Chapter 6: Twist of Fate

While the residents of Arska searched for him, Akros reappeared into the realm of the physical. He found himself and his recently converted allies in a field of tall grass. After scanning the area with Haki, he took them to a cave formation a mile away. They walked at a leisurely pace while Akros explained all of what he did to them.

"I'll start with Morwen. You're a war demon with a talent for spatial magic. Do not confuse that with space magic, which is a whole different branch of magic. You also have an affinity for fire magic, so I'll find a way to gift you fire magic of some sort. You're built as a warrior, and your magic power will be limited to coating your weapon in it or something of the like. War demons such as yourself are naturally adept with cold, or metal, weapons. I'll see about getting you a heavy weapon later once you can harness your strength properly. Perhaps even a firearm of sorts since you know them... Morwen, what is wrong?"

"Daddy, I love that you've done this for me and I'm very grateful, but..." She looked away bashfully, her cheeks flushed.

"But...?"

"How long do we have to stay naked?"

Akros blinked, then looked at the girls in shock. He facepalmed in shame and disbelief. "What kind of garments do you wish to wear? I have plenty of souls to make you three magic fabric like my pants."

"If it's not too much, could I have a sports bra and boxers? Over that, an elastic long sleeved shirt and yoga tights, with all of it being black?" Morwen asked shyly. "I'm done hiding my body under loose clothing, so..."

"If that is your desire, so be it," Akros was inwardly concerned about her figure attracting male demons, especially if she encountered a male demon lord. Such a foe would be too much for Akros to repel in his current level. 

As Morwen put on her stretchy black outfit, Okami had told Akros to dress her himself. He blinked in surprise. "You don't want to even choose this?"

"I want to see what outfit you'll choose for me," The tale woman said with excitement. Her tail wagged behind her, which Akros thought was cute. He was tempted to pat her head, but couldn't reach. "You has such extravagant ideas, so I trust you with such a thing."

"Okay. Let me see..." Akros came up with an idea quite quick with Lyra's help. He created a white tube top, a pair of boxers, finished with royal blue track pants and jacket. "This should do."

"Thank you master!" Okami brought him into a quick embrace, then hurriedly put on her new clothes. They tore from her spikes, but the fabric mended itself soon after. She had a little trouble with this, but ultimately got the track set on. She cheered in delight, making Akros smile, before looked to Morwen, who was now dressed and admiring her outfit. "How is it, my dear?"

"It's amazing, daddy! Thanks," She pecked him on the cheek, making him freeze. She pretended not to notice his reaction, humming to herself as she averted her gaze. 

Akros got a hold of himself, then stared at Galadriel. She hadn't been paying attention to them, rather she was holding a flower petal that the wind blew. She turned to face him with a somber expression. 

"Is the destruction of this world really necessary? It's beautiful," Galadriel questioned with a docile tone. "I know souls are required for us to strengthen ourselves, but... no, I'm being selfish. If the people of this world live, more from other worlds will have to die, right?"

"Not quite. We kill for more than just souls. War is usually the way demons feast, either against angels or earthly humanoid races like humans, elves, dwarves, and so forth," Akros corrected her, but in a gentle manner. He didn't want to be an ass to his companions, especially the ones he gave little choice in their allegiance. He'd win them over by being compassionate and caring towards them, without Charm or force. As he said this, he quickly asked Lyra to do something for him.

"So, make it unable to affect these three?"

Yes, please. It's immoral, especially when Morwen and Okami are loyal already. Galadriel and any others I add to my corps with force shouldn't be coerced with Charm. Or maybe, change it so it only works against targets that I set? As in I'll have to conscious set a target to charm.

"Easy enough. Since it's a nerf to the skill, it's without charge," Lyra sighed in relief. "I'm glad you're doing this. It makes me happy to see you being rational."

Without rationality I am a mere beast to my desires. Anyway.

Lyra didn't love how he was being a little distant with her, not flirting or teasing. However, she was aware of his plans, and how his mood would be gloomy for a while as he calculated. She knew he had some hesitation to killing some of the heroes.

As Akros returned to his normal perception of time, he noticed Galadriel's expression lightened slightly. Her sadness was replaced with curiosity. "Wait did you do? I don't feel a plaguing urge to mate with you anymore."

"Passive skill I have. Or it was passive, I changed it so it won't affect you or those two," He jerked his head at Okami and Morwen, who were chatting behind them. 

The two were still close friends, there ascension to demonhood not affecting their bond. If anything, they were closer after having gone through the painful experience.

"I want you to be my companions, not slaves. I know I'm coercing you with force to ally yourself with me, but I am granting you a longer, more exciting life."

"More exciting?" Galadriel frowned. She crossed her arms, pushing up her bust. "What's exciting about mass murder?"

"Everything? That's how we demons are, thanks to our blood. We love battle, it's a part of our identity. Even if you consciously dislike it, your body will tell you otherwise during combat," Akros said, trying not to sound snotty. "It's like our soul devouring addiction."

"About that, how do you create things with souls?" She narrowed her eyes. "You're a special case, aren't you? Blessed by some deity?"

"I think so, actually. You know how I was reborn, right?" She nodded, and he continued. "I have this system that allows me to create items and skills at the cost of souls. It also lets me store things. Most demons, including you girls in the future, use spatial magic to store weapons and such in an alternate space when you don't want to have an item out."

"Okay..." Galadriel seemed more interested now. "Can your... system store living things?"

"No, nor can demonic spatial magic. I can store corpses and souls, but not a living body with a soul. Still very handy."

"Sounds like it," She sighed, then looked at him cautiously. "Alright, I'll go along with your plans for now. Just... don't overdo it. I'd rather leave this world intact and healthy, then risk our lives trying to kill everyone for souls."

"You wouldn't die permanently, but you're right," Akros had paid extra souls to incorporate Ouroburos marks on the three ladies. That thought reminded him of something. "Hey, come here for a second."

"?" She did as told, watching him place a hand on her collarbone. A black tattoo formed around her neck, like a choker. "What did you do?"

"Shadow Brand. An improvement of my Shadow Mark. It'll allow me to find you wherever you go, even across worlds. I need to plant one of those two as well. In case we ever get seperated," Akros said, thinking of Ulvone. He didn't value her too much, as he didn't spend much time with her. Her only real sense of worth was her body, and perhaps her earth magic. Abyssal Tremor was a form of destructive earth magic, but Ulvone could construct things as well as destroy. She'd prove valuable for erecting barricades and fortresses in the future.

Akros interrupted Okami and Morwen's conversation to brand them, then rejoined Galadriel in walking in front of them, as he insisted they keep moving. He was a little surprised that she didn't care for her nudity, even though her bosom and rear bounced a little with every step she took.

He had spent so much time around voluptuous women that he got accustomed to maintaining eye contact despite the temptation. 

"So... would you like to be dressed?"

She blinked, then looked down at her chest and blushed a dark green. She looked at him with an irritated expression that told him everything. 

"You've customized my body this far. Why don't you give me some exotic clothes so I can be your eye candy?" She grumbled.

"Not happening. A little fashion is acceptable, but you're not a succubus, you're a war demon. Any garment that you wear has to be suitable for combat, no exceptions. You never know when a conflict over your life may appear."

"Of course. What did I expect...?"

"I don't want you dying, Galadriel," Akros rolled his eyes. "I want you able to protect yourself more than anything else. I've invested into you, and I want to see you grow as my ally but also as a fighter. You're not disposable."

"Thanks, I guess," She felt slightly better, but didn't show it. She was silent for a minute before speaking again. "I don't have much to cover, so just a bra and panties?"

"Sure. Anything else?" He created black underwear for her size instantly, handing them to her. As she clipped on her bra, she thought a little more.

"I suppose a tank top and a short skirt, to look modest," Galadriel murmured. "Although, can you make them thin and white?"

"A demon wearing white? A bit odd..." Akros winced at the idea. She reconsidered her color choice, asking for purple instead to match her horns and exoskeleton. "Done."

She quickly put them on, feeling much better. She gave Akros a nod of appreciation. "Thanks. Now, could you tell me about myself? As in my affinities and strengths and weaknesses?"

"I was getting to that before the clothing issue came up," He scratched his nape sheepishly. "I had no intention of making you three walk around nude. My apologies."

Galadriel's eyes widened at his apology, but she restored her poker face quickly. "It's of no matter. Those two didn't care much."

"That's because one of them is totally obedient out of gratitude, the other obedient out of... love? Attraction? Morwen is a complex one," Akros said lowly, making sure the blonde wouldn't hear. Galadriel shrugged.

"Something like that. Anyway, back to my question?"

"Yes. You're an insect demon, but quite humanoid for one. I did that on purpose so you wouldn't feel monstrous. You're also a war demon, as I stated earlier. You're balanced around with your strengths, your advantage lying in speed and vitality. Insect demons are known for their tenacity and high flight speeds. Your magic affinities are acid and poison I believe, hence your green skin. You can take down heavily armored opponents with that kind of magic when raw power fails. You lack Morwen's raw strength, but with the same amount of stamina and likely better dexterity thanks to years of experience. You along with those two possess the same ultraspeed regeneration I have, which cost 1,000 souls extra for each of your serums. I think that covers it."

He didn't mention how he actually incorporated his own blood cells to transfer the skill. Part of their bloodstreams featured his saiyan-demon white blood cells. 

"Duly noted," Galadriel didn't have her notebook, but made room in her mind to remember as she discarded many of her human memories. They were no longer beneficial to remember, so she let them go. Memories of her father, friends, all disappeared. "What type of weapon would you think best for me?"

"I was going to leave that to you..." Akros said awkwardly, not expecting the inquiry. "I'd reckon a light weapon that can penetrate deep, to inflict damaging status effects with poison or acid magic. Your own magic won't corrode your weapon, so don't worry. Anyway, you'd probably do well to wield a rapier or a longsword. A shield wouldn't be a bad idea either, so you can deflect heavier attacks that your sword cannot."

"You've quite the knowledge about weaponry for a being of your... wait," Galadriel looked at him suspiciously. "How old are you, exactly?"

"17 years and 9 months, but you can't tell anyone that," Akros put a finger to his lips. "When another demon or other entity that is outside our circle of trust, you lie and say you're older. Naturally, be consistent when you do. For example, I've told other demons before that I'm 60 years old. You will want to say something similar if the need arises."

"Okay," She nodded, following his logic. "So demons live a long time, then? Centuries perhaps?"

"Much longer. Even low-rank demons can live for a couple centuries, but they often die as cannon fodder. Middle-rank demons such as us can live for about a millennia give or take. Once we promote to high-rank, we've guaranteed another millennia or so. I don't know the exact numbers. Above that, demon lords and demon kings have immortal bodies so aging isn't an issue."

"Really? How old is the oldest demon king?" Galadriel asked, now thoroughly intrigued. "Ten thousand years? Twenty?"

"I have no clue, but possibly millions of years. Demons have existed for that long so I can only presume that one demon king of that age exists somewhere," Akros shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we'll evolve to that level, and live eternally."

"Such an idea is maddening, eternal life," Galadriel laughed without humor. "But that's better than death."

"I agree. Now, why don't you chat with Morwen? I need to talk to Okami."

Akros had Morwen move ahead of him to walk beside the ravenette, and he matched Okami's pace behind the two. She looked at him with a smile.

"What is it, master?"

"It's time I told you more about your new body, and it's strengths. Your physical strength puts mine to shame, or in other words you're incredibly powerful physically. However, your bulk puts you at a disadvantage in speed but you have a lot of stamina as a dragon. You can use your ice magic, which you should be able to use as you are, to help maneuver yourself in combat. Your demon ice is like regular ice, except it doesn't melt naturally and is much denser and more durable. You can do a lot of things with it, like create walls or attachments on yourself and so forth. All you need is physical contact with any part of your body."

"Ooooooh. So I'm a tank type?" Okami hummed in thought. "So I should be a heavy weapons wielder like Morwen, then."

"Precisely, although you can handle heavier than her. You've also been trained with the spear, while she has zero training with weapons," Akros sighed. "It'll take time, but she'll have to learn CQB and whatever style her weapon ends up being."

"CQB?"

"Close quarters combat. As in melee barehanded or with a small weapon such as a dagger," Akros made a stabbing gesture. "I self taught myself from months of fighting barehanded in the Abyss. I presume you were taught when you were training to be a knight?"

"Yes. All pegasus knights had to be able to take down a ground soldier in hand to hand combat in order to promote to, well, pegasus knight," Okami wrinkled her nose at the memory. "It was horrible. I had no issue problem passing the test, but many other women failed. It was too much of a challenge for most."

"I see. I must commend you for overcoming that hurdle, Okami," He raised a hand to pat her head, then remembered the height different. She loomed over him, his head only reaching her hips. She looked at him oddly. "Master?"

He used the raised hand to clear his throat awkwardly. "Pardon that display. I was, um, anyway. We're almost there."

"Okay."

The rest of the trip was silent. They left the plains behind them and entered a hilly area with shorter grass and wild bulls roaming around. One of the larger hills bore a deep gash, leading into a small cave where the four of them hid. 

Akros laid down to rest while the girls stood around awkwardly. After Morwen and Okami exchanged a glance, the former spoke up.

"Daddy? What are we doing here? We don't need rest yet."

"I do. My magic energy takes a long time to regenerate, which I would fix but I need to conserve for additional recruits to our group here," Akros yawned. "Okami, Galadriel. Take this time to teach Morwen barehanded combat. She needs to able to protect herself, and my current budget will not allow for weapons yet."

"Understood!" "Uh huh."

Hours passed by as Akros slept on the rock floor. Okami and Galadriel took turns being Morwen's sparring partner, the one not in play correcting her mistakes. After the third hour, Morwen was able to throw punches consistently with good form, surprising the two.

"Do demons learn faster or something?" Okami thought out loud. "This should be taking longer, but I shouldn't complain."

"If I had to guess, demons learn combat better than other subjects," Galadriel theorized. "Akros told me that demons are constantly fighting for their lives as soon as they hatch. It makes sense in that perspective."

"Well I'm thankful for it!" Morwen wiped the sweat off her brow. "And thankful for these clothes! The cleaning magic is so helpful."

""Agreed."" The tutors said in unison, then looked at each other. Okami chuckled and Galadriel smiled. 

Another half day passed, and it was now midnight. Morwen was now proficient at melee, having learned how to incorporate her tail. She and the other two girls wanted to try flight, but knew that leaving the cave could lead to discovery. They had heard human scouts pass by an hour ago.

Galadriel tried using magic, to her shock she was able to summon a ball of dark purple venom. She wove it in the air, fascinated. She learned she could coat her body with it, or shoot it out as a projectile. It seemed to be a form of water magic. She also attempted to use acidic magic, to no effect. Yet she was content with her poison magic.

Okami experimented with her frost magic. She could create several things with alabaster ice, as Akros said before. Walls, weapons, armor, even a seat to sit on. She was careful to spend her mana conservatively. She had created a wall of ice to prevent the scouts from seeing them. 

Morwen was amazed by her spatial magic capabilities. She could teleport herself short distances, and create portals in the air that lead to a linked portal that she could place somewhere else. She had fun poking Okami from behind. 

Akros slept through all of this, and during the night the girls decided they should rest as well. The frost barrier would hold, and they didn't require oxygen to breathe. 

Galadriel slept against the wall by pulling her wings to the side a bit. Okami created a cradle of white ice and curled up inside it. Morwen went straight for her father, cuddling up to his sleeping body. She turned him on his side and spooned him as the big spoon, burying her face in his hair. She wrapped her arms around his waist and curled her tail around his identical one.

Another couple hours passed, and they all woke from a sound outside. The shuddering of many footsteps hitting the ground. 

"We've been discovered it seems," Galadriel stated. "Is this the part where we kill them?"

"No. This is the part where I kill them. I don't want you three fighting yet if I can help it. I should be plenty. I'm stronger from my destructive streak, so the heroes gathering should be nothing. The question is, why? How did they know?"

Akros sensed the a large platoon of heroes, numbering at 44. He confirmed that they were all signatures he had sensed before, meaning they were Askrian heroes that Ryla summoned.

"I will handpick a few candidates for my serums. When I hand them to you, restrain them. Injure them if necessary, but do not kill," Akros took out a massive case from his inventory. "I'm gonna take this baby on a test run."

The girls watched curiously as he opened the case, revealing a 15 foot long zweihander. The blade and hilts were black with purple cracks running up and down the metal. The two grips were leather, the main was two feet long and the second between the hilts was one foot long. The handle ended with a purple orb that shined with power. The blade had a rounded curve at the end with a point on each side, sticking out a couple inches on the edges.

Akros spun it in his hand, whistling at the lack of mass for its size. He stored in his inventory, and thought of what properties he could afford to give it for now.

Unnamed Sword

+130 ATK

A blade forged from etherium, an incredibly dense concentration of ether. Found only in high magic worlds.

Lyra, this sword's name is 'Crafanc, Claw of Avarice'. Add a property called "Greed" that causes it to suck out the life force of those it injures or slays, and give it directly to me through the grip. It shouldn't cost too much, right?

"'Greed' will cost 3,500 souls, if that's okay with you..." Lyra warned, but Akros didn't think twice about it. He had plenty of souls, he could recruit another 4 or 5 female heroes to promote to demons. 

Add it please. Next, give it the property "Transform" which'll allow it to morph into a gauntlet that covers my left arm. How much for that?

"Another 300 souls, but you don't care, do you?" Lyra smiled to herself. "I'll add it now."

You're the best.

"Damn right I am."

Akros settled with those two properties for the time being. He didn't waste time and had Crafanc transform into a left gauntlet, which looked odd. The sword seemed to deconstruct, as the leather around the grip was used to cover the inside of his palm within the gauntlet. The metal covered his arm halfway up his bicep. The thick plates moved with ease, and he flexed his fingers to test the flexibility. He was elated to feel how comfortable the gauntlet was.

Eventually Morwen couldn't stand it anymore, getting slightly jealous but more in awe. "Daddy, can I get something like that? It's so cool!"

"It is Crafanc, newest addition to my armory. Be patient, dear. I will arm all of you and build you armor with time and souls. For now, I beg of you three to hide here discreetly. The Renais twins have anti-demon weapons that can permanently damage our souls, so I can't risk you fighting," Akros said in a calm, but firm voice. He didn't truly know if the twin relics of Renais actually damaged the soul or not, but played it safe. "I'll be confronting them now. Remember, don't kill the candidates I drop off."

He ignited a tiny purple fire on his fingertip, creating a small amount of light. He dove into Okami's shadow. He managed to get himself inside the shadow realm completely before the shadow faded away, as he had to extinguish his light.

Akros, while still in the shadow realm, leisurely swam outside the cave and equipped Hellreaver. He lay below the heroes for a few minutes to try to discern their motive, and how they found him.

"...but why? I just don't get why he would do this..."

"...it doesn't make sense... he was the one who brought Wevyn to us..."

"...how dare he make a fool of us! As if we wouldn't notice..."

Akros was getting slightly annoyed as nobody wanted to say it outright. But he knew that would sound awkward out loud if he was them. 

He swam back to the cave, appearing in the real world outside of the ice wall. As soon as he did, the heroes tensed. Weapons were drawn and tomes were out already, making him wonder what they thought he did. What he had actually done was likely worse.

"Akros! What you have you done to Wevyn and Byleth?!" Alm, who was the front of the squadron called out angrily. "We've done nothing to you! Why betray us now?!"

"Correct. You have done nothing to me, besides give me valuable souls," Akros barked a rough laugh. "I did not betray you. You see, from the minute I stepped into this world, my loyalty was to the summoner, my daughter. When she perished, I lost any reason to ally myself with you any longer. Why would I lower myself to play nice with humans for any reason other than your noble souls! RAAAAHAHAHAHAAH!"

"Bastard!" Lyn and many others cursed. Several magic casting heroes began to cast their spells, and the melee fighters ran towards Akros in rage. He stood undaunted as magical attacks encompassed his Dark Barrier, the smoke and dust sent in the air by the explosive fire magic Lilina cast hiding him from sight.

This is odd. I should be taking at least a little damage. Lyra, has my magical resistance increased enough that they can't harm me with human magic?

"Yes and no. These mage heroes cannot harm you, because their magic is weak," Lyra said with disdain. "Even that Lilina whelp can't damage you with 'Forblaze'. The tome contains powerful dragon fire magic, but she is too weak to wield its power. None of these mages are actually that proficient in magic, how are they supposed to be heroes?"

You're a little cranky today. Well, best I can do for you is crush them like the ants they are. Will that be enough to lighten your mood, mistress?

"Yes, but don't call me that," She mumbled bashfully. "I can't be your mistress until... you know."

Say no more, Lyra. That time will come soon. After all, my contract with Morwen is still active, and I can remain in this world for a while. The demon girls won't be repelled for a while, as they're middle-rank demons like me and this world is middle-high on magic density.

"I appreciate your efforts, Amin. Now act tough!"

"I expected better. Hmph!" Akros snorted in contempt. He spoke loud enough for the heroes to hear, especially the warriors who were slowly approaching through the smoke and dust. He let go of Hellreaver letting it sink hilt deep into the dirt. His silhouette vanished along with the dust cloud when he broke the sound barrier with ease. 

"Where'd he go?!" 

"I can't see!"

The dirt and smoke caused by the magic bombardment now blinded the melee heroes as it flew in their direction. Akros, however, could see them with Haki just fine. He went for his first target, the future daughter of Hector. 

Ironically the same girl that Lyra had been insulting just a moment ago, but Akros knew she had potential. In her original game, Lilina would grow immensely powerful if given enough experience so she could level up. Her personal tome, Forblaze, was a mythical tome of draconic fire magic. She also knew healing magic, which only solidified her value. 

Akros desired to make her a backline mage, one who could wreak havoc upon his enemies with flame or mend him and his comrades. Plus, she was kinda cute with her doll face and petite figure. He planned to preserve that.

He stopped moving behind Lilina, letting the sound barrier restore itself with a deafening blast. The other mage heroes near her were blasted away or collapsed due to the hearing damage knocking them unconscious. She herself was only standing because she had frightfully shielded herself with magic after seeing Akros rush out of the smoke. 

Lilina shakily turned around with tears in her eyes as her barrier crumbled around her, leaving her vulnerable. Blue eyes met purple, and she gave up herself, letting her arms fall to her sides. Hector was one of the first to spot Akros by the mages, crying out to his daughter.

"NO!! LILINAAAAA!!!!"

Akros put a hand on her shoulder gently, then took her to the shadow realm. Hector watched in shock and grief as Lilina's red cap fell to the ground, the wind blowing it to his feet. He collapsed to his knees, clutching the hat as tears began to fall. "No... why...?"

The other heroes took in this heart-wrenching scene with empathetic eyes, until they saw Akros reappear. He grinned cruelly, striking a come at me pose. Hector, along with Roy and Eliwood were the first ones to charge the demon with grief in their cries. 

Akros didn't bother picking up his buried sword. He wanted to crush their morale. When Eliwood swung Durandal, a sword as large as Hellreaver and aflame, Akros hardened his skin with Haki and caught it with his right hand. Eliwood was pulled off his steed, as he was holding onto his sword tightly with rage. Akros yanked the blade towards himself, then pierced Eliwood upon his right wing. 

Roy was next, not even registering his father's death as he swung his fiery Sealed Sword. 

All these magical weapons, such pitiful wielders. Not worthy of my mercy!

Akros parried the swing with his gleaming metallic arm, then twisted to run the boy through with his left wing. Hector was no different, but Akros was even crueler. He narrowly dodged each swing of Armads, then tore him in half at the waist. He pocketed Armads, the Sealed Sword, and Durandal in his inventory with slight glee. 

The other heroes had stopped cold in their tracks, horrified. Some of the weaker hearted were vomiting at the gruesome scene. The demon's sick smile didn't make things better, as he bathed in the blood of some of the most likeable heroes. 

With maniacal laughter, Akros continued to taunt the heroes. "Is this the extent of your might, heroes of the Order? I was hoping to stretch a little."

"We can't win..." Ephraim grit his teeth, stabbing Siegmund into the dirt. He made a hand signal to tell the others to stand down. He had a plan. He and Eirika exchanged a quick glance, and she nodded. 

"Let's see what he wants. He isn't using his lava magic, he's planning something," Ephraim said the first part loud enough for everyone to hear, then made sure only allies could hear the rest. "When he lets his guard down, we all attack at once!"

The other heroes nodded grimly, then sheathed their weapons. Those who lacked scabbards simply held them in a carriage grip. 

"Akros! Halt!" Eirika shouted, a hateful expression painted on her face. "I knew you were trouble. How foolish I was... now what do you want? Women?"

"Yes, but not for the reason you may suspect," Akros tapped his chin in thought, then grinned at her. "You'll do just fine."

"What-?!" Eirika was snatched by a black hand, then sunk into shadow. Ephraim snapped over to where his sister was, then screamed in anguish. The other heroes grimaced, glaring hatefully at the demon once he reappeared once more, the red haired son and father still hung on his wings. 

"You waste your final breaths attempting to negotiate, how human of you," Akros mocked, then juggled three noble souls he held. "Your souls are quite handy though, so I should not gripe."

He put the souls away, then made his next selection. The heroes gradually fell to their knees in defeat, or because their head went on vacation. Akros dashed between them, ending their lives quick and abruptly while taking their souls. He was inwardly screaming in happiness at the amount of noble souls he was grabbing, but he realized that by crushing their morale their souls began to corrupt back into regular souls. So he sped up the process, slaying each and every hero left, besides two.

Lyn and Corrin were left, both sobbing at their comrades' death and their fate. Akros picked Lyn up at the waist, walked over to Corrin and did the same. He reentered the cave with them, dropping them to the ground. He saw that Morwen was holding Eirika with one arm, completely constricting her movements while covering her mouth. Okami held Lilina in her lap, the girl seemingly asleep. 

"Lilina is alive, I hope?" Okami nodded at her master's question.

"She fainted from the shock when I told her who we once were. Worked out nicely, I didn't have to do much to constrain her, unlike that one..." She flicked her finned tail at Eirika, who was angrily trying to escape the muscular red arm of an unpleased Morwen.

"Daddy?" She asked, the name sounding quite sensual with her deeper voice. "Are these your four picks?"

Akros nodded absentmindedly, thinking. Four syringes appeared in his armored palm after a few minutes passed. He gave Okami a glance. "Okami, could you remove your ice wall? We'll need more room for this and my shadow magic costs extra with passengers."

She giggled, happy to do something. "As you wish, master."

When the wall came down, Eirika twisted her head the best she could to look, which Morwen allowed. The princess' eyes went wide and wet as she took in the massacre, not failing to see Ephraim's head nearby. She also noticed how all of the heroes' weapons and tomes were missing. Akros had stored them all, wanting to scavenge any useful skills or materials. 

Akros' noble soul count was at 30 after the slaughter, and he was bouncing in glee. Mentally, that is. He kept a cold smile plastered over that excitement as he brought everyone outside. He had them move to an area away from the corpses a couple hundred feet away behind a hill, so it was out of sight.

He started with the only one who resisted their fate: Eirika. She was now sobbing and weak, and Morwen let her go. Akros made sure to give the crying princess some space before he injected her. However, he put the syringe away. 

Lyra, add a memory wipe to this. I want Eirika to forget her brother, her friends, and everything she loved and cared for. Make sure she retains her swordsmanship. 

"This'll cost another 70 souls, Amin. You sure?"

I have to. Otherwise she'll be useless. 

"Alright... you know, your acting almost had me fooled. To think you'd tell them a sob story, help them in war, then turn on them is quite the progression."

Let's hope our readers understand, otherwise they'll drop this novel.

"Huh?"

Nothin'.

Akros took the syringe back out, then held Eirika up by her shoulder. Right as we was about to inject the serum into the weeping girl, something fell from her back. He picked it up curiously, then his eyes widened.

This is... Gleipnir?! My favorite magic animation in Fire Emblem. I'll have to learn this one.

He stored it quickly, then finally broke Eirika's skin with the needle. As the fluid was sent inside her bloodstream, her tears suddenly stopped. She looked at Akros with hollow, scared eyes.

"W-what did you do to me?!" She shrieked. She clawed at her skin, leaving red scratches until the process began. 

Her chest ballooned, then her limbs and head grew. Her skin darkened to become dark gray, and developed shark-like scales covering most of her body. Her chest, rear, palms were a lighter gray color, with softer skin. Her face was scaled, yet beautiful as her features became more mature. Her sclera turned black, her irises pink, and her pupils red. 

Her ears were pointed, but more so than the other demons present. The edges were long and jagged with blades of cartilage. Her nails became white claws, matching her ears in color. Her teeth were pearly white, serrated, and shaped similar to a shark's. Her cheeks were akin to Galadriel's, thin and membraned. 

A tail burst from her lower back, long and flexible. Caudal fins extended from the end of her tail, the top one being larger than the bottom. Fins also popped out at her heels and elbows, sharp like blades. Blade-like navy horns split her hair at her temples, sticking straight out horizontally. They made her look similar to a hammerhead shark. 

Sleek demon wings broke free from her skin, thin but sturdy to match the rest of her body. She was about as muscled as Galadriel, slim and toned but not bulky. Her hair was navy and spiky, reaching to her hips. Her chest was totally flat, but her rear was decently fleshy. Not as much so as Okami's, but matching Galadriel's and Morwen's.  

She shakily got to her feet, holding her head as if she had a migraine. She looked at Akros wearily. "What happened? Who am I?"

Akros was stunned briefly at the effect of the synthetic amnesia, but returned to a poker face just as quickly. "You are Neiro. Rejoice, for you have ascended. You can wait with those three, I have to help these three humans ascend so they may join us."

Neiro rubbed her eyes, yawning. Her voice was rough and accented like a sailor's. "Before that, how should I refer to you? Will 'master' suffice?"

"It will. You do well to be considerate of your words, Neiro," Akros pat her shoulder. She was a little shorter than him at 8 feet flat, while he had about six inches on her. She looked at his hand on her shoulder, then grew a light blush upon her cheeks.

"M-master, why are you touching me...?" She averted her eyes while her tail wagged behind her. "I have yet to prove myself worthy of your love!"

"Um..." Akros slowly retracted his hand, then coughed into it. "Ahem. Sorry to confuse you. Now I need to get to the other three."

"Forgive me for wasting your precious time, master," Neiro hurried over to stand between Galadriel and Okami. Morwen bit her lip in jealousy, not caring that she broke the skin.

Akros didn't notice her reaction, and walked over to Lilina, who was still unconscious. She laid flat on the ground, so Akros had no issue injecting her after making a couple changes to the serum. He added the same kind of memory wiping additive, and made sure she would remember things that kept her mature. He didn't want to reduce her mind to that of a child by erasing her etiquette and knowledge. 

He backed away once the serum entered her body, watching with curiosity. She would become his first elemental demon companion, as the others were war demons. Okami was technically a dragon, but her demon category was war/elemental. None of them would be chaos demons or trickery demons, as Akros could handle that. He viewed mind affecting magic as cowardly, wanting to avoid using it if possible. He would give them all immunities to it with Shadow Brand, but he had yet to grant himself immunity. His style was brute force and cunning, making someone trip over themselves with mind games was superior to mind control.

Her eyes shot open, but she didn't have time to speak before her body started reconstructing itself. Her mouth hung open with her shrill cries of pain.

Lilina's body grew, but not as much as the others did. Her skin darkened to obsidian black, like Akros'. Her fluffy locks grew to her ankles, and became fiery orange with the exception of her bangs. Her ears became pointed, and her teeth were replaced by orange fangs. Her cheeks thinned into membrane, and her eyes swirled until they became black, orange and red. 

Her body was slim, without muscle or fat. She had no scales, no exoskeleton. Her body was quite humanoid, aside from her black wings and tail. The limb was long and thin, covered in small spikes near the end. It was essentially her last line of defense to use as a whip at close quarters. Her nails extended into short claws, not growing much larger in length but more in sharpness, curve, and thickness. 

Black horns sprouted from her temples, shooting horizontally out then straight forward. They were akin to Galadriel's, the only difference being the angle.

Her body stopped growing once she hit 7 feet in height. She had a decent bust and a slim rear, but wide hips gave her a slight hourglass figure. When she stopped contorting in agony, she rose to her feet. Her face was one of confusion as she checked herself out.

"W-what is this? I don't remember..." She looked at the other girls, who simultaneously pointed at Akros behind her. She whipped around, almost smacking him with her tail. "Oh! I'm sorry..."

"It is quite alright. I am Akros, your master. I have enabled you to transcend into demonhood, and shall grant you a name. Remember it well..." Akros closed his eyes in thought. The fiery woman waited patiently for his answer, with a small smile. "Enyo."

"Enyo?" She make a thinking face, tapping her chin. She didn't remember having a name, so she accepted the one given by her new master with a happy grin. "Yay! I have a name!"

Akros chuckled at her cute reaction, then gestured to the other girls. "Wait with them, please. I have two more friends to help out, then we'll chat some more, okay?"

"Okay!" Enyo giggled, bouncing over to Morwen. The blonde demon hugged the smaller demon, cooing contently. As the two quietly chatted and cuddled, Akros moved on to the next candidate.

Corrin and Lyn had been silent for some time, and a haunting realization befell them. They had nowhere to run, to hide. They couldn't fight back either. So they silently waited for their transformations, remembering all the good times they had in their worlds and in this one before they forgot it all. It was clear that after the sobbing Eirika became a dazed Neiro that they would lose their memories. 

Galadriel also noticed this, wondering why she was allowed to keep hers during her transformation. But she had already discarded her human memories, not wanting to mourn over what was. She had a new fate now, one guaranteed to be interesting with Akros around. 

The shadow demon chose Lyn first, as the order mattered not. She scowled at him in defiant anger, an emotion that vanished as soon as the serum entered her. She tried to grit her teeth and bear it, but her mouth was forced open as her teeth were replaced.

She enlarged to 10 feet in height with a lean muscled body with pine green skin. Straight mahogany hair fell to her ribs. Her eyes shifted color until her sclera were brown, irises white, and pupils red. Her new set of teeth were long blades, like the mandibles of an insect. She had two of these on her lower and upper jaw, and they were pearl white. Horns of the same color protruded from her forehead, curving around her head like Akros' then slanting up diagonally like dragon horns.

Her athletic figure was adorned with an white, smooth, thick exoskeleton. It covered her limbs like armor, stopping at her shoulders and upper thighs. Her hands and feet were entirely encased with the exoskeleton. She had 4 toes, 3 in front and one behind like Okami for stability and grip. The soles of the carapace were spiked like Galadriel's. Dragonfly wings sprouted from her back, reaching her ankles. She had no tail, like the ravenette.

Her curves were an expansion of her human ones, her breasts still giant while her hips and rear got bigger in comparison. She was the most bodacious demon so far with a killer hourglass figure. Her chest swayed as she stood shakily, holding her head with a pain-laced expression.

"Ow... my back..." The insectoid demon looked down at her body, only seeing her voluptuous mounds. She made an oh  face. "That'd be why."

She turned her attention to Akros, who was studying her curves a couple feet away. She covered herself with a deep green blush, scowling at him. "I don't know who you are, but... don't ogle me!"

"Hrk! My bad, I got distracted," Akros cleared his throat, then resumed his formal posture and stern expression. "I am Akros, your master and benefactor. I have allowed you to become a demon, and you will serve me with the fine ladies behind me."

The women in question waved in response, giving her warm smiles. Galadriel was the only one with a poker face, but she still waved half-heartedly. 

"I see. Master, would you be so kind to grant me a name? I've forgotten..." She laughed nervously, fidgeting with her fingers. 

Akros already had a name in mind, but he changed his mind. She was certainly different than he imagined she would be, Lyra must've perfected his ideas. So he came up with a different name he deemed more fitting of the sexy insect demon.

"Luane. That is your name."

"...okay," Luane whispered shyly. When she left his sight to join the other demon women, she grinned victoriously and pumped her fist. "Yes!"

Akros was busy rewriting Corrin's serum, and didn't notice her actions. As the girls looked on, he finally injected the pale woman and backed away. She didn't move at all as he did, not even jolting at the puncture of the needle. However she was soon wailing in pain as her body rapidly grew.

Her skin became golden, and her body grew to be 8 feet tall. Bright red wavy hair draped to her tail. Her eyes were gold, black, and red. Her sclera blended in with her skin like Akros'. Red teeth emerged from her gums, looking human in shape aside from her fanglike canines. Her ears where pointed, but her cheeks were still human unlike the other girls. Crimson horns rooted from her temples, curling 180 degrees before ending with a point.

Her body was slim and glistening red scales covering it. Her scales were softer and smoother than Okami's, and covered her entire body aside from her face and palms. A long serpentine tail grew from her lower spine. Two sleek draconic wings burst from her shoulder blades, unfurling to create a wide wingspan. Her nails morphed into golden claws. Hands and feet akin to Okami, built for grip strength even though she was much less bulky than the frost demon. 

She had gentle curves. Not anything crazy like Luane, Okami, Galadriel, or Morwen, but a decent bust and a rear that was easy on the eyes.

As she rose to her feet, she didn't seem dizzy or in a state of loss like the other three who promoted on this day. She gave Akros an emotionless stare. "You are my master?"

"Yes."

"Name me."

Akros' eye twitched at her demanding, yet soft voice. He wasn't sure how to feel about this new attitude from her. "You are now... Hecate."

"Thank you," Her response was curt, but without hostility. Akros turned to the other girls, beckoning them closer. They circled around him, as he informed them of his plan for this world.

Akros was pleased to see that it only took 2 months to completely destroy Askr. With his Abyssal Tremor it was easy to destroy the earth and kill humans. There were a couple dragons that offered a slight challenge, but nothing he couldn't handle after Grima and Naga. 

During this time, he didn't do all the work. Rather, he let his 'demon harem' as Lyra called it, practice magic on the humans they encountered. Akros gave various gifts to them to help them unlock or utilize their magic, and later weapons as he improved the weapons of the deceased heroes. 

Morwen was given a hellfire seed, which merged with her spatial attribute to become cosmic fire. The flames were sky blue and had a unique effect. Whenever they came in contact with something or someone besides the caster, they froze it/them and crumbled into blue ash. These flames resisted water and other liquids that would extinguish regular flame. They weren't that powerful and took a long time to fully disintegrate enemies at first, but with repeated efforts and time, Morwen was able to harness them better. They had short range, so she tended to coat her body with them. 

After the first week, Akros melted down all of the heroes' weapons to create a new ore, which he dubbed 'heroin' after the earthen drug. Lyra criticized this heavily, as did Morwen as she was the only other person who knew of it, but he found it humorous. 

He forged a large battle axe for her out of this material. It had a shaft of 10 feet, and the curved blade was 6 feet long. The blade was only connected via the top of the shaft, but it was very sturdy. That also meant the entire shaft was safe to hold. Akros went about adding properties to this new weapon with the souls he was racking up.

He made sure to have the girls avoid consuming souls and getting addicted. With Shadow Brand on all of them, it'd take much more to get to that point but he took no chances. All the souls they collectively acquired went to Akros, and he gave them weapons out of it. Sometimes new clothes, as the girls learned what worked and what didn't in combat while maintaining their own fashion sense.

However, that only lasted so long. After the first week all the girls collectively requested black sports bras and boxers. They couldn't find a happy medium with fashion and utility, so they made the decision to all wear the same thing. Akros was glad they were getting along and agreeing on matters, but had the issue of exposure. He worked hard to train his eyes to stay up, otherwise he'd stare at the sea of boobs and ass all day. Morwen's clingy nature made this worse.

Crusel, Axe of Hellfire

+230 ATK

Featherweight: Weapon's weight is reduced by half.

Cleave: Increases damage dealt to living beings by 50%.

After sighing at the 1,000 soul cost of Cleave, Akros gave Crusel to Morwen who bounced in delight at the gift. Later, when Akros asked her to fight a fire dragon who encountered his group, Morwen was able to slay it herself with the axe. She used Cosmic Flame to crumble away at its scales, then cut the beast apart with relative ease. 

As they feasted on the dragon's flesh that day, Akros was proud of Morwen.

"You've done well," He ruffled her hair as she cuddled up to him, humming contently. "I'm very proud." 

"Hmmm!" Morwen nuzzled into his neck affectionately.

"..." The other girls looked on in jealousy. Some because of the affection, others because they lacked a weapon. Okami smacked her tail on the ground to get their attention. "Master..."

"Yes?" He promptly pushed Morwen away, much to her dismay. Okami pouted.

"It's not fair that you only pat her head! I want head pats!" She whined. Neiro, Luane, and Enyo nodded in agreement.

"Please, master," Neiro begged.

"If it isn't too much trouble," Luane mumbled.

"Head pats!" Enyo cried.

"Er..." Akros drew a blank. 

Lyra, is this my fault? Did make them this way with the serum or just by treating them like kids?

"Both."

...It is cute.

"You'd better give me patsies too when I get my body!"

I will, I will.

"If you desire it so desperately, I cannot refuse," Akros took a glance at Hecate and Galadriel, who were managing the cooking. They nodded with deadpan faces, making him feel like he was doing something wrong. He ruffled the hair of all of the girls besides those two, which took a long time. 

Enyo, being the smallest, sat in his lap. Morwen and Neiro were on either side of him, hugging his arms. Okami cuddled him from behind while Luane sat in front. He had boobs pressed against him as he tried to pet each of them, feeling like a harem main character. The thought plagued his conscious.

"Ladies! Get off!" Akros bellowed, irritated. "One at a time, damn it!"

"Forgive us, master!" They said in unison. They gave him some space, except for Enyo. He rested his chin on her head as she ate, sighing. This wouldn't be the end of this behavior, he assumed.

Akros was correct at that moment. For the next two months, Morwen and Luane doted on him with their breasts quite often. Whenever he laid down, it'd be in their breasts, or in their laps. Occasionally, he'd lay in Okami's lap, her legs big and long enough to comfort most of his body. 

Enyo and Neiro weren't so forward. Enyo liked hugs and being carried around. Neiro was much more bashful, always receiving his affection humbly. Her respect for him made him favor her a little, and because she was shark-like in appearance. He loved sharks.

Galadriel and Hecate weren't as emotional, nor as affectionate towards Akros. Neither had the notion of compassion written in their psyche, so they were robotic in nature at first. Even after two months, they were still distant and cold. Every now and then, he'd make sure to give them praise so they felt appreciated and this was eventually met with grateful smiles from the two. They hung around each other often due to them liking the silence the other brought.

Morwen and Luane were rivals for Akros' affection, bickering frequently over nonsense. He would break them up sometimes if things got heated, but over time it became evident that there wasn't any hard feelings. The two busty war demons just wanted to cuddle.

Okami doted on him a little, but always asked first. She was loyal and respectful, humbly asking for permission when doing anything that regarded him or her allies. He appreciated her a lot, and she became his most frequent partner when destroying civilization as they often split up due to the lack of difficulty when dealing with normal humans. Akros could sense if anything bad were to happen thanks to Shadow Brand. He had spent 3 noble souls making the skill, so why not use it a little?

During these months, he designed heroin forged weapons for each girl based on their magic and their body type and color scheme. Morwen had a battle axe, Crusel, that went well with her strong body and cosmic flames. Okami had spear training as a human, so she received a massive spear with a V shaped head to go with her pure frost magic. She called it 'pure' frost because of the white translucency of the ice.

Kulkon, the Frozen Lance

+200 ATK

Frostbite: Freeze the insides of living enemies as damage is dealt.

Ice Pick: Deals 200% damage to frozen enemies

Akros winced at the price of Frostbite being 430 souls. It wasn't exactly necessary given she had frost magic, but he wanted her to have freezing capabilities even when her mana ran low. 

Okami wielded the 15 foot long spear with amazing dexterity. Her body was quite muscular, more so than Morwen and Neiro, and yet she moved with grace as she slew humans, dragons, and other beasts with Kolkon. Akros praised her after every battle, and she would accept his praise gratefully. 

Galadriel was given a sword and shield, as Akros recommended prior. Her poison magic was overkill against humans, but against stronger enemies she had to rely on it. Akros designed the sword to be 6 feet long. The grip was long enough for two hands in case she needed the extra power. The shield he gave her was a 3 feet x 5 feet rectangular shield, that could be strapped to the forearm or held with one hand. 

Magnar

+175 ATK

Pierce: Deals 100% bonus damage to armor and scales.

Syphon: Temporality gain 10% physical strength of enemies damaged, reducing their strength by 10%. Buff lost when injured foe dies.

Nargam

+100 DEF

Absorb: Absorbs 50% of magic damage dealt.

Deflect: Projectiles under the speed of Mach 1 are deflected automatically.

Sense Guide: Hostile attacks are detected by Nargam. When a potentially damaging object is incoming, Nargam will move slightly in the direction of the attack.

Akros spent 500 souls creating Sense Guide, but he valued each of his soldiers and was willing to pay the price. He wanted to give her a bit of crutch to help her learn the way of the shield quickly.

Galadriel took the sword and shield and showed a rare but genuine smile of gratitude. Akros' heart melted a little when he saw her fawning over the weapons when she thought she was in private. 

Her sword, Magnar, became a host of death itself with the power of Galadriel's toxin spells. She would wrap the blade with a venomous aura, or inject liquid poison directly after making a laceration in her opponent. This technique, paired with coating Nargam with a venom aura to damage attackers, allowed her to slay a dragon by herself with ease. Even Akros was in awe at the display.

Fortunately there was plenty of dragons around Askr.

Neiro was next, receiving a longsword that looked much like Hellreaver. Only it was a mere 9 feet long, 7 of that being the navy blade. It had serrated edges like shark teeth, unlike Hellreaver which had thinner razors in the shape of 30-60-90 triangles. The longsword was fairly light for its size, but heavy enough to give it force when hacking enemies. 

The shark-like war demon had a special magic which she called 'Depth magic'. It was a type of close range high pressure water magic that could be used in many different ways. She often used it as a gap closer or creator, blasting explosive bouts of water and using the backblast to send her body flying in a direction of choice. If she put enough power into the water explosion, she could use it as a hit and run move. Her also tended to coat her fins and claws in depth magic to create saws of sorts. The pressure of the flowing water would help cut into enemies and objects when concentrated into thin blades, much like Hellreaver's HFB. Akros designed her longsword to be similar to Hellreaver for that reason, and because he loved the aesthetic of long but thin blades.

Gram, Rage of the Deep

+250 ATK

Featherweight: Weapon's weight is reduced by half.

Fury: Depending on the wielder's emotional state, increase damage dealt by up to 100%. 

Magic Render: Grants the ability to cut through magic attacks, barriers, and constructs. Effectiveness varies based on user's strength. 

Akros spent 300 souls on Magic Render, even with the limiter. He still had no regrets with the costly properties. His soul income was bountiful, so why not invest in his employees and give them bonuses? 

Neiro loved the sword, especially because it was obviously modeled after Hellreaver, the sword the girls drooled over. It was big, pretty, and cut through anything it touched. Okami was the only one beside him who could lift it, and even then she could barely get it off the ground. Just because he was smaller didn't mean he was weaker. Akros' muscles had begun condensing so his physique wouldn't become gross. 

Neiro proved the Gram to be invaluable as she cut draconic magic apart. The dragons of Askr weren't as strong as Grima or Naga, but their magic was considerably powerful. Even though Gram had no guaranteed damage boost, with her depth magic she was able to decapitate an earth dragon in one swing. She then clung to Akros, thanking him over and over. The scene warmed his heart.

Enyo was an elemental demon. She had the affinity for fire and healing magic due to her human magic prowess, but couldn't cast any demonic magic. Until Akros figured out how to convert tomes into skills. Those skills could then be broken down into magics, for example breaking Forblaze down into draconic fire magic. 

First Akros had to convert Forblaze into a skill, which cost half a noble soul. Normally such a powerful spell would take much more, but with the tome as material the cost decreased significantly. Then changed the skill Forblaze into draconic fire magic, and stored that potential within a serum. This process cost several thousand souls, but he cared not. The power he was giving her was worth it.

After injecting her, Akros had Enyo test out the spell, and found that her body's fire attribute wasn't as he expected. Draconic fire magic became demonic lava magic. Akros realized then that her bodily attribute wasn't fire, it was lava. It made sense given her black and orange color scheme. 

In the end, Enyo learned lava magic, and its might was fearsome even to him. Her full power cast of Forblaze put Abyssal Tremor to shame. Meteors of molten rock cascaded from the sky in a kilometer wide radius, destroying everything within its range. Enyo was so happy she leapt up and kissed Akros' cheek, catching him unaware. She laughed at his bashful reaction.

"If it makes you that happy, then okay..." Akros knew this was only the start. He would eventually transform these demon women into planet destroying disasters, but for now this was a fine beginning point.

Molten Malice

+100 ATK

Ember: Sets wounds aflame. Increases damage dealt to wooden enemies by 500%.

Infinite Duress: Increase magic energy recovery speed tenfold. Active when sheathed.

Akros gave her an orange glowing dagger along with its sheath as safekeeping. He told her to use it against enemies who got too close, or if she ever needed to carve up some meat to eat. She giggled at the last part and hugged him again. 

Luane possessed an interesting magic power. She used earthen magic, more specifically dirt magic. She could create structures, traps, armor, even weapons. It was essentially ice magic, but rather than freezing things it blinded them. Luane would often cast sprays of dirt into the air to reduce the sight of her foes. If they weren't blinded, they had to hold a hand to her eyes to protect them but that also left them vulnerable. During this phase, she'd swiftly cut them down with her claws. Even though she was tall and curvy, her wings were very powerful and her lean muscles propelled her on the ground. Akros had no issue deciding what kind of weapon to give to the woman.

Nozarichi, the Beaten Blade

+285 ATK

+25 SPD

Upon the soil: When on dirt of any kind, increase damage dealt by 25%.

Upon the sky: When flying, increase damage dealt by 75%.

Blood Harvest: Wounds inflicted by the blade will bleed until the wound heals or victim dies. Effectiveness depends on vitality of victim.

A 7 foot long wazakishi with a wooden grip, green blade, and wood scabbard were given to Luane, whose jaw dropped at seeing the weapon. She crushed his head into her chest for the next minutes until she let go, apologizing nervously for her emotional outburst. 

"The only reason that I ask for you to refrain from such actions is..." Akros looked around to make sure the other girls weren't listening, then whispered in Luane's ear. "...I'll get aroused."

She blushed madly, pushing him away while vigorously shaking her head. "Pervert! Why would you think of it that way!"

Akros' eye twitched. "You held my face in your massive, juicy tits. Why wouldn't that arouse me."

"I... I..." Luane held her chest tightly, as if protecting it from him. He sighed and walked away. When he was far enough, she grinned. Her anxious and shy facade was only to woo the shadow demon. "I'm so fooling him!"

Akros had some trouble with Hecate. She was the only other elemental demon besides Enyo. Her magic was something that stumped him for a long time. Red lightning magic was Hecate's main source of offense, but then she also had golden fire magic. Akros had no clue how she already had two kinds of magic, and had to think hard about how to help her utilize both with one or two weapons. 

Hecate's red lightning wasn't necessarily destructive, but quite killer. It seemed to shock the blood of living beings, frying their organs and other vital systems. It wasn't as effective on larger, more powerful creatures like dragons though. She learned to primarily use it against crowds, only using it against stronger opponents to shock them briefly and restrain their movement. 

Her golden flame was another story. It seemed very similar to shadowflame as it burned through everything, even things that wouldn't usually light. Hecate's flames lacked the soul burning property, which was a relief to Akros. He already was thinking of changing his magic skills due to the soul destroying effect, which hindered him much.

In the end, Akros created the best thing he could. A 9 foot tall red and gold scythe that doubled as a staff. One end had a flat butt, the other adorned with a golden crescent blade that was 6 feet in circumference. 

Finality

+100 ATK

+100 MGC PWR

Infinite Duress: Increases magic energy recovery speed tenfold. Active when holstered.

Demolition: Magic damage dealt to shields, walls, and armor increased by 50%.

Magic Conductor: Increase magic efficiency when casted on weapon by 100%.

Hecate was no war demon, so Akros decided it was better to give her a weapon that not only boosted her magic power, but let her use magic in close quarters better. 

She gave him a small but grateful smile as she accepted the scythe. Akros ruffled her hair, making her whine in protest.

"My hair!" She pouted, holding her scalp. "Jerk!"

He laughed genuinely, more happy to see her shell starting to crack then anything else. It felt good to laugh.

Once Askr laid in ruins, the royal capital turned into a volcanic wasteland and the royalty confirmed dead, Akros began prepping to return to the Abyss. There wasn't that much actual prep work, but he and the girls had another month before Zenith's repulsive force kicked them out. They spent a couple days resting, and swimming at lake that had a beautiful sandy beach. 

The girls didn't bother changing their clothes but Akros did, unequipping his pants. He still had his boxers on, but even then the looks he received didn't make him feel comfortable.

"There's other things to look at besides my legs, you know," He grumbled, wading into the calm, cool water. "It's the same skin as my upper body."

"If you say so, master," Enyo giggled behind him. She slowly dipped her toes in the water, making sure she wouldn't evaporate it on contact. After seeing that the water was safe, she ran up to Akros. "Let's swim!"

"Yeah, I need a bath anyways," Galadriel agreed. 

As the other girls splashed around and laughed above the surface, Neiro swam deeper with Akros, Morwen, and Hecate. The water's natural darkness near the lakebed posed no problem for Akros' eyes, but it took the girls some time to adjust. 

Only Neiro could speak underwater as she had gills in her neck and could breathe the water in just fine. "Master, it's so dark. Is the Abyss like this too?

He nodded, then left them to go swim by himself. He hadn't much time alone for the last two months, so he spent this time sorting his thoughts out when he didn't have to act as a babysitter.

Lyra, what other preparations do I need before I return to the Abyss? Also, what's my soul count?

"I'd say you're prepped just fine for the middle Abyss, you're at the top of your rank. As long as you stay out of trouble you should be able to do whatever. Just make sure you tell the girls about behavior of the demons in the middle Abyss, and the lust moon event. I don't know when it's coming, but based on your memories it is potent. When it comes, hunker down with the girls and make sure they aren't... you know. It should only be female suitors roaming though."

Thanks, I forgot about the lust moon event. I don't quite remember what it has to do with any actual moon, but it'll send me and the girls into a state of lust. I think I'll have us hide away in a cave and block it off with magic so we can be by ourselves.

"You mean, so you can be in a reverse gangbang?"

I wasn't gonna say it like that, but it's possible.

"Oh, also here's the soul count. Don't make me my body yet, though."

Souls in possession: 104,332 average-grade souls, 30 noble souls, 7 fallen souls, 1 soul of might fragment, 1 holy soul, 1 evil soul

I do have enough, don't I? I'll wait until the Abyss to make it, or you, I guess. I want you to be native to the Abyss, so I can save a couple hundred souls. Also, any last minute changes you want to your body for me to imagine for you? While my mind is still clear.

"Actually, yes. I still want to be a fallen angel mage and everything, just um, imagine her as 15 feet tall, with the correct bodily proportions and all."

Okay... why?

"You kept calling me a hot mommy, so I... kind of want to be one."

Fuck me.

"I most certainly will!"

...anything else?

"Yup! I want a special attribute built into my body, a void attribute. You know the void from CMDK?"

Yeah. It's kinda terrifying.

"Well, I discovered that it doesn't actually exist yet. We live in an era about a few hundred thousand years prior to Osiris' birth."

Holy shit. Are you serious?

"Dead. So, maybe if I have the void attribute, fate will change and I can be the 'mother of the void'. I want to prevent it from harming us in the future, by harnessing it."

That's... genius! You're a damn genius! There was never a point of origin established with the void from CMDK, so maybe you can become it.

"Right? I'm so glad you see me eye to eye with this. Now, can you imagine it for me?"

Yeah. Void magic and a void attribute.

"...whew. Looks good, thanks Amin!"

Anytime. By the way, how did you discover the lack of existence with the void?

"A little bit of the void exists in almost every world, or so goes the theory Osiris established. There's no hint of the void here, nor the first world you traveled to with that redhead chick."

Beta... yeah, okay. I trust you.

"You still miss her, huh. What about that Delta girl?"

She's a hard tsundere that forced herself on me. If and when I meet her again, I'll either kill her on the spot or make her a demon, a gun wielder. A sniper unit would be helpful. But only if I have extra souls. Beta comes first. She's gonna be a powerful brawler type, her werewolf blood will make a good foundation for her demonic strength.

"I see. There's other women there that have potential. Maybe take the vampire or the fake succubus?" A hint of jealousy was present in her voice. Akros sighed, blowing bubbles.

Lyra, there's no need for you to be jealous. With the bodily features you'll have, no one will be able to compete with you in pleasing me. I'm not too happy that you're so focused on my pleasure and not your own power.

"What do you mean? Void power is very strong. What's wrong with wanting to please my benefactor?"

Whatever. As you were saying, I don't like Albedo. She's weird as hell, and Shalltear is super kinky. I have no need for quirky units like them, especially when I already have Morwen and Luane. 

"Mhm."

Again, the jealousy serves no purpose. Just be patient.

"Okay, I relent. I'm not actually jealous, but I don't want you to fall to lust. You've done well to restrain yourself around these sexy demon women so far, but still."

I'm touched that you feel that way, but I'm fine. In fact, I need to create a skill for that now. Lyra, is it possible for me to upgrade observation Haki so that it breaks illusions, charms, mind control, etc.? 

"It'll cost you another noble or fallen soul, but yes."

Do it please. I've put that off long enough.

"Aye."

Now, my next order of business.

Akros continued to swim leisurely, inspecting the black and purple gauntlet on his left arm. 

I need to make myself and the girls some armor, but to make you a body, I have to conserve. Imperial Gold and Adamantium is super expensive, and I shouldn't need it so soon, I'm not challenging demon lords. How much will your body cost?

"91,000 souls."

It went up?!

"The void attribute," Lyra said sheepishly. "It's hefty, it seems."

You're lucky I have a soft spot for you.

"Soon, you'll have a hard spot for me. Hehehe!"

Agh...

"Gottem."

Don't use that word. You sound like a 30 year old teacher trying to meme with middle schoolers.

"Ouch, so mean! I was only using a line from your memories!"

Yeah, my human times were full of cringe worthy experiences. I'm still cringing at some of the things I said and did.

"Oh, so you're 'based' now?"

Stop with the slang.

"Make me."

I hate you.

"You love me."

...probably.

"Yea- what?! You mean that?!"

...I'm gonna swim in peace now.

"Noooooooo!"

Akros left Lyra by herself in his mind as he refocused on the physical world. He felt so comfortable swimming around, he didn't even notice someone approaching.

"Master!" 

He swiveled around to see Neiro gliding in his direction. Her movements were smooth and natural, as if she had been doing this for years. She closed the 100 foot gap between them in two seconds, then came to screeching halt in front of him. 

"Master, can I make a selfish request?" Neiro fiddled with her fingers with a nervous smile. 

Akros didn't know what to think, but he nodded anyway. He was in a good mood.

"We're alone, so I wanted to c-c-c..." She took in a deep breath, then tried again slower. "Could we cuddle?"

I'm... not sure what I expected.

Akros shrugged, then opened his arms for a hug. Neiro cheered and entered his embrace. She buried her face in his neck, careful not to hurt him with her sharp horns. 

They spent a few minutes holding each other, enjoying the other's touch. Akros felt quite soothed by her gentle nuzzling and rubbing of his back, so he returned the motion much to her joy. Tails intertwined as they slowly sank to the lakebed, lying down on the soft sand. 

Akros found her scales to be quite rough, so he had to use his armored hand to caress her back. Neiro was slightly confused at this at first, but understood quickly. 

"My apologies, master. My body is not fit for-" He cut her off with a finger to her lips. He gave her a reassuring smile, as if to say it's alright. She smiled back, relieved. 

He was slightly afraid she'd try to make a move on him, but to his surprise she was docile. She was busy enjoying his back scratching and warmth, so she didn't have such thoughts.

Akros also didn't think of her, or any of the girls that way. After the two months had passed, he'd spent most of that time supervising them as a guardian. Morwen wasn't the only daughter figure he had anymore, as he treated Enyo and Neiro that way as well. The bond between him and all of the girls was strong, and he treasured them as they him. However, there was no lust or romance yet. He feared for the day his squad became a harem for the sake of his little brother.

Neiro and Akros spent another few minutes in silent, peaceful cuddling. Fish swam past them, critters scurried on the floor, but nothing touched or came near them. It was quite the sight, as neither of them had seen these species before. Neiro had a lot of fun watching two crabs fight over a dead fish. 

After an unknown amount of time passed, Akros gently pushed her away, pointing up. She seemed sad to let go, but understood what he meant. She pecked him on the cheek before swimming to the surface with him close behind. 

When they reached the shore, they found the other girls sleeping on the soft sand. Only Hecate was awake, standing watch with Finality in hand. She looked quite tired, so Akros had her and Neiro sleep with the others. He had no qualms watching over his precious crew for a few hours.

He used this time to reflect and prepare more for the Abyss. He knew that his group would seem quite odd traveling together, but it didn't really matter. Unless they caught the attention of a more powerful demon, they were free to do as they pleased. Akros would have to make sure that they stayed together at all times, as they weren't at the apex of middle-rank like he was. Enyo and Hecate were the weakest physically, so if their magic was ever ineffective they'd likely lose in a fight of strength. The saving grace was that each of the girls possessed a means of escape, either with magic, raw speed, or both. 

Crafanc, Claw of Avarice

+130 ATK

Greed: Absorb the life force of those it wounds. Life force will then be given to the wielder. Effectiveness varies on vitality of victim's body.

Transform: Has two forms, sword and gauntlet. Can switch between at will.

Infinite Duress: Increases magic energy recovery speed tenfold. Active in either form.

Earthsplitter: Increases effectiveness of skill 'Abyssal Tremor' when cast on either form by 25%.

Whew! Only a few hundred more souls for those two. Thanks Lyra! 

"You're welcome," She had gotten used to his grateful nature, and treasured it. Even though she was forced to comply as long as the soul requirement was met, it meant the world to her that he showed his appreciation.

Modify. Decrease the mana cost of Dark Ascension by half, and change it from shadowflame wings to shadow wings. That way the cost goes down further and it looks a little less flashy.

"Awww. I thought it looked cool, but okay. Done."

It probably does look cool, but I can't ignore the glaring difference in mana cost between shadow and shadowflame magic. If I cast Mortal Gleam with shadow magic, sure it's a bit weaker because it doesn't harm the soul, but it costs half the price as a cast with shadowflame. And of course, the souls of my enemies matter a lot.

"I understand that, but... why not just change your shadowflame magic so that it doesn't harm the soul?"

Emergency. You never know when I may face a powerful entity. It's not a waste if it saves my life.

"I don't know what I expected..." Lyra sighed. "You're always so cautious. I know why, but still..."

I'm watching out for myself, these 7, and later you and Beta. Ulvone, if and when I meet her again, will be my literal concubine. I now have a powerful earth magic user, and spider queen demons grow slowly. She'll hold me back, so she'll remain at her current power. 

"Sounds about right. You know, you could change her body too... how hard would making a demon change into a different type of demon possible be? I recommend making her a succubus."

Um, why? Don't say her tits.

"Her tits."

Damn it.

"She's way too attractive. On top of that, you have no trickery demons in your squad so far. I know you resent the idea, but you have to admit it has advantages."

You're right. You know what, I might just go through with that idea. Promise me you won't get jealous over her body, because she's going to become even more attractive with the serum I have in mind.

"I won't... probably," Lyra said reluctantly.

Good to hear. When I say concubine, I mean she'll just be my lab rat. I've charmed her, and will again if needed. I don't care too much for Ulvone, so I can test things on her. 

"Uh-huh."

Why do I even try justifying myself?

Lyra giggled at his exasperated response. "Hehehe! Now, before I distract you too much, what other skills need tweaking? Maybe you want to create some?"

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I went Super Saiyan after Loki tricked me in rage. Is it possible to harness that into a skill?

"Yes, but there is a cost besides the souls, which would be 5 high quality souls."

Okay... what is it?

"Your version of Super Saiyan is fueled by demonic rage, and seems to draw the power of the Deadly Sin of Wrath. If you use it for too long, you'll go berserk."

Oh crap. Wait, does that mean I'm a Legendary Super Saiyan? 

"Legendary Super Saiyan... according to your memories, it's a version of Super Saiyan that is powered by raw anger and will to survive. It also permanently increases your power with each second you maintain it. You may very well reach this state if you lose control while you are in the Super Saiyan state."

Heavens above, that is terrifying. Both the power, and the risks. But I may want this in case of emergency, it'll probably activate in face of strong emotions anyway. How many souls would it cost to restrain the enraging effect?

"Too many. You'd need another 100 high quality souls to even half it. It's basically a set parameter."

Shit. So if I get too angry or depressed, it'll activate and I risk going ballistic?

"Sadly. Just stay calm, and it'll be okay."

Easier said than done. Can you tell me how much Super Saiyan multiplies my stats?

"I can't tell you, but I'll show you."

Strength: 599 (x10 during Super Saiyan)

Speed: 507 (x5 during Super Saiyan)

Magic Energy: 2,930 (x2 during Super Saiyan)

Stamina: 392 

Vitality: 735 (x5 during Super Saiyan)

"See?"

Alright, I definitely need this power. With a strength stat of 6,000, who knows what I could do? Kill a demon lord or a six winged angel? Although it must drain my stamina if it doesn't boost it.

"Correct. Without practice maintaining the form, Super Saiyan will leave you exhausted. At your current level, you can stay powered up for an hour."

An hour? I fought Grima an hour after Loki cut my eyes?

"Yes."

Huh, that's news to me. Anyway, I can't restrain my emotions with items otherwise I can't go Super Saiyan, right?

"Yes."

Damn, so I have no option but leave it be? I hate loose ends!

Akros heaved a sigh, his wings drooping in irritation. 

We've been chatting for a while now. One last thing before I leave you be.

"I don't mind talking you, dummy. No need to hurry the conversation," Lyra acted as if she was indifferent, but in reality was still desperate to talk. It was her only source of interacting with him.

How many more reps do I need to promote?

"400."

You are reading story Imagination Incarnate at novel35.com

Progress! Goodnight for now, Ly-Ly.

"Don't call me that..." She protested weakly. 

He smiled, then focused on his magic veins in his body, exercising it by opening it wider. He would do this until someone else took watch. 

Akros didn't realize how worn out the girls were. They slept until the sun rose, and he had to stop exercising his magic vessels hours before or he'd exhaust himself. Once everyone was awake, he ran over the details for the Abyss and made sure everyone understood how unsafe it was. 

He stopped resisting the world's repulsive force, opening a portal behind him. He made sure the  other girls went through it first, as his passage would close the portal. 

They appeared at the same summoning altar that Akros used to get to the world of Zenith. A couple other demons nearby who were fighting over the current offering stopped in their tracks at the sight of 7 demon women, each possessing a different charm and beauty. Akros frowned at this and took out Hellreaver to scare them off. Unarmed demons knew better to pick a fight with an armed one.

Akros sensed the direction Ulvone was in, and had the girls follow him as he trailed it. It was the same direction of her territory, so he figured she was fine...

Ulvone was fighting for her life against a succubus over her current territory. The succubus had charmed her and nearly took off Ulvone's head, but Shadow Mark reduced the effectiveness of the charm magic. Ulvone was able to dodge the slash from the succubus' blade whip, taking a gash to the chest while keeping her head on her shoulders. 

From there Ulvone was severely wounded, and spent her energy kiting the succubus who screamed at her in frustration. The spider queen was healing slowly, and the succubus had much less stamina and lacked long range magic. Ulvone had to create walls to block attacks and create distance. She was slow in her current state, but bit back the pain and held her chest together as it mended. 

"Nrgh! Stop running, you stupid insect!" The succubus was panting, but tenacious in her pursuit. She only had one chance to kill Ulvone with a surprise attack. After that failed, she became desperate knowing the spider queen had an edge in raw power.

"Make me, bitch!" Ulvone shouted back, throwing up another rock wall to intercept an incoming lash. She continued to scurry away to buy time. The mark on her neck had been glowing for a few minutes now, giving her hope that her beloved shadow demon would come to her rescue. All she had to do was wear out the succubus chasing her. However, her magic energy supply was getting low after so many stone walls. "Come on, come on! My love, please hurry!"

"Your love has discarded you! Just as I shall do to your corpse!" The succubus cried angrily, dashing around the wall. She had no demon wings, but her hooved feet let her run quite fast. Ulvone at her current pace would be caught if she didn't continuously cast magic.

"..." Ulvone grit her teeth as the pain and fatigue starting to become unbearable. Another slash came from the furious succubus, and she was forced to erect another wall. However, her mana was so low that the wall was brittle. The blade whip broke through it with ease, and the succubus leaped through the hole with maniac laughter.

Out of options, she ran away towards the direction of the nearest summoning altar in blind hope. She entered another demon's territory, but when they saw the succubus behind, they backed off and watched it play out. 

The succubus gained ground on Ulvone until she was in range, then threw a lash that cut off 3 legs on Ulvone's left side. She lost her balance and fell, skidding on her spider abdomen and shrieking in pain at the lost limbs and the shock. Her chest wound had reopened a bit at the fall.

"I've got you now!" The succubus was in hysterics. She normally would've let the spider queen go after she abandoned her territory, but she was embarrassed and angry that her charming magic failed at a crucial moment. To restore her pride she would kill the pesky spider and then take her land. "I'll make you beg for death!"

"Argh!" Ulvone grunted as she tried to get back to her feet, but her weight was too unbalanced to walk. She held her chest and stared the succubus down as she slowly approached the wounded spider queen. She closed her eyes and whispered: "My love, forgive me."

However, she didn't feel any more attacks. Nor did she hear footsteps. Only the collapsing of a body. She opened her eyes, which went wide at the headless succubus. She looked all around to see the culprit, and saw a figure in the distance behind her. 

"My love?!" Ulvone said in disbelief. The figure vanished briefly, reappearing next to her. 

"Hey," Akros lifted her chin to look at her face. "You're lookin' rough, babe."

"My love, you saved me..." Her eyes started to get wet, but he stopped her with a shake of his head.

"No. I have not and am not saving you. Instead, I shall help you become more powerful," He held a syringe in his hand, giving her a somber smile. "This'll hurt, but you'll thank me later."

"Huh? What are you SAYING?!?!" Ulvone began to shriek in agony as her body writhed and contorted. As she morphed, Akros used Haki to detect any demons close enough to watch the transformation. He only found one, but he blew its head off with a Shadow Bullet anyway. He liked being discreet, and there's nothing discreet like silent bullets!

Two demon wings sprouted from her back, sending blood everywhere. Her lower half condensed and reorganized itself. Her spider body crunched and twisted into two furry, humanoid legs. The blue fur was silky soft like her hair, and didn't cover her genitals and rear. Rather, it extended up to her ribs and stopped. 

Her feet were unique, with four toes shaped like an owl's foot. Two pointing forwards, two pointing behind. The balance was necessary due to her massive bust, thick thighs, and huge rear. Needless to say, her hips were quite wide. A furry tail burst from her lower back, without any offensive or defensive armaments. Its main purpose was to help her wings counterbalance her bosom. 

This process only took a minute of agonizing morphing. Ulvone had trouble getting to her feet as she was accustomed to spider legs, not these new, stronger humanoid ones. She looked at Akros with mixed emotions.

"What in the seven sins did you do to me?!" She cried, aghast at her bodily changes. "How does this help me?!"

"Many, many ways. Before I tell you more, you must swear to keep this a secret!" Akros grabbed her by the neck, acting threatening while all he was actually doing was updating her Shadow Mark to Shadow Brand. 

"Y-yes! I swear!" Ulvone gasped for air, unable to fight back in her weakened state. He set her on her feet, holding her by the shoulders so she didn't fall. She couldn't find her balance with her new legs. Fortunately they were at the same height now, so he could help her stand comfortably.

"Listen, Ulvone. As a spider queen, your worth to me was nothing more than sexual pleasure. Your growth would've been too slow for me to keep you around. So I fixed that. You're now an elemental demon, so your growth potential and speed has increased greatly. I'll keep you by my side, along with these 7 behind me."

Akros stepped to the side to show Morwen, Okami, Galadriel, Enyo, Neiro, Hecate, and Luane who all had arrived a few moments ago. All of them besides Luane looked at Ulvone's chest with envy. Luane's chest was as large, if not slightly larger given her overall size advantage. However, even she stared at the furred demon with caution. She was the all the boobs her master needed, Luane thought.

"Master, who is this woman?" Hecate said venomously. Her tail, along with the others who had one, flicked irritably. Akros felt a cold sweat beginning to run, but he swallowed his anxiety and acted tough. 

"Watch your tone, Hecate. This is Ulvone, a woman I met long before any of you. She'll be joining us, and you will treat her with respect." Akros growled lowly, daring them to speak back. They immediately held their tails and glares, bowing simulatenously.

"Forgive us for our incompetence, master!" "-daddy!" They spoke in unison, except for Morwen. She insisted on the term when referring to Akros.

Ulvone watched this in awe. These demons had to be near the strength of Akros himself, she thought. How in the Abyss' name did he tame them all? Then she recalled the attraction she felt to him after he touched her chest. Now that feeling was gone. He had used a charming spell? She grit her teeth angrily as she felt she had been duped all along.

"Wait a minute! You charmed me when we first met, didn't you! I've been your plaything this whole time, and now your experiment?! What makes you think I'll accept this... humiliation...?"

Her voice got caught in her throat. Akros had released his magic aura, making her sick to her stomach, almost vomiting. How much more powerful had he become in a few months? 

The girls felt similar, but were more accustomed to it. Out of respect for their master they held in their bile and kept straight faces. This was seen by Ulvone, making her think she was weaker than them. 

"You are not only my experiment, but my toy. You'll do as I please, unless you want me to let other male demons rape you? With your new body they won't be able to resist..." Akros said coldly, reeling in his aura with an apathetic stare. She gulped nervously, then slowly prostrated. It took her some time as she was figuring out her new limbs, but she eventually had her head on the ground. 

"As you wish, master. I will bear any and all of your desires and theories. I beg, please let me stay by your side!" Ulvone whimpered, shaking in fear. The thought of being left to die or worse after having her heart broken and mind twisted was starting to destroy her sanity, until she heard him laugh in earnest.

"Good girl. Now stand up, and wear these. I can't have anyone else but me seeing that rack out."

He pulled her to her feet, and handed her a black sports bra and boxers, the same outfit that the other girls wore. He made her bra a bit special to hold her breasts from bouncing too much, just as he had done with Luane. 

"Now, let's go back to your territory. I have plans to fulfill, and I need a base."

Akros, now with his 8 woman force, went back to Ulvone's now destroyed territory. The rocky crags were crumbled and laid to waste. The stone ground was cracked in many spots, and stone walls were still erected in several spots. This scene reminded Akros of something important: dirt and stone magic were different types of earth magic. Luane and Ulvone practiced similar magic, but it was not the same. The katana wielding demon could use existing dirt around her, but not the ashes of the Abyss. Ulvone could use existing rock around her, and that didn't discriminate.

The furry demon's mana had recovered significantly, so under Akros' order she dug a deep hole, making a large rectangular divot in the stone surface. The removed stone became a roof with one large hole for air and for entrance. Akros tasked Galadriel with standing guard on the roof outside, as he trusted her combat ability. 

"As you command, master," She felt happy to be trusted with this role, so she accepted without qualms. As she flew out, Akros explained to Ulvone her changes, now more in depth.

Her earth magic was buffed, along with every other aspect of her. Mainly her mana reserves and agility he told her, but she noted to herself that she felt much more durable as well. He expected much from her, and gave her along with Enyo and Hecate healing magic in the form of injections. He had converted and copied the skill from the fallen hero Lucius, a priest whose healing staff was quite potent. 

Ulvone was starting to feel better about being one of his companions. He treated her with respect, as he did the others as long as they behaved. He seemed to be a guardian figure that watched over them. However, she didn't fail to notice Enyo and Neiro sneak envious glances at her chest.

"With all due respect, why are you two so bothered about this," Ulvone pointed to her chest, then at Luane's. "When hers are bigger?"

"One woman with massive breasts was bad enough, now this?" Enyo frowned. "This is unfair! How can we flat-chested women compete with you?!"

"Yeah," Neiro backed her up, but with less angst. She had spent quality time with Akros just the day prior, so she was sitting pretty as she knew how to get his affection. 

"Girls, please," Akros sighed into his palm. "No woman controls the size of their bosom. There's no point in fighting over something that you can't change."

"We  may not be able to change, but master can," Enyo reasoned, wagging her finger with sass. "I'll prove myself worthy of receiving breast enlargements, and blow you two out of the lava!"

"Yeah?" "Sure..." Both Luane and Ulvone had their doubts. They exchanged a knowing look, then smiled at each other. "Boob friends?" "Boob friends."

Akros didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He gave up trying to deal with them, and focused on his main objective now that he was in a safer environment. Lyra.

Lyra, is there any more preparations to make? How long will this process take? How do I separate you from the system?

"Calm down, Amin. The only preparation is to make the 'Extract Soul' skill I mentioned. Imagine extracting my soul of the system as the ability."

Okay...

"Good. That'll cost one high quality soul."

That much for such a specific purpose?

"Well, I've been laced into the system as the operator, so yes. Once I've been extracted, just pocket my soul. It'll have the name 'evil soul fragment', so you should find my soul just fine."

Evil soul fragment?!

"My soul is actually just a piece of a powerful demon... but I don't know who. Anyways, can I have your consent to make the skill?"

Yes, sorry. 

"Okay..." Lyra went quiet for a few seconds. "The creation of my body will be quite fast. When you create my body,  it'll appear in your inventory first just like anything else made with Create. Then you take my body and my soul out of your inventory, then push my soul into it. After that, it'll be another while until I have control over my body. Also, one last thing about my body."

Name it.

"I still want a bust, but..." Lyra sounded a bit shameful. "I've realized that it can be a handicap. Also, I'm going to be a fallen angel, not an elemental demon. I want to be toned with muscle and have less curves. I guess like Neiro's build, but with bigger breasts. Can you imagine that?"

Uh, sure? Still with the void attribute?

"Yes please!"

...

"Okay, perfect! Or as perfect as perfect gets. The cost has gone down to 90,000 souls by the way."

Yay? Well, if this is what you want then I have no objections. Make the body for me.

"Alright..."

90,000 souls disappeared from his inventory. He waited patiently as the body was constructed in his inventory, sitting down on the warm stone floor.

The other girls were accustomed to him spending long periods of time thinking, usually with his eyes closed. Only Ulvone found his actions intriguing. 

"Um... master Akros?" She asked tentatively. 

"One or the other, not both," He grunted, not opening his eyes. 

"Then, master," Ulvone noticed how the other girls referred to him as that. Her will to survive, even if it meant bowing down to this perverted demon, kept her mind strong. "What are you doing on the ground?"

"Helping a friend."

"What...?"

Akros didn't bother giving her more information. She'd see it a moment anyway. Ulvone wasn't pleased about his dismissive attitude towards her at all, but had no choice but to remain silent. The other girls would surely jump on her if she tried to attack Akros or escape, she thought.

Once the fallen angel body was complete, Akros ran over a couple things with Lyra before connecting her to it.

Lyra, I ask of you two things. One, don't be too loving when we're around the others. I don't want them at odds with you out of jealousy or whatever harem bullshit my life is now. Two, you are high-rank in terms of demon power. You're going to be leagues more powerful than them, maybe even me. I trust you'll be nice.

"You know, you're kind of special. You literally made a sexy harem that would've sent the old you head over heels. Now, you don't lust for them at all, nor do you see them as potential lovers. You really are becoming a father figure," Lyra giggled. "Don't worry, I'll follow everything you say. Everything."

Don't.

"Hehe!"

Akros smiled with a low chuckle. He turned to Ulvone, who was still watching him closely out of curiosity and caution.

"Ulvie, you're about to see something that should be about impossible," He was smiling, but his eyes burned with malevolence. "Once you join me, there's no leaving my side. You'll serve me, and in return I'll give you rewards. Make sense?"

"Yes, but what do you mean by 'about impossible'?" Ulvone was intimidated by his stare that bore into her soul. This wasn't like their first meeting, when he saw her breasts and was fixed with lust. The lust in his eyes was gone now, replaced by a much different emotion: compassion. One that she hadn't see in so long she didn't recognize it at first. 

Akros grinned slyly. "Well, I suppose it is possible now. Check this shit out!"

From his inventory he took out the newly produced fallen angel body. It had smooth skin white as snow, and lavish purple hair that went down to her hips. Toned muscle covered her body along with tight curves. Her body type was very similar to Neiro's, as Lyra liked her body a lot. She had four black angel wings, the upper two being significantly larger than the bottom two.  Her eyes were open and blank, revealing human-like eyes beside the irediscient purple iris. Two knife-like ears poked out from her hair.

The other girls, including Ulvone, were aghast at this woman's beautiful face. Morwen was the only one who knew of Lyra's existence, and when this fallen angel appeared she finally put the pieces together.

"So I fulfilled our contract by giving you souls, so you could do this? That's how we could leave that world," Morwen's eyes were wide. "Dad, you're a genius!"

Akros blinked in surprise at the change, but shrugged it off. Being called 'daddy' felt too sensual with her voice anyhow. "You must've figured this out. Behold! When I said help a friend, I'm actually just giving her a body. She asked to become a fallen angel, so I made a fallen angel shell at the level of a high-rank demon! Cost me a lot of souls, but thanks to your efforts -minus Ulvone- it was possible. I can't thank you gals enough."

"Master, we are unworthy of such praise!" Okami blanched, feeling bashful from the humble and sudden compliment. "All we did was kill humans and dragons!"

"Hold on, you've slain dragons?!" Ulvone was shocked. No middle rank demon could slay a dragon on their own, even with a group of them if was usually a close battle. 

"It's not the killing, although I am still impressed with the dragon slaying you girls did solo," Akros gave Ulvone a cocky smile. "You 7 made it possible for me to give Lyra, my dearest friend, a physical body. Observe."

Akros used his newest skill, which he aptly named 'Give me Lyra' to separate Lyra from the system. As soon as he did, a system panel appeared in front of him.

Operator Lost

Switching admin...

Host is now admin

Whew, so that's sorted. Come on, let this work...!

Akros took out the evil soul fragment from his inventory. As he held it in his palm, he felt its conscious. A trustful, affectionate aura radiated off of it. He smiled as he felt the comfortable feeling, and treated it as proof of being Lyra's soul. The girls watching were astounded at this soul. None of them, even Ulvone as the oldest, had even encountered an evil soul or a fragment of one. They drooled just looking at it, until Akros pushed the soul fragment into the fallen angel body.

Seconds passed as Akros sat there with cold sweat. His heart was racing and his mind silent while he waited impatiently for a response from the fallen angel. Then, her eyes became clear, and started moving slowly. Her lips twitched along with the rest of her nude body.

"Ah... uh..." She struggled to form words, not experienced with a physical mouth and vocal cords. It took her several minutes to sit up and form proper words. "Ack... Akro... s?"

"Yes, Lyra," His body shook as he held in tears of happiness. His voice cracked with emotion as he held her hand tightly. "I've done it. We've done it."

"AKROS!!!!" Lyra wailed, pulling him into her chest and compressing him with a hug. She began to bawl into his hair as he gasped in pain. He tried to push her off but she only held tighter in response. 

"Gargh! Lyra let gorgh!" With a sickening crack, his lower body went limp. He spat blood over her chest, which is when she realized she was hurting him. She frantically pushed him away and apologized under the murderous glares from the girls minus Ulvone, who was still stunned at what just happened.

"Akros! I'm so sorry!" Lyra wiped her tears. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"Shut it!" He yelled angrily, the pain from his reconstructing spine only worsening his mood. He slowly got to his feet with the help of Enyo and Morwen. "Lyra, you knew I was giving you a powerful body! How stupid could you be?!"

"..." She flinched at his tone, looking down in shame. He sighed irritably, trying to calm down. He didn't like being upset with her, but he couldn't let that go. If he didn't have ultraspeed regeneration he'd have been crippled for a long time before it healed.

"Lyra, listen," Akros crouched in front of her, grabbing her chin to make eye contact. Her gorgeous visage was contorted in anxiety and shame, making him grimace. She, however, took his facial reaction as a sign of anger and felt more guilty. He spoke again after choosing his words carefully. "I'm not that angry, but that was quite painful. You're a very smart and knowledgeable woman, so I expected better, is all. I'll get over it... at some point."

He flicked his eyes down to her chest, then back up to her eyes. His mental training allowed him to maintain a calm and cold state even when sexual opportunities were right in front of him. Akros opened a system panel with a mental command, then Created black athletic underwear, the same the other girls wore, for Lyra. 

"Until I get you some armor, wear these."

He dropped them in her lap, then leaped out of the artificial cavern. A moment after he did, Galadriel dropped down looking confused.

"Would someone like to tell me why master's mood is... poor..." She gawked at Lyra's figure, then recollected herself. Hecate jerked her head at the fallen angel with a disdainful expression.

"This fallen angel is a dear friend of Akros," The snake-like demon explained with a venomous tone. She had become protective of her master and his choices, taking grave offense when someone doubted him. Whenever a dragon cursed Akros in Askr, Hecate and Morwen were the first to lash out in anger. "To repay him for gifting her a powerful body, she broke his back. You can figure the rest out yourself."

"You don't have to phrase it that way," Enyo, being more complacent and forgiving, came to the teary Lyra's rescue. "She was thanking him with a hug, but she isn't used to having a physical form. Look at her, she's crying because she hurt him and made him upset! How can you be so harsh anyway, master said she's his dear friend!"

"Hmph. Master also said she's a intelligent woman, one who failed to grasp the basic concept of physical strength," Neiro bit back, siding with Hecate. 

"Says you, who couldn't even swim at first even with a fishy body? Whatever," Okami spat with a mocking tone, putting a hand on Enyo's shoulder reassuringly.

Galadriel and Luane watched the four bicker from a distance while Morwen held Lyra in a gentle embrace to help her calm down. The blonde was already familiar with her, so she felt a bit bad after Akros lashed out at her. 

"Hey, it's okay," She whispered to the crying angel. "Dad has a soft spot for you. There's no way he'll stay upset for long."

"Really?" Lyra sniffed, looking at her with watery eyes. Morwen felt her heart crack at the sight. She was too pure, she thought.

"Yes. Just relax."

Lyra was grateful to her for her kindness, so she did as told. Morwen glanced at Luane with a worried face. The insect demon sighed, making a I don't know gesture with her arms. 

Enyo and Okami defended Lyra while Hecate and Neiro belittled her. Their voices gradually rose until someone heard from outside.

"CAN YOU FOUR SHUT UP?!"

Akros roared down into the cavern, making all of them shudder with fear and pain. His voice had been amplified by his magic aura, which flared when he heard them bickering. 

The girls were petrified as Akros dropped from the skylight. He didn't bother to soften his impact, letting the stone crack under his feet with a thud.

"You will not speak poorly of Lyra again, unless you want to lose the ability to speak!" He glowered at Neiro and Hecate, who struggled to even nod under the pressure of his magic power. "You two... evidently I have not taught you enough respect for your peers. Lyra helped me create the serum to let you ascend. How ungrateful!"

"..." Their eyes went wide at hearing this. Neiro and Hecate looked at Lyra aghast as Akros yanked her to her feet.

"A-akros?" Lyra was touched that he was angry on her behalf, but also worried that he was in fact angry. She gazed up at his frustrated face with concern. She was only 6 feet tall, because Akros realized that a fallen angel should normally be around human size until they reached six wings. 

"Forgive me, Lyra. I snapped over something small," Akros sighed, scratching his nape. "Those two don't have anything against you, I'm sure, they're just angry at you because I was. I'll punish them later. For now, wear this over your underwear. You're a fallen angel, so your clothing has to be of one. Demons can wear pretty much anything, but you can't get away with a sport bra and boxers."

He withdrew a black and purple battle skirt, leggings, boots, gloves, and vest with gold accents. She was dazed with amazement as she looked all of it over. "Is this really for me?"

"That is what I said?" Akros would've raised an eyebrow if he had any. "Are you okay?"

"I mean, it's fine, totally fine," Lyra sighed in relief. She was unsure of how to feel around Akros now, being unable to read his mind and sense his emotions. However, it was easy for anyone to notice how he kept shifting his eyes uncomfortably. "I was going to ask you the same thing. You seem very... stressed. Now that you've given me a body, which I am endlessly grateful for, take a break and rest. You need to be clear minded for battle, no?"

"Lady Lyra is correct," Okami nodded, only speaking up now that Akros' magic aura calmed. "Master, you've spent so much of your efforts looking over us, let us return the favor. Please rest while we take turns on lookout. We'll bring you anything you need."

Akros blinked in surprise, then barked a harsh laugh. "You kidding? There's no time for that. I need to keep collecting souls to empower myself and all of you. I suppose I should limit how many more demons I recruit due to my budget..."

"What's got you in such a rush? We're not in a hurry to promote, are we?" Ulvone had performed the magic vein exercise a few times before. Even though she was a spider queen, she had lived a couple hundred years and reached the limit of her magic power growth from eating souls. She stopped leaving the Abyss so that she could practice this exercise somewhat safely.  

She knew that expanding and contracting the magic veins to condense one's magic took a long time, and your magic power stored in the demon heart of a demon had to at its maximum potential to start this process. However, Akros was unique. She had no idea of what he was capable of after witnessing Lyra's birth.

"I've been a bit lax on my own powers," Akros admitted with a sigh. "I don't mind giving weapons or armor to you ladies, but doing so has slowed down my own progress. I need to become stronger to protect you from lecherous demons that surpass me in power. I would rage against myself endlessly if any of you were taken from me."

"Master..." The girls were touched by his selfless claim. Even Ulvone felt bashful at this statement, but she played it cool. 

"Akros, you don't have to-" Lyra said in concern, but he wasn't done yet.

"No, I must. I will travel to another world alone to increase my power and expertise. All I ask of you all is to remain here, and not to venture out. If there is a mass war summon or an angel trying to promote to seraph, do not go. When the lust moon rises, remain here and avoid contact with other demons. If a male demon offers intercourse, cut him down. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, master!" "-Dad!" "-Akros!" Lyra's and Morwen's shouts stuck out from the rest.

"One last thing," Akros put an arm around Lyra's shoulders, bringing her close. She gawked at him with a surprised blush. "You are to respect each other. I will know if any of you are harmed, so don't try anything foolish. You two..."

He glanced at Neiro and Hecate, who looked away in shame. "I lied before. I will not punish you. You did what you thought was right, and learned from it. Such is life, and I want nothing more than for you to learn."

"M-master?!" The two were shocked. After witnessing his irritated shout they thought they'd be forced to hold a 10-hour plank... again. 

"That's all I have to say. I will return eventually, but I may stay in whatever world I go to for a long period of time if I can collect more souls. Farewell for now, my precious subjects," Akros planted a Shadow Brand on Lyra, then made his way to the skylight. Lyra snapped out of her shock and realized what he was doing.

"Wait! We've just reunited, and you're leaving? Take me with you!" She cried out desperately. He didn't respond, instead tossing a sheathed longsword to her. She caught it clumsily with a struggle. "Argh?!"

"The last of my soul supply rests in your hands," Akros threw her a serious look. "You're the strongest one here, so I need you to protect them if I am unable to return in time."

"If you insist," She said reluctantly. "Just... don't recruit more girls! I feel bad knowing I'm slowing down your progression."

"Don't. I value your joy more than my power," Akros grinned, winking at her. Her face flushed again at the sudden statement as it settled into her mind. "I'm off."

He leapt out of the cavern, then headed towards the summoning altar. Once he left, Hecate volunteered to take watch out of guilt. She watched him leave with sad, but hopeful eyes. She was excited for him to grow stronger, but worried for his wellbeing and cherished his company. Hecate had grown very fond of his warmth, especially from his hands. 

Inside the cavern, Lyra was examining the sword Akros gave her. She couldn't operate the system anymore, but she found she retained her god-like observation skills and knowledge that she had as the operator. She could also store her sword with spatial magic, which she learned quickly due to her intellect. 

The sword itself had a 4 foot long blade and foot of grip. She found it somewhat heavy even though she was clearly very strong. It seemed to be made out of a bone-like substance, and seemed familiar.

Grima's Fang

+300 ATK

Despair: Blade feeds on negative emotions within a 500 foot radius. More negative emotion will permanently increase damage dealt, albeit minimally. 

Infinite Duress: Increases magic recovery speed tenfold. Active when sheathed.

Description: A sword created out of a tooth from the Fell Dragon, Grima. Nigh invincible to damage.

Lyra held the scabbard in her other hand, looking at it with exasperation. She wanted to smack Akros. He gave her a weapon to make her happy after he left, as if he knew she would be upset. 

"How can I complain though?" She said quietly to herself. "Maybe he just needs some time alone. He's never been truly by himself. Please, be safe, Akros."

Akros was reluctant to leave his party, but he was getting desperate for more souls. He'd been performing the promotion exercise many times now, and felt his magic power increasing in strength. Besides that he felt as if he was slowing down in his progression for power, which made him feel unsafe and weak. He had a reason to seek power now. To protect them, he'd do almost anything.

He traveled back to the altar after having been there only a few hours ago. He went through some potential ideas for powers and items during his walk there, as he wanted to save armor blueprints for himself and the girls, including Lyra. Her current outfit was to keep an appearance, nothing more. 

Status!

Name: Amin

Race: Demon

Bloodline: Shadow Demon

Demon Name: ...Noval Akros

Form: Adult

Attribute: Dark

Strength: 599 (x10 during Super Saiyan)

Speed: 507 (x5 during Super Saiyan)

Magic Energy: 2,930 (x2 during Super Saiyan)

Stamina: 392

Vitality: 735 (x5 during Super Saiyan)

Souls in Possession: 20 Noble souls, 5 Fallen souls, 1 soul of Might fragment, 1 Evil soul, 1 Holy soul

Loaded Materials: Saiyan Blood, Tail Plating, Tremor-Tremor, Crafanc

Skills: Dark Ascension, Dark Barrier, Charm, Abyssal Tremor, Observation Haki, Mortal Gleam, Solar Flare, Vacuum, Armament Haki, Super Saiyan, Tome Conversion, Give Me Lyra 

Magic: Shadow, Shadowflame

Race Ability 1: Soul Peer

Race Ability 2: Demon Blood

Race Ability 3: Soul Devouring Addiction

Talent Ability 1: Undying Spite

Talent Ability 2: Zenkai Boost

Talent Ability 3: Ultraspeed Regeneration

Talent Ability 4: Sex Magnet

Hmm, what to do... that's right! 

Akros used Tome Conversion on Gleipnir, the tome he looted from Eirika. He always loved the animation it had in FE8, and knew that it was very powerful. When he used the skill Tome Conversion, he had the two options to convert the targeted tome: a serum syringe, or directly to himself. It was of course cheaper to take it for himself, but he hadn't done that until now. 

With Gleipnir added to his skill list, Akros tried casting it on a nearby boulder. A large pinkish white glyph appeared in front of it, then vanished. He watched in grim glee as a vortex started swirling around the boulder, sucking in ash and loose pieces of rock nearby. After about 10 seconds a pink flash blinded him. When he reopened his eyes, his jaw dropped.

Dozens, maybe hundreds of purple asteroids each the size of a small car crashed into the area around the boulder, completely wrecking the area. Shadowflame burned on each asteroid as they fell, and their fragments that splattered across the ground continued to burn. After a couple minutes all that was left was a smoking crater of molten rock. 

Akros was astonished. It was a spell on par with Forblaze, perhaps even stronger. He now had four destructive abilities to cast on crowds, he realized. Abyssal Tremor, Solar Flare, Mortal Gleam, and Gleipnir. 

Solar Flare, a circular blast of fire, and Gleipnir were the most damaging to enemies directly as they were spells with shadowflame. Mortal Gleam was a concentrated beam of shadow, which obliterated anything in its path. It was weaker after he changed it to use shadow rather than shadowflame, but the cost had been significantly reduced. Abyssal Tremor was most effective against ground units indirectly by destroying the earth they stood on. It could also be utilized in melee combat to shatter the innards of the target he direct impacted with it, but that would still cause collateral damage.

Akros was satisfied with his offensive options, moving on to defense. He longed for armor, especially the Basilisk Scale armor. The mage set was too tempting, and it was far cheaper than the Adamantite and Imperial Gold armor sets. He could also create armor with Heroin or Etherium, but he was out of both substances. Creating so much from scratch would cost a lot, he thought. But he tried it anyway.

Adamantite Armor (Modify) - 0.0% Completion

Imperial Gold Armor (Modify) - 0.0% Completion

Basilisk Scale Armor (Modify) - 0.0% Completion

Etherium Armor (Create) - 0.0% Completion

'Heroin' Armor (Create) - 0.0% Completion

Oh, that's right. Without Lyra, I can't get the exact number. I can't get any number right now without any souls... that means I can't use evil and holy souls to create items? What the heck do they make then? Living organisms, like how Roy used a holy soul fragment from Gabriel to create his hellhound? Regardless my next skill should be...

Akros went into the Modify tab of the system panel in front of him. Three tabs appeared, one for items, one for skills, and lastly one for himself. He tapped the Skill tab, then tapped on Armament Haki. He pondered for a moment, then imagined his new idea. 

50% Holy Damage Reduction - 100.0% Completion 

Modify? Yes/No

Akros tapped yes, then checked his souls again to see that the change cost him all 5 fallen souls. He would've normally felt wasteful spending 5 high quality souls on one skill, but he wanted to be prepared. Angels were a demon's natural enemy, he'd fight one sooner or later. When he did he had to take it seriously for angels could purify his soul, killing him permanently.

He was ripped out of his thoughts by a powerful force, one similar to a summoning offering. However this sensation was immensely more powerful, crashing into his body. He felt invigorated and bloodthirsty suddenly, before activating Observation Haki to clear his mind.

"What the... a large scale war summon? Good thing I told them to stay put," Akros remembered a similar feeling that Roy came into contact with in CMDK. As he did, other demons passed by him running or flying in the direction of the sensation. One stopped by him, looking at him oddly.

"Hey! Aren't you coming?!" The demon shouted at him, cementing the fact that this was indeed a mass war summon. He may get into unnecessary trouble avoiding this call. He could only hope the others back at Ulvone's territory would be fine, but he didn't feel any danger pings from Shadow Brand so he rested easy.

"Sorry, I was distracted! I'll follow you!" Akros yelled back, running beside the demon who seemed to be a baron, a large fire wielding war demon. He had some armor on his shoulders and legs, and held a flail in his arms. He nodded at Akros, and they ran together to the mass war summon.

Akros was surprised to see a brutish war demon such as this one being friendly. Rather, friendly in demon terms. Then again, there was no point in fighting now as if they did they'd miss the portal for the summoning. When they were close enough to see it, Akros was in shock at the mere size of it. 

A portal several miles wide with thousands of middle-rank demons streaming in spewed dark mist all over the ashen ground. Many of the frailer demons such as succubi or elemental demons with wings flew to avoid being trampled by the many flightless war demons. Barons were an example of flightless war demons.

Once he passed through the portal, he was teleported to a enormous space full of lava and flames. It seemed like the Abyss, but then he had a splitting memory resurface. Roy's excursion to the world of Darksiders! 

Roy, the protagonist of Custom Made Demon King, had been summoned to a place exactly like this, an Abyss outpost, as it was called in the novel. A fortified area where demon lords and kings would launch attacks on other worlds from. They served as home bases and they weren't affected by a world's repulsive force due to the outpost being a separate space. These could only be made around high-magic worlds, otherwise high-rank demons wouldn't be able to stay in the battle for long. High-rank demons were crucial in massive wars as their magic power was outstanding compared a middle-rank demons.

Akros gawked at the area he was in. Several other massive portals spawned more and more demons of varying ranks. There were so many demons that he could not count them all, much less differentiate which were what rank. It was a sea of demonic force, one that would make any world tremble in terror.

As some more time passed, Akros was able to differentiate the ranks of the demons around him. The low-rank demons rushed to the front, knowing they would serve as fodder in the war. Middle-rank demons hung behind them, but in front of the high-rank demons. They had more status than low-rank demons, but significantly less than a high-rank demon. 

There were tens of millions of low-rank demons, he estimated. Compared to that, the several hundred thousand middle-rank demons that included him seemed small. Even smaller was the couple thousand high-rank demons behind him. They would probably serve as commanders in the demon army.

In front of the low-rank demons, facing the army was a handful of demon lords. Akros could tell from their large demon horns and massive magic aura that they were of that rank. Their raw influence meant they were in their true bodies, Akros thought. This was truly a massive war if demon lords appeared to fight alongside the army, or at least command it in person.

Akros and the baron beside him waited quietly among the other middle-rank demons and the high-rank demons who were also silent. Only the unintelligible low-rank demons were loud and rambunctious, making him scoff. They were so excited, and for what? To be used as cannon fodder? Not many would survive.

When the space he stood in was nearing its max capacity, an incredible strong presence appeared. One that caused the flying demons to cry out in fright as they hurriedly landed. 

The low-rank demons went silent as they were crushed by this pressure, unable to push themselves off the ground or make a peep. The middle-rank demons, including Akros, were unable to stand and knelt. Akros felt Undying Spite activate during this, urging him to stand. He knew better than to act on this whim, as he would stand out like a sore thumb. It would also be seen as disrespectful, he thought. So he knelt with the others around him.

The high-rank demons could barely stand, fighting to stay on their feet. The demon lords seemed unaffected, but they turned and hammered their chests in the direction of the pressure in an expression of respect.

Akros suspected this was the appearance of a demon king.

A massive circle of fire rose in the vast space, forming an upside down demon pentagram. Slowly, a giant fiery red demon appeared. One with huge horns that formed a crown while also piercing upward, and rune tattoos on his unarmored right shoulder. His enormous, powerful wings spread to create a wingspan that Akros couldn't imagine. His golden eyes burned with power and destruction, and his face seemed permanently angry. Every breath spewed flames from his nostrils and mouth, like a dragon. 

At his appearance, the outpost became dead silent. The formidable demon floated into the sky, then bellowed in a hoarse voice. 

"My name is Samael! An incarnation of the King of Wrath! Warriors of the Abyss, this world's contract seals have been broken, and Judgement day is coming! A decisive battle against angels awaits. Slaughter, destroy, be it humans or angels, kill everything in front of you!"

The sea of demons roared loudly at his declaration of war, Akros being one of them. He brimmed with excitement. A war against angels, right after he upgraded Armament Haki to protect himself against them! It was almost as if he incurred a turn of fate! He couldn't wait to grab souls!

But then he had a realization. Maybe he did turn fate. Lyra mentioned before that it was currently 100,000 years before Roy existed as a demon in the Infinite Worlds. If that was the case, how could this battle, one that Roy participated in, take place? Lest it happened twice, reccuring 100,000 years later...

He pushed that thought aside as he ran along the rest of the demon army through the fissure in the void Samael made, leading to a blue sky. This would be were the war took place. 

As Akros arrived in the sunny, bright atmosphere he was quite uncomfortable. He also felt odd walking on the strange cloudy floor that the demon army stampeded on. At the end of the clouds there was a towering, dazzling city that gleamed with white light. In the sky in front of it where an innumerous amount of angels waiting for them. 

"Attack! Kill the angels and destroy the White City!" A high-rank demon shouted behind him. Akros came to realize that this was a heaven outpost, much like the Abyss outpost he was just in. It was a base of the angels, and Samael's goal was to strike a decisive blow by destroying it. 

The angels blew their war horns, summoning warriors in shining golden armor. While the horns were blowing, the angelic warriors clashed with the low-rank demons in the front. Purple and green demon blood splattered everywhere as the angels cleaved into the demons.

Even two-winged angels, the weakest level, were stronger than low-rank demons. On top of that they were trained and disciplined fighters. They easily cleaved and pierced through the low-rank demons, but there were too many. Once an angel was overwhelmed and pulled down to the cloudy ground by demons, they would be torn asunder by tooth and claw. The demons showed no hesitation while they watched their comrades die, many from golden balls of lightning fired from lances of the angels at the rear of the army.

Akros saw this gruesome scene as soon as he emerged out of the spatial fissure. The angels had much higher individual strength, but the raw number of low-rank demons let them steadily advance towards the city in the distance. 

A high-rank demon flew above him and laughed sinisterly, waving his scythe wildly and pointed forward. "Hahahahaha! Keep this up and we'll demolish that feeble city of light!"

With this, many of the middle-rank demons around Akros rushed forwards. As middle and high-rank demons appeared in the battle magic was being cast everywhere. Flames fell from the sky and burned the wings of angels, sending them falling amid screams. 

The angels returned the favor by sending pillars of golden light plummeting into demons. Those within the beams were incinerated and turned to ashes under the holy power. Akros himself had to strafe to the side to dodge one such attack, frightened but also stimulated by the risk. His Saiyan cells along with his demon cells burned with the desire of blood and battle. 

Akros knew that if he died here, he'd be gone forever. Both sides would perish permanently, either by having their eaten or cremated. Even the Ouroburos mark was no match for the holy light. 

He was quick on his feet, dodging incoming pillars of light as he shortened the gap between him and the angel army. When he was not far from the front line, he gathered his magic power, shaking with effort as he did so. 

"Gleipnir!!!" With a thunderous roar, he activated the skill. However, he didn't aim right in front of him, rather much further back. He targeted as far back as he could, aiming for the angels casting ballistic magic at the back.

These four winged angels were briefly stunned by the appearance of the glyph, then quickly flew away. However, as Akros poured a lot of magic energy into his cast, the gravitational force of Gleipnir strengthened. Angels hundreds of feet away were pulled into the swirling vortex into a ball of white wings and golden armor. They had to avoid stabbing each other with their lances and swords as they were crushed together. 

Before they could call for help they were blinded by a pink flash, then the real attack came. Hundreds of asteroids coated in Shadowflame fell upon the trapped angels, smashing their bones and burning them to ash. Nothing was left behind, not even a single holy soul.

The angels in backline nearby the cast of Gleipnir were horrified and furious at the deaths of their comrades. They had temporarily paused their bombardment in shock at the spell that managed to be cast from miles away. 

"Avenge them! Keep attacking this filthy demons!" A four winged dominion angel, one at the highest rank of a four winged angel, shouted angrily. The angels rallied and continued firing golden lighting and pillars.

Akros laughed maniacally at the result of Gleipnir. He spent about a quarter of his mana, but the result was noticeable. He killed dozens of four winged angels in a single spell, how could he not feel proud of himself?

The middle-rank demons around him rallied as well, inspired by the sight. They continued to fight angels in the air with magic and weapons forged from demon iron, every kill granting them more adrenaline and a slight increase to their holy resistance as they consumed holy souls. This buff would bottleneck at a point as total immunity to holy power was nigh impossible.

Akros knew that there were 9 levels of angels from CMDK. Two-winged angels had three levels: angel, archangel, and principality. Four-winged angels had three levels as well: power, virtue, and dominion. Above them were six-winged angels: throne, cherub, and seraph. Angels at the same level as demons were more powerful, meaning a top-middle-rank demon such as Akros would struggled against a dominion angel.

However, one could not judge an angel or a demon by their wing count. As demons and angels grew more wings, they often chose to retract them for the sake of convenience. Demon lords have six massive wings often made regular actions difficult. The best way to distinguish angels was by their grade of equipment. Lower ranking angels had majestic armor, but the equipment of stronger angels made such armor look like cosplay.

Akros had already done something similar by storing his wings with shadow magic. The utility of his magic was truly bizarre.

At this point, the blue sky had turned red with the flames of large-scale killing spells from middle-rank and high-rank demons. Akros had no issue with this, as he was also a fire-type demon. He continued to cast Gleipnir, but without as much force as the first time to preserve his mana. Crafanc helped restore his mana much faster, but he could not be rash. Armament Haki also exhausted his mana to use, so he had to keep some mana in store to be defend against an angel who directly attacked him. 

After obliterating several hundreds of angels with Gleipnir, Akros saw that the demon army was approaching the White City. He was a little surprised at the progress, but not for long.

Of course us demons are more prepared. We came to destroy the White City and the humans below. The angels here only had the Abyss outpost in mind, and didn't predict a force of this size.

The White City was in the sky, but it was actually a separate space. The clouds the demons stepped on where maintained by spatial power. Once the angels realized that they were losing the battle, they removed the power holding the clouds before the demons could reach the White City.

Many demons were flightless, so the result was very noticeable. The space the White City was in had no gravity of its own, so the demons fell quickly. However, they didn't fall fruitlessly. Demons who were in combat grabbed their angel opponents and dragged them down with them as they fell to the Earth, the gravity pulling them down. 

As they broke through Earth's atmosphere they burned up and fell as burning meteors, creating a massive meteor shower. The human society was in alarm, as they had modern technology. With the power of broadcasting, the meteor shower quickly spread around the world. However, the humans could not identify that the meteors were actually just angels and demons taking their fight to the Earth.

The humans watched either in person or on a screen with anxiety as they hoped the meteors would burn up due to the friction in the atmosphere. However, this foolish hope was crushed when the first impact was made, leveling a school in a suburban area. People ran around aimlessly, not knowing where to go for safety as more meteors crashed down with incredible force.

The ground shook and flames erupted everywhere they landed. Buildings and structures of all sizes collapsed and were demolished by them across the world. Those who survived despaired and mourned their loved ones, but out of gross curiosity they gathered around the deep craters full of smoke and debris.

Suddenly, the rubble and dirt at the bottom of the craters erupted, revealing hideous demons holding angel corpses or angels with demon corpses hanging on their weapons. The humans watching were already full to the brim with fright and horror, the current scene fully exceeding their understanding. The existence of demons and angels was enough to send people unconscious with shock. They ran in terror or broke down where they stood. 

Demons enjoyed the slaughter, consuming souls and flesh without discrimination. Humans that littered the Earth were mere toys to them as they possessed no magical power. Their powerful bodies and sharp teeth made quick work of them.

The angels weren't any kinder. They couldn't avoid collateral damage as there were demons everywhere, they could not spare any effort to defend when they had to slay so many enemies. 

With the despairing cries of humanity, the world burned as civilization fell. Cities all around the world crumbled, forests levelled, seas evaporated. Magical devastation wreaked havoc in the sky. It was the end of the world.

Akros came to the surface as well, making sure to latch onto an angel before he fell. He didn't bother releasing his wings or Hellreaver. He snatched onto the leg of a two-winged angel, dragging it down with his heavy body. The angel frantically stabbed at him with his lance, but Akros grabbed it with a hand coated in silver Haki and crushed the sharp end. Immediately afterward he snapped the angel's neck and grabbed its soul before it flew away.

As he positioned himself above the angel's corpse, using it as a sponge for the atmospheric friction, he saw that the angel's soul came up as 'low-grade holy soul'. He was a little confused at this. If this was a low-grade holy soul, what grade was Naga's? He looked into his status for more information.

Souls in Possession: 20 Noble souls, 1 High-grade soul of Might fragment, 1 Medium-grade Evil soul, 1 Medium-grade Holy soul, 1 Low-grade Holy soul

I guess it makes sense. Grima and Naga weren't actually that strong, seeing as I killed them both with severe injuries- no, I was Super Saiyan at that stage, so maybe they are stronger than I realize.

Akros silenced his thoughts as he braced for the impact on the surface. He knew he had to be carefully about his positioning on Earth. Now that angels and demons were fighting here, the Four Horseman of Apocalypse were sure to arrive, or at least War. War by himself was said to be nearly invincible and was an problematic existence even for demon kings. 

I don't have time to kill angels or humans now. I have to figure out where War will descend. The strongest country on Earth, I think it was... I need to ask a human about my geographical location when I land. I can't possibly contend with War.

Akros' tail swayed as he planned for his future on this world. Worse comes to worst, he could warp through the Shadow Realm using the Shadow Brands on the girls as reference. He'd have to create a skill to do so, but with 20 noble souls it was a safe bet.

As he grew nearer and nearer to the surface, he pushed off the angel corpse and fell with much less force than before. He was above a vast city, one already destroyed. Human corpses littered the streets and blood soaked everything that wasn't aflame. As Akros landed with a thud, he searched for a survivor for information. 

It didn't take him long to spot an untouched cafe, one with people huddling inside under tables and behind the counter. He scoffed at this sight, but was grateful for it. He ran through the glass walls, sending shards flying all over amid terrified screams. The sound was like music to his ears after killing so many in Askr.

Akros picked up a woman by the throat, careful not to crunch her frail body. "Answer my questions, and I will spare you all! Now tell me, which country in this world is the strongest?"

"Jeol!!" Several frantic shouts came from the human survivors, many of them having spoiled themselves at the sight of him. The woman in his hand was gasping for air, clutching at his arm. 

"What country are we in now?" Akros barked, dropping the woman to the floor. She coughed harshly, but was able to breathe. The survivors took this as a sign of his mercy, and continued to reply obediently.

"Jeol!!"

"Oh, fuck," Akros cursed out loud, gnashing his teeth in frustration. What where the chances?!

This country would likely become the main battlefield. Humans had developed nuclear weapons at this age, and they would only attract more demons by putting up a fight. In turn, more angels would come to kill the demons. War would likely descend here to put an end to the slaughter, and Akros' chance of encountering him were quite high if he remained here.

"Which direction is out of the country?" He asked one last question to the humans, who all crazily pointed behind them, towards the back of the cafe. Akros immediately ran through it, destroying the kitchen and killing several humans, but sparing those out of his path.

As he ran out of the cafe, golden lightning obliterated it behind him. A four-winged angel was in pursuit of him, shouting at him angrily. Akros had no time to deal with angels right now, so he slipped into the Shadow Realm to escape. 

The angel was bewildered and frustrated as his opponent seemingly melted away, leaving no trace or scent to track. But this emotion didn't last long, as there were plenty other demons to fight. 

Akros didn't consume mana by being inside the Shadow Realm if he moved with only his body and not magic power to accelerate. However, he quickly emerged from the Shadow Realm after sensing the angel's departure. Time moved quicker in the Shadow Realm, and he couldn't spare mana to move faster when running would be more effecient. 

Not even half an hour after he left the four-winged angel behind, Akros felt a presence incoming and looked to the sky. Behind him, nearby the city he had fled from a massive bright meteor covered in billowing smoke descended to the ground. He figured this was War, as the presence felt very strong. 

When the meteor hit the Earth, it had a nuclear-like effect with an enormous explosion that sent waves of ash and destruction across the surface. Moments later Akros felt the ground beneath him shaking violently. He stumbled for a second, then kepting running. He didn't want to use Dark Ascension if he could avoid it, even after he reduced the cost significantly. 

His mana was more precious than ever when he could be fighting for his life at any given moment. Until he met up with a group of powerful demons or found a nice isolated spot would he stop to rest or kill humans.

He picked up the pace to get further away from the disaster known as War, but as soon as he did a black light flashed at him from the side. He saw it coming with Haki, but still had a massive amount of momentum. He skidded to rough and abrupt stop, almost eating the dirt doing so. He quickly realized the beam of light wasn't aimed at him, but to stop him as it was aimed ahead of him. It blew up the dirt, creating a smoking crater in his path.

"Halt, demon! Where are you going? The battlefield is in the opposite direction!"

A feminine voice came from the sky, causing him to look up. His eyes bulged as a slim and graceful figure descended in front of him. A female fallen angel, he quickly observed. She was dressed in armor different than angels and her four wings were black and sized like Lyra's. Her hair was also black, and her face was gorgeous. He was taken aback for a moment, then recalled seeing a few fallen angels in the distance among the high-rank demons. That meant this fallen angel was of such power.

Her clothing was a regal and beautiful black and gold one piece metallic dress that covered her thighs up to her neck. It had characters of Heaven engraved on it that glowed with black power. It wasn't much different style of angels, but darkened and surrounded by a black aura. 

As she stopped descending, floating a couple feet off the ground, Akros could clearly see her gorgeous face. She still had the graceful features of an angel while her dark aura and color scheme added a bewitching twist that angels lacked. Akros found her quite attractive with her shapely figure as well.

However, Akros was in no mood to flirt. He already had a fallen angel by his side, and this one before him came with hostile intentions.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" He asked curtly.

"I am Hilda, immediate personal guard of his Majesty Samael, and in charge of the barrier troops!" Hilda said without emotion and a blank face. "I don't wish to deal with a demon like you, but I've been watching you move for a while now. You've been running in this direction, evading angels when they come after you without stopping to fight them. What do you plan on doing, deserting?"

Akros immediately had a headache at hearing this. 

There's no fucking way. Have I changed fate or what? Isn't this just a reskin of Julia from CMDK? That means her status is very high because she's in direct contact with Samael. I don't want to fight a fallen angel of her power, but she's better than War.

After calming his mind, Akros spoke to her. "Barrier troop, huh? I was only traveling to another location to harvest souls, no need to pin charges on me."

"Not so fast! Since you landed in this area, you should fight in this area. Why should you change places?" Hilda said flatly, her face still unchanging. "As for souls, there's no need to worry. Should the war go well, his Majesty Samael will reward the warriors who fight, so return!"

Akros' eye twitched and he flicked his tail irritably. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but there was no good way of explaining how he knew of War's presence. A normal middle-rank demon would have zero clue.

In his annoyed state of mind, he didn't bother arguing with her. Since he didn't wish to kill her, he didn't bring out Hellreaver. Instead, he had Crafanc transform into a large zweihander. He pointed it towards her with a scowl. "Get out of my way, or I'll make you!"

"Tch! What a rude fellow!" Upon his declaration, Hilda's blank face morphed into one of contempt. She didn't expect this shadow demon to be so stubborn to do away with her warning. She could tell he was only middle-rank, yet he dared to enter combat against her. Her pride was slightly wounded by this.

She summoned a slender angelic longsword from a separate space, the swung at Akros who was approaching rapidly. Their swords struck with a loud clang, blowing nearby ash and dust away from the force. However, Akros' strength stat increased morbidly during his time in Askr. Hilda was clearly not a strength type by the looks of her armor and sword. With a grunt, he sent her flying into the air.

"Shit!" Hilda cursed in frustration. She didn't expect this middle-rank demon to be so strong, nor to possess such a large yet seemingly light weapon. 

Akros kept speeding to the west, away from the large city turned battlefield. She saw this and growled irritably. She gave the battlefield one last glance before pursuing the fleeing Akros. Her flight speed was very fast. She was gaining ground on him, much to his surprise as he detected her with Haki behind and above him. 

What the? I broke the sound barrier, and she's still catching up!

Once she was close enough, Hilda sent a black sword beam with a wave of her sword. The beam was massive and reeked of dark power. It was aimed directly in front of him, forcing to go left or right abruptly. As a result she closed the distance between them in an instant.

Hilda was very skilled with the sword, while Akros was still getting used to wielding Crafanc. She was more adept with her movement as she flew around him, leaving several wounds that burned with hellfire. He was able to prevent some of her strikes from piercing his flesh with Haki, but was forced to envelop his wounds with shadow to extinguish the flames.

Even though he was taking a lot of damage, Hilda was very cautious. She had sensed that he was more powerful than most middle-rank demons, not quite approaching his promotion but not too far off. When her blade met his, she was forced back by his superior strength. When her hellfire met his shadow magic, her fire was extinguished. Even her speed wasn't too far superior, her being faster was due to him being groundborne. However she had an edge in expertise and raw magic power. 

After taking some painful injuries, Akros went serious. He unleashed his wings and activated Dark Ascension while transforming Crafanc back into a gauntlet. He drew Hellreaver from his inventory and coated it with shadow magic, making the blade ooze a dark aura. The blade amplified the magic energy coated it as well, only making it appear more sinister. 

"HAAAAGH!!" Akros charged at her with newfound speed and anger, catching her off guard. She coughed up golden blood as he slammed the flat edge of Hellreaver into her gut, sending her flying into the ground. She tumbled and rolled as the dirt made way for her, creating a dent in the ground. 

Hilda hastily got to her feet, but not without coughing up more blood. "What the hell are with those wings! Why are you so much faster?"

"Hmph! I have no obligation to tell you my secrets, woman. I'll give you one more chance. Leave me be, and I'll spare you," Akros spat, drawing on his last straw of patience. His bleeding wounds had completely healed now, and he felt a bit stronger. However, he was incredibly cranky at the fact that she bested him in swordplay and wounded him so much.

"Spare me? Don't make me laugh!" Hilda flew at him again, and they continued to clash. However, she noticed how Akros' speed was continually increasing as they fought. She went from easily dodging to having the edge of Hellreaver graze her face. She was bewildered at this development, unknowing that it was an effect of Akros' Saiyan blood. 

She eventually missed a crucial stab, leaving herself open. She could only grit her teeth as Hellreaver crashed into her back, breaking one of her wings. With a cry of pain Hilda slammed into the dirt. She slowly got back up, but she was now wheezing and coughing up gobs of golden blood. 

Akros scoffed, hefting Hellreaver onto his shoulder. The blade hadn't feasted in quite some time, so he had no problem lifting it with one hand, or resting it on his shoulder without it cutting into him. 

"Give it up. You can't win against me in a battle of attrition. This'll only get worse for you,  and I have no intention of killing a pretty fallen angel."

"Urgh," Hilda groaned in pain, but still glared at him hatefully. She had to admit his mystical regeneration put her at her wit's end. She could not fell him in a single blow, nor could she even keep up with his speed anymore as he got faster and she got slower. 

As she struggled with indecision, Akros noticed four black dots in the distance behind her. With a quick ping of Haki, he detected they were missiles! In her current state, Hilda might die if these hit her, and Akros didn't want her to die for no reason. 

After all, he could use her to get merits and exchange them for souls from Samael. He also thought it was a waste to let such a good-looking figure go. He wasn't swayed by temptation earlier, but her combat abilities had him hooked like a bass. On top of that, fallen angels didn't eat souls, so she wouldn't pose a problem to keep around.

"There's no time! We need to move!" Akros shouted, lurching forward. He grabbed Hilda by the waist, making sure to restrain her arms so she couldn't stab him, then took off. She yelped in surprise.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" She yelled angrily with pain in her voice. His vice grip was crushing her already damaged bones, sending waves of pain through her body. 

Akros didn't respond, instead focusing of escaping the blast zone of the incoming missiles. He had no clue how powerful the explosion would be, but he didn't want to find out. He flew far away from the destination of the missiles; their previous battlefield.

They detonated, producing a large explosion that shook the ground. It almost seemed as if they were warheads as their explosion was quite massive for the missiles' size. 

Stopping where he stood now, he dropped Hilda on the ground. She grunted in pain as she hit the ground, then looked at the explosion cloud in confusion. 

"What was that? Why did you save me?" Totally lost, she could only search for answers. However, Akros didn't spare her any time after dropping her. He deactivated Dark Ascension as he waited for the jets in the sky to pass by. Their radars would not likely sense a still ground target, and they probably assumed he and Hilda were done for.

After a couple minutes, the jets flew past as Akros hoped. During this time, Hilda didn't attack him as he waited patiently. She instead tried to catch her breath while holding her stomach in pain. She recognized that he didn't wish to kill her although he very easily could've. Even during their battle he used the flat side of his huge sword. So she came to the understanding that he had other plans for her.

As the jets flew overhead Akros reactivated Dark Ascension, put away Hellreaver, and gave chase leaving Hilda on the ground. They flew at a mere subsonic speed to preserve gas, as their main target was the large city Akros fled from. They had only sent four missiles because they were conserving for the larger number of hostiles in the city.

Suddenly they detected him with their radars as he rapidly approached. The ten fighter jets made emergency evasive movements, flying to either side to avoid him. Akros singled out one plane, accelerating to land on top of it. His weight caused the fighter jet to wobble in the air. He saw the pilot moving the control stick frantically in an attempt to throw him off, but Akros didn't give him the chance as he tore off the windshield covering the cockpit. 

"Ejection!" The pilot responded fast, as he knew he was out of options. He pushed the button and his seat flew up and abruptly stopped. Akros' clawed hand had taken hold of the seat.

The insane scene made the other pilots' eyes bulge. The pilot caught was terrified beyond words, and in the next moment his head disappeared and his soul was pocketed. Akros then grabbed the jet itself and threw it at another jet next to him, relying on his own wings to stay aloft. 

The other jet exploded at the contact, falling to the ground with the first jet shortly after. The other pilots maneuvered their planes to circle around and attack, but as soon as they did Akros cast Gleipnir in their flight path in front of him. The pilots panicked as their vehicles were crushed together, some of them dying from the implosion of metal. The survivors of the gravitational pull were annihilated by the flaming meteors that soon followed, reducing them and their jets to ash and debris.

Wiping his hands on his pants, Akros flew back down to the still recovering Hilda. As he landed before her she glared him.

"What do you want with me?" Hilda spat, swallowing her pride. She was in his hands now, whether she liked it or not. Akros deactivated Dark Ascension again, then crouched in front her to meet her resentful gaze. "You saved me from those humans, but why?"

Akros thought of how to respond, studying her as he did. "You're not a bad person, just one who's following your duty. You're also a fallen angel, so you're not my enemy. What do I gain from killing a servant of his Majesty Samael?"

"...I suppose that is valid..." Hilda couldn't argue against his logic. Not many were willing to make an enemy of a demon king. She looked at Akros with a different idea, restoring her cold poker face. "Demon, let's make a truce! I won't hold your deserting against you nor mention it to anyone. Let's just act as if it never happened, okay?"

"Sure!" Akros helped her to her feet, happily agreeing. Her making this vow meant that she recognized his act of sparing her. She walked past him to leave, but he wrapped his tail around her waist suddenly. 

"Hey! What gives!" Hilda thrashed in his grasp, but found herself unable to break free from his armored tail. He pointed at the city east of them and shook his head.

"If you plan of returning, don't. I left the area because War of the Four Horsemen has arrived. I didn't save your life so you could die to his steel," Akros poked her cheek in a teasing manner. "Besides, look at you. You're in no condition to fight, much less fly."

"Impossible! The End War only just started, why would they descend now?" Hilda scowled at him for a moment, then realized that he was actually looking out for her. Although she had no way to confirm what he said or how he knew, she did know she was in rough shape after the beating he gave her.

She thought his words to be demon trickery. It didn't make sense for the Charred Council to send the Horsemen of Apocalypse so soon. Historically this wasn't what they did, something was off.

He unwound his tail and began to walk away. "Believe me or don't, I don't care. Imma go."

Upon seeing him stance to run, Hilda said with haste: "Wait wait!"

"What?" Akros was inwardly smiling. He had got her attention now, and she'd need his help. He kept an irritated face to act his part.

"Regardless of the validity of your claim, I need to restore my power before returning," She explained. "In order to restore my magic power, I need you to protect me!"

Akros recalled this scene from CMDK, and his headache got worse.

It's like I'm taking Roy's place. This isn't right. Besides, I'm not gonna help out Fury like he did. I'm going to get some souls and maybe recruit a fallen angel or two before leaving. I want to try making an angel fall with my semen, but I need to find a female one...

Hilda wasn't done speaking yet. "In return after I restore myself, I can use my authority to give you merit!"

"Merit?" Akros acted surprised, but he knew this was coming. This arc of CMDK was the one he remembered best because he reread it a few times. "How does that help me?"

"You must not have participated in the Armageddon War before..." Hilda also expected his response, as most demons had no clue about hidden benefits. You had to explain something simply to most demons or they'd lose interest. "Well, when a large-scale war with angels occurs, commanding high-rank demons and demon lords will typically grant merit to the brave demons who fight. In addition to punishing deserters, barrier troops like me have the responsibility of recording merit granted to warriors. When you are given merit, you can exchange it for an award of equal value to your bravery from his Majesty Samael after the war ends. At this moment, I can't give you too much merit."

"Rewards from a demon king?" Akros was dubious. The thought was exciting, but he knew better than to trust a demon king blindly. "What type of rewards could I receive?"

"That uh, depends on his Majesty Samael's mood..." Hilda said sheepishly. "Demons rewarded in the past were given souls."

Akros had no reason to ask a demon king for souls when he was capable of collecting them himself, so he disregarded the merit concept. After all, this was the world of Darksiders. Humanity would go extinct, meaning there was potentially billions of average-grade souls for him. If he worked hard, he could probably leave with a couple hundred thousand.

But he also wanted favor with the demon king, as he was tempted to bring Hilda back to his group of female warriors. She was a powerful and skilled fighter, one who could teach Lyra more about fallen angels... although she probably knew more than Hilda in reality. Akros kept forgetting that even without the system, Lyra had her own abyss of knowledge. She was a living library.

Akros was already kind of lonely as well. He had gotten quite accustomed to having Lyra in his mind, then being occupied with the somewhat childish group of female demons. Now all of that was gone, and he was a little lost. Some companionship with this mature, pretty fallen angel would be nice.

"I'll take that offer. Now, start doing your thing. No time to waste, I'm losing souls every second out here!" Akros said, motioning for her to hurry.

They were in a barren plain with a highway cutting through it. Hilda knelt as she stabbed her sword into the flat ground, summoning a black nine-pointed star glyph with her being the center. It made a vrrmm sound as is powering up a laser, then a black beam shot into the sky and dyed it black. 

Hilda gradually rose into the air, her long black hair billowing around her as an air current formed. 

"This is a dark ritual!" Hilda explained. "Using this will help me recover my body and my mana very quickly. During this I am immobile and very noticeable, so I need you to ward off any attackers!"

"That was our deal!" Akros replied while nonchalantly checking her out as he laid Hellreaver on his left shoulder, loosely holding the grip with an armored hand. He didn't hate her body type. She was about as curvy as Lyra, but had a bit less muscle. Lyra's muscle was lean but defined, while Hilda was somewhat sleek. Her hourglass figure didn't make her super aerodynamic, but more so than Lyra.

Hilda examined his sword and gauntlet with unease. The armor was the same color as his skin, only noticeable by its purple glowing accents and the size difference from his right arm. The massive longsword on his shoulder glowed red with a hungry power. It was far too large and heavy for a middle-rank demon to wield, but this one could hold it in one hand.

The raw weight of the weapon was indicated by his heavy, slow steps he made with it in hand. With the black and purple zweihander he was much faster on ground. However, Hilda noticed that his speed increased immensely when his shadow wings were out. He had his wings folded and without magic, letting her see the gleaming purple blade segments.

At a closer look, Hilda was more confused as this shadow demon had crystalline body parts, abnormal for a shadow demon. They were already a very rare breed, and all of them were pure black usually with fins. Shadow demons were primarily an aquatic species of demon, but this one before her lacked any fins. 

As the ritual progressed, countless demon characters floated around the magic formation. They gathered near Hilda's body and spun around her. Akros watched curiously. 

Lyra probably knows how to do it perfectly already, but this is quite the spectacle. Unfortunately that also means... yup. There's one.

Angels came rushing to the dark beam like moths to a flame. He was lucky enough to deal with one at a time as they came sporadically. Mostly two-winged angels were his opponents, but there was a group of them lead by a four-winged angel, possibly a dominion angel by his magic power. Akros had to spent a lot of mana destroying the group with a superpowered cast of Gleipnir, killing the commander as well.

Hilda observed him quietly. She was quite bewildered at his magic. She predicted the shadow magic, but a single spell that combined gravity, rock, and shadowflame magic was simply unprecedented. No middle-rank demon should have such raw destructive power. She couldn't help asking him about it during his breaks between battles.

"How can you cast such powerful magic, and not run out of mana? How do you know gravity magic?" Hilda inquired with curiosity. 

"Uh..." Akros was caught off guard by the sudden question. "This gauntlet/sword grants the wielder increased magic power recovery speed. As for my magic, that's a secret. Oh, that reminds me."

Akros took an extra copy of the serum he used to grant Ulvone, Hecate, and Enyo healing magic. He had meant to give it to himself at that time, but forgot. He made sure Hilda couldn't see what he was doing as he injected himself. Then he checked his status, looking at his magic list. 

Magic: Shadow, Shadowflame, Dark Restoring

What the, oh that's just my dark attribute at work. Makes sense actually. Let's test it on her real quick.

Akros turned to the confused Hilda with an outstretched hand. A gentle, warm sphere of dark light gathered in his palm, then floated to her. She didn't sense any danger from the dark ball, so she didn't move or defend against it. As it touched her chest it dissipated, and suddenly her body and clothes began to mend. She gasped as her cracked ribs were restored, allowing her to breathe without pain. Hilda looked at him in shock and awe.

"What was that?! Healing magic?!"

Akros got close to her, looking her up and down to confirm that he really did restore her. Not only was her body seemingly healed, her armor and dress regenerated. However, her magic power was still rising as she hadn't paused the ritual. He stepped back, and only after taking a quick survey with Haki did he reply.

"Restoration magic. I actually haven't used it until now because I haven't the chance, but it seems similar to your restoration ritual. However, my magic restores your physical aspects while your ritual restores your mana," Akros' tail wagged as he thought a little harder. "Your ritual is descended from dark elves, no? Perhaps my restoration magic is also of the same origin."

"How do you know... no, nevermind," Hilda was about to question his knowledge, but put the thought aside. He was her savior right now, and it was best to respect his secrets. She deactivated the ritual and the dark beam in the sky faded away. As she stood and brushed herself off. "I am grateful for your aid. Now I must go inform his Majesty Samael of the human weapons. There's no doubt that explosion would've killed me if you didn't rescue me."

Akros silently disagreed, knowing the flashy explosion wasn't as powerful as it looked. However, safety was never a bad option, so he didn't comment.

"I must also inform him of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse arriving early. Unless his Majesty Samael takes action, nobody can stop them," Hilda glanced at Akros, who was nodding along in understanding. "You want to avoid the Four Horsemen, so you should continue on your path from before and distance yourself. The battle between them and his Majesty will likely shake this world!"

Akros knew this was false, as the arrival of the Horsemen was technically a lie. Only War descended, and he had probably already been killed and sent back to the Charred Council. Samael would instead clash with the Destroyer, the reincarnation of the deceased angel Abaddon. Samael would then be sealed away.

Hilda spread her wings and lifted herself into the air, but didn't leave immediately. "Demon, what is your name?"

"Akros."

"Farewell then!" 

Hilda flew off, leaving Akros to scratch his head as he thought of his plans in this world. If this really was a copy paste version of CMDK's Darksiders arc, he'd have to help the Mad Queen Lilith in finding the Red Sea Egg in order to get black dragon blood, which would be used to help Samael temporarily break free from his seal. 

If he wanted to try and grab the Red Sea Egg, he would need to get into contact with one of the Four Horsemen, and that was simply asking for death. Roy had done it with his knowledge of the void, but the void didn't exist yet as Lyra had yet to plant the seed.

Arkos had little reason to seek the Red Sea Egg. Sure, it potentially offered cloning which could lead to powerful fusions, but he could do that with a raw amount of souls. He didn't want to face Raphael or any of the other members of the Charred Council, as they were all demon king level entities. He'd be wiped out without a doubt.

As he thought about it harder, he wondered if he could create a clone of himself by splitting his demon heart perfectly in two, letting it regrow each half as his regeneration stemmed from his heart. However, he didn't know if that meant destroying his heart would cancel his regeneration. So, he tried something new.

Hey, system? If I cleave my heart in two, will I die?

 A panel appeared in front of his face. His eyes widened as he read the text.

No. You will regenerate into two separate bodies, but only one will host your soul

Thanks! 

There was no response, making Akros sigh. He missed Lyra dearly, and it hadn't even been a day since he left her. However, his excitement at this new relevation helped him move on. He put Hellreaver away and began to run in his original direction until he reached another city, slightly smaller than the previous one.

Humans with tanks and guns tried to interfere with the battles of angels and demons. While human weaponry was barely able to kill the severely weakened, it certainly interrupted the two parties and angered them. Humans died left and right as they tried to defend their world helplessly.

Souls floated in the air and on the ground, either flying to angels in the air or being snatched by demons on the ground. However, there were many souls that went unattended as the raw number was too much. Most demons were more focused on battle than harvesting.

Akros watched from a skyscraper, then smiled sickly as he had an idea. He modified Vacuum so that it reeled in souls within a mile radius. Once he paid the price of 3 noble souls, he activated the skill. It cost him a bit of magical power, but he didn't mind. The sight of thousands of souls rushing into his palm and then into his inventory made him giddy.

However, he wasn't smiling long. Some demons on the ground noticed this, and angrily climbed to the top of the skyscraper in pursuit. They would not tolerate someone of the same rank stealing their hard-earned souls. 

Low-rank demons had no status and could not claim these souls. High-rank demons were busy dealing with powerful angels, so Akros didn't steal any of their earnings with Vacuum. The ones challenging him were all middle-rank, but hesitated as they recognized his scent. He was clearly in the process of promoting, as his magic energy levels were extremely high for a middle-rank demon.

However, Akros didn't think he was quite there yet. He had several hundred more reps of the magic vein exercise before he promoted, and his magic power kept increasing due to the condensing of his power. When he was met with these angry demons, he didn't bat an eye at their expressions.

"You... thief! Took... my souls! Not yours!" A four-legged demon with a crocodilian body hissed. The other demons were silent as they surrounded the still Akros.

"What? Do you wish to give me your souls as well?" Akros snorted coldly. "Don't press your luck, fools. If I want to steal souls, I shall! Do something about it!"

His magic aura burst from his body, emitting dark tendrils of shadow. He took out Hellreaver, which increased his body mass by 9 tons. The skyscraper immediately crumbled under his weight, sending the flightless demons falling to the ground. Akros hovered with his shadow wings and assumed a stance with his sword. 

The magic power off his body verified the fact that he had reached the threshold of high-rank, but he wasn't at the brink of promotion. Still, his superior power commanded the demons to respect him due to the strict hierarchy of strength. All of the flying demons fled besides a couple top-middle-rank demons who weren't too far behind Akros' stage of magic power.

Akros played it smart. He knew that if he could make them submit, he could have them give a portion of their collected souls to him via demon contract. The demons who hesitated to leave seemed to being scheming together as they glanced at each other with nods and distorted faces.

Then, something suddenly tore holes through their bodies. Shadow Bullets aimed at non-fatal areas wounded these demons who lingered around, and Akros wasted no time in making them all sign contracts. 

"You will sign demon contracts with me if you wish to live! Give me 30% of the souls you collect in this world, or die!" He roared, forcing the demons to finally act. He didn't damage their wings, so he signed contracts with each of them in the air. Only then did he let them go.

Akros continued to utilize this method over the next few days. He would run or fly around, collecting souls with Vacuum and demon contracts that he formed with more and more demons that challenged him for stealing souls. He only contracted middle-rank demons as low-rank demons were too weak to invest in, and they wouldn't be getting too many souls anyway. He eventually had around 80 of these contracted demons, and they got him over two thousand souls each day. 

However, the name of Akros spread among the enslaved demons. Middle-rank demons began to avoid him in the metropolis, forcing him to settle with what he had. High-rank demons also noticed him as his appearance as a shadow demon along with his purple body parts made him easy to recognize. However, they also sensed him being on the threshold of promoting, so they practiced some restraint. They didn't want to compete over souls with him, but they weren't aggressive as a new high-rank demon was good news for them.

Angels were not so complacent. Akros had to deal with them typically in groups almost constantly. He didn't mind, as he considered it to be a holy soul delivery service. Most of the four-winged angel commanders targeted high-rank demons, so he never struggled against the angel squadrons.

During his time between soul collecting and angel killing, he continued to compress his magic power. His magic power stat continued to rise as he did, keeping him in a good mood. On top of that, his soul collection continued to rise each day. By the end of his first week in the city, he already had 40,000 human souls and dozens of low-grade holy souls. 

A month passed as he remained in this metropolis, reaching a soul count of 125,000. During this time, the world suffered heavy losses. The city Akros was currently in previous housed millions, but now it was barren wasteland. The technological weapons human made that threatened demons and angels gathered dust as their operators were killed, leaving nobody who knew how to operate them. Tanks, jets, howitzers, and more were left as monuments to humanity's efforts. 

However, even as other demons grew cocky at the lack of human resistance, Arkos was constantly on edge. He hadn't seen any nuclear warheads yet, and he knew as a former human that these humans would nuke their planet out of spite. If they couldn't have it, no one could. Such was humanity's greedy nature.

One night, about two months after his arrival in this world, nuclear warheads were launched. Akros confidently watched them soar along with other demons and angels who were dazzled by the sight of these large missiles. They thought they were like other missiles that jets had launched, so many flew to intercept them. Yet the warheads sped up as they flew towards the ground, reaching speeds 10 times the speed of sound, which no demon or angel could contest with. 

The dark night sky was completely brightened, and massive mushroom clouds rose from the ground. Super high temperatures and blast waves decimating many demons and angels, even those at high-rank or the upper tiers of four-wings if they weren't prepared enough. Akros himself simply sunk into the shadows created by the explosions, narrowly avoiding a blistering fate.

He knew time was different in the Shadow Realm, so this hiding method was very beneficial. As he watched the nuclear blasts wreck the Earth, it was slowed as time was faster in the Shadow Realm. Each minute he spent floating around in the comfortable and cool darkness was only a few seconds on Earth.

So while he waited for the bombardment to settle down, he performed the magic condensing exercise to kill time and advance himself. His magic power was becoming very akin to that of a high-rank demon's, meaning he was getting closer and closer to his promotion. He continued doing this for several days, periodically taking breaks. After the sixth day passed in the Shadow Realm, it had been several hours in the normal realm. 

Thick smoke and dust continued to be blown into the atmosphere by blast waves, dimming the sky. No sunlight nor moonlight pierced the ashen sky. Akros knew this event to be a nuclear winter, and it would last for a long time. During it, life that depended on the sun's heat and light would perish and be replaced by new species. The radiation would also play a role in the evolution of new creatures.

The temperature around the world dropped dozens of degrees, creating a cool environment. Akros quite enjoyed this even as a fire-type demon he liked the heat of the Abyss, he still preferred a cooler atmosphere. 

Akros used Vacuum continously, sucking in souls that were scattered around. His range wasn't that long before, but he poured another 2 noble souls into the skill to boost the range to a few miles. He only collected human and animal souls though, as demons souls returned to the Abyss outpost and angel souls returned to the White City where they were resurrected. 

He also felt something off about his body. Was he having some sort of reaction to the radiation? He knew that his body was especially adaptable, even more so than most high-rank demons. He was sure of this after catching a glimpse of an injured high-rank demon laying on the ground with grave injuries. This demon growled weakly and glared at him as he approached, but Akros simply stood and watched his body regenerate.

The legs of this typical fire demon had been completely disfigured, and his upper body suffered terrible burns with some bones exposed. As his body healed, Akros noticed that small scales appeared on his healed wounds. Compared to his healthy areas without scales, Akros deemed that this had to be a side effect of radiation afflicting his body.

Akros continued to wander, collecting more souls and adjusting to the new feeling in his body. Demons were naturally adaptable, added with his Saiyan cells he grew accustomed to the strong radiation without suffering damage. 

He later found an angel, four-winged commander who was on the verge of death. His body was entirely burnt and had large areas of festering blisters from the heat and radiation. The angel couldn't even lift his spear, all he could do was glare in defiance at Akros as he neared his prone body.

"Justice... will prevail... you... will lose..." A shaky declaration came from the angel commander, making Akros sigh. He wasn't a fan of cliche one liners, so he poised his tail in a position to strike, before...

"Ah, what a typical line, don't you think?"

Akros whipped around, immediately assuming a fighting stance. He was alarmed to see a demon floating in the air behind him. One with purple skin, a skull-like face with small demon horns on the top, and clawed hands that rubbed together like an interested salesman. He had a polite and humble smile on his face, which is when Akros recognized this fellow. It couldn't be...

"Explain yourself! Why are you here?" Akros asked with an annoyed face. He gradually seemed to be having every encounter Roy did in this world, almost as if he was destined to take his place. This irritated him thoroughly, as he wasn't the same person and couldn't manipulate the Horsemen like Roy had. 

"Haha, don't be so on edge!" The demon chuckled and spread his hands. "My name is Vulgrim, a rift demon-"

"I have heard of your name before, coward. What business do you have with me?" Akros wasn't having any of his flattering and formal attitude. He hated businessmen as a human, and had no intention of dealing with a business demon. To make things easier, he stabbed the angel commander with his tail and snatched his soul. "Have an eye for this soul, perhaps?"

"Of course!" Vulgrim had a greedy expression on his face, but maintained his polite tone. "Don't misunderstand, I have no intention of taking it from you. I know of your name, Demon Akros. I wish to bargain with you!"

Akros was aware of Vulgrim's lacking fighting capacity. He was mocked by other high-rank demons for being a coward as he ran from battle with his powerful rift magic, but they would trade with him for his services regardless. Vulgrim had likely been waiting for this angel commander to die in fear. Akros assumed that Vulgrim had taken action to speak with him as to not lose his precious soul that he had waited for.

So he held the middle-grade holy soul in front of Vulgrim, making him reach out for it greedily. "Aha! The holy soul of a dominion angel!"

Akros snorted, moving his hand away so that the rift demon grabbed air. Vulgrim coughed to his hide embarrassment after seeing Akros' sly smile. "The angel core as well. I want the angel core!" 

He stuck a hand into the gut of the angel, taking out a small crystal-like object with many small angel characters on its shiny surface. Akros tossed it in his hand casually, trying to remember what value it had and failing, so he asked Vulgrim: "And what is this thing for?"

"Perhaps you don't know, but some angels are created artificially," Vulgrim explained, watching the angel core closely as it rose and fell. "Angels are stronger than demons, but their birth rate is exceedingly low. Seldom is an angel born from the eggs of angels. Heaven's Foundry, which forges angelic weapons and armor, also researches and create artificial angels to solve the gap in numbers between angels and demons."

"Is that so? That means, angels with cores are all artificial?" Akros asked, a little curious now. "So what value does it have then? I bet it can't make angels fall, can it?"

"Only naturally born angels can fall, so no... but..." Vulgrim struggled to find a good answer. Akros noticed this and grinned mischievously. 

"In that case, I might just keep it! It is quite shiny."

"Uh..." Vulgrim swallowed his pride and accepted the fact that Akros outsmarted him by belittling the angel core. "Okay, this angel core is quite precious, so what price do I need to pay in order to have it?"

"Well, what do you have?" Akros threw this question in response, waiting to see if Vulgrim would offer what he thought he would. The rift demon had means of acquiring many valuable things, so Akros wanted to see what he'd offer.

Vulgrim presented a canteen, then said: "You're in the process of promoting, no? Your body is also mutating, so I believe this should be of value..."

Akros deadpanned. He really was offered the same thing as Roy! What is this world?

"This is... a canteen? What value does this have?" He acted dumb so Vulgrim would explain.

"It's very valuable! This is well water from the Well of Souls, something I stole right from the Angel of Death, Azreal!" Vulgrim said with pride. "It will purify and strengthen your soul if you drink it!"

Akros knew that strengthening his soul was a good idea, especially during his bodily changes. As his soul became an evil soul, his body would become stronger as his soul purified into one of darkness. Evil souls were a superior version of fallen souls, dark souls that embodied evil beings such as demons and some other entities. Grima had an evil soul, but he was a dragon, not a demon, meaning evil souls weren't limited to high-rank demons and stronger.

He took this deal, accepting the trade. He gave the core to Vulgrim and received the canteen. After analyzing it with the system, he was quite pleased so see that the rift demon spoke the truth. Akros hadn't even thought of making similar items with souls, but even then the effect wouldn't be as good as the canteen from Vulgrim.

Then he made another bargain with the greedy demon. "Since you have quite the appealing services, I'll give you the soul of this dominion angel. In turn, I want you to upgrade this sword." 

Akros took off Crafanc and had it transform into its zweihander form, shocking Vulgrim. "What a special sword!"

He couldn't ask Vulgrim to modify Hellreaver as the sword was impossibly heavy to a merchant like him. Akros had to admit that his strength had largely increased due to wielding the sword.

The large black sword with cracks of purple along its blade was very attractive as a weapon due to its beautiful shape. Power radiated off of it, and while Vulgrim was no fighter, but he was very familiar with alchemy and enchantment. After studying it in his hands, he figured out what kind of sword it was.

"This a magic enhancing, vampiric, morphing sword!" He exclaimed in wonder, albeit the last term had been made obvious already. He thought about ways to enhance it, then told Akros: "I first thought of adding an anti-angel property to your sword, but I believe that would be unappropriate for such a weapon!"

 "Really? How so?" Akros asked curiously. He was unknowledgeable with enchanting logic, so learning a bit from Vulgrim was a bonus. 

"It's best if this sword specializes in one thing, whether it absorbtion, enhancing magic, or morphing! If a sword's enchantments are too complex or different, it won't develop too nicely," Vulgrim explained kindly. "Over time, the powers on the sword will naturally condense with use and empower the weapon further."

"I see. Then how do you plan on enchanting it?" Akros was now very intrigued to see what the rift demon would do to strengthen Crafanc. He saved it as a backup for when Hellreaver was too heavy, but so far he hadn't needed to use it much. It served better as armor, even with the lifestealing attribute. His ultraspeed regeneration made his life force very high.

"How does 'Energy Stealer' sound? It'll add to the vampiric attribute by taking away some of the stamina of your foes as you wound them while restoring your own?" Vulgrim proposed. 

Akros nodded, liking how the trait sounded. He knew there was no way to improve the morphing ability of Crafanc, so Vulgrim could only work with the magic enhancing or vampiric trait. 

"I like the sound of Energy Stealer! Go on."

With Akros' approval, Vulgrim went to work enchanting the sword. 

I won't go along with this path. I won't save Hilda from Samael if she goes to help him. I can create a fallen angel myself just fine, in fact, I'll probably meet Uriel at this rate. I just follow the path until then, then split off it. It seems fate is trying to make me follow Roy's path in this world, but I refuse. I'm only here for souls, not the Red Sea Egg. A fallen angel or two is simply bonus rewards, and a convenient means of venting. 

As Akros planned for his future in this world, Vulgrim became flustered as he worked on installing Energy Stealer to Crafanc. He realized that he needed more magic energy and materials than he thought.

When Akros created Crafanc with the system and Lyra's help, there was an incremental effect when enhancing, which remained as a thorn in Vulgrim's side as he worked. Energy Stealer was a detailed enhancement, and the repulsive force created by the dense culmination of enchantments on the sword only made it harder to apply. He was forced to use a large number of materials to get past this force, his heart aching while he did so. Yet he could only continue as the deal was made, and the holy soul was very desirable.

Once he finished, Vulgrim held the sword back to Akros, making him snap out of his thoughts. The rift demon was quite irritated at this point. "I shouldn't have accepted your offer. Such a huge loss!" 

Akros viewed Crafanc in his inventory, nodding contently at the "Energy Stealer" attribute right underneath Greed, the lifestealing attribute. He easily saved another three thousand souls with this deal, and helped his sword live up to its name. So he gave Vulgrim the middle-grade holy soul without further ado. "The deal is complete. You can seek me out if you have further deals to make."

"After such a losing deal, I don't want to!" Vulgrim hissed. Akros didn't pay attention to what happened during the enchantment process, so he was a little confused at Vulgrim's attitude. As the rift demon disappeared suddenly, he could only shrug. 

If he wanted to pursue Roy's fate further, he'd need to promote very soon, but Akros had no issue with that. He searched for a safer location where he'd be left alone. He needed to promote while the other demons and angels were still recovering, otherwise he could be interrupted and killed during the important process. The days spent in the Shadow Realm helped him reach the brink of promotion, and he estimated that he only had another few reps of condensing his magic power. He reached the bottleneck on day 6 in the Shadow Realm.

Akros continued to Vacuum souls as he searched for an ideal location...

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