CHAPTER 621: FROM WARMTH TO FRIGID WINDS

From the moment the sun peeked from the horizon, Asmodeus jumped to his feet, dressed and armour fastened. Ciela stirred under the sheets, green hair messy and spread over the huge bed like an artist’s canvas.

Her beautiful eyes watched him in silence, with outstretched hands, reluctant to part.

"You’re leaving already?" Her soft voice echoed off the stone walls, heavy and full of sleepiness. "It’s so cold, though."

She smiled, lifting the quilt to flash her brown mounds, their delicious surface swaying with her body movements.

Asmodeus came to the bed, bending down as he kissed her forehead.

"Don’t temp me, you raunchy elf, the men need me."

Ciela’s eyes shone, her fingers brushing his jaw and letting the quilt slip lower, revealing everything as she whispered. "But honey, I need you."

Her lovely lips curled into a seductive smile, like a siren facing a sailor with complete confidence to shipwreck him. However, Asmodeus closed his eyes, biting the tip of his tongue to focus. "You naughty woman, I will punish you later!"

Pah!

With a slap to her exposed chest, she yelped and rolled back into the quilts like a caterpillar retracting into its cocoon to evolve.

"Ahahaha!" His laughter echoed on the way out.

He lingered beside the door, looking back with reluctance, but pulled away with a faint smile.

"Get some rest, my lovely princess."

The door shut softly, leaving her embarrassed and sore, and... wide awake.

"Asmodeus you fool!"

***

Asmodeus chuckled after something hit the door, ignoring her cute show of anger. He left for the courtyard, where the most dedicated already started training. The courtyard echoed with loud noises even before sunrise.

I wonder who’s training.

He leaned against the cold wall, watching an orc lift both arms with a valiant war cry that echoed off the black walls before it rushed forward with heavy footsteps, shaking the frozen ground. In the distance, a smaller goblin cackled with a hiss, loosing an arrow at the crude targets made of bundled straw.

The orc struck with its axe against a demon knight’s shield. Bang! Her hips lowered, forming cracks in the dirt as she sank, and yet her counter came swiftly.

A swift thrust of her spear created a flash of silver light, blinding the orc.

Clang!

Out of pure instinct, the orc used his weapons to block the tip, staggering back with a bewildered expression on his ugly face.

"Good, you good!" The orc bellowed, feet stomping, voice full of admiration.

"You too, Grok." She responded, removing her helmet with a smile, showing the damage done to her shield. "Such power is admirable."

This is a good start.

Asmodeus stepped onto the stone platform above the yard, the breath of the crowd turning to frost in the morning air. He smiled at the mixed group, letting his divine aura spread through their bodies, healing their fatigue and wounds. He also built pressure upon them, a plan to increase their resistance to Mephisto’s divine pressure, which he used as a weapon to gain advantages.

The noise faded, weapons dropped, and their arguments faded.

Every eye looked at him.

"Good, that was faster than I thought." He overlooked the group, hundreds, probably thousands, with a growing smile, he continued. "Warchief, Captains, Shaman... select warriors to lead groups of one hundred for this training we will split into groups."

Levia stepped forward.

With sharp eyes, shield on her forearm, she started giving orders, sending demon knights to each group.

Eventually, five groups were formed.

A mixture of orcs, goblins, demons and a separate group for the archers.

Asmodeus spread his wings once, then folded them tight. "Today, you’ll train as one. Not orc. Not goblin. Not demon. Warriors. If you cannot stand shoulder to shoulder here, then you might survive the coming battle and earn great honour."

Murmurs rippled like a wave through the crowd, each race with its pride and doubts.

The Orcs snarled and looked down on the goblins, who bared their teeth in return, while the knights proudly shifted as if superior.

However, Asmodeus watched everything. He caught it in a glance, their arrogance and foolish emotions. His blood boiled. Crimson threads shimmered in the air, tendrils that linked each warrior’s heartbeat for an instant.

But in that instant, silence became absolute.

"What was that!?" A demon knight gasped while seemingly out of breath.

"...strange ache, painful."

"Feel that?" Asmodeus asked, his voice dropping lower."If you continue to cause trouble or hinder this practice in any form, then before you even realise, I will end your life." His voice caused the goblins to tremble; even the orcs looked nervous.

"But...!"

The tendrils formed again, linking everyone... this time their faces became brighter, and a jolt spread through their bodies. "If you work with me, you will attain a power you never thought possible."

An orc warlord broke from the line, tusks gleaming. "Show us then, King of Demons! Show your strength and we follow!"

"Oh?"

Asmodeus smirked a little at the orc’s arrogance that played right into his plan.

"Then, would you like to fight me?" He leapt down from the platform, landing hard enough to crack stone. The impact made the front line stumble back, but his voice cracked sharper than the stone. "Form ranks!"

Only the demon knights moved well, forming a square area as they parted into columns.

Though the orcs and goblins soon followed, watching the demons, not races that like to lose to others, a small arena soon formed in the centre of the training field. It wasn’t quite neat, but Asmodeus smiled. It was enough for now.

Asmodeus drew Blood Reaver, the crimson threads sinking into the metal and fusing with his blood-red axe, which pulsed in the sunlight.

"Then we’ll start simple, come at me. Anyone that has an issue I’ll fight you all."

The orc warlords started to roar, their eyes wide open. It seemed the challenge both thrilled and terrified them, while some goblins joined them, and soon a dozen of the strongest orcs stood opposite him.

The ground trembled as the dozen orcs advanced, their tusks glistening with frosted breath, massive axes and hammers resting on their shoulders. The goblins darted between their legs, sharp-eyed and quick, clutching curved blades coated in a dark resin that stank of venom.

Asmodeus rolled his neck, Blood Reaver humming in his hands as if the weapon shared his hunger.

"Twelve of you?" he teased, his voice carrying easily across the courtyard. "That’s all? I was hoping for at least a hundred."

The insult set their blood alight.

One of the orcs bellowed, charging first with a hammer wide enough to smash a cart in half. The swing came fast, the weight enough to split the cobbles. But before it landed, Asmodeus vanished.

A crack of air.

The orc froze, shivering as cold steel traced across his throat. He looked down to find Blood Reaver’s edge resting against his jugular, Asmodeus standing behind him with a grin.

"Too slow."

The hammer shattered into small stones, and the orc stumbled back into the circle, a thin red line forming around his neck.

This seemed to awaken something in the group.

"ATTACK!"

With an orc’s roar, Asmodeus cracked his neck with a smile.

Perfect!

The courtyard shook as the orcs rushed at him, goblins sneaking between their gaps, leaping and avoiding his vision. Asmodeus planted his feet, Blood Reaver spinning in wide arcs. He didn’t aim to kill. Each strike carried just enough force to disarm, knock breath from lungs, or throw them into the distance against the wall.

Crack!

A goblin slammed into the dirt, axe haft smacking his ribs.

Boom!

An orc flew back as Asmodeus’s wing unfurled, the gust sending him crashing into the crowd.

The training yard erupted with cheers and growls.

Once the battle started, everyone became involved. New challengers would rush at Asmodeus, including the demon knights and demon warriors.

"Is this all your fury?" Asmodeus called, his smirk feral. He ducked low, a tusked brute’s axe whistling over his head, then drove a knee into the warrior’s gut. The orc coughed blood and dropped, unconsciously, before he hit the dirt. "Your desire to win, to LIVE?"

Surprisingly, the goblins adapted the fastest, avoiding the power of his axe; they tried to divert or parry it towards another direction. Their speed impressed him. One even managed to cut a shallow line across his thigh.

"Phew..."

His aura grew stronger, flooding the field with his aura.

The wave of crimson threads knit together to create an ocean of divinity, and it coiled around wrists and ankles, binding every challenger. Their fear, their anger, their will to win.. Asmodeus fused each person.

Even a small amount of courage can build up when multiplied by a thousand.

Suddenly, their swings and attacks became stronger, more direct, sharp and deadly.

One, two, three...

Blood Reaver blurred, striking flat against shoulders, legs, chests.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

In mere heartbeats, the dozen orcs and goblins lay sprawled in the dirt, gasping like fish, their weapons scattered.

And yet none of them showed eyes of defeat.

They jumped up, grabbed another weapon, picked up their allies and charged once again.

Asmodeus exhaled, spinning the axe before planting it into the ground with a heavy crack. "This is the difference between fighting alone... and fighting with me."

"I will not let you fall alone." Asmodeus let the moment breathe before raising Blood Reaver again. His smile was sharp, predatory.

"So come at me like this is the last fight of your life!"