CHAPTER 602: THE AFTERMATH OF BATTLE

Eventually, Asmodeus stopped playing with Yumiko and reached the medical tent. He noticed the scent first—ammonia, blood, and the bitter aroma of despair. Unlike the Demon Knights, the normal humans suffered from their wounds. Some wailed, others cried and begged for it to end.

He stood at the tent entrance with a frown.

They used a half-destroyed building beside the tent to gather medical supplies.

"Yumiko, how many did we lose?"

"I haven’t heard the total, but it’s probably more than five hundred."

"Ha..... I see."

Asmodeus closed his eyes and focused on his abdomen.

The amount of divine power inside his core increased explosively after he swallowed three-quarters of the core Darius used.

He wanted to help.

These people swore to serve him, fought to support and protect his family and lovers. Even if they also did it for personal reasons. Asmodeus didn’t blame them either. With great care, he pulled the threads of his crimson divine energy towards his palm, so focused he didn’t notice Yumiko speaking to him.

Focus, Asmodeus.

Draw the power, fill it with your vitality... save those you can save.

Unlike the Demon Knights and Warriors, normal humans couldn’t regenerate organs, limbs or endure the extreme pain. Asmodeus clenched his hand into a fist and transformed the countless threads into condensed droplets of pure vitality, beads of life.

"Phew..." With a muffled sigh, he stepped into the tent and flicked the beads towards the suffering humans. The sight wasn’t something new, but the way humans reacted to losing a limb or becoming disabled was the polar opposite of the way Demons reacted. "Don’t worry.... I will ensure you are all rewarded."

"Darling?"

Yumiko noticed the energy that spread through the tent. Each time Asmodeus used his power, the shard inside her core throbbed with a powerful heat. It spread through her abdomen, and seeped into her womb, bringing heat, desire and hunger.

"Nn.... A-Asmodeus... I am going to wait outside."

"Ah?"

He looked a little concerned at her strange reaction, but could only nod. "Sure, I won’t be long."

Asmodeus watched her limping towards the entrance, while rubbing her stomach with flushed cheeks. He couldn’t help but smirk at the slight quiver in her body as he spread more blood through the huge tent.

"Doctor, she’s bleeding out!"

"Hnnnngh!"

A young girl, who could barely be four or five, lay on the table with a piece of debris embedded in her abdomen, the sour scent of coagulated blood and mess pouring from her bowels...

Images of his daughters flashed in his mind.

Asmodeus took a deep breath, his right arm trembling as he stepped forward, with a determined look on his face. "Move."

"W-Who are you!?"

The doctor shouted as Asmodeus yanked the stone free, and blood splashed his face, along with the other mess. It smelt like garbage, like a latrine, and yet he looked down at the small silver-haired girl, her eyes dazed but open.

"D-Doctor he is...."

Not everyone knew Asmodeus by a look, especially after the battle, his blond hair covered in sweat and dirt, armour and exoskeleton broken, he looked like a Demon Warrior right now.

"Mister..... are you an angel?"

However, he was still incredibly handsome.

The young girl’s stomach and organs pumped blood, as if desperately trying to maintain their normal functions. Asmodeus just smiled and positioned his hand on her abdomen, letting droplets of blood pour into her flesh.

"If you want me to be an angel, then I will be your angel."

Fwoosh!

Behind him, six brilliant white wings fluttered in the air, his body emitting a calming heat as the blood of a demon emperor flowed relentlessly into the lovely girl’s body. Her hair was golden blonde, her eyes ocean blue, and she could even pass as his sibling or daughter.

"I see.... then mister angel..... can you save my mommy?"

Her hoarse voice was like someone dragging a nail on a chalkboard, and yet Asmodeus didn’t find it unpleasant; instead, he felt an unfamiliar emotion. His heart pulsed, beating faster as he looked at the young girl before changing his focus to the doctor.

"Where is her mother?"

"Um..." The doctor froze with sweat pouring down his cheeks, clearly nervous at seeing Asmodeus up close for the first time. "I...I....don’t....."

"She’s over there, my Lord."

The nurse pointed to the back of the tent, a place covered with a black cloth...

Is this where the horrible injuries and those marked for death rest? He wondered.

The girl didn’t need to worry anymore; thanks to him pouring blood into her body, she would slowly transform into a half-demon, stronger than the Demon Knights and able to live at least a thousand years.

"I see."

"Thanks for telling me, what is your name?" Asmodeus asked the nurse, who jumped at his sudden question. Her cheeks burned red while drowning in the demon emperor’s aura. Its effect on women made them feel pleasant and calm.

"Anna."

"A lovely name, thank you for your hard work."

And with the flick of his fingertips, several strands of divine blood shot into her eyes, not as much as the little girl, but soon this nurse and even the doctor would become one-fifth demon, increasing their longevity, endurance and resistance to disease.

"Let me take a look."

Anna watched his back with a searing heat warming her cold heart from the moment she met the illustrious new Lord who protected them. Her back and aching hips faded before she realised she could feel and see strange threads inside the patients’ bodies.

When she unravelled the threads or cut them, her patient’s face became peaceful, and their wounds suddenly began to heal rapidly.

This ability was something even Asmodeus couldn’t have expected...

***

The dark room smelled of death.

"Mephisto would have loved this place...."

Inside this room, nurses wore thick masks and gloves while seeing patients. The only medicine that Asmodeus could identify reminded him of morphine. If he could compare this place to somewhere, it’d be a hospice, for end-of-life care.

"Saving these people might be difficult, whatever... I promised."

Shortly after, he found Anna’s mother; their atmosphere felt similar, but what he saw shocked him.

A burned body, charred black like a corpse, lay in a glass tube, with strange, magical tools helping her to breathe.

This woman with no hair, lips or eyelids was Anna’s mother.

"Can you hear me, woman."

"..."

The eyes of her mother flickered, maybe lost in shock and unable to understand what happened to her, but he didn’t care.

A promise was something special to demons.

".....Nn...." A hoarse groan, like crushed coal.

"Anna asked me to save you, but to do so you will be changed forever, do you accept?"

Her eyes appeared to dart around upon hearing her daughter’s name, and when she looked at Asmodeus this time, he felt a sense of will.

Please save me.

I will do anything!

Her emotions blazed hotter than the sun through her eyes, dull and lacking vision, yet she locked onto Asmodeus and didn’t move.

"I understand."

With a long sigh, Asmodeus closed his eyes and stepped closer to the woman, his ears listening to the entire ward, the groans of those who suffered for him, some fought and others likely helped without caring for their lives.

This woman carried more value because of Anna.

So he would heal her perfectly, but the other bodies... well, he wouldn’t let them die at least.

"Relax, don’t worry... by the time you wake up the pain will vanish."

Asmodeus spoke like a father soothing a child as he spread both arms and gathered a blood aura in both hands, swirling with dense divine energy, enough to empty his reserves. It might take hours to recover, but the feeling of pulling it out was quite pleasurable.

The crimson light filled the room, hissing as it poured into the blackened corpse. Flesh writhed, bones cracked, and he replaced the scent of burning with something sweet and metallic.

Her destroyed husk cracked and shed like ash, layer by layer, until a pristine pale skin glimmered beneath. The woman’s figure twisted. Her waist became tight, hips wide and curvaceous with long blood-red hair fluttering like silk over her newly restored breasts.

Two horns pushed through the front of her forehead, parting the red hair.

"She’s quite interesting," Asmodeus smirked at her changes; the woman reminded him of the Oni from folklore in his previous world.

The movement of her chest brought a sense of relief as she took deep, powerful breaths.

When her eyes opened, her ice-blue irises glistened with life before she locked onto Asmodeus with a strange expression.

"My Lord..." she whispered in a voice so smooth and sultry he couldn’t believe it.

Around them, the other patients cried out as droplets of his blood seeped into their veins. Burned flesh sealed, broken limbs regrew, and the mortally wounded gasped with renewed life. Half-demons emerged where dying humans once lay.

Their changes were identical to the woman staring at him, but it was obvious that she was the strongest Oni.

"Don’t force yourself, Anna is waiting quietly for your return."

Asmodeus closed his eyes. His muscles heavy and abdomen throbbing with a dull ache, unable to keep standing, he sat on the edge of the beautiful Oni’s bedding. Then, a sudden warmth enveloped his back as two hands caressed the muscles on his neck.

"My Lord, my name is Gretel. I am at your service."