Deviant: No Longer Human

Wang Xiao, "Who... Is it?"

Seraphine's expression twisted with both physical discomfort and simmering rage.

The residual numbness in her body only fueled her fury as she confronted him, her words sharp and accusing. "Are you even human!?"

Her questions poured out, each one more biting than the last. "Do you also treat Josephine like this!?" She was relentless, her voice rising, "No one can survive it; they would die of internal bleeding—"

Her tirade was cut short, her breath catching in her throat. In a flash, the dynamics shifted—Wang Xiao's agility and strength flipping their positions with a swiftness that left Seraphine disoriented.

Now underneath him, her back pressed against the bed's soft surface, she found herself staring up into his eyes, her anger momentarily eclipsed by surprise.

"Ugh! Leave me!"

Seraphine shouted in panic, her heart hammered against her chest, her breaths coming in short, ragged gasps.

She thrashed beneath his imposing figure, her arms stretched out wide, forming a desperate T-shape. Wang Xiao loomed over her, his eyes a piercing glare that seemed to look right through her.

"You shouldn't disturb a man in the morning" Wang Xiao murmured, his voice a chilling blend of calm and wickedness.

A shiver of fear coursed through Seraphine's veins. "Ah! No—" she protested, her head shaking wildly in a bid to escape his iron grasp.

Yet, for all her frantic movements, Wang Xiao's smirk only widened, his hold unbreakable, as if her efforts were nothing but the struggles of a captured bird against the inevitable.

"I'll end you for this!" she vowed through gritted teeth, her spirit unbroken even as despair threatened to swallow her whole.

"You'd better kill me first, or I'll never let you know peace again!"

The next moment, Seraphine found herself being dragged across the room, her dignity stripped away with her clothes.

She pressed her palms against the floor, trying to anchor herself, to resist being pulled into the washroom. But Wang Xiao's strength was relentless, dragging her forward as if she weighed nothing.

Fury ignited within Seraphine, her voice a fierce roar as she cursed him, her hands lashing out at anything within reach, seeking something, anything, to strike.

Yet, the washroom door closes with a resounding thud, sealing her fate with an ominous finality.

4 hour later!

The atmosphere in the room had shifted dramatically.

"..."

Seraphine, seated on the bed, had drawn a white quilt tightly around her, a fragile barrier between herself and the world.

Her eyes, red-rimmed and swollen from the intensity of her emotions, betrayed her urge to breakdown.

The soft, milky expanse of her shoulders was marred by various marks, each a silent evidence to the recent storm of physical and emotional torture.

She trembled, not from cold, but from a storm of rage brewing within, barely contained beneath the surface.

Beside her, Wang Xiao appeared detached from the immediate aftermath of their storm, his attention absorbed by the glow of his phone screen.

He was engrossed in reading, not about the Guardian Asmodeous as one might expect given their situation, but rather about the Demon King Asmodeous.

His curiosity wasn't driven by idle interest; he sought understanding, a deeper meaning behind the name that tied their fates together.

Asmodeous, as Wang Xiao discovered, was a figure shrouded in myth and darkness, a name that resonated through the annals of demonic lore.

Known as the Demon King, Asmodeous was often depicted as the embodiment of lust and wrath, a being whose very essence was intertwined with the baser aspects of human nature and desire. His legend spanned cultures, each attributing to him a domain over temptation and the testing of mankind's fidelity.

Wang Xiao's interest in this particular demon king wasn't merely academic.

The implications of a guardian named after such a figure were unsettling, hinting at a complexity and danger to their situation far beyond simple political machinations.

The parallels between the demon's traits and the events around them were not lost on him,

As Wang Xiao delved deeper into the lore surrounding Asmodeous, the room seemed to shrink under the weight of ancient histories and dark myths unfurling from his phone's screen.

The Demon King Asmodeous, a name steeped in the annals of demonic legend, first emerged from the shadows of early Judaic texts, weaving through the fabric of various cultures, each layer adding depth to his fearsome persona.

His earliest mention is found in the Book of Tobit, a narrative found within the Apocrypha, texts that straddle the boundary between canonical and non-canonical within the religious traditions that hold the Bible sacred.

In this story, Asmodeous is portrayed as an evil entity, a demon of lust who murders seven consecutive husbands of Sarah, a woman he obsessively desires, preventing the consummation of their marriages.

It is only through the intervention of the archangel Raphael that Asmodeous is subdued and banished to the distant reaches of Egypt, where he is bound.

This narrative sets the stage for his role across cultures as a disruptor, a being whose essence is intertwined with the baser aspects of human nature, temptation, and the trials of fidelity.

Asmodeous's lore expands through Islamic texts and the Talmud, where his deeds and dominion over the seven hells illustrate a figure of power and punishment, a master of manipulation and a whisperer of sins.

His story is embroidered with tales of Solomon, showcasing his ability to sow discord, manipulate from the shadows, and his eventual subjugation by the wise king, only to later become a counselor in the art of deception and control.

In the apocryphal texts, Asmodeous's influence spans the earthly and the divine, challenging the boundaries of morality and divine order. His name becomes synonymous with the deadly sin of lust, embodying the eternal struggle between baser instincts and the pursuit of righteousness.

The legends of Asmodeous are not merely tales of fear and warning; they serve as a mirror to humanity's own nature, a reflection of the internal battles waged within the soul.

His enduring legacy across cultures and religions underscores the universal themes of temptation, the complexity of human desires, and the eternal vigilance required to navigate the moral landscape of life.

Wang Xiao's research into Asmodeous painted a picture of a being whose story transcended mere mythology, becoming a symbol of the dualities within the human condition: love and hate, lust and purity, control and chaos.