CHAPTER 603: HEAD MAID GRETEL

Asmodeus closed his eyes, enjoying Gretel’s hands. The moment she caressed his neck, like magic, his tight muscles and stiff bones cracked and relaxed. However, the most significant change was that his divine aura began to gather when she touched him.

"Gretel, do you understand your role?"

Her fingers squeezed and pinched, a faint smile on her lips as a faint aroma leaked from her pores; the scent changed depending on her emotion, from citrus to floral, sweet to savoury.

"I am your maid, My Lord."

"Not just a maid, you will be the head maid and my personal chamberlain." He didn’t transform her for a sexual reason; the little girl wanted her mother to live, and thus, he saved her. "I will hire Anna as a trainee maid and have her taught a nobles level of education for the future."

However, after seeing the woman right now, Asmodeus could sense it.

One day, he would sleep with this woman.

It was a sort of premonition.

Gretel’s soft voice whispered in his ears as she continued to help him recover his divine aura, but the best thing for Asmodeus was his relaxed and comfortable muscles.

"That was amazing, Gretel." He said with a faint smile and relaxed expression. "Follow me. Let’s meet Anna."

Gretel withdrew her hands and stepped to his side without a word. When he rose, she was already there, supporting his elbow with a light touch. The pressure in his core steadied at once. It wasn’t a dramatic power, just a clean, constant pull, like fresh air in a sealed room.

The moment he mentioned Anna, her scent shifted to a warm citrus with faint floral as they moved through the aisles. Half-demons on beds watched them with dazed eyes, people about to die, now slowly healing with their pain gone, bandages loosening as flesh knitted underneath.

Many of the nurses froze, and a few dropped to their knees in praise.

Gretel wondered if, like her, they understood everything was thanks to the man beside her.

"Head maid," Asmodeus said, voice even, "you’ll coordinate this place until the wall is secured. Every patient is to be catalogued, fed, and reassured. Anyone who can stand will be given ample rest."

"Yes, My Lord." Gretel’s tone stayed soft, but also carried a sense of her devotion.

They reached the partition, a sheet that once split her from her daughter forever—a black cloth of death.

Anna stood there wringing the hem of her apron, eyes still puffy from crying.

She looked from Asmodeus to the tall woman behind him—horns gleaming, hair like fresh blood, skin untouched by a single scar.

For a heartbeat, Anna didn’t breathe.

Then the little girl launched forward.

"Mommy!"

However, the moment she opened her mouth, Anna hit her with enough force to rock her back, tiny hands clutching at the silk of Gretel’s magical gown.

Gretel knelt and opened her arms. Anna hit her with enough force to rock her back, tiny hands clutching at the silk of Gretel’s borrowed gown. The child’s face pressed into her mother’s neck, then flinched, startled by the faint hardness of the horns. Gretel shifted her posture at once so the horns angled away, one hand shielding Anna’s head.

"It’s me," she whispered, voice steady. "I’m here."

Anna sobbed once before she broke down and started crying, the sound dissolving into Gretel’s bountiful chest.

Asmodeus watched in silence until the girl calmed. Then he spoke. "Gretel is the head maid and my chamberlain. Anna will start as a trainee maid. You’ll be taught to read, write, count, and whatever you wish. From now on, you’ll be safe."

Anna looked up with eyes shining. "Promise?"

"I don’t break promises," he said.

"Then I want to learn how to fight, to protect mom!"

"Oh... Anna."

Gretel eased to one knee and faced him with Anna still in her arms. "I swear to you on my blood and will, I will serve you in every way and protect your house, women and children with all my strength, please command me."

He didn’t expect this from her; in honesty, he just couldn’t let the young children die because they reminded him of his daughters now.

Asmodeus was changing to become different from the past.

"Good." He placed a hand on their heads, and the cute Anna mimicked her mother and smiled at them.

He glanced over his shoulder.

The tent was waking with an aura of life and celebration. Men and women who might have perished now sat up with colour in their cheeks. Fingers flexing, eyes focused as their voices filled the medical tent.

This was the moment the city of Baltimore became a part of the Demon Empire.

"Head maid," he said without turning, "prepare the room. They’ll have questions."

Gretel stood, lifting Anna with one arm as if the child weighed nothing. "I’ll begin immediately."

Although he would love to enjoy this reverence, the most critical task for him now was to find where Mephisto had vanished to.

Because he couldn’t sense him in the city, he worried he might try to cause havoc.

The tent had truly changed.

No longer one of death, now filled with vibrant life. Moments ago, it had been full of groans, prayers, and the stench of death. Now men and women lifted their heads, flexing fingers they thought they’d lost forever. Burned flesh now silky smooth, and missing limbs began to move again. Eyes once clouded with pain locked onto him with something else—hope.

"Asmodeus..." someone whispered.

Another followed, "Our King..."

It spread like fire through dry grass. Soldiers, nurses, even broken civilians pressed hands to their chests or dropped to their knees. They weren’t human anymore, but none of them cared; to be a demon and survive meant everything.

Gretel stood at the centre, already issuing orders like she’d served for years. Her voice was calm but firm, directing nurses to change bandages, feed broth, and log names and skills. With Anna clinging to her side with a tiny notepad, she looked more like a queen than a maid.

Asmodeus nodded with a faint smile.

He’d given them life; now they would give it back in service.

That was enough.

However, without Gretel restoring his divine energy, he might have been in trouble. The drain to heal the people and convert them perfectly caused his divine core to fail.

He exhaled, straightening. "This city is no longer Baltimore. It belongs to the Demon Empire. Anyone who follows me will never know hunger, fear, or despair again."

The cheers shook the tent.

Yet even as their voices rose, something gnawed at him.

A shadow.

He closed his eyes, expanding his senses beyond the walls of the ruined city. The battlefield was littered with corpses, his soldiers gathering weapons and prisoners. The stench of blood and smoke lingered, but among all of it, he still couldn’t sense the one he needed to find.

Mephisto.

The snake hadn’t lifted a finger during the siege, but the moment Asmodeus killed Darius, the bastard stole a portion of the divine core.

"Husband."

Velvet’s voice came from behind him as he stood outside the tent, her dress hanging over her broken armour as she stepped closer, bowing once before meeting his gaze. "We’ve interrogated the enemy survivors. Their commander never saw Mephisto on the walls, and most of the troops didn’t even know who he was."

"Good work Velvet, though I hoped for more. You’ve done well."

Asmodeus pulled her into his embrace, his hands stroking through her silky wings, which made the lovely red-skinned demon shudder, before hugging him back. "Husband, you’re very affectionate recently..."

"Do you hate it?"

She lifted her head with a cute smile. "No, I love it."

With Velvet in his embrace, he muttered to himself.

"Baltimore is secure, and soon I will leave," he said in a low voice. "Next I’ll hunt down the rat who thinks he can steal from me."

The ground trembled faintly as his aura leaked out, black and crimson threads wrapping around his body and spreading through the earth. Velvet closed her eyes tightly with a faint smile as she rubbed against his chest.

Mephisto thought he could hide and escape.

But he thought wrong.

Asmodeus opened his eyes and gazed towards the north, where home and the kingdom of Grigor existed. "Prepare yourselves," he growled, his voice carrying through the camp like thunder. "The real war begins now."

The camp fell silent, every soldier, nurse, and half-demon watching their Emperor with wide eyes. His words weren’t simply commands—they were law, carved into their bones by the blood he had given them.

Velvet pressed her forehead against his chest, whispering, "We’ll follow you anywhere."

Asmodeus’s wings unfolded behind him, shadow and light stretched across the ruined city like a banner, and yet his gaze never left the horizon.

"North," he said again, voice edged with killing intent. "Mephisto won’t escape me. Not this time."

The Demon Empire and its master were preparing their attack.