Absolute Depravity: Reincarnated with a lustful System-Chapter 319 - Destruction, Death, Monster

The very first thing Haruki did after learning the truth about the demon lord's betrayal was to travel to the hidden elven village and confront the only two left behind in that place. With Hawthorn's help, he teleported there and made his way directly to the cabin Inferno as well as Reya were supposed to be in hiding.

Following behind him were Serena and Fay, and although a bit reluctant about the whole ordeal, the goblin queen was there to keep an eye on Haruki so that in case he did go insane she could tell her children to run away as soon as possible.

"Here, they're supposed to be-" before the guards could finish his sentence as he opened the door to their room, a foul stench invaded his nostril, almost making him puke right on that spot.

"Get off," moving the elf aside, Haruki opened the door completely and let light creep into the dark and musky house.

Standing right at the door frame, what he saw should've been shocking, and yet he appeared as indifferent as ever. The others, however, weren't as nonchalant as right before them the floors were painted in the guts of two demon lords.

"Dead…" Moving inside, Haruki glanced over the smeared innards of the two. "They might have been weakened after Helga's attack, but I doubt anyone other than the other demon lords could've done this to them."

Wasting no time at all, he began deducing what could've happened in this place and how none of the elven guards found out before they came here. The only thing that made sense to Haruki was an instantaneous teleportation, something only Maricella and Deus had used on their own apart from Hawthorn.

"Where are the other three again?" Haruki asked, lifting his gaze to match Serena's.

Still visibly shaken by the whole thing, her eyes were jittery but she powered through the emotions and replied.

"Klaus, he was controlling the queen's mind, Reya helped us get rid of it and now she's dead so…" Straining her mind, Serena tried to bind everything together. "Maybe Klaus and she had a fight about it? He's been missing along with Marcella and Dues, the only other remaining demon lords."

'Dammit, did Deus find out about the kid in Azalea's womb?' Still holding onto a few secrets, Serena kept her mouth shut, wondering if Deus was dead as well since the possibility of Klaus and Marceilla working together was quite high, besides Deus wouldn't possibly have agreed to the abduction of his injured lover. 'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Dammit!'

"I-I need to check something," turning around without another word, Serena tried to escape back to the dungeon but was stopped by Fay and the queen standing right behind her.

"You know something, don't you? I can feel the disturbance in your soul," said Fay, and the queen seemed just as perceptive with her eyes changing shades like an aurora.

"Uhhh…Nothing important, just get out of my way," Serena retorted, slowly reaching to push the two to the side so she could move out of the house.

Before her hand could make contact, however, a pair of shadow hands from Haruki grabbed Serena from behind. Surprised by the sudden cold touch, the priestess's senses perked up and she slowly turned to face her master once again.

"Tell me what you know now," he said, his eyes glowing in the shade of the room's interior. 𝗯𝐞𝐝𝗻𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥.𝐜𝗼𝐦

"It's...uhnn fuck me.." With no way to escape, Serena decided to come out with the truth. But before doing so, she took a deep breath and let out a tired sigh. "Azalea, the girl who was kidnapped, remember? She was, well, pregnant with a kid."

"And that matters how?" Not in the mood for niceties, Haruki wanted her to get straight to the point.

Realizing just how much he was bottling up his emotions after learning about Asuka's kidnapping, Serena couldn't risk testing his patience.

"The thing is, she wasn't pregnant with her lover's kid, instead it was one from a demi-god," she finally revealed.

"A demi-god, you don't mean?!" Squealed the goblin queen, having a clue as to what Serena was getting at.

"No fucking way, a demon wouldn't be able to host life in the womb," Fay retorted with her little knowledge about lust demons.

Turning around to face them once more, Serena glanced between the two before speaking out once again.

"Before she escaped Deus's domain, I'm guessing Dominion's army had already had their fun with the demons, and Dominion himself, I don't know why he did what he did to Azalea," keeping her eyes shut, she took another deep breath before shifting her attention to Fay. "As for not being pregnant, that only applies to lust demons, the others can and will get pregnant if certain conditions are fulfilled. I kept it a secret since it would've scared Azalea and made her recovery worse, and you were all working on creating god-kins so I knew I couldn't tell anyone or that child would've become a test subject as well."

Gently moving the two aside, Serena finally moved outside the room and called onto Hawthorn mentally. Before leaving the place, however, she turned around one last time to say something to her master.

"I'll talk to Dominion and find out if he has a clue about what's happening, and I assume you're going to be hunting Asuka's kidnappers and the demon lords in the meantime?" To her question, Haruki gave a simple nod.

Even though there was much to discuss, the group had already wasted enough time in the village, and delaying the search for the companions any longer was bound to blow up in their faces. Thus, teleporting the girls back to the dungeon, Haruki asked them to keep an eye on Asmodia while she adjusted to the new body and even help Serena in any way possible.

"Hawthorn, find me where the demon lords are hiding, it is time to get rid of them finally,"

'It may take a while and if they're hiding in Feral lands or the emperor's domain then I can't reach them currently.'

"Why's that?" Haruki asked.

'Someone's messing with anti-detection magic, I couldn't get in touch with you either before when Serena wanted me to.' Replied the dragon-kin, but this time there was something more that he had to say. "Also, there's something I want to discuss."

Making his way out of the house, Haruki hummed a curious tone, allowing him to go on with his discussion.

'This would be my last task for you, mother wants us to abandon this world and live in altered plains until this shitstorm breezes over.' Hearing his demand, Haruki was not surprised in the slightest. If anything, he wasn't sure why Rose ever allowed them to make use of Hawthorn's abilities for so long.

"You've done enough, both your family deserves,," saying that, the emperor of lust hunted for distractions. "Find me the demon lords, Asuka's whereabouts as well as Riley's and you're free to do whatever you want."

'As you say, for one last time.' With that, the dragon's voice trailed off.

Making his way through the village, Haruki had the guards heighten security in case the culprit behind Inferno and Reya's death decides to come back. In doing so, he scattered rumors around town that trailed from one ear to the other, getting more and more extreme as they passed through every other lip.

'Margarette…I haven't seen her in a while either, hopefully she's fine and we can find Riley before she finds out about her disappearance.' Pondering whether to return to Laria to talk to her face to face, Haruki settled down on a bench near the training ground and barracks inside the village. 'Everything seems to be crumbling, I don't have much time in this body either, for all I know Asuka and the rest might be dead, and there are plenty of others still hunting us down. How did it come to this? I thought all I needed was power to keep everything and everyone in check.'

Lost in deep thoughts, he finally reached a final conclusion.

'I promised them safety under my wings, I suppose it's time to make good on that damned promise.' Picking himself up, he began walking toward the battalion leaders training with their soldiers to for the final time drain out some levels and face the monsters haunting every moment of his existence. 'The god-kins will keep them safe, all I need to do is to buy them enough time to perfect the production lines.'

Loading up a metaphorical coffin on his shoulders, Haruki was ready to die once more, even if it meant leaving behind everything and everyone he'd worked so hard for. And that started with draining enough strength to survive a world filled with enemies, that included even the most viscous of heavenly bodies as well as the former lord of lust, Asmodia.

'We can't kill each other, but I can still drain her until she's but a rotting corpse.' Planning to give her the attention that she's always wanted, he began preparing to manipulate her with emotions and the touch of the body. 'But first…'

His eyes fixed on the soldiers in front, Haruki began draining them all with just a touch from his fingers.