Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

Chapter 852: The Little Ones Beneath Baltimore

"But Luna is still here... I’m so glad..."

The woman’s voice faded into the dripping hush of the tunnel.

Asmodeus watched her for a moment but said nothing. The purified little ones gathered around her feet, their soft blue bodies wobbling like strange sea creatures made from an octopus, a squid, and a puppy all at once.

They chirped and squeaked, rubbing against her tail as if asking what to do next.

’What the hell is this, some kind of Wisney movie?’ He grumbled in his mind.

The black sludge no longer clung to the walls; rather, it’d become a strangely sweet-scented pink fluid that resembled sugar or syrup.

"Hmmm? Oh, do you think this is bad?" She pointed to what had once been dark, black sludge with a bitter smile. "It’s actually extremely beneficial now, without the curse... It’s pure energy, rather... It’s something that helps living creatures live longer!"

Asmodeus wasn’t foreign to this concept. "Something like when mana stones are buried underneath the ground, and enhance the water?"

"Ah!? Do you still do that... great!" She smiled gently.

Axiom’s mana net continued spreading through the canal stone, drinking the worst of the corruption, but Asmodeus could already tell this place wouldn’t be cleansed in a single moment.

The wound beneath Baltimore was too deep, but after she explained everything, he didn’t feel so worried.

’In time, this place will become like the capital... and demon empire, a place blessed with mana-enriched water and soil.’

He shook his head.

’No, something even further... this isn’t just mana but pure life energy...’

Baltimore would likely become the epicentre of health and development. Thanks to this, he would have to tell Paul as soon as he left the dirty sewer.

But what caught his mind more was the hundred or so little fish creatures... he examined them dancing in the air as if it were water. Their aggression and sharp fangs were now gone... some of them even licked his calves like cats.

"Can they follow orders?" he asked.

The woman, petting dozens of them with her tentacles, smiled. "Of course, these little things are cute, right?"

"So they won’t eat humans or attack anymore?"

"Mmmm?" She tapped her lips and tilted her head. "Well, maybe if you don’t attack them, they will be docile and affectionate."

Asmodeus narrowed his eyes because of his golden eyes, and he could see that whenever they licked him, a small portion of mana and healing magic spread through his body.

"Is their body made of..."

"Mhm! Pure life energy!"

She excitedly exclaimed, holding one of the plumper ones in her normal arms.

"They were eating horses earlier."

"That was when they were sick."

"...Convenient."

She puffed her cheeks and stretched the little pink squid thing. "They are sorry too."

After she spoke, they all lined up in front of him, and he stepped back, shocked. Then they all made a loud, almost deafening squeaking noise, and yet somehow he could understand them now.

Asmodeus stared at them.

"...Fine. Then tell them not to bite anyone."

The woman turned toward the small creatures, then clapped her hands softly.

"No biting. No scaring. No eating horses. No licking strangers unless they ask for it or are sick and need healing!"

She spoke with a strange annotation as if mocking Asmodeus, but he couldn’t find the energy to get mad at her.

’She’s one of Serena’s old friends...’

Asmodeus slowly looked at her.

"That last one worries me."

"They are affectionate."

"They look like seafood."

"Don’t eat them!"

The woman tilted her head, clearly not understanding, but followed him as he turned toward the tunnel entrance. The little ones gathered behind them, dozens at first, then more creeping from side drains and broken sacs, their bodies no longer black and twisted but blue, soft, and glimmering faintly with clean mana.

When Asmodeus stepped out of the tunnel, the harbour fell silent.

Paul stood near the barricade with his staff-spear raised, surrounded by soldiers, priests, dockhands, and terrified citizens who had refused to retreat any farther. Their faces were tense and pale, their weapons trembling as the first small creature peeked from behind Asmodeus’ leg.

Someone screamed.

"Monster!"

A fisherman threw a broken crate lid.

It bounced off the stone beside one of the little ones, making it squeak and hide behind the woman’s tail.

The soldiers reacted at once, shields rising.

"Hold!" Paul shouted.

But fear had already begun moving through the crowd.

"Those things killed Bardo’s horse!"

"They came from the drains!"

"Burn them!"

A priest lifted his staff, golden light gathering at its tip. Several civilians surged backwards while others pressed forward, faces twisted by panic, anger, and grief.

The woman froze.

Her pale eyes widened as she looked at them.

The little ones trembled behind her.

Asmodeus didn’t move at first; he couldn’t be the one who came forward. As the Emperor, his words and actions would force those lower than him to act.

He needed someone else to take the first step.

He’d already told the woman, and though she worried at first, she understood.

Paul moved first.

He seemed to have understood something the moment he noticed Asmodeus, without Axiom raising or showing any aggression towards them. Paul understood faster than most and stepped in front of the soldiers and slammed the butt of his staff-spear into the ground.

"Enough!"

The crack echoed across the lower harbour.

"These creatures are not attacking; they’re not the same as those huge things from before... Look! "If they wanted to attack us, why are they quivering?"

"They’re monsters!" someone shouted.

Paul turned sharply. "And yet His Majesty walked out with them alive behind him. Do you think he would bring danger to your children after flying here to save them?"

Although his words silenced many of the people, they didn’t silence all of them.

A woman clutching a crying child pointed with a shaking finger.

"My husband was dragged into the canal!"

Paul’s expression softened, but his voice remained firm.

"And I am sorry. I truly am. But these are no longer the same creatures that crawled from the black water. Look at them." He pointed to two of the stray little squids, who started to eat the corrupted mass before taking little poos, creating a swirl of pure pink goo.

It was no larger than a fat housecat, its rounded eyes blinking nervously. A bit of blue slime dripped from its head as it approached a cracked section of dock where black residue still hissed between the wooden planks.

The woman swallowed, then knelt down beside it.

"Help," she whispered. "Please. Show them you are good, that you don’t want to hurt them."

The little creature chirped.

Then it pressed its body against the damaged wood.

A soft blue light spread from its skin.

The black residue shrank away like dirt washed by rain, and not only did the rotten wood start to repair itself as if someone had used time-reversal magic, but it also became stronger and firmer.

The crowd stared.

Another little one waddled toward a cracked stone wall near the canal. It pressed its stubby limbs against the gap, squeaking with effort as blue mana seeped into the stone. The mossy cracks began to fade, with beautiful stones that glowed a faint pink like crystals or gemstones, forming a bright entrance.

They even shone slightly, creating a natural light source.

Then more followed.

One climbed over a broken fisherman’s shack, spreading clean moisture across splintered beams until they bent back into place. Another rolled into a puddle of black water and drank it down, shivering as Axiom’s lingering mana pulled the corruption out of its body before it could turn sick again.

Priests lowered their staves.

Soldiers exchanged uncertain glances.

The woman bowed her head to the people of Baltimore, hands folded against her chest.

"I am sorry," she said softly. "This is all I can offer."

However, the people of Baltimore had weathered countless bizarre invasions and wars in the past few years. To see these small creatures now helping to heal the wounded city, even the most hardened warriors couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

Paul exhaled, then turned to the soldiers.

"Lower your weapons."

One by one, the shields dropped.

The crowd did not cheer, because fear and loss still remained for most people; a lot of people died.

However, the flicker of hope and a chance at reconciliation lingered.

Asmodeus watched all of it from beside the canal, his halberd resting against his shoulder. He couldn’t have asked for a better result from what happened. Though the restoration wasn’t perfect, the creatures showed an uncanny ability to use the mana of mages to boost their spells and abilities.

’This could be used for sigils, wards and runic defences...’

His eyes shifted toward the little ones repairing what they could.

Strange, ugly-cute creatures born to cleanse a world that kept poisoning itself.

Then he reached out through the bond in his mind and spoke to Serena, who was most likely worried sick about him.

[Serena, are you there?]

After a short pause, a familiar voice answered, calm but instantly alert.

[Dear Husband, how is everything going?]

[I’m fine, but I found something beneath Baltimore.]

[That sounds like the start of a terrible report.]

[It is. There is an Abyssal woman here. Or rather, her consciousness. She claims Leviathan is dead, and that her main body became the seal preventing its return.]

For a moment, even Serena did not answer.

Then her voice returned, and a little hesitantly, she asked something.

[Describe her.]

Asmodeus glanced at the woman as she gently guided two little ones toward a collapsed section of dock, praising them when they managed to clean the black residue from the beams.

He removed the non-human parts of her.

[Eastern appearance, beautiful with sharp features, black hair, a slight tan... huge tits.... a little bit of an airhead.... keeps calling out for her sun.]

[You know her?]

He never expected Serena to suddenly become so sullen; she normally begged him to speak to her more using telepathy like this.

[She’s... someone I thought was dead... It’s strange...]

[Her name was Himari.]

Asmodeus looked toward the strange woman guiding the little ones across the ruined dock.

[Himari?]

[Yes, she is an old friend... from the past, the distant past.]