Chapter 318 Demon Queen of Lust

With the 'feast' over with, everyone retired to their rooms. The new demons chose the unoccupied rooms in the hotel, after taking a bath in the sea aince they didn't know how to use the showers yet. As the others slept, Colin, Alice and Lily decided to contact the Demon Queen of Lust, Asmodious for information on the strange soul crystal. Colin tried using [Chaos Eyes] on the soul crystal, but the system screen simply glitched out whenever he did. Lily set down the white crystal ball while both Colin and Alice nervously sat on the bed. They and Asmodious had parted on a somewhat cordial term, but they, Colin in particular, was afraid how she would react when she heard the full story of what happened. How her daughter got injured fighting a dangerous monster? How he almost stabbed her in the back?

"Lily darling, you called so quickly....did something happen? Someones been feeding you properly, your skin is practically glowing? Is it the demon? The vampire? Or both?" Asmodious said leisurely and suggestively when she appeared, but there was a look of concern in her eyes when she looked at Lily.

"Hi mom." Lily said, happy to see her mother.

"So, what happened? I'm guessing that this isn't a social call." Asmodious said, and Lily looked at her nervously, looking between her mother and Colin.

"I'll tell her what happened." Colin offered and Lily nodded her head. Colin explained everything from the moment he discovered the army of monsters to the battle with War in vivid detail, as he closely watched Asmodious' expression. As he talked, Asmodious nodded her head along, listening to every detail.

"Firstly, congratulations on winning your first real battle and thank you for protecting my daughter." Asmodious said, which visibly surprised all of them

"What, would you rather I kill you for putting my daughter in danger?" Asmodious said in a menacing tone

"No, I think I'll just accept your thank you." Colin said hurriedly, making Asmodious chuckle.

"Besides, the underworld is way more dangerous than before, especially in recent days. The fragments have been wreaking more havoc than before, and they seem to have formed factions among themselves. You said the fragment you fought was named War, and they possessed a strange form of energy that seemed to be a mixture of holy and demonic energy, correct?" Asmodious asked and Colin nodded his head

"I believe they call themselves the heralds of the apocalypse. I'm not sure how many fragments are among them, but they have a cult following of a few hundred demons. I believe their leader is called Alpha. They have been quite a nuisance in several rings lately, and a few members have been reported to possess this strange energy, but they seem to die quickly as their bodies explode from the inside with blue flames. They seem quite unstable, and we believe that the fragments are trying to create a new species stronger than Angels and Demons." Asmodious said and Colin was reminded of what Mephistopheles said while fighting War.

"Mephistopheles said that War's body was a rotting corpse that is using [Death Affinity] to hold both the demonic and holy energy in her body. She also seem to have become some form of monster, since she left this behind." Colin said and took up the black box from beside the bed. Asmodious looked at the box curiously, but her eyes widened when a weird looking soul crystal floated out.

"What the fuck is that?!" Asmodious asked alarmed, as a soul crystal that she has never seen before, that also looked a bit alien appeared infront of her. She calmed down and observed the soul crystal in great fascination.

"Wait, you've never seen one of these before?" Lily asked in surprise

"Nope." Asmodious answered

"But you said you guys encountered more demons like War." Alice spoke up for the first time

"I did, but they never left anything behind. The fragment must have been powerful enough to preserve some of it's power before it burned to ash. Gimme?" Asmodious said, stretching out her hand with a greedy expression

"How? We are not even in the same dimension." Colin asked with a raised eyebrow, and in, response pink smoke was emmited from the crystal ball and created a rune in midair, before a small portal was created. Seeing the portal, Colin hesitated for a moment.

"What are you waiting for?" Asmodious asked and cold sweat started dripping down his face, before he swallowed his fear and spoke.

"I want something in return." Colin said and Asmodious cocked her head as she looked at him.

"You dare to bargain with me, the Demon Queen of Lust? How bold? Fine, what do you want young demon king?" Asmodious asked with an amused smile.

"I want books on runes as well as grimoires." Colin said and Asmodious looked at him weirdly before smiling. After thinking about his options for a while, Colin decided that the best thing he could ask for was knowledge. He could have asked for armour and weapons of higher tiers, but if he did, he most likely wouldn't be able to wield them properly, and powerful weapons wouldn't put him on the same level of a higher tiered demon, or a creature like War. So, as they say, knowledge is power. Besides, if he got too greedy, Asmodious might just kill him on the spot.

"It seems you have a brain under that handsome face, give me a few minutes." Asmodious said and disappeared for a minute, before reappearing, a small leather bag appeared through the small portal.

"Everything you need is in the spatial bag, and with that, our deal is complete." Asmodious said, and Colin felt a powerful force pull on the soul crystal, easily breaking it from his grasp and sending it into the portal.

'She could have done that the entire time?' Colin thought, confused as he wondered why she agreed to trade with him.

"Oh, and by the way Lily, your siblings should arrive in a few days, if my calculations are correct. I hope you'll treat them with the same hospility you would treat me." Asmodious said with a smile as her body disappeared.