Asmodeus crouched to pick up the only weapon that the Incubi had brought.
"Hm." He poured some of his mana into the whip, and its thong immediately caught fire. He stopped pouring mana into it, and it lost its flame. "So that’s how it works..." He whispered and turned towards Syndra.
"What is it?" She asked after a couple of seconds. "You’re staring."
Previously, when the whip had hit her back, Asmodeus didn’t feel anything.
Now, as he remembered the scene, that same peculiar sensation permeated throughout his body, and he almost felt the urge to put that whip to use.
"Ugh..." The Incubus held his head with a hand and slowly pushed himself up.
The next second, Asmodeus’s newly acquired whip wrapped around the Incubus’s throat tightly, causing him to lose consciousness again.
"Let’s go," Asmodeus said, offering his free hand to Syndra.
She nodded and brought herself closer so he could grab onto her elbow, and the two disappeared, along with the whip and the leashed Incubus.
***
"Why aren’t we inside?" Asmodeus asked.
The castle was around a hundred meters away.
"It’s a condition that I set into my Marks, into those within the castle," Syndra explained. "I can only teleport into the inside of the castle from the inside. Otherwise, this is as close as I get."
"In case you are held hostage." Asmodeus nodded and let go of her elbow, though part of him did not want to. "I understand."
He started walking towards the castle, but Syndra remained behind.
"Listen, you said you would talk to Nyl, right?"
"Right."
"I will need you to do that right away, alright? Otherwise-"
The sound of a window breaking in the distance echoed, and the Succubus knew she was in trouble right away, before even hearing the shout.
"SYNDRA! YOU BITCH!"
By the time that Syndra laid eyes on her, Saphyra had already crossed half the distance, having launched herself through the window and directly towards Syndra.
’Shit...!’
The Queen’s niece couldn’t do anything but cross her arms defensively as, once again, the Queen’s child had been stingy with his energy, sharing just enough for the teleportation.
"I KNEW YOU COULDN’T BE TRUSTED, YOU...!"
Saphyra’s words trailed off as someone placed themselves between her target and herself.
Saphyra momentarily found herself in awe of that face, in which raw, untamed, and wild beauty was exquisitely mixed with grace and elegance.
It mattered very little, however, as standing between Saphyra and her target was an offense for which one must pay. One simply does not stand against the Queen’s daughters.
The destructive punch destined for Saphyra would simply land on this mysterious stranger.
’...?’
Just as Saphyra was about to get in range to hit, the stranger took a light and swift sidestep, which almost made Syndra want to sob.
"Slow your horses."
Just as Saphyra’s fist was about to reach Syndra, his hand came into contact with the Saphyra’s waist.
Instantly, and with great force, the Queen’s daughter was launched in a path perfectly perpendicular to her own.
Syndra could only gulp, not even given the time to react.
Saphyra’s body was blown away to Syndra’s left and collided with the ground with a deafening boom a dozen steps away, causing a cloud of dust to rise.
"Oh, no," Syndra whispered. "This isn’t-"
"You little shit." Saphyra’s voice echoed through the dust cloud, calm and icy. "I know just your type."
Saphyra’s magic allowed her to bend and twist the minds of her targets, forcibly making them kneel to her.
Another strong point of hers was the ability to read minds through physical touch. The longer and more intimate the touch, the deeper into one’s mind she could sink.
"Little shits born with a filament of strength and think they’re invincible..." She licked her lip as she rose to her feet. "Your type is what I like to break the most."
Asmodeus had touched her for a fraction of a second, but that had been enough for Saphyra to learn a couple of things about him.
"You don’t know fear because you haven’t been faced with danger just yet." Saphyra stepped through the cloud. "I’ll rectify that."
Asmodeus’ eyes narrowed as he turned away from the castle and to his left to face her. "Bring it on."
Saphyra’s lips twisted into a sadistic smile. "You’re dead meat, bitch!" She instantly leapt forward with the intent to kill.
"STOPPPP!!!!" Syndra shouted as she jumped between the two. "GIVE IT A REST!" She shouted while holding her head and ears with both hands, clearly scared of being caught in the crossfire.
"Your time is coming, Syndra." Saphyra spat on the ground. "Get out of the way; I’ll deal with you after I teach this bitch a lesson-"
"That’s not a bitch!" Syndra shouted, which did cause a bit of confusion. "I mean, look!" Syndra quickly circled around to stand behind Asmodeus. "Look at these eyes!"
"Beautiful eyes," Saphyra said. "All the more reason to beat the living shit out of her; what’s your point? I hate young Succubi who think-"
"Ugh!" Saphyra rubbed her forehead. "That’s the point. It’s not HER, see?" She added while pointing downward.
"Huh? Oh... Oh." Saphyra gulped. "Mamamia."
Awkward silence.
"Can we go now?" Asmodeus asked, turning his head towards Syndra. "She’s just staring."
"No, wait!" Saphyra shook her head. "You’re not going anywhere. Who even are... You...?" Her words trailed off as she noticed the facial expression on Syndra. "You mean that you’re...? No... No way... Are you?"
"Mmh!" Syndra nodded and stepped to stand beside him. "Saphyra, meet Asmodeus, your brother. Asmodeus, meet Saphyra, your sister." She nodded again while looking at Asmodeus. "She’s your sister."
"I knew that." Asmodeus sighed.
"My brother..." Saphyra muttered while scrutinizing him with her eyes. "You’re lucky Syndra explained it all, shortstuff. I would have really killed you."
"Shortstuff?" Asmodeus raised an eyebrow. "You’re not much taller than me."
It was true. Saphyra was at most 5 centimeters taller than Asmodeus.
Still, Syndra closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen.
"What..." Saphyra’s eyebrow twitched nervously. "What did you just say?"
NO ONE TALKS TO THE QUEEN’S DAUGHTER ABOUT HER HEIGHT!
"Let’s just go," Asmodeus muttered, holding Syndra by the wrist with one hand and his whip/leash in the other.
Dragging his unconscious Pet through the ground and Syndra by the wrist, Asmodeus walked towards the castle’s entrance.
Before he could reach it, however, a swarm of Succubi poured out of the castle’s doors.
In mere seconds, a hundred Succubi had appeared, standing between him and the castle.
"Oh, for fuck’s sake." Asmodeus sighed. "Can you do something about this?"
Syndra didn’t hear the question. In fact, she hadn’t even noticed the swarm of Succubi.
’The way he launched Saphyra, that wasn’t simply strength. It was similar to that hit I took, the Incubus that launched me away with a punch.’ Syndra rubbed her chin. ’Did Asmodeus copy it somehow? No, he didn’t just copy it... He even strengthened it somehow.’