Adam's situation was already at rock bottom.
Surrounded on all sides, enemies keeping on eye on him, and with his plans in shambles.
So why keep worrying about what could be?
Why let doubt and fear paralyze him?
They said they wanted to be under his lead, to follow him.
Why question it at a time like this?
Still, it wasn't like he would completely trust them.
Trust was a luxury he could not afford, a poison that had already nearly killed him.
But that didn't mean that he couldn't use them in the end.
They were powerful, experienced, and they had come at the perfect time!
Nyx smiled seductively, her forked tongue flickering between her lips, as she grabbed a hold of Adam's arm and stood up near him; her body's heat brushing up against his.
Her hand felt soft and smooth against his skin, her touch light and deliberate. Her gaze was hopeful, and greedy, thinking about just how lucky and talented the devil before her was.
When they had first met, she had been taller, stronger, yet now she was definitely on the smaller side. While her true strength was still up in the air, the gap between them had narrowed significantly.
His three-meter form shadowed over her two and a half meter body, making her feel almost delicate in comparison.
She was currently the tallest female present, but against him, she felt small.
Her skin was the color of gentle smoke, a light gray that seemed to shimmer with the faintest of blues in the hellish light.
It was smooth and seemingly soft to the touch, stretched over a sleek body of corded muscle that moved with a serpentine grace. The dramatic swell of her hips and the narrow taper of her waist were accentuated by the way her body shifted, each movement a silent invitation.
Her breasts were high and proud, being the smallest yet perkiest ones he had seen thus far. Closely looking, they seemed to be tipped with points of a darker, almost black shade that seemed to drink the hellish light, barely hiding the enticing nipples behind.
It was her body's natural cover for her nudity, a thin, almost invisible layer of shadow that preserved her modesty while still leaving everything to the imagination.
Glancing down, even the space between her legs seemed to have a 'V' of darkness that hid her beauty…
All of his admiration only took a second before he forced his lust behind his mind.
There would be time for that later, but for now, he had to focus on survival.
He glanced at the other two devils, their expressions a mixture of amusement and impatience.
Borog, and Letras were watching him, no, her with calculating gazes; their arms crossed and their bodies relaxed.
"We wish to follow you, but we won't be doing what that one does." They bluntly stated that they also wanted to follow him, but they wouldn't put on a show since they didn't want to fuck him.
The words were a subtle mockery, a pointed jab at Nyx's obvious attempt at seduction.
"Hmph!"
Nyx snorted softly but didn't bother denying anything.
A slight, amused smile tugged at the corners of her lips, her serpentine eyes glinting with a flicker of mischief. She was not ashamed of her methods.
In hell, seduction was just another weapon, and she wielded it masterfully.
Adam gave a curt nod, acknowledging their words without commenting on the jab.
Adam, having already come up with a plan in the span of a few heartbeats, said something unexpected.
"I want to give you a reward."
He announced, his voice, still steady, yet in a lighter, almost playful tone that cut through his lingering tension like a blade through silk.
His gaze sweeping over the assembled fiends: the three new high-tiers, his two devilesses, and even his confused, wary, most loyal demons at his side.
"This is for joining me, for investing in my future~" A faint, almost mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of his lips; part jest, part appreciation at his current followers.
Under their surprised gazes, Adam mentally willed a fragment of knowledge to enter their minds.
Not just the three high-tier devils, but also Lyra, Saphira, Blair, Agri, and even Roh. The mental energy pulsed outward, a wave of information that shimmered with the power of Adam's will.
Nyx, Letras, and Borog hesitated for a second as they saw the mental energy coming towards them.
They were cautious of potential traps or hidden intents, but they sensed no danger in the glowing light, so they accepted it, opening their minds to the flood of knowledge.
When the knowledge unraveled in their minds, their eyes widened.
The Grand Teleportation Array!
It was a treasure beyond measure, a blueprint for a feat of magical engineering that could alter the very fabric of reality.
Such knowledge was valuable in itself, not only for its practical application, its capability of teleporting massive armies or even entire fortresses across vast distances, but also as a point of study in its own right.
To master the laws of space-time faster, to gain insight into the fundamental principles that governed the universe, was a prize that could accelerate their growth by centuries.
The dimensional portal on the nexus was similar in nature, but the grand teleportation array didn't need a nexus to function properly. It could be placed anywhere, albeit it would need an immense source of power to operate without one.
Nexus's were the standard for a force to exist in hell, the beating heart of any territory worth taking seriously.
With this knowledge, they could build their own arrays, establish their own transportation networks, carve their own paths through the chaos.
Adam, now with the addition of three high-tier devils, held more confidence in completing the array.
The task was still an arduous one, fraught with complexity, but the odds were no longer insurmountable.
The three high-tier devils felt as if their investment was immediately paid off. The situation, all of a sudden, didn't look so gloomy for them. Therefore, they didn't mind helping Adam after such a generous gift!
After receiving such a gift, not giving their part of effort, of their goodwill, would prove themselves unworthy of his trust an investment.
The demons, on the other hand, felt that such knowledge was too much.
Especially Roh, who didn't even know how such knowledge could be useful for him.
He was a warrior; a simple, loyal brute whose purpose was to fight and follow orders. His only wish was to be feared and revered by his lesser demons.
The arcane intricacies of the grand teleportation array were beyond his goals, but he accepted the gift nonetheless, worshiping in his master's generosity.
Blair and Agri were just happy that they weren't forgotten.
Their eyes, however, flickered with a familiar, jealous light as they looked at Nyx, the beautiful, sleek, gray skinned deviless who had pressed herself so intimately against Adam's side.
'Another bitch joins the fray,' They thought in unison.
Even Saphira, standing at the side was shocked to receive such knowledge for free.
Well, she did 'pay' for it in a way.
The thought was a bitter reminder of the cost of her survival.
But still, it made her willing to help complete the array.
'Maybe they aren't wrong about him having potential,' The thought couldn't help but form in her mind.
It was a crack in the wall of her resentment.
Perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to this devil than she had initially believed...
Funnily enough, as Adam started to direct the satisfied devils to their sections of the array, only Lyra seemed as if she would rather have not received the array knowledge.
Her reluctance to work on such a complicated array seemed to almost annoy her.
She had grown accustomed to her pampered existence, to long naps and addictive fucking and constant spoiling.
The thought of actual labor, of mental exertion and tedious task, was almost offensive.
But she didn't dare complain.
"Ughhh~"
Instead, she sighed, as if she were the one suffering, and moved to her assigned position.
The situation was dire, and she was quickly put in charge of one of the main components: one with three main runes and twelve sub-runes.
It was a daunting task, a test of her patience and her precision, but she would do it; for him.
With their numbers of nine now, they were each assigned a main component, while their group of demons with high mana control worked on the foundation for the seventy-two other rune components.
Adam wasn't expecting Agri, Blair, and Roh to be as quick as the devils, but with the array knowledge in their minds, they could at least shave off a lot of time in getting it done.
Soon after work began in earnest, a collective focus of effort and haste.
The chaos outside faded into a distant hum, a background noise that was ignored, pushed aside, nearly forgotten.