Adam stood in silence, his face pensive, his burning ember eyes fixed on the distant horizon where Kaelgor's imposing figure had vanished into the swirling miasma.
The weight of the past couple of hours, the battle, Saphira, the negotiation, pressed down on him like a physical force. For a moment, he simply existed, letting the chaos of his mind settle into something resembling order. Letting all the chaotic noise passively ease down on their own.
It wasn't until a sharp, stinging sensation at his side jolted him from his reverie that he blinked his eyes and looked down.
Lyra's beautiful, annoyed face was staring up at him, her silver mercury eyes shooting daggers of pure, concentrated jealousy.
Her delicate fingers were pinched into the flesh of his waist, twisting with a viciousness that belied her elegant appearance.
She had watched him negotiate with her enemy's father, had listened to him discuss branding and control, had endured Kaelgor's intimidating observation. But the clear, undeniable outcome that Adam intended to keep Saphira alive, to share their space, was too far!
"Hmm?"
Adam let out a soft, amused grunt, more at her audacity than from the pain.
He reached down, his large hand closing over hers, stilling the pinch. Then, with a deliberate, possessive motion, he grabbed a handful of her ass, his fingers sinking into the soft, elastic flesh. He squeezed hard, feeling the heat of her body, the subtle tremor of her suppressed anger, and pulled her against him. His other hand tangled in her silver hair, tilting her head back, and he invaded her mouth with his own.
The kiss was not gentle, it was a reminder, a reassertion of his dominance.
His tongue swept past her lips, tasting her, devouring her protests before they could form.
He felt the softness of her breasts pressing against his chest, the perky nipples hardening, the warmth of her body seeping into his.
"Mhhmm! Mmhmmm~"
Lyra, caught completely off guard, could only reciprocate for those few, breathless seconds, her anger momentarily forgotten, her body responding instinctively to his touch. The duality of blazing hot demonic mana, and that of the colder, eerie dark mana, tingled and clashed against their bodies and lips as they engrossed in one another.
Accustomed and expecting his addicting touch.
Were it not so addicting, then she wouldn't have been jealous in the first place.
Then, just as suddenly, he pulled away.
"Pa!"
His hand left her ass, only to come down in a loud, resonant smack that echoed off the nearby rocks.
"Eeik!"
Lyra gasped, startled, half-aroused, her cheeks flushing with a mixture of embarrassment and arousal.
With that, Adam reached down and pulled their shared cloak; the one that had been wrapped around both of them, from Lyra's shoulders.
"Swoosh!"
Instantly, she was left standing naked in the hellish glow, her beautiful, caramel-tinted body exposed to the elements and the distant, prying eyes of the horde.
Luckily for Lyra, the miasma of that morning seemed to be extra thick, making it so her otherworldly beauty was for her kings eyes alone.
For a moment, she simply stood there, her silver hair ruffling in the hot breeze, her expression a storm of conflicting emotions.
"Hmph!"
Then, she snorted indignantly: her anger already lessening, softened by the unexpected heat of the kiss.
Her naked body moved with a fluid, albeit irritated, grace as she strode over to where Saphira lay unconscious on the ground.
She unceremoniously yanked the borrowed cloak, the one that had been covering the crimson-skinned deviless, free and wrapped it around her own body.
Leaving the deviless naked and unconscious on the ground.
It was Lyra's personal cloak after all.
Crouching down beside Saphira's limp body, Adam reached for her tail.
It lay curled on the ground beside her; a sleek, yet muscular appendage that steadily tapered to a delicate sharp point. Its surface was a deep, lustrous crimson that matched her skin.
He grabbed it roughly, his grip firm, and picked up the tail.
With his free hand, he pointed towards the barrier, where a small opening allowed him to grab the tail band Kaelgor had left on the ground with his demonic mana.
The piece of equipment was strange.
The main band was forged from abyssal steel, dark and gleaming, etched with faint, shimmering runes that seemed to drink in the light.
The inner surface, however, was lined with a different material: a pale, polished bone that radiated a faint, hungry aura. A simple, inquisitor tap with his sharp finger nail quickly told him that the bone was several times harder than the abyssal steel that housed it.
The horns of a peak-tier lesser devil of the gluttony path.
Kaelgor having such a thing meant that he had killed another devil who stood at the same realm as him.
A feat of strength and cunning that spoke to his truly terrifying capabilities.
Adam's mind drifted, momentarily distracted by the implications.
Devils, surprisingly enough, did not often kill other devils.
What benefit did one have from slaughtering their own kind?
Angels, other worlds, boundless treasures to plunder; the universe was vast and full of resources.
A devil, although an SSS-tier resource for others, was not something that could bring a devil much benefit.
Unless, of course, they were to submit. To enslave or to brand.
Killing was wasteful.
Submission was profitable.
He shook off the thought and focused on the task at hand.
He slipped the collar onto Saphira's tail, guiding the long, slender tube over the tip and sliding it upward towards the base.
The abyssal steel was incredibly tough, its surface smooth and cold against his fingers. Even a peak-tier devil would struggle to break it quickly, and only by concentrating a massive amount of mana on a single point could one have a chance to do so.
Unfortunately for Saphira, the collars purpose was exactly to prevent the use of demonic mana. It was a cage for her power.
"Mmmm~"
As the cold metal slid over her tail, Saphira stirred slightly, a soft, unconscious moan escaping her lips.
The sensation of Adam's hot hands on the sensitive appendage, combined with the chill of the abyssal steel, sent a shiver through her limp body.
Her brow furrowed, her breathing quickening, but her eyes remained closed, her mind still lost in the depths of unconsciousness.
When the collar reached the thicker base of her tail, just where it joined her spine, the inner mechanism activated.
"Shing!"
Thin and razor-sharp, inverted blades shot out from the bone lining, slicing through her hard, demonic flesh with ease. They dug deep, latching onto her like hooks, ensuring that any attempt to forcibly pull the collar off would cause immense damage and excruciating pain.
Saphira's body convulsed slightly at the shock, her brows squinting in agony even in her passed-out state.
But she did not wake.
Adam stood, his task complete.
He gathered Saphira's limp, soft body in his arms, pulling her under his cloak to shield her from prying eyes, and turned towards the nexus.
Lyra fell into step beside him, her silver hair gleaming, her expression still stormy, but her elegance never wavering.
The air was hot and the purple miasma that hung over the basin was glowing a blazing red; illuminated by the intense, hellish light.
It was still early.
No longer willing to be put on hold, Adam made his way to the chamber where he had first taken Saphira.
The room was as they had left it.
The stone bed layered with thick demonic hides, the air still carrying the faint, musky scent of their earlier 'passion'.
He laid the unconscious deviless on the bed, her naked body revealing her battered, bruised body, the vivid fist-mark still visible, although fading, on her chest.
Her supernatural healing was starting to speed up now that Adam's demonic mana had been withered down so much by her.
"Watch her," Adam commanded, his gaze shifting to Lyra, "In case she wakes and tries something."
Lyra's eyes tightened, flashing with fury. She wanted to protest, to demand that he kill the bitch, to assert her place.
But Adam cut her off before she could speak.
"I did not put this much effort into keeping her alive and subduing her, just for her to escape or die under your jealous claws. Do you understand?" He said, his voice low and cold.
Lyra held his gaze for a long, tense moment.
Then, in the end, she slowly nodded.
Adam smiled and pulled her in for another, almost devouring kiss.
Lyra did not dare to disobey, not now, not when his voice carried that tone of absolute authority. That very same arrogance and dominance that made her attracted to him in the first place.
But her silence did not mean she was free of her own motives.
Her mind churned with dark thoughts; already plotting, ways to make Saphira's life miserable without crossing the line of Adam's threshold.
Feeling his heat, his power, his addiction… it made Lyra want to keep it all to herself!
At the edge of the room, Blair and Agri watched the exchange with wide, amazed eyes.
Their master had done it again!
He had subdued another deviless: a high-tier, no less!
Now he brought her into his growing harem.
The two demonesses exchanged glances, their expressions a complex mixture of awe, jealousy, and a strange, unexpected kinship.
Their eyes, once so filled with rival hatred, now seemed to cross, and an unknown emotion passed between them.
A shared understanding, perhaps, or a silent, unspoken alliance.
They were no longer just competitors for Adam's favor. They were witnesses to the birth of a kingdom, and their place in it was uncertain.
"Agri, Blair. Enough standing around. You are coming with me. We are finishing the dimensional portal."
Adam's voice cut through their silent communication, his back turned to Lyra whose eyes burned with lust as she seductively wiped the shared saliva off of her lips.
"Now!"
The two demonesses snapped to attention.
They fell a step behind him as he strode out of the chamber, leaving Lyra alone with the unconscious Saphira.
The silver-haired queen watched them go, her expression unreadable, her thoughts her own.
The room grew quiet, except for the soft, rhythmic breathing of the two devilesses, and the distant, ever-present hum of the nexus.