The air, still thick with the scent of blood and sex, suddenly ignited with a blaze of unexpected fury.
As Adam stood, his body thrumming with new high-tier power, Lyra moved past his side in an instant.
Undaunted, brazen even, in the face of his overwhelming power.
Striking her without his permission could be seen as a sign of disobedience, but she didn't care at the moment.
Her silver-mercury eyes, usually cool and cold, now swirled with disgust, rage, and budding jealousy.
She was still at the middle-tier, while this new deviless was at the high-tier; a direct threat to the position she didn't know she had grown to like.
Adam's heat touched her skin as he closed in and put an arm around her waist.
He didn't say a word, just amusingly watching them, her emotions, like a child watching his favorite show.
His strong arm, the solid muscles resting against her back, his long cock squeezed on her bare ass; it made her horny and reassured at the same time. It was a sense of comfort, while also mocking the fact that she hadn't received his 'care' yet.
Her gaze lingered longer than she had planned on his smirking, handsome face and his solid, beautiful muscles.
Her hand grazed his chest, suddenly feeling over a faint white strip; a scar that had been healing.
"You hurt him," She whispered.
Something possessive was triggered as she recalled what those scars meant. It was like seeing your favorite prized possession being dirtied or chipped by a stranger.
Her body went still as all of the emotions and thoughts that just moments ago were coursing through her, go entirely silent.
For a couple of seconds, only Saphira's labored breathing was heard.
Before Adam could fully process her intent, Lyra moved in a flash.
"PA!"
"SMACK!"
"BANG!"
She descended upon the weakened Saphira, her fists and open-handed strikes landing with sickening, meaty thuds. A fist to the ribs, resounded with a sharp crack. A backhand across the face that split Saphira's lip anew. A kick to the thigh that made Saphira groan in pain.
The fresh, unexpected, explosive pain was a brutal alarm that violently jolted her consciousness back from the hazy fog that had clouded her.
Her mind, already a mess, suddenly gained a new, incredulous wave of hatred!
'From being raped, to now being beat up!?!' She thought; part disbelief, part in rage, and part amusement of the absurdity of it all!
The injustice of it surpassed the rage she held for Adam!
After all, he was qualified: being a high-tier at the end of the day.
But this deviless, no, this Bitch!
She was still at the middle-tier!
She was taking advantage of the weakest moment of her life!
"PA!"
"SMACK!"
"BANG!"
Every new impact sent searing shocks of pain through her body; the pain of her freshly broken ribs, and those of her shattered forearms, felt like salt was being rubbed into a fresh wound.
The rage that had reluctantly, even somewhat instinctively, subsided, were now raging at full force once again!
Alas, she couldn't defend herself...
Her arms, broken and useless, hung limply. Her demonic mana core was in a semi-sealed state. Then her body was completely physically exhausted from the fighting and then brutal 'ritual' she had endured.
In the end, it was because her demonic mana was being restrained.
With it, her healing would have been faster, and she would also have the strength to fight back or defend herself.
All she could do was curl into a fetal position; a pathetic, crimson-skinned ball of misery, taking the punishment unjustly.
From the sidelines, Agri and Blair watched, their own complex feelings of jealousy and resentment momentarily frozen and replaced by an enlightening, primal fear.
They were reminded, with each brutal impact, why they had chosen submission, albeit no loyal, over open defiance.
Lyra wasn't just their master's favored, she was a level of power that they couldn't keep up with.
Her wrath was terrifying.
Adam, watching the display, felt a cold knot of reflection tighten in his gut amidst the lingering heat of his lust and anger.
He had been confident, assured by his senses that he could handle Saphira.
But her ability to conceal her killing intent, to mask her true nature until the very last possible second, had been... masterful.
It had surpassed even his expectations, and genuinely, he was impressed by her.
That single moment of near-death, the feeling of her hand-knife piercing his flesh millimeter by millimeter, replayed in his mind.
It had been a closer call than he cared to admit.
A dangerous event: a lesson.
"PA!"
A particularly sharp slap from Lyra's hand across Saphira's already-bruised face brought him out of his thoughts.
"Enough," Adam's voice cut through the violence, not loud, but heavy with an authority that made Lyra's raised hand freeze mid-strike.
She turned her head, her mercury eyes still blazing, but she obeyed, stepping back with a tension that made her appear like a tiger ready to strike.
In the sudden, silence, with the deafening ringing in her head, Saphira used every ounce of her will to struggle into a sitting position on the stained furs.
"Urraghhh~"
The was an arduous effort for her, but she didn't falter or hesitate regardless of the pain.
Every inch of her body screamed in protest; the grinding agony in her ribs, the fire in her arms, and even the dull, throbbing pain between her legs and rear.
She winced, her bruised and cut face painted red with blood and rage, her voluptuous body trembling with the strain.
It was then, as she barely managed to prop herself up, that Lyra, with a look of utter contempt, lashed out one last time, as if to mock her efforts.
"SMACK!"
Her sleek black tail came from behind and slapped Saphira squarely across the cheek.
The force was enough to knock the weakened deviless back down.
She collapsed onto the furs, the impact agitating her fresh wounds, sending her face flat into the sticky residue of their prior activities.
No noise escaped her lips as she silently struggled to push her self up once again. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes held depths of rage that seemed to swallow light itself.
Her body moved slowly, arduously.
Lyra's cold, mercury eyes shifted from her to Adam, the flames of hatred simmering down, replaced by a hint of possession.
"My king," She started, her voice deceptively calm, the title garnering Adam's pleasure, "Are you planning on keeping this... this midget?"
The name was laced with disdain, highlighting the difference in their height, even when she was a whole minor realm lower than her.
The question hung in the air, demanding an answer that would decide whether the broken, violated deviless on the bed was to be permanent in their daily lives, or a temporary indulgence soon to be discarded.
Whether she would pose as a rival…