• • The House of Asmodeus
• February 22, 2021

The House of Asmodeus: A Trial by Fire (Chapter 34)

“It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

---

They stop, they all stop. All at once the undead horde stop coming after a bolt of lightning and the dust starts falling. The bolt of lightning that strikes the ground overhead, where Asmodeus fights A’rock.

Noella had seen them, she and everyone else saw when A’rock jumped after a huge fireball, and everyone saw Asmodeus grab him and raise the land to meet them.

Then daemons and angels cheered alike when reinforcements came through the portal with medical magic and supplies. The armies regained hope that they could last a little longer. Eventually, even that hope began to die out as nothing but a few binding spellcasters were barely making a dent in the enemy’s numbers. Even if some were eventually taken down, some of the newly dead joined the enemy ranks against those they had just fought alongside. 

Then there was Noella, Azale, and Cotaras who were barely holding their own against Seraras when her transformed mother and the elevated Michael came to their rescue. They were locked in an epic nephilim clobbering, hitting Seraras across the battlefield like a pinball as he wrapped himself up in his metallic wings. 

But as the Arch-beings were playing with their toy, Noella and her comrades were slowly being overwhelmed by an enemy they could not defeat. Petra and Rogiel had come to assist after regaining their abilities, but soon they had been close to being overrun. 

Only minutes before everyone stopped fighting. Azale had been fighting and slashing through undead just to get to Petra, who had been exhausted and overcome while blasting away dozens just for them to come back. 

But now it was over, and Noella walks up to Azale, as the fallen angel let out ragged breaths of exhaustion. Azale is barely paying attention when Noella walks up to her, wraps her hand around her waist and pulls her in. 

Noella gives Azale a victory kiss for the ages as they’re surrounded by the bodies of their enemies. Azale recognizes Noella’s tongue before she even register’s her face and wraps her arms, warhammers in hand, around Noell’a neck to pull herself closer. Noella loves feeling Azale’s hands in her hair.

When their lips separate, foreheads against each other’s, and all the work is done, all there is left is to see Asmodeus. To treat their injuries from their victory, to celebrate together and see how far they’ve all come.

They start flying towards the valley where the smoke trail leads, where Noella’s beloved is waiting for her. 

Cotaras follows them through the air just as eager to see the King of Lust. They know that they would just get in the way if they tried to help Lucifina and Michael against Seraras, and those two don’t look like they need any help.

Noella is flying over when she sees an older angel flying towards her. She almost readies herself to fight when she recognizes that the angel is carrying a human woman by her shoulders. 

“Lola!” Noella yells as she flies straight towards them. When they get close enough Lolara leaps from the angel’s arms several thousand feet above the ground towards Noella, who catches her and hugs her close. 

“I can’t think of a time when I was happier to see you!” The white demoness kisses all around the witch’s fac, even planting a sloppy kiss on the witch’s lips. Lolara is a little taken aback by Noella’s show of affection towards her. 

“I’m happy to see you too but can we land?” Lolara asks. She hangs on tightly to her daemon lover, realizing just high they are. 

Noella laughs and tells Lolara, “Of course!”

 As Noella descends Azale and Cotaras follow them back to the ground as Lolara seems to want the ground as soon as possible.

Once Noella releases Lolara, Azale quickly takes her place to embrace her love.

Lolara makes an awkward smile at Azale as she has become somewhat covered by the entrails still on Azale. The witch jokes to the fallen angel, “I see you’ve had quite the time too.” Azale tightens up her shoulders in embarrassment before hugging Lolara again even tighter.  

Lolara closes her eyes as she rests her head inside Azale’s shoulder. Then she opens her eyes to see the Son of Lust who once kidnapped her. “Cotaras!” the witch shouts as she quickly backs away in shock, pulling Azale and tripping the fallen angel up.

“No, Lola, wait!” Noella yells as she reaches out her hand to caress Lolara’s face, to try and calm her friend. “He’s not here to fight. He saved my life, and we probably wouldn’t have survived without his help. Cotaras helped us to survive, to earn his way back into the Circle of Lust.”

“I highly doubt that will happen,” Lolara hisses, but then looks away at the thought.

Cotaras tries to calmly defend himself. “Listen, Lady Lolara, or Miss Le Fay if you would prefer, I am deeply sorry for hurting you,” and he bows his head to her, “you were defending the true King of Lust and I was wrong to seek the throne for myself.” He starts tensing up realizing that tears are welling up in the human’s eyes. “If my presence really upsets you that much I can leave until you are better.” 

“No, it’s not you it’s, it’s,” Lolara is sniffling thinking about what their victory means for her love, and what she must now tell Noella and Azale. “You see, before we came here, Asmodeus had a plan as he usually does… to defeat A’rock,” she has begun telling them.

“Yes, our beloved is quite smart like that, but why are you so upset Lolara? Clearly it worked,” Noella asked gently. 

Lolara looks at Noella with eyes that can’t say anything else but sorry. “Noella, I can’t express how sorry I am. I tried to convince him to think of something else! Everyone did but I couldn’t stop him!” Azale holds her hands to her mouth realizing what Lolara is getting at, but Noella isn’t going to accept it.

“Lola, you’re, you’re scaring me, what are you trying to say?” Noella asks, her voice trembling.

“Noella, Asmodeus’s plan of attack, it left him… he probably didn’t… it was a one way trip.” Lolara reaches for Noella, as the Queen backs away. “Noella, please understand, there wasn’t nothing I could do to stop him!”

“Oh no…” Cotaras whispers solemnly.

Azale holds her hands flat together against her mouth. Tears forming in her eyes. Azale lets out a siren-like screech as dark magic pulses from her wings. She’s flying where she knows Asmodeus will be. 

Lolara calls out to the fallen angel, “Azale wait!” and she cries out, “please!” Then she turns to Noella, “Don’t go, you don’t want to see what happened!” Lolara reaches out for Noella’s hands again but the white demoness pulls way. Wrapping her arms around herself, holding her tears with a look of pain. 

“No, not him, he wouldn’t just leave me, he wouldn’t leave me behind like this…” 

Lolara reaches out again, “Noella, he loved all of us, that’s why he wouldn’t let us-”

“No! Don’t touch me!” Noella screams as she backs away even further, and lifts off after Azale. 

Lolara just falls to her knees, crying on the ground. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” 

Cotaras is at lost of what to do, so he leaves after Noella and Azale.

*****

“We’re not getting anywhere, Michael!” Lucifina pesters. 

“I agree!” Michael yells back as he clangs his sword against the tough exterior another time. Even without his True Michael form, the strength of his attack sends the metal shell flying into the ground at high speeds, leaving a gigantic dust cloud. “We’ve been attacking it in turns, maybe we could shatter the egg by cracking it from both sides.”

Lucifina nods and swoops down to grab hold of the metallic sphere. After getting her hands around it, she flies it up to Michael. “Couldn’t you have thought of this earlier? This isn’t all that complicated a strategy.”

Michael get a little red in the facet. “Well, our full power would certainly be enough to crack a hole in a planet, how can I predict a material that could withstand such punishment? And one that will contain the shockwaves at that.” He rests his left hand on the other side of the spherical shell to help hold it, allowing Lucifina to free her right hand. 

“You could have realized the damage it can take after you had us hitting it over and over!” she scolds him.

Michael realizes his mistake. For some reason he can’t think clearly, can’t concentrate. Once the undead army stopped advancing and Seraras retreated back to his shell, Michael felt safe from danger and can’t stop stealing glances at Lucifina in her True Lucifer form.

“Sorry!” he calls to her from the other side of the shell. “Lets hit it with full force on three. Take turns counting. One!”

They both reel their arms back.

“Two!” Lucifina counts.

Magical energy, light and dark coming together in their opposite hands.

“Three!” Michael calls out. Then…  

WHAM! 

They let loose and smash the shell from both sides. When the shell feels such seismic pressure from two fronts, it caves in and shatters inward. As the two follow through they can see the force cause the metal wings to scatter like glass. 

When both of their arms pass each other the force of their power collides and reverberates back, scattering the pieces of metal away from them. They are both radiating too much energy for the metal to scratch or slice at either of them. 

There is a problem, their Nephilim opponent wasn’t in the shell.

“Impossible,” Michael whispers as his hands go to his head in complete confusion.

“This,” Lucifina says as she breath in deep, closing her eyes as she does so, and then out, speaking calmly there after. “This is… beyond belief… Something tells me we’ll have to deal with the problem that is Seraras, for some time to come,” Lucifina foretells. 

She’s trying to keep fire from coming out her nostrils, when Michael asks about something. “What was the phrase that the Lord of Lust always says right after some unforeseen obstacles?”

“I believe the phrase my son-in-law says, is ‘Fuck me,’” the Princess tells him.

“His words perfectly encapsulate how I’m feeling.”

*****

“No, no, no,” is all Azale cries as she flies over the hill between Asmodeus and her. All the fallen angel can do is beg fate to not let him die.

Once Azale can see over the edge she sees the devastation on the already dead land. Craters line the ground as far as the eye can see. Away from it all lays a body bleeding out, and an angel cradling the body of daemon. 

“Oh no,” Azale whispers. She flies as fast as she can to reach what has to be her Master and Uriel.

Azale crashes onto her knees to slide up next to them with Uriel recognizing Azale, unable to look the fallen angel in the eyes. Azale peers over into Uriel’s arms to see the wracked body of Asmodeus, a point in his ribs where the rest of his body cracks around it like glass. 

“Give him to me!” Azale cries out as she shoves the Archangel away from him and takes Asmodeus into her arms instead. 

The Archangel of Chastity doesn’t grow offended or angry with Azale’s behavior.

Uriel tries to tell Azale, “Asmodeus… Clay,” she corrects herself to call him by his true name, “died making sure no one else would have to risk their life, to stop the death of many, angels and daemons alike.”

Azale holds Asmodeus’s head to her face, and only cries out softly that, “I don’t care, I don’t.” 

Uriel sees two more heading their way. A female white daemon and a large male black daemon. The black daemon flies ahead of the white one and lands with his hands raised to cast a spell.

“Back away from the King of Lust, Archangel,” he threatens.

Uriel starts backing away as she tries to say, “No, I’m not the enemy, I’m a-” 

“That is the same Archangel that’s been out to get my husband since the day he became the King of Lust!” the white demoness spits at her. “Cotaras, make sure she keeps her distance.”

“Will do, my liege,” Cotaras swears.

“Hus… you must be his wife, I can’t comprehend what you could possibly be going through-”

“Then shut up!” Noella screams at her, as her pupils radiate with dark magic. 

Uriel keeps her mouth shut and stands still under the watchful gaze of the one called Cotaras. She feels as if the name is familiar but can’t quite place her finger on it. 

“Beloved?” Noella asks as she put her hands to hold Asmodeus’s face. His cheeks are growing pale and are losing their warmth. To look for any signs of life, she checks his eyes, his mouth, and then his pulse in his neck. “Please, I need you,” she whispers. She keeps waiting, listening, feeling for that pulse. 

And then it comes. 

Thump. 

Noella isn’t sure at first if it’s his pulse until she feels it again after a few seconds, only fainter than the last time.

“He’s still alive,” she gasps.

Azale picks her head up from her crying. “What did you say, Mistress?”

Noella starts to untie her boots and the belt over the waste of her chainmail armor. “He has a pulse, I swear I felt it go twice.”

“Oh thank Niamh herself,” Cotaras gasps.

“The King of Lust survives?” Uriel questions. She could have sworn she felt him slip away in her arms. She should have checked for a pulse; she feels stupid for not realizing that he could have just passed out.

“Mistress, what are you doing?” Azale asks. Noella’s hands are at the skirt of her chainmail to lift it up.

“I’m going to perform the Chorus Libidinal to heal him, like Mod and I have done before,” she replies.  

It’s a way for daemons of Lust to transfer their energy or life force to heal another. The act usually consists of the giver commencing in Lust, typically through mouth to mouth contact, but fornicating with the injured, sick, or unconscious person will heal them far faster. The cost overall is that to help someone the other must sacrifice some of their power and suffer extreme exhaustion. 

“But Mistress, both of those times Master was not in any danger of dying, he was just comatose.” The Chorus Libidinal healed both Asmodeus and Lolara when Uriel first attacked, a time where Noella performed it after a fight with Uriel. “If you try to transfer your energy into him you could die too, especially since you plan to give it your all!” 

She reaches to grasp Noella’s hand in hers, as the Reaver of Devotion starts crying again, “He still may not even make it, his injuries are too great.” Azale becomes terrified of the prospect of losing another so soon.

“I have to try, Azale,” Noella tells her, as if squeezing the fallen angel’s hand does anything. “This is what our beloved would do for any of us. He’s already sacrificed himself, I am willing to do the same, willing to follow his example.”

Uriel finds herself filled with guilt. The Archangel has done much to wrong the King of Lust, but the only time she’s faced his ire was after hurting someone he loved. Even when she wanted to assume that Asmodeus was a sexual deviant because he was a daemon, he acted with restraint. When she wanted to think him incapable of effective rule, she saw that his followers loved him, were ready to thrown down their lives for him. When she tried to convince herself that he was selfish, cowardly, and spineless, he came up with this idea to sacrifice himself, and it was Uriel who did the selfish thing. She supported it to get the chance to kill A’rock from the safety of the air. 

The Archangel of Chastity needs to right a wrong. She needs to save Asmodeus’s life.

“I’ll do it!” Uriel yells. “I’ll give him my power, I’ll perform the Chorus Libidinal. Someone with my power can heal his body and not die from the process.”

The others are floored. “You, want to perform a ritual that involves you having sex, with MY HUSBAND?!” Noella’s voice elevates to a screech from her rage. “You, you, hypocritical-, you conniving-, damn YOU! Who do you think you are? Huh?! You can just insult, and threaten, and kill people we care about, and now you want us to trust you to fuck Asmodeus back to life? Is that it? Is that what you’re saying?” Noella is not going for this idea. She just about rather cut off her own tail than stand the idea of this Archangel, getting to have her way with her husband while he is incapacitated.

The mention of sex scares Uriel almost as much as this white daemon’s fury. “I was thinking more along the lines of a kiss, I… is sex really necessary?” Uriel points out. “No one’s going to let you do the Chorus Libidinal just so we can bury two people, it has to be me.”

Cotaras points out, “Also, you can’t… do a sexual Chorus Libidinal when the person is unconscious, my Queen, that’s… that’s…”

Noella turns to Cotaras. The white demoness is becoming rather ludicrous. “Cotaras, you are one of the few with power to rival a Demon King.” 

Cotaras instantly realizes what she is getting at, and us rather surprised that Noella preferred him to the Archangel. “My Queen, I’m flattered, but my power isn’t half of the Archangel’s in terms of amount, let alone enough. ”

Noella shakes her head. “Yes, right, sorry, terrible idea. Wait, my mother is perfectly capable of providing the power necessary to save my husband.” 

Azale makes a grotesque expression and reminds her, “But she’s busy fighting Seraras with Michael, and… you’d really pick her over Uriel?” The shear insanity of her Mistress’s rambling has illuminated the truth for Azale. “Mistress, please rethink this line of thinking, Master can’t possibly have that much time left.”

Noella’s forehead wrinkles up, looking more and more distressed by the second. “I hate this!” 

Uriel moves passed Cotaras to Noella, and kneels down across from the white demoness. “Listen to me, I haven’t done much to earn it, but Clay has shown me great kindness. Let me save his life instead of you risking your own. I’m not trying to hurt him or you, I swear to God that I have no intention of doing that.”              

Noella looks between Asmodeus’s limp and scared body and Uriel’s, clearly uncomfortable with what is going on, but at this point she knows what is necessary. “Okay, try kissing him. I’m sure you know how to release your energy through any exits in the body. Like through your mouth to hit something, or through a cut so the magic will heal it.” Noella explains what Uriel will pretty much be doing. 

“Yes, I know how to release my energy,” Uriel confirms.

“Good, then while your tongue is inside his mouth, release your energy.” Noella’s language caused hairs on Uriel’s back to raise.

“You all do this to heal each other?” Uriel questions, both disgusted and utterly shocked. “This sounds like sexual assault, and you’ve done this to your own husband?”

The beings of Lust look between each other, not sure how to argue on that point. “He’s dying and I’m his wife, we’ve given each other permission. We don’t random kiss people like its the heimlich maneuver.”

“I, I want to ask about this afterwards,” Uriel claims before turning her head to Asmodeus’s paling face.

Noella continues explaining to her that, “The connection will form when his body searches out for your magical power to replace his own. Don’t be surprised if you start feeling a mental connection.” As Noella explains, she and Azale lay him down on his back. “Be prepared for him to react, most likely kissing you back as he’s healed, and for you to become more and more tired. Understand?”

“Yes,” Uriel says with very little enthusiasm.

“Okay good, now… kiss my husband,” Noella commands her. 

Uriel thinks to herself, I… have never felt more intimidated and embarrassed by another person like this in my life.

Uriel bends down, and rests her hand under Asmodeus’s head and bends down to kiss him. She slips her lips between his and kisses him like she’s done it many times before.

Azale’s eyes narrow, something isn’t right. “You’re a pretty good kisser… which means it’s probably not your first time,” the fallen angel points out.

Uriel’s eyes open, and she begins to hesitate as she slowly goes back to kissing him, she tries to pool her power through her tongue, and her mouth begins to brighten.

“Okay, what now?” the Azale asks.

“Now? She keeps kissing him,” Noella answers her, and goes back to instructing Uriel to, “pool your magical energy out of your mouth for a few seconds. My husband’s body should accept it immediately and take the energy in naturally, so you’ll really only have to focus on keeping his mouth open.”

Uriel concentrates on kissing him, even pressing her tongue into his mouth.

I want this memory erased from my brain when this is over.

Then she starts to feel the tether heading towards her head, the mental connection Noella mentioned. The mental connection also adds to the sensations Uriel is suddenly feeling in her depths. Right when she feels his tongue flick hers, hers flashes open as she squeaks. She can feel herself getting aroused as the full force of Asmodeus’s pheromones begin to hit her straight on.

“She’s not half bad a kisser for a Chastity angel, ” comments this random voice in Uriel’s head, and it isn’t the Asmodeus she knows. 

This happens as she feels Asmodeus’s magical essence tether to her brain. There is a shocking sensation that forces her to arch her back, as if being tasered. Uriel’s eyes are wide open, when her vision becomes blocked by a white circle appearing in the center of her vision, that then expands to block out everything.

She loses consciousness.

*****

“Rose, Rose wake up.” 

Rose’s eyes flutter open at the sound of the voice calling her by her old name. Her eyes need a moment to readjust, and at first she thinks she has gone blind. All she can see is white all around her, and then fire and flames move to join them. A hand moves to her chin and moves her head to the right.

“I’m over here, Rose,” the voice says as he moves her hand to face him. Uriel is looking at Asmodeus.

“Asmodeus? You’re alive, where are we?” she asks him.

“We’re in my home, in the Incantorum, where the minds of the Kings of Lust tend to go when their minds don’t want to follow their bodies to the grave,” calls a second male voice.

“What? Who?” Rose asks as she turns over on her side to face a middle-aged, red skinned, black daemon, who’s sitting in a large Victorian style recliner chair. He’s wearing a red robe, obviously naked underneath, with a book in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other. His robe only covers his own groin because he has his legs crossed. 

“I’m Asmodeus, the original Lord of Lust, and current resident inside the Incantorum, or Asmodeus’s subconscious, not really sure to be honest.” 

Rose’s mouth drops.

“So, when I was doing the Chorus Libidinal to save you, I must have been brought into his head.” Uriel is somewhat making sense of her predicament.

“I predicted right, Asmodeus, she would do the Chorus Libidinal to save you. I can’t fucking believe that you sucked face with an Archangel before I did. That’s messed up, I’ve been waiting to do that for eternity!” Asmodeus puts down his book everything to cheer on Clay and Rose.

“Oh shut up, I’m not like you old pervert,” Clay insults him. 

“Wait, Clay,” Rose wants to ask him something, “he said that he predicted this, you knew I could have save you survive all along?” 

Clay just smiles shyly as he tries to cover his mouth with his hands. “Would you have said yes I asked you too?”

“Maybe not in the moment, but I would after seeing you fall,” Rose tries to tell him. “Clay, if your wife hadn’t come and tried to do it herself, I would never have known I had the power to save you!”

“Noella’s there? Fuck… well, I couldn’t ask you to fall from Virture, not for me,” Clayton tells her, “you’re an Archangel, you take your job more seriously than I ever have, I couldn’t ask you to do that, even if we were childhood friends.”

“Fall…?” Rose asks him as she purses her brow. Lambasted, she mocks him, “I’m not gonna fall from one kiss.”

Clay’s face twists in turn. “But I’m the Demon King of Lust, wouldn’t that like… destroy your Virtue?” 

He’s… wow he knows very little about angels for a man practically married to one.

“Nooo,” she says shaking her head, “you think you could destroy my Virtue with a kiss?”

“I thought it was all relative. Azale fell after we slept together once.”

“Because she wanted to fall, and she felt lust for you. I barely want to, and not because of lust.”

Clayton looks away, and puts his hand to his chin. “Huh,” he says, “that’s… wow, I could have died over such a simple mistake.”

“Eh,” the old Asmodeus groans, “it’s not like someone as stuck up as a chastity angel is going to turn.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Clay warns.

“Or what?” he retorts with a child’s voice to berate Clay. “Are you gonna kill me? I’m already dead if you haven’t noticed.”

Rose does take notice that the realm they are in, is completely on fire for miles and miles. “I’m curious about something,” she begins to ask, “since this is your mind,” she gestures to Clay, “or at least your home,” gesturing to Asmodeus, “why is nothing here but fire?”

“Oh there was,” Clay responds, “I got rid of everything and put in a pocket of space. The way he lives is disgusting, and it really bothers me because he could be living in my brain.” Then Clay has an idea. “Rose, does the original Uriel annoy you the same way Asmodeus does me? Complete offense.”

“I accept none of it,” Asmodeus responds.

“Not for much more than a week to summarize the details of my position,” Rose tells him.

“Damnit, so he’s just a goddamn freak of nature out to annoy me with bad advice.”

Asmodeus speaks up and gets serious. “Oh, you don’t like the advice I give? Well, you may want to listen this information, it’s important for the both of you to know.”

Clay sighes. “What do you want old man, we should probably get going, you know, where people are alive and not crazy.” Clay has no problem taking pot shots at his predecessor.

“Shut up and listen,” Asmodeus snaps, “take notice of where you are, and how the two of you got here. Never has an Archangel and a Demon King committed the Chorus Libidinal together or anything remotely similar. The fact that Uriel is here in our head-”

“My head,” Clay corrects.

“Shut up, the fact that she is here means that you two have created a stronger connection beyond just healing his wounds. You two have melded power. When you leave here in a few minutes, when Clay’s body is all healed, expect to feel different, physically, mentally, or both. This union is making you both more powerful, more diverse in the kind of power. I can feel your body changing now, Clay, to allow for the healthy flow of light magic. I assume that the same is happening to Uriel to allow her to use dark magic.”

“You think when we wake up we’ll be powerful enough to use both light and dark magic?” Rose asks.

“Most likely,” Asmodeus responds with a nod of his head, “and expect to feel less in tune with the other Demon Kings and the Archangels, I don’t sense that you’ll find as much familiarity or mental connection with them as you once did. Now you two only have each other, use that to force cooperation between the two sides, and don’t be surprised if you find yourselves above even the other Arch-beings in terms of power.”

“Wow, that’s uh, a lot to take in.” 

 Hearing that he may feel less kinship with the other Demon Kings and Archangel’s isn’t heartbreaking, but it is like they’re losing a little thing important to him. 

“I understand I think.” Rose isn’t sure how to feel about gaining new power. She only recently started feeling properly respected by all of the other Archangels. 

Now how will they think of me? With fear, jealousy, or indifference? 

She asks the original King of Lust, “Is there anything else you can tell us about what’s going to happen when we wake up?”

“No can do kiddo,” Asmodeus is all goofy again, “it’s time for you two to go and leave me to my personal time with some two beautiful figments of my imagination.” A pathway of light starts radiating behind Clay and Rose.

“We better go, Rose. I for sure don’t want to be here to see whatever it is he plans to do,” Clay comments.

“Couldn’t agree more. No watching old men for me.”

“Hey, that hurts,” Asmodeus calls to her, “I may be old but I can work as well as any young stud!”

“Doubtful,” Clay remarks.

“Just get the hell out!”

Clay turns to Rose and offers his hand. “I’m ready, are you?”

Rose looks down at his hand, then grabs his with her own. She looks back up to his face and nods. 

“Let’s go,” and then they brace the bright light together.