Abaddon waited for the eye in the shadows to say something, but it seemed to want to take it's time to observe him.
He wondered if he should simply poke it in the pupil to illicit some kind of reaction when the remenant ruler finally decided to speak.
"Maybe... just maybe... Dul'Mephistos was wrong about you...The savagery felt through the cosmos just now... It can only come from our one true Uma-Sarru."
Unmoved by the compliment, Abaddon stared coldly into the disembodied eye beneath him.
"This is my first time being able to openly converse with one of you specters. Perhaps you would like to enlighten me as to why you lot are so intent on plaguing my life?"
"Unfortunately... I...cannot...When the trial ends with your victory...all will be made clear....until then... know that you have the blessing of I, Tanin'iver.
The eye became unstable after that, and it left after bestowing Abaddon's body with a new blessing and a new ability.
This... this was one of the first abilities that he'd gotten in a while that he was truly grateful for.
He received two abilities from the former abyss king, and the first was precognition.
As of right now he could only see a couple of seconds in front of him, but in the future there was no telling just how far it would stretch.
When it got too powerful, he would likely stop using it.
After all, the beauty of life lies in sometimes not knowing what will happen next.
And he wanted to experience things with his family as they were happening, so that he could appreciate the special moments just as they did.
As for his second ability, it was-
"Wow... I really can't take my eyes off you for a second, can I?"
Glancing over his shoulder, Abaddon found a face that he wasn't looking forward to seeing anytime soon.
Samyaza had finally decided to reveal himself, and he hovered in the air as he stared at the demon god with an expression containing equal parts shock and awe.
Ripping through the barrier between realms was no easy feat, and it required a very complex and profound grasp of power over space.
How was it even possible for someone other than a primordial god to possess such a thing??
And to have the nerve to so boldly declare war against every god in existence.... this man was as insane as he was handsome.
And after his tenure within the spirit realm, he was exorbitantly handsome.
"Who are you really..?" Samyaza asked curiously. "Or should I ask what you are?"
"I had no idea angels were hard of hearing."
Abaddon finally stood up and dusted off his black pants as he began walking past Samyaza.
"I am Tathamet; the next ruler of the abyss, the one who will devour all of the lights in the heavens, and the god of all dragons. Will you bow your head to save your soul?"
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Almost on cue, arcs of pure energy shot up into the sky from the bodies of the resting demons.
The air began to literally vibrate with excess power as the bodies lying on the ground started to float upwards a scene from a scary movie Carter used to watch.
Finally, Samyaza began to panic as he realized a fact he had previously overlooked.
"You're mad!! This world doesn't have the necessary durability to support these creatures, a battle between just 100 of them would tear this place apart!"
This time when Abaddon looked back at Samyaza he showed him a toothy smile that was every bit as unfair as it was monstrous.
"This is a sight I am elated to see. The great archangel Samyaza, afraid of a few baby true dragons?
Samyaza lost his chance to respond as the first ones to complete their transmutation awoke.
Asmodeus, Isabelle, Kanami, Malenia, Erica, Jazmine, Claire, Darius, and the triplets started to change first.
On all of them, their skin became more fair and radiant, while any horns on their head took on a more wicked and wild look.
A variety of scales started to cover their faces, some possessing bright red ones to completely black and Darius' even developed a bronze hue.
Their eyes flashed open, and became reptilian with a small slit in the center.
In synchronicity, a chorus of horrible roars escaped their throats as their bodies exploded with growth.
They grew massive scaly bodies with multiple pairs of wings and horrifying dark claws.
There appeared to be a bit of variation within them as well, as most of them looked completely different from each other.
Erica and her daughters looked to be some kind of cross between a phoenix and a dragon, as they still retained their vibrant red feathered wings and thinner figures.
The triplet maids all had smaller bodies with pitch black scales and three pairs of wings that were even larger than their entire frames.
But by far, Asmodeus was the oddest.
A snakelike dragon with 9 pairs of wings, with three on each side being of different varieties.
Three were angelic, three were demonic, and the remaining ones were draconic.
His entire body was of the same silver color as Yara's, and he had six dark horns on his head instead of the usual two.
He was truly as frightening as he was majestic.
After their transformation, more and more dragons started to come into being on the surface of the world.
Abaddon was filled with a sense of overwhelming fondness as he watched his people spring into view.
He was so enthralled, he did not notice the moment where his adversary Samyaza disappeared without saying another word and another person approached him in his stead.
"This is quite the sight, my son. Even your grandfather had never achieved anything like this."
Yara had approached Abaddon silently and without so much as stirring up a gust of wind.
There were streaks of dried tears on her face, and her lips were curled up into a proud smile.
"Hey, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" Abaddon wiped away the water on his mother's face and tried his best to keep her composed.
"Your grandfather, he... has gone to rest."
Abaddon looked up into the sky and scoured the air for the golden dragon and his other spirtual companions.
But no matter how much he searched, he truly did not find them.
"It's alright, mother. You know that we can bring him back in around two weeks time."
Yara shook her head, and smiled sweetly at her only son. "There's no need for that. He wants to rest and we are going to allow him to."
Abaddon recognized the lingering strain in his mother's voice and he knew this decision was not one she was a 100% okay with.
If it were him... he could not imagine the burden that his heart would be under if he had to let one of them die.
He was a great many things to a great many people, but to them he would always be a doting son.
"Anyway... I suppose it isn't all bad! He gave me a message to pass onto you before he left."
"And what might that be?"
Due to the height difference, Yara had to stand up on her toes to take her son's face in her hands.
"He wants you to succeed him as the ruler of Antares. Our home.. it will have the leader that it deserves once more, and all of our people will be rushed into a new golden age."
Even though Abaddon was used to conquering nations by now, this one felt brand new to him.
It was bittersweet and unexpected moment that he wasn't really certain of how to process.
"Do you know what father told me about our people when I was a little girl?" Yara asked.
"No, mother."
"Dragons are the most feared and revered creatures throughout all of the realms. But you know what? That also means that the danger we face is that much greater. Everywhere that we go, the brave and the cruel will seek to conquer us in the hopes of gaining some kind of notoriety.
They will turn us into their bedwarmers or try to domesticate us like pets and even decorate their walls with our heads. Not to mention those that would seek to take our powers for themselves despite having no claim to them.
Our people are prideful in nature, so we often believe ourselves to be above all and think that none of those things could never happen to us. But they could. That is why the role of a leader is something that we desperately need and are sorely lacking."
Abaddon listened to his mother's every word, never taking his eyes away from hers.
For some reason, he could feel this speech resonating within his very bones.
"Be that leader, my son. We are strong, yes, but we need a protector. Only then can we hope to actualize our true potential, and rise above the ashes our enemies would delight to see us under."
When Yara finished, she released her son's face and gave his midsection a reassuring hug instead.
'This woman has always believed in me... '
Even when his body was weak and he couldn't make the change, Yara would consistently tell him that she knew he was destined for great things.
At the time, he never believed it.
After all, doesn't every worthwhile mother say things like that to their son?
But now that he is an adult and becoming the man she always told him he could be, he felt an obligation to continue to meet her expectations.
"Emperor of Antares, huh?" He muttered. "It almost feels surreal-"
"Daddy!"
Mira suddenly called out to her father from nearby and halted his conversation with his mother.
"Yes, dear? What's the matter?"
"You broke mommies!"
"I can concur, you have done something to them." Gabbrielle added.
"They have not blinked in over forty minutes.." Thea said.
"Your new appearance is overwhelmingly intoxicating on women it seems... stay away from my Claire." Apophis said possessively.
Abaddon laughed as he separated from his mother and walked over to his kids and their mothers.
As they'd told him, all eight of his wives were frozen and firmly locked in place; staring at him with wide eyes.
"Are my wives feeling unwell? I know that we haven't seen each other in a while but this reaction might be a little much, no?"
As he got closer and closer to them, he could hear a strange anomaly going on within their bodies.
'That's odd... why do they have two heartbeat- Oh, those aren't their hearts...'
A dangerously unfair smile spread across his face as he walked up to Seras first and cupped her face in his hands.
"It seems like you girls want something. Mind telling me what?"
Seras was a literal perfect warrior with thousands of years of battle underneath her belt.
But against her husband and his new appearance, her psyche and instincts may as well have been mush.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-..."
After skipping like a broken record player, her body simply went limp as she fainted directly into his arms.
Similar scenes took place when Abaddon tried to talk to any of his other seven wives, and he had to catch them all before their head's could hit the ground.
Eventually, all four of his clones had to come out so that the five of them could carry each of them in his arms.
Once he had them, he turned back towards the sky where all of his rechristened people were waiting silently, their massive wings flapping in the air.
Since Samael had been burned by the army of Antares, they could no longer stay here.
But it was alright.
After all, they had a new place to call home that was already waiting for them.
"My people! Sift through the rubble if you have any personal effects that you would like to salvage from this place! As for everyone else, we head towards Antares!"
- Nexus of Creation, Tree of Life
Asherah, Yahweh, and Azrael were sitting in a circle underneath the massive golden tree.
The three of them were focused on a rather important discussion that had already taken up a fair bit of their time.
"What will you do, mother? He and his people can no longer stay there, he will only make more true dragons and increase the burden on the world until it falls apart."
The mother goddess knew that her son was right of course but she wasn't quite certain of what to do.
And upon looking at her husband, it seemed as though he was going to leave the decision in her hands.
Finally, she stood up and straightened the blue veil over her face.
"It seems it falls upon me to sort things out. I shall go down myself and deal with the heart of the issue."
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