Kaelgor's smirk widened, a predatory gleam in his red eyes as he nodded slowly, his helmet reflecting the hellish light.
"If the branding is fully formed, then having Saphira around would be significantly safer. At the very least, if she harbored any ill intentions, you would receive a warning beforehand."
The band would give insight into her emotions, an understanding of her desires; it would allow Adam to 'read' her, to anticipate her movements before she even knew them herself.
It would give both a sense of security in each other's proximity.
An unwritten deal that would give both parties the pride and dignity they each seek, in order to coexist.
Kaelgor's thumb started to tap onto the hilt of his weapon, musing.
"But the problem lies in how long it takes to form, does it not?"
'Back to the main problem.' Adam's jaw tightened.
Therein lay the crux of his situation, the very reason he had brought Saphira to Kaelgor instead of simply dealing with her himself.
His greed and lust made him extremely reluctant to get rid of her. She was beautiful and powerful: a deviless!
To kill her would be to waste a resource of great value.
But to keep her without some form of control was to invite a venomous serpent into his bed.
His gaze shifted to Saphira.
She was looking up at him, her enchanting face fragile, hopeful. Her molten brass eyes wide and pleading.
But beneath that facade, he knew, there were unknown thoughts and schemes, hidden currents of ambition and resentment that could surface at any moment.
He could not trust her.
Not yet.
Perhaps not ever.
For branding, symbiotic branding, compatibility was a factor, and a significant one at that!
Even now, after days of intimacy, of shared emotions and mutual desire, Adam did not feel as if his brand with Lyra was at one hundred percent.
They were accepting of one another, their bond was strong, but it was not absolute.
Even if you had all the ingredients and recipes to bake a cake, it would still take some time.
If it was taking this long with Lyra, who had become willing, who desired him as much as he desired her, he could only imagine how long it would take to fully form a symbiotic brand with Saphira.
Until then, he would need a safety measure.
Something to keep her in check, to prevent her from acting on those hidden thoughts and schemes while the brand slowly, patiently, took root.
He didn't have the time to babysit her at every minute of the day.
Kaelgor's smirk deepened, his red eyes glittering with knowing amusement.
"You need a leash," He said, the words a blunt statement of fact, "Something that can restrain her until the brand can be formed."
Adam did not deny it.
He met Kaelgor's gaze with a steady, unashamed nod.
"Yes, that is what I need." He said.
It was his weakness, his loophole.
He had nothing more to pay, nothing else to offer. If Kaelgor denied him, or had no solution, then the only outcome would be to kill Saphira.
She was too powerful to be left unchecked.
Even at that moment, during the entire time he spent conversations with the outside devils, Adam had been able to feel Saphira slowly chipping away at the demonic mana that he had injected within her.
She had been meticulously gnawing at the chains that bound her, from the very first second she could.
Therefore, he didn't try to hide it, as he knew that Kaelgor probably knew. His gaze remained steady, but his heart was steeled, albeit slightly disappointed, in killing Saphira.
Unexpectedly, Kaelgor began to speak of seemingly random resources.
"Horns of a peak-tier devil of the Gluttony path," He recited, as if reading from an invisible ledger, "They have a natural, insatiable hunger for demonic mana, devouring it, or draining it away. Add black gold for mana conductivity, as it will ensure the drain is constant, uninterrupted, and efficient. Lastly, abyssal steel for its durability and the physical form. To contain the mechanism, to protect it from damage, to make it something that will not break or fail under normal stress."
'What is he…' Adam's eyes glowed with sudden realization.
The pieces quickly clicked into place, forming a picture in his mind.
"A restraint," Kaelgor confirmed his suspicion before he could even finish creating it.
"It will keep Saphira's demonic mana at bay. The instrument, forged with the horns, will act as a drain that constantly devouring her power: keeping her at a low-mana, manageable state. She will not be able to access the full extent of her high-tier strength."
Finishing his statement, with a casual, almost dismissive gesture, Kaelgor flicked his wrist.
A strange object with demonic runes materialized in the air before him, hovering for a moment before dropping onto the scorched ground with a soft, metallic clink.
It was a collar, but not like any collar Adam had ever seen.
It had a small, circular opening, but the tube was longer than normal collars, more slender, almost like an armband designed for a person with an unnaturally thin wrist.
Adam stared at it, his mind racing, his eyes tracing its unfamiliar shape.
"Wait," He said with sudden understanding. "Is that-"
"A tail band," Kaelgor cut him off, his tone matter-of-fact.
"A collar on a devil's neck would be too much. It would be an unspoken taboo. A devil's birthright is pride, and a slave collar around the neck is a violation of that pride," He gestured towards the strange object on the ground, "A band on the hands or legs would work, but not as effectively. A devil's tail, however... a devil's tail has a high concentration of demonic mana running through it. It is like a giant mana vein, an artery of power. To bind the tail is to bind the flow of that power, to restrict one of its source."
Adam's gaze shifted from the tail band to Kaelgor's impassive helmet, then to Saphira's wary, uncertain face.
"What is the catch?" He asked, his voice low.
There was always a catch, there was always a price.
Kaelgor shrugged casually, almost dismissive.
He nudged the tail band with the toe of his boot, sending it skidding closer to the barrier.
"No catch. Just hold up your end of the deal. Take this as an apology for... my earlier 'test.'" He began to turn, his massive armored body rotating away from Adam, towards his own base camp.
The casualness of the motion, the sheer, arrogant indifference, was startling. The outcome was unexpected, so Adam didn't react for a second or two.
"Wait," Adam called out, stopping him from leaving just yet, "Remove your brand on her."
Kaelgor paused, his back still turned.
The silence stretched.
When he spoke, his voice was flat and devoid of emotion.
"I will not be able to stop her if she goes rogue. You understand that, do you not? Without my brand, without that leash, she will be... free. Free to try again."
To risk attacking Adam, and in turn, risk activating the attack rune.
Adam's jaw tightened, but his gaze did not waver.
He stared at Kaelgor's broad, armored back, his determination hardening, unshakable.
He wanted Saphira to be his. His and his alone. Even her father, the devil who had sired her, could not be allowed to maintain any form of connection with her.
The brand was a lingering tie, a potential vulnerability, a string that Kaelgor could pull at any time.
It had to go.
"Remove it," Adam said, his voice final.
For a long, silent moment, Kaelgor did not move.
Then, slowly, he turned his head, his red gaze fixed on Adam over his shoulder. His expression was unreadable, but something flickered in the depths of his eyes.
Respect, perhaps, or a grudging acknowledgment of the newborn's stupid resolve.
"As you wish." He said.
He turned back to face Saphira, his red eyes focusing on her with an intensity that made her flinch. Though he said nothing.
"Arghhhh!"
Then, Saphira screamed.
Her body convulsed, her back arching, her limbs flailing, but only for an instant.
She fell over onto her side, her mouth opening wide as a stream of vomit, tinged with black and red, reeking of demonic mana, erupted from her lips. Her eyes rolled back in her head, showing only the whites, and then she went limp, her body slumping onto the scorched ground, unconscious.
Adam looked on and observed everything that was going on. Taking a mental note of what had just transpired.
"The brand is gone. She is yours. Completely."
With that, the demonic barrier Kaelgor had erected, the shimmering dome of silence and isolation, faded into nothingness; dissolving like mist in the morning light.
The sounds that were blocked from his side were brought back to existence. The restless horde, the distant clank of metal armies, all rushed back, filling the space with a familiar, chaotic noise.
Kaelgor turned and began to walk, his massive, armored body cutting through the swirling miasma with undaunted purpose.
He moved towards his base camp, towards the shabby tents and his loyal berserkers.
The hellish light, that grim, bloody glow, caught the curves of his armor, casting long, distorted shadows behind him.
He was a force of nature, a devil who now answered to no one but his own ambition, and his power, his cunning, his utter lack of fear, was a reminder that even among peak-tiers, there were hierarchies.
Adam stood at the barrier, Lyra at his side, Saphira's unconscious at his feet.
The tail band lay on the ground, a few inches from his reach.
He stared at Kaelgor's fading figure, his mind a whirlwind of emotions: relief, wariness, respect, and a burning determination.