Taking a seat right between them all, Asmodia, the mistress of darkness, outstretched her hand to the wine bottles and made one of them float directly into her hand. Bringing the cork to her lips, she bit down on it before spitting it off the bottle.
"Hmm?" Glancing at the others staring at her like hawks, she rolled her eyes, visibly a bit annoyed. "I may be one of the most enchanting things in our world, but that doesn't mean you have to stare at me so hard."
Conjuring a wine glass into existence, she held it between two fingers and began to pour herself some wine out of the bottle. Watching it all unfold, Haruki as well as his companions were on the highest guard they'd ever been.
"So…" Trying to mask his angst, Haruki ushered Asuka to empty the seat beside Asmodia so he could be right next to her as they talked. "What do you want now?"
Even as he got seated right beside her, she paid him no heed for a while. Twirling her glass, she watched the golden liquid bubbling up inside it. Bringing it closer to her lips, she took a light sip out of it before placing the glass down on the counter.
"I've come to check on my children, is it really that peculiar of a concept to grasp?" As she turned her gaze to Haruki, hinted in her eyes was the bewildering allure of a woman.
For a moment, feeling lost in her gaze, he was drawn closer and closer to her face, however, noticing the abnormality in his behavior, Asuka quickly pulled her master back.
"Why are you here?" As soon as Haruki was back to his senses, Asuka questioned the mistress in an uncharacteristically stern voice.
However, unfazed by her command, Asmodia simply picked the wine glass back up and took yet another sip from the aged wine. Tasting true indulgence in the mortal realm, that too in the flesh after so long, she couldn't help beaming a wide smile.
"I have to say…" Resting the same glass on the counter, she slid it to Haruki. "It's all thanks to you and your servants that I can take mortal form once more."
Bringing his attention to the glass she was offering, he saw her tap the rim of it a few times as if urging him to take a sip as well. And although he tried to reach for the glass, Asuka got to it before him. Sneaking it past her master, she held it in her hands, visibly determined not to let anyone else take a single sip.
Glaring at Asmodia, she wasn't willing to let her do whatever she wanted to her master anymore, and the rest of their group was no different in that aspect. Standing up, they all gathered up behind Asmodia with the exception of Moriyana who was at the other end of the bar counter.
"Mother, why are you here?" Swiping the wine bottle off the counter, Moriyana slammed her hands on it to get Asmodia's attention.
"At least someone still sees themselves as my child," her eyes half closed, Asmodia shifted her gaze to Moriyana with an unamused expression plastered over her face. "Too bad it's you Moriyana."
Although she was used to insult, hearing those words in front of everyone made her feel as if she was stabbed by a saber. Her face contorting into a frown, she was once again reminded of all the horror she'd been through because of the woman sitting right in front of her. Countless days of confinement in absolute dark, torture of the soul, mind, and body, and as if that wasn't enough to break a young child, Asmodia had thrown in the terror from all the creatures of the dark that terrified Moriyana every time she got the slightest bit of shut-eye.
"I was trying to prepare you for the future," reading exactly what was going on in her thoughts, Asmodia offered her lousy explanation.
"I-I…" Curling up her fingers into fists, Moriyana shut her eyes tight as she tried to soothe her nerves. "I-I'm gonna go, you guys can talk to her about whatever you want!"
Getting her hands off the desk, she snapped her fingers and burst into a sparkling cloud that quickly dissipated in the air. With her gone, Asmodia turned to look at the rest of Haruki's companions to see if they had something to say to her as well. But since Margarette was smarter than to try anything against her, and Alice and Athena were too ignorant to understand what was happening, only Fay returned Asmodia's gaze with a deep frown running over her eyebrows.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," noticing Stella hurdled up in Fay's arms, Asmodia beamed the sleeping angel a smile. "You've adopted a girl…Well, if you can call repurposing a soul adoption that is."
Noticing her reach for Stella, Haruki placed his hand on Asmodia's shoulder to stop her from doing so. Much like the wind, however, she wasn't going to bend to anyone's command, and so, with a single snap of her fingers, she changed position with Fay and even got Stella hurdled up in her arms.
"Agh, such radiance," looking down at the baby in her arms, she pressed her fingers against the cherry lips of the slime girl, Stella.
On doing so, the moment her fingers touched the lips, Stella clutched onto Asmodia's hand and began suckling on her finger. Terribly still, everyone watched the incident unfold, and for the first time in centuries, they bore witness to a hearty chuckle from Asmodia's lips.
"Perhaps, I judged her too early," still staring at Stella as she slept, Asmodia's eyes began to glow. Scanning the baby's body all over, her eyes were brought to her belly, and upon focusing on the region a beam of light began flickering inside her tummy.
"What are you doing?!" While trying to leap towards her and grab her daughter, Fay was instantly stopped by Haruki before she could do anything rash.
"What am I doing?" Closing her eyes shut, Asmodia turned her gaze towards Fay before opening them back up. "Just checking the blessing that dragoness bestowed on your daughter."
'A blessing? Ugh, fuck this! I can't let this drag on.' Moving Fay to the side, Haruki stepped forward and quickly took Stella off of Asmodia's arms with the help of his dungeon portals. Once the little girl was in his hands, he gently passed her over to Fay while Asmodia simply watched with an eerie smile.
"Why are you here? I don't need no bullshit just tell me what you need and I'll do it, but after that, you have to go!" As commanding as he could be, Haruki stood up for his daughter despite being faced with the greatest demon lord of all lands.
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