"Oh. That’s wonderful! Truely!" Nesha’s mom said with excitement while Laz was just standing there, confused as to if he had heard that right. Was he being sold for some reinforcements? Or, at least it seemed like his genes were being sold, right?

"Hey. Uh... Your highness? Don’t I get a say in this?" Laz finally spoke up.

"Why? Is there something wrong with this arrangement?" Hera asked with a smile.

"I uh... well... umm...." Laz didn’t really know how to answer that. After all, he wasn’t exactly ready to have kids, but from the sounds of it, they didn’t exactly need him for his child raising ability. And he didn’t exactly have anything against the demon race either. In fact, something in his bloodline was screaming at him that mating with them would be very enjoyable.

"Laz. There is no telling if we will even survive this encounter. On top of that, the demon race was already dying out even before we all got sealed in this pocket dimension. The Asura were one of only a handful of races in the omniverse that could stand the mating process with the demon race. While they have made due over time here, it has come at the cost of tens of thousands of men dying within their arms to only deliver a handful of children each generation. As for why they were dying out before that, it was because the races strong enough to survive the process were among the first to die at the hands of the Infernals as they were the strongest warrior races within the universe. While I can’t say for sure, I am almost positive that with the falling of the Asura during the final battles with the Infernals, perhaps none of their race survived outside of this pocket dimension. After all, who would give in to the demon women when there are so many other choices in the omniverse? So while I’m sure it might be a bit hard of a notion for you to understand and accept, I also know that within you is the same spirit of the Asura race that once ruled the omniverse and with that heroic spirit, you would never let a race die out like that," Hera said as she looked at Laz.

He couldn’t help but think she was right. Even if it wasn’t for the right reasons, he wouldn’t wish to see the death of a race when he could do something about it.

"How many of you have gathered here today?" Hera asked Nesha’s mother.

"All of us able to fight."

"And how many of you are there?" Hera continued.

"Around three hundred your highness."

"And of those, how big is the current generation?" Hera then asked.

Nesha’s mom didn’t reply right away but after struggling internally, finally replied,

"Thirty one your highness."

"When your people came in here with us all those years ago, your numbers were around almost ten thousand, were they not?"

"Yes."

"Then at this current rate, how long before your people die out completely?"

"If nothing changes? We expect that only five to six of the current generation would give birth and that they might be our last generation. And that’s only if they are lucky..."

"I see..."

"Why does only the current generation try to conceive? Wouldn’t there be more children if everyone able to bare a child tried?" Laz blurted out without thinking.

"Once we grow too strong, it’s impossible for regular men to even get far enough to complete the deed, so to speak. So only the weakest of us are even able to try. What’s more, due to our unique physic, artificial methods never worked no matter how many civilizations tried, according to our records at least..."

That saved Laz a question at least. He didn’t know what kinds of procedures they had tried, but he knew that back on Earth, there were several methods available for those who couldn’t get pregnant the normal way. Seems like there were other civilizations throughout the omniverse that had similar systems.

*Becoming the father of the demon race would be beneficial for you in the future,* Kat spoke in his ear for the first time in a while. She had been slowly drawing energy from him and the outside world to recover from the damage of saving his life and it seemed like she had just woken up.

*How so?*

"Demons are an exceptionally powerful race. Why do you think so many civilizations and even the Asura themselves did everything they could to keep their species alive despite the hardships of doing so? It’s because having demons on the battle field used to be sure sign of victory."

*But we all still lost in the end?* Laz pointed out the fact that the Asura had fallen anyway.

*But they fell as well, didn’t they?* Kat said, speaking of the retreat of the Infernals even after the fall of the Asura.

Laz didn’t think he was qualified for this, but he couldn’t find it in himself to doom a race to death either.

*Who ever said being in charge was easy? If you wish to one day rule the omniverse again, these trials will come up again and again so you’d best get used to it baby.*

*Who ever said I wanted to rule the omniverse?* Laz asked back, but got nothing but silence.

"Alright. If we survive through this, I shall help your people," Laz said with more strength than he meant to. In doing so though, there was a sudden wind that seemed to pick up, even in the closed room. It wasn’t just a breeze of air though, but seemed to contain something like free flowing energy that suddenly blew around and with it, everyone faintly heard a bell toll. It was a heavenly sound, one that reverberated within everyone’s minds and hearts.

Once.

Twice.

Three time the bell rang, as though signaling some sort of proclamation.

Not only did the people in the room hear it, but everyone within the fortress, no matter what they were doing, suddenly heard the bell and couldn’t help but look to the sky. Even with ceilings blocking the way, it was like a large golden bell was visible to all who looked up. After the ringing, things returned to normal like nothing had happened, except that both Hera and a rather old and withered member of the demon race seemed to have gone very pale.

"That was weird, right?" Laz asked, turning to Nesha’s mom, who looked confused, then to Nesha who also looked confused. Laz then turned to Hera who was staring at him, her eyes wide and her mouth agape, like she had just seen something that shocked her.

"What is it your highness?" Laz asked Hera, wondering if there was something wrong.

Hera didn’t directly reply, instead shaking her head as though clearing something. She then spoke,

"I’m glad we are all in agreement. I must meet with the other mercenary companies and see to their needs. I trust the elder and leader will join me?" Hera said, indicating Nesha’s mom and the withered elder who both nodded yes in agreement.

As they left, Athena walked in, garbed in relaxing yet conservative garb and bowed to the remaining demons.

"I’ve been asked to escort you to your rooms to rest until the next gathering of the races where we will plan for the defense of the fortress. The others have already been taken to eat and led to their own rooms. Please follow me," Athena then said, addressing those that remained.

Nesha looked like she wanted to say something to Laz, but she stopped herself and followed Athena, effectively leaving Laz on his own. Turning to stare up at the ceiling, Laz couldn’t help but ponder what that bell was and why did it seem like it appeared above his head?

...

Hera was walking quickly as the withered old demon walked next to her while the demon leader, Nesha’s mom, struggled to keep up.

"This is impossible."

"It’s improbable, not impossible."

"They laid waste to the royal family to ensure that this didn’t happen. Just the number of them that fell even to take out one distant and long forgotten relative was immense. They didn’t care about their own lives as long as the royal blood was culled," Hera said, her destination set as she almost flat out ran there.

The withered old demon was right beside her the entire time.

"Do you think that the Asura wouldn’t have had plans in place? Sure, they weren’t the brightest of the warrior races as finding a scholar among their ranks was like finding a particular shrimp inside a vast ocean. But that didn’t mean they were fools either. Unlike some leaders, they listened to the people underneath them and took their advice to heart when making decisions. For a few members of the royal family to survive, even if it was the most distant bloodline wouldn’t be impossible," the old woman said, voicing her own view.

"Even then, we’d seen the war beasts roaming the omniverse, tracking down even a hint of the Asura royal line. When the last battle took place, there was only one royal present and even then it was just a thirteen year old boy. And yet they looked up to him like a god and he lead them, through blood and fire until not even dust remained of his bones. If there was anyone else... would the boy have been the one at the front of the army? If the rumors were correct, the Nameless god and other’s like him betrayed them in the end. And the price for their lives? Selling out at least one noble. The rewards for more than one noble? Heh... you couldn’t imagine."

"Then if what you’re saying is true... what did we just witness?"

"I don’t..."

"Yes. You do. We both do. He proclaimed a royal decree, a benevolence onto our race. And the heavens heard his words. So tell me... If he can issue a royal decree... what does that make him?" Hera and the old woman arrive to an old and dusty room that had tons of old books lining the shelves. Hera ignored all of them and went to a dais, upon which sat an old, leather bound and massive book.

"Asura Royal Family."

Opening the pages as the old woman sat off to the side and Nesha’s mom having just arrived, her breathing ragged, she only just managed to hear the words Hera said next.

"For when a Lord Of the Asura speaks, even the heavens acknowledge his or her words as they are imprinted into the universe as being law, binding and unbreakable, with the sounding of the celestial bells...."