The moment her vision faded, the pain exploded within Sheila''s body, yet it felt different. Rather than her body being damaged, she felt like the remnants of Lumina''s power were being destroyed and used to fuel her transformation.

A dark yet holy energy.

[You will become his paladin using that woman''s divinity as the cost. I shall give you mine.]

[Serve the King with all your body and soul—seek his forgiveness through bloodshed!]

[Arise, First paladin of the True Demon King.]

Sheila''s body almost shattered. The moment she heard Serena''s harsh yet fair voice, her muscles expanded, tore apart and reformed.

Every inch, speck and millilitre of inferior muscle, flesh and blood was burned, destroyed or removed in this way, as piece by piece, the goddess of darkness reforged and created the perfect body for Sheila to serve her penance in.

''It burns, hurts and feels like I am being devoured at the same time. Yet a feeling of warmth and comfort keeps leaking into my muscles and bones that blood, filled with such heat, makes me feel so at peace.''

She didn''t know that the blood was from Asmodeus, who continued to feed the cocoon more of his blood to hasten the process—the sky turning orange as the day passed.

***

In silence, Asmodeus waited for hours after the final scream of pain from Sheila ended hours before. Now, it was no longer a time they should depart for the Beast Kingdoms. Despite this, Asmodeus seemed content as he continued feeding the cocoon of his blood.

The colour became a deep red shade mixed with the black casing.

''It seems her transformation will soon be over.'' He observed. The world went dark, but he knew his vision had not been impacted, and it wasn''t because night came, but the cocoon finally broke; with a loud crack, the entire room was shrouded in ''her'' darkness.

"Serena..." The nostalgic scent of this dark aura and power was the divine magic that he felt each time she brought him to her realm. Yet this was weaker and felt more mortal... That''s when a beautiful black hand stabbed through the cocoon.

''It seems the goddess of darkness gave you the last push to pull through, Sheila...''

He looked at the beautiful black claws, a sleek yet tough exoskeleton formed over her fingertips and forearm, while Sheila remained still for a moment before she collapsed the other edge of the cocoon with her black claws and, with a loud shattering, tore apart the fragile cocoon to escape.

[I hope you enjoy my present to you, Asmodeus. It is still far too early for me to give you direct help. Forgive me.]

''How could I complain... You have already given me too much, Serena.''

[It''s not enough... compared to...] Her sentence finished as she seemed to be unwilling to finish, not wanting Asmodeus to learn too much of his fate or the things she held in her chest.

''That woman always flees before saying the important things.''

A soft click of his tongue followed as a soft laugh escaped from his lips before turning towards the cocoon, and his eyes widened. "It''s fine... this was good enough..." With a nod, Asmodeus turned his attention to the beautiful naked young lady with pure white skin

She was beautiful like moonlight, an unnatural colour... Yet the feeling of divinity oozed from her body as ''Sheila''s'' wings unfurled, their beautiful obsidian feathers shimmering and glistening in the darkness that enveloped the room. Their each movement was filled with grace, elegance and a subtle seduction.

As she moved, her breasts swayed rhythmically—a dark mark over where her heart should be—reminiscent of Serena''s, but it was the same marking of Asmodeus, his mark that looked like a heart pierced by a pair of blackened swords.

"She is certainly blessed by you now... "He muttered as he admired her new features.

Her body appeared to be slightly bigger and more defined in a few places, primarily in her upper and lower parts. The lower part of her arms and legs resembled his demon king form, with black exoskeletons covering them like a pair of armour—then her ears were also long and pointed but covered with the same black scales.

''...''

Leviathan shook her head while armour began to form, covering her ample breasts and devilish curves with silver armour that looked similar to the black scales. Yet was shaped like actual armour and made her look like an actual knight.

"I do not need food, for I can live off the moonlight and your aura or essence."

"Understood, I am going downstairs. Do you still have memories of who you are and what you did? If so, make sure never to forget and always make the smart choice, Leviathan."

''Now, you recreated my mother''s past image to save this woman... tsk, such an annoying goddess.''

Leviathan merely lowered her head but soon moved to follow him after he left the door, like an obedient pet. Yet her armour made no noise, and neither did her breathing.

As they went downstairs, people stopped talking and gawked at them as they noticed Leviathan.

Her changes were substantial, but you could still tell it was Sheila from her lips and nose, even if she now looked more mature. It seemed Paul and Simon immediately felt their breath being stolen away as Leviathan gracefully descended behind Asmodeus.

"She''s like an angel of death." He couldn''t help but hum as he was led towards a table set up to one side.

"Yeah... but why does it feel like she belongs beside our boy? They make a perfect picture," Paul added while sipping from his ale.

"Sheila looks so pretty, even if she looks a bit scary... and evil now," Ciela whispered while stepping towards her old friend.

Leviathan didn''t change mentally more than swear her oath. The goddess didn''t tamper or change her personality or feelings—from the start, everything was all the desire of Sheila, who saw the future and bleak path. She wanted to help create a path for him that didn''t force him to suffer and thus accepted all her changes.

Her black eyes and silver pupils shimmered while gazing at the back of Asmodeus, observing and admiring his form that fought so hard, even after losing everything.

''It seems she can be a useful vanguard...'' Velvet thought to herself while whispering to Yumiko about their plans for the future mercenary group when battles and missions become more difficult and dangerous.

Asmodeus turned to face everyone while putting a sack of coins on the desk, where the Mistress smiled warmly.

"Shall we have a grand dinner and spend one last night at this wonderful inn?"

"Somehow, doesn''t he feel more mature and regal?" Simon whispered, his hands rubbing his eyes while trying to focus on the young man he found changing the moment he removed his glance.

"Ah... he feels more like a king than Avandar..." Paul added while taking a snap with his magical tool, images and small videos as proof of their journey together.

"Your wife wants to see your journey, haha. She''s so cute." Simon mocked Paul before they sat back and enjoyed watching the young man who was so weak standing so tall.

"Not just my wife, I wanted to see how far he would grow and what lies ahead in his path. Somehow, I''ve grown attached like a true brother to the kid."

"You too? Haha, does that make us brothers by association, my dear friend?"

"Hahaha! Shut up, let''s drink, To Asmodeus!"

"To OUR Blood Tyrant! Haha!"

The merry celebration of the entire group lasted until the early hours of the morning—however, this time, their carriages departed from Baltimore just before sunrise.

Hungover and with sore eyes, the group departed on the next chapter of their journey. What the gods held in store for them, nobody knew.

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