Before Pythias could even take another step, he felt certain death hanging over his neck and the voice of his lord in his head.
'If you take one more step, you die.'
The demon lord of sloth cared about almost nothing.
But he valued his peace above all else.
If Pythias so much as breathed wrong within the late queen's sacred garden, Belphegor would have to face the wrath of not only Abaddon, but Helios as well.
And he was most certainly not going to suffer through a headache like that for anyone, least of all Pythias.
Inwardly, Belphegor had blamed himself for being so foolish.
He didn't believe that the chances of Abaddon and Eris actually being together were all that high, especially considering the fact that the dragon considered too many women to be troublesome.
However, Eris was not only a great beauty but she had a heart and soul of gold as well.
It was no wonder that the dragon and his wives had fallen for her and taken her into their family.
Pythias was still shaking with rage as he watched Eris go back and forth between kissing Valerie and Bekka.
'Turn around.' Belphegor ordered.
With great difficulty, the death knight tore his eyes away from this revolting scene and came face to face with his lord once more.
Even though Belphegor did not have any facial features, the depths within his eye sockets had begun to glow a dark red to indicate the severity of the situation.
'You are not to come within 100 feet of her. I will not see the entire army of sloth annihilated because you acted impulsively within the sacred domain of the golden dragon. Are we clear?'
The words of the demon lord of sloth stung terribly and Pythias felt like every syllable was a blow to his pride.
His perfect teeth cracked from the sheer pressure that he placed on them, and he lowered his head in understanding.
'Disperse.'
Without looking up, Pythias headed for the outskirts of the garden, where there were less guests present.
It seemed like with every step he took, the hatred within his own heart grew.
''This humiliation... I will repay this by any means!'
As Abaddon watched the back of the death night disappear behind a grove of trees, he finally stamped out his own anger as well.
Pythias was the man who had actually dared to strike one of his beloved wives, and perhaps even more offensive was the fact that he obviously believed he still had claim to her.
Such a delusion should certainly be corrected as soon as possible.
But unfortunately, today was not the day for such a lesson.
He knew just how much this day meant to his mother, and he would not ruin it by causing a scene as he did at his birthday party all of those months ago.
When it came time for him to unite the demon race, Abaddon hoped that Belphegor would put up a resistance and provide him the perfect opportunity to kill Pythias.
After the death knight was gone, Abaddon finally separated his innocent wife from the clutches of his two deviant ones.
"You girls are quite amusing. How long were you planning to keep up this little game of yours?"
"Until that bastard exploded with anger?" Audrina said innocently.
At her side, both Valerie and Bekka nodded in agreement, completely uncaring of the scene they had just caused.
His other three wives watched this scene while snickering silently, as if they found this all to be dreadfully funny.
Abaddon let out an exhausted sigh before rolling his eyes and wiping Eris' lips of drool. "What am I going to do with you girls?.... Do not answer that."
Another round of perverted giggles left the wives as they realized their desires had been seen through.
Abaddon made a mental note to teach them a well needed lesson later when they returned to their soundproof bedroom.
"Are you alright, my love?" He asked Eris.
The dark elf smiled sheepishly and leaned her bodyweight against her husband. "I am... I have no reason not to be."
At the moment, Abaddon found Eris to be so cute that he could not resist the urge to kiss her as well and wrapped his arm around her waist to do just that.
Unfortunately, there were three voices that seemed intent on disrupting the lovey dovey atmosphere.
"Can you guys please stop kissing eachother..."
"It is so embarrassing I feel like I could die."
"Mira wants kisses too!"
Abaddon laughed as he released his wife to turn and face his three children.
"Are my kids not happy to see their parents getting along? There are a lot of children who would find your position to be very enviable you know?"
Thea rolled her eyes and gestured to the crowd of people behind her. "That may be but these glances are certainly uncomfortable."
Almost everyone in the party had their eyes on the family of eleven.
Most had heard of Abaddon's fearsome reputation as a killer and a conquerer, so to see him here like this was... most certainly a shock.
Forget a king or a conqueror, the dragon just seemed like a simple family man.
This was the surprise of the century.
"Ah... I suppose I can understand that." Abaddon said with a low chuckle. "Alright, you three should have fun of your own and not worry about staying beside us."
"Really?"
"Yes." Abaddon said as he gave Mira a small kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure that we're about to be embroiled in tiresome things that the three of you will have no interest in anyway."
The eyes of the three kids lit up as they quickly hugged their father and mothers before running off into the garden.
Once they were gone, Abaddon took a deep breath as he refocused his mind on the main goal for today.
He could feel the phoenix queen and dwarven king staring at him intensely, along with his fellow demon lords.
But unfortunately, he had no intentions of going over to their area just yet.
Before he met them for himself, he wanted to observe the two rulers from a distance.
Their mannerisms, hidden desires, and even how they interacted with others.
He also wanted to know if they were the types to observe him sneakily or if they would boldly approach him without restraint.
"Come along girls, let's try to enjoy ourselves."
Each of the wives smirked before following silently behind their husband.
They knew that he had a terribly low social battery, so they wondered just how long would he be able to endure this party filled with talkative nobles.
-
Needless to say, Abaddon and his family were the center of attention after arriving.
Partygoers were surprised to learn that not only were his wives all beautiful in their own right, but Antares' own bloody berserker was counted among them.
They immediately wondered if Antares and Luxuria were embroiled in some sort of political marriage before quickly dismissing the thought.
The dragon king would never stoop so low as to go about arranging marriages with other nations, leading most to the realization that the two must have married for love alone.
And when everyone saw the way he treated his wives, it wasn't very hard to see how such a thing could have occurred.
Abaddon seemed like the perfect husband, as he would smile gently at his wives and seemed to be holding hands with at least two of them at any given moment.
There was not a woman within the party that didn't feel like they were going to die of jealousy, and Leviathan seemed to love the envious atmosphere.
For a while, most kept their distance and simply observed the red king without getting too close.
But eventually, a few aristocrats from Antares mustered up the courage to exchange pleasantries and greetings, and they very quickly learned that Abaddon's nature as a gentle and kind man was something only his family got to experience.
While he was far from some rude noble, Abaddon's natural demeanor as a king would reveal itself in the face of others and they would almost immediately become flustered.
His smile would disappear, his gaze would harden and become nearly insufferable, and his way of speaking would become distant and almost robotic.
Most would only exchange small pleasantries before practically running away, while a few were able to maintain their composure and make small conversation.
Unsurprisingly, most of the questions he was asked were about Thea.
She was much too carefree to be a mere servant girl, leading a great many to wonder why a young human was traveling in the company of a demon king.
When he told them she was his oldest daughter, the looks of surprise he received were downright comedic.
The young princess in question was currently admiring the flowers in the garden alongside her brother and sister.
Mira was very cutely plucking flowers and inserting them into her hair, and her two older siblings were watching her with loving expressions.
"Brother and sister too!" Mira said as she held out flowers for both Thea and Apophis.
Apophis simply took the flower and held it in his hand, while Thea slid it behind her ear so that she could match her younger sister.
"How do I look Mira? Am I pretty like you?"
"Yes! Sister is the prettiest!" Mira said happily.
"I have seen prettier at the brothel." Apophis said as he sniffed the beautiful rose in his hand.
Almost immediately, a vein began to bulge in Thea's forehead as she looked at her younger brother.
"What did you say to me you slut?" She asked with a smile that was not a smile.
Apophis merely smirked and did not comment further, enjoying his new ability to make jokes even if he was the only one to find them funny.
"I would agree with the little girl. I also find her to be quite beautiful."
The three siblings whirled around looking for the source of the voice and found a handsome young man approaching them from a few feet away with two young women in tow.
His deep purple robes were very well made, and complemented his pale ivory skin and fiery red hair.
Around his face were fiery red feathers that stood our proudly to display his heritage as a phoenix.
His bright violet eyes were the same as his mother's, yet they also contained an unwavering regality that came from living as royalty for hundreds of years.
"Please forgive my intrusion, I was just rather desperate to make your acquaintance." He said. "I am Caelum Vermillion. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name as well?"
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