Devilman: The Rebirth

by Nanto99

Akira had lost everything: his friends, his home, the love of his life and at the end his own life. But what happens when fate decides to give him a second chance at life? Now, reborn in a similar yet completely different world, watch as Akira meets new friends, old enemies from the past and discovers his new place in this world. Watch the rebirth of Devilman.

39. Chapter 39

I am very happy with this chapter. Atun and Lilith's arcs finally come full circle and for the first time in the entire story, we meet Amon in the flesh! Originally i wanted to give him his red design from the 2000 Amon OVA but then i thought "1) It's too far removed from the Og Manga/87-90 OVA Devilman design and 2) It's way too evil for someone who is a ruthless but also honorable and compassionate warrior, not a damn DBZ villain which is basically what the 2000 OVA version of Amon was (screw that OVA, i always hated how Amon was potrayed there.). So i basically gave him Akira's Devilman form design from that OVA while changing the black scales to black fur.

But yeah, writing this chapter was a blast. And what will life have in store for Atun and Lilith from now on? That answer will have to wait. Hope you enjoy the chapter! (And if you don't like sexual content, feel free to skip it).

Chapter 39: What It Means To Live

Quite unsurprisingly, as Atun opened his eyes, moments after being teleported away, he quickly found out that he wasn't in Hell once again but rather in the same forest where the huge mansion serving as a front for one of the Human Alliance's former facilities stood. Or rather, once stood, since as soon as he opened his eyes, it blew up as the seven-minute countdown of its self-destruct system reached its end. He got up on his feet and looked emotionlessly at the plume of fire and smoke that had risen from the facility's explosion, a hundred meters away, fully aware of who was it that took him away from what was supposed to be his fiery and ignoble grave.

"Why?" he asked Lilith, his voice filled not with anger but with dissappointment after looking down his body and seeing that the gaping hole that Akira made when he punched through his abdomen with that last-ditch attack was gone, his body having regenerated the missing flesh in an act of self-preservation against his will. And that only served to further displease the flower demoness, who now stood behind him using her tail, her crimson eyes rounded on the humanoid avian demon in resentment. She knew full well that even such a large explosion woudn't have been enough to kill Atun, not after all the power he had gained. Seeing the demon who meant the most to her being so bent on seeking such a meaningless death made her blood boil.

She said nothing in return, so Atun turned towards her and asked again "Why did you deny me my fate? I should have burned to death in that fire for what i have d-"

"Is that it?" Lilith interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, her voice actually seething with anger, causing Atun's yellow eyes to widen ever so slightly "After everything i have done for you in all these eons, after i stooped as low as imprisoning my own friend as a means to further your goals, THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME?!" she finally screamed in outrage and pained fury, shocking the demon. He never knew that Lilith, ever the calm, confident and provocative femme fatale, could be capable of such outbursts of fury.

"Fool! Have you ever bothered to stop and imagine how i felt all this time, ever since the night we abducted Nike?! How do you think i felt when we robbed her of her freedom and locked her up in that tower like an animal in a cage?! I betrayed the only friend i ever had in my entire existence and for what?! Just so i could see you foolishly throwing away your life away for nothing?! No, i will not stand for that!" she screamed in anger and sorrow after coming towards him, their faces only inches apart. Atun didn't know what to reply and even if he could, he coudn't have said anything: Lilith was completely right and she had every right to scream her anger at him. What they had done towards the lover of Amon in order for Atun to settle his feud with one of, if not the greatest hero Demonkind had ever seen, was unforgivable. And the psychological torments Satoru gave her just for his own sick amusement didn't help.

All Atun could do was close his eyes and lower his head in shame, not even managing to look Lilith in her eyes. The truth was, he would have done anything, cross every possible line to settle his feud with Amon and avenge all his demon brethren that died by his hands after he supposedly turned against his kind to protect humanity. But the reveal that Akira Fudo took him over completely ever since the Black Sabbath broke Atun, since not only it meant that Amon tecnically never betrayed his own kind but it rendered all the efforts and sacrifices of the avian demon to become strong enough to one day surpass his eternal rival and friend, meaningless. And of course that also included what Nike had been put through. Eventually though, he reopened his eyes slightly and broke his silence "You are right. I have always been a fool." his voice, filled with genuine regret and sadness made all the anger and resentment Lilith had towards him dissappear at once. Then, he turned around and walked away from her slightly, stopping in front of the fire that now rose up from where the mansion once was, never lifting his head as he did so "The truth is, all i have known ever since my birth is battle. I did not want to die a weakling's death so i sought power in order to survive. And anyone who searches for power inevitably searches for battle." he paused as he raised his left yellow scaled, clawed hand, palm upwards and looked at it, recalling every battle he fought in his younger days, in his struggle to survive the prehistoric world, a world that, just like the modern animal kingdom, had no mercy towards the weak "And once you have tasted battle and all the thrills, exhilaration and tension that comes with it….. It becomes a part of you. Once the warrior within you awakens, it never sleeps again. You begin to crave for more….. It is like what humans refer to as an addiction, it never goes away. You always crave for more battle, more bloodshed and higher challenges, until eventually….." he continued before finally declaring, his voice taking on a melancholic tone "You become so powerful, so above the rest that nothing satisfies you anymore."

Lilith looked at the feathered demon in pity, realising why he never really saw her as more than a companion. Fighting was all he knew how to do, the only thing that gave him joy and satisfaction. But by the time he met her and took her under his protection, he had already begun to fall in depression, because he had become so powerful that nothing, not even the apex predators of the environment he lived in, posed a threat to him. It was obvious in how dissappointed he was when he easily slew the winged beast that nearly claimed her life. What to many demons were indomitable monsters, had become nothing but pests to Atun.

"I see. That was why you had become so obsessed with Amon ever since the day you first fought him, all those eons ago. He was the first one to make you know defeat and the one who rekindled your love for battle after so long." she correctly deduced and Atun confirmed her conclusion by replying "Yes. And i believe he felt the same. To have strength so great, it even robs you of your joy, of your reason for living. But when we met on that day….." he paused, a smile made its way on his lips as he fondly began to recall the events of that day, many million years ago before declaring "We experienced that joy again."

South Dakota, Hell Creek Formation, 66 Million Years Ago, in another universe.

Long before the people of the Dakota Sioux tribe settled in it, long before its many railroads, towns and mines were built after the european-american settlers took over and long before the heads of the Four Presidents were carved into Mount Rushmore, the landscape of one of the 50 United States was much different than how it was in the modern era, full of estuaries, floodplains, forests, lakes, rivers, swampy lowlands and coastal plains, kept constantly humid by ample rainfall and a subtropical climate warmer than how the region was in the modern era. This climate helped suppport conifers, ferns, flowering plants, palmettos as well as ash trees, conifers, canopy and understory plants, oaks and shrubs in forests.

Dinosaurs were the indisputed rulers of the Earth at a time in which mammals had begun to evolve and diversify but were still the sizes of modern day house cats at most and they existed in a huge variety of forms and sizes both as herbivores and carnivores and some of the most famous dinosaurs known to man lived in this environment, including but not limited to the likes of Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops while the skies were ruled by the gigantic pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus and its relatives, the largest creatures that ever flew in the history of the planet.

What mankind was completely oblivious to however, was that this lush environment, filled with many diverse and unique life-forms was also home to the Demons, the ancient race of sentient creatures that inhabited the Earth, a long time before Humans first began to evolve. For millions of years they survived, in large part thanks to their ability to merge with other life-forms on a cellular level, including plants, which not only allowed them to inherit their various attributes and appearance, along with unique abilities for each demon, but also granted them the ability to regenerate from most injuries that would otherwise be fatal. Nevertheless, each of these remarkable creatures managed to find their niches in the ecosystem, either as predators, both general and specialised or as herbivores, though the latter was generally not as common as the former.

One, however, was even more unique than all the others.

It lacked the fearsome appearance of most demons, as well as their claws and sharp teeth. Instead it looked almost exactly like a modern day human, with the exception of a pair of large white wings on its back. Even to all the other demons that lived at that time and place, she was a complete enigma to them, none could understand why she had that harmless appearance and for that matter, what that white thing she was wearing over her body was.

But Nike didn't care about what the creatures she shared her environment with, thought. All she cared about was the small group of friends she had made after they freed her from the icy grave she had fallen into after losing everything many eons prior. But that will be a tale for another time.

On this particular day, in the afternoon, Nike went out from the haven she and her friends found and claimed for themselves, to search for food. It didn't take her long to find several trees full of fruits on the bank of one of the many rivers of the region. Crocodiles inhabited them but were of no threat to her, since her many unique powers were more than capable of allowing her to defend herself. What was of more concern to her, was a nearby herd of dozens of herbivorous dinosaurs that had emerged out of the forest to drink the river's water, on the other side of the river. These were enormous, heavily built quadrupedal animals with long, laterally flattened tails, long and muscular hind-limbs ending with three hoof-like toes, long and slimmer fore-limbs that resembled those of modern day horses, complete with a hoof made up of the three fused innermost toes, leaving a fourth vestigial one on the foot's side, and, most notably, a broad, flattened and elongated cow-like head that ended in a toothless beak that resembled a duck's. Covered in scales of all shapes and size through their bodies and porting a mostly brown coloration with a white underside that travelled upwards with stripes, this remarkable animal was, what would come to be known to man many millions years later when its remains would be first found, as Edmontosaurus, one of the last and largest members of the group of dinosaurs known as Hadrosaurs, or "The Duck-Billed Dinosaurs", the last heirs of a dynasty that began twenty-millions prior. And at 12 to 13 meters long, nearly 4 meters tall at the hips and weighing more than 9 tons when fully grown, these were true giants and their size alone would have been enough to deter most predators. And they had the temper to match their size, especially the males which could be easily distinguished from the females by the presence of a comb-like red fleshy crest just above their eyes, along with bright green and yellow markings on their faces and necks.

Nike knew very well from experience, much like any other demon, that as dangerous as predators were, large herbivores were even more dangerous because they would have not hesitated in the slightest to attack anything they perceived as a threat to defend themselves, their territory, their kin and especially their young, which this herd just so happened to have. And she coudn't blame them, given that not only they had to defend themselves from the carnivorous dinosaurs that they shared their environment with, but even from the demons who often preyed on them too for their delicious meat. Thus she made sure to keep her distance from the giant Hadrosaurs as one by one, they all began to lower their heads and take a drink from the river's water. Still, she coudn't help but look at those majestic animals in awe as she always had, ever since she first saw them. What had always fascinated her the most about them were their social and parental habits, since the females actively raised their young with the utmost care and were extremely protective of them. The amount of time, love and dedication these animals dedicated to their young reminded her of the family she once had, of the loving mother she once had a long time ago.

She put those thoughts aside and began to head over to the trees and the other plants to search for fruits and soon found to her surprise several cycads near the trees, along with their yellow fruits "Wonderful! Kaim will definetely appreciate these!" she happily remarked as she began to pluck said fruits from the cycads. Due to her large height of almost two and a half meters, she managed to gather many fruits in her arms, more than enough to satiate all three of her friends's appetites. She was unaware though that something was watching her from one of the trees, hidden by the foliage. A pair of crimson eyes tracked her down ever since she began to collect the fruits, their owner interested and at the same time baffled by what was in front of her. What matter of strange creature was this? She smelled like a demon yet she didn't look like one at all. And what was that strange white thing that covered her body? Not only that but she could understand that winged woman's vocalizations. She spoke her same language and that made the crimson-eyed being even more intrigued at the prospect that this strange woman actually belonged to her same kind.

The hidden creature was surprised when another creature suddenly emerged from the nearby bushes near Nike, startling the winged woman. It was a small bipedal herbivorous dinosaur, no more than 4 meters long and 1.5 meters tall that had a short, thick neck, short arms that ended with five-fingered hands that always faced each other, broad hips, long legs and a long, thick, heavy tail that it used as a counterbalance for its weight. But it's most distinguishing feature was its head: it actually resembled that of a goat but with a small muzzle that ended in a pointed beak, large forward-facing eyes and most notably, a large, 10-inches thick bony dome-like structure on the top of the head adorned by a crown of spikes, knobs and horns that travelled all the way down to the snout. Said dome structure was what gave the animal its name when it was discovered by humans 66 millions years later: Pachycephalosaurus, the Thick-Headed Lizard. This individual was a young male as evident by the slight amount of red color on its head and neck while most of its body was green with brown markings and a yellow underside. And due to its young age and inexperience, it begun to stare at Nike inquisitively, tilting its head slightly from side to side, not quite sure of what was it that was in front of it. The demoness coudn't help but smile at the little dinosaur's curiosity "Hi there, little one…" she sweetly greeted it just as it began to look at the many fruits she was holding "Oh, you want one of these?" she asked it and as if it understood, it began to let out some bird-like chirps of excitement. Thus, Nike got on her knees and put all of the fruits she had collected on the ground and offered one to the dinosaur, which, after much hesitation since it had never before seen another creature downright offer it some food, began to eat it, much to Nike's delight.

The crimson-eyed being who observed the occurrence high above the tree, hidden in the foliage, was baffled. She had never seen anything even remotely close to this ever since the day she drew her first breath. Why did that woman not kill that little dinosaur for sustenance? Could it be that meat wasn't what she ate?

What happened next left her even more bewildered.

As Nike looked at the little dinosaur closer, her face filled itself with much concern upon noticing that it was actually injured. A puncture wound was clearly visible on the top of the dome on its head, most likely an injury it sustained in combat with another male that it battled from mating rights "You poor thing…. Did another like you give you that?" she soothingly spoke as she gently and slowly tried to place a hand on the young Pachycephalosaurus's dome, only for it to recoil back and let out a warning hiss. She coudn't blame it for acting that way though, since she had seen how brutal the fights between these animals for mating rights were, sometimes even ending in death. But she wasn't intending to give up so she began to emit light from her left hand, holding it in front of the little dinosaur, who appeared to be interested by it. Eventually, it came closer and closer until it began to rub its head on her hand, the warm light having calmed it down. Nike smiled tenderly as her powers began to take effect and in a matter of seconds, after she withdrew her hands from the young dinosaur's dome-head, she saw, to her satisfaction that the wound was gone, as if it was never inflicted "There, little one. Are you feeling better now?" she gently asked as the light from her palms faded away.

The young Pachycephalosaurus coudn't understand what had happened. All it knew was that its pain was gone along with the wound on its head and that the strange creature in front of it made it dissappear. Thus, it instinctively came closer and rubbed its head on Nike's legs and hips, chirping happily as it did so. Heartwarmed, Nike caressed it's head and neck before pulling it into a hug, returning the affection it showed her before gently nudging him away and telling it "Go, little one. And whatever you do, please try to stay out of trouble." in response, the dinosaur tilted its head as if to give a sign of approval, before it ran off, dissappearing in the foliage from which it came.

The one who observed Nike hidden high up in the foliage of the tree, coudn't believe it. Had this demoness truly gone as far as healing another animal instead of eating it? This was beyond unthinkable. What profit did she gain by doing so?

She wanted to find out.

Thus, just as Nike got up and began to pick up all the fruits she had collected from the ground, a feminine, curious and alluring voice came from behind her "What manner of demon are you?" startling the winged woman. But as she turned around, she gasped in shock and dropped all the fruits as soon as her green eyes met a pair of upside-down crimson eyes, only a few inches apart. Their owner, apparently suspended in the air upside down, smiled teasingly, upon seeing the bewildered look on Nike's face as she looked at her pale skin, her black root-like material that covered her hands and forearms, as well as her shoulders and breasts, forming some sort of dress, as well as her large orange flower bud with red stripes that she had instead of hair.

After regaining her composure but still with much hesitation, Nike asked "W-Who are you?" while she noticed that the one in front of her didn't have legs at all, but a long, green, serpentine, vine-like tail which was coiled on one of the branches of the tree she was on and which she was now using to suspend herself upside-down in front of her.

"Why, i am a demon, just like you." the strange demoness in front of Nike proclaimed as it flipped herself around and slowly began to lower herself down on the ground. And as she fully let go of the tree branch and as her tail touched the ground, she used it as a support to stand on as she introduced herself "And you may call me Lilith." her crimson eyes bearing into Nike's emerald ones.

The winged woman was amazed by this demoness's exotic appearance. Her body was fairly humanoid much like hers, and her plant-like traits made her quite beautiful in her eyes, especially the orange flower she had instead of hair. And in spite of her unsettling crimson eyes and her teasing, provocative smile, Nike could see that this Lilith meant her no ill-will at least for the time-being. Rather from her voice, she seemed curious, even polite, more than anything. Besides, if she wanted to attack her, she would have done so already, instead of approaching her like this. Thus, she decided to return the favor, and with a warm smile, she introduced herself "Nice to meet you, Lilith! My name is Nike and i came here to find some food for me and my friends!" while putting her hands behind her back, to further prove to the demoness in front of her that she also meant no ill-will. She then looked at all the fruits she had collected before adding "And i apologise for taking your fruits without permission, if these are indeed yours."

But no matter how much she tried to hide her nervousness, Lilith could still see her emerald eyes shaking ever so slightly which only served to amuse her and thus she began to playfully circle around the winged woman, her crimson eyes inspecting her unique appearance from head to toe while teasingly remarking "How amusing. Most demons flee from me in fear the moment they spot me, yet here you are, standing before me, seemingly without a care in the world. But your eyes betray you." she paused as she slowly stroked one of Nike's wings with her left hand, making the angelic woman uncomfortable, but she had no choice: she had to indulge Lilith's curiosity, since she did not want to startle her and provoke an attack "Tell me, Nike….." the crimson-eyed demoness softly whispered, putting more emphasis on Nike's name just to tease her as she put her head on her left shoulder and her lips close to her left ear, while slowly and seductively cupping her chin with her right hand "Are you truly not afraid of me? What is it that makes you so assured that i won't just slit your throat and bathe in your blood before feasting on your corpse?" she provocatively asked as she moved her long, clawed fingers down on her neck while her left hand slowly made its way to Nike's left breast, grabbing it and caressing it, making her gasp. By this point, she was more than unsettled: she was beginning to shake in fear, mostly because Lilith's voice didn't change in the slightest: it remained ever calm, confident and sensual even as she made it clear to her that she could kill her at any moment's notice if she so much as felt like it. But if she wanted to kill her, she would have done so already, especially since she was behind her all along, before she made her presence known. It wasn't how predators usually acted.

Thus, suppressing her fear, Nike's face hardened and she coldly remarked "Because if you wanted to eat me, you would have pounced on me from behind when you had the chance. No predator carelessly approaches its prey head on. That all but ensures it getting injured…." she paused as she slowly turned her head towards Lilith's, her defiant green eyes bearing into the flower demoness's crimson ones, their faces only inches apart "Or in the worst of cases….its demise." her eyes turning white and shining with a piercing light as she uttered the last word, a white aura of energy beginning to surround her body.

Lilith's eyes widened and her smile momentarily left her lips. What fear she might have instilled in Nike with her seductive and threatening approach was now gone and the tables had been completely turned. She realised at that moment that her newest would-be plaything was not harmless at all. Thus, she withdrew her hands from her body and her face away, her smile making its way back on her fucsia lips as she hummed sensually "Mmmm….. Quite the clever girl, aren't you?" before slowly slithering backwards, calming Nike down and making her realise that she was toying with her just for her own amusement "You are an odd one. You had that Dome-Head's life on your fingertips and yet you not only let it go, you even healed its wounds." she teasingly told her, making Nike gasp once more in surprise.

"You saw that too?" she asked Lilith, who chuckled back in amusement "Of course, my dear. I had never seen anything like that before and it made me wonder why exactly would a demon not only let its food go, but also go as far as helping it." she replied, making Nike understand why Lilith had been observing her silently from the tree she was in, instead of attacking her as soon as she spotted her.

"Because it was the right thing to do. It was hurt and i wanted to heal it so that it could live on another d-" Nike's explanation was cut off by Lilith's laugh. She was laughing so much that she doubled over slightly.

"HAHAHA! Seriously? That is why you let it go? So much for being a clever one, Hahahaha! " she mocked the winged woman as she continued laughing, believing her words to be the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard ever since she was born.

Offended by Lilith's derision of her kindness, Nike folded her arms over her chest and snorted, while closing her eyes and turning her head away "Tsk! Clearly, nobody has ever been friendly, generous or considerate towards you! You should know that no act of kindness is ever wasted, it always makes a difference!"

Mere seconds after she said those words however, she found her chin grabbed by one of Lilith's hands and forcefully made to look at her, the demoness having closed the distance between them in a split second "Then, you are even more foolish than i thought." she began to mockingly lecture her as her crimson eyes bore into Nike's emerald eyes again "Nothing of what you speak of exists in this world. All creatures have to kill in order to survive, otherwise, they die. Those who become strong survive, those who remain weak, do not. It really is as simple as that, my dear. And that makes me wonder just how you were able to-"

Tired of her lecturing, Nike swiftly grabbed Lilith's wrist with her left hand and, to the crimson-eyed demoness's shock, moved it away with surprising strength before countering by recalling a part of her past that she held dear "I didn't do it on my own. My friends…. They were the ones who helped me." the resoluted, defiant look on her face as she spoke those words left Lilith speechless "They rescued me from a trap i had fallen into a long time ago. They could have eaten me after doing so, but guess what? They didn't. Whether they did it out of actual kindness or simply out of curiosity, they let me live and from that day, i have always been with them, returning the favor they did to me without asking for anything in return by helping them to survive."

Lilith's crimson eyes widened at those words and she could only gasp in disbelief. It was exactly what the demon she had followed ever since the day he rescued her from the enormous flying beast did for her. She tried to justify his reasoning for sparing her and allowing her to join him in his feeding as a mutualistic relationship in which both benefited from each other's actions. She had never stopped to wonder if there was a chance, no matter how slim, that he had done so out of altruism, because it was preposterous for her to think that someone as unfathomably powerful as him would have done something like that, when he was, quite literally, at the top of the food chain. Regardless, she began to feel guilty for how she had mocked Nike's beliefs now that she knew that she had a similar experience to her own. To the winged woman's surprise, Lilith lowered her head and closed her eyes as she declared "I did not know. I was wrong about you. I should not have said those things." then, as she turned around and began to take her leave, she glanced towards Nike and told her "Take the fruits and leave. This territory belongs to a very powerful demon. And he may not be as indulging as i-"

Lilith didn't even have time to finish her warning as all of a sudden, another creature landed just behind Nike, who immediately froze on the spot in dread as she felt the enormous power it possessed which made her feel overwhelmed, crushed even. But what chilled her to the core were the words its spoke to her, in a deep, masculine voice completely lacking any sort of emotion.

"Who are you? And what is the meaning of your presence here?"

Gasping even more in fear, Nike turned around and her emerald eyes began to shake as soon as she saw the tall and powerfully built humanoid demon in red, yellow, black and purple with many avian features, spread the large black raven-like wings it had on its back. It towered over her by almost half a meter and its cold yellow eyes regarded her with utter nonchalance, almost as if she was nothing more than a piece of meat to it.

"My lord!" Lilith called out, just as surprised as Nike was by Atun's sudden appearance "I can explain…."

"Quiet. I want to hear it from her." the avian demon ordered after glacing towards her, never raising his voice as he did so. Bearing his yellow eyes back into Nike's, he resumed his interrogation "I will not ask a third time: why have you come here?" but the winged woman simply coudn't reply, no matter how much she tried. She was frozen in fear by the demon's cold and deep voice as well as by its intimidating appearance and it was only less than a meter away from her. She had not felt such fear in a very long time, fear at its most primal. Not as an emotion, but as an instinct.

Tired of her silence, Atun's left clawed hand shot forward and grasped Nike's neck, bringing her closer to his face "Speak now, woman, before i-" terrifying her even more. But then….

"Before what, you feathered vermin?"

Atun's eyes widened the moment those words were spoken behind him by an unknown voice filled with arrogance and contempt. Then he felt a hand grab his right shoulder and he had just about enough time to turn his head backwards before a shockingly powerful fist, unlike anything he had ever felt before, struck his right cheek, actually knocking out one of his sharp teeth and briefly contorting his face before sending him flying a good 50 meters away right through several trees, splitting them in half and finally, into a large rock, smashing it to pieces. Both Nike and Lilith could only look upon with wide eyes what had just happened in complete and utter astonishment, their jaws agape in awe. For the latter, the unthinkable had just occurred before her very eyes: Atun, the demon who took her under her protection, the strongest living creature she had ever seen, sent flying by a single punch. Not even the largest of the dinosaurs that she shared her environment with had ever accomplished that, not once.

But then, a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Nike managed to utter a single word "A-Amon?" she called out to the large, male demon that easily matched Atun in terms of height and musculature with yellow, pupiless eyes, black markings underneath those eyes, sharp teeth and claws, light purple-colored skin and thick black fur that covered its lower body except for its bare feet. It also had a black-furred tail that sprouted from above his rear and, most notably, a pair of black, leathery, bat-like wings that sprouted from the sides of its head as well as a pair of black antenna-like horns that sprouted from the top of its head, the middle of which was red.

Straightening his posture, the newly introduced Amon turned his head towards Nike, his expression clearly one of dissappointment and annoyance "Nike." he called out, his incredibly deep and husky voice matching his expression "How many times must i remind you, not to stray too far away from our territory?"

Nike blinked twice before, with a nervous smile and chuckle, she began to fidget her pointer fingers while replying "Hehehe…..Sorry about that. I just wanted to find some fruits for you and the others. I thought it would have been a nice change from all that meat you almost always eat. Besides, i can take of myself just fine."

Amon sighed at her last statement "Hardly, since it looked like you were moments away from having your head torn off." then he turned towards Lilith and after narrowing his yellow eyes towards her, chilling her to the core with the intense, fierce look he gave her, he threatened "Which is what will happen to you if you won't get out of my sight before-

A sudden surge of power caught his attention, making him take his eyes off Lilith and look at where he had sent Atun flying with his punch. Then, a pillar of purple energy rose up from the ground and with it, a small gust of wind came. Amon watched with an emotionless look as the humanoid, feathered demon came back from where he had been sent flying, his body covered in an aura of purple energy and completely unharmed….

With the exception of a small drip of blood coming out from the left corner of his mouth.

"Atun…." was all Lilith could say in shock as she looked at her protector, for the first time bleeding ever since he slew the winged beast that nearly took her life. Not a single creature ever since had managed to make him bleed. Even Nike was astonished: usually most of Amon's enemies would fall from even a single blow, that was how most of his fights had become. Yet this demon had not only survived Amon's punch but he didn't seem hurt by it all that much.

As he came to a stop, two dozen meters away from the purple-skinned and black furred demon, his aura dissappeared and, with a look that matched Amon's in terms of emotionlessness, Atun wiped off the blood from the corner of his mouth with his right thumb and looking at it for several seconds, he broke his silence "You are strong. It's been a while since the last time i have looked at my own blood."

Amon's expression and posture didn't change but he was impressed. It had been so long since a living being could take even one of his punches, let alone for one to survive it without much damage. Thus, he remarked, with the same respect Atun gave him "You look pretty strong too." before a taunting, toothy smile made its way on his lips "But do you truly have the strength to match that appearance of yours?"

Amused by the provocation, Atun returned the smile and taunted back "You will have to fight me if you want to find out. But know that many hunters have become the hunted when they chose me as their last prey. Hopefully…." he paused as his energy surrounded his body again before declaring "You will put up a better fight than all the pests that have come before."

Amon's smile morphed into a wicked grin and, with an amused chuckle, he remarked "Hehehe…. Then i will gladly indulge you. And either way, you were about to kill my dear Nike, so it is only fitting that you will suffer for hurting her before you die." while a yellow aura of energy began to surround his body as well, soon flaring out in all directions. Nike's emerald eyes widened ever so slightly and she smiled sweetly upon hearing once more how much she meant to him.

By now, all nearby animals had run away from the battle that was about to begin, including the herd of duck-billed dinosaurs Nike had been observing before she began to collect the fruits, frightened by the auras of energy that Amon and Atun were enveloped with, by the small pillars of energy that their auras were generating and by the gust of wind created as a result of the two poweful demons powering up. Lilith coudn't help but watch in awe at the amount of power being about to be unleashed but the was brought out of her stupor by Nike, who actually came close to her and told her "I think we should find a safe spot to watch the upcoming spectacle from. Amon kinda has a bad habit of pretty much levelling his surroundings to the ground whenever he gets serious, hehe…." while chuckling in amusement and offering Lilith a hand. The flower demoness was skeptical at first but then took Nike's hand and she could only gasp in surprise as the winged woman literally picked her up by the back of her shoulders and tail and lifted her up as if she weighed no less than a feather, while at the same time, she spread her white wings and took off hundred of meters in the air, keeping her distance from the oncoming battle.

(OST: "Struggle In The Library" = Prince of Persia: Warrior Within soundtrack = https/watch?v=ge8eAnEAWt0 )

"Come! I will give you a warrior's death!" Amon finally proclaimed, spreading his arms and daring Atun to make the first move, which the avian demon did, by charging Amon head on and attempt to slam his right fist in the purple-skinned demon's face. But with a speed Atun had never before seen, all Amon had to do to evade the punch was to cock his head on the left. The black-winged demon continued to throw punch after punch, hoping to at found his mark with one, but Amon simply kept avoiding them with ease, all the while keeping his smug grin on his lips, almost as if they moved in slow motion to him. The onslaught was pushing him back though, so after a short while, he caught one of Atun's punches in his right hand, stopping his opponent in his tracks, before punching him in the face once more, almost making him fall down on the ground, but before he could, Amon's other arm shot forward and grabbed the feathered demon by his right head-wing with the intention of tearing it off.

It was a mistake. Amon had just enough time to realise by the grin Atun gave him that he had been lured into a trap. His face twisted itself in shock and he had just about enough time to let his enemy go before the three recurved claws on Atun's left elbow shifted their position over his hand, granting him a three bladed gauntlet which he used to slash Amon's broad chest in an uppercut motion, inflicting three deep cuts that would have been even deeper had Amon not jumped backwards at the last second, distancing himself from him by a dozen meters.

As Atun regained his balance and looked at his opponent, he was rewarded with the sight of crimson blood beginning to descend down Amon's chest and abdomen, which greatly satisfied him. To his surprise, as the purple-skinned demon looked at his own blood after taking some off with his left fingers, he grinned wickedly before throwing his head back and erupting in a maniacal laugh, delighted that he was feeling like this again after a very long time "HAHAHAHAAAA!" MAGNIFICENT!" then he looked at Atun and congratulating him by stating "You are strong, alright. It's been ages since i have felt this much excitement! I even forgot what it felt like to bleed!" while Nike in the skies above could only look upon in awe upon seeing, for the first time in who knows how long, her dear Amon getting injured. And it made her happy to see him excited for the first time in so long.

Then, a pair of much larger wings of the same color of Amon's head-wings sprouted from his back as he spread his arms again and declared as the wounds on his chest healed and his yellow aura surrounded his body again "You made me remember what it was that i lived for! Now, fight me! YOU MUST NOT LET ME DOWN!"

"YES! LET US ENJOY THIS FESTIVAL OF BLOOD!" Atun roared back in approval as he also spread his black raven-like wings. And as his purple aura of energy reappeared around his body, both demons launched themselves in the air with tremendous speed and began to meet each other head-on in aerial combat. And when their fists collided for the first time, the resulting shockwave shook the skies, dissolving the nearby clouds. And just like that, they began to trade blows at tremendous speed and with a ferocity and bloodlust that words could simply not express. Blood, feathers and sparks of yellow and purple energy flew away as both demons struck each other as hard as they could, the impact of each blow creating small gusts of wind that both Nike and Lilith could feel even a hundred of meters away were they overlooked the spectacle.

"What incredible speed….. I can't even see their attacks…." an astounded Lilith remarked, her crimson eyes in awe at what they were witnessing " I had no idea Atun was this powerful…. is this the true extent of his power? And to think another demon could match his strength…."

Nike's ever cheerful voice pulled her out of her thoughts "Hehe…. Looks like they are having a lot of fun! I haven't seen Amon this excited in quite a while!" which made Lilith notice just how ferociously the two powerful demons, locked in brutal combat, where smiling at each other and in a way, it also made Lilith glad to see Atun being so…. overjoyed, unlike what he had always been since she first met him.

The two demons continued to clash, crossing their paths as they attacked each other until Atun decided to switch tactics. He stopped moving and simply stood still in the air as Amon closed in for another punch. He smirked as his opponent, all too assured of his victory, threw his punch….

Only for Atun to become engulfed in his purple aura before vanishing from sight, causing Amon to hit nothing but thin air. Shocked by this, he only had enough time to turn his head around before the colorful feathered demon reappeared just above him and slammed his left fist square in his face, sending him tumbling down with tremendous speed. He impacted the ground so hard to make a 20 meter wide crater and causing a large cloud of soil and dirt to rise up. Amon didn't stay on the ground for long though and in the span of seconds, was already back on his feet but that last punch had done quite a number on his face, tearing the skin of his right cheek slightly and making blood fall from his mouth.

And as it turned out, it was only the first because Atun soon attacked him again, slashing Amon's back with his black claws, slamming his knee in his stomach which caused him to double over and spit even more blood, kick him in the chin, firing a bolt of energy from his upper pair of yellow, pupiless eyes on his left wing, making a large hole in it and thus removing his ability to fly and so on and so forth. All the while using his teleportation to do so. However, Amon quickly figured out the weakness of Atun's strategy. Every attack that came from the front was always followed by a strike from the back. Thus, he simply straightened his posture and waited for the just the right moment after the last attack he received from behind. Then, he swiftly raised his right arm forward…

And just as he did, Atun materialised himself right in front of him and as result, the moment he did so, Amon's right hand caught him by the face and the feathered demon could only gasp in shock as he was suddenly lifted off his feet and slammed down on the ground with so much force to further crater the ground "Fool. Don't you know that the same trick never works twice?" Amon taunted him with a wide grin before lifting him still by his face and tossing him away, hundreds of meters into the sky. The demon spun uncontrollably for several seconds before halting himself and launching himself back down, roaring in fury as he did so.

His fury turned into shock upon seeing a cylindrical object flying towards him "WHAT?!" he exclaimed upon realising that it was a tree, one that had been uprooted and thrown towards him like a spear. To Amon's satisfaction, the giant improvised spear did its job and struck Atun head on, propelling him even more upwards.

But to his surprise, a blast of purple energy tore it apart and when the smoke cleared away, Atun could be clearly seen, barely hurt and amused by the dirty trick Amon had resorted to "Is throwing large pieces of wood the best you can do? If so, i was expecting more." he mocked with a smug smile as he hovered in the air with his wings.

Returning the grin, Amon taunted back "Oh don't you worry, i was just getting warmed up." wiping the smile off Atun's face with that remark. He then extended both of his arms towards him, joined his palms and spread his fingers as his aura surrounded his body again "But enough playing around. Let us finish this, once and for all!" he declared as a red sphere of energy formed around his fingers, sparks crackling. In return, with his smile morphing into a grin, Atun spread his arms, palms open and all the black claws that adorned his shoulders and abdomen began to glow purple before lines of energy erupted from the tip of each claw and they all joined together into a large black and purple sphere in front of him.

Lilith and Nike could only watch in awe from afar as both demons powered up in order to unleash their strongest attacks. The ground around them shooked and cracked, small rocks began were lifted high into the air, many trees collapsed to the ground and the wind that was being generated by the power both demons were unleashing felt so strong, the two demonesses felt like they were being hit by a hurricane, so they had to shield their faces with one of their arms "This is it, Lilith! Their next attacks shall define the outcome of their battle! One of them will stand, and the other will fall!" Nike exclaimed to her.

Then both of them could only watched in awe as Atun roared "THEN TAKE IT, MY BEST ATTACK! DIEEEEEEEEE!" before he threw his head back and an enormous beam of purple energy erupted from the sphere generated by the lines of electricity from the tips of his claws. And with a mighty, primal roar, Amon unleashed his own attack, an equally enormous beam of red energy from the sphere around his palms to meet Atun's own.

As the two beams collided, the resulting shockwave was enough to blow Nike with Lilith in her arms away and entire large rock formations nearby were levelled. Amon grit his teeth and Atun screamed even more as they both attempted to overcome each other's attack, locked in that titanic struggle, but both were so evenly matched that no matter how much both demons tried, their beams never moved past the point in which they had collided. As a result the pressure around the point of impact grew more and more until a gigantic sphere of both red and purple energy swelled up. It kept growing more and more until eventually, to both demons's shock….

KABOOOOOMMMMMM!

It blew up in a enormous explosion that not only engulfed everything in a one-mile radius, but both demons as well. And when the resulting smoke cleared away, nothing but an empty, barren land was left. A worried Nike wasted no time flying back over the epicenter of the blast and to her relief, she spotted Amon, lying down among the scorched earth, his body heavily bruised and slightly burnt out by the blast, but still in one piece. Atun, on the other hand and to Lilith's dismay, was nowhere to be seen.

(Soundtrack ends)

"Amon!" Nike called out just as she spotted him, in the process of getting up on his feet and clutching his aching head with his left hand, still feeling dizzy from the explosion that had sent him flying hundreds of meters backwards. The purple-skinned demon smiled at her and retracted his wings into his back as soon as she came to hover just above him, clearly grateful that he was still alive "Are you alright?" she asked, as she landed on her feet a dozen meters away, carefully dropping Lilith to the ground as she did so.

"Yes." Amon replied before taking a look at the devastation he and Atun had caused "That was one hell of a battle. I didn't have this much fun in-"

"BEHIND YOU!" Nike suddenly gasped and pointed at a bruised Atun, who was charging towards Amon from behind, having used the smoke created by the blast to hide himself. But his punch was easily caught. Shocked at how casually the purple-skinned demon had extended his arm backwards and stopped his attack without even looking at him, he could only watch as Amon turned towards him with another wicked grin and taunted "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

Growing desperate, Atun threw his other fist towards Amon only to also see it caught. The two demons ended up locking their fingers with each other and thus, a test of strength began in which both of them attempted to overpower each other but to no avail due to how evenly matched they were. That was until Atun suddenly grinned "Now i have you!" he grimly remarked, to Amon's surprise before suddenly, the claws that adorned Atun's shoulders swiftly extended forward and pierced Amon's chest, abdomen and biceps, making him throw his head back and howl in agony. Then, Atun began to discharge his energy from his claws onto Amon's body and the demon could only scream in even more pain as he began to be fried alive, the blood that came out from the wounds actually igniting and turning into fire.

"AMON!" Nike cried out in shock and dismay upon witnessing her lover being so gruesomely hurt while Lilith smiled " It's over. There is nothing on this world that can survive that." she thought, believing Atun to have finally won.

However, hearing Nike's voice ignited back a light that was beginning to fade away inside him. With newfound resolution, Amon grit his teeth, enduring the agonizing pain of his own blood being turned into fire by Atun's energy. He felt his own flame building up inside of him before he unleashed it in the form of a breath of fire, turning the tables once again. Now it was Atun's turn to scream in agony as the fire struck him at point-blank range, the pain of his flesh burning being so agonizing, he retracted his claws to the original position and fell on the ground, rolling left and right in an attempt to extinguish the flames that engulfed him, but eventually managed to do so by flapping his large wings, the gusts of air they made clearing his body of them.

" Unbeliavable… He was able to fight back despite being in so much pain…." was all Lilith could think in complete and utter disbelief as her crimson eyes watched from afar as the unthinkable happened. Amon meanwhile, collapsed down on one knee, panting heavily and looking at the holes on his chest, arms and abdomen in awe and shock. Nothing had ever managed to make him suffer so much. Then he looked at Atun and saw him slowly getting back up on his feet, his flesh burnt down to the muscle in many places, chief of which, his left thigh, right side of his chest, and his entire left arm. He felt nothing but deep respect towards him, the first being in ages who had almost managed to take his life.

"I have slaughtered many Tyrannical Beasts….. Brought down many Winged Serpents….. Even crushed quite a few of those Long-Necked Titans…..With my bare hands….." Amon spoke, in between gasps of air as he slowly straightened his posture, referring to the many giant animals that shared their environment with the demons that he brought down. Then, as another grin crossed his lips, he praised "But you…. YOU gave me the most glorious fight in my entire existence. And for that, i will never be able to thank you enough." Atun felt somewhat flattered by those words but equally dismayed to see Amon's wounds slowly closing back up as he tried to keep himself on his feet. But that proved to be an almost impossible task due to how much his body had been weakened by the fire, to the point he could barely move. Worse, due to the fire, his injuries weren't healing as fast as they normally would and, as a result, he quickly doubled over slightly after only taking a few steps, breathing heavily in exhaustion. The only thing he could do now was await the killing blow.

"But alas, all good things come to an end sooner or later." a reluctant Amon proclaimed, his wings emerging from his back once more. And as he propelled himself towards Atun one last time, the feathered demon tried one last time to defend himself…..

But to no avail as Amon closed the distance between them in a second and punched through Atun's abdomen with his left fist. Blood immediately erupted from the hole, the result of several organs being quite literally obliterated and when Amon pulled his arm out after several seconds, covered in crimson blood and even some small pieces of organs, Atun's eyes went lifeless and he fell on the ground with a loud thud while at the same time, the sun set. Nike and Lilith watched somberly, the latter in particular, as Amon landed the killing blow. The former felt a small degree of content at having seen the demon she loved having enjoyed himself after so much time yet at the same, part of her felt saddened that all of this had to end with the death of another proud and fearless warrior. The other demoness looked almost grief-stricken by the loss of her protector but was at least happy that he died a warrior's death, as he had always desired to.

After sparing one last respectful look at his fallen opponent, who had given him the fight of his life, Amon flew back towards Nike, landing right in front of her while Lilith, knowing better, slithered away from him and headed over to where Atun had fallen "We are finished here. Let's return to Sirene and Kaim." the winged woman nodded at his words, though she coudn't help but notice how much dejected he sounded. She figured it was because he believed he would have never found such a worthy opponent ever again. However as they both began to walk away, preparing to take flight and leave….

"Wait….."

Both Amon and Nike stopped in their tracks and as they turned around, they saw, to their surprise, that Atun was still alive despite having some of his flesh burnt down to the muscle and a large, gaping hole in his abdomen. Against all odds, his body was slowly but surely, healing his wounds and he was using his arms to slowly crawl towards Amon while a worried Lilith was at his side "Who would have thought, you are still alive." the purple-skinned, black furred demon remarked, even more impressed.

"What are you waiting for?! F-Finish me off! I have lost, and therefore i-!" Atun desperately begged his victor to kill him….

Only for Amon to coldly interrupt him "Don't even bother. I have no interest in killing something that cannot even fight back anymore. And you have some nerve telling me what to do in that miserable state of yours." his expression now one of contempt for Atun's stubborness and his desire to be killed, which made no sense to him, seeing how he had survived.

"How dare you! I am a warrior! I have my pride! Are you expecting me to keep on living with such sham-" tired of his ramblings, Amon leapt towards him in less than two seconds and seized him by the neck, lifting him up and bringing him to his knees and only inches away from his face, surprising him.

(OST: "Nothing Can Be Explained, original, instrumental version" = Bleach Soundtrack)

"Shut your mouth, fool. If you enjoy fighting so much then do not ask me to kill you. You should never wish for death when you survive. Only in death should one admit defeat!" Amon's words caused Atun's yellow eyes to widen in realisation "And you should be grateful for being still alive, after all, there is a goal in your future. And that is to live and dedicate yourself to surpass the one who amost killed you!"

Lilith and Nike could only look upon with the same astonishment Atun had on his face as Amon shared the phylosophy of his life to him "You should know that i used the full extent of my strength in our battle. You survived today because you were lucky." the purple-skinned demon stated with a friendly smile, viewing the one he had defeated with nothing but respect. Atun's eyes widened even more when he finally told him "Live. Become stronger. And once you do, you are welcome to try and kill me again." encouraging him to pursue a new goal in his life. From afar, Nike smiled happily, heartwarmed to be reminded why this seemingly savage, battle-hungry demon stole her heart. It was his honor and leniency that she so much admired.

Atun could only look at the one who spared his life in awe, his breath shaking before Amon finally let his neck go and turned away, beginning to walk towards his mate. The feathered demon would have hit the ground again, were it not for Lilith quickly coming to his left and taking hold of him. And when he raised his head, he could see both winged demons preparing to take off and fly away after they both took the time to take as many of the fruits Nike had collected earlier in their arms "W-Wait!" he called out one last time, causing both of them to stop "Tell me your name! If you have one….. I want to know it…. For when we will meet again….." he pleaded.

Without even turning his head towards him, the purple-skinned demon obliged him "Amon." before he and Nike spread their wings and took him, flying away and dissappearing into the prehistoric sunset.

" Amon… ." that word would have been forever etched in Atun's mind from that day.

In the present day and universe, as Atun finished his recollection of that fateful day, he stated "As soon as my wounds healed, i began to search for him for what felt like an eternity. I had only one goal on my mind: to fight him once more." his voice now somber. What once was his main motivation in a life in which he had become too powerful for his own good, turned out to be something he could have never achieved, an impossible dream. As he lowered his head in shame he declared "For the longest time i could not understand what was it that made him so exceptional. But only now, do i know that unlike me, he never fought just for the thrill of battle: he always fought for the sake of those who fought alonside him, for the sake of those he loved. And perhaps, that was why i have always envied him: he always had a good reason to fight while i have always fought for nothing. I have always had nothing." a single tear falling to the ground from his left eye, the guilt of everything he had done to bring his selfish quest to a close eating at his core.

Lilith was almost heart-broken by his recollection and by his truthfulness. He had always been so powerful, so confident, so full of pride. Yet here he was now, at the absolute lowest he had ever been in his existence. He coudn't have cared less about mankind or Satan's plans. Surpassing Amon, the demon who was both his enemy and his friend, had been his one and only motivation in life, the rest was trivial, even the camaderie he had with his fellow demons. But although he was right to feel ashamed for having wasted nearly his whole life in the pursuit of an impossible goal, there was something he needed to know. Something Lilith waited for so long for him to notice. And now the time had come for him to finally know.

"That is where you are wrong, Atun." she soothingly spoke, slowly coming towards him "You may believe otherwise, but there is something you have always had." the colorful feathered demon remained still, unmoving until one last word left Lilith's mouth.

"Me."

Which immediately caused him to turn towards the beautiful demoness, his face filling with surprise as his yellow eyes met her crimson ones, filled with a pain and a sadness he had never before seen "For all this time i hoped that one day you would have opened your eyes. That you would have realized how i have always admired you. And how that admiration turned into something else as time went on. But….." she paused before closing and averting her eyes away from him, deeply ashamed of having never been strong enough to truly open up to him "I have always been afraid of telling you. That you would have rejected me or worse, abandoned me once i would reveal how i have always felt towards you. But after what happened tonight, i suppose there is no longer a reason to hide it from you."

"Lilith….." Atun called out her name, his voice now filled with an unfamiliar sadness and guilt, having figured out what her words meant. And hearing her name being spoken by him with such sadness and with a tinge of compassion gave Lilith the strength to finally declare her feelings to him once and for all.

"I am done hiding my feelings towards you." her black, long-fingered hands tenderly grasped Atun's purple cheeks as she finally proclaimed, tears beginning to fall from her beautiful crimson eyes "I love you, Atun. I have always loved you, ever since you rescued me from that terrible winged beast that almost took my life. You could have eaten me and i would have been completely powerless to stop you, but you didn't: you gave me sanctuary, a reason to live. You have been everything to me since that day….. And i want to be everything to you too."

Atun himself was almost moved to tears by Lilith's passionate declaration of love. An unfamiliar and unexpected wave of joy washed over him along with much self-loathing for having taken so long to realize that the purpose of his life had been in front of him all along. With a tenderness Lilith had never seen on his face before, he slowly reached out with his yellow-scaled hands and took hold of Lilith's own cheeks "Forgive me. I was wrong to think of you only as a mere companion that followed me around just out of gratitude."

Those soft words filled Lilith's heart with overwhelming joy and for an instant, she thought this was all a dream. But the soft, affectionate smile he gave her next followed by his next words made her realize that it wasn't the case"And now i feel even more of a fool for having always been oblivious to the love and affections of someone as beautiful as you. I only hope that, from now on, i can love you the same way you have always loved me." along with the tears of joy beginning to fall from his eyes .

The demoness coudn't have fantasized more beautiful words coming out of his mouth. She coudn't not kiss him after that, and when they both leaned in towards each other, all of her dreams finally became reality after an eternity. And the kiss was just as rough and strong as she had always dreamed it. Wrapping her arms around Atun's neck, she deepened the kiss until the need to breathe outweighed that of pleasure and both demons pulled away from each other's mouth, breathing heavily for a few moments. As they looked into each other's eyes, Atun felt an immense lust, unlike everything he had felt before building up inside him and he quickly crushed his lips on Lilith's once again. The demoness drank in his lust and reciprocated with her own, pressing herself on Atun's much larger, musclebound body, feeling the warmth and power it held.

The Demon Hero found himself surrendering to his instincts much more quickly than he had anticipated and both his hands left Lilith's cheeks and began to explore her body. The demoness suddenly threw her head back and let out an erotic gasp, as Atun grasped her left breast with his right hand, causing him to stop at the sound. He had never heard something like that in his entire existence. But what little hesitation he had, was quickly thrown out of the window when Lilith seized Atun's hand on her breast with her left one and, with a lust mixed with what almost seemed like disdain, told him "Don't you fucking dare be gentle. I have waited too long for this moment and i want it to be just as rough and primal as i have always dreamed it."

And with that, all bets were off.

With the sudden urge of wanting to hear more erotic sounds coming out of her mouth, Atun grinned savagely and replied "As you wish." before violently pushing Lilith on the ground, tightening his grip on her breast as he did so. The demoness began to moan even more loudly than before as Atun pressed himself on her and began to explore her beautiful body with his tongue, which went from her face and neck, to her other breast.

"Ahhhhh…." Lilith gasped as he bit on it, licking it with his tongue, his teeth actually drawing blood from it which he also licked, revelling in its wonderful taste.

Atun continued to explore the demoness's body and taste her blood before, eventually, as the most profound of all instincts kicked in, he slowly slid inside of her, just above where her legs fused into her tail a the knee…

"AAAAAHHHHHH! ATUUUUNNNNNN!" Lilith cried out in both pain and ectstasy as he began to thrust in and out. She wrapped her arms and her tail around him, her claws digging into his back, wanting to be as close to him as she possibly could. For an untold number of eons she had dreamed, fantasized of how mating with him must have been like. And it was just as rough and blissful as she had imagined.

Her cries of ecstasy were joined by Atun's primal roars as they mated, the burning flames of what remained of the mansion shining behind them as a symbolic representation of their love. And the moment the two demons both climaxed within each other at the same time, was when both of them realized:

It was the most beautiful night of their entire existence.

(Soundtrack Ends)

The morning after, with the flames that rose up from where the mansion once stood gone, leavin nothing but smoking rubble, both demons now rested under a tree, worn out due to the intense mating they had. Lilith peacefully slept in Atun's powerful arms, her head resting on his chest and the feathered demon coudn't help but find her breath near his heart oddly soothing. But as he gently caressed her cheek and orange flower that she had instead of hair, it dawned on him.

" She's so beautiful….." he thought as he gazed into her flawless face, admiring her pale skin, soft, fucsia lips, the dark red sepal-like material that covered her neck and the outer sides of her head and the light purple color on her eyebrows " How could i have been so blind to such beauty all this time?"

As the rays of the sun finally came, they stirred Lilith from her sleep. As she slowly opened her crimson eyes, for a moment she believed that what had happened the night before had been all but a dream, as it had always been. But as she lifted her head, she was overjoyed to gaze upon the face of the one she had always loved "Atun…. My love…." she tenderly spoke as her left hand slowly reached out and caressed the cheek of the demon who conquered her heart.

"Lilith….." he called out, reciprocating her affection by caressing her own cheek even more "I hope i was everything you had always dreamed of…."

"You were….. Even better than what i could have possibly imagined…. I will never again experience the same happiness i felt last night…." she told him with a weary smile before sadness suddenly filled her face.

Perplexed by her sudden change in mood, Atun asked as she shut her eyes "Lilith? Is there something wrong?"

"I….I'm sorry….." she began to cry "I cannot bear you any children…" making Atun's eyes go slightly wide as she explained "Because of my….Nature…. I have only been able to reproduce by planting my spores in others. All those grotesque demons i have always been able to produce….. They were always my children."

The feathered demon began to feel the same sadness her lover felt. And if what she said was true, it tecnically meant that she was infertile. Lilith was, however, surprised when Atun soothingly spoke as he gently continued to caress her cheek, wiping off her tears "Lilith….It's alright…. As regrettable as that is…... I had never once intended to leave a legacy behind."

Taken completely by surprise, Lilith looked back into Atun's eyes "What do you mean?" she asked.

Atun in response, gazed at the sky, painted in orange and blue admiring it for a few seconds before, with a solemn look, he began to explain "Those like me, who know only battle and conflict….. We do not belong in a world of peace like this one, where humans have begun to coexist with creatures similar to us demons. But….." he paused, recalling what happened in his previous world as well as the words Kaim told him the day before.

" It was that lack of compassion that doomed us all….."

And only now did he realize that the pachyderm demon was right and how wrong he had been all this time to think of it as a form of weakness. If anything that only served to reveal how weak the demons had truly always been. "If even someone like me can change upon being enlightened, even the rest of our kind can. But many of our kind are not as honorable as i, and if they were to ally themselves with that Satoru brat….. History will repeat itself. They will bring their end upon themselves once again, along with this world. Lilith….." Atun paused and looked at his newfound lover with sadness once again "I have found a new purpose in my life. I know what must be done to safeguard this word and our kind's future. But i am afraid that you will not like what you are about to hear."

Those words brought Lilith much doubt at first, but she knew what Atun now sought. He no longer cared about himself and his selfish goals. And he was right: what happened in the past must not be allowed to repeat itself. There will be much angst, much bloodshed, much sorrow coming. But if that meant preventing demonkind from repeating its mistakes, then it will ultimately not be in vain.

Therefore, she proclaimed resolutedly, having made up her mind "Whatever path you have chosen…. I will be with you until the end, as i have always been. Tell me…."

And thus, she listened.