CHAPTER 617: THE BLACK WALL

The dawn spread across the northern mountains bordering Grigor and the Demon Kingdom with a clear blue sky and no signs of clouds. It looked good to leave.

Asmodeus stretched atop the tall, grey walls, still damaged from the previous battle. His wings stretched out, flapping. Levia squatted with her legs outstretched, with Sariel and Riel sitting on the edge, calling out to them.

"Let’s go!"

"Stretch those thighs, Levia!"

"Stop, you’re going to make me fall!"

"Stop playing around you two, the flight will be long... don’t be lazy now and complain if you get cramp in your wings." Asmodeus scolded them as he hopped on the spot.

The girls turned to face him, mouths open, but nothing came out as they watched the tight pants clinging to his thighs and backside with each movement.

"Whoa..."

"Master’s ass is..."

"So nice."

Riel, Sariel, and finally Levia found common ground for the first time as they stopped bickering and watched him for a few moments.

"Phew."

Sweat dripped from his cheeks, small beads shimmering in the air as he flexed his wings and looked back at the pretty demons ogling him. "Are you all ready to leave? I think it will be a long flight, so go to the toilet now."

The girls frowned at him.

Despite becoming demons, they still found certain topics embarrassing.

"Idiot!"

"Don’t say it so directly, Master..."

"I’ll be right back."

He watched as Levia closed her eyes, quivering slightly while smiling to himself. Perhaps she remembered what happened at night. After he relentlessly teased her in bed until she had an accident.

"Go on, I’ll wait for you."

With a loud bang, his body shot into the air, fluttering all six wings in an alternating pattern, hovering in place while staring at the vast horizon.

This is my kingdom?

It feels much bigger since I last saw it.

Soon, with the flutter of wings, Levia, Sariel and Riel all appeared in the sky behind, flapping their wings to reach the same velocity as him. He enjoyed their subtle differences, the way Levia’s wings were feathered and Sariel and Riel’s resembled those of a bat.

"Let’s go."

"Master, we’re ready to fly!"

"Okay, stay close to me and don’t drift off course."

With a soft boom, their bodies vanished from the spot, shooting across the surface of the mountain to avoid Mephisto’s scouts.

They chose the long way around the border, travelling across the mountain.

Smoke still rose from the capital behind him in places, but the keep’s defensive wards pulsed steadily. Avandar recovered thanks to his blood and would live at least another hundred years. Vinea and Velvet remained waiting for Simon and Paul, following them on horseback.

"keep tight!"

Levia rose on his right, shield buckled to her forearm as she rolled close to his body. On his left, Sariel and Riel matched his pace, mirroring each other as they reached for his arm mid-air with cute voices.

Their goal wasn’t speed but avoiding Mephisto’s eyes.

The jagged border mountains, covered in old snow, blocked their vision as the pines clawed the sky, icy wind biting at their bodies as their journey began.

Below, the small villages and towns where orcs and goblins lived burned, devastated like small scars upon the land. He noticed the empty pens, broken carts and cult sigils. He let the cultists enter Asmodeus’s Kingdom.

"Master, your aura!"

Sariel called out as a thick aura hummed through the air, growing along with his anger. He suddenly realised he’d been leaking it unconsciously. To solve the issue, he locked it down, coiling the pressure to his core until it was a hard, quiet weight.

They banked around a shattered pass where the road below opened to the plains; that’s where the bulk of his army appeared. A black standard held high with a red emblem. Columns of men, wagons, chained beasts, and dragging siege frames. Too far to count. Close enough to taste.

Asmodeus clenched his hands tight, almost drawing blood.

One dive...

One good blood beam and he could split them... scatter them into dust.

Sariel slid across his front, hugging his right, Riel his left.

"Master, don’t... It’s not worth it."

"My Lord, that’s just playing into his hand."

Levia then pointed forward and revealed another force, too far for Asmodeus to attack with a single attack, and enough for both forces to endanger the citadel of Zar’Kaleth. "Their true force isn’t visible, my dear lord, remember these people are just under his possession..."

He paused for several moments. Then he nodded once and peeled away, climbing back into the ridge shadow. The ache in his chest got heavier, but his breathing steadied after realising that he didn’t need to rush.

"Good," Riel said softly. "Save it for when it matters."

They flew on.

In the skies of the demon kingdom at one point, countless wyverns flew, but now... dozens flapped their wings with the enemy army. Their green eyes, like flames, were scouting the skies.

Asmodeus didn’t swing close or attack. He flattened his aura like a sphere, cloaking himself and the three women, letting Levia’s aura support him.

The closer north they came, the more snow and icy sleet fell from the skies, the mountains thickened, old slate and basalt dyed black like spilt ink. He felt the north before seeing it, the biting cold and frigid winds.

"We’re almost there..."

"It’s home!"

"The enemy is nowhere near us now, haha!"

A black line cut through the horizon, a giant wall that covered the land.

Then a cliff that wasn’t a cliff at all—masonry shouldered into the mountain itself. Towers, like spears, protect the giant citadel of black stone.

Zar’Kaleth.

His wings slowed without him telling them to.

They came down on a high outer platform, archers on the merlons tracking them with drawn bows aimed at their hearts. Then, lowering as the ward recognised the blood in his veins. Gates inside gates rolled open.

The air changed: forge heat, smoked meat and the countless lives awaiting his return.

Levia landed hard, boots ringing. "Looks like half the kingdom crawled inside."

She wasn’t wrong. Orcs with wrapped arms. Goblin clans clustered under canvas, elders scolding kids who stared wide-eyed at the four who’d just dropped out of the snow. Demon knights guided them in the huge expanse now filled with elegant buildings made of black metal and stone, a special mana-enriched mineral.

Asmodeus folded his wings.

Then cracked his shoulders with a low roll, the ache gradually fading.

"We made it," Sariel whispered, relief slipping out before she could catch it.

"Yeah," he said.

He stared at the inner gate, the last defensive line before the citadel... a vast arch that slowly opened. He sensed something calling to him from within.

A familiar pull that caused his chest to stir.

Ciela appeared holding two small children, but they looked so much bigger than he remembered.

He didn’t quicken his pace... but the distance vanished rapidly as if the world understood his desire to see them.

That’s when the tiny ball of fluff tapping along the floor called out and leapt at him.

"Ba ba!"

Asmodeus bent down instinctively, catching the small bundle of white hair and fox ears before she tumbled onto the stone floor.

"Tsukihana..." he whispered, hugging her close. The tiny girl’s arms wrapped around his neck, warm breath puffing against his cheek as she rubbed her nose into his collarbone. "You’ve grown, little blossom."

"Ba ba!" she chirped again, tails flicking happily as if nothing else in the world mattered.

His chest loosened for the first time since he left Baltimore.

Ciela came closer, her bow resting across her back, green hair flowing despite the winter air. In her arms, Aurelia and Velmina clung to her shoulders—one with golden hair and wide blue eyes, the other with jet black hair and glowing red irises. His twins.

"...You’re late," Ciela said, though her lips trembled as she tried to keep the smile from breaking wider. "Do you know how many times these girls asked for you?"

"Are you sure it wasn’t you asking for me, my lovely elf?"

Asmodeus reached her, brushing his hand across her cheek before touching each child’s head. Aurelia giggled, grabbing his finger, while Velmina only stared with the same sharp look as her mother.

"Wouldn’t you love that!" Ciela kissed his cheek, her warm lips a little cool in the cold.

"I know. I should’ve flown faster." He pulled them all closer, wrapping Ciela and the twins in one arm while holding Tsukihana in the other. The ache in his body, the fury simmering for Mephisto... none of it mattered here. Not with their warmth, soothing him.

Levia stood back with Sariel and Riel, all three smiling faintly at the sight. For once, no rivalry, no teasing. Just the quiet recognition of what bound them all and why they followed him this far.

Asmodeus exhaled. "...I’m home."

"Welcome home, I missed you... Come here. My beloved King."