Harem app-Chapter 247: The Successor

Third Person POV

Liam awoke slowly. The first sensation was the throbbing pain in his abdomen, followed by overwhelming weakness. His eyes opened with difficulty, and the gloom of the place he was in gradually revealed itself: dark walls, illuminated only by a dim lamp.

Seated in front of him, in an antique armchair, was he. The man who had taken his body. Even though he had never seen him, Liam instinctively knew it was him.

The being wore an elegant suit and black gloves, sitting with perfect posture. He had extremely pale skin and deep red eyes that seemed to read the boy’s very soul.

"Finally awake." His voice was deep, laden with authority.

Liam tried to sit up, but his muscles didn’t respond. "You..." he murmured weakly. "It was you who took my body."

The man gave a half-smile. "Correct. But you can call me Asmodeus. Now that I’ve lost my crown, that is my name."

Liam blinked, confused by what the man had said. He didn’t know what he meant by ’crown’, but he would remember the name.

"Let’s get straight to the point. I’m in a hurry, and I imagine you are too," Asmodeus said in a firm voice. "I’ll be direct. I am the former King of the Incubus. And I was the one who created your app." He said, taking Liam’s cell phone from his pocket and throwing it back to him.

"So, you know why that man is immune to my powers? Do you know anything about him?" Liam asked anxiously, starting to think about how he would defeat his enemy.

"Yes, I have the answer to all your questions, but calm down and listen to me. That man, Aeris, has a power similar to yours. In fact, the source of Aeris’s power is you."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering directly, Asmodeus began to explain how, unlike angels and demons, the King of the Incubus is always chosen from among mortals. And when a new candidate for king is chosen, the old king loses his powers. Even though it had been millions of years since this ritual had happened.

However, there were conditions to become king. The chosen mortal needed to form a harem, defeat a usurper, and, finally, conquer his queen.

"Aeris is your usurper. He was a human who gained powers solely to become an obstacle in your path. That is why your superpower doesn’t work on him." The <Dream World> is the power of the King of the Incubus, but Aeris denies Liam this authority, and that is why, when he is present, Liam loses that power.

"This doesn’t make sense!" Liam complained. "When did I become a candidate to be the successor? I didn’t ask for any of this! Why did you do this?"

The king’s smile widened, amused. "No one asks. The crown chooses its king. But if you really don’t want to be king, just stand by and let the usurper take your throne. I doubt you want that, however."

Liam clenched his fists tightly. He would not, under any circumstances, allow that terrible man to touch his beloved. Still, he was also irritated with Asmodeus.

"Why did you never tell me anything about this?"

"I couldn’t," the answer was simple and direct. "I don’t make the rules, boy."

"And why did you give me this power? Why did you want to make me part of this game?" He needed to know.

"I just wanted a little money," Asmodeus shrugged, but his answer left Liam dumbfounded.

The harem app’s function wasn’t to choose the next king. It was no wonder all the functions cost money: Asmodeus wanted to save up a little money for when he ventured into the human world. In fact, he had done this other times.

"You know, humans make delicious food, and human women are easier than angels or demons." He shrugged. "But unfortunately, I can’t choose who receives the power; it’s random. If I could choose, I would have given it to a richer person."

"Wait, but... Then why did I become the candidate for King of the Incubus or whatever?"

"Didn’t I already tell you? Because the crown willed it. That is simply the will of the world. I was surprised too. By coincidence, you ended up meeting the queen. And after that, you continued to evolve. And because of the harem you formed, the crown took a liking to you." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Asmodeus sighed, dissatisfied. "I didn’t want to lose the throne. The bureaucracy can be boring sometimes, but most of the time, there are only advantages."

In fact, the Incubus had seriously considered stopping the ritual as soon as he noticed it was about to begin. There was a very efficient way to do this: kill the candidate.

But at the time, his daughter had already grown very attached to the boy, so he promised Lilith he wouldn’t kill him.

That said, he couldn’t help either. The old king couldn’t help his successor much; the crown didn’t allow it.

Besides, Asmodeus had no desire to help him. The problem was that Aeris was out of control, and if the angels found out that all happened because he gave powers to a human, he would be in big trouble. That’s why it would be good for him if Liam killed Aeris quickly.

"I hope you understand, I am not your enemy... nor your ally," Asmodeus commented finally. "Now, do you want to defeat Aeris or not?"

"Yes," Liam answered firmly. "What do I need to do?"

"Luckily for you, Aeris is much weaker than he should be. Probably because he doesn’t know how to use his powers properly." Asmodeus gave a horrifying smile. "Normally, I would send you to the land of dreams with about 20 women to train, but I doubt you’ll accept that suggestion."

"I’m not leaving anyone behind. I’m going to save Zoe and Clara," Liam stated with determination.

"Okay, but know that this is the most dangerous choice." He sighed. "You need to advance your relationship with the future queen. She will have some weapons that can make you stronger."

"The future queen?"

"Yes, my queen died a few years ago," he commented with regret. "That is why a human received the reincarnation of her powers. That human is Amber."

Liam was surprised, but this was expected to a certain extent.

"Completing the next phase of the current quest with her should be enough," Asmodeus explained. "If you can borrow her power, you’ll have a chance."

"Now I must withdraw. I cannot offer more help than this." The man’s words echoed through the room, and then he disappeared, turning into smoke.