With the incomplete picture, Saphira's entire world view shifted.
All her previous plans, of cautious integration, of playing the demure and valuable new plaything, of slowly earning trust, were incinerated in the furnace of her suddenly unleashed flames of greed.
'Why submit? Why demean herself by offering her body and will to an infant?!?'
A new, glorious, and terrifyingly audacious plan crystalized within her with brilliant clarity. She would no longer seek to be the consort.
She would be a conqueror!
The question left, was how?
Saphira's eyes gleamed dangerously as she thought.
She would need to catch him unaware, then use the considerable power difference of her realm to overwhelm him before he could even think to activate the nexus's power.
She was unaware of what the nexus could do, but at least the barrier was something that already seemed like a problem to Saphira. Then there was also the added fact that her father hadn't just outright taken the nexus from the child, meaning that there was a certain level of threat, also leading to the need to take alternative measures to take it…
"Was that why I was sent?" Saphira's mind seemed to 'decipher' her role in this play, "Am I supposed to infiltrate and later help my father take control from within?"
Although she wasn't 100% sure, Saphira felt like her answer was correct!
Regardless, she was getting inside and taking advantage of this opportunity.
Then… then the nexus would be hers!
Saphira's beautiful, greedy eyes scanned the obelisk; the defensive runes, the small army of demons, and the near-completed dimensional gate that didn't escape her cunning gaze.
It would all belong to her!
The fear of her father's retaliation and power, which had always been a cold chain around her neck, around her ambition, now seemed to break. The repercussions were now a distant, manageable risk.
The power of a nexus point was a trump card that could alter the very balance of power in this region of the first layer.
With it, she could fortify this basin into an impenetrable fortress and ward off any attacks.
Of course, with the new found power, she could bargain from a position of strength with the other powerful devils. Discussing benefits and promises with her colleagues… but if all else failed, she could simply defy Kaelgor entirely.
Her discussions and dealings didn't exactly need all of the currently reigning devils so that she could be part of Lord Gorael's ruling force within hell's 1st layer, rather, she only needed enough allies to achieve her goal.
Yes, Saphira thought of forcibly taking Kaelgor's position under Lord Gorael.
When a fiend reached such great heights, they usually wouldn't care about the squabbles and power struggles of those significantly weaker than them.
Just as long as they kept everything running and stayed loyal.
It was just that, Saphira wasn't aware that Kaelgor's position, even his entire life, was in a very precarious spot at the moment.
In the end, absolute, autonomous power and the potential it offered, was a siren's call so potent that it drowned out all whispers of caution.
The gamble was immense, but the prize was a potential kingdom. And for a devil of pride and wrath, there was no sweeter temptation.
Now what stood in her path was the young devil making his way towards her.
The invasive probe had been an abrupt disturbance of Adam's lackadaisical attitude: a piercing reminder of his delicate circumstances.
Though he no longer hesitated, as he was forged from several life and death situations, using his wit and strength to overcome the obstacle that came his way. He sought to strive forward unhesitatingly, without regrets.
Panic was a luxury he could not afford, but more so, an emotion he detested.
With steady, heavy steps, he squashed the flicker of fear and irritation, forcing his mind into a state of cold, sharpened focus.
The probe, for all its subtlety and precision, had been a mistake on the part of the observer. The extended strand of consciousness was a two-way street, allowing his own will to trace the tendrils of scrutiny.
This was done because of the probe touching his consciousness, as they had left a mental tether, a faint, shimmering thread of intent that he could now follow back to its source.
His hell's eyes, burning with renewed intensity, traced the 'thread' across the shimmering barrier, over the scorched ground, and down into a shallow, shadowy ditch carved into the terrain just outside of the barrier.
Adam's stride was not hurried, each step unwavering and fearless.
He moved through his inner domain, past laboring demons who paused to bow. His tall, powerful body formed a moving, imposing silhouette against the hellish glow of the rising, brightening suns.
Like candles lights flickering with steadily increasing brightness, the sky bathed its royalty with a demonic glow.
His bare chest, no longer adorned with the faint silver scars of recent battles as they have fully healed and faded with a nights rest, now gleamed with a light sheen. The strength and sturdiness of his body and muscles had already surpassed that of steel.
The new horns curving from his temples added a crown of demonic majesty to his already handsome, yet arrogant, facial features.
He was not sneaking, instead he was advancing like a predator who had pinpointed his prey and was now closing in with calm, terrifying judgment.
Within the shadows of her hiding spot, Saphira's breath hitched. Her beautiful molten eyes widened, the slitted pupils contracting to pinpoints.
He was coming, and directly towards her!
The speed and confidence with which he had traced her location sent a fresh, icy jolt of alarm through her. The sight of his massive and confident figure marching towards her nearly shattered her newfound arrogance.
For a split second, her grand fantasy of obtaining the nexus for herself wavered.
A devil's mind works with terrifying speed in the face of peril. Her mind worked quickly to extinguish her doubts to reignite and reroute, her plans.
Her arrogance stemmed from the difference in tiers, her being at the high-tier while Adam was only at the middle-tier. That alongside the 'vast' age difference, Saphira's mind was blinded by arrogance and superiority.
In the handful of seconds it took for Adam to cover the ground between the obelisk and the barrier, a new, deceitful plan took form in her mind.
A plan of sneak attack was dead before it could be thought up; his keen awareness made a swift, clean kill by waiting in surprise unlikely.
Though, it was never a plan that she had put much thought and hopes into regardless.
Now, it was a game of deception.
She would perform and complete the very role her father had initially assigned to her, but she wouldn't help her ruthless father achieve his 'desires and goals'.
She was Lord Kaelgor's offering, and she would 'willingly' submit.
It would come easy to her, as she was just playing the role she was initially assigned; the only things that have changed is the ending…
It was a simple, half-truth-half-lie tale to get inside the barrier. To cross barrier was the only true obstacle in Saphira's mind.
Once within his defenses, with his guard lowered by her natural beauty and willingness to submit, she would strike quickly.
A fleeting second of distraction was all she would need to unleash her overwhelming strength upon the middle-tier welp; killing him before he could even comprehend what happened.
The nexus, without its master, would obviously be hers to claim.
The demon's loyalties were a complete non-factor in her mind; demons were lower beings, and their submission was mandatory!