Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

Chapter 874: The Ancient Beast Surfaces

At the sudden shout, everyone’s movements and words stopped.

Asmodeus, however, couldn’t stop his lips from curling upward; a strange heat spread through his chest as his heart pumped faster. He wanted to see the enemy, to crush them, destroy them, and rip them apart.

After using Sanguine Devastation, this state lingered.

A heightened sense of emotion, desire and need for more combat.

Brando grabbed the map from the table and rolled it under his arm, his earlier awkwardness vanishing as if someone had sliced it away like bread.

"Logan, we need to move! Hurry and bring the Kraken’s online."

"R-Right!"

The old dwarf glanced at Asmodeus before he rushed the cheap cabin rattle even harder. He didn’t seem to feel it. His eyes shone with terror, excitement and the desperate pride of a man whose creation was about to be tested.

Alan pushed himself from the table with one hand.

"Brother, I’ll go to the defensive barrier line."

Asmodeus glanced at him.

"You’re not going to overdo it. Right, brother?"

Alan’s lips pressed together, creating a pale white smile. "I am not an invalid, Ryuji... at least let me fight beside you in this way..."

Despite his complaint, Asmodeus didn’t stop him.

Alan knew his own limits better than most, so even though he couldn’t fight on the front lines, Asmodeus knew that Alan’s divine power could still create the strongest barriers or at least supplement his wives.

"Alright then, but don’t push it..." Asmodeus glanced over to Brando, who was quickly giving orders through his small device. "How long till the Valkyries arrive?"

’Though Brando and Logan’s weapons will do most of the heavy lifting... I’ll need more troops to avoid what happened earlier.’

Outside, the horn blared again.

A second voice screamed from the docks.

"Outer pier! The outer pier is flooding!"

Asmodeus stepped out of the cabin with Axiom in hand.

Cold sea wind struck his face at once, carrying the scent of salt. The rain became thicker as the storm approached the coastal walls, leaving the harbour exposed under the broken grey clouds and dim defence lights. Beneath the cliff, sailors and workers rushed to prepare the ships to take off, with black water climbing over the lower walls.

"At least it’s not a tidal wave..." Asmodeus mumbled.

The sea did not crash against the docks or surge forward like a storm tide.

It rose, like filling a bath inch by inch, as if someone beneath were lifting them from below the water, which lacked the same ferocity he’d seen earlier, which only brought an unsettling and strange atmosphere.

’What is this...?’

He’d expected raging tides and a maelstrom at least.

Valena clung to his right, her earlier heat almost completely vanished in the chilling breeze, her face pale and her heartbeat slow.

"Master, this doesn’t feel right..."

"I concur... this isn’t what we expected. Did Leviathan really cause this?"

Nerim, who stood opposite her, scanned the ocean with her shimmering eyes, almost glowing a bright blue as she took in everything in sight.

’Well, the actual beast isn’t anywhere near us right now...’

Asmodeus wondered just how big the monster would be after this shift in the ocean; many coastal cities without defensive walls might’ve been completely flooded at this rate.

’Thank god we improved Baltimore’s defences...’

Logan stumbled to the railing and shouted down with all the strength in his lungs.

"Crew one, release the rear locks! Crew two, don’t touch the trigger until I give the order! If anyone fires before calibration, I’ll throw you into the sea myself!"

Asmodeus blinked at the sudden aggression in the old dwarf’s voice.

’Well, it seems this guy is having fun.’

The old dwarf’s beard whipped around in the wind as he leaned over the railing, barking orders like a commander who had spent his entire life waiting for this exact moment.

The engineers below moved faster after hearing his voice, pulling chains, tightening braces, and rushing between the two enormous weapons.

Sharp arcs of lightning spread through the dark skies. Asmodeus took a deep breath; he couldn’t sense the energy of the deadly beast, nor the monsters from earlier.

Brando quickly arrived at Asmodeus’s side.

"The Valkyries are moving from Grigor now. Your wives will follow once the city side is stable."

"Good. Tell them to remain airborne and avoid the water."

"I already did."

"Reliable as always, Brando."

"Tell Martha that after we survive."

Asmodeus smiled faintly.

"I will."

Another tremor passed through the cliff.

"Should we have focused on reinforcing this cliff first..." Asmodeus said quietly, watching the ground crack near the edges with each lash of water.

The lower dock groaned as black water rolled over the stones, swallowing ropes, crates and several abandoned barrels. It still didn’t behave like a wave. Water crawled upward, filling each gap and step in the pier as if moulding to the harbour’s shape.

Nerim’s blue eyes narrowed.

"Your Majesty, I believe the beast has begun to awaken!"

Asmodeus turned his gaze back toward the harbour.

The water that had risen so calmly before began to change.

Ripples twisted across the surface, crashing into one another without wind or tide to guide them. The black water slapped against the lower pier with louder, heavier blows, each impact sending spray over the stone walls and soaking the men still working below.

"Logan!" Brando shouted. "How long is it gonna be?"

"The first Kraken Slayer is almost ready!"

"Almost isn’t good enough!"

"I’m aware!"

A flash of lightning split the sky.

The harbour turned white for a heartbeat.

Then the water below the docks sank.

The sea withdrew from the lower steps as if something enormous had inhaled beneath the bay. Ropes went slack. Boats dropped against their chains. Several workers stumbled as the pier shifted beneath their boots.

Asmodeus stopped smiling.

"...Everyone away from the edge.... Hurry up the stairs!" He’d watched several tsunami and disaster films in the previous world and understood the water pulling back was a dangerous precursor.

Brando lifted his device immediately.

"All dock crews, fall back two lines! Leave the cargo! Protect the cannon crews and abandon anything loose!"

The sailors obeyed without delay, rushing towards the stairs carrying crates, chain and tools while leaving anything unneeded behind as men dragged each other away from the flooded stones. The Valkyries appeared above the harbour not long after, their silhouettes cutting through the clouds as they formed a wide circle over the defence walls.

Valena’s eyes shrank as she pulled away from Asmodeus.

"Master, it’s coming..."

He glanced down.

Her eyes were unfocused, staring into the black water as if she could see something beneath it.

Nerim was just as strange; her scales shimmered light blue in the darkness, granting her a subtle glow as she held his hand tightly.

"Your Majesty... we need to prepare; it’s almost time to fight."

A wall of black water burst upward beyond the outer pier, smashing against the harbour defences with enough force to make the cliff tremble. The lower dock disappeared beneath the spray, and the brilliant barrier shone for a moment as the first surge of tidal waves slammed against the coastal walls.

"Ngh...!"

Alan staggered, his hands gripping the metal railing tightly.

Asmodeus stepped forward, but his brother forced himself back up before he could move.

"I can hold it!"

"Yeah, I know... don’t overwork yourself."

Wind screamed across the harbour, tearing canvas from the weapon frames and whipping ropes into the air. Rain fell harder, no longer drifting from the clouds but lashing down in thick, cold sheets. Thunder rolled constantly, one boom bleeding into the next until the entire coast seemed trapped inside a drum.

Logan clung to the railing with one hand while screaming orders.

"Lock the main barrel! Secure the rear brace! If that cannon shifts, I’ll haunt every single one of you!"

The first Kraken Slayer turned slowly toward the outer water.

Its enormous frame groaned, chains straining as engineers fought to keep it aimed through the storm.

Then the harbour split apart.

The water beyond the docks bulged upward, rising higher and higher until it no longer looked like water at all.

Asmodeus felt his chest tighten.

’So this is what a tsunami looks like... shit...’

If he couldn’t fly, he might have panicked right now; the huge wave, almost twenty feet tall, slammed into the stone wall, creating a massive tremor that shook the entire pier.

That’s when, in the distance, something broke free from the surface of the water... so colossal it forced the sea to roll off its body in massive waves.

’No way...’

A shape surfaced beyond the harbour.

It wasn’t a serpent, whale or beast that he could name...

The bastard was something that shouldn’t even exist!

It was a behemoth, vast enough to resemble an island tearing itself free from the ocean floor. Black flesh covered in ridges and barnacle-like growths rose beneath the storm, each movement displacing enough water to drown a city without walls.

That’s when its eyes opened...

Millions of them with pure-white sclerae and black pupils...

Across its back.

Across its sides.

Inside folds of flesh that should not have moved.

Each eye stared in a different direction at first, blinking slowly beneath the rain.

Then, all at once, they turned toward the coast.

Almost everyone stopped breathing at the magnitude of the monster that appeared, much taller than the massive clifftop they used for safety... Its size could at least dwarf the entire continent.

"H-How do we kill something like that..." Logan’s voice trembled as he dropped a wrench.

"It’s over."

Even Brando seemed debilitated.

Asmodeus gripped Axiom until his knuckles whitened.

’Everyone seems to be under some kind of mental attack...!?’

The ancient beast had surfaced and rendered their preemptive attack useless before the battle could start.