Chapter 23: Asmodesus & Lin Qui

In this strange place, there was no wind.

No sound.

No sky.

The world was swallowed by darkness, thick and endless. The only source of light came from a mighty red gate standing in the distance, its base submerged in the still water below. That crimson glow bled outward, staining the surface like diluted blood.

Damian stared at his feet.

He was standing on the blood-colored water.

Not sinking.

Not floating.

Standing.

“How did I get here in the first place?” he muttered to himself.

The last thing he remembered was ejaculating. Then a barrage of system messages. Then darkness.

Blackout.

“Aah… you are the next unfortunate soul to carry this curse?”

The voice was smooth. Calm. Almost amused.

Damian’s head snapped up. His gaze scanned the endless void until it found him.

A lone figure sat cross-legged atop the blood water as if it were solid ground. He wore flowing purple hanfu robes embroidered with fox patterns identical to those on Hazel’s clothes.

His snow-white hair, streaked with violet, cascaded down his shoulders and spilled onto the surface of the water, spreading like silk.

When Damian finally saw his face, he froze.

This man was beauty refined to perfection. Long lashes framed burning violet irises with black slits at the center. His features were sharp yet gentle, powerful yet elegant.

And yet…

Golden chains wrapped around his body.

They stretched backward into the darkness beyond the red gate looming behind him.

“This…” Damian swallowed. He didn’t even know where to begin.

“How are my wives?”

The melodic voice stole his attention again. Despite his chains, despite the ominous gate behind him, the man smiled softly.

The smile reminded Damian of Hazel.

’When you sleep with someone a lot, you guys do start to look alike.’

The thought slipped into his mind before he could stop it.

Then it hit him.

This was the real husband!

The original one!!

The man whose wives he had been sleeping with!!!

“Errm… Hazel is doing alright. I’m yet to meet the others.”

His voice sounded awkward even to his own ears. He couldn’t hold the man’s gaze.

“Hahaha…”

The chained man laughed lightly.

“Don’t worry about it. They are yours to protect now. It’s only natural you have them.”

With just one glance, he had seen through Damian’s thoughts.

He gestured calmly. “Sit.”

Damian was about to comply when the world trembled and a voice boomed through the darkness like rolling thunder.

“Lin Qui, won’t you send that boy over to me?”

The sound shook the water. The gate pulsed brighter. The voice was forceful yet gentle. Harsh yet soothing. It was contradictory in every way. Damian’s curiosity rose despite the dread clawing at his spine.

“Who is that?”

Lin Qui slowly lifted his head, reluctance filled his eyes.

“Who else would it be?”

The voice answered for him.

“I am Asmodeus, the Sin of Lust.”

The gate glowed brighter.

“Now come closer. Let this old demon see the face of its new successor…”

Damian shuddered.

Every instinct in his body screamed danger. His head throbbed as if invisible alarms were blaring inside his skull. He clutched his temples and turned to Lin Qui.

The chained man slowly shook his head. Dread was written plainly across his beautiful face.

“What is going on?” Damian demanded.

“Sit, and I’ll tell you.”

Damian lowered himself onto the blood water opposite Lin Qui. The surface did not ripple.

The discussion began.

Lin Qui first tested Damian’s knowledge of the supernatural. The disappointment in his expression grew with every answer.

“You know so little,” he said quietly.

Then he explained. The power of lust was freely given but it was never truly theirs. The inheritance of the Seven Sins originated from the first seven demons of Hell. Though those demons had met their demise tens of thousands of years ago, their consciousness remained alive within each Sin.

“They never truly died,” Lin Qui said softly.

“So that is the progenitor of the Sin of Lust?”

Damian looked past him toward the towering red gate. Beyond it was pure darkness. Nothing visible.

“The final test to attain the full power of your Sin,” Lin Qui continued, “is to defeat that thing.”

He smiled bitterly.

“No one has succeeded since the throne of Heaven and the Underworld fell into the hands of mortals.”

The bitterness deepened.

“In the end, demons and angels still rule the heavens and the underworld. We are but a momentary distraction.”

Damian’s chest tightened.

“So in the end… we become them?”

Agitation surged through him. When Hazel told him about mortals ruling the underworld he was stunned, excited and hopeful. But now the truth has been revealed to him, how could he not feel disappointed?

If this was true, then everything he was building, everything he was enduring, would end with Asmodeus taking over his body.

He was cultivating himself into a vessel.

A tool.

“For the heavens, who preach selflessness and all that nonsense, they are persuaded into accepting it,” Lin Qui said, his tone sharpening. “But we… the rebellious bunch of the underworld… we look for another way.”

His eyes suddenly flashed with fierce determination.

“And I found one.”

He paused.

“But it cost me my life.”

Lin Qui straightened his posture.

Snap.

A purple flame ignited in his palm. When it vanished, an ancient scroll remained suspended in the air between them. At the same time, system messages exploded across Damian’s vision.

[Faustian Bargain Initiated by Lin Qui]

[Name: Faustian Bargain]

[Type: Contract Skill]

[Description: This is a popular skill used by even the weakest demons and angels. It is a sacred and forbidden pact that allows the user to enter a binding agreement with mortals or deities. Terms of agreement vary depending on the situation and details of agreement but it usually ends with the stronger party demanding the soul of the weaker one in exchange for power, wealth or fame.]

“What are you doing?” Damian asked sharply.

Lin Qui did not answer. Instead, he unfolded the scroll. It was blank at first but a second later words began to burn themselves into the paper.

A language Damian could not recognize carved itself into existence in glowing script. The writing stopped only after forming two segments, each bearing a name.

One for Lin Qui.

One for Damian.

Space for signatures beneath.

The system chimed again.

[Faustian Bargain Initiated by Lin Qui]

[Terms:]

[You must remain married to Hazel, Ruby and Racheal till death]

[You cannot directly or indirectly perform actions that will harm Hazel, Ruby and Racheal]

[You cannot open the gates of Asmodeus until you have attained the title of deity]

[You must defeat Asmodeus or immediately end your life should you fail]

[In an unforeseeable future where you lose to Asmodeus and commit suicide, you must pass this Faustian Bargain to the next successor]

[Rewards:]

[Accumulated 300 Talent Points]

[Inheritance: The Abyss]

The red gate pulsed behind them. The darkness beyond it seemed to breathe. And somewhere within that void, something ancient frowned.

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