"We can't engrave in these conditions," Letras stated, his voice a low.
His bark-like skin seemed to crackle with tension, his metal-like leaves rustling with each movement.
"The vibrations alone would cause a deviation in the rune paths. One mistake in the final product, and the entire array could destabilize."
"Agreed," Borog rumbled.
His golem-like body seemed to absorb the shockwaves with minimal disturbance. But even he couldn't work in such conditions.
"We need stability. If we continue like this, we will undo all our progress."
The group discussed the matter, their voices urgent, their minds racing.
The newcomers, Letras and Borog, gave their input on the situation, their experience providing valuable insights.
Still, minutes passed as the group went in circles; no solution, at least not a good one, was found.
Isolation barriers?
Not strong enough.
Working in the split seconds when the attacks didn't shake the ground?
Too hard to predict.
Try to negotiate with the outside forces?
That would require that they stood on equal footing…
Adam observed the attacks rain down on the barrier as those around him discussed.
The power of the siege weapons was equivalent to that of a full force attack of a peak-tier magical demon.
When one hit, the impact wasn't so noticeable. It was only when over a hundred blast hit at the same instant that the entire barrier shook and the vibrations passed through.
Alone, unworthy.
Together, they could make an impact…
It helped foster inspiration.
'Hmm, maybe~' Then Adam came up with an ingenious plan.
His eyes, burning with a new light, swept over the assembled devils.
"We work together," He cut their discussions off, only garnering confusion.
Seeing their expressions, Adam explained further.
"We will have several devils work on a single rune, and then we move on to the next rune as a group. By combining our efforts, we can compensate for the disruptions. We can hold steady against the chaos."
It was a simple idea.
By having multiple devils use their demonic mana and mental energy to trace out the runes, they could ensure that they didn't falter with the ongoing roaring and explosions.
If one devil stumbled, another would be there to catch them.
It was like a lone man trying to balance a board on one hand, suddenly having multiple people each hold a corner of the board. The combined strength would provide stability.
The group found his thinking logical, but of course there was a caveat: several devils, all of whom didn't fully trust each other, must now be in very close proximity and work on the runes.
To work together, to rely on each other in such a crucial moment, was a leap of faith that none of them were comfortable taking.
Could they trust each other enough to succeed?
No one spoke.
Their gazes were expressionless, but their silence spoke volumes.
Nyx was the first to break the tense silence.
Her sleek, graceful form moved with a fluid, serpentine grace as she stepped forward, her hand reaching out to clasp Adam's.
Her fingers were cool and smooth, her touch light but deliberate. A seductive smile curved her lips, eyes squinted as she met his gaze.
"Come now, let's follow our lords commands," She purred in a low, sultry tone that seemed to cut through the hesitation like a blade, "These runes won't engrave themselves. Let's not worry about what can happen, and focus on what is."
Saying so, she walked forward with her hand holding Adam's; taking the initiative in engraving those runes.
Lyra winced in annoyance, her silver eyes narrowing at the blatant display of seduction. A sharp, jealous irritation shot through her chest.
She knew that Nyx was seducing Adam, trying to worm her way into his favor.
And she also knew that Adam, insatiable with lust, might just let her.
But she also knew that now was not the time to voice out her complaints.
Plus, she had the confidence in Adam favoring her over another.
She was a queen, and queens did not bow to rivals.
"Another vixen." She muttered, softly, but not soft enough to escape the ears of their supernatural hearing.
The others, Nyx and Adam included, could only pretend to not have heard her words.
With a soft, determined snort, Lyra stepped forward, moving to help with the rune engraving.
The renaming devils glanced at each other before moving forward.
They could only grit their teeth and have a modicum of trust in each other as they worked together.
The alternative; death, capture, or worse, was a strong motivating factor.
Letras moved before Borog, his metallic, seemingly captivating leaves rustled with each step.
He knew that such a choice was no longer in their hands. They were bound together by necessity, by the shared goal of survival.
They could only blame themselves for wanting to obtain Adam's nexus, without knowing of the circumstances that surrounded him.
The devils gathered close, their mental energy and demonic mana focused like scalpels as they carved the runes inch by inch.
Time passed slowly, each minute stretching into an eternity.
Heavy breaths were drowned out by the rain of blast.
It was harder to work on the runes even with multiple devils focusing on a single rune.
A lot of stamina, mental energy, and demonic mana were used because their concentration could not be disrupted.
The constant bombardment, the relentless vibrations, and the distant roars of battle; all of it served to burden their nerves and drain their energy.
They soon discovered that working in shifts was better; rotating turns on the rune array, each break a moment to recover their strength.
This was done to better compensate for the limited space, while also ensuring that they all didn't get exhausted at the same time.
The entire time, the roars from the distance and the explosions from the siege never ceased.
It seemed as if at some point, more than one army had joined the fray for the fragment.
The chaos was spreading, drawing in more and more peak-tier devils, each one hungry for a piece of the prize.
Then there was the army that was still outside, constantly harassing their defense barrier.
The army of demons outside had organized several charges to further quicken the pace at which the nexus overheated. By launching a multipronged attack, they could evade most of the attack rune's strikes and secure a good amount of hits onto the barrier.
A fiend could still live even if their body was destroyed as long as the soul was still intact, therefore not many casualties were taken by these repeated assaults.
Of course, there were still some demon souls that took on the full concentrated assault of the demonic beam and were thus evaporated. Those who lived in their soul form only had to wait for their bodies to reform with hell's constant demonic mana infusion.
Albeit the process was a rather long one.
Of course, if not for the restrictions here, then the recovery of these demons could have been expedited.
Back at the nexus, hours had passed as Adam implemented the new work routine.
Lyra and Saphira worked with the two other male devils, their hands moving in sync, their focus unwavering.
But their gazes glanced at Adam for a split second as he backed away from the nexus with Nyx.
It was their turn to rest.
A flicker of jealousy passed through Lyra's eyes, but was quickly suppressed.
Saphira's expression remained neutral, but her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
They did not comment.
They simply continued their work…
Adam, and the other devils, always made sure to have at least a quarter of their energy reserved for in case of emergency.
It was a precaution.
Adam, unaware of the gazes of his women, surmised that even if something unexpected occurred, whether in the barrier or out, he had enough energy to act, to pull the doomsday switch and activate the attack rune.
"In fact," He mused aloud, his voice soft and thoughtful, "I should find the coordinates of another realm. Just in case I need to make an escape."
He had always wanted to put in Lyra's original realm coordinates, but had never gotten to it out of stupidity or unexpected events.
Now, he didn't want to keep on forgoing such an important backup.
It was a last resort that could save his life if everything else fell apart.
Of course, there was still the gamble of not knowing what was on the other side, and then being trapped there since he would be abandoning the nexus.
There was even a small, but definite chance of being caught by those in an angel's faction and facing a fate worse than the one he was in!
'Still, having a last gamble escape could do no worse than my current circumstances.'
He thought it was wise to have a realm to escape to and glanced at Nyx, who was now free.
He might as well use her coordinate realm since she was available.