"Yes." Kaelgor smirked beneath the cold steel of his helmet.
The steam rising from his abyssal helm merged like liquid into dirtied water, into the thick purple miasma that was highlighted red by hells light.
His expression was hidden from view, but the gleam in his burning red eyes betrayed his satisfaction.
Adam had seen through his scheme, had identified the layers of manipulation.
Yet, the newborn had not attacked.
He had not lashed out in rage, nor had he attempted to strike him down when he turned his attention towards Saphira, sitting on the ground.
Kaelgor's respect for the whelp ticked upward another notch.
He rose from his crouching position, his massive, armored body unfolding back to its full, intimidating height.
If Adam had been foolish enough to try to kill him then and there, opening the barrier even slightly, then Kaelgor would have been able to take him out.
A single second was all he needed.
'The newborn was impulsive, ruled by his lusts and his rages, but he was not a complete fool.'
"It is unfortunate," Kaelgor spoke, his voice carrying a hint of disappointment, "That she did not get the job done."
He nodded towards Saphira, sitting on the ground.
"But it is also fortunate, for you, that she failed," He moved his gaze back to Adam, "You live, so the matter is over with, is it not?" He let the question hang in the air, rhetorical and dismissive, "After all, you got to keep her. You fucked her, dominated her, in the end. A consolation prize, perhaps, but a prize nonetheless."
He paused, his red gaze sweeping over these young devils: snot-nosed children compared to him.
"I never explicitly told her to do anything," Kaelgor continued, his tone shifting coldly, uncaring, arrogantly, "I gave her a command to submit to you. What she did with that command, how she interpreted it, was her choice. Her failure is her own," He shrugged casually, his massive shoulders moving like steel mountains, "Nor did I tell you to be so foolish, so arrogant, as to let a devil stronger than yourself within your barrier; much less into your embrace! That was stupidity on both your parts," His voice hardened, a hint of genuine admonishment creeping in.
A hatred born of watching one of his own kind being so stupid.
"You are lucky to be alive, whelp. Do not mistake my daughter's failure for your own strength."
Saphira's eyes, which had been closed, fluttered open.
Her gaze was dull and distant. She listened to his words, her mind filled with a fog brewed from pain and humiliation, but beneath the fog, an understanding began to crystallize.
He had not commanded her to kill Adam, but he had known with the certainty that she would try. And if she succeeded, he would have his victory.
If she failed, he would have his intelligence while completing his end of his deal.
Either way, he won, or lost nothing.
She nodded, a movement so slight it was almost imperceptible, like a student being told the answers to a question they had gotten wrong after a test.
The lesson was brutal, humiliating, but it was a lesson nonetheless. She would not be so easily manipulated again.
She vowed to herself.
Adam's gaze narrowed, his rage-filled gaze fixed on Kaelgor's smirk.
Beside him, tucked within his cloak, Lyra had been silent, her presence quite and lazy. Partially trapped since she was naked under their shared fur coat.
She had been ignored throughout the exchange, seemingly forgotten by the two male devils engaged in their conversation.
But her casual posture, with her half-closed eyes, relaxed shoulders, and the lazy slant of her body against Adam's; they all belied a storm of emotion churning beneath the surface.
When Kaelgor spoke of Adam fucking and dominating his daughter, when he called Saphira and Adam fools for their actions, something in Lyra's silver eyes flickered.
A wave of killing intent erupted from her.
She already had qualms about Kaelgor, as he had forced her enlistment. Now with the added fact that he called her partner an idiot, although she didn't fully disagree with him; she felt that her anger could no longer be held back.
Of course, everyone present was stronger than her.
Kaelgor, a peak-tier devil with a century of experience, did not even flinch.
Adam, now a high-tier himself, felt the pressure but was not affected.
Even Saphira, beaten and broken, was still a high-tier deviless.
Lyra's killing intent was a candle flame in the wind; easily dismissed.
Still, Adam's hand, which had been resting on her hip, shifted. His palm and fingers found the soft, squishy curve of her ass beneath the fur coat, and he began to stroke it, slowly, rhythmically, like petting a cat's fur.
The touch was calming, and reassuring that her anger was noted and appreciated, but that now was not the time for her anger.
Lyra's rigid posture softened, her killing intent receding as quickly as it had appeared.
She nestled back against him, her silver eyes still glaring at the imposing brute, but her body once again lazy.
Adam's focus returned to Kaelgor.
"You should know," He started, his tone devoid of anger, "I was close to using the nexus's attack rune. A hairs-breadth away from unleashing its power. It would have killed Saphira, obliterated everyone beyond this basin, and perhaps even consumed myself if I had not been careful," He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"It would have ruined your plans. Exposed Lord Gorael's blunder. Led to a punishment worse than death for all involved… yourself included, I imagine."
"Mmm~"
Kaelgor shrugged, the movement casual, almost dismissive.
"I would have stopped it," He said, his voice a low, yet confident.
"If I had sensed the rune activating, if I had seen you moving towards that level of escalation, then I would have stopped your little fight."
Adam's brow lifted, a question etched into the sharp lines of his devilishly handsome face.
He did not speak, but his burning red eyes conveyed his skepticism with an exaggerated expression.
He didn't understand why Kaelgor was so confident when he claimed he could have stopped the fight between him and Saphira.
The nexus alone defied explanation.
His shimmering, impenetrable wall of demonic energy was an obstacle that he knew Kaelgor couldn't pass.
He also doubted that Kaelgor meant he would have simply screamed at them to stop.
Such crude, basic actions would have been utterly useless; drowned out by the roar of battle and the explosions of clashing energies.
No, Kaelgor was implying something else, something that made Adam's instincts prick with warning.