The only place in the world untouched by these nasty problems was New Atlantis. Being a newly constructed artificial island, it was built using advanced technology designed to work even without mana to support it. As a result, the mana blip caused minimal disruption there.
The only noticeable effects were a brief power outage that lasted a few seconds and so ruined docunts—thanks to a few careless writers/copywriters who didn't save their work frequently and had to redo everything once the power ca back on. Well that ruins their day for sure, but life goes on.
— New Atlantis - Daniel's House —
On the rooftop of the Astral Corporation building, Daniel returned through the teleportation portal from the Atlanteus base. He hadn't planned to co back so soon, but since the old man Yuan refused to continue the tests until Daniel had gotten sufficient rest—and The Keeper had saddled him with this troubleso black rabbit—he had little choice but to return early.
Upon entering the house, he noticed two won engrossed in a ga of tabletop Monopoly with his daughter, little Sylvana. Greed, as usual, seed to be having the ti of her life. Her hands were full of Monopoly banknotes, a smug expression plastered across her face.
anwhile, little Sylvana was frowning, clearly struggling, and the worst off was Tian Xingyun. She had only one banknote left, the lowest denomination at that, and appeared on the brink of bankruptcy.
"Greed, you cheat! I've used my spiritual vision, and I can see you! You've got an abundance of golden aura of fortune, even in a silly ga like this! Stop using your fortune to crush us already!" Tian Xingyun protested, gritting her teeth as she handed over her last bit of Monopoly money to Greed, who burst into laughter like a cartoonish corporate villain.
"HAHAHA! I have no idea what you're talking about, Xingyun! What fortune? I'm just naturally lucky when it cos to business, and gas like this." Greed replied, feigning innocence.
Daniel sighed internally. He have a feeling that that Greed was completely aware of her powers, and seems to be to have too… enjoying in exploiting them.
"I'm ho…" Daniel announced, drawing the attention of the won to himself.
"Danny! / Lord Husband! / Papa!" the two won and the little one exclaid simultaneously as they rushed toward him.
He had to say sothing; otherwise, the three would've been too engrossed in their ga to notice his arrival.
"What's this, Papa?" little Sylvana asked, noticing the black rabbit in a cage. She crouched down to get a closer look.
"This is your new pet, sweetie. I got him from an acquaintance," Daniel replied, handing over the cage to Sylvana.
Sylvana carefully took the cage and carried it over to place it on the tea table in the living room. "Hmm?" She frowned, peering into the rabbit's eyes.
"Papa, is this rabbit like Princess Aura, Prince Edward, and Sat?" Sylvana asked curiously.
"Yes," Daniel confird, "but right now, he won't talk because he seems to be afraid. You might need to introduce him to Princess Aura and Prince Edward later." He patted his daughter's head gently as he spoke.
— Night —
As night fell, the black rabbit, which had been shaking uncontrollably, finally stopped. As if waking up for the first ti, it suddenly jumped up, startled, then—
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhh!" A man's voice scread loudly, as though waking from a nightmare.
POW!
The rabbit's head was slapped by a long lizard tail, sending its face smacking into the wooden floor.
"Shut the f*ck up! I'm trying to sleep," an annoyed voice barked.
The voice belonged to Mammon, the owner of this small wooden house. A crocodile-like creature next to him glared at the black rabbit, its gaze filled with disdain, as though looking at an uncivilized barbarian who dared disrupt their sleep with its loud shouting.
"Huh?" The rabbit blinked in confusion, turning to face the two lizards staring at it.
The black rabbit was, of course, Asmodeus, who had been beaten, cursed, and forcibly transford into this pitiful form. The curse, cast by a being from the Starry Abyss, had bound him into this rabbit body. Worse yet, it prevented him from transforming back into his Hell Lord form.
The curse was absolute. Without the explicit permission of his "owner," Asmodeus could neither return to his original form nor fully wield his Hell Lord powers. Even the limited power he could access in this rabbit form was severely weakened.
Any attempt at betrayal or disobedience would result in the curse consuming him from the inside out. In short, he was trapped, forced to live as a pet with no hope of escape unless his owner willingly granted him freedom, sothing he wasn't going to bet on.
Asmodeus let out a tired sigh.
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He had only just regained consciousness after the horrific ordeal that left him cursed. His mories were a blur after the terrifying creature from the Starry Abyss had destroyed his body and reshaped it.
This rabbit form wasn't just a transformation, it was a complete reconstruction of his original body, embedding the curse so deeply that it had beco one with him. This made it impossible for him to dispel the curse on his own.
Even more humiliating, this rabbit body was now his "base form." Returning to his Hell Lord form required the owner's permission, effectively locking him into servitude. The curse was a failsafe, a perfect trap designed to strip him of his autonomy and force his obedience.
Reining in his frustration, Asmodeus began to take in his surroundings.
The small wooden house was not for humans—it was clearly built for pets. He glanced at the two lizards again. Sothing about them seed familiar. One exuded a draconic aura, while the other seems to have the power to control water.
Asmodeus didn't know why, but he felt the two auras were very familiar to him.
"Who are you guys?" he asked, his voice tinged with curiosity and suspicion.
"Can you shut up and sleep already? I've got a job to do tomorrow," grumbled the yellow iguana, curling up with his tail wrapped around himself as he closed his eyes.
"Yeah, we've got work tomorrow too, so shut the f*ck up and sleep, or we'll make you sleep ourselves," snapped the crocodile, his tone dripping with irritation.
"Work? What kind of work?" Asmodeus muttered, tilting his head in confusion. "And who are you two, anyway? Why don't you answer ? Are you so kind of archfiends who got captured and trapped in this—"
Before Asmodeus could finish his sentence, both lizards opened their mouths, spewing fire and lightning at him simultaneously. The flas singed his fur, but thanks to his resistance as a Hell Lord, he only suffered superficial burns. The lightning, however, left him shocked and montarily paralyzed, his body twitching from the numbing effects.
"You… you! Leviathan… Mam… m...on," Asmodeus stamred, barely managing to utter their nas before he lost consciousness.
— Morning —
A new day arrived, and little Sylvana had already completed her morning routine, taking a bath, eating breakfast, helping around the house a bit, and so on. It was the weekend, a ti for students to relax and enjoy life with their families. Even though little Sylvana attended a mage school, its schedule for primary to junior high students mirrored that of regular schools.
However, things would change in high school, where mage schools shifted to a boarding system. The advanced curriculum required students to engage with the Curtained World, a hidden reality where monsters and supernatural beings road the night.
For now, as a primary school student, Sylvana didn't have to worry about such things. Instead, she was enjoying a swim in the private rooftop pool.
Perched atop her head was a yellow iguana, Mammon, while a small alligator, Leviathan, assisted her in learning to swim.
"Slowly now, use your legs… just like that," Leviathan instructed. If not for his comically small size, he would have made a rather good swimming teacher.
Mammon, still resting on Sylvana's head, shouted words of encouragent. anwhile, the black rabbit sat pitifully at the poolside, watching the two forr Hell Lords who had reduced themselves to being pets and servants to a little girl.
"Pathetic… truly pitiful," Asmodeus muttered in disdain. Despite his infamous reputation as the most cowardly of the Seven Hell Lords, he had never fallen so low. There was no pride in what these two had beco.
"Is this the job you were talking about?! Being pets and servants to a little girl? Pathetic!" Asmodeus sneered, his voice dripping with disdain as he glared at the two lizards resting nearby.
At that mont, Daniel, who had yet to return to the test site, approached the trio—Mammon, Leviathan, and Asmodeus—who were engaged in their conversation.
Without a word, Daniel placed two Chromatic Philosopher's Stones into bowls, one for Mammon and one for Leviathan. "Here's your paynt for today. Nice job, folks," he said casually before heading back to Tian Xingyun and little Sylvana.
The two lizards wasted no ti devouring the Philosopher's Stones. Before Asmodeus could get a proper look at them, they had already disappeared into the mouths of Mammon and Leviathan. From the residual energy radiating from the stones, Asmodeus could tell they were packed with enough mana to significantly enhance their strength.
"Oi! What did you just eat? F*ck! Stop and let see it!" Asmodeus shouted, trying to intervene, but his efforts were swiftly thwarted. Both lizards responded by smacking him across the face with their tails, leaving him dazed.
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