Shadow of the Abyss

Chapter 249: Duty

The Prince had been silent, watching Sado Veri take his leave after he gestured a bow.

Thanatos broke the silence. "You're playing with fire if you don't believe some branch of Genesis won't retaliate."

"I'm quite aware. But isn't that a good thing?" Altair smiled, his palm lightly beating against Tasha's bottom. "War, Chaos, and Strife will make us strong. There is much I need to tell you. Athena will be joining us soon in a few weeks, maybe days. I will also be meeting with Father to discuss my revenge. I'd like you beside me then."

"A king commands," said Tasha. "They don't ask."

"Thanatos is both my mentor and friend. But his council is something neither an enemy nor a king can command."

"I am here when you need me, " he said, and in a gale's roar, he was gone.

Altair counted this a partial victory. Thaan was a man of duty. A man whose sense of duty was rivaled only by the pride he took in his work.

He had to be recognized to set a precedent for the future.

"Then I shall take my leave," Aurora said, narrowing an eye upon Tasha.

As the door to his throne room closed, Altair's drumming palm stalled. "What does Gremory want with me?"

"You have mated with a Nephilim, thereby becoming one yourself," Tasha said after a moment's pause. She seemed nearly hesitant to say, yet the words seamlessly left her lips.

The Prince was not fooled by her silvery tongue. He smirked, continuing the drumming across her bottom that carried with it a meaning of its own.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to manipulate me into thinking you exposed some grand scheme."

Tahsa's grin turned feverish. She didn't speak.

"I suppose I owe you dinner. But as for my seed. You or perhaps Gremory will have to work for it. I just hope there aren't any problems serving two masters. I wouldn't want issues to occur between two Fallen."

"As you say, my Lord," said Tasha humbly. Expecting something more, when he flung her high into the air.

The Prince laughed, making his way out of his throne room just as Tasha gracefully landed like a black cat, skipping after her new target. A pleasant smile dancing across her lips when a dreadful shriek penetrated the halls of the ruined palace.

They move, whisking through the ruined halls like a blur, arriving outside to see an unfamiliar man besieged by a black edge glaive lodged in his crotch.

"Raven, don't—" Aurora tried to say. A little late. From crotch to crown, her glaive shot up, sprawling the man's entrails over the lawn.

Altair was stunned. He'd never seen Raven so cold, exuding such a wicked killing intent.

"Bitch!" shouted Sado Vari, ordering his men to open fire.

The instant they opened fire, the iridescent bolts of light caught air as Raven crossed the distance between them in a single bound and, in one swing, severed the legs of three men before she hacked off another man's head before he could echo shout.

"Enough, " Altair commanded. His voice seemed to carry a sort of hypnotic command, stalling man and woman alike.

Raven was seething, lowering her glaive.

"Lord Blackwood!" Sado Vari screamed, pointing at his dead men resting beneath his Star Cruzer.

Altair had many questions, but the biggest had been, "What is this starship doing on palace grounds?" he demanded, turning to Aurora. "Is this a joke?"

"It's how the argument started, master," said Aurora hastily, bowing her head. "Raven had noticed the cruiser's descent and had told them to move, but they refused. That was when I arrived, asking them to—"

"You don't kill a man over an argument!" Sado Vari shouted, pointing a finger towards Raven. "have you any idea who—"

"Her actions were very much within reason. Who are you to enter Imperial Airways? Who are you to lay your oversized cruiser on palace grounds? Aurora gets that girl her own personal farm to grow some corn."

"Yes, Master!" said Aurora, smiling.

Raven was beaming, flashing her pristine white teeth.

Even Tasha giggled, covering her mouth.

"I will be sending a formal complaint to the council of your behavior. Now fuck off my planet before I string you up by your Achilles Tendon." Snarling, he turned to Raven. Gestured her closer and patted her on the head. "Good job. Come, let's go."

Aurora stayed behind to ensure Sado Veri had left. She hadn't allowed him to collect the dead, much less the injured. All who were felled to Ravens Glaive would be consumed by the Shadow Demons.

Sado Veri was outraged but could do nothing in this foreign land. He left Earth within the hour, clenching his teeth.

"I should have had some imps place a bomb inside his cruiser to detonate the moment he entered subspace. I hear that it kills even gods." Aurora meticulously smiled, giggling to herself when she began to blush. "Just wait till Nia and Talia hear about Masters infidelity. Kyaaa! There's going to be so much drama! Hehe, Now… let's go see Thaan, it's been so long."

***

The city of Zamphis was in ruins, clouded by a dense fog of debris that left many blinded or dead. It had been nearly a day since the fall of the northern hemisphere, yet things only seemed to have gotten worse. Through the streets, men pillaged what they could find, and women stole what caught their eye as mass chaos was unveiled.

Mutilated bodies laid indiscriminately scattered, breeding pestilence as crows pecked, tearing flesh from bones and eyes from sockets.

Cries of children screeching for their mothers and fathers hounded the air, deafening all who neared them.

It was all a nightmare, turned real as Altair winced. "Gods! I don't think anywhere is serving food anymore. Sorry, Raven, I was going to buy you some corn-flavored ice cream."

"Such a godly thing exists?!" Raven exclaimed, her doe eye sparkling like glimmers beneath the night.

"I'm sure it does… somewhere. I guess we can make it ourselves." he glanced toward Tasha, a teasing grin tugging at the corner of his lips. "guess we'll have to delay our dinner."

"Or you can cook me something."

"Is this your way of trying to get my seed? You'll have to do better than that, Tasha. I recommend you learn how to cook. I only cook for those I want to sleep with."

Tasha might have been offended if she weren't so focused. She beamed, lighting up with purpose. "What do you like?"

"Spoilers." Find more to read at M V L

Later, as the night dawned, leaving the myriad of stars to crest the heavens, Altair had his first night within the palace of sunset. There had been so much to do with so little time. Earth was in shambles, a mistake he knew now, but one that had already been made.

He had a choice: Aid his people or force them to adapt. Both had their benefits. Still, he chose the latter. More would inevitably perish when he began terraforming the land to fit his mental image.

Earth was already too weak to exist on its own. If it could not rise, it would be doomed to a desolate existence.

"The first thing I need to do is raise the MP of earth's atmosphere. And to do so, I would require the aid of gods or the resources to match."

The thought made him smile. Still, as he turned to face his bed, he had Aurora change after what he had heard about the former queen; he nearly flopped onto it, laughing to himself.

Syris had not found his chambers like he'd asked.

"Master~" shouted Raven from outside his chambers, walking in. "Are you ready?" She was holding a binder that read "The History Of The Vale, by Raven."

Altair patted his bed, gesturing her over.

Beside him, Ravened opened up her binder, patting her chest, and said, "As you know, the Vale is the final resting ground for all lifeforms, usually reserved for people who have had their souls destroyed. Or insanely powerful gods."

"oh? Then can I summon them?"

"Masters is too weak. And even if you could, I don't think they'd listen to you. And he probably won't allow it. "

"Who?"

"Silly! Hehe, the Warden. The one we met."

Altair looked at her suspiciously. "wait a sec. You said you didn't know who he was."

"Well, I don't; that's because He's not from the Vale like me. He just appeared. Strange, huh?"

'For a woman who knows nothing, Raven sure knows a lot. I wonder what else she's hiding?' Altair thought, listening to Raven until morning.

He patted her head just as she yawned, rubbing her eyes. He smiled, wondering how more lethargic they felt after leaving the Lake Of Rot.

"Let's take a nap. We can go over the basics of Vale Manipulation tonight.

Practically flopping onto his shoulder asleep, Altair could only snicker, laying her down to rest. He got up, whisking himself out of his chambers and down the halls like a blur, entering her bed chambers with purpose.

"Ahhhh~"

The Prince gawked, eating in the delicious sight of Syris pleasuring herself.

Her eyes met his, yet her lodged fingers did not move, firing back and forth as she cried, "It~won't~reach~see?"

Altair did.

She was bare, the sheets beneath her back drenched; as she drove her fingers so far, the squishing of her swollen cunt resonated through her chambers. She was hammering it in, slapping her finger so hard down there that she appeared to moan like a cat in heat.

"You naughty little minx!" he exclaimed, advancing on her. "So is this why you didn't visit me last night? You were playing with yourself. I'm hurt, Syris. We could have shared quite a night."

"why~Why~isn't~it~enough?"

Altair smirked. "The brand of the incubus makes me like… catnip. Think of your fingers as standard while I am the premium. Your touch might make you wet, while mine will send you to the nine clouds."

Syris chewed her lip, a nasty habit Altair was finding more and more seductive by the second.

Altair thanked the gods but found himself cursing them the next second. He wanted to indulge, but his kingdom called. He had responsibilities, noblemen who think themselves above him. Yet, his fingers indiscriminately trailed up her knee, finding themselves in between her legs.

He tasted her, savoring the sweet nodes of her honey.

"Syirs… do you want me to help?"

She nodded, taking her fingers away as if to welcome him in. Yet such a request was denied by his sadistic smile as he wrapped around her a set of robes to hide her voluptuous figure, to her surprise.

She teared up.

"See? I helped. Come on, we've lots to accomplish."