Chris threw the prod to the floor in frustration, causing the empty cartridge to be forcefully ejected from it.

"DAMN IT ALL!" he yelled.

"Stupid thing!" he shouted.

He then seemed to get even more frustrated, before turning to Lilim.

"This is YOUR fault!" he told her, slamming his fist into her gut.

"...." he was then silent, before turning away from him.

"I'll be back with more tools to use on you." he growled.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Chris yelled in response.

"She believes in me and I will show that she can!" he went on.

He then paused for a moment, as he realised something.

He had defended her... and not just accepted it. He hadn't said 'if that's what she wants, then that's what she wants'.

And even then, he wondered about just how much he believed in that defense.

He didn't get to ponder it long, before Azari returned.

"Madam says that's enough." he told him.

"Which is to say, stop embarrassing yourself here any longer, and get to the waste disposal area. Get rid of the latest husks that were used up and make yourself useful. At least a little." he added.

Chris just sighed, growled again, and left the room, with Azari watching, and then looking towards Lilim.

"...." he was silent, before gathering the broken pole, and shaking his head.

"Madam is not going to be happy about THIS." he smirked.

Azari just chuckled.

"I couldn't care less about you, or torturing you." he said.

"If Madam wanted you broken completely right now, she'd do it herself." he went on.

"Quite frankly, I have nothing to be jealous about. My life is right where I want it to be, and it's right on track." he told her further.

"This piece of junk was dying anyway, but... it'll be nice to use it as ammo to get the little grub in trouble some more." he then snickered.

"Quite frankly, his desperate persistence pisses me off." he admitted to her.

"Like he thinks he has a right to exist anymore."

Azari just huffed a little.

"With pleasure." he said, before leaving her, alone once more.

- - -

Azazel sighed a little, as he stretched out and made his way to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"...I don't need to drink." he mumbled.

"But damn this feels nice." he said, guzzling the cold beverage.

"Refreshing!" he declared.

Azazel looked confused for a moment.

"....huh?" he asked.

"The hell...?" he mumbled, before shaking his head.

"And I'm sure Erica's fine." he told her.

"Dealing with shit, but... well, that's understandable." he went on.

"Why do you ask?"

"......" Azazel was silent for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"Oh. Right." he said.

"Ah-hah. Guess that slipped my mind." he admitted, scratching the back of his head and laughing sheepishly.

"Oopsie." he said further.

"I'll call Erica and clear things up in a bit." he then told her.

"For now, I just wanna sit down and relax for a while." he added, before starting to head off.

As she headed off, she noticed their son, Cain, had a bit of a baffled expression as well.

He was looking in the direction of Azazel, so odds are it was related to him.

"Weird..." he mumbled to himself.

"....hmph." he then grunted, before sighing.

"Hey, Mom." he greeted Aedan.

'Is Dad acting... weird? Or is it just me?" he asked her.

"I can't, either." Cain responded.

"Dad just seems... different, somehow." he said.

"But... I mean... maybe it's me?" he went on.

"It's possible I'm imagining things." he continued.

"I mean, that IS Dad. His mana is unmistakable." he reasoned.

"Just... ugh, maybe I'm seeing a problem where there is none." he lamented.

"Sorry. Don't let this make you late for work." he apologised to her.

"...." Cain was silent as he heard that.

"Oh dear." he said.

"That... doesn't sound like him at all." he mumbled.

"Yeah, you probably should bring that up with Sharp." he agreed.

"I'll let you know if I notice anything more... egregious, we'll say." he then told her further.

"Because already it's weird. If it gets worse, that will be majorly concerning." he reasoned.

Cain nodded in response.

"I'll be sure to keep a close eye on him." he told her.

"If things get worse, we may need to test him." he continued. "Mana-test, that is." he clarified.

"But I know that's... kinda difficult to do on a demon." he then sighed.

"Anyway, I'll get going, and talk to you later, Mom." he told her.

"...really hope this is just something that we're blowing out of proportion." he mumbled.

"That would really be nice." he finished, before breaking away from her and heading off.