As it turned out, demons are actually lousy at keeping secrets from each other. Most of the army knew that Cain had been blessing some of them with Mythic abilities and that he was likely to do it a few more times even before he left the meeting hall.
Some of that, or most of that, was probably due to Carnage running around with his new flaming Ax, but the news still spread faster than Cain was expecting.
The beaches seemed to have been mostly cleaned up already, thanks to the combined efforts of the Demon army, and the Wave Riders had joined them for the party. Large bonfires were already burning all around the army's camp and Cain could smell food cooking from every direction. As he knew well, it takes a lot to feed an army, so he would have some time to be sociable before food distracted everyone.
"Duke Cain, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Gilberaat, from the Northern Steppes. Your battle today was magnificent, on par with the mighty King Aggramor himself." A Magic-type demon, wearing the insignia of a Lieutenant and the son of a lesser noble simpered the moment Cain came near him.
"I'm glad you were impressed. Combat with magic is all about versatility." Cain responded, knowing most of them wouldn't get the veiled reference to his own area effect skill
It was possible that Record Keeper, who was walking behind him, carefully examining Cyrene's scales, did understand the reference, but with the beaked head Cain couldn't assign any emotions to its facial expressions, they were just too unfamiliar.
Passing through the Magic Clan wasn't too bad though, other than a few who were clearly begging for favors, most were more interested in his rumored Spell Crafting abilities. It was a skill that the legendary Record Keeper supposedly had, but the demon either couldn't or wouldn't teach it to them. Cain had merged with the demon many times before though, and what it had wasn't Spell Crafting, but a type of mimicry, that let it learn and use spells it saw enough times. Record Keeper couldn't create new magic on its own.
The Wrath Demons were much more energetic, making Cain wish he had brought Vala here with him. Everything was a physical contest with them, even their disputes were solved with physical contests. Arm wrestling was a popular pastime, and Vala was very good at it, but they also had everything from duels to three-legged races going on.
Unlike the Magic aspect group, the Wrath Demons weren't nearly as segregated. Members of both the obsession and the Plague demons were there cheering them on and sometimes partaking in the games. If he had to categorize them, the Wrath Demons were actually the fun cousins of the family.
Near the edge of the Wrath Demons group, playing with some sort of diseased-looking housecat, sat a Legendary Plague Mother, a demon that could summon a wide variety of lesser Plague Demons. Cain didn't see the Plague Lord here, and with his size, he would be impossible to miss. This Plague Mother seemed to be the most powerful here other than the named trio, very close to pushing through to Mythic Quality on her own.
Her next species skill should be a Mythic Version of her [Plague Family] summoning skill. That seems like a skill he would enjoy using on a regular basis, so Cain merges with a clone of her, upgraded to Mythic, and walks over to say hello to the Plague Mother.
If you ignore the rotten smell, the Plague Kitten she has is actually pretty cute. Or maybe the smell is her, but either way it's bad. The emaciated demon looked up at him when Cain crouched in front of her, her dehydrated form showing the outline of her bones under ragged and leathery skin.
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"Would you like a new spell to bring different children into the world?" Cain asked, following the directions of the clone of hers that he was merged with.
"New children? After a thousand years? That would be incredible." She nodded happily, and Cain could hear the dry joints in her neck creak.
Cain used [Modify] to grant her the new spell and a soft gray glow slowly surrounded her body. That hadn't happened before, as far as Cain remembered, so maybe she was activating the spell.
The glow faded after only a few seconds, but when it did her status upgraded from Legendary Quality, Mythic Awakened to just plain Mythic Quality. The aura of power that she was suddenly giving off brought many interested demons over to see what the fuss was. Plague Mother wasn't paying them any attention though, focusing on something internally.
Her species could only summon specific demons, but the way she was focusing, it was possible that they could influence them, or make a one-time choice when they reached Mythic Rank. When she finished, the Plague Mother was in a much better mood and stood up to join the party, still carrying her kitten. Her appearance had subtly changed, still emaciated, but now looking somehow hollow, as if pure power had replaced the missing muscle mass and made the flesh hanging loosely over her bones instead of looking so tightly mummified.
"Well, can we see the new spell? I've never seen a Mythic Plague Mother." One of the plague demons asked and the woman smiled, handing Cain her kitten.
"Of course, darling. But just a little bit, we wouldn't want to make things crowded now would we?"
Her magic swirled in the air and three demons appeared in front of her. A legendary Blighted Paladin, and enormous Plague Lord at Epic Quality, his bloated body nearly blocking out the fire nearby, and a small mummy in a goth loli dress carrying a short sword.
She was a pestilent zombie, whose every hit spread [Pestilence] to her target. While she wasn't the strongest of summons, that damage ability was the same one that Cain and Vala used before she reached Mythic Rank and it upgraded. It spread incredibly fast and was very difficult to cleanse.
The mummy girl had long black hair and was mostly wrapped in cloth under her dress, but one red eye was visible and glowed happily at the attention she was getting.
"Harmffo" [Hello] The zombie mumbled, waving at everyone around her and the Plague Mother made a wheezing noise that Cain interpreted as joy before picking her up to give her a hug.
The Plague Lord looked a little upset at that. He was her child too, but he got too big to properly hug, she could only grab an arm and hug a little piece of him. The Blighted Paladin was of course, above such lowbrow things as hugs from his Plague Mother. Or at least he pretended to be so he could uphold his public image.
The little zombie was making grabby hands at the kitten, so Cain passed it back and the three took a seat near the fire so that the others could see them properly and come to talk.
"That was pretty impressive. Not only did you cure her boredom and depression, but you also gave the army an incredible combat asset." King Aggramor said, winking at Cain after he finished congratulating his newest Mythic asset.
"It was my pleasure. She looks much happier now that she has a little zombie to cuddle. I think that should be enough for the first string of assault forces, and my people will start on the additional towers in just a few days, once Cyrene here has finished with the planning stages. If the Gods deem them worthy you should get at least one or two more awakened Demons to join you, and after that, we will have to see how things progress between the continents. Keeping everyone contained to their home Continent doesn't really seem realistic anymore, it's too easy for the Awakened to travel." Cain told the Demon King, who was trying not to be distracted by the repeated booming noise of Carnage playing with his Ax on the beach.
Upgrading the Wrath Demon was both the best and worst idea of the day. He was going to be a monster in combat now, but he sure was loud and he didn't give a damn who complained unless it was the King himself.
The lesser Demons were starting to come around with food and drinks now, competing with each other to see who would be the first to bring a dish to Cain and King Aggramor, but being repeatedly defeated by the ranks of demons between them and the kitchen.
Every time their tray was emptied, they had to return to the kitchen for another and try again. It had become a game among the Demon Army a long time ago because they knew that the higher-ranked Demons would simply go to the kitchen and get what they wanted when they were hungry. Only the drink trays weren't completely cleared so the dignitaries always had a beverage available.
"I suppose we should eat. Plague Mother, would you like anything?" Cain asked, and the demon looked down at her little summon, asking something.
"We're good with just drinks today. But thank you for the offer." Plague Mother answered with a polite bow, and Cain turned to head for the kitchen.
They had enough food here to feed twice the numbers that Cain could see, but with Gluttony obsession demons and some of the very large species, it would likely all be finished by morning. The Wave Riders were having a grand time drinking and dancing, but Cain was in a lazy mood, sitting down against a tree at the edge of the village and watching the dancing while drinking the Demon Kingdom's black rum and chatting with the constant visitors that came to make his acquaintance.
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