The Seven Devils – Chapter 30

While Aaron was teaching Alfie the Aurora Realm’s main written language, Lord Noah Wakefield, on the other hand, was busy working on his report for the upcoming international conference, which was to take place in the Wulin Kingdom. The lord spent that whole day and night locked up in his office and library, which resided in the headquarters of the magic research department. As was his habit, he neglected to feed himself in the process, despite the mysterious appearance of meals beside his elbow now and again. Indeed, when he was deep in thought and busy with work, even if the world were about to come to an end, Lord Noah wouldn’t have noticed. He was that absorbed in whatever task he happened to be doing.

It was morning of the next day when Brenna Kent, his pretty assistant of a cat person, came in through the door and asked loudly, “My lord? Are you still in here?”

Noah raised his head and blinked, more than a little perplexed. He thought he told her to leave him be to his work a few moments ago.

He said, “Brenna? As I’ve told you before, I’m busy. Don’t bother me again until tomorrow.”

Brenna finally located him behind a huge pile of papers on his desk. So, she thought, he hadn’t moved an inch from his seat since she had left him to it last night.

She poked her head around to see him, two cat ears sticking up prominently from her head. She said, “But it is morning now, my lord, and you haven’t eaten anything since lunchtime yesterday afternoon. As your assistant, I’m very concerned.”

Just as she said that, Noah’s stomach growled loudly. Yes, he was a demon lord, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to eat. The dark qi residing within his being, as well as with all the other lords, required a lot of sustenance to nourish it—and him—after all.

The moment he realized he was absolutely starving, his body responded by weakening even more, and his head flopped onto the pile of paper in front of him, his masked face buried in it.

“My lord!” Brenna shouted in a panic. “Get ahold of yourself.”

A few moments later, Noah found himself lounging on a comfy couch in the sitting area of the research department, nursing a headache. Well, served him right for overworking yet again.

As she made him a cup of black coffee, Brenna said, “You must have been using too much dark qi on your research again, my lord.”

Resting his forearm over his eyes to block out the bright light, Noah said, “It can’t be helped. The conference is in a month, and I have a shitload to do before that. The reports. The presentations. Not to mention the many new potions we’ve just created. And one of them definitely needed a few more test subjects before it could be launched.”

“Are you talking about that top secret one?” Brenna asked. “The one that is used to increase strength? The golden pill?”

“Mm-hmm,” Noah responded. “It’ll be a game changer for the soldiers, for sure, if all goes right. Magic enhancement. Magic evolution.”

Magical enhancement—which led to the enhancement of body and an increase in strength—happened when a small amount of golden qi was acquired by the body, such as from Lord Noah’s golden pills he had developed with a top secret formula.

Magic evolution, on the other hand, as the name implied, was a type of magical power that could lead one who acquired a tremendous amount of golden qi—one of the rare types that was almost nonexistent in the universe—to evolve not only in physical appearance and strength, but internal qi as well.

Typically, one could acquire an enormous amount of the golden qi by sucking the energy from powerful beasts in the catastrophic class. But, of course, one would have to kill the beast first, which was simply impossible and would be akin to a death sentence or suicide. After all, a catastrophic class beast was the highest level and most dangerous in the disaster beast classification system. One simply didn’t challenge such a monster that had the power and ability to destroy the whole realm with a simple flick of its claws or a mere puff of its breath. The four known catastrophic beasts that still exist today were the black tortoise, the green dragon, the white tiger, and the red phoenix.

“But the golden pill looks good so far, doesn’t it?” Brenna asked. “All the test subjects have had their strength increased by two-fold since taking the pill. That means the enhancer, at least, is working.”

Noah said, “All the physical stuff, yes. As for their qi, there’s no change in that, which means that magic evolution has not worked because the golden qi in the pill is kept at a very low percentage. Well, they’ll have to increase the cultivation of that themselves through sheer hard work.”

“Which isn’t a bad thing. One simply shouldn’t go from zero to hero without hard work,” Brenna said as she came over and handed him the hot drink. “Here you go, my lord.”

Noah removed his forearm from his face and immediately groaned in despair as he squinted his eyes against the glaring light. Damn, it was just too bright for his liking.

He grabbed the hot drink gratefully and was about to down the lot in one go when Brenna said, “And your pill, my lord.”

Noah looked at the little glowing blue painkiller and sighed. “I suppose the headache isn’t going to go away by itself anytime soon.”

Brenna chuckled. “Unfortunately, it won’t.”

Noah took the pill and popped it into his mouth. Then he drank the black coffee to his heart’s content. Once done, he said with a pleasant sigh, “Ahh…that’s better.”

“I know it’s too early for lunch, but what would you like to eat? I’ll order something for you from the kitchen.”

He waved his hand in the air, unconcerned. “Whatever is fine.” Then he flopped back on the couch, lazing there like a very bored prince.

Whatever is fine, eh? Although Noah must admit if there was white rice cooked in a unique style the way the Wulin and Yamato citizens cooked theirs, he’d be pleased. He was currently craving such a thing, after all, and even dreamed about it when his mind wasn’t on his work.

Yes, Noah had fallen in love with white rice the first time he had stepped foot in the Wulin and Yamato Kingdoms and had tasted their oriental cuisine many years ago. The way the glistening cooked grains melted in his mouth that first time had been pure heaven. He had thought many times about stealing one of those kingdoms’ top chefs and bringing him back to Acaedien to work specifically for him. But, of course, he had never had the chance to do such a sneaky thing. The yearly conference had always been so hectic with meetings that he had never had any spare time.

Interrupting his thoughts, Brenna said, “Then I’ll ask the staff to make you some sandwiches since it’s fast.”

Noah nodded his head in the affirmative. “And I’ll be right here waiting and snoozing. I’m tired.”

Brenna chuckled in amusement. “Well, that’s what you get when you’ve neglected to look after yourself. You haven’t slept and eaten properly for over two months now, since even before I left for the mission, which is a record, by the way. Now, I do know that a demon lord can go without sleep for long periods of time because of your dark qi, but you simply don’t eat right, my lord, which makes it worse, and your body simply can’t function properly. That dark qi of yours needs a tremendous amount of nourishment to keep you going. You definitely need a wife to take care of you, my lord.”

“Wife?” Noah snorted in disgust. “No, thank you. The woman would interfere with my life’s work. Getting a wife is Geoffrey’s job. He’s three thousand years old, for God’s sake! Our kingdom will need an heir or two within the next five to six thousand years.”

Brenna chuckled. “Aren’t you yourself about three thousand years old as well, my lord?”

Noah frowned darkly, and said, “Stop making such unsavory statements, Brenna. Now go and get me those sandwiches before I’m starved to death.”

As Brenna headed to the door, she said with humor in her voice, “You won’t starve to death, my lord. You’re a demon, after all. Just suck a bit of pure qi and you’re as good as new.”

Pure qi, eh? Like he’d ever find anyone with that within the kingdom. They were rare, after all, only second from the gold qi. If Noah could find one with pure qi, he’d ensnare the little thing and lock him up in his laboratory just so he could suck the qi whenever he desired. Pure qi was his top favorite food, after all.

Of course, the demon lord had all but forgotten about trivial matters that didn’t relate to his work, such as the fact that Alfie had pure qi and was currently residing within the palace in the east wing, a mere stone’s throw away from his department and personal quarters.

Once Brenna was gone, Noah closed his eyes and proceeded to relax. He admitted the morning breeze from the open windows was nice. The condition was perfect for his long-overdue nap. Yes, the lord hadn’t slept for over two months now, and thus, he gratefully dozed off, dreaming about pure qi and white rice.

It was just a few moments later when he thought he heard light footsteps entering the room, followed by soft voice calling out, “Hello? Is anyone here?”

Brenna? Was she back already? And why the hell would she be asking if anyone was around when she already knew he was here, lying on the couch, half dead due to starvation?

Suddenly, a whiff of something exotic caressed his nostrils, and his mouth started watering.

Did Brenna bring something fancy back rather than the boring sandwiches?

Noah forced his tired eyes open. Once he managed that, he could only stare in pleasant surprise at the sight before him. A youthful, pretty face was merely inches away from his, along with a pair of deep-brown eyes gazing right at him—or rather his demonic mask filled with ancient signs, symbols, and script—with fascination.

Noting that the lovely being was busy studying his mask and not paying any attention to him and the fact that he was awake, Noah took the opportunity and lazily moved his gaze to the straight nose and then the plump, sensual lips, which seemed very enticing.

Fuck! Noah wondered if he was dreaming about a pretty little elf here to relieve his sexual frustration. Not that he was into boys, of course, but this one looked feminine enough and so damned pretty that he wouldn’t mind.

Then he sensed it, the pure qi floating about the youth’s body. Granted, it was weak, but it was still there.

Noah narrowed his eyes and used magic perception to analyze the qi. And voilà, there it was, glistening white light circling about the boy.

In Lord Noah Wakefield’s current world, there were only three things that he loved and cherished most. They were the Acaedien Kingdom and its citizens, his life’s work, and, of course, pure qi.

Thinking that the heavens above were rewarding him with a very tantalizing gift for his hard work as of late, Noah felt he couldn’t help himself, and he smiled with glee. He was low in qi, after all, and was currently starving, too.

Thus, he swiftly wrapped his strong arms around the lovely being and drew the youth over to him. He heard a delicate, surprised gasp. But, of course, Noah shut that up by pressing his lips against the youth’s and proceeded to suck the enticing pure qi with pleasure.

“Ngh…” came the delicate groan that only served to provoke the raging fire of need burning hot inside the demon lord.

Fuck! This youth was undeniably delicious, and Noah found he couldn’t stop himself from wanting more. He urged the youth’s lips to part for him, and when the soft flesh did, Noah plunged his tongue right into that mouth, caressing and stroking as he drank in the delicacy of pure qi.

When he finally terminated the kiss and moved back, he noted the boy was as dazed as could be, his eyes bright and his face flushed red. Shit!The boy was fucking adorable. He wanted more.

Noah proceed to draw the boy in again, then he felt a slender hand press against his lips, pushing him back.

What the…?

The youth said, breathless, “Stop sucking my qi, my lord. Otherwise, I’ll have nothing left in me.”