Chapter 665: Any Excuse to Adventure!
Chapter 665: Any Excuse to Adventure!
The black star tore apart the sky. It transformed the sea from a battlefield to a graveyard as the sea screamed in agony.
Waves the size of mountains folded over one another, swallowing ships and land whole. The fleet that once proudly bore the Golden Hare on its hull, scattered like cheap driftwood across a maelstrom of black, flaming water. Shredded sails, splintered hulls and men vanished into the storm’s eye as lightning split the horizon in half.
“Damn it! Marthaaaaaaaaa!”
Brando clung to the deck rail, blood streaming down his face and body. He couldn’t tell where the sky ended or the sea began as everything became a twisted vortex. His hand stretched towards Martha’s silhouette amid the chaos. The glimpse of her black wings flickering in his pupils before the sea consumed everything.
Then came the pull of the waves…
Or was it the monster sucking the sea into its titanic maw…?!
The monster’s shriek shattered what remained of the fleet, and the ocean itself seemed to twist inside out, dragging every vessel down into a spiralling throat of darkness.
‘Asmodeus… save us.’
People of Lumeria no longer praised other gods and instead called out to Asmodeus.
***
The sound of the sea crashing upon land echoed in Brando’s mind, like putting an ear against a shell. He tried to move, but struggled… something heavy, like a weighted blanket, wrapped his body.
“Martha…”
When Brando opened his eyes, he lay facedown on coarse, yet golden sand. His lungs burned with saltwater and ash, wheezing in pain with each breath. The sky above looked peaceful, but dull grey clouds drifted from the right.
Around him, the wreckage of multiple ships littered the strange shoreline, timber, corpses and torn sails tangled like cheap silk.
“Martha…!?”
He croaked before forcing himself upright as his body screamed.
“Ugh…”
Before he could call out again, hoping for a survivor, a harsh voice came from behind, forcing him to freeze on the spot. “Well, well… look what the storm dragged in.”
Figures emerged from the land, barefoot and armed with curved blades. Their clothes looked tattered, but their eyes and spirits were high.
Pirates.
Within seconds, blades and guns were pointed at Brando’s neck and forehead, shoving him back into the sand, as they tied his hands roughly.
Brando tried to stand, but a boot pressed against his back, shoving him into the sand as rough hands bound his wrists.
Although the sea and that monster spared his life….
Why did it deliver him into a new hell?
“Oho… isn’t this the master of the Golden Hare?”
The leading pirate’s voice rumbled as they kicked a piece of driftwood, revealing the golden hare that each ship placed on its hull.
“Looks like we hit the jackpot boys!”
Brando only wished that his wife had managed to escape safely.
***
Meanwhile, in the capital of Lumeria, Asmodeus sat in silence. The searing heat of the sauna rolled across his bare skin like a living tide, the scent of herbs and sweat thick in the air.
He exhaled slowly, eyes half-closed, until he suddenly sensed something.
A distant voice called out to him from the west, but he didn’t understand the meaning.
That’s when the sky suddenly flashed with a dark glow, which lasted less than a second, and yet Asmodeus watched it for what seemed like an eternity. He immediately stood up and glared out the window, dark-coloured sweat pouring down him.
“What? An Abyssal!?”
‘How could there be an abyssal, has the portal been breeched?!’
His mind raced at the thought. With his diet, training and restoration of the capital having been ongoing for almost a month since he married his wives. Because of this, he delayed their honeymoon and spent most of his time with the children instead.
‘I have to go!’
Asmodeus rushed out of the specialised sauna, heat so hot the air almost lit aflame.
His feet hit the marble floor with a thud, the sudden heat of his skin creating long cracks as the female knights at the door blushed. Asmodeus stormed through the palace halls in a blur of steam, muscle and manhood.
He stepped on the frozen palace wall, one foot on the ground, the other atop the walls as he glanced at the distant portal to the abyss.
Nothing.
“Thank god…”
Before he could recover, two beautiful women with jet black wings dropped beside him, one wrapping his body in a light cloth, the second wrapping his formal kimono with the emblem of Lumeria on the back.
“Phew… thanks Levia, Vinea. I guess today’s wardrobe manager is Yumiko and Yuina?”
“You guessed right, darling. Fufu, you look so hot in eastern clothing.”
“Levia, we’re still on duty…”
Ever since the grand marriage, all his women became much closer. Although he apologised for delaying their honeymoon, each woman accepted the situation and kept a tally of all the things they wanted to do with him when they got some time.
Asmodeus reached out, hugging the two to his chest and enjoying the cool sensation of their metallic armour. “You girls were peeking on my earlier, weren’t you?”
“Honey~ would we do that?”
Vinea tried to look away, but her pink cheeks revealed everything; even if hidden by her dark red skin, he couldn’t be fooled. “Of course you would. I know you’ve been putting pressure on Ryo to lace his meals with ‘stimulating’ ingredients.”
‘Well it made the evenings bearable… since I’m only allowed to do it three times a night.’
After he evolved, his divine aura would flow into his wives, after he gave them all a divine shard linked to his core. This meant that everyone gained a benefit from sex, other than pleasure, as they slowly increased in strength.
‘But the women take a little more than they give…’
His wives would improve at a visible rate, but Asmodeus grew much more slowly.
At least until his special diet and training.
Just as he was about to tell the two what happened, Serena appeared in an instant, tails flaring with divine power as she landed with a bang. Her eyes were sharp and full of confusion. “Ryuji! What’s wrong?”
He looked back with a trembling smile. Her tails batted both Vinea and Levia aside like a true empress and wrapped herself around him before he blinked.
“I felt something calling to me from the west… and then there was a flash of abyssal energy.”
Serena’s body shuddered as she froze, her glowing eyes focused on the distance, muttering in a strange language. “Asmodeus…” She only called his official name when angry or when something dangerous happened. “They’ve awoken something that should never awaken…”
‘Huh?’
Lumina’s body slipped from the shadows, dangling on silky webbing. Her six ruby eyes widened as she stared into the distance. “Serena… the second disaster has appeared. It’s faint… but real. That direction… the coast of Baltimore?”
“Eh?” Asmodeus gasped, because there’s only one fleet sailing near there right now. “That’s where the Golden Hare fleet patrols…!?”
“That merchant who worships you?” Serena asked with a slightly pale face.
He lifted one hand and clenched his fist. The demonic sigils beneath him expanded, spreading outward like a living network of veins across the courtyard, connecting with the magical beacons embedded throughout the empire.
“…”
Nobody but Asmodeus and the imperial family could see these beacons, used as both locators and communication devices by the Black Dragon Knights and Imperial Guard… but now Asmodeus used them to find a simple Merchant.
“The entire fleet…” He took a deep breath and ground his teeth in anger. “It’s gone! And the mana in the surrounding area has been warped, as if the space is damaged.”
Serena and Lumina exchanged glances before holding his shoulders tight.
“You cannot leave, darling.”
“Honey don’t go.”
“Something from the Abyss surfaced,” he said simply. “And if it’s strong enough for me to feel it from here… then it’s already a catastrophe.”
The light of his eyes burned crimson-gold. “I cannot leave my people out in the sea without an answer, Serena, Lumina!”
With another snap of his fingers, the sigils glowed red and, almost instantly, dozens of knights appeared in the skies, some flying themselves, others mounting wyverns in black armour.
Velvet appeared next, her violet-black hair tied back, armour still unbuckled from training. “My Emperor, what happened?” Beside her was the captain of the Imperial Guard, Leviathan, no longer flirting or playing with Vinea.
“Serena, Lumina… I have to go!”
Lumina opened her mouth to protest. “Your body hasn’t fully recovered from…!”
“Then I’ll recover on the way,” he cut her off, stepping forward as his wings unfolded in a burst of heat. “I’m not letting another abyssal touch my people.”
A pulse of demonic energy shook the courtyard, and the ground beneath him cracked.
“Prepare the teleportation gate! I will head to the west immediately!”
Within seconds, the mages stationed at the citadel perimeter activated the massive runic array. Rings of light formed, swirling in layers of red, black, and gold.
Serena grasped his wrist. “You’re going alone first, aren’t you?”
He smiled faintly. “You know me too well.”
“I knew you wanted to escape this training… but don’t you think you should say goodbye to Ryusei and the girls?”
“Sorry.” Asmodeus looked back with a smile before jumping into the surging purple portal with a brilliant smile on his face. “I’m taking a holiday!”
And the Emperor of Lumeria vanished toward the western sea.