First Demonic Dragon

Asherah evaporated into mist right before Seras' eyes, and her lingering feeling of anxiety finally subsided.

At least for the moment.

She had to pull herself together before the deadline Asherah had set.

If she couldn't, then the mother goddess would tell her husband the full gravity of what was going on, and he would no doubt come for her.

Normally she would delight in nothing more… but she knew that once he came, she would have to face everything that she had done, and everything that she was still running from.

…It was scary.

'I have to apologize to my loves properly… no, to all of my family… M-Maybe I should bring them gifts or something… but I've always been a little bad at this sort of thing.'

*Rumble*

While lost in thought, Seras absentmindedly took a step back as her earlier enemy finally recovered.

A column of purple light shot out of the rubble where the demon lord lay.

His figure rose into the sky; overflowing with power and malice.

"Witch… I will flay you where you stand!!"

'Not enough yet… it's not enough yet.'

Seras held out her free hand and stopped a blade that was moving toward her neck.

The human from the hero's party had finally returned as well; bearing the fallen hero's golden sword no less.

The weapon was a gift from his godly father; supposedly capable of cutting through anything, including dimensions, metaphysical concepts, and even impossibility itself.

Which was why she caught the human by the wrist before he could even scrape her.

Startling and horrifying him in the process.

'H-How was she possibly able to sense me with the shadow king's blessing active..?!'

As if things couldn't get any worse for this world's protagonist, a system prompt flashed in his retina at just that moment.

[New Mission Assigned : Run.]

[Reward : Not dying.]

"What a monster..!"

The human had seen more than enough.

He reached in his back pocket to utilize a life-saving talisman that he had acquired on his first mission.

But in doing so, he sealed his undoing.

Seras noticed that the human was reaching for something behind his back.

So she punched through his lower stomach until her fist came out the other end and grabbed hold of the hanging satchel before its rightful owner could reach it.

She then pulled it back out through his stomach so that she could inspect the item more closely. Her eyes ignored both the blood on it and the shocked gaze of the soon to be dead human.

'My daughter likes treasures of any kind… a-and I've been meaning to gift my son a better sword.'

With Mira and Apophis in mind, Seras plucked away both items from the hero and let his body fall on the ground like loose change.

'N-No… I was destined… for more..'

As the light left his eyes, so too did his soul leave his body.

…Seras grabbed that too.

'I'll let my little mouse eat this.'

As soon as the mortal was dead, the sky itself seemed to shake with unnatural rage.

The heavens themselves opened dramatically and a collection of thirteen beings descended from the sky.

"Wretched invader! You killed my son!"

"And our chosen pawn! You will never escape alive today!"

Seras felt a little relieved now that everyone was finally here. It meant she could fully focus her attention on something other than herself.

'Through victory, my chains are broken… I will be unbound from all that plagues me.'

Seras whirled her spear in the air as she finally unveiled her aura.

Over 900 miles of land were suddenly suffocated in a red hue.

Plants and soil shriveled up and lost their fertility. Water also ran dry from the rising temperatures.

Animals found that their hearts had stopped.

Mortals were filled with an indescribable fear.

The land was becoming desolate right before their eyes.

This day would be one remembered for millions of years to come. Because these lands never healed from whatever ailed them.

-

After a series of short knocks, the bedroom door opened with a creak.

A small human girl with bright red eyes poked her head inside and looked around the quiet bedroom.

Usually whenever she came in here, the tv was atleast playing in the background, or there was maybe even some music in the air.

But today, and the last couple of days, all that she had been able to find was a large leathery mound in the bed. Almost like a boulder.

Courtney stepped inside of the bedroom and performed a series of parkour to get atop the bed.

She climbed atop the footstool in front and then picked up a loose blanket so that she could crawl atop the bed rock climbing style.

She really wished somebody would teach her how to fly and make this all a lot easier.

Once Courtney made it up top, she crossed the bed until she reached the leathery black mound that was taking up half of it.

She then proceeded to give it a nudge with both her hands using all of her strength.

"Dad… Dad, Wake up."

A deep rumbling occurred from within the mass.

A curtain of leather rose up and revealed itself as a set of wings.

Underneath the wing was the body of a unique-looking black dragon.

With the lower body of a eastern dragon, and the chiseled upper half of a western one, his fearsome appearance was only offset by the vibrancy of the golden tattoos weaving across his skin.

Two women were sleeping underneath him and using his body like a heating lamp.

But since light had started to pour in to their formerly pitch black surroundings, they too were gradually beginning to stir.

Courtney also did not miss the sight of their puffy eyes and cheeks lined with tears.

All eight of Abaddon's heads yawned as their eyes fluttered open. One head slightly larger than the others lifted itself up and nuzzled against Courtney; eliciting a giggle.

"What time is it..?" He yawned.

"Almost 8:30!"

"I see.. so you're going to school?"

"Uh-huh. It's career day!"

Lailah finally woke up fully at that, and she looked the tiniest bit dismayed. "I-Is it really..? Why didn't you tell us that before?"

"Well I thought that you wouldn't be in the mood to go because you've all been so sad lately… So I just asked Great Uncle Satan to come."

"""N-NO!""" Bekka, Lailah, and Abaddon were immediately horrified.

"Eh? But his job is so cool!"

"It most certainly is not, dear." Abaddon emphasized.

"But he's a kitten trainer!"

Now, the trio of lovers were staring at their daughter with unbridled confusion.

"I… Where did you get that from?" Bekka asked in genuine confusion.

"He said he whips pussies into shape!"

Just like that, the fog of confusion was lifted.

"H-Honey, you know your Great Uncle is not exactly a child friendly individual. I'm afraid you can't take him."

Lailah rubbed her daughter's cheek tenderly as she tried to say gently that there was no way in hell that Satan was going to go to school with her.

He would be on every registry, wanted list, and no fly list before the kids even broke for lunch.

"Your mom is right, I'm afraid you'll have to pick somebody else, babydoll." Bekka added.

"Eh?? But who else is there?" She pouted.

The girls almost looked offended.

Lailah: "Y-You have parents!"

"Twelve of us at that!"

'And enough siblings to start your own soccer team…' Abaddon thought.

"Eh? But you don't have jobs." Courtney tilted her head.

Words could not describe the critical blow that Lailah and Bekka suffered at that moment.

Their tendency to spend the most time at home was noticed even by their sweet daughter.

They felt as if they had been called NEETS right to their face.

Abaddon was worried that the girls may cry again, so he quickly tried to smooth out the situation.

"T-That's not exactly true, pea. Your mother is a special guest lecturer at the most prestigious university in Tehom."

"Y-Yea!" Lailah beamed with pride.

"And your other mother is a very… She helps make our house a home and blesses our people with fulfilling rest."

Oddly enough, Bekka also looked pleased with herself.

Of the two of them, Courtney looked like she was closer to taking Bekka than Lailah.

The last thing she wanted was some long lesson to be given when they were supposed to be having a break from those today…

And Lailah seemed to sense her apprehension.

"I-I'll make the demonstration as fun as possible for kids! I'll bring colorful diagrams and pie charts made of real pie, and-"

"Teacher says you only have ten minutes to present.."

"I'll compel her for thirty." Lailah smiled.

Courtney didn't like math, but she was able to recognize that more time spent in the lecture meant less time doing actual schoolwork.

It was an easy decision.

"Mommy, do you want to come to career day with me?"

Lailah vibrated with an excitement that usually only occurred when cheesecake was involved.

"Yes! I do, I do, I do!!"

"You didn't even give me that enthusiastic of a response when I proposed.." Abaddon grumbled.

"You didn't propose, honey. I was given to you, remember?"

"Oh, right… Lailah, will you marry me?"

"Sure, hon." Lailah kissed her husband on each of his snouts.

"…It's still not the same, but I can live with it." Abaddon shrugged as he lay back down to console Bekka.

Lailah rolled her eyes as she slipped out of bed and lifted Courtney into her arms.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's go visit your Aunt Malenia really quickly."

"Why?"

"I need to steal- I mean, borrow an outfit from her." Lailah admitted.

Lailah wasn't an outwardly seductive woman, but she did wear predominantly ancient Egyptian clothing and those were not always the most child friendly.

As they snuck over to the opposite wing to visit Abaddon's younger sister, Courtney rested her head on her mothers shoulder and asked a painful question.

"When is mommy going to come back..?"

Lailah felt a flash of pain in her heart. Her eyes very nearly started watering again, but she held firm.

"Soon, honey. Very soon."

"How do you know..?"

"Because if she doesn't, I'll go find that bitch by myself and drag her back by her tit- I mean, her horns."

Now, Courtney was wondering if this was one of those times where her teacher advocated for calling a domestic violence hotline.