"Alright, I think I've seen enough." Kanami said as she clapped her hands.
"W-Wait, really..? But I didn't get to show all that much! Give me another five minutes and I promise I'll-"
"Princess, it's alright. You pass."
Mira took a moment to make sure there was no wax in her ears and ensure that she'd heard Kanami accurately.
"Did you say 'you pass' or 'do it fast' ?"
"...I said you pa-"
"KYAAAA!!! I PASSEDDD!!!"
Mira easily broke out of her restraints and removed her blindfold before running up to Kanami and locking her in a firm hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"
The leader of the Euphrates felt a small nosebleed coming on from being touched by one of her god's own family members yet again.
She didn't know which was better, Eris touching her face or Mira giving her a fully unrestrained hug.
She would compare both experiences in her diary later in hopes of coming to a firm decision.
Mira dispelled away her ice, and prepared to run out of the training room and inform her family of the good news.
However, just before she could run off, the doors to the hall were thrown open and Abaddon strode inside accompanied by two familiar guests.
"Daddy, I did it! I got in!" Mira cried.
Abaddon smiled warmly as his daughter flew into his arms and clung to him like a little koala.
"I never doubted my daughter for even a second. I am so very proud of you, Mira."
"Thank you! Can we celebrate??"
"Of course. How do you want to celebrate?"
"Cookies for dinner!"
"...Well, umm... Do we all have to-"
"Yes!"
"...Ah... So be it then."
Mira giggled cutely before she finally glanced behind her father's back and noticed two familiar faces.
But she still did not get down from his arms.
"It's the phoenix lady and the dwarven man!" She realized.
"Yes, it is. They've come for a little visit." Abaddon said. "Do you want to say hi?"
Instead of greeting the two rulers, Mira scrutinized them carefully with her bright red eyes, especially Erica.
The phoenix queen wondered if she should say hi first, when Mira made a rather astute observation.
"Are you here to surrender?"
"Ah... well, I suppose that you could say that." Erica admitted.
That was absolutely the last thing that the adorable princess wanted to hear, and her cheeks inflated from the displeasure.
"Why?! I was finally going to get to fight beside father in this war!"
Abaddon lightly nuzzled his cheek against his daughter's, uncaring of her prickly mood.
"There will always be more battles, my daughter. Just as there will always be enemies who will try to stand against us."
"But what if they pussy out too?"
*Snicker*
As Erica stared at Mira with a shocked expression ad Darius hunched over to contain his laughter, Mira heard a distinctive laughter come from the other side of the room.
She would know that laughter anywhere, as it always followed whenever she said swear words.
"Mommy? Are you over there?"
For a moment, there was nothing but total silence before the invisibility magic was broken, and Valerie and the other wives appeared.
The dwarven oni had a sheepish smile on her face, as if she was slightly embarrassed to be the reason that they were found out so soon.
But she just couldn't help it!
Judging by the seven pointed stares she was receiving in her back, she knew she was going to get chewed out later.
But she could always hide behind her husband and pretend like her feelings were hurt so that she could be protected.
A truly foolproof plan.
Mira finally climbed down from Abaddon's arms and approached her mothers, her cute face stony and suspicious.
"Have you guys been here the whole time?"
Eris: "M-Maybe..."
Bekka: "Erm..."
Lisa: "We know you said you didn't want us here, but we had to come and cheer you on!"
Seras: "Y-Your father was here too, but he ditched us!"
Mira stared silently at her mothers for a long time, and it was unclear whether or not she was upset or not.
Suddenly, the young girl held out both of her frail arms and showed a proud and crazed smile.
"Was I cool? Are you proud of me??"
In the blink of an eye, Mira was under siege from all of her mothers and was being smothered with hugs and congratulatory remarks.
Abaddon watched everything from the sidelines with a warm smile, both amused and delighted by their closeness.
Kanami approached him a few seconds later with the three Euphrates who'd tested Mira, and they were also showing Erica some degree of scrutiny.
"God... Are we truly not going to go to war?" She asked suspiciously.
"No, we are not. Erica and I have managed to come to an agreement without bloodshed. There need not be anymore violence for now."
Abaddon suddenly grabbed Kanami by the back of the head and pulled her in closely until their foreheads were touching.
"Nevermind that, seems you've already forgotten our promise. If you're family now then shouldn't you be referring to me in a different way?"
Kanami's face became as red as her hair from Abaddon's unexpected assault.
Whether that was due to her shyness or the twin rivers of blood running from her nose, who can say??
She knew the title that Abaddon was trying to get out of her, but she just couldn't bring herself to say it.
"B-B-B-Broth..."
She only managed to get about halfway through the word before she finally couldn't take any more and fainted on the spot.
Luckily Abaddon caught her just before she could hit the ground and saved her from cracking her skull open.
"Umm... what was that?" Erica asked with a twinge of jealousy in her voice.
Abaddon smiled as he picked up the sleeping Kanami and held her in his arms.
"My little sister is just a bit shy, don't mind her."
Erica and Darius thought she was a bit more than shy, but they didn't bother to comment on that in this moment.
-
In the permanently dark lands of Upyr, Abaddon was standing on his family's private beach as he took in the salty sea air.
He couldn't tell anyone why he had picked this place as the site of his next evolution.
He himself didn't even really know.
But perhaps it was largely due to the fact that this was the place where he had lost his system.
Lucifer believed that he was crippling him back then, and for a time he may have even been correct.
But once Abaddon could no longer rely on his cheats to get him by, he became forced to rely on himself and develop a more thorough understanding of his powers.
Regaining control wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
Now he was capable of doing things that he never could have imagined before, and he was one of the most dominant forces in this world.
And he was still only getting started.
"Is father thinking about something?"
Abaddon looked down at his youngest daughter in his arms and smiled gently. "Only needless things. I suppose I should hurry so we can go home, huh?"
"Mmh. That would be best." Gabbrielle agreed.
The dragon chuckled before turning around to find the rest of his company waiting patiently.
All of his wives were here, accompanied by his two youngest daughters in addition to Lusamine, Kanami, Rita and Tita, and Erica.
Abaddon handed his daughter to his first wife and turned to Erica, watching as she signed the document.
She was here out of both stubbornness and curiosity, as she so desperately wanted to see if Abaddon was really going to evolve after she signed away her lands.
She finished placing her signature on the paper, and held it out towards the black skinned demon a few feet away.
"I hope that you'll show me something exciting."
"Of course. I live for showmanship."
Abaddon took the quill pen from Erica's grasp and started to sign away his name.
Erica could feel several gazes pressed against her back, but she couldn't really seem to care less.
On the contrary, she contemplated pressing her body a bit closer to him when a change finally occurred.
BOOOOOMMM!
Just as Abaddon finished signing away his last name, a column of dark energy burst from the heavens and fell on top of his body.
As the familiar feeling of drowsiness set in, Abaddon's mind was pulled back into the dark, and he was powerless to stop it.
-
Abaddon didn't know how long he spent guarding those gates, listening to their whispers.
All that he could say was that their calling became louder with every passing century, and more and more of his sanity was eaten away.
He thought himself in control, after all his maker had created him to be indomitable, and truly immortal.
This was the task he was created for, and he would never allow it to get the better of him.
Or at least that is what he thought.
He spent so long in the darkness living with only the whispers, that he forgot who he was.
He forgot what his purpose was.
The voices soon became his friends, as he had nothing else but them.
Within the darkness they... molded him.
He became... a horrifying aberration.
Something terrible... so utterly horrible that if defied mortal explanation, and comprehension.
With his rebirth, he was given new purpose and new meaning by the voices.
They asked him for one, single favor.
They set his vision on the twinkling light above him that represented creation.
All of creation.
Every parallel earth, faraway solar system, or fantastical world.
They asked him not for their freedom, but to snuff out the light disturbing their existence, so that they could thrive freely once more.
And why would he deny his friends?
He had never had anything else in his life, so he had to give his everything to ensure that they remained happy with him.
His mind made up, he left his place in front of the gates after an incalculable number of years and returned to the worlds touched by light.
-
When the column of energy struck Abaddon, everyone was forced to retreat to a safe distance.
Those with wings took to the sky, and held up those without if it was needed.
"Umm... something is happening." Lillian pointed out.
Abaddon's wives looked down at their individual tattoos that had begun to glow different colors.
Suddenly, the eight of them were flooded with a new and invigorating wave of power that was unlike anything they had ever felt before.
Even Mira and Gabbrielle felt some benefits, albeit lesser ones, and it could only be assumed that Thea and Apophis had as well.
Valerie, Eris, Bekka, and Lailah had their tattoos glow the brightest among the wives, and a dark beam shot out from their bodies and intermingled with the tornado surrounding Abaddon.
Erica, Rita, Tita, and Kanami had never seen anything like this scene before, and it left them unwilling to blink their eyes for even a second.
The tornado raged for a few more minutes before it inevitably started to die down.
But even before Abaddon's new form was fully revealed, they knew that it was utterly nightmarish and frightening.
"Holy shit!" Mira cried.
This time, no one even bothered to look at her strangely or reprimand her.
Holy shit was indeed the only phrase that could be used to describe the current scenery.
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