Asmodeus

III. His Extravagance

He falls into a dream, pleasantly floating in a sea of beautiful women dressed in all the colors of the rainbow. They grab for him, his arms, his legs, his chest, his dick, and they kiss every inch of skin they can touch. They flatter him, they worship him, they love him.

He tries to make small talk at some point - while another woman is wildly riding him, no doubt - and finds they are all delightfully conversational to boot, capable of carrying on a dialogue on general philosophy while worshipping his cock with their tongues.

If this is a dream, don't ever wake me up, he thinks.

"Furuichi. Wake up."

"Hm. No response. Alright, how about... Furuichi-sama!"

"No good either. Takayuki?"

"Okay, Takachin... get... up...!"

"Onii-chan, get out of bed!"

"...I didn't want to do this, but... Furuchinchin wake the fuck up!"

— Don't call me Furuchin!, Furuichi shouts, popping back into the land of the conscious. He blinks (or rather, the person occupying his body allows him to blink) and looks around. He is swathed in luxuriously soft sheets but otherwise alone and naked in a four-poster bed. Ah, this was the same bed he fell into while journeying... while journeying to Hell the second time.

"So that's what'll wake you up, huh?" the demon asks, taking back control of the body.

— Okay, okay, okay. Not that I didn't enjoy any of that... well... all of those beautiful women...

"Your exacts words were 'if this is a dream' - "

— I know., He takes a moment to rearrange his thoughts, starting anew with: — So are you going to explain anything to me?

"Sure." Furuichi sees his shoulders shrug. "What do you want to know?"

— Who are you, for starters.

"My name is Asmodeus, I am one of the seven demonic incarnations of sin. I rule the second circle of hell and I am the Spirit of the Sin of Lust."

— Is that your excuse for having those... those...

"What? Orgies?"

— YEAH.

"When I had my real body, that would be an ordinary night."

— Ordinary night... hah.

A pause, and then:

— So why me?

"I have no idea. I've been sleeping since before you were born, waking up intermittently to change bodies. This is the first time I've moved on my own since Solomon sealed me."

— Solomon? As in the Solomon Company?

"Yes."

— So... they're actually the good guys?

"Lucifer has forced a contract between the heir of Solomon and Satan."

— Fuji, then.

"I didn't bother asking for his name. Anyways, Lucifer told me she's successfully forced their hand, so they won't be playing the role of good guys so long as their leader is a spellmaster."

— I see. So... how long do you plan on borrowing my body?

"Until - "

— Wait. This isn't going to be a set of entirely impossible conditions, right?

"No, but - "

— And you're not going to tell me that if these conditions aren't met, you'll eventually kick me out, right?

"Well, in a manner of speaking..."

As he does not have any control over his limbs, there is very little Furuichi can do to demonstrate his frustration. So he internally grinds his teeth and internally grits his fists.

— That's not going to happen.

"You might be right," Asmodeus admits, shrugging again, "After all, this is a special case. Whatever happens with you will be a precedent. But..." his lips (well, not really his but...) curl into a smile that Furuichi cannot see, "I think it's very likely that a demon of my standing would overwhelm your normal human spirit, no?"

— That's not going to happen., Furuichi repeats.

"What makes you - " Asmodeus starts, only to be hit with a blinding light. This time, the demon is the one to be screaming internally as Furuichi emerges from his own conscience, smugly victorious.

"I told you," he says, sitting up and grinning as the horns, claws, and talons retract into his body (pity they won't stay; the sheer amount of chicks he would've been able to get with them...), "That's not gonna happen."

— Human. Give me back control.

"Or what? You'll - " he accidentally bites his quickly-swelling tongue and chokes on his own blood in the interim.

Giving it back to you, giving it back to you... Furuichi quickly relents. The extra appendages grow back in as Asmodeus takes over once more. He coughs up the excess blood and lies back down, waiting for his power to naturally recover the various other wounds.

— What the fuck was that?!

"A short burst of energy. My energy, of course. You're lucky you tried that inside, where the pressure from hell is limited; if you had taken control outside, you'd be a splatter of organs on the ground in less than a second."

Furuichi winces.

— But I've been in hell before.

"Not with an awakened demon you haven't."

— What about Oga then? Or Takamiya?

"And that's one of the difference between contractors and hosts."

— So there are other differences?

"Of course. The most readily apparent being that your body is capable of containing more demonic energy than any spellmaster."

— Too bad I don't get to use my body, huh?

"Mm." A pause, and then: "Let me ask you a question. What did you just do?"

— ...Choked on my own blood?

"With regards to regaining control, I mean."

— I don't know. Same thing when Agiel and Hecatos borrowed my body I guess. Well, they had permission, but it was the same thing.

"Don't put me on the same level as them."

— Hey, you're the one who asked.

"From what I've seen, humans are easy to overwhelm."

— ...I'm guessing you've never actually overwhelmed a human before?

"...Shut up."

— So when are you going back up? I'll take my body back then.

"You're not even bothering with a plan?"

— Nah, there's no point. You can read my mind anyways, can't you? Again, Hecatos told me.

"Boy, don't compare temporary and permanent possession."

— Why not? I've had similar experiences at least.

This time, it's Asmodeus who grinds his teeth. Externally.

"With regards to returning to your world... either when a suitable body is procured - and by that I mean created - or when I give birth to a son."

— Wait, what? Y-you're a girl?!

"Hardly."

— But you can still...

"Alright, when a demon woman gives birth to my son, happy?"

There's a brief pause, during which Asmodeus dips a pair of fingers into his mouth. They come out with flecks of dried blood but otherwise clean. So he leans back and sighs, waiting for the human to come to terms with the influx of information.

— So you don't have a body at the moment?

"I wouldn't stay in a human body for any other reason." Asmodeus rolls his eyes and jerks his arm, clutching one of the bedposts. He squeezes and brings the hand back. It's covered in blood. "Especially not a body so ill-suited to battle. I mean, would it have killed you to train with your schoolmates once in a while? In my old body, I could've cut that diamond in half with the nail of my pinky."

— So what happened to your old body?

"Solomon fed it to a Bahamut."

— ...I see.

"Mm."

— And there's no chance of recovering it?

"I've asked around. Apparently it'd be faster to create a new one than look for all the pieces of the old one."

— Wait a second. When did you have the time to -

"Sometime after you passed out from sexual inexperience."

— That was my first through seventh -

"Actually, seventeenth." Furuichi stares. "Your passing out hardly influences me," Asmodeus snorts. "If anything, it was made better - not having an inane laugh track running in the background."

And this is coming from the demon who had his body eaten.

"I can still read your mind."

— Alright, so if you still have my (nonexistent) muscles and (poor) reflexes... where do the horns come from?

"They are marks of my rank. Physical manifestations of undiluted demon energy."

— Oookay. And, uh, how about... you know...

"You are capable of impregnating one of your kind. Although I am disappointed that you're not an especially virile specimen."

— I was actually asking: how is it possible for you to have a child through this body?

"I am the Spirit of the Sin of Lust."

— ...That explains nothing.

"My energy can seep out through your semen." Furuichi winces. Well there was a mental image he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

— So is that why you go through so many women? Because you're hoping to get a son? Oh wait, but you said that was a normal night even when you had your real body. So... it's just because you like...

"I am the Spirit of the Sin of Lust," Asmodeus repeats in an even flatter voice.

— Really now? Because I almost mistook you for the Spirit of the Sin of Explanation!

Asmodeus actually chuckles there.

That was a pretty good comeback, wasn't it?

"I can still hear you."

— Yeah, yeah.

"Demons are different from humans. By nature of living such long lives, the need for reproduction is almost nonexistent. Unfortunately, this means that the overwhelming majority of demons - even those from royal families - are only capable of reproducing once. However, I, being the incarnation of Lust, am not held to such restrictions. Whereas the other six incarnations are limited to a handful of children - two in the case of Beelzebub - I have an endless ability to enable reproduction."

So he's like one of those ancient fertility goddesses... The infamous image of the hundred-breasted Anatolian goddess comes to mind. He snickers.

"Hardly."

— So all those women are coming to you to get children?

"Yes."

— And where the normal demon male can only... uh, well... impregnate once and the normal demon female can only give birth once, you can theoretically... you know...

"It doesn't work like that. Unless there is a female equivalent of myself, two children is the limit for normal demon women."

— I see.

Furuichi calculates: Seventeen women on a average night means 119 women per week... 510 women per month... 6,205 women per year...

— How many children do you have?!

"Oh, most of them have died by now. Living for a couple millennia will do that to most demons. But as for their descendents... well..." Asmodeus pauses then, doing a couple calculations of his own. "Do you remember the girl named Tiriel?"

— Like I'd forget someone that hot.

"Well, apparently she's apparently one of my great-great... well, five or six great's... granddaughter."

— WHAT.

"Hey, you said it yourself: six thousand women every year. Most of the current hell is filled with my descendents. In fact, I'll be having a meeting with one of the few people I'm not related to in a couple moments."

There's a knock on the door.

"Oh, on time as usual!"

"Father-in-law!" Behemoth greets.

Furuichi is thankful he does not have control of his body at the moment because he's certain he would die of a heart attack before Asmodeus' power managed to surge through. So instead he chokes internally on disbelief.

— WHAT.

— Hey, I told you I'm not related to him! Not by blood, at least.

— Oh, so you can communicate with me without speaking.

— Of course. But I dislike entering the human psyche. Yours in particular is a filthy place.

"Son-in-law!" Asmodeus greets in turn, grinning widely. "Can you believe it's been two millennia? Oh how quickly the years fly when you're stuck in the body of one insect after another! I'm sorry to hear of my daughter's passing. I hope the years have treated you well nonetheless... is something the matter?"

"Well..." the old man clears his throat and pointedly trains his gaze up, "You're naked."

— Just kill me now.

"So it appears I am!" Asmodeus laughs heartily, sitting himself down nonetheless.

— No. No, no, no. What are you doing you stupid demon lord?! Wear some clothes now!

"Well, it should come as no surprise," he continues, pointedly ignoring Furuichi, "That while these aren't the loins that gave birth to your daughter, this is my current body." He snaps his fingers and a maid comes scurrying. "Drinks and snacks, if you will?"

"Of course, my lord!"

"Of course, of course," Behemoth laughs, seating himself down too. Still, his gaze never strays lower than the collarbone. "And to think you were sealed in the body of such an ordinary boy! Why, when he accidentally summoned me that time, I thought I had felt some familiar power source."

The two of them both share a laugh over Furuichi's trials.

"And how is my grandson?" Asmodeus asks, "The last time I saw him, he was still growing teeth!"

— For fucks' sake, you're not talking about..., Furuichi shrieks, having already connected the dots.

"He's become a splendid warrior actually. A bit spirited at times, as all young men are, but well worth the effort."

Well, that's one way to describe a guy who takes 'gentle beating' to mean 'thrash them to death', Furuichi snarks.

"Good, very good! And what about yourself?"

"Oh I've been doing well," Behemoth shrugs, "Ever since the seven of you were split up, there hasn't been much for the army to do. That being said... the Demon Lord has taken another wife in the time you've been absent."

"I know," Asmodeus replies, lacing his fingers and smiling. Three maids enter the room with a trolley overflowing with refreshments (all equally grosteque, though some are more alive than others) and properly set them up around the coffee table. "He took the effort of painting a lovely picture of her, in fact."

"Yes. Now unfortunately the Solomon Company made off with that too, but..."

"This boy here and his friend - the child's contractor, I mean - managed to retrieve it."

"Really now?" Behemoth selects a red-and-black bean-like object with three heads that scream. He bites it in half, chewing heartily. Asmodeus, in turn, picks something resembling a pickled cabbage covered in blue fuzz. He bites into it and it too screams.

The two demons maintain a well-mannered staring contest, smiles filled with teeth.

"I did find it a little odd," Asmodeus confesses, plucking a different sweet next, "That the Great Demon Lord would choose to marry my mother. But she did bear him a child of her own free will."

There is a long gap of silence filled with Furuichi's internal scream.

"I see," Behemoth says. "So will you support your half-brother in favor of your grandson?"

A beat of silence.

— Who is he -, starts Furuichi.

And then -

"Pffhahahaha!" Asmodeus leans back, slapping the table with mirth. "You ask me, Lord of the Second Circle of Hell, the very incarnation of the Sin of Lust, to choose between a toddler and an infant?"

Behemoth pales.

"Father-in-law," the inconceivably powerful general babbles, "You must know, in no way did I - "

"The answer's obvious isn't it? I've already pledged my loyalty to Lucifer; she's the one who woke me up after all."

"...I see," Behemoth quietly notes, the color slowly returning to his face.

"Give my regards to the two boys then," Asmodeus says, shamelessly standing up. "And try not to spoil your nephew too much."

He walks back to the bedroom and falls onto the bed, sighing deeply.

Furuichi, on the other hand, explodes.

— What was that about?! Fucking hell, you told me that you had a lot of children, but to have both Jabberwock AND En as your grandsons?! And Baby Be'el is your half-brother?! And you're still fucking women left and right while pledging your loyalty to the leader of the group that Behemoth was supposed to -

"Don't lump me together with my son-in-law either," Asmodeus sneers. "Although he is considerably stronger than the riff-raff you're accidentally contracted with, understand this: compared to us seven demon lords... well, an insect is an insect, be it a beetle or ant."

— You're exaggerating.

"Let me put it this way: Lucifer can beat Beelzebub anyday. She only needs other people for the sake of propaganda, or, in my case, impeccable company."

— Shameless., Furuichi snorts. With that level of confidence though, he can't help being impressed.

"On that note, if there is another all-out war in Hell, you can kiss your chances of returning good-bye."

— What? Why? I thought humans weren't involved.

"Well, the last time Lucifer tried to take the throne - I wasn't there, mind you, but I did see the effects through the eyes of one of my hosts - your world was caught in the middle. For all her being an incarnation of pride, she's pretty damn wrathful too."

— Wait. Wait, wait, wait. What, exactly, did she do?

"Have you ever wondered why your world's covered with so much water? Or has any oceans at all?"

— You're joking.

"Nah. Her previous attempt is the reason why."

Furuichi stares. And, in the absence of any available reactions, races through his mind screaming 'NO FUCKING WAAAYYY' at the top of his lungs. Asmodeus chuckles, paying the harmless little human boy no mind. Furuichi scrabbles for possibilities and - upon finding none - forces himself to calm down and think. He had never worried about the world being destroyed because Oga had had such an influence over Be'el, but with Lucifer... and all those wildly powerful demons thrown into the mix...

— What about Takamiya?, he blurts.

"...Who?"

— Takamiya. Takamiya Shinobu, the Emperor. You know, Lucifer's spellmaster?

"What about him?"

— Why does she need him here at all? If she's brought him, then it means that she's planning on returning to the human world, right?

"Not necessarily. It's more likely that she took him along so he wouldn't be able to summon her away from the war. She'll probably kill him after she's won... that's what she did with her previous spellmaster. At least, that's what I heard."

— Fuck.

"Don't despair!" Asmodeus laughs, clapping his hands. And from the hallways, a group of five different beauties appear. "Ladies," he says, voice low and lashes thick, "The night is still young, isn't it?" He smiles, and apparently, that's all it takes, as they squeal and shriek and descend upon him.

Furuichi is supremely aware of five pairs of bouncing breasts, of a hot tongue in his ear, of a tight pussy contracting around his cock, of well-toned slim thighs wrapping themselves around his waist.

Fuck this, he determines, I'm not going to fight in your stupid war.