Calm settled once more in the basin.
Adam turned to look at Agri and Blair.
They were still kneeling on the jagged rocks, their knees bleeding from the sharp edges digging into their flesh, their shame palpable.
He felt a hint of the same fury as before towards them; a lingering irritation at their weakness, and their recklessness, but it was quickly replaced by a cold, pragmatic resolve.
He didn't know how long he had to prepare for Kaelgor's return, but he knew that it wouldn't go as Kaelgor would expect it to. He probably never expected that the higher being who had tampered with the nexus point would be his very own master!
How Adam would have loved to see the expression on the arrogant devil's face.
'Will the Arch Devil simply not care…' Adam scoffed at the idea, 'He will probably tell his subordinates that what I said was a lie and force a requisition of the nexus point, but I doubt that he will show himself once again.'
Stronger beings were allowed to observe and command subordinates on the 1st layer of hell, but their direct interference was a taboo. It was a rule that all newborn devils would be told in their hell's inheritance.
A 'safe' zone of sorts.
'I bet that his appearance earlier had already stirred up some trouble.'
It was a guess, but it wasn't far from the truth, as Gorael's investment was considered a great loss, even for someone as powerful as him.
The loss wasn't limited to the nexus and Adam, as it extended to his domain in the deeper layers of hell. The pressure he was receiving for his earlier actions made it so that he currently didn't have the time to deal with his territory in the deeper layers of hell, much less the 1st layer.
"Get up," Adam commanded, his voice tired but powerful, "The punishment is over, and now the work begins. I have plans for you two and you will obey."
He walked back to the obelisk, steadily making his way up the carved path.
His eyes were already tracing the unfinished lines of the attack rune.
He had bought himself time. Now, he would use every precious second of it to forge himself into a being of true might, into a devil who would not have to rely on bluffs, schemes, and gambles.
He would become a force that Kaelgor would have to think twice of before offending.
'The sooner I finish this attack rune, the faster I can get to working on the dimensional gate!'
His ultimate goal was still his original realm. He had a feeling that he could interact with his old world, but it couldn't be tested just yet.
The innate connection one has to their soul's home world was something that couldn't easily be replicated; even by Arch Devils…
Adam brought Blair and Agri up the obelisk, their next task a continuation of their punishment. The sharp, jagged rocks at its base were a lesson in pain and humiliation; the summit was for a lesson in obedience and honing their skills.
The great height of the kilometer high obelisk was swiftly climbed by the powerful trio.
At the top, Blair, her fiery pride still freshly wounded from the whole ordeal, was handed a crude chisel.
"Fill in the outlines I make," Adam ordered.
Blair nodded obediently, careful not to overstep the boundaries she had before.
Her seductive figure sashayed towards one of the three pillars holding the obelisk's peak. Adam had left a basic outline of the channeling runes that fed into the more complex attack rune at the top of the structure.
The channeling runes were like wires directing energy, and the kilometer of rune engravings had been a tedious process that he was finally ready to expedite.
With surprising grace, she began to carve the simple outlines of runes that Adam had sketched in the air with a flick of his finger.
The material of the nexus point was dark and magical, almost alive with latent energy, and under Blair's delicate touch, it yielded a finished mana circuit.
Adam had already done the difficult, meticulous work of hollowing out a room and laying out the rune diagram; now he was teaching her how to give it purpose, and using her to speed up the process.
Adam nodded in satisfaction before turning to Agri.
Agri, still nursing her wounds and her wounded ego, was given an even cruder tool: a heavy, chipped stone.
Her task was to cut the raw, obsidian-like material into perfect, symmetrical slabs, a task that demanded grueling physical labor compared to that of Blair's task.
"Pfft."
The sight of Agri receiving the stone, Blair let out a condescending snicker.
She watched Blair with a vicious, jealous focus as the flame demoness's hands, not long ago wrapped in fire and death, now moved with an artisan's precision. The flame demoness moved like a dedicated artist as her body stretched and flowed with the carvings.
Adam's gaze blatantly enjoyed the pale red flesh of her curvy body moving hypnotically as she worked.
This spurred Blair's suppressed pride as she purposely bent and stretched even more to show herself off, all while making sure not to fail at the task Adam had ordered.
"It is a shame," Blair's voice dripped with condescension, a subtle mocking intended for Agri's ears alone, "That your control is so… unrefined. Otherwise you could help our lord. Using demonic energy is a dance, unlike a certain someone's crude, erratic control~"
Agri's jaw tightened as she slammed her stone against a stubborn chunk of rock.
She had no retort.
Blair's mastery of demonic energy was indeed superior.
While Agri could manipulate her energy into a raw, destructive force, Blair could sculpt and command it; a skill Adam clearly valued more.
He had turned their punishment into a subtle, psychological power play, proving Blair's usefulness while highlighting Agri's shortcomings.
Adam, standing between them, remained silent, his mind already far ahead.
Their small interactions were something that he didn't mind, as long as they focused on their task and avoided physical confrontations.
As he observed their progress, his moved his thoughts to the nexus point's structure and the intricate veins of energy he needed to preserve.
He steadied his thoughts before working on the task at hand.
The trio worked in an odd harmony.
Their faint bickering could be heard as Adam finished up the primitive attack rune, the faint smoke from their healing injuries providing a demonic warmth in the high altitude.
As the day waned, a new figure appeared on the path leading up to the obelisk's hollowed out room. It was Roh, carrying a large bundle wrapped in tenacious, black tree leaves.
He knelt before Adam, offering the package. "My Lord, the sun has set. Your servants have brought you food."
Adam accepted the bundle, unrolling the leaves to reveal the large slab of cooked meat. Recalling the demonic wildlife that was kept in captivity, Adam knew that it was meat of a demonic boar.
It was food.