Asmodeus System: Stealing My Bully's Mother

​Total darkness dominated the narrow space behind the massive avalanche. Not a single speck of moonlight pierced through. The natural cave on the northern slope had officially become a freezing stone coffin.

Night fell, bringing extreme temperatures that plummeted sharply.

Ethan Valen sat leaning against the ice-coated stone wall. At the tip of his right index finger, a spark of Crimson Sin Fire—the mutated fire element of Kaelia von Ashford—flickered the size of a small candle. Its blood-red light struggled against the darkness, then died out in a matter of seconds.

He extinguished it deliberately. His Sin Mana had to be conserved with absolute efficiency.

Across the narrow space, Valera Voss sat huddled.

The knight’s back was pressed tightly against the stone wall. The slash wound on her left arm from the Ursa Frost’s strike this afternoon had indeed been haphazardly bandaged. However, the blood she lost made her body far more vulnerable to the biting fangs of the cold air.

Valera’s teeth chattered. Her biceps and abdominal muscles were now trembling violently. In the fading glow of her golden-yellow eyes, her exotic body shivered in despair. Her short hair was wet with cold sweat that instantly froze. Her giant Zweihander lay uselessly on the stone floor.

In contrast, Ethan remained completely unfazed.

His brown eyes pierced through the darkness with pure rationality. He was still wearing his black VIP uniform shirt, tailored trousers, and leather dress shoes.

But the human body still had its limits. The freezing air slowly began to creep through the layers of Ethan’s shirt, gnawing the warmth from his bones.

The young man could have burned his Sin Mana reserves to warm himself. However, that would be foolish. They had no idea how thick the snow blocking this cave was. Every drop of energy meant life.

Thus, the Demon Lord made the most logical decision. A survival efficiency.

He would make Valera his personal campfire.

”Valera,” Ethan called out calmly, yet saturated with authority.

”Y-yes... My Master...” Valera’s voice was broken, choked by the shivers in her chest.

”Take off your armor.”

Across from him, Valera’s breath hitched.

”Huh? Is... is the freezing cold... starting to get to you, My Master?” she asked, trembling. Her freezing brain tried to process the bizarre command amidst these lethal temperatures.

”You are the closest heat source I have right now.” Ethan answered coldly. ”And I refuse to freeze to death inside this rock hole. Take off your armor. All of it.”

Valera’s obedience was absolute.

In the darkness, the rustle of leather and iron clasps could be heard. Violently trembling fingers stripped off the black leather armor.

Clatter. Several metal pieces and fastening belts fell to the stone floor. Her thin shirt followed. Valera’s dark brown skin was now directly assaulted by the freezing air, forcing her to let out a long hiss to endure the stinging pain.

Hearing the armor come off, Ethan leaned his body forward. His hands groped in the dark, finding Valera’s shoulder.

Cold. But Ethan could feel the rough texture of the old scars that were the knight’s pride. Without any gentleness, Ethan pulled the woman’s body closer.

This was not an embrace of affection. This was the grasp of a predator taking what was rightfully his.

Their chests collided. Freezing skin met the cold fabric of a black shirt.

Valera gasped softly at the sudden physical contact. Yet she didn’t resist. Her trembling body instinctively pressed closer, seeking asylum against her Master’s chest.

Ethan leaned back against the wall again, letting Valera’s muscular body slump half-limp in his lap. Both of his arms wrapped around her bare back and shoulders. Possessive. Like an owner protecting his prized asset from the harsh weather.

Valera’s body heat slowly seeped in, driving the freezing chill from Ethan’s bones.

”Hmm...” Ethan whispered right into the knight’s ear. ”You are useful, Valera... even when you aren’t severing people’s heads.”

The physical proximity that left absolutely no room to breathe triggered a completely unplanned reaction.

On Valera’s left neck, the spiraling golden rose tattoo suddenly reacted.

The incredibly intimate skin-to-skin contact—where their heartbeats pounded against each other in the exact same rhythm—made the Lust Brand respond automatically.

The tattoo glowed with a soft golden hue. Bright enough to illuminate both their breaths merging into mist in the freezing air.

To Valera, the sensation was strange.

Usually, when Ethan drew power, the tattoo would torture her with pain or a brutal wave of euphoria that forced her to suppress her moans. But this time... there was only an intoxicating warmth.

That warmth crept slowly from the base of her neck, trailing down to caress her trembling shoulders, spreading across her back, coiling around her stomach... and continuing to seep into the most private parts of her body.

Valera’s breathing abruptly changed its rhythm. Short. Heavy.

Beyond the control of her sanity, she squeezed her thighs tightly together. She bit her lower lip hard, holding back a humiliating moan that was on the verge of exploding amidst this life-or-death situation.

But Ethan knew. The holder of the leash to the girl’s soul knew exactly what was happening.

His senses caught the shifting of Valera’s thigh muscles going rigid. He heard the exhales that were no longer trembling from the cold, but from arousal. And the most fatal part... he felt the dampness suddenly spreading, seeping through his fabric trousers right where Valera’s thighs rested.

Valera was already wet.

Realizing her master absolutely knew, that exotic face flushed as red as a boiled crab. Her ego as a knight crumbled.

”F-forgive me, My Master...” she whispered, barely audible, drowned out by the howling storm outside.

Ethan didn’t answer. Nor did he mock her.

Instead, his palm gripped Valera’s bare shoulder just a fraction tighter. An arrogant wordless communication: ’I know what’s happening to your body, and I don’t care.’

The cave fell silent once again.

Slowly, their breathing rhythms synchronized. The lethal temperatures were successfully driven away by two bodies sharing energy. The freezing chill could no longer pierce their embrace.

”My Master...” Valera spoke up again. Hoarse and radiating a fragility she had never shown the world.

”Speak.”

”Why... did you choose me for this journey?” Her fingers squeezed the fabric of Ethan’s shirt.

Ethan let the silence hang for a moment.

”Because you don’t ask many questions, Valera,” Ethan answered, breaking the quiet. A cold, logical fact. ”You never hesitate. When I tell you to kill, you kill. When I tell you to come, you crash through my bedroom window. Tch. That absolute obedience... is infinitely more valuable to me.”

Valera fell silent. Her throat caught.

”Am I... just a tool in your eyes?”

”Tools lack the free will to choose,” Ethan cut in sharply. His fingers slowly stroked Valera’s back. ”But you, my Bloodhound... you always choose. You chose to submit your ego. You chose to belong to me.”

Valera’s chest trembled violently. This time, it wasn’t from the cold air. Her golden eyes welled up with tears. All the feelings of inferiority that had suffocated her since the academy evaporated without a trace. Her Master acknowledged her worth.

”I...” she whispered, resting her head entirely against Ethan’s chest. ”...chose very correctly, My Master.”

Ethan didn’t release his hold, preserving their warmth until the long night finally passed.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

The howling of the storm that had raged all night slowly subsided, leaving behind a whisper before dying out completely. A dim light began to seep through the gaps in the snow blocking the cave’s mouth.

Morning arrived in the northern wilderness.

Ethan opened his eyes. ”The storm has passed.”

He released his grip. Valera rose from his lap. Though her muscles were stiff, she was no longer shivering. Swiftly, she put her black leather armor back on in silence.

Ethan stepped toward the cave mouth blocked by snow and rocks. Without summoning Sin Mana, he focused his mind. A savage golden glow from the Golden Beast Aura—borrowed power from Valera—wrapped around his fist.

BAM! BAM!

Two consecutive punches were thrown. The two-meter-thick frozen snow blockage cracked long and partially collapsed.

”Let me finish it, My Master,” Valera signaled from behind.

The executioner unsheathed her Zweihander. With a single vertical cleave of pure power, the giant blade sliced through the remaining frozen rocks.

CRASH!

The blockage was destroyed. Blinding morning light immediately poured in, bringing fresh air that pierced the nose.

They stepped outside.

The northern sky was already half-clear. The scenery had changed drastically. Yesterday’s cliff path had vanished, buried under thousands of tons of snow.

Valera’s veteran instincts swept the terrain. She pointed to a rock formation in the distance. ”The original path is blocked, My Master. This avalanche is unstable. But that rocky ridge on the left looks much more solid.”

”Lead the way.”

In that snowfield as white as cotton, only the footprints of dress shoes and knight’s boots broke the silence.

One hour. Two hours.

The pine forest began to thin out. The steep slopes leveled off, transforming into a calm expanse of snowfields. Approaching midday, their steps halted at the peak of a small hill.

Down in the valley below, stood a remote village.

Thin wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys of wooden houses. Old fences surrounded frozen fields. Utterly peaceful. Utterly isolated from the outside world.

Ethan’s brown eyes narrowed, matching the coordinates in his head. A faint smirk bloomed.

”There’s the village,” Ethan murmured softly.

Beside him, Valera joined in the smirking, showing her white teeth. ”Finally.”

Without wasting time, Ethan strode downward. The Demon Lord’s hunt for the Hidden Priestess... was about to reach its final act.