Absolute Depravity: Reincarnated with a lustful System

Not long after receiving the news about Melicia, the remaining preparations for the Colosseum were expedited thanks to Asmodia's time magic. Now that it was time for the battle to begin, Haruki was all the way in a prep room with some of his companions circling around him. Having sensed the dissolution of the dragon scale, Klein had sent Rose to check on Haruki, which she would've done regardless since the news of the battle was being pipered far and wide.

"So the day really came huh?" Rose muttered, looking down at Haruki sitting in a chair.

"What day?" He asked.

"The day you'd do something dumb enough to die," she replied truthfully despite Tiara and Doroke riding on her shoulders.

"Mother," shooting a sharp sideways glance, Hawthorn didn't seem too fond of his mother's tone. "Maybe we shouldn't be talking like this in front of his daughter don't you think?"

Shifting his attention to Stella standing beside Haruki, he looked her in the eyes. His eyes glowing a bright light charmed her for a moment as her mind slowly tired into a deep sleep. Although concerned about what he was doing, Haruki didn't feel any malice from the man so he decided to put his trust in the man, even if a little.

"Thanks," grabbing Stella before she could fall, Haruki gratefully nodded at Hawthorn. Quickly slipping his daughter inside the dungeon, he made sure she gracefully landed on the bed and that the demonic spy possessed by Max would take care of her until the battle was done. "It's better that she stays away from violence or who knows what would happen."

A bit fearful about the possibility of Stella stripping away his powers during the fight, while not being able to do the same for Inferno made him more than a bit anxious.

"Regardless..." Bringing everyone's attention to herself once more, Rose continued speaking. "Seems like you did consume the dragon scale, no wonder Klein was mad."

"Why does he care? So far as I remember he was the one who didn't want it back and left it in my care," Haruki retorted.

"He didn't tell you who belonged to, did he? Or else you wouldn't speak in that tone," Rose shot back with her eyes squinting in slight annoyance.

Taken aback, Haruki leaned back into the chair and was just about to interrogate more about the origins of the brooch, however, before he could, Asuka jumped in between the confrontation.

"Can we talk about this stuff later? The battle is about to begin and we can't waste so much of our remaining time here quarreling amongst each other!" Her hand spread wide to deter any contact between the two parties, she was evidently more concerned about what was about to happen than what already had with the dragon scale. "Also, master has questions for you too, Rose, questions about that blessing on Stella, but he's not pushing you for it right now, is he?"

"She's right, we can have our little chit-chats later," jumping in, Moriyana moved closer to her master. "We should be planning out a strategy instead of tearing into each other."

Extending her hand towards Haruki, Moriyana pulled him out of the stool once he offered up his hand.

"Mother wanted to visit, but I decided to relay her message instead," leaning forward, she placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed her into a kiss.

Surprised by the sudden show of affection, Haruki's eyes widened in shock, however, as a strange aura traveled from her body to his, he knew that this wasn't merely what he thought. Like a wave of electricity washing over his body, he felt strange tingling all over before an announcement rang into his head.

'Curse of time: Unblocked!' Hearing the announcement, he was reminded of the curse that had plagued him for a while. So far it had a blocked message written next to it, but now it seemed to be unlocked.

"At least warn us before you do something like that," covering the eyes of the two kids riding on her shoulder, Rose wasn't too pleased by the sight.

"Moriyana!" Pulling Moriyana off Haruki, Asuka stood beside her with a raging look on her face. "This isn't time for stuff like this!"

"Asuka's right, but what the hell are we supposed to do?" Breaking her silence, Margarette got off the chair in the corner and moved towards the group to clutter the place further. "Riley's being haunted by daydreaming nightmares so we can't spy on Inferno, Athena, Alice and I are basically useless in a battle, so's you Asuka, and Rose and her kids can't join the fight either. Fighting him head-on seems to be the only choice!"

The moment she was finished speaking, a roar of demons echoed from right above them. Following the waves of cheer, a sharp sound screeched out before Deus's voice took over for the screeching.

"Demons and Demoness-Pfff! Goddammit, this is too fucking funny!" His voice said from above the group.

"Seems like he's riling up the colosseum," Haruki muttered.

Moving towards the exit, he stretched his arm around as he got ready to face the hardest enemy in his life head-on. Terrified of what's to come, the others watch him walking off, knowing full well that this might just be the end of their master.

"Fay, if I die," pausing by the door, Haruki turned to look at Fay. "Then I'm sure you'll know what to do."

Speaking not a word, Fay nodded back without a hint of emotions reflected onto her face. With his gaze alone, Haruki conveyed exactly what she needed to do in the unfortunate case of him losing against Inferno.

"As for all of you," faking a smile, he looked around at everyone present in the room. "If I die, you're free to live, however, you want."

Having been a puppet under the hands of a demon lord, the last thing Haruki wanted was to force his servants to waste their lives trying to serve a ghost.

'The angels turned to demon lords, and battle against their god. If I ask you to avenge me, then I'd be no different than that so-called creator of this world.' Smiling away at the teary eyes of his companions, Haruki opened up a portal and stepped inside.

Vanishing from their sight, he reappeared overhead at one of the empty entrances to the colosseum ground. The lights called neon were already blinding, and the cheering and roars from all kinds of different demons were enough to deafen up any human. Fortunately for him, he was human only in spirit and not in body.

"Alright, alright, for real this time," hearing Deus's voice echoing through the colosseum, Haruki shut his eyes closed to prepare for the fight.

Taking long deep breaths, he slowly opened them back up and noticed a pair of glowing eyes from the other entrance right across where he stood. Standing in the dark, it was none other than the red-headed beast of fire, Inferno. And even from afar, he had a bright smirk on his face as he walked out into the open with a katana riding over his shoulder. 𝘣𝘦𝑑𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑐𝑜𝘮

"Oi! Moron! I didn't announce your entrance yet!" Sounding genuinely upset that he walked into the arena without being given the chance to announce it dramatically, Deus yelled out through the speakers.

"Like hell, I care idiot!" Inferno growled back, a smirk still painted across his face.

While the two fought verbally, Haruki walked out into the arena as well. Once again, Deus sounded pissed as he gave off a grunt, but didn't bother correcting Haruki since time was already running short for them.

'If only the world wasn't ending, I would be down there fighting these two idiots myself!' Deus thought, reminding himself of the prophecy of the world's end when a witch of calamities wakes away from her slumber. At times, Melicia had grumbled and sang for many, on days of bloodbath and massacre, but the grumble through the clouds as she came to was enough to strike fear in the hearts of the angels. 'Fuck it, we'll deal with her when we have to.'

"Get ready to witness a battle of a lifetime, you monster!" Looming right above the middle of the arena on a hoverboard, Deus yelled into the mic to rile up all the demons. "And you better put up a good fight Asmodia's puppet! I lost my territory just so I could enjoy this fight!"

'I thought he was a likable guy, but...' Glancing up at Deus, Haruki wasn't sure what to make of him anymore. 'Where the hell are the others?'

Looking through the crowd, he noticed a special section of the colosseum elevated above all where the rest of the demon lords sat together. Spying out Asmodia from the bunch, he was somewhat puzzled by her lack of interest and the way she casually sat with her legs crossed and her head pressed against her hand.

"Eyes here, puppet," Inferno muttered.

Shifting his attention to his opponent, Haruki noticed Inferno's hand stretched towards him and his fingers gesturing him to come closer.

"Buckle up!" Announced Deus from up above. "The fight begins..."

Right between the pause, Haruki lowered his body slightly to get into a fighting stance.

"I'm not losing," he said.

"Neither am I," Inferno replied.

"Now!" And with Deus's announcement both of them jumped towards each other.