Asmodeus floated above the wreckage, his battered robes fluttering lightly around him as he looked down upon the destruction with a wary gaze.
The cavern was almost unrecognisable.
The sealed underground hollow had been torn open entirely. Broken walls, fractured pillars, and jagged sections of the castle foundation surrounded a wide crater where the chamber had once stood.
Dust continued drifting through the air, and the crimson sky above was now clearly visible through the collapsed ceiling, but Elion and Zenith were nowhere to be seen.
Asmodeus’ eyes narrowed as the rubble beneath him moved. A faint pulse spread outward.
Badum.
The sound was soft, but it carried through the ruined cavern like the beat of an enormous heart. The loose stones surrounding the crater trembled.
Badum!
A stronger, second pulse followed as dust continued to lift from the ground. Thin fractures spread across the remaining stone.
Asmodeus’ expression darkened as he stared down into the crater. The rubble beneath Asmodeus suddenly erupted.
A violent pulse tore through the ruins, sending shattered stone, broken pillars, and thick clouds of dust exploding outward in every direction.
The remaining fragnts of the cavern ceiling were blown into the crimson sky, and for a mont, the entire collapsed section of the castle disappeared beneath a churning veil of debris.
Zenith’s figure burst upward through the destruction.
She rose into the open air slowly, surrounded by an invisible force that pushed away every stone fragnt before it could co close to touching her.
A beautiful, fully-ford construct of blood-red wings spread behind her, vast and nacing, framing her slender figure like the crown of so ancient demonic goddess.
They were not ordinary wings that could be compared to the wings of a bird or beast. Two thick crimson branches erged from beneath her shoulder blades and extended outward in a wide span.
From those branches, countless thinner tendrils split apart and stretched in every direction, connecting with one another in a jagged, intricate network of living blood.
Their edges narrowed into cruel, razor-thin points, and thorn-like protrusions spread along their lengths before tapering into spear-shaped tips.
The entire construct pulsed faintly like a second heart beating behind her.
A smooth black mask made of chitin covered Zenith’s face, concealing everything beneath her eyes and giving her already imposing presence an even more otherworldly appearance. Her previous dress had vanished entirely.
In its place was a sleek, seamless black bodysuit that clung closely to her curvy yet slender fra, shaped as though it had grown directly over her skin rather than been worn like ordinary clothing.
Around her hips, however, the bodysuit gave way to several long, torn strips of black material that trailed behind her like the remnants of a ruined cloak. They were not quite a cape, nor were they ordinary pieces of fabric.
Each strip erged from the back and sides of her waist in uneven lengths, narrow near the base before widening slightly as they drifted behind her. Their edges were jagged and frayed, as though they had been ripped apart by so ancient battle and left that way deliberately.
The strips twisted and fluttered in the air around her despite the absence of any real wind.
Elion floated beside her, safe and sound, held gently within the sa invisible force surrounding Zenith’s body.
His eyes remained fixed on her.
For a mont, he could not find the words to say anything.
The chitin mask slowly retracted from Zenith’s face, folding back in smooth black segnts before disappearing beneath the skin around her neck. Her face was finally revealed.
She looked toward him with a faintly apologetic expression.
"I’m sorry for hurting you, darling," she said softly.
Elion’s heart shuddered. How was it possible for her to look even more beautiful than before? He thought about it bitterly for a second. Before this transformation, he would have placed Zenith among the most beautiful won he had ever seen, perhaps even at the very top.
But now, there was no longer any room for doubt. She simply had no equal in this world.
Her many horns had disappeared entirely. Apart from her smooth blue skin, her pale hair, and the godly beauty radiating from her features, she looked almost human now. Yet the change sohow made her even more striking.
There was sothing unnatural about her perfection, as though every minute imperfection had been stripped away from her body until only an ideal remained.
Could he even be angry at a woman who looked like this? He felt an odd sense of deja vu at this thought. Elion sighed inwardly.
Probably not.
Zenith drew him closer using the invisible force surrounding them, pulling him gently into her embrace. Elion accepted gladly, his hand settling around her slender waist as their faces moved closer.
Their lips t in a brief, soft kiss that quickly turned into an aggressive battle of tongues.
"Mmmmmhmmm!"
The blood wings behind Zenith pulsed again as a deep sense of arousal welled up in her lower belly.
Her body shuddered when she felt Elion’s hand slide lower to her tightly clad ass and squeeze it softly, making her release an involuntary moan, which was accompanied by a dull pressure that rolled outward across the ruined land in a wide ripple, forcing the scattered lesser demons below to fall to their knees in worship.
Zenith slowly pulled away from the kiss.
"I’ll be right back," she whispered. "Once we are done here, we can finally leave this place."
Elion smiled and licked his lips lightly, "I can’t wait."
Zenith raised him higher into the sky. The invisible force around his body condensed into a clear, solid barrier, forming a spherical protective shield that enclosed him completely before settling in place far above the ruined castle in the skies.
Only then did Zenith turn away from him, as her gaze landed on Asmodeus.
The Demon King floated several hundred tres away, his arms crossed beneath his chest. His torn robes fluttered around his battered body, and although the injuries covering him had already begun to close, the wary look in his eyes could not be concealed.
He studied Zenith carefully. Then his gaze shifted toward Elion, protected within the barrier above them.
A deep scowl made its way onto his handso features.
"A human boy?" Asmodeus scoffed. "How repulsive. The sight alone makes want to skin you both alive."
Zenith did not bother entertaining the empty jab.
She rely gave him a ’kind’ smile, but the light did not reach her eyes. "Don’t worry, Father," she said softly. "I will make your death very slow and agonising."
A bead of cold sweat ford along Asmodeus’ brow.
She had only just claid the Philosopher’s Stone. How much stronger could she possibly have beco?
He wanted to believe his own doubts and convince himself that her transformation was little more than an impressive spectacle.
She had only recently stepped into the Saint Stage, while he had spent countless years building his strength, learning the secrets of this world, studying the stone, and strengthening himself through sacrifice after sacrifice.
There was no reason for him to fear her, and yet, sothing deep inside him scread that he should run.
Regardless, Asmodeus moved first. His body vanished as reality split apart in front of Zenith.
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