First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 393 The First to Interfere

The first time Asmodeus was subjected to this sort of attack from the combined Cherubim, he had fallen prey to it miserably. 

The searing pain that he felt upon being struck by one of these beams was nothing short of debilitating and it easily disarmed him of his ability to fight back. 

It was only after he was defeated and his body was violated by that bastard archangel that he learned the true secret of the combined cherubim's power. 

While it seemed like the angel was a force competent in high level magical attacks; the true nature of this enemy was that it was a dangerously powerful telepath. 

The numerous attacks that Asmodeus was experiencing were no more than illusions that could affect even someone made from Abaddon's own blood. 

The multiple copies, the pain he was feeling, the symphony of destructive attacks- none of it was actually real. 

But while Asmodeus was supposed to be too overcome with pain to make any notice of that fact, the real body of the cherubim was invisible; charging up an attack that would put Asmodeus down in one shot. 

It was exactly how he went down the last time they went against each other; and it robbed Asmodeus of eighteen years of his life and the opportunity to be with his family. 

He would never fall for the same trick twice. 

Asmodeus focused his mind past the pain, while subtly pulling himself free of any and all outside influence. 

Discretion was key as he went about this task; as forcefully pushing the cherubim out of his mind would tip him off to the fact that his power was no longer working as it should have been. 

Bit by bit, the discomfort started to fade away but Asmodeus kept up the act by roaring as if he were in terrible pain. 

With his mind not as bogged down with the threat of 'attack', he was more than capable of searching for any kind of energy fluctuations in the nearby area. 

As he expected, there was a discreet but alarming current of power gathering from directly overhead. 

'Really... Aren't you looking down on me too much by pulling off the same attack as before?'

Finally dropping the act, Asmodeus looked directly overhead and opened his mouths as wide as possible.

Just like earlier, three funnels of unbearable silver flame rocketed above his head and struck against an invisible force in a loud explosion. 

Out of a cloud of ash, a single angel could be seen falling from the sky with a smile on it's four faces. 

"So you remembered that, did you? Shame on me I suppose." the angel said with a sigh. "As they say, originality is best."

The archangel's voice started to deepen as it's heads rotated around to select a new lead face. 

With the face of an ox now in control of the body, the creature now had a completely different air to it. 

Righting itself quickly, the cherubim flexed new and explosively powerful muscles with the greatest of pride. 

"What a glorious day indeed! Let me show you that there is no might like divine might!"

The cherubim suddenly redirected itself in midair and flew at Asmodeus with a previously unseen level of speed and power. 

With a sound like cracking thunder; the angel struck Asmodeus squarely on the jaw and sent his enormous body flying despite the vast size difference. 

In his mind, Asmodeus wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this situation. 

'For all of this time... I only saw a small fragment of your power, huh? That's a little embarrassing on my end...'

Asmodeus hit the ground with an explosive thud and even bounced off it momentarily before coming to a dead stop. 

"One of the Marshalls is down!"

"Aid him!"

"Don''t let that bastard get close!"

Nearby dragons saw that Asmodeus had taken a hard fall and they rushed to defend him while he recovered. 

However, the former demon lord knew that they were making a foolish decision. 

He couldn't allow the soldiers entrusted to him by his son to throw their lives away needlessly. 

"Get back you lot! He isn't someone whom you are yet old enough to face!"

Unfortunately, his words did not reach their ears in time to make a difference, and because a younger dragon was already close to the cherubim; it was already too late. 

A loud and disturbing cracking sound could be heard as the ox faced angel punched the roaring dragon directly in the skull between the eyes; reducing the contents of it's brain to mush. 

The eyes of the majestic dragon gradually lost their luster as it fell from the sky; eliciting a roar of rage from the recovering Asmodeus. 

All the while, the ox faced angel had a daunting and unnerving smile on it's muzzle. 

"Across the realms, all of you dragons think your selves to be so superior! Now you must concede to the truth; that there is no source of might that falls in comparison with our blessed father's!"

-

While Asmodeus was dealing with a fanatically religious cherubim, Erica was struggling within the grasp of an obsessive and abusive would be suitor. 

The former phoenix queen tried a variety of different measures to free herself from Ephraim's grasp. 

She tried to burn him, cut him and overpower him, but nothing seemed to work out nearly as well as intended. 

For lack of a better word, she was completely stuck. 

A peculiarity of the nephilim race is that they are similar to dragons, vampires, and phoenixes in that older they are, the more powerful their physical bodies become. 

With ten thousand years of age underneath Ephraim's belt, he was the strongest being Erica had ever encountered other than Abaddon. 

And she loathed him to her very core. 

"Looking at your new husband with those hateful eyes... Ephraim will teach you better!"

The hulking nephilim reached for one of Erica's arms and gripped it tightly beneath his meaty fingers. 

Erica bit down on her own lips so as not to cry out, but when she felt her bones and muscle fibers being squished flat like a pancake, she eventually had no choice. 

Her cries of pain alerted nearby dragons to her plight; and the scene from earlier repeated itself over again, only with much more known characters coming to help. 

"You bastard!"

"Put her down, now!"

Dive bombing out of the sky was one very familiar bronze dragon with a smallish but powerful body and wings that were too large for his figure. 

The other was a blue eastern style dragon with shining teal scales and a body that closely resembled a sea serpent; Livyatan. 

With two large and very powerful dragons coming at him from two sides, Ephraim was visibly upset. 

"This is a conversation between husband and concubine... BACK AWAY!!"

Letting out a noble and horrific roar; the nephilim released beams of concentrated divine power from his horns that struck against the dragons who were edging closer. 

Since Livyatan was the only one with demon blood, she was affected the worst by the attack and she immediately went down like a house of cards. 

On the other hand, Darius was not as damaged due to his dwarven bloodline, and he was able to fight through the pain enough to bore directly into the body of Ephraim; knocking him over and forcing him to drop Erica. 

"I got you!"

With Erica no longer within the giant's grasp, Lusamine swooped in from out of nowhere and caught the injured phoenix before trying to fly her out of harm's reach. 

Suddenly, an agitated roar shook the battlefield as Ephraim stood up while wrestling with Darius barehanded. 

Darius fought with tooth and nail to damage the giant and while he did manage to draw blood, even his powerful muscles were no match for the densely strong physique of a 10,000 year old nephilim. 

Eventually, Ephraim gained the upper hand when he clasped his hands around the neck of the bronze dragon. 

Making a sharp twisting motion, a loud cracking sound could be heard as Darius immediately stopped moving, disbelief flooding his eyes. 

"DARIUS!"

"NOO!"

Erica and Lucamine temporarily forgot that they were supposed to be escaping, and their lapse in judgement would end up costing them dearly. 

During the brief moment they took to pause in the air, Ephraim tossed aside Darius' limp body and lunged at them with a speed someone as large as him shouldn't have possessed. 

Grabbing the girls with both hands, he held them above his head gleefully like they were winning lottery tickets. 

"Two good beauties! Two wives with tender flesh! Favor smiles upon Ephraim today!"

As the nephilim gloated over the new prizes he'd won in battle, the air within the battlefield suddenly changed. 

Every single creature without exception came to a dead stop and froze in their tracks in horror. 

Ephraim had no idea what he was feeling, nor could he follow the lighting quick sequence of events that followed within a few seconds. 

At one moment, he was holding up too great beauties within his hands, and in the next, he had no hands. 

To make matters even stranger, he had somehow ended up on his belly with his head smashed into the ground, with no memory of how he got there. 

A single figure stepped down onto the battlefield with two women in each of his arms. 

Both held onto him tightly like he was the only thing in the word capable of overturning this nightmare that had unfolded before them. 

"Abaddon... Darius is..." Lusamine couldn't even finish her words without getting choked up, a testament to the close friendship she'd built with the dwarf. 

"I know, Auntie, we'll bring him back. Everything is going to be okay." he reassured. 

He turned his attention to Erica to ascertain her own wellbeing, but much to his dismay he sensed her more despondent and depressed than he had ever known her. 

"I shouldn't have waited so long to help you, Erica. You have my sincerest apologies..."

Erica looked at Abaddon with watery eyes and he felt his heart clench at the sight of her grief. 

She didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes was more than enough. 

'You shouldn't have had to.'

Abaddon placed the bodies of the girls down beside the corpse of Darius and turned away to wait for what came next. 

A few seconds later, the voice of the mother goddess echoed around the entire arena for all to hear. 

"The Father of All Dragons, Abaddon Tathamet, is the first to interfere in the contest. In accordance with the rules of the wager, the his abilities will be suppressed by 40% and the Father of All Nephilim, Samyaza, is free to engage."