Kaelgor had offered his own blood daughter.
She was the perfect offering: valuable, pure, and, most importantly, expendable.
She was a resource he had on hand, one that would cost him nothing to part with and would secure the newborn's full cooperation.
Well, almost nothing, as taking her primal yin himself was always an option.
Still, it was the most efficient solution for the situation at hand.
"She will be delivered," Kaelgor stated, his tone final, "Consider it a show of good faith. Ensure your distractions are worthy of the 'feast' I bring you."
With that, he turned, his plan now set in motion, his mind already plotting how to retrieve his daughter and use her to purchase not just his freedom, but the potential conquest of two rival armies.
A satisfied grin at the corner of his mouth as he took a single glance back, as his body melded into the darkness. He had achieved his goals, and much more.
Seeing him leave, a dark thrill shot through Adam as he had sealed a deal with Kaelgor.
Another female devil!
A pure-blood no less, and with her primal yin an untouched source of power waiting to be claimed.
The thought of obtaining another made him jittery with anticipation.
Calming his 'rising' agitation, Adam tried to focus on the task at hand.
A mental image of the staggering complex grand teleportation array was now burned into his mind.
It was arcane knowledge that promised freedom on an unimaginable scale.
For a moment, he was drunk on the thought; unbound, free to leave and take the nexus to where ever he so desired.
But the intoxication was brief.
Cold reality washed over him, a sobering splas of hell's unforgiving eco-system. This was a dance on the edge of a blade.
The power he was playing with was not his own; it was a borrowed weapon, a stolen fragment of an Arch Devil's might.
Outputting even a fraction of its energy was a risk.
Too much, too fast, and the resulting shockwave wouldn't just be a diversion; it would be a dinner bell for every ancient being that had their interest laid in this region of hell.
Hell, Adam found himself blessed; his luck being that nobody came knocking when he had used the attack rune earlier that day.
He couldn't afford to let excitement cloud his judgment.
His mind, sharpened by survival and a devil's innate cunning, began sorting the chaos into a precise plan of action.
First, the dimensional gate.
It was his foundation to power, his original purpose.
It would be finished tomorrow by his current estimate. Then, after completing that, he would begin the daunting task of inscribing the grand teleportation array onto the nexus itself.
That would be his primary focus, a project of days, perhaps weeks, requiring his undivided attention... maybe even the girls could be of some use.
But for now, Kaelgor needed his diversion.
The solution itself was simple.
He didn't need to personally flicker the nexus's power; this was a much easier, if not more tedious task.
He could delegate.
He turned from the barrier, his stride strong and undaunted as he returned to the heart of his territory.
The basin was settling into a restless night.
Many demons had succumbed to exhaustion, curling into rough dens or simple holes in the ground. But a significant force, led by the ever-dutiful Roh, was still toiling under the hellish gloom.
Their project: the raised, balcony-like room that would extend over the platform housing the dimensional gate. It was nearly complete, its stone walls rising swiftly under the coordinated effort of dozens of powerful demons.
Once near the platform, Adam's eyes found Roh immediately.
The demon was focused intensely, barking orders, his newly healed arm moving with purpose.
"Roh," Adam's voice cut through the sound of working, grunting demons; his command resonating directly with Roh, carrying an absolute authority.
Roh instantly turned and ran over before dropping to one knee, "Master!"
"I have a new task for you," Adam began, "Starting now, you are to release minuscule amounts of the nexus's power. A flicker, no, a pulse. Just enough to show off the nexus's majestic power. The intervals are to be random. The timing, the duration; those things I will leave to your judgment. Just be sure to not expose too much power."
It was a perfect lie.
It gave Roh a task of immense importance, feeding his pride and loyalty, while creating the exact 'crumbs' of power Kaelgor needed to keep the other devils distracted.
The randomness would make the phenomenon seem natural, unpredictable, and therefore more intriguing to the devil's who craved forbidden knowledge.
Roh's eyes widened slightly, then hardened with resolve. He was being trusted with the heart of his master's power. Allowed to control the nexus, albeit with little actual power.
"It will be done, Master. I will not fail."
Branding through task, loyalty… a sense of purpose.
Lingering shadows of Adam's will seemed to creep around the oblivious and dutiful berserker demon.
Adam then went on to directly show Roh how to use the pedestal, and on how much power was needed. He was making sure that Roh didn't unleashed too much power and end his plans prematurely.
The teaching was done swiftly.
'I should reward such loyalty~' The thought arose as Adam saw Roh meticulously get accustomed to interfacing with the pedestal.
Satisfied, Adam didn't linger, for his part here was done.
Now, it was time to unleash suppressed desires.
He turned and began the long, familiar ascent up the black obelisk.
Another dangerous chapter of his new life was beginning, and every instinct told him he could only trust himself to see it through.
Each step was a movement away from the petty dramas of the basin, away from the tempting thoughts of future female devils, and towards the waiting, lithe and supple bodies of his women.
He climbed towards the highest point, towards the attack rune and the room that overlooked everything.
Below him, his kingdom hummed with activity.
Above him, the silent, dark swirling miasma awaited him.
A curtain drawing open for what is to come.
Before, as Adam left to meet with Kaelgor…
The ascent up the obelisk was a silent, tense journey for Agri and Blair.
The familiar handholds and carved steps felt different this time, each one taking them further away from their master's side and towards an uncertain, slightly awkward encounter.
Adam had always been the glue to their relationships, to their interactions, but now, he was not going to be there.
The hum of the nexus was a constant in the stone beneath their bare-foot steps, a power they had helped forge, but now felt utterly numb to them.
Agri's thoughts were filled with anxiety.
'Why did he send us away? Did it have something to do with the brute? He was looking at us, then he just... left. Now we have to wait with… her.'
How she dreaded being alone with 'Her'.