Back in Antares, Helios had cleared out all of the party guests and issued a gag order.
Anyone who spoke of anything that occurred tonight would be swiftly punished and none among them wanted to earn the ire of the golden dragon.
The only ones to remain behind were Abaddon's family, Erica and her children, Darius and his bottle of whiskey, and Belphegor's two generals.
This group had been silently watching the two pain stricken demon lords as they writhed around on the ground for what felt like an eternity.
The two rulers had questions, but they were smart enough to be able to piece answers together on their own without even opening their mouth.
Who knew that the seven sins had such a glaring weakness?
'But that man... he did not seem to be affected like these two.' Erica thought. 'Was he just acting?'
The more she thought about that scenario, the more she didn't believe that was the case.
So what was the differentiating factor?
Her interest in the demon lord began to grow significantly, and she wondered if Darius' suspicion about him eventually coming for their land was actually true.
'If it is, then certain steps will need to be taken... Even if you are the son of a friend I will not willingly hand over my nation to anyone.'
After several minutes of pain fueled groaning, Belphegor and Leviathan were suddenly able to get their breathing under control and returned to some sense of normalcy.
"Are you alright, my kings? What happened to you?" Pythias asked.
The death knight had not left the side of the two demon lords, and had even begun to suspect that some sort of foul play had been involved, although he dared not voice such a thing out loud.
Especially not with four other demigods in the room.
"We... are fine?" Belphegor muttered.
"So it would seem..." Leviathan poked her body all over to see if there was any lingering pain but there was none.
This didn't make any sense.
When Asmodeus died, all of the sins were in terrible pain for an entire DAY before they could return to normal and even then their power had taken a rather noticeable cut.
But now the terrible sensation they felt had faded away in under an hour, and any power lost was already beginning to return to them.
"You lot are fine now, right? Then can you remove yourselves from my garden?" Helios asked gruffly.
The golden dragon received a small pinch at his side and looked down to see his youngest great granddaughter looking at him with her cheeks puffed out.
"Great grandfather should be nicer! What if they started hurting again because you made them leave too soon?"
The children still had no idea that Helios had excommunicated Abaddon from the royal family and they were no longer officially related, as such there was very little to stop Mira from voicing her opinion.
Leviathan, Belphegor, and even Helios seemed to be completely taken aback by the fact that this young girl had actually attempted to scold the golden dragon.
The queen of envy was on the ground snickering, while Sloth seemed to find it intriguing that a child he did not even know was concerned for his wellbeing.
Helios remained caught off guard and blinked several times as he tried to process this sudden assault.
Mira was staring up at him unflinchingly, and she did not seem to have any intentions of backing down.
The indomitable demigod of endless war was actually being pressured by a six year old that still wore a onesie to sleep.
He glanced at the girl's mothers for backup, only to find them standing off to the side and snickering like there was no tomorrow.
Helios finally opened his mouth to speak and declare that his word was law, and that was when it happened.
Apophis, who had been absentmindedly staring up at the glass ceiling, fell back onto his bottom and looked up at the sky in horror.
"What... is... that!?"
Everyone followed his gaze and had reactions that were either just the same or even worse.
High in the sky beyond even the range of the clouds, there were two bright red serpentine eyes that seemed to be peering down on the entire planet.
"What the fuck!?"
"Where did that come from!?"
"I-I just peed a little!"
Everyone without exception fell to their knees and released some form of bodily fluids whether they were tears or urine.
Even the demigods could suppress this feeling of helplessness, and for the first time in several centuries they were overwhelmed with a sense of inferiority.
But surprisingly, the one who had the worst reaction was Helios.
The golden dragon had both knees embedded in the dirt, and a steady stream of tears were flowing down his face.
Unlike everyone else who knew nothing about this mysterious entity, Helios was a true dragon with access to the knowledge and memories of his brothers and predecessors.
He knew exactly what this entity was from it's eyes alone.
"Our great mother and maker... I had never thought that I would be so worthy...." He muttered.
The constantly prideful and arrogant Helios felt like he was no more than a single cell organism in the face of the being that was literally responsible for the creation of his entire race.
As the panic continued, the pair of red eyes in the sky soon changed into a mass of purely white energy, and began colliding with some sort of invisible planetary force like it was trying to gain entry.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
"It's trying to descend?! Why!?" Erica cried as she clutched her hair.
"Who the hell knows?! Just hold onto something!" Darius warned.
Their surroundings continued to tremble seemingly without end, and the inhabitants of the late queen's garden thought that the entire castle was going to come down at any moment.
crack.
It was a small sound that really no one should have heard.
But somehow, the sound of glass breaking cut through all of the screaming going on below, and reached the ears of everyone in the world.
There was a flash of light, followed by a wave of energy that seemed to pass over all of Dola and this horrifying once in a lifetime ordeal was now over in the blink of an eye.
But for some, it was only just beginning.
Not long after the strange lightship ended, Abaddon's wives began to feel a bit strange.
"What... is this...?"
"I feel so sleepy all of a sudden..."
"I-I feel hot..."
"M-Me too.."
"Girls... look..."
Bekka pointed own towards the pubic region of each of them, where their husband's marking could be seen shining even through their dresses.
One by one, the wives all passed out in the grass, except for Seras and Lisa who seemed to be be experiencing a great amount of discomfort.
"Aaaaggghhhh!!"
Suddenly, a heart wrenching scream cut through the air, and Apophis was at it's source.
The great serpent was curled up into a ball, clutching his head and bleeding from his nose.
His aura was flickering chaotically, and only Helios was able to recognize what was going on at a glance.
But even he thought that he may have been mistaken.
"A-Are you alright?"
""Brother!""
Surprisingly, Thea and Mira rushed to his side but they were accompanied by the youngest of the Vermillion siblings, Claire.
Before they could reach the young prince, all three of them were lifted into the air by some sort of telekinetic force and held just out of reach.
"What are you doing?!"
"Put us down great grandpa!"
Helios merely shook his head, and ignored the complaints of the three girls.
"You girls do not understand, but he must go through this. You have no idea just how great of a blessing this is, and if you interfere then he will surely fail."
Helios couldn't believe it.
Right in front of his eyes, he was witnessing something that should not even be theoretically possible, and yet he had no choice but to acknowledge it as a reality.
Seras, Lisa, and Apophis were all undergoing transmutation.
Finally, there was a change among the three of them, and Helios felt as though he was on the edge of his seat.
Apophis' change came first.
The dark red hair running down his back became a deep rich purple, and his vibrant green eyes instead became as red as rubies.
Two dark horns sprouted out from the side of his skull, and he immediately fainted as an exhausted and sweaty mess.
'A failure, huh...?' Helios thought in disappointment.
His great grandson was just on the cusp of attaining true greatness, and yet he had failed to reach it all the same.
'Then will those two also...?'
Helios turned his attention to Seras and Lisa, and he knew by their auras alone that they weren't going to fail.
Bit by bit, golden cracks appeared on the flesh of the girls before it fell away to reveal tougher, more mesmerizing flesh.
They became women that were nothing short of heaven defying beauties, nearly equal to their husband in terms of charm.
A sense of power and oppression now flooded off of them in waves, and their slanted reptilian eyes became even more frightening.
Once their bodies stopped changing, the two of them fell over as well and promptly joined their fellow wives and son in dreamland.
'They've actually done it but... how?'
Helios was continuously blinking his eyes to ensure that they were working properly, yet no matter how many times he did it the scene in front of him did not change.
"What in Asherah's name is happening?!" Darius asked aloud but no one seemed to have an answer for him.
Suddenly, a dark grey portal opened up in the garden and Asmodeus walked through with Yara asleep in his arms, and Abaddon floating behind him.
Abaddon was completely naked, with only his father's robe draped over his nether region, and all could see how the formerly healthy and muscular dragon now seemed weak and scrawny in comparison.
'Him as well, huh...?'
Helios wasn't at all fooled by the demonic dragon's weak appearance.
Even if he currently looked like sheep shit in shallow water, The Red King was undoubtedly more powerful now than ever before.
As soon as Belphegor and Leviathan laid eyes on their fellow sin, they knew immediately what he had done but they couldn't believe it.
"Brother... what-"
"How is this even-"
"Not right now, you two. The time for questions will come later."
Asmodeus opened up two dark grey portals beneath each of his siblings and sent them and their entourage back to their domains.
He had no doubt that a meeting would be called within a few days, and they could ask all of the questions they wanted at that time.
But for now, his patience had been stretched too thin and the unneeded guests needed to leave immediately.
Valerica and her children were sent home next, followed by the dwarf king Darius.
When only the family was left behind, Asmodeus finally fell to his knees in exhaustion and Helios came to his side.
He took one look at his daughter's condition and immediately knew what happened, but he also knew that her regeneration was potent enough that something like this would heal in two days time.
It hurt him to see her like this, but for now, he wanted to know just what had happened when the three of them left this place.
He was sure the story was somehow related to the appearance of the great mother, as well as how Abaddon, Lisa, and Seras had all become true dragons.
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