Chapter 8: Ashan Arc part 1

Akros dropped Uriel and Hilda along with his jaw as he stared at the scene before him.

Lyra was the only one awake, as the others were all asleep. Neiro was missing, but Akros could sense her outside keeping watch. The busty fallen angel turned around, her four large wings swaying and her breasts bouncing freely. She, along with the other demon women in the cavern, were nude!

"What the fuck?" Akros quickly covered his helmet's eye slot with his hands. He had seen each of them nude before, but it was too sudden to see all of them naked at once. "Why are all of you naked?"

"Akros?!" Lyra cried in surprise, walking up to him. She stared at him, then at the fallen angels beside him who were petrified. "Yup, it's you. Why do you keep recruiting more women! Are you trying to become a harem king?"

"Well, it's complicated..." Akros sighed into his hands. "I'm actually the son of Lilith and Asmodeus. You know who they are, I presume?"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Lyra's shriek woke the others, who scrambled to their feet and grabbed their weapons. As Akros removed his hands from his helmet, he could see their black boxers and sport bras on the floor near them, in perfect condition still.

"Yes. Now tell me, why are all of you naked?" Akros asked again, storing his armor in his inventory. Lyra gasped upon seeing his half-naked body. "I know, I know. I'll explain later."

"Nuh uh, buster! You'll explain now!" Lyra argued, marching up to him. She must've reached the dominion level by herself in the time he was gone, because she was almost 7 feet tall like Hilda and Uriel. Her head was only at his waist, but she glared up at him fiercely. "What did you do to yourself? Have you promoted?"

"Yes."

"Wait, you've already reached high-rank?" Ulvone, the only one without a weapon, asked in alarm. "How?!"

"I was gone for a long time, no? I've been busy. Now for the last time, why are you nude?!" Akros barked in annoyance. He didn't want to tell them all the story of his promotion individually, so he planned to inform them on the way down to the lower Abyss. However, with Lyra's stubborn personality, that may prove harder than he thought.

"Master, we realized that other demons look at us oddly for our clothing, so we went nude to blend in," Enyo peeped, slowly walking up to him with the others. They were all drooling over his body, absorbing every detail. "It's been a year, master. Can we leave this cave now?"

"Yes. All of you seem a little stronger, I take it you've been consuming souls of other demons?" Akros asked, looking around the group. They nodded, and Lyra spoke up with a prideful smirk.

"Not only that, but with my intellect I've figured out how to increase my own strength! I can also..." Lyra beckoned for him to lean closer, so he knelt. She whispered into his ear: "I can create things out of souls too thanks to my knowledge of how the system works. It has a logical method of doing everything, and because I understand it, I can replicate its effects. I've recreated it so that I also have a system."

"What?" Akros gasped as he stood, then looked at her with pride. "Well done, Ly-Ly! Very well done!"

"H-hey! Don't call me that!" Lyra huffed, making the others laugh. Even Hilda and Uriel smiled.

"Now, enough drama. Can one of you bring Neiro in while I brand Hilda?"

"On it!" Okami said, leaping out of the cavern skylight. Akros placed a finger to Hilda's collar and placed a Shadow Brand on her, marking her as his. She smiled happily, feeling closer to her master and lover.

"Thanks, master," Hilda said as he retracted his hand.

"One day, the Shadow Brand I plant on all of you will be a symbol. I shall gather more powerful fighters or those with great potential power, to eventually create a legion of warrior women! I'm not a pervert, but in case something goes wrong, I can always use charm magic. I can't charm males, so... yeah," Akros scratched his nape awkwardly, seeing that his little proclamation became lame. "Uh, unless they're embarrassing to bear-"

"NO!!!!" Everyone except Akros and Ulvone and including Okami and Neiro who just hopped in, screamed at once. He had to cover his ears and even then he was in pain. Each of them were offended by the idea of rejecting a gift from him. Especially one that was a sign of his care for them, as he made it clear that Shadow Brand made them beacons for him.

"Ow!" Akros scowled. "My ears. I guess you're offended by that? Forgive me. Now, all of you get dressed. We need to descend lower into the Abyss, where I can claim a castle as my right as a high-rank demon. Follow behind me in the air, and let me know if anything's wrong immediately."

He donned his armor again, then jumped out of the cave. He didn't bother going for the skylight, instead he broke through the stone with his horns and skull. The rocky ground that had felt solid before was now like styrofoam, and he felt like the Koolaid-Man. He spread his wings and activated Dark Ascension, patiently waiting for the others to take to the air. Fortunately none of the stone he broke through fell down into the cavern, rather it all flew up with him.

After a minute or so, each of the demon women and fallen angels jumped out of the cavern and joined him in the air. Those who didn't come with him to the Darksiders world stared at his armor curiously, but didn't comment on it. Except for one individual who knew him decently well.

"Dad, demons don't wear gold armor, what's up with that?" Morwen asked with crossed arms. "You're begging for attention with all that glamour, and it almost makes you look like an angel. Good thing your magic is so dark."

"This armor is quite extraordinary, and soon I will grant all of you armor not much worse if things go well with Nazarick. You've probably watched the anime, right?" Akros said, ignoring her attitude. She nodded, but the others were confused by the term 'animay'.

"Yeah. Are you going to steal from the armory of Nazarick?"

"Already have, dear. This armor and my blade, Hellreaver, are items from it. It'd be more efficient if I stole some armor and weapons from them than..." Akros didn't say the rest.

He still wasn't comfortable telling the others about his system, and Lyra silently gave him a nod of agreement. She likely hadn't informed the group of her new system either, for safety reasons. In case any of them were captured and interrogated, such information had to be discreet. Not that Akros would anyone touch a hair on their heads anyway, but he liked to be prepared. He was quite busy now.

"Niero, Enyo, Galadriel, Ulvone, Luane, Okami, Uriel, Morwen, Hecate, Hilda, Lyra... okay, let's go!" After confirming he had everyone, he flew towards a magma river he spotted a long time ago when he first arrived in the middle Abyss.

It was a landmark he made sure to memorize for when he inevitably promoted to high-rank. Magma rivers were the best guide to the lower levels of the Abyss, so he lead his group of beautiful yet ferocious women along it.

They flew for a long time at a quick pace, not so fast that to avoid exhausting Hecate or Enyo or Ulvone, but fast enough to make the trip a bit quicker. Akros knew that as elemental demons, they would struggle with physical endeavors more than the others who were more balanced or leaned towards physical prowess.

Akros himself was technically an elemental demon due to his bloodline. Most elemental demons would fall short to a war demon in melee, but not Akros. He was in a league of his own, having the strength of a war demon and the magic power of a elemental demon. He could be considered a chaos demon due to his Charm skill, which he now knew was simply a genetic skill passed down from either of his parents. Even as a shadow demon, Asmodeus was Lust Incarnate. No doubt Akros was similar due to being his son, if not he inherited Charm from Lilith.

Eventually, after hundreds of miles of flight, Akros in front bounced off of an invisible barrier. He blinked in surprise, then realized that this was what kept middle-rank demons out of the lower Abyss. The barrier was in front of a giant chasm in the ground were the magma river became a waterfall.

Akros carefully placed a hand against it, inputting magic power. His fully compressed magic power made the barrier ripple and disappear, replaced by a fiery red light. He turned around to his companions. "Quickly come through, before it closes!"

He made sure everyone got through the barrier before he went through, acting caboose. He could reopen the barrier in case anyone was left behind, but fortunately that didn't happen. He passed through and resumed leading the group downwards into this new realm.

After a couple hours of descent, they finally reached the end of the chasm where the magma waterfall was a river again. Akros and the others looked around in wonder. This area was as hot and ashen as ever, but large castles could be seen in the distance. As they got closer, these castle were clearly demon castles due to their dark themes and sinister details. They flew for miles and miles, passing by a couple castles. One was directly under their flight path, and when they got close a demon flew out and came to greet them.

This demon bore 4 wings and seemed to be an elemental demon judging by his magic pressure and lack of muscular tissue. Akros held out a closed fist to let his companions know they were stopping, and not to interfere yet. He waited patiently for this demon to get within talking range.

The high-rank demon stopped approaching about 100 feet away. He was bewildered by the entourage behind Akros, but he maintained a calm face. "An odd group you have here. But you see, this castle already has a master, me! I'd suggest looking elsewhere for a place to settle!"

Akros held in a snort at his subtle defense. But he had a few questions about this realm, so he remained polite. "Oh? Can these castles be occupied at will?"

"A newcomer?" The elemental demon was surprised briefly, then restored his cocky smile. "It seems you are unknowledgeable of the lower Abyss, but so be it! In this level of the Abyss, you can settle in one of the demon castles created by other high-rank demons. If the pre-built castles are not to your tastes, you can build your own! As a high-rank demon, this should pose no issue to you."

Akros could build a castle with shadow magic alone, but it'd cost a lot of mana and time, so he wanted to avoid that. "Let me guess, there's a third option- stealing a castle?"

"Correct!" The demon chuckled. "Many demons are lazy and prefer this option. But in order to follow that route, one must have enough power!"

His words were a concealed threat, but Akros knew better. This demon was of no threat to him, or even his fallen angels. He figured the demon simply wanted him to leave, and he planned on it from the start. Akros didn't like the castle below.

However, due to the disrespect he'd been shown, Akros still wanted to leave an impression. He released half of his magic aura, blowing the ash away from where he hovered in the air. Dark tendrils of pure magic power leaked out of the chinks in his armor, and his eyes glowed an iridescent purple.

Even with only half of his aura, Lyra Hilda and Uriel reacted sharply, and his female middle-rank demon companions shuddered. Lyra herself gulped as she withstood the pressure exuding from him, wondering how he leapt so far in power in a mere year. She would ask him later, ask he likely kept it secret from Uriel and Hilda.

"Enough power, you say?" Akros was grinning under his helmet, loving the petrified expression of the demon in front of him. He could see the the sweat pouring off him as he flapped his wings shakily.

"Enough...?" The demon's mind ran in circles as he tried to comprehend how this new high-rank demon could be so powerful.

Low-rank demons had miniscule magic signatures, and middle-rank demons were much weaker and different than high-rank demons due to the lack of compression in their magic power. High-rank demons had a hard time comparing each other without fighting. All high-rank demons had the same kind of compressed magic power, making it quite difficult to judge at a glance.

Akros himself could fight a group of high-rank demons at once without breaking a sweat, but he was clearly still high-rank. The difference of magic power between a demon lord and a high-rank demon was like heaven to earth, even Akros had yet to truly reach that level. Until he promoted, he would remain weaker than demon lords, but stronger than high-rank demons. He was somewhere in between and happily so.

High-rank demons experienced much less repulsive force from worlds than demon lords, so for the sake of exploration and helping his companions gain power, he would remain high-rank for a long time. He was comfortable with his current power level at the moment, and was ready to slow down.

Akros reeled in his magic aura, and the demon collected himself and changed his tone to a respectful one. He thumped his chest and bowed his head slightly. "My name is Vasel! May I know your name?"

"Akros!"

"Akros, you are incredibly powerful, and a rare specie at that. Such power is unprecedented for a newcomer of the lower Abyss, but I digress. If you wish for my castle I will give it to you without a word, but you may find it lacking for your power. You may not know, but a demon's status is reflected by his castle. A powerful demon such as yourself should seek a larger castle to fit your superior status."

"Fret not. I had no intention of claiming your castle in the first place, Vasel. In fact, we were merely passing by. So, see you around," Akros said, flying past Vasel. The others flew around him as he watched them fly away in awe and fear.

"I've never seen a shadow demon before, but the legends are true!" Vasel said to himself. "A very powerful bloodline, descended from Asmodeus himself. What terrifying power he must have... it is a good thing he wasn't interested in my castle."

With that, Vasel returned to his castle.

As Akros and his group of women flew around the lower Abyss, passing by several unappealing demon castles, he was quite pleased that demons of this rank were mannerly. Low-rank and middle-rank demons, those without manners or even proper speech if they were young, gave demons a bad face in the eyes of humans and other earthen races. High-rank demons and above seemed very organized and proper, unlike the beastial low-rank demons.

Demons were an intelligent species, and like humans they had laws. These laws were formed over millions of years, yet those powerful enough could disobey them. Demons did not obey law by nature, only when necessary to avoid trouble. Rarely demons like Samael would follow demon law out of their own will, rather than necessity.

Demon lords and kings were unbound by law, so they left the management of such things to the high-rank demons. Akin to human society, there was different levels of wealth, or for demons it would be power. Demon kings were at the very top, with demon lords being rich nobles. Demon lords themselves weren't treated all the same either, as some were more powerful than others. High-rank demons were considered rulers of the demon world, but significantly lower than demon lords. They could be considered the parliament of the demon world as they got together to create laws. High-rank demons could live for a few thousand years, so most of them were not unwise.

As Akros flew, he saw many mines and digging sites. The resources in this level of the Abyss were very rich, and ore was everywhere. Common ores like demon iron could be found with ease, and even rarer minerals like dark water silver or flame mica could be found in some spots. There was many important minerals and ores to forge weapons and armor, or to create relics with. After all, high-rank demons and above where usually the only ones with armor and proper weapons.

Akros could see monsters and demon puppets working these sites, as high-rank demons would not usually do this dirty work themselves. As nobles, they ruled and oversaw everything rather than personally perform labor. They also couldn't summon demons of lower ranks as they would not survive very long due to the harsher conditions.

However, Akros' group of middle-rank demons were different. As they were made specially, Akros prepared for this with Lyra, and heightened their durability and resistance to heat to let them survive and adapt to this harsh climate. Even Okami, who was a frost demon dragon, didn't struggled too much. It was uncomfortable, but not dangerous to her health.

Akros observed more and more demon puppets as he traveled, and he came to realize that they were the majority of a demon castle's inhabitants. They would work day and night to manage the castle and improve the power and influence of their masters. Mining important resources was only one part of this.

However, this often lead to wars between castles. High-rank demons were constantly increasing their territory to obtain more minerals, and often met the borders of another demon. These wars were usually fought between enslaved monsters and demon puppets, as the high-rank demons seldom fought personally.

At most they would cast long-range magic, but they refrained from killing each other. High-rank was not easy to achieve, so as to not reduce the power of the collective demon society, high-rank demons would communicate and trade more often than fight.

Akros had a lot of time to think about these things as he flew with his group. They kept moving for several days, passing dozens of demon castles before stopping to investigate one that was attractive.

A massive black and purple demon castle that was made of polished Abyss obsidian and fallen amethyst, with smooth details unbecoming of a demon castle. It was quite geometric and unique, and Akros instantly fell in love with it. It was the biggest castle so far, and after a glance at his girls, he could tell they approved of it as well. Lyra had a pleading expression as she silently begged him.

Akros unleashed his full magic power and launched a large blistering ball of shadowflame at the ground in front of the castle. He bellowed at the top of his lungs: "Forfeit this castle, or forfeit your life!"

Immediately a large baron, similar to the one he entered the Abyss outpost with, ran out of the castle at full speed. He didn't bother to look back at the monstrosity in the sky, only running for his life.

Akros sensed with Haki that this baron was by no means weak, much stronger than diesel or whatever that demon's name was. It was a humongous castle, so the owner being powerful made sense. He didn't bother chasing the baron, and simply became the new owner of the castle.

He descended into the castle through the open main gates, landing in front of a group of demon puppets. Unlike what he expected, which were horrifying abominations that other demon castles held, these puppets were very humanoid. They seemed to resemble elves with long pointy ears and graceful features, making Akros wonder who created them all? The baron who just left couldn't have possibly, it must've been a previous owner of this castle.

The elf puppets had dark skin and black hair, and they were dressed in varying types of working clothes. Some had mining gear, others had gardening tools. The whole front area of the castle behind the gates was filled with these dark elves, making Akros think. Had the baron summoned them all for some reason? How convenient, he could give them orders all at once.

Upon seeing Akros and his companions land, the dark elves knelt before them. A beautiful male was at the front of them, wearing professional dress clothes. "New master of Castle Amethyst, we welcome you and your maidens!"

"Hm. I see there are many of you gathered here, is this all of you?" Akros used Haki to get a count of them all, finding there was about 400 dark elves here.

"Yes, master," The butler said.

"Good. Now, tell me your name."

"Leon."

"Leon, you will be my butler, as I assume you've been for previous owners. Make sure the gardeners keep the lava fountain running and the Abyss flowers healthy, my maidens do like the scenery. Tell me, what minerals are within this castle's territory?"

"For metals, there is demon iron, adamantium, demon gold, and blood mercury. For gems and crystals, there is black diamond, magnate ruby, and demon pearl."

"Hmmm... is there enough miners to mine all of them at once?"

"Yes, but the rate will not be that fast, master."

"That's fine with me. Now, have the maids prepare several bedrooms. One for each of my maidens, and one for me. Unless there is not enough bedrooms..."

"Castle Amethyst possesses 20 suites, and 2 master bedrooms, master."

"Excellent! Prepare 12 suites and both master bedrooms. Any other duties beyond what I have instructed may remain the same as before. Rise, all of you, and get to work!"

"Yes, master!" 400 voices chorused in response, before all of them entered the castle in an orderly fashion to resume their duties or grab equipment.

Akros let the girls roam freely, as long as they stayed out of the way of the dark elves' duties. He took Lyra with him as Leon gave them a tour around the castle, showing them the different rooms and describing their purposes.

Many of the rooms already had purposes, such as forging rooms with anvils and other tools or smelting rooms with lava and large cauldrons engraved with magic. There was also a room with an enchantment table that were surrounded by runes on the walls. At the center of the table was a tome full of enchantments, which reminded Akros of a Minecraft enchanting table. He hoped it was as simple as he thought, because it could save him and Lyra souls.

On that topic, Lyra was the only one Akros could trust with another powerful system. If it was anyone else, he'd have to kill them out of fear for what they could do to him and his allies, but Lyra was his most trustworthy companion. He had relied on her for many important things, and has been his only true friend for a long time.

The castle also had a large bathhouse with one massive mixed bath. The hot springs inside were heated by lava, cooled in some parts with enchantments in the floor. Akros and Lyra were very pleased to see this, and it put Leon at ease to see his master and seemingly head mistress satisfied.

Once the tour was finished, Leon showed them to the grand throne hall, ending a massive black and purple throne with a smooth design. In the middle of the hall, parting the red carpet in front of the throne was a pool of a silvery liquid. Once Akros and Lyra set foot in the throne room the liquid churned and formed a figure with intricate detail. It seemed to be a succubus, with an hourglass figure and long curly hair. She had 4 sleek wings tucked behind her back, and lacked a tail. Her horns were shaped like Neiro's, pointing straight out flatly like blades.

"Kelos? Kelos! Damn it, are you even there?!" The liquid succubus shouted at the empty throne. Akros quickly realized what was happening. She seemed to be looking to speak with the previous owner, who must be this 'Kelos' she was referring to.

"If you mean the previous owner of Castle Amethyst, he wisely ran away and let me take over this castle," Akros said, stunning the succubus. She whipped around to look at the new voice. Since this seemed to be some kind of magical communication device, he must appear as a silvery liquid figure to her as well. Or so he thought, but he had no clue in reality.

"Who are you? You must be quite powerful to make Kelos leave voluntarily..." The succubus examined him carefully. He was an odd figure among demons due to his wings and armor, but she likely couldn't see that his armor was golden. Either way he was in his own castle now, so he realized it was time to take it off. When he did, revealing his bare upper body, the succubus' expression changed drastically.

"I am Akros, new owner of Castle Amethyst," Akros said, walking around the pool to sit down on the throne. He put one leg up leisurely. "Since you're here, tell me. Who are you?"

"My name is Pheom!" The succubus giggled with a lustful smile. "I wasn't expecting a new neighbor, but this is a pleasant surprise. Would you be willing to aid me with something? I can 'repay' you quite well..."

Lyra's face fell at Pheom's seductive tone, and she instantly marched forward to confront her before Akros could say anything. Lyra pointed Grima's Fang, the longsword Akros gifted her, at Pheom with a fierce glare.

"Know your place, succubus! He's mine! If you want him, you have to go through me!" Lyra snarled.

"..." Akros was dumbfounded by Lyra's reaction.

Pheom was not at all deterred by Lyra's threat, instead cooing while maintaining her expression. "Oh? A beautiful fallen angel... I wouldn't mind if you were the recipient either~"

A bisexual?!

Akros was stunned and Lyra was disgusted, backing away with haste. She sat on the round armrest of the throne, feeling safer with Akros beside her. Pheom giggled at the display, then displayed a serious face.

"I'm not here to tease, I actually came in search of an ally. There's a high-magic world with a large mortal population in it, and its full of humans, elves, and more. There's billions of souls to be harvested there, and the humans aren't awfully strong. I don't feel comfortable facing them by myself, so I came here for help... what do you think?"

"Essentially, you want to destroy an entire world with just us?" Akros asked curiously. "Unless we can make a demon contract with a local of the world, it may take too much time."

"I have an accomplice waiting for me in that world," Pheom said with a smile. "One who swore vengeance on the world, and summoned me when I was a middle-rank demon. Hundreds of years later, he still waits for me, as that world's time is much slower than most worlds. He's a powerful archmage who's kept me in contact, and has given that world's coordinates. We can both make demon contracts with him, and the beautiful fallen angel beside you should be fine."

"She's right," Lyra told him begrudgingly. "I, along with other fallen angels, don't feel repulsive force naturally. We're outcasts to both the Abyss and Heaven, so we can't be expelled unless someone does it manually. Only then are we expelled to the Abyss."

"So? What are your thoughts, Akros?" Pheom said calmly. "If you come with me, we can harvest many souls."

"I'll think about it... are there any powerful races in that world? Such as dragons, or...?" Akros asked, trying to weed out any issues in the offer. So far he had little reason to decline.

"There are dragons, titans, and angels among the races. However, with your power there should be no issue. They are very stingy about deploying these higher lifeforms in battle, so unless we taunt them we won't have to fight them for some time. Until then, we can harvest souls with little resistance," Pheom felt a bead of sweat make its way down her neck at Akros' change of expression. "What is the matter?"

"You're telling me to go with you, another high-rank demon, to fight dragons, titans, and angels by ourselves?" Akros said with ridicule, making Pheom wince. Then he started laughing loudly. "Hahahaha! Yes! It has been too long since I have slain dragons! I long for battle desperately, so how can I refuse this offer? I'll go with you!"

"Excellent!" Pheom sighed in relief. "I'll give you some time to prepare and handle matters with your new castle. Surely you want to make use of the precious resources nearby. In a month, I'll call you again. Bye for now!"

"Yes. Farewell!" With that, the liquid fell dormant, pooling once more.

Lyra looked at Akros with disappointment written on her face. "You seriously want to go to that world just to fight dragons? Or do you have something else in mind...?"

"Of course, Lye!" Akros chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist. He pulled her onto his lap as she yelped in surprise. "I want to make the others stronger, help them promote. I need souls and they need to experience more battle. They have decent experience fighting dragons, but angels and titans are a different story. I also want to spend time with them... and you."

He whispered the last part into her ear, licking it sensually. Lyra blushed furiously, squirming his grasp. Her movements were for naught as her strength was far inferior to his. She huffed in defeat.

"Another nickname?! You perv. Why don't you just fuck me right here and now?"

"Huh?!" Akros was caught off guard, but she continued.

"You're such a damn tease, but every time I ask for sex you deny me. What is with that? Why even bother flirting if you won't inflate me with your cum?" Lyra complained, swiveling her head to look at him. She looked genuinely irritated, shocking him even more. This woman was serious?! "Or are you afraid of public sex? Why? The others won't care, they know I'm closest to you."

"I... I..." Akros had to take a moment and breath. Then he looked at her with an equally miffed expression. "There's no need to get serious about it, woman. You sound like a hentai character."

"A- I know you didn't just say that!" Lyra grit her teeth angrily. "I resent that! I just want to make love with the demon I fell for!"

"Then why do you sound so desperate and horny?!" Akros growled, before his expression softened. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I love you, moron!" Lyra said bitterly. "I don't care if this makes me a damn tsundere, but it's the truth. When I was still the system, or your system operator, I wanted to be fucked by you for the experience. When you left on your own and left me to be a caretaker for a year, I realized my desire for you was much deeper than lust. Much, much deeper. I've seen all of your memories, Amin. I understand you, and everything you've done. And I love you not because you gave me a body, but because you're a kind person underneath that cold, killer exterior. I don't care if you don't return my feelings, but I-"

"Lyra," Akros put a finger to the teary eyed angel's lips. He spoke in a hushed, soothing tone. "I'm not rejecting you. I just want you to know what you're in for. I'm what you call a wild ride."

"Dummy," She smiled, her purple eyes sparkling. "Shut up and kiss me."

She cupped his cheeks while he held the back of her head. They closed the distance between their lips, kissing passionately without lust. No tongue, no fondling, nothing. Just the heat of each other's bodies as they made their love known to each other silently.

"Mmmm~" Lyra lightly moaned into his mouth, wanting more. She took one of his hands and guided it to her large bust, but Akros stopped her. She broke the kiss and whined. "Why not?"

"I'm not trying to get excited, Lye. I need to check on our inventory of ores and minerals so I can start making better weapons and armor for the girls and you. Besides your sword, which is the only good one. The heroin weapons are good, but not perfect. I want to reforge their weapons with better metals, such as admantium or blood mercury."

"Blood mercury is quite strong," Lyra admitted. She let go of his hand, then buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Hmm... demon pearl can't be melted down, but it is also very valuable. Blood mercury is good for cold weapons and armor, while demon pearl is better for mages to use. Black diamond and Magnate ruby are also good for mages, but unlike demon pearl they only work with certain magic types."

"Oh? Let me guess, black diamond is compatible with dark magic types?"

"Yes, perfect for you. Magnate Ruby is actually a gravity-type magic enhancing mineral. I don't know what you'd use that for..."

"Actually, that'll do! I have a skill, Gleipnir, that uses gravity magic. In fact, I want to learn gravity magic for conventional and utility purposes. Is there a way for me to grant myself gravity magic powers with a relic made of magnate ruby?"

"No. It'll amplify the magic, not create it by itself. It'd probably be better to make a devil fruit or a skill to help you with learning it. The 'Press-Press Fruit', I think it was called in your memories?"

"Yeah, it was an odd name. I should have enough souls. Hold on a moment while I do that..."

"No~" Lyra said playfully, cuddling up to him. She kissed his neck while slowly moving her hips back and forth on his crotch. "Do that later. Do me now."

"Woman..." Akros fought against it, but he couldn't deny that she was tempting him really badly. "You'd better be flexible."

After hours of steamy passionate sex, Lyra was sound asleep in her bed. Akros covered her with the sheets and comforter before leaving her bedroom. He was thoroughly purified of his lust, so he went to check on the mineral and ore deposits in the lower level of the castle. Leon had showed him where it was, so he had no issue finding it. Along the way, he bumped into a hungry Enyo.

"Master, where can we get food? I'm starving," She asked softly, her long whip-like tail swaying behind her. "Preferably sweets."

"Ask one of the maids to get you something. You can have sweets after some meat, you need meat," Akros poked her forehead, making her dizzy. Even when he was gentle, his latent strength was enough to make her wobble with a mere poke. "Dessert always comes after the meal, okay?"

"I, uh... okay..." Enyo shook her head, refocusing. "Actually, can I come with you to the metal deposit? I can melt stuff down if you desire it."

"Haha. You know I can melt all kinds of metal just fine, little one," Akros chuckled. "Alright, let's go."

"Yay!" She cheered. She went with him down to the lower level. They had to go outside the castle, then re-enter through the miner's entrance in the back of the castle. It was a wide rectangular gate that lead into a vast storage room, the size of a popular football stadium, where the minerals would be deposited. Apparently there was no entrance to this room from the interior of the castle, which Akros thought foolish.

He could see heaps of varying ores, which he used the system to identify after putting smaller chunks in the system. There was massive quantities, hundreds of tons worth of demon gold and demon iron. Clearly it was bountiful in these region. There was a large amount of small chunks of adamantium and blood mercury, so he assumed they were more rare and harder to find in large clumps underground. Akros wasted no time in melting all of it down besides the gold, then using Vacuum to store it. This process amazed Enyo, but she didn't ask out of respect. Her only question was...

"Master, can I try melting some? Just a bit of demon gold, perhaps?" She tugged on his finger with a cute pout. "Pleeeeeeease?"

"Urk..." Akros was not ready to face puppy eyes from a demoness, much less one who could level cities with her magma magic. "Absolutely. In fact, if you could melt and forge all of it into bars, I'll give you a special treat."

"Okay!" This got her excited. Enyo went and used her tail as a whip to make the labor monsters carry loads of demon gold inside to smelt. Akros gulped at her instant twist of personality watching her mercilessly command the enslaved creatures.

Akros then inspected the massive amount of magnate ruby. It was very pleasing to the eye due to its bright red luster, and was very dense. Just a handful sized clump was the weight of Crafanc in its sword form, but Akros' new strength stat of over 7,000 made that no issue whatsoever. He stored the entire stock, which was enough to fill a semi, then moved on the next mineral.

Black diamond was very light but also very durable. The system analyzed it to be 'one of the strongest raw minerals of the Abyss'. Akros was elated by this discovery, even though there was little of it compared to the other materials so far. He didn't forget what Lyra mentioned about its magic amplification powers.

Demon pearl was very abundant in this area judging by the massive amount of it. It was smooth by nature and was light. However, the system labeled it as 'amplifies all magic slightly'. Even then it was quite valuable, so Akros stored the large pile of it as well.

He planned to use these materials to create armor and new weapons for his companions, but he would need more souls. He wanted to make them equipment good enough to last them a long time, as he didn't want to have to replace it constantly. The 'heroin' weapons they possessed were mere toys compared to Crafanc and Hellreaver. He would give them all weapons of near equal power, because he could trust all of them. Even Ulvone was loyal out of gratitude. She realized with time how much more potential she now had after her bloodline changed.

At current, he only had 4,000 souls. So he went to his throne to have some alone time. Here, he finally created the Press-Press Devil Fruit.

Press-Press Devil Fruit

Amphibious: Consumer will not lose the ability to swim upon consumption.

Tasteless: Has no flavor at all.

A magical fruit that grants the power over gravity to the first one to take a bite of it.

Okay, here goes.

Akros spent 700 souls on the fruit, leaving him with 3,300. He took a large bite out of it as it was very small to him. When he was a low-rank demon and ate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he was human-sized. Now he had almost doubled his height.

He crunched on it slowly, and found it really had no flavor. It was dry like a peach, but it was tolerable. He ended up eating all of the fruit's flesh out of hunger, then burning the core and stem. He felt the power surging within him, but something was wrong. Suddenly he felt pain in his heart, and a system panel appeared in front of him.

External Influence not compatible with your body.

Modifying to allow usage... Please wait.

Akros grit his teeth and silently bore the pain. He felt as if he was suffocating, his heart beating uncontrollably as it rejected this power. Minutes later, the pain faded away and the panel's text changed.

External Influence Modified successfully.

120 souls have been deducted from your inventory.

He blinked in surprise. The cost was lighter than he thought, but at the same time, why was gravity magic non compatible? What power inside him resisted it? He opened his status to see the result, and to see what the gravity power appeared as.

Name: Amin

Race: Demon

Bloodline: Shadow Demon

Demon Name: ...Noval Akros

Form: Adult

Attribute: Dark

Strength: 7,120 (x10 during Super Saiyan) (x5 during Blood Fury)

Speed: 10,000 (x5 during Super Saiyan) (x2 during Blood Fury)

Magic Energy: 46,990 (x2 during Super Saiyan)

Stamina: 7510 (Infinite during Blood Fury)

Vitality: 12,080 (x5 during Super Saiyan)

Souls in Possession: 3,180 Average-grade souls, 10 Noble souls, 1 soul of Might fragment, 2 Middle-Grade Holy souls

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

Skills: Dark Ascension, Dark Barrier, Charm, Abyssal Tremor, Observation Haki, Mortal Gleam, Solar Flare, Vacuum, Armament Haki, Super Saiyan, Tome Conversion, Shadow Brand, Give Me Lyra, Gleipnir, Metamoran Fusion, Hover, Shadow Melt

Magic: Shadow, Shadowflame, Dark Restoring, Abyssal Grasp

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: Sexual Attraction

Talent Ability 5: Blood Fury

Abyssal Grasp? Maybe because I consumed a devil fruit inside the Abyss again... how odd. Anyway, let's try it out! It sounds cool!

Akros tossed a clump of demon pearl in the air, then reached an arm out to it. He thought about controlling it, making it stay in the air. He channeled mana through his heart, to his arm, then to his fingertips, and a dark red light coated his hand. At that moment, right before the demon pearl clump hit the floor, it stopped moving entirely.

The magic Akros just gained wasn't telepathy, but rather control over gravity itself. He could change the direction of an object by changing the gravitational pull on it, or negate it entirely to make it hover. He made the clump of demon pearl change directions several times. It flew to the sides, stopping when he cancelled the sideways gravity on it. He could reverse the pull on the clump to make it ascend into the air, or increase it to make it crash into the floor. Demon pearl was quite durable, he found out.

He was quite mesmerized by his new magic power, and kept moving the clump of demon pearl throughout the air until two figures appeared down the hall.

"Galadriel? Luane? Do you two need something?" Akros said, not taking his eyes off the pearl as they came closer. The froze when they got near.

"Master?" Luane asked in wonder. She and Galadriel were quite mystified by what he was doing, so she could not help but ask. "What is that? How are you...?"

"Heh, this is a special type of gravity magic, Luane. I call it 'Abyssal Grasp!' My dark attribute has blessed me once more," Akros was in a great mood thanks to his new power. He stored away the pearl and then used Abyssal Grasp magic to pull them closer. They yelped at the feeling of having their bodily control taken away. He didn't hold them long, planting them in front of him. "Now, what is it you two need?"

"Um, master. We were just thinking, how long are we going to stay in the Abyss? We are very grateful for your protection and housing, but we're getting a bit... bored," Galadriel said nervously, afraid of offending him. "Not that we doubt your planning or anything..."

"No no, I'm glad to see you still think for yourselves!" Akros smiled at them, his happy expression making their hearts beat faster. "Worry not. In about a month, we will venture into another world to collect souls and fight powerful enemies. Just wait a bit longer, okay? Do me a favor and tell the others this information."

"O-of course!" Luane said, taken aback by his humbleness. "Master, we don't owe you any favors-"

"Wrong! By the law of the Abyss, loyalty must be rewarded. I am working on rewards for all of you for behaving in my absence. Continue your good behavior, and I'll add in a little extra. How's that sound?" Akros cut her off, but with a peaceful tone. He disliked tyrants, and wanted to follow Samael's example of a good ruler.

A proper ruler should reward his subjects for obedience, rather than demand it. Obedience could be forced, but loyalty was earned. Akros continued to treat his middle-rank demonesses very kindly to make sure they would stay by his side. In turn, they looked up to him as a benevolent master and held much affection for him.

"You're too kind!" "As expected of our master!" Luane and Galadriel praised him, making him chuckle. He stood from his throne, and only then did the three of them realize the new height difference.

Galadriel was 9 feet tall, her head reaching his pectorals. Luane was 10 feet tall, her head at his neck. They previously had to look down at him when he was middle-rank, but now he loomed over them a bit. They both had expressions of shock as this registered, and Akros merely smiled.

"Guess I'm taller now, huh? Well, that makes giving you girls headpats easier. Come now, let me dote on you two a little bit," Akros spread his arms, and they both leapt into his embrace. They had been deprived of his affectionate petting for a year, and became starved for his touch. When they were given the green light, they pressed their bodies against him desperately. Akros was a little surprised by this, laughing nervously. "Was I gone for too long?"

""Yes."" They said in unison, burying their faces in his glistening metallic muscle. He held in a gasp at they force of their breasts pressing against him, especially Luane's. Galadriel's melons were larger than her head, and Luane's were even larger. The buoyancy from them stunned him. He hadn't felt this since he slept with Lilith, however many weeks ago. He didn't mind it, and ruffled their hair gently with his hands.

"Well, I won't leave you girls again, so don't you worry. I'm powerful enough to protect you against almost anything. I'll give you all the headpats you want," Akros smiled. "I'll be in here for most of this next month, so come to me when you need a little lovin', okay?"

"Yes, master..." Galadriel whimpered, thoroughly focused on his hand on her head, and the heat of his chest. She nuzzled into his right pectoral, running a hand over his abs. Luane was silent because she had buried her face into his neck, humming into it contently. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his warm skin.

The trio maintained this posture for quite some time, as the girls were unwilling to let go and Akros enjoyed their embrace. There was no lust, only passionate affection in them as they enjoyed each other's touch. Galadriel and Luane even held hands during this time period.

All good things end, and they broke the group hug after about ten minutes. Akros instructed them to eat, and to make sure the other demonesses ate as well. He specifically told them to see to it that Hecate helped Enyo smelt the demon gold, and to make sure the two elemental demons took breaks to eat and sleep.

Once he was alone again, he continued to play with the clump of demon pearl with Abyssal Grasp magic. He couldn't get enough of it, it was almost addicting. What made it even more pleasing was the fact that the more he did it, the better his control over this magic became. He even learned that he could affect the gravity of an area; it wasn't limited to objects by themselves.

He spent hours experimenting with Abyssal Grasp magic, which quickly turned into days. At some point Lyra came to sit on his lap and watch, mesmerized. Occasionally one or two of the girls would come to ask for advice about something or headpats. For the most part he let them do as they wished during this month of waiting. They spent a lot of time resting in their comfortable beds, and even more time training with their weapons and magic in the courtyard.

Lyra was with Akros the whole time, only leaving his side to bring him food or to sleep. Her knowledge of almost everything was a passive skill that she showed him, as they could see each other's system panels. Lyra's status was quite impressive to him.

Name: Lyra

Race: Angel

Form: Fallen, Dominion

Attribute: Void

Strength: 1,073

Speed: 2,202

Magic Energy: 7,099

Stamina: 1,714

Vitality: 912

Souls in Possession: 32 Average-grade souls

Loaded Materials: None

Skills: Abyss of Knowledge, Void Mother, Dark Ritual, Void Pulse, Void Cascade, Void Warp

Magic: Void

Race Ability 1: Soul Peer

Race Ability 2: Angel Blood

Description: Heightened base willpower. Harder to fluster, frustrate, depress, etc. Emotional damage is reduced by 50%.

Talent Ability 1: Zenkai Boost

Talent Ability 2: Ultraspeed Regeneration

"I've got nothing on you, but I'm stronger than other fallen angels of my rank," Lyra said proudly, leaning back onto his chest. "Grima's Fang is also very strong. I never did thank you for gifting to me, so... thanks a bunch!"

"Don't mention it," Akros chuckled, kissing her scalp. She purred at his show of affection. "I still need to get you armor, and besides... you've helped me out a lot. I don't think I've paid you back fully until you're fully equipped at the very least."

"Don't say that," She pouted. "I'm very grateful for you, forget my equipment. You saw how lonely I was and surrounded me with friends- no, family. We're basically a large family at this point. The demon women see me as their big sister. Ulvone is a bit more distant, but she still treats us like kindred. Those fallen angels, Uriel and Hilda, they were welcomed into the family with open arms. We're all connected by you, my love. Their lives would all be worse without you."

"Hm. Now, how long has it been since we talked with Pheom? I haven't kept track of time," Akros said a bit sheepishly. "Forgive me, Lye, I've been focused on harnessing my gravity magic."

"It's been four weeks, so she should call back any moment now. Are you sure about going with that slut?" Lyra didn't hold the succubus in high regard. She blatantly degraded her in front of Akros, making him sigh.

"I ain't interested in her, don't get all territorial. I've slept with the first succubus, Lilith. How could any other succubus match up in terms of sexual ability?"

"I know, I know. Still, be wise. I know you see this as a good opportunity, but beware her intentions. She could turn against us, or abandon you if things go wrong. Not that I don't trust you to keep yourself alive, but I don't trust her one bit."

"That makes two of us... hey, the communication pool is activating. Let's see what she says now," Akros stored the fragment of magnate ruby he was making levitate, and put on a poker face. Lyra got off his lap and leaned against the throne from the side, also looking professional. A couple moments later, the silvery liquid in the pool formed Pheom's alluring figure once more.

"Hello again, handsome~ I hope you've made the necessary preparations?" She giggled in a sultry voice. "I'm ready to depart to the world at a moment's notice."

"How will we get there? Via portal?"

"Mhm. I have it ready to go. Oh, that's right. My castle is east of yours, just look for the lava lake that acts as a moat. It should stand out."

"Alright, but..." Akros didn't like how ready she was to go to this world. Just her, him, and Lyra could only do so much to destroy a whole world. Perhaps there were other demons in this world already? "I will bring only a small force of my elite fighters. Unless you have a massive army, we won't be too strong going into this world, and we should practice caution... lest there be more demons that we can ally with in this world?"

"You're quite intuitive!" Pheom smiled, but the playfulness in her voice was gone. "I was unclear about this the last time we spoke. To be exact, we are joining the force of high-rank demons that are trying to create a demon city in this world. It's full of life and magic, and there is a dragon god that is making contracts with them to allow them to stay. We are going to side with the Dragon God of Chaos, Urgash, and wreak havoc on the world once we have a fortified city. You may be having second thoughts, but there's reason to fret. Many of the high-rank demons there are powerful like you, at the peak of high-rank. No doubt they will ascend to demon lord, you as well, within the next hundred years. The soul harvest will be very bountiful, and this world has knowledge on many branches of magic. What do you think?"

"..." Akros didn't respond at first. Lyra rubbed his shoulder reassuringly, giving him a nod. He looked Pheom dead in the eyes. "I, along with my elite force, will join you. I take it that the story about your 'contact' is a lie, so I'll have to make a contract with this Urgash?"

Urgash... why does it sound familiar?

"I wasn't lying. I don't plan on staying in this demon city for too long myself," Pheom said, her smile turning sadistic. "Such a large group of demons will likely be sealed away or destroyed by a stronger power. It's suicide to stay with them for too long. I reckon you had this same thought, no?"

Akros blinked in surprise. Pheom was smarter than he gave her credit for. Now that he thought about it harder, he remembered who Urgash was!

Urgash was the Dragon God of Chaos from the Heroes of Might and Magic world featured in CMDK. However, from the sounds of it, I'll be entering the world millennia prior to the events of CMDK because Urgash is still healthy and without void corruption, because the void doesn't exist yet. I'll probably join the efforts of building Ur-Hekal, the demon capital in the Heroes of Might and Magic world. I must be careful to avoid being sealed inside Sheogh, or prevent it from happening. Besides that danger, this sounds very interesting. I can always just grab the girls and warp to Lilith if things go south.

"I did indeed. Alright, the time for talk has passed. I will arrive at your castle in a few hours with my elite force. I will see you then," Akros stood from his throne, stretching. "Be ready."

"Akros, I've been ready," Pheom stuck out her tongue playfully. Lyra scoffed at her, but the succubus paid it no mind. "I'll be waiting outside."

Her figure melted away, and Lyra huffed irritably. "What a slut. No doubt when she finds out your true power she'll beg you to keep her by your side."

"So be it. I'm being diplomatic only because she's giving us a really good deal. She's not asking much out of me directly, so I suppose she wants me to be her bodyguard against stronger opponents," Akros sighed, walking out of the throne hall with Lyra beside him. "I don't mind. I'll end up making her my bitch anyway."

"You do tend to do that," Lyra said unhappily, giving him a stink eye. "You say you keep an all female elite force so you can use Charm in case of an emergency, but it's getting harder to believe... are you just desperate for a harem?"

"Noooo..." Akros averted his gaze, and she smiled in victory.

"Perv! At least you're my perv."

"..." Akros blushed slightly at her sultry tone. "Okay, enough of that. Let's split up and round up everyone quickly."

Akros and Lyra had the group of 10 other women gather in the courtyard, all fully geared and ready to leave. He was making last minute preparations when he realized something. Their clothing was too sensual, and he wouldn't let other demons get a free look at their beautiful skin. So he used hundreds of souls to create trousers and blouses for all of them, color coded for each person. He avoided making more modern clothing to avoid suspicion or curiosity, and wanted to cover most of their bodies. The only three he didn't create clothing for were the fallen angels.

He didn't bother informing Leon or any of the dark elf puppets of their departure, rather he Shadow Stepped to each of the dig sites and collected their recent finds. Only then did he fly east with his 3 fallen angels and 8 middle-rank demons. He was able to find Pheom's castle with ease due to the massive lava moat. It was a pinkish-red castle, looking quite odd amongst the dark ground. Akros used Observation Haki to pinpoint her location, and lead his force to her.

Pheom was quite surprised to see him so soon. She was also very curious about his company that he brought with. She recognized Lyra, but the other two fallen angels and the 8 demons she did not. The demons were oddly beautiful, all of them with alluring curves and gorgeous faces, at least for demons that weren't succubi.

As a succubi, Pheom could tell that they weren't of the same specie, which only puzzled her. Where did Akros find all of these charming female demons? They were middle-rank, too, which should've been impossible. Middle-rank demons normally couldn't handle the environment of the lower Abyss and would die, but the ones that flew behind Akros seemed healthy. Pheom wrote a mental note to not underestimate these middle-rank demons, as something about them was unique.

Akros and his entourage landed in front of Pheom, making the ground of the courtyard tremble. Even without his armor, he weighed 1.8 tons. His incredibly dense body made each step he took a small tremor.

"Greetings, succubus Pheom," Akros said politely, examining her.

The succubus had long curly pink hair that went down to her hips. Her armor covered her limbs, but left her softer flesh unprotected. Her rear and chest were partially covered by tight black fabric, letting a good amount of skin show. Her armor seemed to be made of adamantium and was covered in demon letters, likely enchanted. She surprisingly didn't have hooves, instead having human feet like Lilith. She wore boots of adamantium, and gauntlets of the same material. Two long daggers rested on her hips, adding to her image as an assassin with her sleek black wings. Her blade-like horns were black along with her lips and sclera, but her skin was beige like a human's. Her bright red eyes had an evil charm to them. To top it all off, she wore earrings seemingly made of demon pearl.

Akros had to admit she was very attractive. Even better, Pheom was 9 feet tall, so better fit for his size. Most succubi were at the human size, but Lilith and Pheom were exceptions from this standard it seemed. Pheom herself seemed to be quite the powerful demon judging by her massive castle and equipment. She likely had similar resources as him because her castle wasn't far.

Pheom giggled, noticing his stare. "Like what you see?"

Lyra kicked Akros' shin, helping him refocus. "Ahem. Shall we go? I'm a bit excited for this adventure."

"Sure," Pheom nodded, losing her flirty smile. She snapped, and a large portal about 16 feet in diameter opened up beside her. Through it a blurry scene of blue and green could be seen, seemingly daytime in the other world. She jerked a thumb at the portal. "This was set up by my contact. He's waiting for us, I've already informed him that we're coming, so let's go!"

Akros wanted to say 'Ladies first?' and have Pheom go through first, but he suspected that if she did, the portal may disappear due to the caster leaving the space. This was the law of portals that were shown in fiction anyway. Due to this belief, Akros stepped inside first, equipping his armor as he did in case of an ambush. Pheom had yet to prove trustworthy, as they were equals in demon hierarchy and she had no call to be loyal. Her latent magic power was very potent, no doubt she'd be a challenge even for Lyra to fight.

When he stepped through, Akros was met with the blinding rays of the sun on a bright day. He was inside a clearing within a lush rainforest, full of exotic wildlife. As the others walked through the portal, they were also taken aback by the environment. Why would they, demons and fallen angels, be summoned here?

Once Pheom walked through the portal, it shrank until it was longer visible. She took a deep breath of the humid air and sighed. "It's been many years since I've last been here. But for you, it's only been a few, right Oleir?"

"3 to be exact," An elderly, bitter voice came from behind them, making them turn around quickly. All of them but Pheom had been so distracted by the environment that they didn't notice the archmage nor a small cottage behind them. Akros guessed that this guy lived out here, as Pheom had mentioned he was a resentful figure. "Welcome back to Ashan, Lady Pheom. Are these the allies you mentioned?"

"Yes," Pheom smiled devilishly, gesturing to Akros proudly. "Meet Akros, a powerful demon. Would you be so kind to make contracts with us so we can stay in this world? I fear we are too powerful to stay for more than a few years-"

"Actually," Akros cut her off. After feeling this world's weak repulsive force, he tossed aside the idea of making a demon contract with anyone here. No need to bound himself or his units down unnecessarily. He estimated that he could stay in this world for ten years or so before the world repulsed him completely. That also meant his demon companions had even longer time. However, this time would be cut short if he promoted to demon lord. He had no clue of the strength of this world's Heaven.

"We have no need of binding contracts. You..." Akros marched up to Oleir, shaking the earth and towering over the elderly wizard. Oleir gulped nervously at the fearsome golden visage of Akros, who had let a bit of his magic aura loose. The archmage could only shiver helplessly under the terrifying pressure. "You have done well to let us into this world. Sadly, you are no longer useful to us."

Before Oleir could cast any magic to protect himself, his head was displaced by a golden hand. His body collapsed to the ground, and Pheom giggled. Lyra and the others were silent, albeit they were confused as to why the succubus seemed happy. Wasn't Oleir her contact?

"How interesting! I was about to do the same thing, but here you did it for me!" Pheom was pleasantly surprised as she looked at the golden demon, who stared back coldly. "Now, shall we be off? I know where the other high-rank demons are gathering."

"Really? How?" Akros asked cautiously. "It seems you've set all of this up beforehand. Are you leading me into a feast of souls, or an elaborate trap?"

Pheom's smile vanished instantly at his tone. She put her hands up in surrender. "Easy, big boy! If you want the truth, it's a little embarrassing if I do say. I'd rather not...but you're going to force it out of me, aren't you? How about this? I'll tell you everything as we travel to where the other demons are gathering. I know telepathy magic, so we can speak as we fly. Deal?"

"..." Akros marched right up to her. He weighed 3 tons with his armor on, and his steps made her and the other girls' bodies jiggle significantly. He was only able to ignore the sight due to his focused mind, and the fact that he was used to the company of attractive women. Pheom was undeterred, staring into his purple eyes. He respected her willpower for not faltering under his gaze, but nothing more. "Don't even think about trying anything. I can kill you in a blink."

"And I can make you cum in a blink," Pheom said nonchalantly, unamused. "Enough empty threats. Let's just get moving and I'll tell you my motives."

"..." Akros flicked his eyes at Lyra and the others, who seemed okay with it and gave him nods. However, all of them were seething inside. The disrespect Pheom was showing Akros made them furious. Akros had no way of seeing through their calm faces, so he took their nods as agreement to Pheom's offer. "Alright."

Pheom spread her wings and lifted off, followed by Akros and co. Once she started flying in a certain direction and they started following her, she made the mental link with Akros. He flew beside her to make sure she didn't try anything, but she had no evil intentions.

"So, you really want to know?" Pheom's voice rang in his mind, similar to how Lyra's once did.

"Yes. This is all too odd. Why would you want to travel to this world with a powerful male demon when there's already some here? How did you have all of this set up? How do you know where we're even going?" Unlike Lyra who read Akros' entire mind, he had to concentrate on his thoughts to make them audible for Pheom.

"I'll make it short. I've been to this world before. I was summoned by other demons when I was middle-rank, and served under the Dragon God of Chaos, Urgash. My direct master was a high-rank demon, one who died in the Creation War. Urgash is actually in a sealed space right now, healing from his wounds that he gained fighting Asha, the Dragon God of Creation. Both of them are demon king level existences, so their battle rattled this world. Urgash lost and was imprisoned, and the demons he summoned have all died. So, new demons from the Abyss came here by chance, and are now establishing a foothold while the various races of the Ashan continent are confused and infighting. I miraculously survived the Creation War, and returned to the Abyss. It's only been a few years in this world since the Creation War, but in the Abyss it's been centuries, and I promoted. Now I return to this world for a bountiful soul harvest, and to find myself a male demon that I can rely on. I need a backer, so I looked to high-rank demons about to promote. There may be a few in this world, but I digress. I looked for a powerful companion to travel with me to this world so I can have someone to rely on if things get rough."

"I see..." Akros mulled over this information silently for a minute. "So to put it simply, you want someone who's on your side to protect you against stronger enemies."

"Well, more than that..." Pheom scratched her cheek as it flushed a little. "I've spent enough time blending into humna societies that I know of romance. I want to... to try falling in love. Hopefully with a demon strong enough to protect me. I've always been faring for myself for my 500 some years of life. I want to care for a man, and have that man care for me. Is that so wrong?"

"I didn't say it was wrong," Akros was quite surprised. A succubus looking for love? What kind of a joke is this? Or so he thought at first. The more he pondered, it made some sense. No doubt Pheom had been very independent all her life. She was likely weary of such a lifestyle, so she wanted to find company that she can rest easy with. But even then, demon relationships were never out of love. Lust or politics is what caused demons to form couples, and those couples were often suspect to killing each other or worse. That said, Akros had a hard time believing Pheom. "It's preposterous. Demons do not love."

"Well they do now!" She shot back stubbornly. "You wouldn't understand until you've experienced love. I had a tidbit of it once, and I've been longing for it since. Can we... at least try?"

"Why me?"

"Why not you?! You're powerful, charismatic judging by your company, and very attractive! Not to mention you're very intelligent and mannerly for a high-rank demon at the peak of his rank. Most demons of your power get a fat head because of their superior power and status. You, however... you're different. I like different."

"Um..." Akros was at a loss for comprehensive thoughts. He didn't know how to respond at this point. If he was single, then sure, he might accept her offer. But Akros loved Lyra romantically and felt a paternal love for the others. Another woman after his heart? He didn't know, but at the same time, Pheom was not weak. Nor was she stupid. She followed much of his own logic, which he appreciated. He deemed her a good addition to his forces in the end. "I suppose we could try."

"My utmost gratitude!" Pheom seemed very pleased. She smiled sweetly with a red face, showing how embarrassed she was to admit her desires. "I know it sounds ridiculous for a succubus like me to have such vanilla desires, but I'm so lonely. Could we, you know... hold hands at some point?"

"Why not?" Akros smiled a bit. He was still on guard, but he had hope in his heart for Pheom. She seemed to have soft interior personality, one that she'd only show to certain demons. The fact that she opened up meant she trusted him a bit, so in turn he hoped she would stay on his side. "Although, I'm not going to cheat on my partner, fallen angel Lyra. If you want me, I'm afraid you really will have to go through her."

"I can work something out with her," Pheom chirped, not worried at all. She planned to prove herself loyal and trustworthy to the golden-clad demon before making any major moves on him. She didn't want to lose such a potentially good partner, so she tossed aside any plans against him and instead began to think of ways to make herself useful so he'd keep her around. "Moving on to a more serious topic, we'll be there in a few hours. By 'there' I mean where the other high-rank demons have gathered. They're likely in the process of building their first fortified city. I don't believe they have been in this world for more than a few weeks."

"I see. We can work with them, but we shall build our own district in the demon city," Akros didn't want anyone going after his maidens, so he insisted on staying as separate as he could. "If that fails, we'll build a separate fortress."

"A wise idea!" Pheom's eyes widened. "If we do that, we can launch attacks on civilizations easier."

"Then our plan is set."

They flew the rest of the way in silence, but Pheom kept the mental link open. She wasn't afraid of him pulling anything, as he still needed her as a guide. However, the cold glares coming from behind kept her on edge. She was wary of the fallen angels, as they were all quite powerful judging by their wings. Fallen angels at the dominion level were hard to find, where did Akros get them, she wondered. She didn't ask in fear of annoying him, but more of these questions slowly built in her mind. Pheom was careful to keep them quiet so Akros' wouldn't hear.

They flew at a high altitude to avoid detection from other races. Eventually, they saw smoke rising from dark structure in the horizon. As it got closer, Akros realized it was a volcano with demon structures built around it. The volcano seemed odd, perhaps artificially made with magic, he estimated.

"This must be the demon settlement," Pheom pointed out. "The high-rank demons I spoke of should be here, along with their summoned forces that are building."

Akros nodded silently. He landed outside the walls of the settlement, his body creating a loud thud. As he and Pheom approached the demon settlement, he let loose the entirety of his magic aura. A shockwave spread from his body and dark tendrils oozed from the chinks in his Imperial Gold armor. The tendrils spread out from his body, covering him and the ground.

Darkness shrouded Akros' figure as his aura soldified, creating a swirling vortex of black mist around his body. The earth continued to shake with his dense footsteps, making his appearance even more ominous. His body was totally encompassed by his magic aura of darkness, leaving only two glowing purple dots visible.

The demons inside the volcanic settlement immediately became aware of his presence due to the massive pressure exuded by his magic power. There were many low-rank demons summoned to construct demon buildings. These weak demons cried out in fear and pain by the sudden pressure, and were forced to their knees or lower. The middle-rank demons, including Akros' own, felt like vomiting and were deathly pale. Pheom and the fallen angels were very uncomfortable in the pressure, but were able to remain standing. The succubus, however, was elated by the compression she felt from him. She had come across a very powerful ally!

"M-master?!" Okami cried out in dismay. She and the other 7 middle-rank demonesses were greatly struggling under his aura, and they were greatly worried. Uriel turned to them with a finger to her lips.

"Worry not, Okami. Master is only making his presence known. Hold on for a little bit, okay?" Uriel said sympathetically, a beat of cold sweat dripping down her cheek as she shivered slightly. "Try to remain calm."

As soon as Uriel finished speaking, 6 pillars of flame erupted before Akros. These billowing hellfire columns extinguished as quickly as they ignited, revealing 6 powerful high-rank demons. Each of them weren't too much weaker than Akros himself. The strongest of them, an elemental demon covered in gray armor and a cape, stepped forward. As the demon came closer, Akros withdrew his magic aura. The high-rank demon leader stopped about 50 feet away with the other high-rank demons behind him in a semicircle.

"Who are you?" The demon said arrogantly, his chin raised. "Was the magic power pressure just now yours?"

Akros studied this caped demon carefully. He could sense his latent magic power to be superior to Pheom's, but worse than his own. He had no clue who this demon was, but guessed he was the leader of this encampment. So Akros, now with his aura restrained, pierced his wings into the ground and slammed his tail.

"It was. You would do well to have some respect for your superiors," Akros spat, crossing his arms.

Demons, even with might and wealth, would be seen as inferior if they acted weak. One had to display their power and act accordingly. A feeble display of might would lead to scorn, betrayal, even enslavement. Akros followed this by releasing magic aura, which made the high-rank demons wary of him. Even the strongest of them was shocked by Akros' magic power, as it was slightly more potent.

"Your Excellency," The high-rank demon leader spoke with caution, sizing up Akros. "Who are you? Why have you come here?"

"My name is Akros! A demon of the Abyss. I have come to aid in the destruction of the lands," Akros boomed in his deep, rough voice. "Is there an issue? Would you turn me away?"

"No! Not at all, Your Excellency Akros!" The demon leader said hastily. "In fact, we are delighted that you have come to side with us! But the troop you brought with is quite small..."

"I prefer quality, not quantity. These is my elite force, handpicked demons and fallen angels who can slay dragons by themselves!" Akros rebuked, shocking the 6 high-rank demons.

It wasn't that crazy for a high-rank demon or a dominion fallen angel to slay a dragon solo, but for these middle-rank demons behind him. The thought was absurd. What was even more eye-catching was that they were all very attractive, and one bore white scales. Demons never naturally had white skin. This was when the demon leader realized what Akros meant by 'handpicked'. These demons and fallen angels may have received some sort of boost that makes them stronger, or had been genetically modified.

"You're being quite rude, asking so much about me without introducing yourself," Akros stomped his foot on the ground, getting the demon leader's attention by literally shaking him out of his thoughts. "Speak! Who are you fellows? What is your plan for the future of this world?!"

The high-rank demons all introduced themselves to him. Jubaal, Traggal, Hekal, Khrag, Vomoch, Aazheel. Hekal was the strongest of the six, and was previously the leader. He explained how they planned on finishing the demon city, then spreading out to create other cities to secure a fortified area in this world. The angels of this world had recently launched a crusade on the Faceless, dark entities created by the Dragon of Darkness, Malassa. The earthen races of the world were facing havoc and destruction due to it, so this was the ideal time to build demon cities and rack up military strength.

"So we lurk, without fighting the various races, for years until we're strong enough to launch an attack on the races?" Akros' tail swayed as he thought this through. How long would he have to stay in this world? Perhaps he really would have to sign a contract with someone, but it was no biggie. Oddly, demon contracts acted differently than in CMDK. In the novel, demon contracts would transfer one being's magic power to help the other fight a world's repulsion. In his existence, demon contracts, regardless of what they entailed, forced one the stay in the world it was made in until it was completed. Akros could make a silly contract with Pheom to solve this issue for both of them, and it could keep her in check. He nodded as he liked his new plan. "Alright. I have no intention of taking leadership from you, Hekal. Instead of taking control of this demon city, I shall erect my own not too far from here. I dislike living on volcanoes."

"Are you sure?" Hekal asked cautiously. "If you're too far, you may be attacked by the locals of the area. We have yet to be discovered, so be careful! We need to lay low with our current numbers."

"That's fine," Akros brushed off his warning. "We won't venture out yet. I will summon more forces from the Abyss and fortify my city until you send word to attack."

"Okay, works with us, right?" Hekal looked to the other five, who nodded happily. They were intimidated by Akros' power, so him leaving this city to them was an unexpected delight.

"See you around," Was all Akros said to him. He turned to his troops and yelled: "To the skies!"

He activated Dark Ascension and flew up from the unnamed demon city with his small force, then left in search of a suitable area. As soon as he was gone, the six high-rank demons sighed in relief.

"What an interesting demon," Vomoch said in awe. "Not only does he wear golden armor, but he has demon in his corps with white scales. The aura is unmistakable, but how is her skin white?"

"Perhaps those demons had their bloodlines altered. Akros is no regular demon, but a shadow demon, likely one of Asmodeus' blood!" Hekal suggested, voicing his thoughts. He smiled cruelly. "With such a demon on our side, we will decimate this world!"

While the six demons got back to work summoning demons from the Abyss, Akros and his companions found a suitable area. The artificial volcano had been made in a forest, so there was plenty of lumber to use for structures and fires. Akros found a flat area in the forest a few dozen miles away. Close enough to see with the bare eye, far enough for expansion. He ordered his group to stay in the air while he cleared the surrounding trees with one of his most underused moves.

"Solar Flare!" As he uttered its name, he burned down all of the trees with a 5-mile radius of himself. Pheom and the other gawked at the scene. Shadowflame had devoured all of the vegetation and any wildlife amongst it in an instant. What was left was a enormous scorched clearing. Not even ashes remained of the trees as wind blew it away. Akros looked up to the others. "Stay in the sky until I tell you to land! I have more to show you!"

"Oooh, he's gonna do it!" Hilda whispered excitedly to Uriel, who nodded vigorously. Pheom and Lyra looked at them in bewilderment. They had yet to see Akros use destructive magic, so they were shocked at his first display.

"Do what?" Lyra asked, right as Pheom was opening her mouth to say the same thing. Uriel and Hilda shared a knowing look.

"Just watch, he's doing it!" Uriel pointed at her master excitedly.

Waves of darkness spread from his body, coating the area. The shadow magic around him seemed to condense into a liquid state, forming a black viscous fluid that filled the clearing. It pooled on the ground, slowly spreading further and further until it finally reached the end of the scorched ground. Then the liquid at the far edges began to solidify, becoming shiny and hard.

There was a mystic luster to this odd substance, the condensed form of shadow magic. Akros had used this form of magic to improve his offensive capabilities by increasing the size of Hellreaver's blade. Hardened shadow was actually very durable as Akros found out through the system. It had durability on par with demon iron.

He spent the next hour building tall, thick walls of this substance. He only stopped once they were 200 feet tall and 15 feet thick. He left four gates, evenly spread out in four different directions. One pointed towards the other demon city, and the gate opposite to it pointed toward the forest's vast expanse.

This process drained most of his manato do it in only an hour. When the walls were finished, he nearly collapsed. He pierced his wings into the ground to keep himself upright as Lyra and the others rushed to his aid. Pheom and Ulvone were a bit more hesitant, but landed with them.

""Master!"" 9 voices cried out at once as the demon women rushed over to Akros' side. Enyo and Hecate prepared healing spells.

"Don't!" Akros said with effort. "I'm fine, just a bit low on mana."

Enyo and Hecate canceled their magic, but were still worried like the others. Lyra, while deeply attached to him, wasn't concerned due to her ability to sense his well-being. Still, she looked at him irritably.

"Akros, don't tire yourself pointlessly. Take your time," She said with a slight frown. Akros took off his armor, but left Crafanc on his arm so it would help restore his mana. He gave Lyra a confused look.

"I'm fine, why are you all so concerned?" Now that his upper body was bare, his black skin was revealed as slightly sweaty. His breathing was heavier than normal, but besides that he seemed fine. "My mana will recover somewhat quickly. I will continue building, so just relax for a bit."

"Can't we help you somehow?" Neiro asked helplessly. "I feel terribly watching you exhaust yourself. We can construct the buildings of this fortress ourselves, so there's no need for you to do this!"

"No, I insist," Akros shook his head. "The substance I am creating, Shadow Stone, is very strong. I need to make all of the defensive structures out of it. If there is something you all can do, you can make a moat around the perimeter. Enyo, fill this moat with lava once it is made."

"Okay!" Enyo and the others were happy to help, and they flew out of the walls. Ulvone hesitated slightly at the order, but realized this would be easy with her magic. So she flew out with the other middle-rank demons, leaving the fallen angels and Pheom. The succubus was quite mystified by Akros' magic and his company.

"What did you do to them to make them so loyal?" She inquired while she examined his body. "Did you make contracts with them to give them souls, or what?"

"No, it's..." Akros sighed. "...Ask me no more questions."

Pheom was disappointed, but didn't ask further out of respect and fear. After feeling his magic aura, she knew very well how large the desparity between them was. She waited patiently with Lyra, Uriel, and Hilda as he recovered his power. The fallen angels looked at her with slight contempt. They didn't like her casual attitude, as they felt Akros deserved more respect. Pheom noticed their glares, and eventually had to say something.

"I get it, you don't like me. Why though?"

"You don't show master enough respect," Hilda seethed, getting in Pheom's face. The succubus stared her down with amusement. This only anger the fallen angel further. "Take this seriously, damn it!"

"Take what seriously? Your obsession for your master?" Pheom asked innocently, giving them a bright smile. "I do respect him, but I am far from what you feel for him. Perhaps a taste of that unholy body has-"

"Quiet yourself, Pheom!!" Akros roared. She flinched and immediately went silent, and the fallen angels smirked triumphantly. "I will hear no more of this rubbish!!"

"A-as you wish," Pheom squeaked, looking down frightfully. Akros heaved an exasperated sigh.

"You four should get off the ground. I'm not done," He instructed, shadows pooling around his body once more. They did as told, hovering a dozen feet off the flat earth.

"Akros, don't overdo it. We have so much time before we attack humans and the other races," Lyra called out from above. She was a little annoyed by his impatience to construct the city, but she knew his humane instinct was to work first, then play. He would rush to fortify this area, then spend the rest of his time waiting to strike resting or experimenting. "It'll be years before we get to do much, you know."

"Does it matter? I have other things to do after this, so I want it done!" Akros cried angrily. "Now be silent, and let me work!"

Lyra also flinched at his tone. She took the hint and dragged the other three away to help create a pathway to the other demon city. Hours passed as Akros was left alone to create the gates, ballistae, and other defensive accessories out of shadow magic. Shadow Stone wasn't actual stone, so Akros could make it thin and elastic rather than hard. That said, the strings for the ballistae and rope for the catapults were made of shadow as well.

By the time night fell, the middle-rank demon ladies had finished creating the moat. The brightness of the magma made the fortress very visible in the dark, but not as much so as the other demon city. The moat was 20 feet wide, and Akros was very pleased by their hard work. He told them to rest on top of the fortress walls for an hour until he had more work for them, even though they insisted they were fine.

While Akros started to solidify the floor with shadow, they watched on helplessly, feeling guilty that he was doing so much more work.

"Dad is really selfless," Morwen said in awe. "Most demons would work us until we break, I feel. But he... just does it himself."

"Not necessarily true," Ulvone muttered, getting questionable looks from all of them. "I mean about other demons. Middle-rank demons such as ourselves have enough status that we form contracts with our superiors, and we aren't forced to do as much dirty work as low-rank demons. Master doesn't have any low-rank demons under his service, so..."

"So he does most of the labor himself. Honestly, he spoils us too much," Hecate gazed at Akros' form, seeing every bit of strain he put forth. "I don't know what I'd do without master..."

The other 7 nodded in agreement. Ulvone, while hesitant at first to join his company, liked it much more than surviving alone. She had received a power boost and an increase to her potential as soon as she joined his ranks, like a boss giving their employee a bonus. She wasn't as affectionate with Akros, but still followed his orders without complaint. Not to mention Akros' strength. When she realized he was on the brink of demon lord, Ulvone became much more determined to stay by his side. A demon lord was a powerful backer every high-rank or lower demon wanted.

"Yes," Ulvone murmured to herself. "What would I do without that sexy shadow demon...?"

"Hm? Say something?" Neiro asked from behind, spooking the well-endowed demon.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all," Ulvone looked away, blushing green. The others looked at her curiously, then at each other knowingly.

"Master got himself yet another tsundere," Morwen giggled, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. She gave up on calling Akros 'dad' due to their demon bodies. They had no physical relation anymore, so it made little sense to keep using the term when referring to Akros.

"It's undeniable that he has a type," Galadriel sighed, but with a slight smile.

"Lyra is the head mistress, and the sassiest of us all," Luane added. "Which means..."

"Master likes feisty women?" Enyo scratched her cheek innocently. "Why?"

"Um..." The others went silent. Enyo was considered to be the most pure-minded of them all, so they never spoke of lewd or gruesome things near her. They didn't know how to explain this without stronger language.

"Maybe because master likes strong women?" Okami said carefully. "I mean, most of us were made war demons by his hand. He also trained us to be able to protect ourselves, so doesn't that sound right?"

"Good point. I mean, all of us have weapons besides Ulvone and Uriel, but that's only because master's low on supplies. He insists on giving us all armor and weapons as soon as he can, so I do believe he likes strong, independent women," Hecate theorized with a happy sigh, still staring at Akros. "What a loving demon. He treats us as family rather than units, unlike what other high-rank demons would do."

The others nodded silently, all of them watching Akros work with affection in their eyes. Ulvone had to admit he was very caring, and she was touched by this. She found herself longing for his touch, thinking of how they first met. She had to focus to avoid getting horny in front of the others, but Akros' figure made it difficult.

Okami and Galadriel had similar issues. Both of them had some form of intercourse with Akros back in Zenith. They had both received many headpats and hugs from him, but they still remembered their more sensual experiences with him. They too longed for him to touch them lustfully.

Meanwhile, Akros finished making the floor of the entire city Shadow Stone. He was happy with the dark luster of the smooth material, and decided it was time for a break to restore his mana. He sat down crisscross and went into his inventory to see what he could make. He had 3,180 souls to work with. He created 7 magic enhancing potions, none for Ulvone for she had already reached the peak of her magic power and had begun condensing it, which Akros had long detected. Each of these potions consumed 400 souls, or in other words they were worth 400 regular magic enhancing potions. He hadn't made any of these in a long time, and felt nostalgic doing so. Due to his magic stat rising through his talent abilities, Akros didn't need to make any potions for himself as a middle-rank demon. The last time he made these was in the upper Abyss before he became a shadow demon. It had only been about a year since then, but it felt longer.

As soon as he looked over to the 8 demons on the wall, he froze. All of them were staring at him, some with lustful eyes, others with passion. He didn't know what to make of this, but gulped down his slight anxiety. He beckoned for them to come to him.

"What is it, master?" Morwen asked curiously as she landed in front of him with the others. He studied their magic power levels, deeming that these 400 soul magic potions wouldn't be nearly enough to get them to their peak. It'd probably take another 20 potions for each of them, but that wasn't impossible. He did the math, concluding he'd need another 56,000 souls to get all of them to be able to compress their magic power. Easy enough, he thought.

You are reading story Imagination Incarnate at novel35.com

"I have something for all of you besides Ulvone," Akros looked at the blue-haired demon sternly. "You have already begun to compress your magic power, so you have no need for these potions."

He handed each of them a potion the size of a 2-liter pop bottle. The glass was clear, and they could see the blue translucent liquid inside. Before they could wonder what was inside, Akros explained.

"These are potions made from concentrated souls. When you drink the liquid, your magic energy will permanently improve. Go on, drink up. Don't spill," Akros said after he handed the last one out. He turned to Ulvone while the others drank their potions carefully. "How is your compression going, Ulvie?"

"I-it's going quite good," Ulvone blushed at the embarrassing nickname. She knew Akros liked to give pet names, but it didn't take away from the fact that it slightly hurt her pride. She didn't dare refute him though. "I can only compress it so fast, but I should be ready for my promotion in a few months."

"Excellent!" Akros was delighted by this. He hugged her tightly, making her blush harder.

"M-m-master?!" Ulvone cried in surprise and further embarrassment. The Zenith demons watched on with teasing smiles, giggling at their master's display of affection.

"Oh!" Akros set her down, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Pardon me, I got carried away. Where was I...? Ah, yes. If you girls get bored while I create our demon fortress, I suggest you harness your magic powers. Try new moves, or simply improve old ones. When they return, ask the fallen angels and Pheom for tips. They have a lot of battle experience and can tell you what types of moves work better in which situation. I know you 7 are somewhat experienced, but the upcoming wars on this world are not as easygoing as the destruction we delivered to Askr. I may not be able to protect you in a serious battle, so I need you to be well-versed in every combat situation. Sound good?"

""Of course!"" All 7 of them replied. Ulvone had her own techniques mastered, but she lacked a weapon or magic-enhancing tool. Akros wanted to give her and Uriel weapons, but his current soul income was too lacking.

He would give them weapons of strong materials if he could, and give them potent properties. However, this required thousands of souls. The same went for armor and better weapons for the 7 transformed demons. Their current weapons were decent, but could be better. They suffered some wear and tear against the dragons of Askr, making Akros realize that 'heroin' metal wasn't all that great.

The 7 of them went outside the castle walls and moat to practice their magic, not wanting to damage Akros' hard-made Shadow Stone flooring. They also used it as an excuse to clear out the forest.

Ulvone and Akros were left alone, as he had asked her to stay when the others left. She fiddled with her fingers timidly as the air went silent.

"Master, is there something you need from me? Maybe..." She blushed again, but much deeper this time. "My body?"

"If I'm being honest, you are very, very, attractive," Akros said hesitantly. He caressed her cheek, gazing into her eyes. "Maybe I do need some release."

"Huh?" Ulvone was shocked by his words, then suddenly he pressed his lips against hers. She hummed in surprise, which quickly turned into delight. "Mmmmm~"

They mashed their lips together passionately. Ulvone didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck to pull him in closer, wanting every bit of his warmth. Her chest pooled outwards as it pressed against his solid chest. Akros entangled one hand in her blue hair, the other squeezing her soft furred rear. Her fur was very short, so it didn't bother him at all.

"Master," Ulvone said between kisses, breathing heavily. Hearts gleamed in her eyes, and her expression was intoxicated. "Please, grant me your seed!"

Akros said nothing, instead sending his clothes to his inventory. Ulvone hurriedly undressed, and he was able to take in her naked body. It had been over a month since he last saw her nude, and it was a sight to behold. Her massive mounds and their perky pink nipples were too tempting, and he dove in immediately.

"Aaah! So hard!" Ulvone mewled erotically as he sucked on one of her nipples hard. By opening his mouth wide, he avoided grazing her skin with his sharp, dark teeth. He fondled her other breast hungrily, enjoying the buoyancy on the tender flesh. Ulvone continued to moan and held the back of his head, her tail wagging involuntarily. "More! Harder!"

Akros let go of the tit he was sucking on with a pop. It jiggled wildly as he silenced her with his lips. Ulvone stroked his now erect shaft gently, using her other hand to pull his head in. They remained like this for a few minutes, until Akros lost his patience.

"Bend over," Was all he said. She did as asked, making sure to move her wings and tail aside to expose her delicious blue buttocks. Akros licked his lips and pressed himself against her light blue southern lips. Ulvone trembled with anticipation, panting. Akros grit his teeth and pushed in with a groan. "Fuck, you're tight!"

"This is my first TIIIIME!!" Ulvone cried as her hymen tore. Akros grabbed her hips, but didn't move. She heaved painful breaths until she looked back at him with wet but obsessed eyes. "I'm okay! Pound me!"

"As you wish!" Akros grunted, completely filling her dripping slot. She screamed in pleasure and surprise, but not pain. As he slammed his hips against her thick, juicy ass, she loved every second of it. Each thrust sent vibrations throughout her body, making her chest sway violently. He noticed this and leaned forward to hold her breasts, pulling her up a bit as he did.

Ulvone wrapped her tail around his midsection, as if making sure he couldn't stop. Her mouth hung open and her tongue drooped as her cries became constant moans. "Aaahhh~ huaaaah~"

Oh no, I might accidentally fuck her silly.

Akros was a little worried about her drunk expression, but couldn't focus much in his current mental state. He couldn't help himself from wildly thrusting. Her tight, warm, wet snatch was too much for him to handle. He hadn't felt this kind of lust since he had sex with Lilith. The pleasure was unbearable, but that kept him going. He needed to bust, and quickly.

"Hrgh... Ulvie, I'm gonna cum!"

"Yesh... gib ith to mwe, mashta..." Ulvone murmured, her eyes slowly rolling up. She could hardly think, nor speak due to her body being racked with pleasure. This was nothing like the first time they had intercourse, where she pleased him more than he did her. This time, it was equally distributed, and it drove both of them mad with lust.

Akros roared loudly as he finally shot his load inside her, filling her womb entirely. He pulled out slowly, still ejaculating as he did. When his penis was released from her body, black semen flooded out of her folds. He held her in the air by the waist to make sure she didn't fall over, seeing that her legs gave out.

"You okay?" Akros, now very concerned, asked the limp Ulvone. Her eyes had rolled up into her head, and her mouth hung open. However, she was still breathing just fine. He sighed in relief, then used Dark Restoring to restore her stamina. After a few seconds of tense silence, she gasped and her eyes rolled down to meet his own.

"Master? Oh," She felt her stomach, then closed her eyes with a satisfied smile. "You're too kind. I would have never imagined my first time would be so amazing, nor that you would heal me afterward."

"Nonsense," Akros kissed her passionately. Once he pulled back, he smiled at her. "I had a good time as well. It's only natural that I heal one of my dear companions, especially one that I damaged."

"You can let me down, you know," Ulvone said with a teasing smile. He blinked in confusion, then nodded and let her go. She stretched her body, feeling quite energetic. The sweat, semen, and orgasmic juices on her body had been removed by Dark Restoring, so she was totally clean. She and Akros got dressed, then he sent her out to join the others in practicing her magic techniques.

Akros spent the rest of the night and following morning creating structures, careful to make them with demonic styling. Sharp, evil designing was sort of fun to make. He had to take breaks every hour to let his magic power restore, but in the end he had created several demon barracks by the time dawn came. He used Observation Haki periodically to make sure his companions were safe and healthy, and his range of sensitivity increased to 20 miles. He couldn't sense the fallen angels and Pheom though, so during a break, he looked out from the top of the walls. With his powerful demon eyes, he could see for miles. Akros felt relieved when he spotted their black wings in the distance. They seemed to have just finished the path. A dirt road clear of trees about 30 feet wide stretched from the lava moat of Akros' city to the other demon city. This was when Akros realized he needed to name his demon city, as it was nearing completion.

How does one name a demon city? If I remember correctly, that demon city with the 6 soon to be demon lords will be named Ur-Hekal, after Hekal himself. I will not do such a thing, so... something edgy, and ancient? Maybe... Vrathe? Vrathe. Done.

He leaned against the parapet, waiting for his mana to recover and watched the Pheom and the fallen angels return.

"Akros, my love," Lyra said softly after she landed next to him. She gazed out at the black structures in awe, then looked at him with worry. "I told you not to push yourself!"

"I haven't?" He replied, confused. "Lye, you underestimate my magic power recovery speed. Even if I run completely dry, which I haven't yet, it takes at most half an hour to recover all of my mana."

"Yet. Look at all this. You created an entire demon city, by yourself, in less than a day!" Lyra cried out exasperatedly. "Akros, there's no way this isn't taxing for you. It's not healthy for you to use magic nonstop."

"Are you even listening to me, woman?!" Akros and Lyra were now butting heads as they bickered. "I take breaks before I run out of mana! Why are you so insistent that I slow down!"

"Because you'll get unwanted attention?!" She sputtered in disbelief. "You can't seriously think the other demons won't notice this, right? Even worse, maybe some of the other races of this world may have taken notice of us! We're unprepared to fight!"

"I dunno about that, but fine," Akros deflated. "What do you want me to do then? We have so much time on our hands."

"There's other things you need to be doing, smaller things," Lyra sighed. "You and Pheom can't stay in this world forever. Isn't there a clever solution to that?"

"We should make a demon contract," Pheom interjected. "But what could it entail? I don't necessarily have anything I'm willing to exchange, besides-"

"We're aware," All three fallen angels cut her off together, making her flinch nervously.

"How about this?" Akros had an idea. A lambskin scroll appeared in front of Pheom, and she read it carefully. The fallen angel trio looked at him curiously and with a bit of suspicion, making him defensive. "Hey, ease up. I'm not thinking with my family jewels."

"Family jewels?" Uriel asked, tilting her head in confusion. "How do you think with a heirloom such as jewelry?"

"It's a human phrase, Uriel," Hilda snorted in amusement. "How little exposure do you have to mortal races?"

"Very little, I'm afraid. I never bothered speaking with them as I didn't feel the need to."

"Sounds about right," Pheom smirked. "Akros, you can't seriously think this'll work. We'll fulfill the contract by accident."

"Not if we're careful. Besides, it needs to be easy to fulfill for when we need to leave. Come on now, I thought it was clever," Akros chuckled. His contract entailed of a very simple deed. She had to polish his horns, and in return he had to brush her hair. It was innocent and silly, but a demon contract was a demon contract. If it was signed, both parties would be forced to stay in this world until the contract was fulfilled on both ends. Meaning, if she polished his horns, it wouldn't be enough. Until he brushed her hair, the contract would remain active. It also kept them from killing each other.

"I have little reason to refuse," The succubus giggled with a soft smile. She signed the contract, and it disappeared with a flash of red flame. "Why shouldn't I polish the horns of my dearest?"

""HUH?!"" The trio of fallen angels were shocked by this statement. Akros was as well, not expecting her to publicize her desire. Pheom stood proudly with a now smug grin.

"I didn't lie! I like him! Do something about it."

"Enough, Pheom. Don't make trouble for no reason," Akros scolded with his arms crossed. "Now, I take it the road is complete?"

"Yes, master," Hilda was the first to exit her shock. "What shall we do next?"

"Up to you. I have no job for you three for now, I'll get you when I need you. Pheom, start summoning demons from the Abyss. I've already made areas for all of them to sleep. I need to finish the center of the fortress, my throne."

The next few weeks were quite peaceful. While Pheom summoned low-rank and middle-rank demons from the Abyss, Akros constructed the capital building of Vrathe. It took up on acre of land, and was 50 feet tall. It was decorated elaborately and with purpose, as Akros would spent years upon years in the future sitting on this throne. The entire building was just a throne hall, with a door on each side. One door lead to the bedchambers of his maidens, the other leading towards his enchanting room. He had taken out an entire enchanting room from Castle Amethyst with Abyssal Grasp, and stored it in pieces in his inventory. He recreated the room inside his throne hall, making sure only he and his personal units could access it.

As Abyss demons began to populate Vrathe, Akros recalled Ulvone and the 7 Askr demons and had them act as his personal guard. They were more than happy to be given the duty. Lyra, Uriel, and Hilda also stayed with Akros. He took some time to summon high-rank demons of the Abyss, as Pheom wasn't as powerful as he was. He was able to summon some powerful high-rank demons, and they obeyed Akros due to his quasi-demon lord status. Half of the demons he summoned took him for a demon lord at first due to the disparity in their power, but his wings confirmed him being high-rank.

He amassed his demon forces slowly, not to crowd Vrathe too quickly. It was a vast space, but not infinite. These summoned demons would also have to wait a long time before actually getting any action. Many weren't pleased at the thought of having to wait so long, but Akros' presence kept them in line. He promised them a countless number of souls, as this world was full of life. So the demons kept to themselves as time passed.

Weeks turned into years as other demons cities were erected in the nearby area. Akros had kept in touch with Hekal and the other 5 demon leaders during the waiting period, and they continuously asked him to wait. In Hekal's words, they weren't as amazing as Akros, so they needed more time. This was true in a sense, but Akros still became impatient. His humane instinct to get things done quickly was screaming, but it died down as the years passed. He would occasionally sleep with the fallen angels and Ulvone either separately or in a fivesome. The company of his maidens kept his mind at bay.

Ulvone promoted during these years. Akros himself watched it happen, and was glad he did. Ulvone grew another foot taller, and sprouted another pair of blue demon wings. Her horns and hair grew longer, but most importantly, her fur shed. The blue fur covering her lower body fell off and was replaced by baby blue scales, similar to Okami's dragon scales. Her tail morphed and contorted until it was scaled and had spikes running down the top. She was quite bewildered by these changes until Akros explained to her that it was his doing.

Akros knew that the fur was a weakness, as it was very flammable. When he injected her with the morphing serum in the middle Abyss, he added a property that would make her grow scales to replace her fur when she promoted to high-rank. Dragon scales made for a very powerful defensive trait, and as an elemental demon she needed it.

She was congratulated by the fallen angels and Askr demons, and gained a lot of status with the Abyss demons in Vrathe. Even though she was a freshly promoted high-rank demon, her magic power was nothing to scoff at. Pheom was near the quasi-demon lord level herself, but even she was impressed by Ulvone's new latent magic aura.

Uriel and Hilda taught Ulvone spatial magic, as it was a important for high-rank demons. She had no weapon as of then, but when she did obtain one she could store it in her separate space. She also learned from Pheom how to summon Abyss demons, and Ulvone went on to summon many low and middle-rank demons to join Vrathe's forces.

Akros had no idea how long they'd need to stay in this world, so he made contracts with each of his middle-rank demons and Ulvone just in case. Like his contract with Pheom, they consisted of silly things. The only exception to that was Ulvone's contract, which was 'a kiss for a kiss' where she and Akros had to give each other a kiss on the other's left cheek. He had to redo this contract after a messy make out session.

Fifty years passed before Akros got confirmation from the other 6 demon leaders to attack civilization. His impatience reaching its peak, he immediately had his troops prepare for war. As his forces grew and grew, only high-rank and middle-rank demons actually stayed inside the city walls. There were too many low-rank demons, so they created huts outside the castle moat.

For the first time, he had his entire personal troop join him. He had no worries about encountering an overwhelming opponent because none of the other races had discovered the demons' existence yet. The nearest civilization, the Avlee Elves, were hundreds of miles away. Ashan was an enormous world, made up of a singular super-continent. He only knew they were near from CMDK, which lead him to read into the lore of the Heroes of Might and Magic world.

The demon nation, now known as Ulark, had grown immensely during these fifty years. Hekal, named after Hekal himself, was the capital of 10 other demon cities. This included Vrathe and the 5 other cities that housed the demon leaders. 4 of these demon cities were ran by other high-rank demons near the level of demon lord that came from the Abyss on their own like Akros had. How they got word or the coordinates of this world was unknown, but he didn't care enough to investigate. 

He mobilized all of the demons in and around Vrathe, only leaving Pheom behind to take charge. She would continue to summon more demons, as he was sure to lose some in battle. Akros current force consisted of 50,000 low-rank demons, 6,000 middle-rank demons, 200 high-rank demons, his 7 middle-rank demons, Ulvone, and the fallen angel trio. Lyra had come to be best of friends with Uriel, Hilda, and Ulvone, as they often shared Akros' bed. They were as close as sisters, because they bickered like siblings at times.

With this army at his command, he didn't bother bringing any siege equipment. When Lyra asked why, he responded with "I am the siege equipment!" and refused to elaborate. They destroyed the forest that they had to pass through to reach the elven civilization, which was the nearest. It took them several days just to get out of the massive forest. Once free of the twisting bark maze, Akros and his army entered a vast, amphibious flatland. Many streams and rivers flowed into ponds and lakes, and there were swamps everywhere. 

The wetland was quite the hassle for demons of the Abyss, and it made Akros even more sure of his decision to not bring siege equipment. Those who bore wings simply flew over it, but most of the low-rank demons and a minority of the middle-rank demons were flightless. Some bloodlines simply never grew wings, such as barons.

Fortunately, there was a 12 foot tall solution by the name of Okami. She created bridges of white ice across the worst spots so the land-bound demons didn't have to swim. Akros wanted no detours, as the Avlee elves were still very far. It took his army several days to get through the miles of marshland, but once they did they made much quicker time. The remaining few hundred miles to the Avlee forest were traversed in a mere week. 

Akros had his army take a break a couple miles outside the forest. He wanted to avoid detection while also giving his units time to rest and prepare themselves for the oncoming slaughter. Lyra reminded him that the elves would not be expecting their attack. They were more likely to be sending out patrols, which Akros would encounter eventually. After killing these scouts, it would take time for them to respond with an army.

However, the last fifty years of being holed up in Vrathe made his blood boil. His Saiyan cells demanded battle, and his demonic instinct lusted for bloodshed. It would be easier to collect souls all at once if he alerted the elves sooner, to clump them up in armies. He longed to be able to rearm and armor his personal force.

"Master, are you sure this force will be strong enough to take on the entire elf kingdom?" Hilda asked quietly during one of the nights they were camped out outside of the Avlee forest. Ulvone created a massive divot in the ground with her powerful stone magic, and Luane cleaned up the dirt. The demon army was out of sight, and under Akros' strict order, there was no fires lit. Smoke would garner attention, so he made sure none was produced. 

He let the his units sleep, including his personal forces. He insisted on staying awake for most of the nights, to make sure none of the demons tried anything on his beautiful 7 middle-rank demons. There were high-rank demons in his army that could best any of these 7 in combat, but out of fear and respect for Akros, they kept to themselves. It didn't take long for the middle-rank and high-rank demons to realize the status of these 7. The fallen angels and Ulvone were powerful, so it made sense why they'd have a high status in Akros' company. However, it took some demons a long time to realize that the 7 female demons were his personal guard of sorts. The desparity in their power was immense, but he doted on them frequently, making it clear how he felt about them.

"I don't know," Akros replied. He sat on a Shadow Stone throne with Hilda on his lap. The other members of his personal force were asleep in a stone tent behind him, courtesy of Ulvone. He stroked Hilda's scalp tenderly. "Worry not. If we are overwhelmed, we retreat. I am confident in my ability to protect you and the others. If that fails, you all run while I distract them."

"But what about you? We can't just leave you to die!" Hilda whisper-yelled with a concerned frown. She kept her voice down to let the demons nearby sleep peacefully, or as peacefully as demons slept on rock. Akros knew the feeling, so he felt a bit of sympathy for those who struggled to get comfortable. 

"I will not die to some elves," Akros smiled, kissing her forehead. "You have yet to see my full power, so do not underestimate my survivability. Besides, I can get out of most situations via shadow travel. I cannot rely on such methods when I have to escort several of you. It's better that you leave me to retreat so that I can warp to you."

"I suppose that is the purpose of these," Hilda touched her the black markings on her neck. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she gave him a playful smile. "Or maybe you're just possessive?"

"Damn right I am," Akros grumbled. She giggled and pulled him in for a kiss, which he was happy to give. They spent the rest of the day cuddling and laughing quietly. 

When the sun fell, Akros rose from his throne. He equipped his armor and stomped, creating a small tremor that woke all of his forces. He rose into the air using the magic power pressure technique he learned from Lilith. 

"Rise, my army! Now that the sun has fallen, it is time to strike!" Akros bellowed, earning excited roars from the thousands of demons. They shook off their grogginess quickly at the thought of battle, as many of them had waited decades. 

Ulvone slowly reshaped the earth to how it was before, making the army rise. Once they were back at the surface level, they marched onward into the Avlee forest. Akros suddenly had the realization that the elven kingdom may not be named the "Avlee" at this era, and because this was a different universe than CMDK. He pushed that thought aside for now. As the general of a demon army, he couldn't afford to ponder and come off as indecisive.

Akros lead the army with his personal unit behind him in a special formation. Directly behind him was Lyra and Hilda. Behind them was Galadriel, Neiro, Morwen, Okami, and Luane. They protected Ulvone, Enyo, and Hecate as the three of them were elemental demons. Uriel hung back with the trio as she lacked a weapon and possessed powerful fallen lightning. Typically the big shots wouldn't lead an army, but Akros doubted the elves had any strong enough fighters to push them back. It could be said that the demon army was more for show at this point. Akros and his companions were extremely eager for bloodshed due to decades of waiting. Only the fallen angels were less bloodthirsty, as they lacked the boiling blood of demons.

The tens of thousands of low-rank demons were behind them, maintaining a decent formation. They would act as meat shields for the magic-wielding middle and high-rank demons. Akros would have his personal unit fall back with the high-rank demons in the rear once stronger enemies approached. He recalled at the elves had an alliance with gold dragons. The 7 middle-rank demons within his personal guard were experienced against dragons, but he would take no risks. The dragons of this world were likely stronger than those of Askr.

After half a day of marching in the elven forest, Akros sensed the first elf with Observation Haki. With his demon army burning down the forest as they moved to create a path, it naturally brought attention from the surrounding life. Animals and critters fled for their lives as Akros continually burned trees with shadowflame. He insisted on doing it himself rather than having Hecate or Hilda, the fire experts in his personal force, use their magic due to his superior recovery speed and mana pool.

When Akros sensed the elves, he roared at his army to speed up and hunt the elves down. The smoke created by his deforestation alerted a nearby settlement. The elves they first came across were simply traveling villagers. The elderly, children, and women fled at the sound of the army nearing. Only the men stayed behind, consisting of wooden elf archers and dwarven miners with hammers.

It didn't take long for the army to reach this small force. The elves waited behind the dwarves as the demons appeared within eyesight, arrows nocked. They had limited knowledge of demons, but they expected melee fighters to run at them. However, they were given no time to fire. Akros felt insulted by this tiny defensive unit of a few dozen elves and dwarves. 

"Damn elves! You think your sacrifice will save their lives?!" Akros howled. A black translucent light glowed on his left hand as he ran forward. "SHATTER!!"

He thrust his tightened fist forward faster than the eye could follow. It halted against the air in front of him, creating a massive spiderweb of cracks around his arm. Fissures sprouted in the ground before his fist, rapidly spreading toward the elves and dwarves. They cried in fear and anguish as they lost their footing in the crumbling earth, swallowed by lava that erupted from deep inside the fissures. 

The fissures became chasms that continued to grow. Only once Akros stopped inputting magic power into the cast of Abyssal Tremor did the destruction halt. By then the chasms were already miles long and hundreds of feet wide. The villagers who had run away were caught in the deep valleys of lava and died which Akros saw with Haki.

He sighed, knowing he had gone a little overboard. However, his demon army cheered thunderously at the sight of their leaders' power. Only his personal unit was less excited.

"Poor fools, if only they knew," Hecate murmured, bearing a sympathetic face.

"This is meager display for master," Morwen snarked with a lash of her tail.

"Kind of. I mean, I got hit by one of those punches directly and survived," Uriel said nonchalantly, patting her stomach. The others looked at her in shock while Hilda nodded.

"I saw it. I think the one you took was harder as well, master was powered up when he hit you I remember correctly," Hilda confirmed, stunning them further. Even Lyra had a hard time believing that, until Akros strode over to them.

"Don't discredit Uri's durability," He said, casually running his fingers over Uriel's armored stomach. She guided his hand in circular motions and enjoyed the sensation. "I'm surprised you remember that. That happened before you fell."

"It's the only thing I can recall from his time as an angel. Maybe because I like it when you touch me?" Uriel giggled joyfully, ignoring the jealous stares directed at her. Akros retracted his hand before things got weirder.

He had his army continue marching around the lava lake he created. All of them chasm walls collapsed into the lava, forming a 16-mile wide crater lake. No doubt this would get the attention of higher powers, but that was Akros goal along with burning the forest down. The environment was better this way as demons of the Abyss preferred this climate. Green and lush forests were unattractive to less intelligent demons. Only those who appreciated beauty might like the sight, but even those demons found such environments less comfortable than the sulfur and brimstone of the Abyss.

With his army stoked and more comfortable, Akros marched onward. It was only a few days later that he encountered a larger force, as his actions had surely angered the elven society. Before he could reach a larger elven city, an army had come to put an end to the destruction. The elven higher-ups had received word from scouts that there was an army of demons marching into their territory, causing destruction where they went. Even though the demons weren't that far in yet, the scale of the damage was enough to make the elf king act.

This force wasn't comparable to Akros' own army. A lone druid hero led a force of a few thousand against Akros' tens of thousands. There were many elves, dwarves, pegasi riders, unicorn knights and wood spirits. He had the main army hang back to avoid losses as the real battle was yet to come. This small elven army was merely testing Akros' might, so for the first time in decades he let his personal unit show their worth.

Okami and Morwen leapt into the fray with gleeful shouts. Their blood boiled with anticipation, and they were done waiting around. With their wings and powerful legs, they passed over the front lines and assaulted the elven archers directly, causing panic among them.

"Moeta, Crusel!" The battle axe in Morwen's hand blew ablaze with cosmic flame as she cleaved into the nearest elf. His body was split in two, his halves soon engulfed with the blue flame. Rather than burning, the flame petrified the elf's body and made it brittle. As soon as his body fell to the ground, it crumbled into ash.

"YAAHAHAHAHAHAA!!" Morwen joyfully hacked down elves without any semblance of mercy. Many arrows were shot at her, but to no effect. She either deflected them with her plated tail or burned them away with her wings bathed in cosmic fire. As a war demon, she wasn't able to cast long-ranged ballistic, defensive, healing, or status magic. Her main advantage was her physical strength and fluency with weapons. She could use her magic at very close ranges, usually coating herself or her axe, Crusel, with the flame.

"Hmph! These elven cowards are no match for me!" With her large and deadly body, Okami killed multiple elves with every motion. Her spear, Kulkon, rendered flesh and bone with ease due to her great strength. Out of the 7 Askr demons, she was the strongest physically with her size and the most durable due to her dragon scales. She didn't bother defending herself from the elven archers, as none of them could scratch her scales. 

Kulkon was made for freezing and shattering tough opponents, but when facing smaller and weaker enemies its properties were less useful. So Okami adeptly crushed and decimated the elves around her with not only Kulkon but wielded her entire body. Dragon scales covered her limbs allowing her to smash elves around with ease. The few who survived a glancing blow were either knocked out or unable to get up on their own. The unlucky ones were torn asunder by her claws, wings, tail, and teeth. Okami found that elven flesh was quite tasty. 

While the fire and ice tanks caused havoc in the back line, Galadriel and Luane dealt with the pegasi riders in the air. Their insect wings made them the fastest fliers of the 7. They zipped into the airspace of the pegasi riders quickly to get their attention. They couldn't let the two meatheads have all the fun.

Galadriel silently dealt with the pegasi riders with her sword and shield, Magnar and Nargam. She didn't need to use her poison magic against pegasi or their elf riders due to the desparity in vitality. Magnar cut elven flesh cleanly, and with her and the sword's size she usually ended up bisecting them or running them through. She didn't put much effort into killing the pegasi, all it took was one bash from Nargam to reduce their bodies to mush. 

Her sword was designed to help against stronger, larger foes similar to Kulkon. Yet she didn't get to utilize these features due to the weakness of the elves. She sighed in disappointment, wanting a good battle. Her laidback attitude enraged the elves around her.

"Is this it? Seriously, you guys suck," Luane complained, parrying a strike from a pegasi rider. She followed up with a kick to his gut, making his body explode behind him. This scene made her feel a little better, but it wasn't enough. "I want more! More blood! More of a challenge!"

Similar to Galadriel, Luane was not pleased with the elves' lacking might. The brunette insect demon had a bit of a edge on the other 6 in the form of her chest. Even clothed, it stuck out from her body and garnered a lot of attention from the male elves at first. Only when she spilled blood did they snap out of their trance.

Nozarichi, Luane's wazakichi, was a tool of carnage. It gave her a damage buff when airborne, and also had a potent bleeding curse. Against the vitality of elves, she needed only to nick their bodies to cause a fountain of blood. However, they bleed out quickly, and she was unsatisfied with the lack of bloodshed. She couldn't use her magic very well in the air, but as of this battle she had no need to. 

"Bring it on!" Neiro yelled while charging at the unicorn knights. She took them on by herself due to the lack of the silver-clad riders. There was about two dozen unicorn knights in total, as they were elite units among the army. With her longsword Gram in hand, she flew at high speeds seemingly bouncing off the air. In reality, she was using her highly pressurized water magic to launch herself in certain directions. She bounced around to avoid being predicted or being hit by incoming projectiles and magic. 

Neiro's magic, depth magic as she called it, was a very special branch of water magic. She had learned to use lower pressure magic with time, but only used it for utility purposes. As a war demon, her range was very short with magic attacks. In battle, using the backblast of extremely pressured water to dash around unpredictably was her favorite magic technique. She wrapped it around her body in a hurricane if she was receiving many attacks at once. The whirling water would redirect many projectiles and magic attacks or nullify them outright. 

Depth magic had a third use. Neiro had a harder time cutting through the unicorn knights' armor then she previously expected. To overcome this obstacle, she coated Gram with depth magic creating a watery chainsaw. It was difficult to wield, so she saved this technique as her ace in the hole. 

"Riptide!" Neiro grunted while casting the spell on her blade. Dark water surged around the sword's edges, creating a thin but deadly extension to Gram. Several unicorn knights charged her at once, enraged by their comrades' deaths. With guttural cries they swung their halberds at her head and neck. Instead of slicing her skin, their halberds were sliced in half by the dark longsword in Neiro's hands. She missed one of them, but the elvish weapon was unable to cut through her teeth-like scales. The next moment she roared and spun while whipping Gram around her body, severing the heads of the unicorns and bisecting their riders. 

"Hah... they can't hurt me that easily, but their armor is formidable!" Neiro panted, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Maybe this is why master wants to reforge our weapons. They don't meet the standards of elite soldiers or stronger races."

As she exploded towards another unicorn knight, the wood spirits in the middle of the elven army was facing great hardship in the form of two fallen dominion angels. Even though the walking trees were tall and sturdy, they could not even scrape the skin of Lyra and Hilda. 

"Trees with legs? Are you a cliche or a joke? Come, die!" Hilda was an experienced fighter, and was used to facing enemies more physically powerful than herself. Against these wood spirits, her hellfire was incredible effective. She barely used her fallen angelic sword due to her magic doing all the work. She didn't have to use too much many either, only a small flame was required to make an blazing inferno out of a wood spirit. She dodged their lumbering strikes and wood magic without breaking a sweat.

Lyra was a different story. Her void magic was unknown to the wood spirits, and terrified them. By using her skill Void Mother, she could spread a corrupting aura around her body to make nearby enemies fall under her command. Those who were captured under her will would contort and morph into alien-like void creatures, horrifying in appearance and merciless killers. They communicated with Lyra via mind link, similar to a hive mind with Lyra being the hive queen. Hence the name of the skill, Void Mother. With this monstrous power, she didn't need to draw her sword, the Fang of Grima. The void creatures did not spread like a virus, only those directly influenced by Lyra would fall and corrupt. Akros carefully defined this when making her body's attributes and magic power, so that she would not corrupt beings by accident. The void creatures became tanks during the battle as many tree spirits attacked them out of fear. None of these creatures would survive the battle.

While all of this was going on, the dwarves at the front lines could not help their allies due to the constant magical bombard they were receiving. Hecate, Enyo, Uriel, and Ulvone stayed at a distance while casting ballistic spells. 

"Rain from the sky, the wrath of a fire dragon! Forblaze!" Enyo's lava magic was extremely effective against the slow, heavily armored dwarves. With a single cast of Forblaze, she melted their armor and burned dozens to a crisp in seconds. Her draconic lava magic was very cinematic and covered a large area, catching the eyes of many in Akros' demon army further back. High-rank demons watching from the air were gobsmacked to see a middle-rank demon casting such powerful magic, especially that of a dragon's. Enyo had learned dragon tongue from the tome Forblaze, and shouted incantations in the language with every spell. The spell Forblaze, a destructive rain of magma, wasn't the only attack she had with draconic lava magic. She also created surging waves, concentrated beams and spheres, and eruptions from the ground with lava. 

Hecate possessed two types of magic. Red lightning, which directly attacked the blood of living things, and the cataclysmic golden flame. The former was suitable against large groups of living enemies, while the latter simply burned everything. The snakeskinned demon cast swathes of golden flame onto the ranks of the dwarves, reducing their armor to molten slag and their flesh to cinder. Every now and then, she'd change it up and strike them with bolts of red lightning. The crackling reddish beams of plasma spread around the area of impact, webbing out to electrocute several dwarves with each bolt. Red lighting scorches the blood, even the high vitality of the dwarves wasn't enough to withstand this attack. 

Hecate and Enyo both possessed weapons that massively increased their mana regeneration, allowing them to attack near constantly. This is what kept the dwarves from helping their allies. They rallied and tried to charge at the demons, but were stopped by a massive stone wall. Ulvone didn't have as fast mana recovery as the other two elemental demons, but her mana pool was several times larger and her magic power was condensed. In other words, her mana was at a much higher quality than theirs. 

Ulvone spent a lot of mana to erect this wall, as it was a mile long a 50 feet high. Akros had her sit out as she had done her part. He stood on the wall with Enyo and Hecate, who kept the bombardment going. Uriel had long flown to the back of the army to fight the druids.

With her speed as a dominion angel, Uriel was able to dodge the magic attacks from the druids including the head druid who lead the army. She dispatched them quickly and cleanly with fallen lighting, a depraved version of holy lighting. The purple bolts of electricity fried the elven sorcerers, destroying their magic defenses instantly due to the disparity in power. 

With the efforts of Akros' personal squadron, the elven army of 4,000 was wiped out in less than an hour. He had collected the souls throughout the battle with Vacuum, along with the blood of unicorns and pegasi. As they were mystical horses, he suspected their blood could be used for medical purposes. He could perhaps create a hot tub or a pool with healing liquid, like in Bleach. He'd save that idea for a later date, he when returned to the Abyss. 

"Well done, all of you!" Akros gathered them up to praise them after the battle. "I am very proud of each of you! However, this wasn't that great of a harvest... only 4,000 souls."

"If I may, master," Luane spoke up. He nodded in compliance, and she continued. "We are unworthy of your praise from just that exercise. That army was small and honestly quite weak to be fighting against demons. I think the only one of us who struggled was Neiro."

"Only because I took on their elite force by myself, which is no one's fault but mine," The shark-like demon sighed, hefting Gram onto her shoulder. "Even then, they weren't necessarily strong, but they had good armor. I couldn't cut through it without the use of magic."

"Is that so?" Akros asked, a little worried. He quite wanted to remake the weapons of his personal guard, along with making new weapons for Ulvone and Uriel. Unfortunately his income of souls was very low as of the moment. Until his army clashed with another army of comparable numbers... but it was only a matter of time. He saw one of the unicorn knights had fled from the battle as soon as it started, likely to request reinforcements. Soon he would have enough souls to hand out better gear to his guard.

Akros and his army resumed marching in the direction where the elven army came from. He presumed there was a larger city or fortress somewhat nearby, as the troops came somewhat quickly. He had only entered the elven territory a little under a week ago.

To his glee, his theory was correct. Akros stumbled upon a massive fortified city two days after annihilating the elven army. The walls were over 100 feet high and crawling with guards. The report from the lone unicorn knight had them on edge for the last two days. The city itself was over a dozen miles wide, and housed several hundred thousand elves and dwarves.

Once Akros' army was about 3 miles away, he noticed the guards moving around instead of standing stoic. Demon eyesight was far superior to elves, so while the guards of this city had just spotted their army over the horizon, Akros had spotted them 10 miles prior. 

The city was made between a river and a large natural fissure, which the river cascaded into. A wooden fishing dock with boats tied to posts could be seen in the river's edge, by the city walls. Grated gates closed off the great arched entrance through the walls, facing the demon army. 

While Akros and his forces came closer, many more guards flooded the top of the city walls armed with bows. Once his golden foot stomped 1,000 feet away from the walls, shouts could be heard from within the walls. A dozen boulders suddenly flew from inside them, soaring in arcs towards the sea of demons. 

"Demons! The battle begins!" Akros roared, raising a hand towards the oncoming boulders. Wielding Abyssal Grasp magic, he increased the gravitational force acting on the stones fourfold. The boulders crashed into the earth with so much force they sunk into the soft soil. Akros turned back to his army once more. "Attack that elven city with all of your might! Souls await us inside!!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!!!" Thousands of excited cries responded to his command. The low-rank demons and war demons ran towards the wall, while the elemental middle and high-rank demons began charging powerful magic attacks. Hundreds of fireballs and concentrated beams of hellfire flew at the walls, but halted before touching the gray brick. A bright green translucent barrier rippled as the hellfire flooded against it. 

"A barrier?! The elves have this technology?!" Akros was shocked. If he remembered the lore of this world correctly, the elven societies should be somewhat fresh, new. For such a powerful city to exist in this age was baffling. 

"Worry not, master! We'll tear it down!" It was odd for Enyo to hear her calm master to show such confusion, but she reassured him without hesitation. Remembering his teachings, she created cone-shaped, dense pellets of lava. She sent them flying at the wall continuously in an attempt to wear down the barrier.

Uriel shot bolts of fallen lightning alongside Hecate's beam of golden fire. Ulvone took control of the boulders in the air and redirected them at the barrier itself. During this, the melee demons charged at the wall, taking heavy fire from the archers on the walls. The low-rank demons were shot down like flies, but the middle and high-rank war demons took little more than scratches from the elven arrows. 

Among the 200 high-rank demons Akros had summoned, around 70 of them were war demons. Most of these war demons were mountains of muscle and armor and carried heavy weapons made for brutal destruction. Okami and Morwen resembled these demons, and ran forward with them after getting confirmation from Akros. 

The other war demons were like Neiro, Galadriel, and Luane, leaner and more nimble with varying amounts of armor. Some of these smaller war demons were insect demons, and flew alongside Galadriel and Luane. Even though the two were only middle-rank, they were the personal guard of Akros, their summoner. The respect they had for Akros applied to his loyal servants, and the demons nearby the 5 beauties heeded them as their commanders.

Akros along with the other elemental demons were careful to aim their magic attacks high to avoid friendly hellfire. The shadow demon charged a long-unused skill of his to break the barrier. He spread his legs out and got lower to the ground. His arms were extended straight out to either side, where balls of darkness gathered and condensed inside. 

These spheres of pure dark power created small vortexes that grew as the spheres did. After half a minute of charging while the war demons hacked at the barrier and the elemental demons bombarded it, Akros crossed his arms in front of him in a X. The two orbs of darkness conjoined into one large ball of energy, making the air swirl wildly. Morwen and the others at the front noticed the fluctuations of the air, and shouted at the troops nearby to get out of the way. 

"MORTAL GLEEEAAAAAM!!!" The orb discharged, letting the dark energy loose to create a potent torrent of shadow that erased the arrows and boulders in the air. The flow of darkness broke the barrier as soon as it contacted it. Green fragments of magic flew throughout the air as the dark beam vaporized the city wall and the archers who stood on it. The darkness shot through the dwarven and elvish buildings alike, its angel eventually leading into the sky where it pierced the clouds. As abruptly as it began, the beam died away with a crackle of dark energy, leaving a gaping hole in the city's walls.

Akros laughed victoriously, collecting the souls of those he killed with Vacuum. He pointed to the hole in the wall and bellowed: "Enter the city! Slay them all! Keep the elf women if you wish! RAHAHAHAHAA!!"

He was in a good mood, so he decided he would turn a blind eye to those acting in lust. After all, elves were beautiful creatures by nature, and demons were lustful by nature due to the existence of Asmodeus, Akros' father. Akros himself could be called the "Prince of Lust" due to his heritage. What right did he have to deny the lust of his men? Even then, while he looked down upon rape and coercion, he had already committed those sins. Demons cared not for emotional factors as romance was rare and viewed by them as fickle.

The army of demons howled in excitement as they poured in through the broken wall or flew overhead. The archers on the wall were taken care of quite quickly. The forces inside the city were not few, and posed a challenge to the demons at first. 

Tens thousands of elves and dwarves resisted the entry of the demons with arrows, hammers, and sleek swords. The low-rank demons were mowed down by archers and crushed by the armored dwarves, and their numbers shrank significantly. However, as more demons rushed in, including middle and high-rank demons, the elves and dwarves started to suffer casualties. Without the magic protection of their barrier relic, hellfire rained down on them in torrents. Elven archmages in the rear supported the front lines with shielding spells, but they were soon intercepted by high-rank demons who broke through the dwarves. 

Akros flew up and over the battlefield, then dropped down with Hellreaver in hand. His 3 ton body paired with the 9 ton blade made for a thunderous crash into the line of archmages. He gave them little time to cast magic before the red serrated blade tore into their entrails. As the leader of the army, he would take the souls of those he felled, unlike his army. The low-rank demons had to give him all of their collected souls by the end of the battle. The middle-rank demons would give him 75% of the souls they collected. High-rank demons he let keep 75%, only taking 25%. In other words, even with a sea of demons around him, he would be obtaining the majority of the soul harvest. 

The elven defense did not last long under the attacks of 200 high-rank demons plus Akros and his guard. While he lost many low and middle-rank demons in this battle, the high-rank demons would always be more important. One of them was equal to hundreds of low-rank demons in terms of firepower. However, low-rank demons were necessary as meat shields. Fortunately he only lost about 12,000 of them in the battle, and another 400 middle-rank demons. 

Once the elven army was broken apart, Akros led the demons to ravage the city. He warned them to be careful with magic if they wanted elven women, so there was little magic used during this hunting phase. Akros sped through the city, killing all that he encountered beside the women, which he spared only for another male demon to grab them. There was other female demons in his army beside his personal force, such as succubi or spider queens. These female demons were disgusted, but under the orders of their general, they too spared the elven women.

After around 12 hours, the city was demolished and in shambles. The only non-demon life was the thousands of young elven women whose screams echoed in the vast open space. Akros made sure he received all souls that were due before any demon whipped his dong out. 

Work first, then fuck. Simple and viable.

He had to admit he felt a little bad for the elves who were taken by larger demons, as their slim bodies were stretched to fit the demon inside. However, he showed no sympathy. He could not afford to, or he would look weak in front of his army. Instead, he simply looked away as he sorted out his souls. 

"Master, is this normal for demons?" Enyo asked innocently, without a twinge of sympathy. 

"Yes. Elves are beautiful, but weak. Perfect sex toys for strong demons. I only let them have their way so that the morale is kept high... what's that look for?" Akros said absentmindedly, then glanced at her annoyed expression.

"How are elves perfect sex toys? Don't they break?" Morwen snorted, then her voice turned sultry. "Besides, we're better toys for you, master~"

"Don't get me started. I need to think," Akros shot her down instantly, making her deflate. She didn't speak further, instead going over to Okami for a big hug. The demon dragon happily but silently accepted, twirling around the much smaller elemental demon.

Souls in Possession: 463,801 Average Grade souls, 10 Noble souls, 1 soul of Might fragment, 2 Middle-grade Holy souls

Quite the payday! I've been waiting 50 years for this kind of harvest! Now, before I get excited, let's use the time the other demons need to digest their souls and enjoy elf flesh to boost the magic power of the 7 girls. I have the souls to do that and their weapons, so here goes.

"Enyo, Galadriel, Hecate, Morwen, Neiro, Okami, Luane! Come!" Akros called them forth, to which they hurriedly gathered in front of him with barely hidden excitement. He realized they knew what was going to happen, and could only smile under his helmet. "Drink up! I have many magic power potions for each of you. Keep drinking until you feel a throbbing in your heart."

He handed out magic enhancing potions, using 1,000 souls for each elixir to save time. This way, the war demons only needed to drink 4 each. Okami was an exception and needed two more, likely due to her dragon blood. She had yet to be able to transform, perhaps she needed to be high-rank to do so. Enyo and Hecate each drank 10 bottles of the fluid before stopping. He spent 41,000 souls on these potions in total.

"Each of you have reached the limit of your magic power growth. In order to keep growing in power, you must condense your magic power. Once it is entirely condensed, you will promote. Ulvie, could you be a sweet thing and teach them- if possible? I need to think some more," Akros asked kindly, unequipping his armor while sitting down on a nearby sofa he stored in his inventory an hour prior. He stole many pieces of furniture from the elves and kept them in his inventory, saving them for his castle in the Abyss. "Oh, and I will need your weapons."

The 7 middle-rank demons laid their arms on the ground in front of their master, then went with Ulvone further away. The half-scaled demon insisted they dare not interrupt Akros as he worked his magic. Truly, they had zero clue of how he worked, except for Morwen. She was the only one knowledgeable of his system, but not of Lyra's. The others trusted Akros with this unknown power of his out of loyalty.

He started with the first weapon he made for them, Morwen's battle axe.

Crusel, Axe of Hellfire

+230 ATK

Featherweight: Weapon's weight is reduced by half.

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

Name is inaccurate, but besides that the properties are still very strong. I have another good one though... what shall I remake it with? 

Akros spent more time than he'd admit pondering over the possibilities of ways to improve Crusel. He only came back to reality when the fallen angel trio came over to sit around him on the armrests of the sofa.

"No need for that, I have more," Akros nonchalantly took out 3 more elven couches as large as the one he currently sat on. He tossed them in front of him, keeping them upright with Abyssal Grasp. "Go on and lay down, girls."

"Thank you very much, master!" Hilda and Uriel chirped, flinging themselves onto the soft furniture. Lyra pouted, caressing his cheeks.

"I wanted to cuddle..." She griped, then glanced at the demons further away. "Although maybe not in front of them."

"Lye, we can always cuddle later. I need to focus right now, so... shoo!" Akros didn't want to be rude, but he wasn't in the mood for cuddling. He had things to do with these souls. Lyra got the hint and left him be. She and the other two fallen angels rested on the sofas while Akros refocused on Crusel in his inventory. Having put enough thought into it, he finally made some changes.

Crusel, Wrath of the Cosmos

+565 ATK

Featherweight: Reduce weapon's weight by half.

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

Flame Conductor: Fire-type magic cast on this weapon is amplified to 200%.

Akros remade Crusel out of several materials. The handle was demon iron. The blade was recast with blood mercury, a shiny crimson alloy that was on par with adamantium. He also made the axe a good bit larger for when Morwen promoted. She was bound to grow bigger as a war demon, so he enlarged Crusel to have a 12 foot long shaft and the axe blade be 8 feet long. This whole process cost 12,000 souls. He set the axe on the ground where it was before, then grabbed the next weapon in line.

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%.

I think I need to change 'Demolition' because if I read it correctly, it only applies to the scythe itself, not her magic. 

He spent some more time thinking, then imagined the new Finality. He increased the length of the weapon to 11 feet, and the blade's circumference to 8 feet. The scythe's blade was recast with blood mercury, and the shaft with entirely demon pearl. 

Finality, Destruction Unbound

+440 ATK

+230 MGC PWR

Infinite Duress: Increases magic energy recovery speed by 1400%. Active when holstered.

Demolition: Amplify wielder's magic damage to shields, walls, and armor by 50%.

Magic Conductor: Increase magic efficiency when casted on weapon by 150%.

Akros only spent 8,000 souls reconstructing Finality, as less material was needed in comparison to Crusel. On top of that, the buffs to Magic Conductor and Infinite Duress were automatic. He didn't know exactly why, but guessed this was the power of demon pearl at work. Perhaps it was valuable in large amounts like this. He set the large scythe down and reached out to the coldest weapon of them all.

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 had actually seen Ice Pick in use during the battle. Okami breathed a mist of white frost over a unicorn and its rider, then smacked them both with the flat side of Kulkon. The frozen elf and unicorn shattered into microscopic fragments, almost dissipating. He now knew the strength of the property, and thought of ways to make it even stronger.

Kulkon, Winter's Scorn

+590 ATK

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

Ice Pick: Deals 200% damage to frozen enemies.

Cold Aura: Weapon passively emanates a freezing aura. Potency can be increased with the input of magic power. 

Kulkon was reforged with a demon iron shaft and an adamantine blade, costing 9,000 souls. He once again increased the length of the spear to 18 feet, with each side of the V-shaped blade being 7 feet long. It looked similar to a massive harpoon. The red glamour of adamantium contrasted with the cold aura coming off the weapon, but in a nice way. Akros thought the spear to be quite attractive, but he preferred longswords. It sunk into the paved ground with ease. 

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 had made Gram quite the treasure. It wasn't elementally aspected like Crusel or Kulkon. Still, with Fury and Magic Render, it became extremely lethal in Neiro's hands. She frequently went berserk during battle, her demon blood boiling due to frustration or stress. While this did increase the power of her blade, it wasn't enough against the better-armored opponents such as unicorn knights or dragons and she was forced to use Riptide. So Akros totally redesigned the sword to help her out.

Gram, Rage of the Deep

+580 ATK

Featherweight: Weapon's weight is reduced by half.

Fury: If the wielder is overcome with negative emotion, increase damage dealt by up to 200%.

Magic Nullification: Magic attacks will be absorbed by the blade and converted into mana, which is transferred to wielder via the grip. Effectiveness varies on potency of magic attack.

Water Conductor: Water-type magic cast on this weapon is amplified by 200%.

Akros redefined Fury and rid of Magic Render completely, replacing it with a superior property. With this, Neiro would be his best anti-mage. He made sure to keep Featherweight, as the sword was now 12 feet long. 9 feet of adamantium blade, 3 feet of demon iron hilt and grip. He also added leather to the handle for comfort's sake, as Neiro's palms weren't scaled and rough like most of her body. In the end the reforged Gram cost 14,000 souls.

He yawned, using Abyssal Grasp magic to set down Gram and lift the next weapon to be remastered. 

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 scratched his cheek as he thought about this dagger and its sheath. He felt that the blade was too short to be useful after seeing some of the short swords the elf archers carried. When he reconstructed the weapon, he increased the length considerably to make it a short sword. With a demon pearl grip and sheath plus a blade of blood mercury, the sword was 5 feet long in total. This wasn't too small for Enyo currently, but Akros expected her to grow with her promotion. 

Xeluge, Malice of the Molten

+310 ATK

Ember: Sets wounds aflame. Increases damage dealt to wooden enemies by 600%.

Infinite Duress: Increase magic recovery speed by 1100%. Active when sheathed.

Born form Magma: Grants wielder total immunity to burns and magic fire. 

Slagheap: Increases wielder's potency of lava magic by 200%. Active when sheathed.

Akros spent 15,000 souls in total due to the cost of Born from Magma. However, he regretted nothing about it. Enyo was bound to harm herself with a close-range cast of lava magic at some point, so he wanted to protect her from such damage. Lava magic was different then pure elemental magic like hellfire, it could harm the caster as the lava was physical and didn't show favorites. Even though she possessed his ultraspeed regeneration, burns made regeneration slower and more costly to one's life force. 

By adding a protective property to Xeluge, he was allowing her to use lava magic in close quarters. The property was more expensive because he deliberately set it to be very potent. Angelic magic usually burned demons, so he essentially made her invincible to angelic magic. After all, it was only a matter of time before his and the other demon leader's actions caught the eyes of the angels of this world. Akros shook his head and refocused, setting Xeluge down. Next was...

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 was conflicted, not knowing exactly what to do with these two. He reforged them first before worrying about the properties. Magnar was now a 8 feet long sword forged of adamantium and demon iron. Nargam was enlarged to be a 4.2 feet x 7 feet adamantine rectangle, and Akros added a scabbard within the back with the straps. Nargam could be held lengthwise or heightwise now. He took another few minutes to think of ways to improve the weapons for Galadriel's benefit.

Magnar, Venomous Fang

+475 ATK

Pierce: Deals 125% 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.

Poison Conductor: Poison-type magic cast on this weapon is amplified by 200%.

Nargam, Venomous Plate

+300 DEF

Absorb Magic: Absorbs 75% of magic damage dealt to shield surface.

Absorb Momentum: Absorbs momentum of attacks to shield surface. Momentum is redirected outwards to push attacker back.

Poison Conductor: Poison-type magic cast on this shield is amplified by 200%.

Akros finally came up with these changes. Deflect and Sense Guide were crutches for Galadriel while she learned the way of the shield, but those days were long over. Without need for the attributes, he replaced them with a stronger version of Absorb, creating two separate properties to specify the detail. Galadriel was balanced between speed and strength, not build to take heavy impact. So he redefined Absorb to help her with that issue. Plus an amplifier to her poison magic for the sake of killing efficiency. With that and the loss of another 6,000 souls, he set down the sword and shield and picked up the last weapon of the 7.

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.

Akros had made an error with Upon the soil, but besides that Nozarichi was one of the deadliest 'heroin' weapons yet. Its ATK boost was the highest of them, but now the wazakishi had fallen behind. He recreated the blade with blood mercury while the grip and scabbard were of demon iron. The katana was 11 feet in length when sheathed. 

Nozarichi, The Unquenchable

+695 ATK

+105 SPD

Upon the soil: When surrounded by large quantities of dirt, increase damage dealt by 50%.

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

Blood Harvest: Wounds inflicted by the blade will bleed continuously. Wound will not heal naturally. Effectiveness depends on vitality of victim.

Goredrinker: Blood spilled by this blade will be absorbed, temporarily increasing the cutting power of the blade. At max blood capacity, the blade will glow red and be able to cut through things it cannot normally.

Akros was very pleased with the blade's appearance, the properties reminding him of Jetstream Sam's Murasama from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Luane was his biggest damage dealer in terms of physical damage. Her dirt magic was seldom used, mainly for stealth or blinding opponents. However, she was a very proficient aerial combatant, and her magic was useless there. So Akros gave her an edge, literally, to help her overcome the lack of magic. Perhaps he should grant her with another branch of magic, perhaps... air magic! He almost leaped at the idea. How didn't he think of this sooner?

Akros set down Nozarichi and opened the Create tab of the system panel before him. After watching hundreds of One Piece episodes, he knew tons of different devil fruits existed. One he remembered not too well was the Wind Wind Fruit. He couldn't recall if it was a Paramecia or a Logia type. However, he imagined it the Wind Wind Fruit he was creating as a Logia type for the extra benefit. Transforming into wind would be an easy method of dodging attacks, and it wasn't like demons and angels could use Armament Haki, which was effective against Logia users.

Once the devil fruit was created and another 600 souls left his inventory, he thought of what type of weapons to give Ulvone and Uriel. He wanted them to feel unique, but also wanted to give them the correct weapon type for their fighting styles. Akros checked his soul count to see what his options were.

Souls in Possession: 342,201 Average-grade souls, 1 soul of Might fragment, 2 Middle-grade Holy souls

Yeesh! Nozarichi cost 16,000 souls? I'm burning through my supply rather quick. I won't have enough souls to make all of them armor just yet it seems, but that should be okay. Okami and Neiro have tough scales, so they can live without. Hilda and Uri have fallen angelic armor which isn't bad at all. So really just Lye, Morwen, Galadriel, Luane, Enyo, Hecate, and Ulvie. Luane and Galadriel have exoskeletons, so they won't need full body armor. In fact, I doubt any of them want full body armor like mine. They probably want armor more similar to Pheom's if I had to guess, heavy plate armor is too constricting. But they also won't refuse anything I give them... well, armor for the 7 can come later after they promote and grow. The only ones I dare give armor now would have to be Lye and Ulvie. Easy enough.

Akros thought deeply about his future creations, not wanting to waste souls or valuable materials. He had yet to use any black diamond or magnate ruby, but he was the only one to be able to use either to their fullest. Sure, he could give, say Uriel a black diamond sword, but her magic isn't dark. Dark lightning and fallen lightning were two very different things. Fallen lighting was a combination of angelic and depraved power. Simply put, it didn't fit the attribute of black diamond. 

Akros had the dark attribute, and wielded dark magic of two types. Shadowflame was somewhat purple, but also pitch black. It was the combination of his dark attribute, a hellfire seed, his shadow magic, and his ki abilities. Dark Restoring, as the name implied, was a dark branch of restoration magic. Only his Abyssal Grasp magic lacked the dark attribute, but it was gravity magic. Magnate ruby corresponded with gravitational magic. In other words, he was the best contender to wield equipment with black diamond and magnate ruby.

He was running low on blood mercury and adamantium while having tons of demon iron and demon pearl left. Even then, he didn't hesitate to use the last of his valuable ores when creating Ulvone's weapon. He valued his maidens very much, and wouldn't hold back out of greed. That part of his mind was still humane. He took his time picturing and defining this weapon, taking almost an hour before it was finally finished in the system's interface.

Volien, Crescent of Despair

+1050 RNG ATK

Unmatched Power: Bowstring exceeds the strength of its material. 

Mavos, Bottomless Quiver

Refillable: Inputting magic power into this quiver will generate specific arrows until the max capacity of the quiver is reached. Max capacity is 20 arrows.

Magic Arrows: Arrows created by this quiver are have shadow stone shafts and Imperial Gold tips. Arrows ignore gravity and deal 400% damage to demigods, gods, and immortal beings.

Magic Conduit: Increases magic potency of wearer by 150%. 

Akros created a 13 foot long bow cast in adamantium with a string of shadow stone. The substance was very peculiar in its properties, and was far from actual stone. In thin strands, it acted like string. In thicker clumps, it was solid like stone. He created a large quiver, a 5 foot long cylinder made of demon pearl. It held 20 custom made arrows, each of them 5 feet long. The fletching of these arrows was made of red hawk feathers, nothing expensive in terms of souls but still viable. The arrows were shaped like normal ones, but their size and glinting Imperial Gold heads made them slightly intimidating. 

In total, Volien and Mavos cost 30,000 souls to produce. The Magic Arrows property by itself cost 24,000 souls, as the rest was somewhat cheap to create. He didn't feel a tinge of regret at the price, rather feeling proud of his work. Nothing was worse than an archer with no arrows in his perspective. He set the pair down on the ground by the other weapons, and thought of what to give Uriel. 

The tanned fallen angel bore potent magic, but it wasn't her strong suit. Uriel preferred to get close and personal, only resorting to magic attacks when that failed. She had informed him of this rather shyly several years prior at Vrathe. However, she also asked that he not give her a sword. She wielded a sword as an angel, and wanted to leave that part of her behind. Out of respect for this wish, Akros would give her something else.

He had noticed Uriel fighting in melee combat against dwarves in the battle earlier. Even though she was barehanded, she crushed them with pure strength. She seemed reluctant to use magic on enemies she didn't have to, preferring to cave heads in with her knuckles. So Akros imagined a pair of gauntlets and armored boots. 

Adamantine Brawler Set

+385 ATK

+125 DEF

+50 SPD

+75 VIT

+30 MGC PWR

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

Magic Bash: Allows wearer to punch or kick through magic attacks, dissipating or canceling them. Effectiveness varies on potency of spell. 

Infinite Duress: Increases stamina recovery speed of wearer tenfold.

With the power of the system, Akros fortunately didn't need exact measurements. He simply imagined the gauntlets and boots to fit Uriel's limbs, and the items set their sizes accordingly. The gauntlets were red and spiked, covering up to her shoulders. They weren't theatrical in design. The thick metal plates were made to crush the bones of any who dared challenge Uriel. The spikes on the forearm and knuckles were extra damage dealers. The boots were similar, possessing spikes on the femur plates. Quite frankly, the armor was not fitting for an angel at all, but he doubted Uriel would care. If anything, it seemed that she wanted to become less angelic to embrace her role as a fallen angel.

The boxing set cost 20,000 souls to forge, reducing Akros' average-grade soul amount to 292,201. Akros was still rolling in it! He decided to hold off on creating more armor, instead calling out to the sleeping fallen angels. They quickly responded to his voice, and appeared before him in moments. They didn't fail to notice the reforged weapons on the pavement, gazing with awe. 

"Yes, these are their new weapons," Akros chuckled at their collective shock. "Worry not. I have prizes for you three as well. Uriel, you're first. Come here."

Uriel was a bit confused as to what he meant, but did as told. She stood a few feet in front of him as he brought out the Adamantine Boxing Set. He couldn't hold all four pieces with his hands, so he levitated them with Abyssal Grasp magic. Uriel gawked at the armor, then looked at him with disbelief.

"This is... for me?" She could feel the power radiating from the armor and became excited, but wanted to be respectful. Akros smiled with a nod, making the pieces of adamantine armor float closer to her. 

"Go on, wear it. I need to see if it fits. I do know your body quite well, so I expect that it should..." Akros muttered the last part to himself. After countless passionate nights with Uriel, it only made sense that he knew her body shape and size. 

Uriel heard all of his words, but said nothing. Instead she hurriedly took off her fallen angelic armor from her arms and legs, leaving her breastplate. After a minute of Akros helping her get the armor on, she stepped back and admired it on her body. The vambraces felt comfortable and strong, but without weighing her arms down. She threw a few jabs to test her arm speed, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it improved. The boots that went up to her knees were a nice addition to her black leggings, and she loved it. The boots were peculiar in their design, allowing movement from each toe as they were armored separately. She could crouch and lunge without any hindrance.

"Master, what is this alloy? This feels amazing!" Uriel stopped moving around, bearing a happy smile and wet eyes. Akros balked at the sight of tears about to fall, but before he could do anything she crashed into his chest. The fallen angel crushed him in a tight hug, shocking him with her newfound strength. Even with his vitality, she was crushing him!

"Okay, ease up!" Akros grunted, straining to keep himself from crumpling due to the force being exerted on his body. Uriel gasped, and let go nervously. She realized what she had done and her tears of happiness turned into anxiety.

"Master, are you okay?" Uriel asked timidly, afraid to touch him due to his pained expression. It took only seconds for his bruises to heal, but it felt like hours to her as she waited for a response fearfully.

"Uri, relax. You can't permanently injure me. I've had my back broken before anyhow from a similar situation," Akros nonchalantly spoke. Lyra flinched and looked down with guilt. He sighed, standing up. He rubbed Uriel's scalp tenderly while giving her a kind smile, or as kind of a smile he could give with his menacing demonic mouth. "Don't think of it a second more. It's not a big deal. Lye's held onto my back plenty of times to make up for it."

Lyra blushed with greater shame, covering her face in her hands. Uriel and Hilda shared a if you know you know glance. Akros smiled, then sat back down on the elven sofa. "Uri, you'd do well to spend some time getting accustomed to your new equipment. Hilda, take out your sword for me."

"Alright..." Curious, Hilda pulled out her fallen angelic sword from her separate space. She laid it on her palms and offered it to Akros, who simply made it disappear into the system. Even though it was an odd scene watching the sword vanish, the members of Akros' personal guard had seen it too many times to show surprise. 

Unnamed Sword

+200 ATK

Wow, really? Who the hell gave her this? Samael? No way...

Akros had an idea. Using the system, he opened the tab of his Imperial Gold armor, and separated the right arm from the breastplate, along with the shoulder guards of each arm. He essentially made the armor sleeveless. Now with the Imperial Gold separate from the armor set, it still maintained its qualities of God Slaying and Immortal, which was a bit ironic. He had yet to actually break the armor during combat, so Immortal had yet to be used.

He created an entirely new sword, a 5 foot long Imperial Gold longsword. The hilt and grip were of demon iron, giving the weapon a bit of contrast. With the sword finished physically, he went on to define some properties for it.

Infen, Sweltering Blade of Fire

+570 ATK

Fallen: May only be wielded by fallen angels.

God Killer: Damage dealt to deities, gods, demigods, and immortal beings is quadrupled. Grants the wearer the ability to slay immortal beings.

Purgatory: Flame magic of wielder amplified by 150%.

Infinite Duress: Stamina and mana recovery speeds amplified fourfold. Active when equipped.

In total, the creation of Infen cost 5,000 souls. He didn't add any crazy attributes or actually create anything, rather putting materials together. With that in mind, along with the blade's smaller size, it made sense that it was cheaper than the other weapons.

Akros took Infen out from the system and gave it to Hilda, who drooled over it upon sight. He chuckled with mirth at the sight. "It's not edible, you know."

"Oh! I-I wasn't- ahem. You have my utmost gratitude, master," Hilda cleared her throat, then asked out of curiosity: "Could this be Imperial Gold?"

"It is indeed. It is a powerful ore, I'm not surprised you recognized it."

"Not only is it powerful, but it's so rare! How do you keep getting it?" Hilda asked in wonder. Akros panicked mentally at the question, but maintained a cool face. After a few moments, he calmed down and responded logically.

"It's... from a tomb. One with much treasure inside, but I was only able to take a small amount at first," Akros said hesitantly. He turned away from her and beckoned for Lyra to come closer. "Now, Lye, show me Grima's Fang."

Lyra took out the sword from her own system and handed it to him directly. She knew exactly what he was doing, so she leaned over to whisper in his ear. "If it's not asking too much, can you make me a..."

Akros listened carefully as she spoke the details of her custom order. He then looked at her oddly. "You're sure about that?"

"If I wasn't sure I wouldn't tell you," Lyra huffed, planting her hands on her hips. "Can you do it?"

"Yes, yes, hold your horses, woman. Shit's not instant," Akros sighed, then started working. He opened the tab of the Grima's Fang inside his inventory.

Grima's Fang

+328 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.

Akros scratched his chin in thought. He couldn't remember the exact amount of souls this blade cost, but knew it hadn't been over 4,000. Yet it was quite the good sword, very similar to Hellreaver in its infinite potential. However, the 'minimal' growth was far too little. The ATK buff was at 300 when the sword was first made. 50 something years later it only grew by 28? Unacceptable. But before he could define the attributes, he recreated the blade into a much longer weapon. He might as well have forged a new weapon, but wanted to keep Despair and Infinite Duress. 

He transformed the sword into a double-headed scythe. The shaft of demon pearl was 8 feet long, and each slightly curved Imperial Gold blade was 4 feet long. It was essentially a sharp T. The two blades connected over the top. 

Ayrris, Sickle of Lament

+825 ATK

Despair: Blade feeds on negative emotions within a 500 foot radius. Negative emotion will permanently increase damage dealt.

God Killer: Damage dealt to deities, gods, demigods, and immortal beings is quadrupled. Grants the wearer the ability to slay immortal beings.

Infinite Duress: Increases magic and stamina recovery speed tenfold. Active when equipped.

Greed: Absorbs the life force of those it damages. Life force stolen is then transferred to wielder. Uneffective against undead.

Akros spent 18,000 souls creating Ayrris, less than he expected for such a powerful weapon. When he took the double-headed scythe out from his inventory, Lyra and the two other fallen angels were shocked. 

"You... you really did it!" Lyra squealed in gleeful excitement. She leapt on Akros' chest, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. "Oh, thank you, love! What would I do without you?"

"Argh..." Akros' cheeks flushed a bit at the unexpected cuddle, and the feeling of Lyra's breasts pooling against his chest. He gently pushed her off, much to her disappointment.

"No cuddles?" She whined with a pout. He gave her an irritated look, flicking her forehead. "Ow!"

"I'm not anywhere near done. Wait for a moment," Akros grumbled, refocusing on the open system panel. His next order of business was Lyra's armor, as she currently lacked anything decent. Her angelic outfit was just cloth, and not suitable for battle. That was when he had an excellent idea. 

Akros went to the Adamantine armor set he took from Nazarick. He had yet to Modify it, so it was still at the human size. After several minutes of indecisive designing, he Modified the armor set to fit Lyra's body. It was a thick layer of plate armor with some areas unprotected to facilitate movement. He made sure to leave the back somewhat open for her wings. Even though this would be impossible to put on as it was one large connected piece, Lyra had a system like his. She should be able to equip armor like he did. The only separate piece of the armor set was the helmet.

Adamantine Set

+175 DEF

+100 VIT

+75 SPD

+50 ATK

+50 MGC PWR

Private: Wearable only by Fallen Angel Lyra.

Immortal: Armor cannot break permanently. Once broken, it will regenerate at the cost of Lyra's mana. If completely destroyed, it will be sent to Lyra's inventory and will regenerate there instead.

I hope Immortal works with her system, but if not then oh well. This only cost 4,000 souls to make anyway, I didn't have to add much more adamantium to it even though Lyra's about 7 feet tall. The set of armor was likely made for a human.

Once finished, Akros handed Lyra the helmet and armor. In front of the astounded Uriel and Hilda, Lyra placed the armor inside the system and equipped it onto her body. The red metal covered her nearly her entire body, with the thicker plates covering her limbs and chest. Lyra was in love as soon as it was on her body, hugging herself contently. 

"You like it? That's a relief," Akros' lips curved into a small but relieved smile. "I was worried you'd think it was too heavy."

"No no no! This is sublime!" Lyra cooed, before realizing she was in front of others beside Akros. She coughed into her fist with a golden blush, then smiled at him bashfully. "...thank you so much, my love. What can I do to repay you?"

"Repay me? Don't be foolish," Akros scoffed, a little upset that she thought that way. Lyra flinched at his sudden change of tone. "I love all of you. You are what keep me sane, keep me happy. Besides that, you're loyal, which cannot go without reward. Don't think for a moment that you need to repay me for anything I give you."

"You- you mean that? Akros, I don't deserv..." Lyra said in disbelief, her voice trailing off as his expression darkened. 

"Enough. I will not tolerate any of you belittling yourselves out of reverence. The three of you may resume sleeping, I will not bother you," With this declaration, he laid on his back on the couch with his wings compacted into magic tattoos. Lyra gulped nervously, sensing his unhappy attitude. Ayrris hummed lowly as it fed off his irritation, but only for a few moments before stored it away. She glumly laid on the sofa she had slept on before after unequipping her new armor. Uriel and Hilda shared a concerned glance.

Hilda cautiously stepped over the weapons on the ground to lean over Akros, whose eyes were closed. "Master, is there something we can do?"

Akros opened his mouth to say something, but bit his tongue before words formed. He heaved a sigh, and shook his head slowly. Hilda frowned with worry, but said nothing. She bent over to give him a soft, slow kiss before returning to her elven sofa. Uriel kissed Akros' forehead and did the same.

 

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