Chapter 542: To Baltimore
Asmodeus lay wrapped in the bodies of the women he loved, their scent, heat and skin touching him while locked in a deep sleep. The days passed after falling into a frenzy of lust and desire.
Now the women were spent, even Velvet, a warrior convulsed to his right, her eyes staring into the sky, half unconscious, half asleep.
The only one still normal was Lumina.
"You promised to take me with you, that makes me happy." Lumina's smooth fingertips brushed his cheeks, ignoring the others. She dangled from the rooftop with a slight sway. "I waited so long."
Lumina's memories recovered more with time.
Unlike her strange monster-like tone, now she spoke closer to her time as a hero.
"I can't believe you held back when you're like that..."
Asmodeus smiled at her, his hand brushing along her human thigh, a wet squish sounding as he came close to her crotch, before her hands batted him away. "Well, I told you before. That I wanted to be treated as your wife, but we haven't crossed the right line yet." Lumina's eight eyes watched him with delight.
"Yeah..."
After so long together, the demon emperor understood Lumina better.
Despite wanting him badly, even though he offered sex. Lumina tried to do it on her terms and in a way that she felt was right. In other words, she wanted to enjoy the thrill of dating and romance before moving further.
Lumina wanted the dream that she had never had. And Asmodeus would give it to her.
"We should start getting ready Lumina."
Asmodeus carefully slipped out of bed, gently kissing the cheeks and faces of each woman who gave him such a wonderful experience. He tried to avoid waking them because of how tired each woman must be.
Serena's face looked peaceful, lying in the centre, her stomach facing the sky.
He paused before placing his hand on her swollen stomach, their child still inside; it would soon be here.
Asmodeus couldn't help but feel a deep satisfaction at this, a pride that was hard to shake.
It was a joy to see his women pregnant with their children.
Even more for Yumiko and Yuina to have given birth to such cute little foxes, he wanted to see them, but the situation with Alan couldn't be left alone; if Vinea suffered danger, he might never forgive himself. The women were all precious to him, and he would protect every one of them.
Yet Alan was also someone he must protect.
His first true friend...
His brother.
***
Asmodeus dressed and packed, placing a spare shirt on Lumina, who was now human, with a beautiful black exoskeleton covering her from the toes to her abdomen, a small chitin breastplate, and the same armour covering her arms. It looked both sexy and cool to him.
"Let's go, Lumi."
"I like it, when you call me that, Asmodeus."
He smiled before leaving a small stack of letters on the bedside table, each addressed to his beloved women, whom he wouldn't be taking with him.
Not that he didn't want them to come, but each person had their role in the upcoming struggle. Velvet, Erika, and Asmodea would prepare his army of demon knights and warriors in case of an all-out war, while Sariel and Riel would become messengers between the three kingdoms and the empire.
Ciela and her archers would follow him in a week, in that time she needed to prepare the defences in her absence.
Serena and Levia would remain as the proxy rulers of the demon empire.
The two set off at once. He felt a sense of relief as the sun's rays fell onto his back.
Things might have been dangerous if he had rushed to face Alan the night he had seen that horrible dream.
Asmodeus felt at ease, knowing that all his women accepted his choice and supported him, even though they wanted to fight beside him when he spoke honestly, telling them about what he wanted to achieve and needed to do.
All of them supported it after a bit of persuasion and fun.
They all loved him, and he loved all of them in return.
Asmodeus couldn't have asked for better partners; their personalities, looks and love were unique.
"Lumina, you look great in that style."
"Hmmm?"
Their horses galloped across the revived demon lands, soft, fertile dirt replacing the dry and horrible land of the past, thanks to the mana-enriched water that flowed through the entire territory.
Thanks to the huge lake that Asmodeus enlarged and using all the magic crystals gained from the war against the demons to increase its size, the entire territory now improved daily, with excess mana things grew with more energy, vitality and resilience.
The larger fruits and vegetables could feed whole families with one tomato and a bulb of lettuce twice the size of someone's head.
"I'm talking about your exoskeleton, it's beautiful in your arachne form but this... in human form it makes you look bewitching."
"It does?" Her hands were touching and stroking her new chitinous plating. "I see..." Her cheeks flushed pink as she turned away, only the sound of horseshoes clacking against the ground, while they rushed to the Grigorian border to avoid more damage.
It was a ride filled with silence, not uncomfortable or awkward, rather the pair were well matched, and became comfortable from the moment the journey started, riding in tandem, their minds at peace.
Lumina's memories returned at a fast pace, and her current personality was very different to the one she had before.
Instead of her arrogant and anti-demon beliefs, she became more honest and open, still strong-willed yet kinder.
***
After crossing the border and travelling across Grigoria's farmland and hills, the pair noticed the changes in the world, or at least Grigor.
A group of what seemed to be knights, or warriors in heavy plate mail, stopped the two.
"Halt, state your business!"
Asmodeus felt the bloodlust from them without any issues, and he didn't want to get bogged down, so he remained calm and tried to reason with these rough knights, but something about their eyes and aura was off.
"..."
He couldn't quite understand why, since they didn't seem hostile, just suspicious.
"We are heading south to Baltimore, to meet with someone."
However, this response caused them to change, a green aura pooled from their pores, eyes shimmering with an unnatural colour, and they charged.
"We will not permit you to go any further!" They yelled in anger.
"I see, in that case, we can't stop either." Asmodeus grabbed his axe, swinging it with a howl. He then called out to Lumina. "They're not in the right mind, try not to kill them!"
"Who do you take me for?"
She huffed while standing on her horse's back, threads twirling between her fingertips.
Lumina's webbing reached the ground and created a massive net that stopped the horses of the knights from charging towards Asmodeus, leaving their horses dangling mid-air, and causing the riders to tumble forward, flying through the air.
The demon emperor slashed downwards and used his magic to summon an earthen wall from the ground to stop their momentum, but not to hurt them. Too much
BANG!
The crash was heavy and violent, but not enough to be fatal, with the sound of armour clashing against stone, not a single one remained conscious, but this method seemed effective in his dream.
"That should keep them out of the way."
Asmodeus then started searching their things, curious about whether an item made them this way or something had happened in the past few days that might have brainwashed them into mindless thugs.
But he found nothing, not even a badge or insignia of their kingdom. "It doesn't make sense."
"What?" Lumina watched, now standing beside him, her hands touching their armour and faces as if trying to find an answer. "They definitely seem to have an aura, like mana... but not quite the same either..."
"There is something off about them..."
"Doesn't it feel like the same aura that bastard gave off... have they been corrupted by his divine force?" Lumina muttered, her face scrunching into an angry mess.
The memory of his betrayal was still clear and burned within her memories.
"It's possible, but we can't assume that Alan has been using such a thing, at least until we reach him and get an answer."
"Please don't be too hopeful, Asmodeus."
"I know, I'm prepared to fight him if I need to, but I want to give him a chance first. He's not just my friend, but the one who gave me a purpose, that's not an easy debt to forget."
Asmodeus watched the horizon, remembering his time coming into this world, when Alan tried his best to teach and help him out of the dark.
"Well, don't worry I am here for you now, Husband."
Lumina's cool black arms dangled over his neck, the sleek surface of the exoskeletal chitin comfortable to the touch, like solid silk.
"Whatever you face, we are all with you."