"What was that!?" A dark shadow grunted on the massive fleet.
phisto hid amongst the knights who boarded the fleet from the mainland, an empire with enough troops to drown the continent with ease. Yet they chose to send a small army with a few hundred thousand soldiers.
This army gave him a sense of victory, a chance to take back his core.
The nobles and won he slept with long discarded in the deep ocean, phisto could not now strengthen himself like before.
In Alan’s form, tempting won was easy, but after eting the Grand Duke of the Empire, known for his deep connection to the lesser god who governed war, it was no longer so. He planned to have the duke fight Asmodeus, and when he lost, the death god would steal his divine core.
Said to be the son of the goddess himself...
Yet just another human with inferior genes and blood.
The mont the Grand Duke attacked with the black beam, phisto’s heart throbbed with glee. "This kind of power ans he has a solid core... one that can still mature and grow. Inferior to mine, but it will serve as a great boon to my recovery!"
However, this celebration was short-lived as the mountains shook, and the waves parted.
A blood-red glow shone in the distance.
Then a beam, a bloody beam, charged through the sky, swallowing several ships, before the Grand Duke intercepted it with his arm. A blast that destroyed his arm, and the stinging flesh and muscle filled phisto’s nostrils with its disgusting stench.
What in the blazes!?
phisto’s heart throbbed, and for the first ti in a month, his control over Alan’s soul faded. His hands gripped the ship’s mast as it shook, almost torn apart by a Crimson beam of destruction.
The waves beca violent, and the screams of knights echoed through his mind as tens of thousands were vaporised in that blast, thousands of lives snuffed out as the beam burned their flesh and bone.
A portion of the black smoke seeped into the flesh of phisto; he snorted as if ignoring the possible dangers. Yet sothing changed the mont it did... a subtle hint of blue light lingered in the depths of his pupils.
And the power was beyond what he’d seen before...
Who!?
Who has that kind of power... Argh... Alan!? You human bastard! Stay asleep!
"Urgh... Damn it... That’s my brothers aura... Ryuji!" He could recognise the faint presence within the Divine power. A bloody taste that stuck to the back of his throat.
NO NO NO NO STOP!?
WHY!!!!
With a sudden flash, Alan’s eyes beca clear blue, his pale skin gaining so colour as he took a deep breath, the first ti he tasted the fresh air in over a month.
He closed his eyes and sifted through the mories of phisto, what he did and who he killed. Then, like the tide slowly leaving, his eyes opened, shimring blue.
"It seems he survived after all! Damn that phisto... That ans he still has a chance!"
Alan looked around for anything that could help... he knew this fleet planned to take Baltimore by force, and then the mainland sought the mana-enriched land of the Demon Empire. "How did they find out? Who told them?!"
Because of the rarity, Asmodeus told him and a few others... but anyone outside the human nations wouldn’t know, at least they shouldn’t have any idea.
"No way... Is that his goal!?"
"To think that my army carried so many spies... no, they didn’t choose to betray . This bastard warped their minds!"
phisto’s defeat allowed him to use more of his powers, although weaker than when he was a god.
Now, he could affect the minds of any human with a weak spirit or mana.
The mont he fell, he spread his vast power across the land and infected most of Grigor to choose key targets to mind control. The key part of his plan was to turn Asmodeus against Grigor and Alan.
However, the God of Death miscalculated sothing.
The amount of respect and trust the Demon Emperor held towards Grigor and his brother Alan. Not to ntion how much Alan would fight, resist, and successfully guard the most important mories and thoughts from phisto.
I managed to keep his daughters safe...
Those cute little balls of fluff, one day they will call Uncle...
I cannot let them down...
Ah, please forgive , Akari... I miss you so much, and the vile things this bastard did, I will get revenge.
Even if it’s...
His eyes started fluttering, between green and blue... mories and thoughts intertwined as Alan grimaced, putting his guard up once more, using the entirety of his Holy power to protect mories concerning Asmodeus and his secrets.
The last thing I do!
His eyes shone with one last dash of blue light before dimming instantly into a murky green shade, and his skin and veins darkened once again.
"That damned hero, still using his blessing... though I don’t understand how!"
phisto couldn’t know the truth—right now, he couldn’t even tell who used the divine magic.
He knew nothing of a god that used blood as its dium.
Not to ntion, he would never imagine that Asmodeus stole his core and managed to aim his attack well enough to let a sliver of divine power seep into Alan’s body and restore his Hero title.
Not as the Hero of Grigor.
But the Hero of the Demon God.
Only Alan knew this, the smile on his lips fading slowly as phisto’s rage increased.
***
anwhile, shortly after the exchange with the Grand Duke.
Asmodeus staggered ahead of the girls. Thanks to his attack on the enemy fleet, it would take at least three days to reach the port. He smiled, able to take a breath of relief knowing he bought so ti.
"Asmodeus!?"
"Darling, you’re bleeding!"
He looked back at the beautiful won who supported him. Velvet held his right arm, Levia his left and Yumiko lifted his torso. Blood seeped from his eyes, poured from his nose after using the devastating attack, and he couldn’t put any power into his limbs.
"Ahaha... it seems I pushed myself too far."
"Don’t laugh, it’s not funny when you put your body on the line for us all the ti!" Yumiko scolded him, yet her eyes and face only showed concern and affection. He couldn’t help but smile at this sense of warmth that lingered inside his chest.
He might have collapsed on the spot without these beautiful won. "You’re so adorable..."
Yumiko huffed. Instead of acting like usual, she tapped his cheek, a pretend slap.
"Don’t laugh!"
Asmodeus remained in place, her warm palm resting against his face. "Yumiko... I’m okay, but I used up too much blood and the divine power exhausted ."
"That’s not what I ant!"
"Forget it Yumi, we all know what our husband is like... He’s so irritating at tis!" Velvet grumbled, lifting him and helping him move towards the village. "We need to return fast... but with you like this."
"Master, does it hurt?"
Levia’s eyes could see the effects of divine power on his body.
Right now, only a small portion of his body had evolved, so the majority remained mortal. Thus, his divine aura and spells would tear his flesh apart and destroy the cells if he wasn’t careful.
"I feel like I got a beating. But, not the worst I felt in my life," Asmodeus gave Levia a forced grin, but it looked like a distorted mask, his white skin pale and drained of blood. "The enemy looked more shocked... look, he’s fleeing."
The Grand Duke’s fleet turned and retreated after the initial attack. With their lack of intel on the enemy, it seed they chose to be cautious: "Don’t worry, because even he cannot use such a world-ending attack one after the other."
Asmodeus rembered Serena saying that the mortal realm limited the level of Divine Aura, and going past that ant a punishnt.
"What do you an?"
"Is it true?"
"Yeah, Serena told that in a mortal world, where the populace hasn’t reached a certain level of power... All divine magic is limited and carries a hefty penalty on those who use it beyond that limit. That’s what happened to Serena and phisto in the north. Now, my current weakness seems to be my penalty."
The three won exchanged a worried glance.
His words brought relief, but the condition of his body left them concerned, especially Yumiko. She was the only wife present that could feel the divine aura earlier due to the shard in her body—Velvet or Levia were still growing theirs.
"We will stay at that village tonight... get so good rest and recover," Yumiko said with a stern voice as she extended her wings and folded her tails around Asmodeus, tying him to her waist. "Let’s fly back."
"Honey!?"
Asmodeus couldn’t say a thing, as he suddenly flew through the air, holding Yumiko for dear life.
As the sun set, Asmodeus, Yumiko, Levia, and Velvet settled in a quiet inn on the outskirts of the village. They cleared the corpses using magic and built a large grave deep in the land beside it.
"Finally, we can get so rest."
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