Saphira had awoken hours ago.
The first thing she had felt was the cold, constricting pressure on her tail. But before she could inspect the strange sensation, she was distracted by Lyra's silver-haired, beautiful face, staring down at her with an expression of pure, undisguised hatred.
"The black imp is finally awake?" Lyra teased the moment she awoke.
At first, she was confused, but she quickly realized when she raised her hand and saw what she was talking about.
While Saphira slept, she had gathered handfuls of black ash from a fire in the corner and had smeared it over her face, her body, and basically everywhere she could reach.
It was funny looking, and it was a small, petty revenge that would mildly diminish Saphira's natural beauty without causing any permanent harm. Without giving Saphira a reason to lose all decorum and fight to the death.
When Saphira discovered her new, sooty complexion, she had been furious.
"You dare!" Saphira stood and was posing to attack.
"Do you dare? With Adam just below us?" Lyra had simply smiled and threatened to call Adam.
Saphira had fallen silent, her rage choked back and her pride wounded. She could feel the powerful demonic energy signature that was just below them.
"Tsk, bitch." She murmured.
Snickering, she had tried to clean herself with mana, to summon a burst of energy to cleanse the ash from her skin.
That was when she was reminded of the cold sensation on her tail. It was as if she had tried to raise her hand, but it was held down before she could.
'I was leashed like a dog in the end, huh?' Saphira's let out a defeated sigh.
She recalled those last images of her father bringing out the tail collar just before she was released from his brand and was knocked out.
'At least I'm free from him… but now in new ownership… with my mana chained~'
Her mana flowed slow and heavy, like molasses in winter, and the ash stubbornly clung to her flesh.
Lyra's enchanting face let out beautiful giggles as she saw Saphira in utter loss.
But Saphira could do nothing.
In the end, she had given up, laid on the bed like a salted starfish, staring at the ceiling, or more like the nexus's peak up high above, waiting.
She was alive.
That was enough.
A small, defiant smirk had crept onto her lips at the thought, earning a fresh wave of annoyed glares from her silver-haired prankster.
Like this, hours had passed in near silence.
Lyra, forced to babysit her rival, had grown increasingly frustrated and sexually deprived. This was the longest she had gone without sex since meeting Adam, and her body craved his touch, dominance, and his overbearing heat.
Bad habits formed fast.
Saphira, for her part, had simply rested, conserving her strength, ignoring the seething hatred radiating from the other side of the room.
At least Roh was smart enough to include a massive bed and several other 'lounging' areas at newly built room.
The dutiful demon had keenly noticed Adam's habit of picking up new women.
Saphira decided to swallow the minor humiliation of Lyra's prank, but if she took it too far, then she wouldn't mind showing Lyra that even without her mana, that she was still at the high-tier lesser devil!
Though.
Those thoughts didn't last long.
The mana explosion had changed everything.
The shockwave was abrupt and had rattled the walls, shaken the obelisk, and sent both ladies flying and scrambling to leave the upper room.
They had descended to the portal platform below, drawn by the chaos, and had found Adam on the ground with his cloak in tatters and his body steaming.
As Adam started to stand with his silver-haired queen, Saphira stood, wrapped in the fur blanket.
The mana wave had been something beyond her experience. It was a surge of such potent and pure demonic mana, that it exceeded all of her known knowledge.
For the first time, she had the energy to realize that Adam was even more of an anomaly than she had initially thought. He and whatever he had going on were something else entirely; something she could not yet understand.
Back to the present.
Now standing, Adam's gaze swept over the four women: Lyra, Saphira, Blair, and Agri.
"We are going to work on completing the grand teleportation array as soon as possible. Lyra, you need to help this time around." He said, his words causing a shocked expression to appear on the oblivious Saphira.
She knew of the grand teleportation array, and she couldn't believe that Adam had the schematic!
Lyra's eyes widened.
She had done nothing since joining Adam: no labor, no hardship, no real contribution beyond warming his bed. She had grown accustomed to long naps, the addictive fucking, and the constant spoiling.
The thought of actual work, of manual labor and mental exertion, made her want to slump over and convince Adam to let her off.
But this time she did not dare complain.
Not now, not with the tension in his voice, and the hardness in his eyes.
Instead, she made a silent promise to herself: she would milk some benefits from Adam for being put to work… or perhaps just 'milk' him instead.
The thought brought a small, secret smile to her lips.
Adam turned to the two demonesses.
"Agri, Blair, gather the group of demons that can still work. I don't care whether they are injured. I don't care that they are exhausted. So long as they can work, then they will! The teleportation array will be completed in the shortest time possible."
Blair and Agri exchanged glances, a flicker of fear passing between them. Every time Adam got serious, they instinctively felt fear course through their bodies.
Him being serious meant that they were in danger.
"Yes, my lord."
They bowed their heads, murmured their compliance, and limped away to carry out his orders.
The question lay in how many demons could still stand after that eruption.
Finally, Adam's gaze settled on Saphira.
The soot-covered deviless met his eyes, her expression unreadable, her body tense beneath the short fur blanket. Her eyes subconsciously trailed down and glanced at his naked lower body, at the 'weapon' that was used so viciously on her earlier the morning before.
He had no trust in her: none whatsoever!
She had tried to kill him, had hidden her intentions behind an act of submission, and proved to be a threat to his very life.
But he needed every hand he could get, and she was a powerful and skilled high-tier deviless, even with her power restrained.
"You," He said, his voice commanding, "You will work too."
Saphira's eyes, torn from his manhood, widened with surprise. A glimmer of hope for her future passed through her eyes.
She had expected to be locked away, ignored, and used only for his pleasure when the mood struck him.
She had not expected to be given a task or a role beyond that of a captive. It was a small task, perhaps, but it was something.
Yet.
It also made her realize the severity of the situation.
Although oblivious to the matters at hand, just that mana shockwave was enough to trigger her natural instincts; her mind was releasing constant warning notices at the unknown and uncomfortable situation.
Something was occurring that made Adam put her, someone with zero trust, to work alongside him.
She nodded slowly, her soot-streaked face serious.
"Yes…" She stopped, not knowing and hesitating on what to call him, "M-my lord." Her voice was soft and subtly submissive.
The words felt strange on her tongue; a surrender she had not yet fully accepted.
But she had no choice now.
The fear and anxiety hidden deep within Adam resonated with everyone present.
Adam nodded, his body still aching, but his mind already focused on the task ahead. They needed to leave this layer, this cage of restrictions and dangers.
He glanced down and saw the shredded fur cloak, before looking back at Saphira: the fur blanket she was using was in the shape of a square, and draped over her body.
Appearing in front of her in a startling flash, he pulled the fur from her; leaving her startled and naked.
Her captivating body trembled from the sudden force, her hands instinctively going to cover her private parts.
It would appear that Lyra only painted her exposed body, as Saphira's massive, perky breast were still their beautiful glossy red.
"Tear~"
Luckily for the naked Saphira, he only tore the fur in half and gave the other halfback to her. He then shoddily wrapped his half around his waist.
"…"
Saphira felt her eyebrow twitch as she was robbed and left with a short piece of fabric.
Sighing, Saphira could only wrap the fur around her body like a towel that was too small. Then, her red and black figure quickly, and smartly, went to the room above to snatch another fur.
Adam, on the other hand, began to walk towards the obelisk. Around the base, where the teleportation array would be engraved.