or whether you will carry on in spite of the harsh truth.”𝑂𝗏𝔩xt.𝑐𝔬
Iori needed only a moment to think about his answer before giving his father a firm nod.
“Then ask away. I will answer whatever I can.”
There was only one question on Iori’s mind that he hadn’t been able to get off ever since he’d heard about it from Asmodeus.
“What… is a true dragon?”
Surprisingly, the golden dragon let out a low chuckle at his son’s question. “I had thought that your question would be a more difficult one, but it would seem not.” He said before explaining.
“True dragons are living catastrophes that even Dola can not fully handle. Simply speaking in our language is more than enough to cause severe damage to the beings and earth around us. Our understanding of magic eclipses even that of witches, and we are nigh invulnerable and unconquerable.”
Iori felt like his brain was going to explode from the sudden influx of information, yet he was still desperate to know more.
“Then… why do myself and my siblings not have this power…?” Suddenly, a horrible thought dawned soon him and he began looking at Helios as if he were a stranger. “Are you our real-“
SMACK!
“Stupid brat, of course I’m your real father.” Helios grumbled in annoyance.
Iori’s headache only worsened from his father’s unprovoked assault and he felt like he was now missing a few brain cells. “Then why…?”
“Only the offspring of two true dragons can give birth to another true dragon. A union between anything lesser will only dilute the bloodline, and as a result only a regular dragon will be born.”
Even though Helios was their father, Jadaka, Yara, and Iori had no special benefits other than being slightly stronger than the average dragon.
The difference between themselves and Helios was as large as the distance between heaven and hell.
“Then… why are you the only one here? Why are there no more true dragons in Dola? And if you aren’t from this world, then where are you really from…?”
Helios’ eyes became serious as they finally got to the topics that he wanted to cover the least.
“The answer to all your questions is rather simple, and yet it is also abysmally complicated…” Helios began.
“I suppose… I should first tell you about dragon slayers and dragon riders.”