First Demonic Dragon

Out of all of Abaddon's aides, family, and close confidants, Lailah was the one who's opinion and estimations everyone tended to value the most.

She was fair, and smart as a whip, and most if not all of her assessments usually yielded exactly the kind of results she predicted.

But more than that, it was how much she cared that usually won people over.

Everyone knows that Lailah's upbringing had made her a bit more hard and cold than most others.

But they also knew that was just a coping mechanism.

In truth, she was more warm and fluffy than anyone else; she just expressed it through giving out unsolicited advice and information dumping past the point where anyone can follow her.

But it all comes from a good place.

Since Abaddon knew that he didnt hesitate to pull Lailah outside when she started behaving strangely.

Together, the two of them walked hand-in-hand through the halls of their false home.

A large castle floats in the sky above the capital city just like back in Sheol, but few know it is not Abaddon's actual home.

Instead, it is more so a place where different governmental agencies and foundations intersect to conduct meetings and such.

Currently, the couple had wandered all the way into the empty throne room entirely on accident.

Instead of sitting on th actual throne, the two sat on the steps leading up to it; and basked in the dim room illuminated only by candles.

"Why... didn't you sign the contract?" Lailah finally asked after a long silence.

"You didn't seem to want me to."

"I am not happy about it, but it is a necessary thing... I can see the absurdity of your power, and understand the position it could put Yesh and Asherah in." Lailah nodded thoughtfully.

"But...?" Abaddon waited.

"I'm... still your wife." Lailah smiled helplessly. "I don't know if I will ever be fully okay with you losing even a bit of your power, voluntarily or not.

We live dangerous lives, and the amount of enemies against us seems to be never-ending and constantly growing.

I don't like the odds of the unthinkable happening if you are caught against another army without your most powerful abilities at your back."

They say that knowledge is a curse, and Lailah knows that better than anyone since becoming a knowledge goddess.

Things like statistics, probabilities, and logistics were on her mind at a near constant basis, and sometimes made it difficult for her to enjoy life.

And when she was in the middle of a high-intensity situation? Forget about it.

She was just like one big mass of nerves and anxiety that practically demanded to be medicated.

Abaddon listened to all of his wife's concerns without interrupting, and when she was done he seemed to have reached an easy conclusion.

"I see... I guess I should work on bettering my odds, hm?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Abaddon reclined all the way back on the steps and stretched his body to dispel any stiffness. "I assume you know by now... I sometimes have issues giving up the reigns of control."

"You?? No..." Lailah covered her mouth in faux surprise.

"Alright, alright." Abaddon rolled his eyes. "My point is that even without my sins I've cultivated other powers.

Our soldiers, our children, our family... I should make better use of them instead of treating them all like glass statues... this will be the perfect opportunity for me to learn that lesson."

Silence persisted for so long that Abaddon began to get concerned.

He cracked one eye open to see exactly what his wife was doing and found her staring at him with her jaw slack.

"...What is that look for?"

"My husband... has finally understood that he is raising dragons and not chickens, and he doesn't have to solo every threat by himself? Is this truly you? Am I dreaming? Drunk? High? Hallucin-"

Abaddon took off his belt and used it to wrap around Lailah's head.

After tying it so tightly that her jaw had no room to move; she looked like a giant present with a bow on top.

'I can still speak to your mind, you know..?'

"Ughh.."

Abaddon stood up and started to leave his wife behind in the throne room.

Nevertheless, she followed closely behind him like a little duckling and began pestering him with seemingly no end in sight.

'Has a miracle suddenly occurred? Is Mira going to start cleaning her closet too? Or maybe you have just been brain jacked by an extra dimensional entity and are now-'

"Next time you are upset, dear... I think I am going to leave you that way." Abaddon decided.

'How cruel!'

Abaddon opened the doors to the throne room so that he could head back and was understandably surprised to find Yesh sitting right in the hallway.

The creator was seated against a wall performing a sudoku puzzle.

Oddly enough, he looked just as surprised to see them as they were to see him.

'What's this...? Are you two done already?'

"Done with what exactly, Old man?"

'Relations. I assumed that when the two of you walked off by yourselves that it was inevitable what it would lead to.'

Abaddon didn't know how to feel about that kind of assumption. "Honestly... What do you take me for??"

'A man who worries not for time place or circumstance and is only focused on engaging in sexual rations that, though passionate, are too excessive for the normal person. The same as most sex deities.'

"...Even if that's somewhat true, I still know how to pick time and pla-"

'I would have liked to have done something, but this big brute tied my jaw shut.' Lailah pointed to the bow on top of her head.

"Wait, really?"

Lailah only winked at him.

Abaddon recalled his wife's ability to change her tongue into that of a serpent, and he began to feel a bit bitter about his missed opportunity.

Conversely, Lailah recognized the discreet look of regret on her husband's face and received near instant vindication.

While Abaddon was pondering turning around for the sake of deepening their matrimonial bond, Yesh suddenly pulled out the contract out of thin air.

'So... What have you decided?' He asked warily.

Lailah looked at her husband out of the corner of her eye and found him chuckling to himself.

"I'm going to sign it, old man, no need to act so anxious." Abaddon bit his finger so that a drop of his golden blood could fall on the paper.

There was a brief flash of light before the parchment went up in smoke and was gone for good.

But Abaddon didn't feel weaker or less powerful at all.

However, there was something that he was feeling now…

"If you'll excuse me..."

"Mmh?!"

Abaddon suddenly hoisted Lailah over his shoulder and stepped back into the throne room.

"We're going to engage in a little bit of excess for a moment if you don't mind. Give Asherah our best, yea?" he waived.

'Uhhh...'

Yesh watched the doors slowly close between himself and the young couple, and he finally remembered the last item on his agenda.

'Oh right! Before you go, do you have a sacred animal by chance?'

Abaddon froze in the midst of groping Lailah. "I... a sacred animal?"

'Mhm. Something to sacrifice in your name that helps one commune with you, I'm sure you're familiar with the concept.'

"Naturally, but I don't particularly have an animal I have a higher affinity for than any other. I like them all." he replied honestly.

'I see...' Yesh rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'Perhaps I will just give out your phone number instead.'

"Excuse me!? The hell you will!"

'I've been getting a lot of prayers from those wishing to commune with you. I have to give them something or they'll keep pestering my wife and I.' Yesh shrugged.

"Just ignore them?"

'I would, but there are a few with louder voices than`others. It will be faster if I can get them off my back this way.'

Abaddon's dry gaze intensified. "So you're throwing me to the wolves so that you can go back to being a NEET?"

'Would you not do the same if the situation were reversed?'

"You are literally supposed to be better than me!"

Yesh shrugged.

Abaddon rubbed his temples in annoyance. "Let's just go with a Komodo Dragon, yea?"

'Pretty on the nose, don't you think?'

Abaddon ignored him and started to shut the door again when he paused; realizing that he neglected to ask a very important question.

"Exactly… who are these loud voices that bother even the creator himself?"

'Ah, the heads of the Sumerian, Hoodoo, and Hindu pantheons… As well as Buddha himself.'

Yesh disappeared so quickly after explaining that he completely missed the look of sheer surprise on the face of the youngest primordial.

None of those people mentioned just now attended the most recent battle in Asgard, but Abaddon had never known why.

Now he wondered just what they possibly could have had to say to him, and whether it was friendly or unfriendly in nature.

'How funny… even after all of this time, I'm still bad at meeting new people.'

-

Thrudd raised her sword overhead and called down another volley of red lightning onto the battlefield.

The resulting explosion knocked men aside by the tens and nearly deafened the planet's remaining inhabitants.

In the midst of her battle, Thrudd suddenly heard one of her favorite voices play in her mind.

'Get ready to wrap it up, little Thruddie. You and your brother only have three minutes left.'

'E-Eh?! Already, Mama B?'

'Yes, already.' Bekka laughed in her ear. 'This isn't an actual war, you know?'

'I-I know, but it's just nice to pretend a bit and use everything I've been practicing! Are you sure I can't get two extra minutes..?'

'Sorry sweet pea, but these recruits are about to drop at any moment now. You're already pushing them quite a bit, and they're still poisoned.' Bekka denied.

'Aww…' Thrudd visibly deflated as she half heartedly deflected a meteor that had been pulled out of the sky to crush her.

'Fufufu, don't be so disappointed. I called for a special visitor so that you can atleast go out with a bang.'

As if she were never depressed, Thrudd's eyes lit back up and her tail wagged so hard that she knocked a woman unconscious with the force she created.

'Y-You mean it?! He's really coming?!' Even in her mind, Thrudd screamed in excitement.

'It was tough to get him out of bed, but he's up now and should be there any second. Put on a grand finale for all of us, alright dear?'

At that moment, Thrudd looked up in the sky and smiled impossibly wide as a large black beast came barreling through the dark storm clouds like a nightmare.

'This. Will. Be. Awesome!!'