Chapter 436 Chosen Battlegrounds & Home
“So let me see if I have this correct… Since you have been here you have done battle with not one, but two gods using powers that could have obliterated the earth, had a hand in the reveal of the supernatural to the human world,
cursed multiple humans with impotency or early menopause for looking at one of you lustfully, manipulated college football rankings to get a team of your choosing into the playoffs, prematurely stolen away an important beast in the apocalypse,
compelled several of your favorite singers to give you their autographs and even a few pieces of their merchandise, empowered a dhampir by such a wide margin that he will be a match for gods in only a few short years, and created a brand new species of humanity as a whole.
Am I missing anything here??”
Within Mateo’s living room, Abaddon and all of his wives were kneeling in front of Asherah as she sat on the couch.
Their faces were contorted to be as sympathetic-looking as possible in order to illicit the most leisure punishment possible.
All of them were utterly silent and quite honestly a bit droopy earned.
“…We also made love on top of the Eiffel Tower…” Tatiana said honestly.
“Is that the only historic landmark you defiled by chance?”
“…”At this question, Abaddon and all of his wives lowered their heads just a bit more than before.
Asherah slipped her hands underneath her veil and rubbed the bridge of her nose as if she was developing a migraine.
“Tell me… why could you all not treat this as a normal vacation? I would think that after everything you all have gone through recently you would enjoy a break.”
“W-We did, it was very relaxing!”
“Lillian dear, which part of any of those things I named sounds relaxing to you?”
“Ah… the private concerts we paid artists to perform for us?”
“You mean the ones you compelled?”
“W-We still paid them!”
Asherah sighed again as she tuned her attention towards Abaddon again.
“And what do you have to say for yourself?”
“…I have no excuse.” he admitted.
“I know that you are someone who enjoys lazing about, so why on earth could you not just lie in bed the whole time and spare me such a headache as this?”
“Asherah, I couldn’t have wasted this trip doing something like that.”
lightsΝοvel Bekka: “Well hold on a minute, I don’t know about it being a waste- Mmh!”
Abaddon wrapped his slothful wife underneath one of his arms and covered her mouth to prevent her from digging the group into a deeper hole.
Again, Asherah had no choice but to rub her temples as she felt her headache worsening.
“Did you at the very least come to a decision on which starting grounds you’d like to be yours? Remember, the entire purpose behind your coming here?”
Finally, Abaddon showed a toothy smile and his mood seemed to lift.
And of course, Asherah did not even need to hear his answer.
“…You are such a petty dragon.”
“What can I say? They took something from me, so I will take everything from them.”
“Yes, yes… This will likely throw things into disarray quite a bit you know?”
“We’re okay with that.” they all said at once.
If Asherah rubbed the beige of her nose anymore, she was pretty sure it would fall off of her face.
“Alright, the grounds have been claimed. Greece will henceforth belong to the Transcendent Dragons.”
Abaddon and his wives smiled at each other like a group of bandits who’d just struck gold.
From the moment that they’d come here, they had already known that they were going to take Greece.
Helios, his wives and Iori were still in Zeus’ sweaty clutches and that was a slight that Abaddon would never forget or move on from.
The greeks were welcome to come and try to take their lands back of course, but they would have to do so without access to all of the prayers and blessings consecrated into the land.
Effectively losing a rather substantial source of power.
Asherah seemed to be more than ready to get Abaddon and his family off of this world before they could cause any more damage.
She finally stood up from her seat and stared down at the entire group with an exasperated gaze.
“Lucky for me, your time here has officially expired. Please return home without destroying anything else.”
The group smiled wryly as Lisa’s small voice chirped up.
“Actually, we were hoping that you would come with us.”
“…I be your pardon?”
“W-Well we know we made a bit of a mess here, so we were hoping treat you to some tea and baked goods at home as an apology. Our Tati is a wonderful baker.”
“I’m alright…” Tatiana said as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
“She’s just being modest, she’s absolutely incredible.” Lailah confirmed with all seriousness.
As an avid sweets connoisseur, her opinion came with a considerable amount of weight behind it.
“That is.. very kind of you, but I do not require food or drink.”
“Neither do most of us at this point, but we eat for the experience and camaraderie, not the nourishment!”
“And because we’re bored!” Bekka chimed in.
“…Yes, but actually no.”
Asherah looked like she was unsure of what her response should be to such an invitation.
She did not want to leave Yesh at the tree for much longer than she had to, but with Azrael still there to keep him company she was a little less worried about him growing bored.
‘As long as they do not ask me anything they shouldn’t, I believe it will be fine…’
“…Alright. I will decide whether or not I accept your apology after I have eaten.”
Immediately, the group smiled beautifully.
“You all aren’t off the hook yet.”
All of their smiles disappeared almost as quickly as they had formed.
–
Once the group was ready to leave, Abaddon prepared to waive his hand over everyone who would be going to his castle when Lisa suddenly stopped him.
Gently, she took his hand and pulled him into a corner of the room before cupping his face in her hands.
‘Honey… can I take this to mean that you have made your decision?’ she asked telepathically.
Immediately understanding what she meant, he placed his forehead against hers and reveled in the sensation of her soft skin and sweet floral scent.
‘I have… I’ve already released the nephilim souls into the world and they are programed to seek out hosts indiscriminately… If there is something worth saving in them… we will get a chance to speak again. If they aren’t… that is the end of that.’
‘…Will you be satisfied with that decision no matter the outcome?’ she asked worriedly.
‘Of course… I already have a family, and it is the most wonderful one to have ever been dreamed. I am not greedy to change anything about it.’
‘If you are so certain… I trust you, my love.’
Once again, Abaddon was so touched by Lisa’s tenderness that he couldn’t help but give her a short but meaningful kiss.
“Awa!”
Straga became slightly restless within Abaddon’s arms and siphoned both of his parents’ attention.
Chuckling, the two parents gave the small baby to kisses on his individual cheeks and caused him to let out his own happy giggles.
Hand in hand, Abaddon and Lisa walked towards the group and prepared to transport the rest of his family and Asherah home.
He glanced at a frozen Mateo one last time to wish him a final, silent goodbye before the entire group vanished from the living room.
They appeared within the dining room of his home while facing a large glass window overlooking all of Sheol.
This was the first time that Straga, Yamaya, and Asherah were seeing the hidden land of dragons, and it was easy to say that the were significantly impressed.
Asherah : “Quite enchanting indeed…”
Straga : *Staring in fascination at the glowing chandelier above.*
Yamaya : “Your home is very beautiful… It is so bright here.”
Audrina smiled as she nuzzled her cheek against one of her twin daughters. “Our home, peach. Don’t speak as if you are just some outsider. Everything that you see here is yours by blood.”
Once again, Yamaya was left amazed by the large hearts of her new family.
Reigning over the creatures of the deep for so long was a bit alienating to say the least, and even though she had spent most of her time sleeping, it was still a bit of a lonely way to live.
But it had never bothered her before, because she knew that she was fated to simply die and feed the humans come the apocalypse.
However… now she was realizing that she could live however she wanted.
She could experience things beyond just lying in the bottom of the ocean, and she could do it with a family that was more loving and accepting than most ever got to experience.
‘But still…’
Silently, Yamaya glanced over at her sleeping twin who was nestled within Seras’ arms.
She did not know much about the girl, but she did know that Yamaja had her own issues with not only her but this family.
And if possible… she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“Hm?” Suddenly, she noticed a number of strong presences flocking towards their location from all over.
“Oh? Seems like your siblings have noticed our arrival, dear. I hope they don’t scare you.”
*Bang!*
Almost on cue, four teenage children came rushing into the dining room from various corners of the castle.
“”””You’re back!!””””