Hope.

"How disgusting." Asmodeus' voice was hollow and filled with hate.

"You revolting demons pollute my vision yet again."

Leviathan slithered over to the fallen demon lord of lust and held his chin in her delicate hands.

"Is brother truly not happy to see us? I've missed you so much though."

His response was to spit directly in the face of his sister.

The woman trembled with rage and sickly green scales began to form on her upper body. "Parasite!"

Lucifer quickly grabbed his sister's hand before she could strike and pulled her away.

"What is the meaning of this." Exedra finally spoke but his voice was not it's usual calm and composed tone.

Every word was filled with anger and confusion.

Asmodeus turned his head towards the new demon he did not recognize and frowned when he felt an odd connection.

"Are you their latest attempt to save this unholy shell?"

Exedra ignored the man speaking to him and turned to Belphegor who watched all of this in an eerie silence. "What is this?!"

Belphegor debated over how to answer that question but instead just decided hiding the truth would be too much work.

"He is nephilim. Cursed union of angel and demon. He is used by those in the light to hunt we that lie in the dark."

"And eradicate you all I shall." Asmodeus looked like he found just being near living demons unbearable.

"How did this happen?"

"I was blessed by mother Asherah herself in hopes of cleansing my filthy soul and given rebirth as a-"

"Alright, that's enough." The sin of greed snapped his fingers once more and Asmodeus' eyes bulged before he fell into a deep slumber.

"Why did you do that?" Exedra was confused.

Were they trying to hide something from him?

"Cease your delusions, stupid nephew." Beelzebub could tell by Exedra's worsening frown that he was thinking something unflattering. "His mind has been altered by the one who changed him."

"And who might that be?"

Leviathan had calmed down from her earlier insult and spoke venomously, "The human king and his four elites."

'Humans…'

Exedra's blood began to boil.

An attack against his father was an attack on him.

The humans had taken his father from his mother and condemned her to a life of unhappiness.

He said a silent vow to wipe the humans responsible out entirely.

He would make last nights events look like child's play.

'But first…'

"How do we fix him?"

The demon lords all looked at eachother before Beelzebub answered, "You can't. That is not why we brought you here."

Exedra didn't like where this was going.

Lucifer unsheathed his large greatsword from his back and held it to Asmodeus' neck.

"I will kill him, and you shall feast on his remains. When it is done you will take his place as the sin of lust."

The dragon's world was spinning. He'd just found out his father was alive and now he was being told to eat him?

"Become a sin? What does that even mean?!"

"We primordial demons draw strength from eachother. If one of us has fallen, our strength as a whole decreases."

Leviathan slithered towards Exedra and wrapped her body around him. "When your father was killed our power immediately began to decline, and then one day years later he ambushed greed as the twisted abomination he is now."

"Greed was able to subdue him with assistance from gluttony, but curing him proved to be a much more difficult task. Eventually we started to realize we should just replace him altogether. "

Wrath spoke once again as he stared at his brothers chained body. "Not just any random demon can become a sin, their body must be strong enough to bear the influx of power that comes from eating our flesh."

"But you…" Belphegor began, "Are his son. You can claim your father's mantle and take his place alongside us."

"And with our strength renewed we will have our revenge on the humans and trample them beneath our feet!" Wrath roared.

Pride walked towards Exedra and stared directly into his eyes.

"You have his will somehow, but that is not enough."

"For demons to claim their rightful place above the humans the seven of us must be united."

'System… is there a way to save him?'

Exedra had never been as desperate for anything as he was now.

Even though he wanted the power being offered, the memory of how his mother longed for his father made him falter.

She'd given him too much for him not to put her needs first.

If he can, he'll save his father at any cost so that they could be reunited.

While he wasn't used to relying on the system, he hoped he could place his faith in it now.

< There is.

Exedra smiled when he heard the words of the system.

< However, there's a high chance of failure and the side effects could be dire.

'I don't care just tell me how to do it.'

Anything was better than the current situation and Exedra was not afraid of gambles.

As the system explained the absurd plan it has concocted, his head began to hurt more and more when he realized why he was given a warning before.

"What's with the crestfallen look? Are you not elated to just be handed this level of power?" Wrath questioned.

He couldn't understand why Exedra looked like this was a difficult decision.

Doesn't everyone want power to trample over others?

Is bringing death not the most fulfilling thing?

Just thinking that he might refuse made him angry.

They would never find a more fitting vessel for Asmodeus' sin than his own son.

Finally, Exedra removed the earring from his ear and changed it into a serrated dagger.

He walked forward and kneeled in front of his father's slumbering body before plunging the dagger into his chest.

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My new book is finally out please go give it a read and let me know what you guys think.