After dealing with the troublesome women, Adam ascended the platform once more, leaving the two stunned demonesses to face the new reality of their situation.
The jagged rocks were at the foot of the obelisk, in plain sight for all to see.
They dared not refute or grumble in defiance, as they knew that they were on thin ice.
With labored steps, they made their way to the patch and knelt into the obsidian like knives.
The sharp rocks dug painfully into their knees as they knelt. The low murmurs of demons passing by only made the shame and pain even more unbearable.
The sun, one of many, in hell's sky slowly began to shift as Adam's focus returned to the obelisk.
The whispers of the demons below were now a low echo of activity. A stifled order took over where there had once been chaos. His words had struck deeply with his fledging force.
Adam's mind, always racing, moved from the earlier event and began to plot.
The peak-tier lesser devils would be coming, and he needed to be ready. The path was an arduous, grueling process, but he had a shortcut: the nexus point.
Adam looked at the intricate carvings on the obelisk, his fingers tracing the runes that he knew would become his tool for power. He had forged a defensive barrier, but a shield was nothing without a weapon, a sword at hand.
Concentrating demonic mana into his finger tips, he began his work on the attack rune, carving the intricate patterns into the black stone. Constructing a conduit, or path that would lead to the attack runes main component.
He was a lord of this basin now.
His first step was to build a fortress, his second, to build an army, and his third, to become a threat to the surrounding devils who might oppose him, discouraging any thoughts conquest they might have.
'Let's start by finishing up this attack rune.'
Adam, his face tired, but his gaze focused, meticulously chiseled away at the dark and magical material the obelisk was made of.
The nexus point, with its impressive height of 1 kilometer, could be slowly carved and forged into a powerful base or fortress. But the job would have to be a slow and cautious one, lest Adam ruin some of the natural energy nodes and veins within the structure.
It was also because of this that Adam had to repeatedly delay his attack rune construction; the first obstacle he had encountered was reaching the highest point of the obelisk, gently carving away some footholds and steps along the way.
His naturally athletic figure agilely moved towards the top.
Even with his superhuman strength and magical capabilities, it had taken several hours of dedicated work to reach the pinnacle of the structure and create hollowed-out room.
The entire tip of the obelisk was now a room with three pillars extending inward and toward the top, supporting the space within that was filled with various demonic runes.
'I bet not many devils would use such low-level runes in an obelisk.'
Adam sighed, knowing that he would one day have to remove and replace the runes that he was currently carving. Regardless, that was a worry for the future.
Shadows slowly shifted and meandered by, the demons on the basin floor could be faintly heard from where he stood.
It was also because of his high vantage point that he had been able to hear Agri's cries for help earlier.
A hint of annoyance rose in his heart once again as he recalled Blair's attempt to kill his Agri.
'Although she is weak, her beauty has great merit… but that Blair is also quite pleasing to the eye.' Adam pondered as his demonic eyes gazed down towards the still-kneeling demonesses.
It was also due to his casual glance that Adam saw something at the basin's edge.
A group of robust, organized demons, with crude metallic weapons and armor, being led by a four-meter-tall devil. Dense demonic energy drifted around his figure, allowing Adam to sense his near-second-realm strength.
A peak lesser devil had finally arrived!
From his high vantage point on the obelisk, Adam watched the approaching party.
The group was a stark contrast to his own chaotic horde; they were disciplined, armored, and moving with a singular, menacing purpose.
At their head strode a devil far more imposing than any other of hell's residents Adam had yet encountered, barring Arch Devil Gorael, of course.
This was not a mindless, emotional brute like the demons, but a creature of intellect and power, and in the same class as Adam himself: devils, the rulers of hell.
The four meter tall figure, with skin like red, cracked volcanic rock and horns that curved back over its head like a crown, was a peak-tier lesser devil. The dense, swirling demonic energy around him was a testament to his strength, a strength Adam knew he could not match in his current state.
Adam's initial weariness vanished, replaced by a cold, focused clarity.
The anger that had clouded his mind while dealing with Agri and Blair was gone, replaced by a strategic calm.
He was like an ant facing a mountain.
He was a newly formed devil, a fledgling with no real power, but he had a mind honed by immense torture and solitude in another life; his thoughts had long become a dear friend of his.
He had already dealt with the more troublesome Gorael, and he now had a powerful tool at his disposal.
He took a moment to observe the approaching devil, whose name he now knew through his hell's eyes: Kaelgor.
Kaelgor's army of roughly 500 demons was a moving machine of death.
They were armed with crude looking but effective metallic halberds and shields, a stark contrast to the raw claws and teeth of Adam's followers. Every single one of them was at the peak of the 1st realm and possessed the berserker demon bloodline.
This was a force built for pure conquest, not survival.
After some time, Kaelgor stopped his march a few hundred meters from the barrier.
Earlier, he had distinctly felt Adam's probing gaze, causing a hint of anger to rise within him, and his red eyes narrowed as they locked onto Adam's figure.
He raised a massive, gauntlet-covered hand, and his army came to an immediate halt.
They stood there, a silent wall of black armor and glinting steel, their combined presence a suffocating weight on the air; a manifestation of carnage to the demons before them, to Adam's 'army'.
Kaelgor's gaze swept over the basin, taking in the crude fortifications, the working, chaotic horde, and the kneeling figures of Agri and Blair at the foot of the obelisk.
His fiery eyes finally resettled on Adam, a tiny silhouette atop the obelisk.
Their gazes, red fiery pupils, locked onto one another.