BXBX NOVEL Chapter 482 481: Demon Clans (2)
Mom tapped her fingers against the edge of her wineglass, her ruby eyes conflicted as she stared down into the purplish red liquid.
"Anyways, Durukti married two women, but only one bore her a child; we can trace our lineage back to her, which is also why we likely managed to remain alive... unlike the other Asmodia\'s. She\'s your great great grandmother. My father never knew her though, and his mother didn\'t either; Durukti died inside the Labyrinthian a long time ago, but by that point her mark had been made.
The Asmodia House was built atop the lands that she managed to bind Ka\'Hondi to, and using the wealth that she had amassed over the years, she created March Asmodia. The Empress gave her the title Marquess - not Duchess, because the Beliali and Cimeriesa\'s made a fuss about it - and bequeathed the lands to her, as well as some materials and workers to begin tending to the March.
With ties cut between the clans, Durukti shifted her focus entirely inwards, stabilizing the living situation amongst the remaining Asmodia\'s and preparing for another outbreak. That was how they spent the early years; building up the Asmodia House, amassing more wealth, attempting to re spark the Asmodia forges, and so much more, but sadly the constant stream of outbreaks robbed us of our last Forgemaster, meaning the Asmodeucian forging techniques had been lost; it was a specific technique that was never written down, lest it be stolen, and it was passed down after oaths and more were sworn to bind master and apprentice..."
Belian nodded, the red skinned Demon leaning back and sighing as he said "It\'s a shame, that. All of our House\'s have weapons and armor that are considered \'relics\' because they\'re forged from Asmodeucian techniques. Beliali was gifted a few swords and a chestpiece, while the Cimeriesa\'s have multiple staves. If I recall, if you hadn\'t been gifted that Celestial Gold and Stygian Silver blade, young Jahi, the sword your Mom wields would have been yours..."
"Mm... Whenever I die, that is, and I don\'t plan on croaking anytime soon. It\'s the sword Durukti wielded, and it\'s... well, Lady Fenryas tried to steal it from me a few times, and if the Empress wasn\'t as magnanimous as she is, well, our dear Commander wouldn\'t wield a scythe..."
Mom snorted before taking a sip of the wine, glancing over at Belian.
"The history between now and when Durukti dies is just a long tale of reclusive clans and focusing on ourselves. Only recently have we begun to communicate openly again, and that\'s only because this prick here is a Knight."
"Fuck you."
"You wish. My father reopened communications again with the two other Clans, and they began to talk once more. A few of the women from the two Clans were interested in trying to reunite our bloodlines again, but like I said, and like Belian said, Demon Blood in general is... fickle. Because of Lilith being who she is, the blood favors pure women; not men, nor futanari, just pure women.
Cimeriesa women are some of the most magically attuned people you will ever meet. Mana capacities nearly triple what you have now, Jahi, and the ability to absorb and recuperate mana at double the speed. Because of that, they tend to be researchers and magicians of some of the highest order, which makes them extremely eccentric. For example, the one Cimeriesa that I met wanted to know if she could try to research our child if we had one; to imbue it with more and more mana each month it was in her womb. Obviously, I told her to go find someone else.
Beliali women are incredibly manipulative, constantly needing to get their own way and control each and every tiny little thing. They\'re possessive and sadistic, with the skills to match. Able to don disguises that could fool almost everyone in the Empire, their ability to switch up their personality is downright demented, while the skills they\'ve shown with small blades lets you know right away that one wrong move means something is getting cut off. I love how possessive Ria can be - I know that makes me a bit crazy myself - but she\'s tame compared to them...
As for Asmodeucian women, they were... dominant. Comparatively, they had less \'mental\' quirks, but the sheer strength they had was enough to make up for that. They won\'t submit to anyone weaker than them, and if they marry someone weaker, well, they\'re the ones in charge. Of everything. Battle is their language, and they can get really physical really quick, which can lead to them becoming early widows. Since they\'re usually so much stronger than the other Clans, well... no one took them, and they were content with that.
We have no real idea why the \'traits\' of each Clan is so prominent inside the womenfolk, but the best guess we all have is just \'Lilith was the Mother of all Demons\', so any female Demon is \'greater\' than the male or futanari. Orcs are the complete opposite, with their men being the \'greater\' of them, so there might be a correlation somewhere, but I couldn\'t care less. I just know I don\'t plan on ever getting near another woman of those Clans if I can help it."
Belian took a deep breath, smiling wryly as he muttered "I\'d like to, but my older sister is... yeah."
I looked towards Mom, ignoring his melancholic mood as he began to sip from his own wineglass, and I asked "So what if Miss Julie gives birth to a girl? How is that going to work?"
She gave me a small smile, saying "It\'s a 50-50 shot of being a futa or a girl, so I\'ve made my prayers and my peace with whatever she gives birth to. If its a girl, well, we just need to remain a fair bit stronger than her, or else she\'s going to be a pain in the ass. It would be in her nature to challenge us for whatever, whenever, despite knowing that we might be better for that role, or that that thing is ours. Competitiveness would be like breathing to her, and she\'d drive us insane swiftly..."
The table fell silent, before Kat asked "Marquess, what about the Countess and Mother\'s child?"
"Either a Dogkin or a knife-ear. Either or, and it doesn\'t matter whether they\'re a girl or futa. Should be fine. Only issue would be if they are primarily a knife-ear. They mature incredibly slow, even with Cores. Live far longer, but they can be \'stuck\' at certain stages in their life for multiple years. Ria, for example, was a teen for seven..? Seven years. Ended the second year of the Academy before reaching early stages of adulthood... Moody the entire time too..."
Smirking, Mom downed the glass before looking at me, saying "We can get you to meet your... \'cousins\' for yourself if you want. Go talk to them to learn more details about this fragile balance we have currently, determine if you want to maintain status quo or shift it to either side. Personally, I could care less. They can do as they please over in the west, so long as they stick their noses somewhere besides my business. The Asmodeucian\'s are gone, and I don\'t care to bring them back. For me, I\'m content serving the Empress and protecting my home. You, on the other hand, can do whatever you want. Make your choice, but..."
Getting up, she cracked her neck before patting my shoulder, her ruby eyes alight with amusement as she said "Don\'t make any large decisions, brat, since I\'ll be holding this position as Marquess for many decades to come. Maybe even centuries... So go get your own title if you want to make some large promises... I have no plans on dying anytime soon, and I plan on overseeing everything I\'ve built and gathered for many years to come~!"
Rolling my eyes at her, I watched as she left the kitchens, disappearing into the dark halls of the Palace.
"Like your Mom said, the decision is ultimately yours. All of us Demons are proud, so unless you seek us out, we won\'t speak to you unless necessary. Whatever you decide, just remember that we are still related, albeit distantly. As for her remaining Marquess, well, I don\'t think she\'ll suffer the same fate as Durukti. The Empress has compared your Mom to her many times over, and I\'ve listened to the praise enough to know that the Empress is holding back her compliments to keep your Mom\'s pride down."
He grinned at me, tapping the side of his nose as he added "And from what I\'ve heard, she\'s had good things to say about you as well, Jahi. Though, whether or not you\'ll live up to those expectations is another story... However, dear niece, I do wish you well."
With that, Belian left as well, leaving the kitchens empty as the other Knights - Sker and Nirinia - followed behind him.
"That... was a lot."
Kat nodded, while Leone looked thoughtfully at me for a few moments before asking "So, do you plan on meeting them?"
Anput lounged against the table, her obsidian eyes barely open as she yawned, making me smile.
"I don\'t know... maybe. To say I\'m curious about them would be an understatement, and I do want to meet other Demons, but... There\'s enough on our plate already without them. Besides, at the very least I want to leave that option open for my younger sister when she\'s born. Perhaps she\'ll want to meet them. Maybe she won\'t. Either way, for now I think I\'ll leave that door open. Right now though, I think we should rest."
We all glanced at Anput, who yawned loudly before stretching herself out, almost letting out a catlike purr as she did so.
Sharing small grins, we all got up and made our way to our rooms, wanting to get some rest before needing to get back to training in a few hours.