Spoiler: show
Prologue: Return.
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The sound of water. The liquid that gives life to all around it. It holds a sway over the human heart and mind, being needed for practicality, and to be around for its purity. At times, it could be cold, others, hot. But it always finds a way to be something else in time. It was with a single drop of ice cold water falling from a height that woke a young man from his sleeping state in a panic.
“Ah! What the hell!”
Bolting to his feet at the sudden onslaught of temperature change, the young man quickly tried to wipe down his face in an attempt to remove the offending droplet, but found himself tripping over something and fell to the floor in a crash.
“Gah! Shit!”
Banging his head on what he assumed was a stone floor, the young man grabbed at his head as pain burst through his cerebral area and he tried hard to make it go away by clutching at his head. After a few moments of internal swearing and trying very hard not to rage at what just happened to himself, the young man splayed himself out on the stone floor. It was the first thing besides the splitting headache he now had to catch his attention and something that confused him. Looking around himself, he could see that it wasn’t a big cave he was in. In fact, he could see the back of it from the bright light coming from the entrance of the cave. However, since he had no idea where he was, that didn’t really offer him much in the way of comfort for his current situation. Not only that, he felt groggy and unfocused, as if his mind couldn’t quite bring itself together.
“Ouch… Dammit… what’s going on…”
Unable to answer his own question, the young man got to his feet, but the sound of something skirting across the stone floor made him look back down. He could tell that what was at his feet had been the thing that had tripped him up. Looking at it curiously, the Young man took note that it was a sword that lay at his feet. It was dark looking, like light didn’t reflect off its surface as much as was absorbed into it. He could see something of a red tint around the edge of the blade, as if it was glowing. The pommel was a jagged looking horn and deep ebony along with the handle and Guard, though the transition from Guard to handle had something akin to a crystal evil eye violet in color with burning red center. Out of curiosity, the young man reached down to pick it up. However, something happened the moment his hand touched the Blade.
‘SON OF A BITCH! DROP ME LIKE THAT AGAIN AND I’LL WHISPER HORRID NIGHTMARES INTO YOUR DREAMS AS YOU SLEEP EVERY NIGHT AND THEN FIND SOME WAY TO STAB YOU IN THIS FORM!’
The young man quickly dropped the sword again with a clatter and turned around to see who in the hell had been talking to him. However, he quickly thought it would be best to try to arm himself since whoever that was didn’t seem to have the best of intentions for him. However, he touched the sword again, and the voice came back.
‘NOW WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST TELL YOU!? YOU LOOKING TO GET KILLED KYLE?!’
“Wait… is that… the sword talking?”
With what felt like a vibration, The young man supposedly called Kyle heard the voice start up again.
‘Of course it is you dumbass! Where else are you going to find Overlord trapped souls? Water bottles?’
“Overlord? Trapped souls? And how do you know my name? Nothing is making any sense right now…”
’… seriously? Kid, you gotta be shittin me right now.’
Kyle simply cocked his head in confusion.
“Uh, sorry funny disembodied voice, I’m having to many problems right now to be cracking any jokes…”
Kyle and the voice sat there for a minute or two, nothing but the dripping of water from the stalactites above making any such noise.
'Oi... kid. Tell me one thing. Do you happen to remember anything past a few minutes ago? Anything at all.’
Kyle stood there for a moment, his mind curious as to this line of questioning. He then took a moment to try to think back past a few minutes ago from his rude awakening. However, he got a bunch of fuzzy images, nothing very coherent, but at the same time, telling him a little something about himself at that moment.
“Um… Nothing much I’m afraid… My name is Kyle Demonia… currently… 20 years old…college student… other than that, just general things up to about… Uh… I think several weeks ago? I dunno.”
For a few minutes, nothing else was said. Kyle was feeling somewhat apprehensive. He was somewhat confuse, but at the same time he didn't feel shocked by the voice in the sword. A moment later, and said voice spoke up.
‘Sigh… Alright, not going exactly as planned here… listen up kid. My name is Zamil, Great sage of Hell, Demon Overlord and all around awesome . I also happen to be sealed in this sword you happen to be holding, something that you bought at a pawn shop a few weeks back.’
Kyle blinked a few times as he tried to process that info.
“Wait… I bought you? And overlord? As in a demon king of hell kind of overlord?”
The sword buzzed in his hands as Zamil spoke up again.
‘Pretty much right on both accounts, though to be fair, you obviously had no idea of what was in the sword when you bought it. So, any of this sinking in?’
Kyle furrowed his brow for a moment, some words triggering a response in his mind.
“I… Think so? Hold up… I think I'm getting a general idea of what's going On… you and I… Made a deal I think… You wanted to go somewhere… And I could help you with that? In exchange… I wanted to come with you…!!! Now I remember!”
Kyles eyes lit up as his mind suddenly seemed to click and information came back to him in a rush.
“You wanted to return home in order to reclaim your throne! I wanted to come along cause I got sick and tired of living in a world as boring as my own! You couldn't get back home and need a partner to do that, but you needed someone with a special power… The Laplace element!”
‘It's not called the Laplace element, you called it that on your own. It is called the individual separation negativity. In other words, a fragment of demons.’
Kyle stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry.
“It sounds cooler if you call it the Laplace element.”
‘Regardless… Yes, that was the agreement that we came to… though you seem to have forgotten some of the details.’
Kyle cocked his head to the side in some confusion.
“What kind of details?”
‘Oh, just the nitpicky things. Nothing you need to worry about at the moment. Anyway, I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the spell we cast was successful. Albeit with some mixed results. Your memory seems to still be jumbled up, plus… Is your body okay? Something feels off about it…’
“I didn't know you cared.”
He wasn't sure, but Kyle felt that Zamil may have started scowling at him.
‘Now why the hell should I give a damn? I'm only worried about what happens if you kick the bucket. I don't think I'll ever find anybody with your element in this world, and I don't like the thought of being stuck in the woods for the next 2000 or so years waiting for one.’
Kyle lightly chuckled to himself at the thought, his short time with the Overlord telling him that the foul-mouthed demon would no doubt be cursing everything but himself at such a misfortune.
“Alright alright… but what did you mean something feels off about it? I’m not sure what you-”
Before he could continue talking, Kyle ran his hand through his hair out of habit, doing so when he’s trying to think. When he did though, he felt something hard as his hand hit the top of his head. Not sure what in the world that might have been, Kyle ran his hand through his hair, and suddenly a cold and chilling realization came to him as he did. What he felt up there where horns running from around the base of his temples to up and over his head and pointing out in front of him. Kyle also felt that his fingernails where sharper and longer then he remembered them being. Not a good sign as far as he could tell.
“Uh…Hey… when you said that something felt off about my body… did you happen to mean some certain physical aspects had been altered…”
‘Not sure Kid. I can’t see ya. Plus, I’m feeling pretty drained from using such a large scale spell, so I can’t hook myself up to your body right now to check. However, I can feel that something about you has changed.’
Feeling somewhat anxious, Kyle quickly looked around the cave to see if there was something he could use to check himself like a mirror, or a crystal, anything at all. He quickly found it when he saw a small pool of shallow water close to the entrance of the cave. Making his way over, Kyle bent down to get a better look at his face. What he saw next in the water caused his eyes to widen in shock and his mouth to fall in horror. Kyle was used to seeing the face of an average human when he looked at himself. Short dirty blonde hair, causal blue colored eyes, a boring face with something of a cream colored complexion. What was looking back at him was nothing of the sort. Long Gray hair that went to the middle of his back, pale-gray skin, sharp pointed fangs for teeth and a set of horns out of his head. Even his usual Blue eyes where nowhere to be found, the whites being transformed into an evil black and his irises now a murky radioactive green color. He reached down to touch the water, as if by doing so, the illusion would be dispelled, but at the same time, he knew it was true, the claws for fingernails going even further to drive this point home for him.
‘Wassup kid. I feel that something is wrong.’
“Damn straight something is wrong! I look like something that came crawling out of the 9 circles of hell! I got horns now! Fucking horns! My eyes aren’t even the right color anymore! Everything about me is all screwed up!”
For a moment, the sword in his hand didn’t do anything, as if trying to process this information. However, Zamil did eventually speak up.
‘Ah… Okay then… I see what happened here. Okay kid, don’t freak out or anything-’
“Well beyond that point already!”
‘Settle down kid. Jeez… Okay, do you remember the moment we cast the spell?’
Kyle took a moment to try to remember the time he did such a thing. He wasn’t sure about it, but he remembered the feeling of power suddenly welling up in him, that feeling that was as if he suddenly had been connected to something in himself that just made him want to shout out in joy and just all around felt as fulfilling as the first time he ever won in a sports event. However, other than the feeling, Kyle couldn’t recall anything else.
“Um…no, not really. I just remember the rush of magic… I’d never felt that before, so I guess it’s what stuck the most.”
‘Understandable. Your world has been without any real sense of magic for thousands of years, so the fact that you even had any was something of a boon for me. However, your special due to the element in you, and that element gives you a crazy amount of power unlike anything a normal spellcaster could ever hope to have access to. I’d count yourself lucky on that one if I was you.’
“Okay, cool, I’m a special snowflake. Does not explain why I currently look like Satan spawn.”
‘I’m getting to it you whining bitch, get the thong out of your ass. Anyway, because you have such an amazing power, and have never used said power until you cast that spell, your body wasn’t accustomed to that kind of feeling or power. You ended up letting yourself get caught up in the rush of energy. A mage or any user of magic never, ever, should let that happen. In doing so, he lets the power erode his very being away in the bliss of Magic, and it takes hold of you and will never let go. Now humans, not being very in tune with magic, has this happen more often than not in my world. Sadly, you were on your way to becoming a magical piece of conscious flowing through the cosmos. You where tearing yourself apart by doing so, and since I was tethered along with your mind at the time, you would have drug me into it as well.’
Kyle flinched a little bit at the sounds of it. Suddenly, he felt a little more terrified of that feeling he had… but he still couldn’t deny what it felt like.
“Sorry… It just-”
‘-Felt great? Trust me kid, it’s easy for anything to get caught up in that. Just don’t let it happen again… anyway. Back to my explanation. Since you where willingly giving yourself up to your power, I had to kick you out of the driver’s seat, not too hard since your mind was already half-way out, and take control of the rest of the spell so that we didn’t end up dead or semiconscious for the rest of eternity. What I’m guessing happened is because I’m an overlord of such power, it kept you locked in place so that your mind wouldn’t be pulled out, but in doing so, I accelerated the rate of your Elements encroachment on you. In other words, since you’re a Fragment of demons, you resonated with me. Normally, such a thing would take years to start showing, the horns and eyes and all your physical changes having to takes hundreds of years to manifest. It happened in one short jump with me.’
“So… what? You turned me into a demon?”
‘No, not really, just your body changed is all. The soul will take much longer, and your body really isn’t all that done changing either. Anyway it would have happened eventually, I just made it go faster. Pretty neat right? Since you’re now more demon then human, you’ll be stronger, faster, have better mental and physical reflexes, and you’ll even have a closer link with your Demon Element, so casting more magic won’t be a problem. Damn kid, the luck just seems to stack further and further on you doesn’t it?’
Kyle rolled his eyes at the demon sword before he looked back down into the pool. He then touched his face in an attempt to try to dispel what he hoped was an illusion. He had no such luck sadly.
“Is there any way to change back?”
‘Why the fuck would you want to change back? Your old squishy human body got an update, your much better off this way in my opinion.’
“Hello? Currently looking as if I came crawling out of hell! The first guy or girl to see me is either gonna shank me or run screaming for someone who can! I can’t stay like this!”
‘Blegh… Too bad kid, the change is permanent. You can’t change back even if I wanted you to try.’
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Kyle felt the sword in his hand tremble a little bit, as if Zamil was laughing at him and his plight.
‘No jokes here kid… However, seeing as I’m having a great time right now, I’ll go ahead and mention that though you can’t regain your old form, you can in fact wear your old skin if you wanted to.’
“… uh… What the fuck are you talking about?”
‘Glamor dipshit, the ability to clothe yourself in a quasi-skin. It’ll feel real, and connects to your main body and shrinks down all the abnormalities that a demon has physically. However, Glamor is a pretty high level skill for most demons, so I would actually try to practice a bit before you try.’
“Can you show me how to do it?”
‘If your nice enough to me and do what I ask and stop bitching. Anyway, talk time over, if you’re not injured and not going to die soon, go out and check the air of this place. I need to confirm if we hit the right plane of existence.’
Kyle could only grumble to himself on the inside about his current state of affairs, but did as he was asked. He got up and then made his way for the entrance of the cave, where he then took a quick peek outside.
“Huh… check it out.”
‘Check what out what you moron. I can’t connect to you right now, so you’re going to have to be my ears and eyes until I can link up again.’
“Damn you’re touchy… Anyway, I see a really big forest in front of us, but some way in, I can see a dirt road. Looks well-traveled, so I’m guessing that it’s a main road of sorts. But the fact I can see it tells me it’s pretty close. I can probably walk to it in a few minutes.”
Zamil Hummed to himself in thought before he spoke up again.
‘Alright. Anything else of note? And make sure you look closely.’
Kyle let out a huff and rolled his eyes. He was doing as asked, why couldn’t the smartass overlord hold himself for a bit?
“Okay…Um… well… I see a big old mountain in the distance, but it looks really far away. It’s pretty spiky looking too, like someone stacked all the sharpest rocks they could find onto it. Other than that, some rolling green pastures… and what looks like a village off in the distance. That’s all.”
‘A big spiky mountain? Can’t say I know about it… Shit… not enough info… we’ll have to wait until I can connect myself to you before I can get a confirmation of the situation… just hang out for a few minutes while I try to recharge some more. And for the love of all things Unholy, don’t leave the cave while I do.’
“Yes mother.”
And with that, Kyle heard for the first time since he woke up the sounds of silence in his head. After a few seconds of that came the sounds of the dripping water in the cave behind him along with the chirping of birds in and rustling of leaves as the wind passed them by in the forest before him. It sounded nice, but he didn’t want to take time to enjoy it right now. For the time being he had to try to contemplate some things. The first and foremost was the fact that he had been turned into some kind of demon offspring. Zamil had told him that he was demon mostly in body, but he couldn’t help but feel perturbed about it. However, behind that feeling of concern, Kyle also felt elated and excited. He was getting the chance to do something he had never experience before in his life. He was in a bloody new world right now! Something that Astronauts and Otakus only ever dreamed of! If that change of scenery came with a change in his body, Kyle felt that he was more than willing to pay that price. He only wished it had been a little more subdued rather than right out of the gate.
Other than that, he could only wait and see while Zamil recharged his energy. Kyle wasn’t sure he remembered correctly, but he did think he had heard the Overlord mention that as long as he kept the sword that housed the demons soul on his person, the overlord could siphon off his own power to recharge faster. Kyle looked down at the sword in his hand, not having let go of it yet since he picked it up. It looked like it could hold itself in a fight thankfully, however, the actual sheath he had paid for was back in his room in another dimension. He was going to have to see about getting one since he might be mistaken for a thug if he had it out all the time… or a blood thirsty demon considering his current form. Putting it on his check list of STD’s or ‘Shit-to-do’ Kyle looked back into the cave he was currently in and decided that now would be a good idea to start practicing RPG etiquette.
“Alright… RPG basics 101, ‘when waking up in a new area, search every fucking nook and cranny for random shit.’ Okay then, let’s get looking.”
Thankfully, the cave itself wasn’t all that big. About the size of an average bear cave as far as he could tell. Thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any tunnels that lead back to a larger cave structure, so he was just limited to searching the immediate area. It only took him a few minutes of digging under rocks, peeking around stalagmites, cracks in the wall, and just overall searching before he sat back down. Not surprisingly, he hadn’t found anything of note or worth. As far as he could tell, this cave was just a random old cave that one could find. Not very interesting, but he couldn’t be expected to think that despite the RPG like elements he was applying, this was real life as much as it was in his own world, just more fantasy was involved. Stretching his arms a bit, Kyle found a nice smooth spot on the cavern floor next to a big rock and sat down there. His hand never left the sword, but at least he could give his arm a rest by leaning said sword against his leg while he sat. He then decided that it might be easier if he just lay down and rest a little bit. Though he hadn’t been doing anything particularly straining physical wise, he felt fatigued in general from the spell and his sudden transformation. Plus, he was still trying to take the whole ‘put in a new world’ thing and digest it.
Laying his head on the ground, Kyle put his hands behind his head, careful to point his now sharp-ish fingernails away from his skull, and used them as a pillow of sorts. He didn’t really feel like thinking and decided that now would be as good a time as any to try to relax and take in all the sounds around him. However, when he turned his head to look at the rock next to him, he was somewhat surprised to see a hole under the rock. He never would have noticed it from an overhead view, but down on the ground, he saw an arm sized hole going under the rock. Curious, Kyle rolled over on his belly and looked down into it, careful to keep Zamils current body in hand in case he needed to start stabbing something. However, he soon found that he wouldn’t be needing it. He could see the end of the hole, but at the same time, down in it was something very unusual looking. Kyle, without much thought put into it, reached down into the hole and felt his hand come into contact with something soft and velvety feeling. It wasn’t warm by any means, so he ruled out an animal of sorts, so he pulled it out. When he did get it out, he was surprised to see a scarf in his hand, and a silk one at that. Despite not even being remotely familiar with clothing and expensive finery, Kyle could tell just from the feel and the looks of it that the Scarf was very well made. It was a subtle blue color and seemed to catch light very easily, making it look as if it was reflecting sunlight all the time.
“Huh… well look at that… nifty find.”
Despite the fact that it had been under a rock, Kyle was quick to notice that it looked good as new, as if it hadn’t been there for a while. He could only guess that someone had hid it there, or that it was magical in nature and was meant to be preserved for a long period of time. He had no way to tell currently, so he opted to wait until Zamil came back. He then tried to find a place to keep it on his person, but the only place he could find that might work would be in one of his pockets on his cargo pants. He felt that to be a waste, so he decided that it might be better to wear it for the time being. With little effort, Kyle managed to get the scarf around his neck, the soft velvety feeling making his skin tingle warmly at the touch.
A few comfortable seconds later, and the familiar sound of Zamil’s voice came back to him.
‘Aight kid. I’ve managed to restore enough power for a link. After that and our combined conscious should let me recharge more of my power faster.’
Simply nodding his head in response, Kyle made his way back to the entrance of the cave and waited for Zamil to get ready.
‘Are you ready Kid?’
“Pretty much.”
Without another word, Kyle felt a jolt of power run from the blade in his hand and shock him all the way through the whole of his body, feeling as if a second layer of skin had just been added to him. He suddenly heard better, could see things around him more crisply, all his sense having felt as if they got jacked up to 11.
“Damn… that still feels awesome no matter how many times we do that.”
‘You’ll eventually start to feel this way naturally when your demon body starts to get stronger. How you humans manage to feel anything with such dull senses is beyond me. Anyway, the connection was successful. Also, you do seem to have the body of a powerful low rank demon. Almost to Mid-rank, but not quite there yet.’
“Is that a good thing?”
‘It means you skipped a few steps. So I would suggest you be careful with how much strength you use for now. With the way you are now, you could crush small rocks easily enough. Keep that in mind and you won’t kill everybody you end up punching.’
“If they let me get close to them first.”
‘Point taken. Now shut up and let me do my thing.’
Not really bothered by the sudden abrupt ending to the conversation, Kyle simply sat and waited for Zamil to finish whatever it was he was looking for. Oddly enough, He could sorta feel what it was he was trying to do, as his body would momentarily seem to shift without his known consent, and his senses would suddenly seem to spike on occasion. For a moment, he managed to see the very face of the jagged mountain in the distance, his hearing was able to pick up something like conversation somewhere, his nose could smell smoke coming from the small village, but it was something inside him that caused him to pause. It felt almost like the time he had used the transport spell back on earth, his inner body feeling warm for a moment before a feeling of some elation would fill him up. After what had to have been 10 minutes of his body spiking all over the place, Kyle felt the senses fading away and a slight rumbling sigh coming from the sword next to him.
‘Huh… I see I see…’
“You see? What did you learn?”
‘Well kid, I learned a lot. The most important bit being that we did arrive in the right place. Though I haven’t felt it in almost two millennium, this magic in the air is the one I remember. Problem is that it also feels slightly off, like something in the air has changed since I was last here.’
“That’s Kinda expected. You’ve been gone for 2000 years, you can’t expect everything to be the same when you get back.”
Kyle felt the sword buzz almost angrily, almost as if Zamil was bristling at him for some odd reason.
‘Dumb Shit, think I don’t know that? I’ve been gone for over 2000+ years, of course things will have changed. Given that’s if time passes the same here as it did in your world. Magic doesn’t change, not on this scale though, not without help of some sort. A Demon Lord or God might have changed something up while I’ve been away. Problem is, I can’t tell, not right now anyway.’
Kyle cocked his head to the side as he thought that over.
“So… What do we do right now? We are in the right place right?”
‘Kid, if I said we’re in the right place, we’re in the right place, got it? As for the plan… our plan is the same as it originally was.’
“Ah… K’ay… could you perhaps run the plan by me one more time? Ya know… in case my memories are messed up about that part…”
‘You forget the fucking plan didn’t you. Oh by my unholy name… clean your ears out and listen really good this time, cause I will in no way repeat myself anymore, got it?’
“I’m sure you’d talk my ear off even if I did.”
‘Shut the fuck up. Alright, first step: find any and all information going on in Tengoku that we can about the state of the world and the current Maou. Second step: after getting all that info, find out what happened to my body. If we can still find it, we go and get it, if not, we go and make a new one. After that, if My body is still around, we stuff my soul back into it. If not, we make a new one out of the strongest demons we can find. That or you let me possess you.’
“I’d rather that not happen.”
‘Step three, after we have accomplished this, we fuck up the current overlord and I reclaim my rightful place as the Maou. After that… I’ll think of it when we get there. The first three steps are going to be hard enough.’
“Okay… sounds simple enough… so what do I do with myself after all that is done?”
‘I’unno Kid, if you get strong enough as a demon though, I’ll let you become my right hand man. You can have land, woman, and power if you want, just name it. In my opinion, if you’re strong enough, you can have it, it’s pretty hard to come across someone who’s a fragment of demons after all. If not though… Just do whatever the hell you want. I’ll let you have that much at least.’
“Huh… well… I really just wanted out of my old world to get the chance to do something exciting. If becoming a lackey to an Overlord is what I get, then know what? Why the fuck not? It beats anything else I might have done…plus, I don’t think I’ll have much other choice since I’m already turning into a demon.”
‘Ha ha! Smart move Kid! Stick with me and you’ll be powerful in no time! Anyway… since we have our plan all sorted out, I wanted to ask you something.’
“Wazzat?”
‘What the hell have you got on around your neck? It feels nice, but at the same time, it feels like it has some kind of powerful enchantment on it.
“Beats me. I found it sitting under a rock in the cave here. Not sure what it was, so I took it.”
‘And the thought that it might have been cursed never once crossed your mind before you put it on?’
For a moment, there was a dead pan silence in the cave, almost as if the air was charged with the realization of the situation at hand.
“…No. That thought did not cross my mind.”
‘How fucking retarded are you.’
“That was uncalled for.”
‘But necessary. Anyway… seeing as you don’t have some debilitating problem right now or something, I can guess that it wasn’t cursed. But next time Kid, Don’t fucking touch it unless I say so, got it?’
“What are you, My mom? But okay, I differ to you when something like this pops up again. But anyway… what’s our next course of action? We staying here or are we heading out to the village we saw earlier?”
‘Have you forgotten that you currently look like something out of Dantes Inferno? You go waltzing into a human village looking like that and the first thing they’ll do is try to kill your ass. We fix your face first.’
Kyle looked down at his hands and he pale gray color of his skin before he smiled sheepishly.
“Oh… right…Also, you’re going to need a sheath. I can’t lug you around all the time in my hands. Even with a human like appearance, I’ll look like someone out to mug people.”
‘Good point. However, you’ll have to make due with something else until we can afford one. In the meantime, I have a few tips and tricks we can try until we get all the necessary things ready for our departure into town. I know it’s been several thousand years, but a few things might still be the same. Listen to me, and we should be able to pass you off as a normal individual.’
Kyle nodded his head in understanding. Despite his copious amounts of Video game knowledge, he knew that without a doubt, it would only be so helpful. Until the time came where he could take care of himself in this new word, he had no choice but to follow the orders of the Overlord. Without another word, Kyle made his way down the cave and into the forest, the new world around him filling him with a feeling of newfound excitement.
--
The sound of water. The liquid that gives life to all around it. It holds a sway over the human heart and mind, being needed for practicality, and to be around for its purity. At times, it could be cold, others, hot. But it always finds a way to be something else in time. It was with a single drop of ice cold water falling from a height that woke a young man from his sleeping state in a panic.
“Ah! What the hell!”
Bolting to his feet at the sudden onslaught of temperature change, the young man quickly tried to wipe down his face in an attempt to remove the offending droplet, but found himself tripping over something and fell to the floor in a crash.
“Gah! Shit!”
Banging his head on what he assumed was a stone floor, the young man grabbed at his head as pain burst through his cerebral area and he tried hard to make it go away by clutching at his head. After a few moments of internal swearing and trying very hard not to rage at what just happened to himself, the young man splayed himself out on the stone floor. It was the first thing besides the splitting headache he now had to catch his attention and something that confused him. Looking around himself, he could see that it wasn’t a big cave he was in. In fact, he could see the back of it from the bright light coming from the entrance of the cave. However, since he had no idea where he was, that didn’t really offer him much in the way of comfort for his current situation. Not only that, he felt groggy and unfocused, as if his mind couldn’t quite bring itself together.
“Ouch… Dammit… what’s going on…”
Unable to answer his own question, the young man got to his feet, but the sound of something skirting across the stone floor made him look back down. He could tell that what was at his feet had been the thing that had tripped him up. Looking at it curiously, the Young man took note that it was a sword that lay at his feet. It was dark looking, like light didn’t reflect off its surface as much as was absorbed into it. He could see something of a red tint around the edge of the blade, as if it was glowing. The pommel was a jagged looking horn and deep ebony along with the handle and Guard, though the transition from Guard to handle had something akin to a crystal evil eye violet in color with burning red center. Out of curiosity, the young man reached down to pick it up. However, something happened the moment his hand touched the Blade.
‘SON OF A BITCH! DROP ME LIKE THAT AGAIN AND I’LL WHISPER HORRID NIGHTMARES INTO YOUR DREAMS AS YOU SLEEP EVERY NIGHT AND THEN FIND SOME WAY TO STAB YOU IN THIS FORM!’
The young man quickly dropped the sword again with a clatter and turned around to see who in the hell had been talking to him. However, he quickly thought it would be best to try to arm himself since whoever that was didn’t seem to have the best of intentions for him. However, he touched the sword again, and the voice came back.
‘NOW WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST TELL YOU!? YOU LOOKING TO GET KILLED KYLE?!’
“Wait… is that… the sword talking?”
With what felt like a vibration, The young man supposedly called Kyle heard the voice start up again.
‘Of course it is you dumbass! Where else are you going to find Overlord trapped souls? Water bottles?’
“Overlord? Trapped souls? And how do you know my name? Nothing is making any sense right now…”
’… seriously? Kid, you gotta be shittin me right now.’
Kyle simply cocked his head in confusion.
“Uh, sorry funny disembodied voice, I’m having to many problems right now to be cracking any jokes…”
Kyle and the voice sat there for a minute or two, nothing but the dripping of water from the stalactites above making any such noise.
'Oi... kid. Tell me one thing. Do you happen to remember anything past a few minutes ago? Anything at all.’
Kyle stood there for a moment, his mind curious as to this line of questioning. He then took a moment to try to think back past a few minutes ago from his rude awakening. However, he got a bunch of fuzzy images, nothing very coherent, but at the same time, telling him a little something about himself at that moment.
“Um… Nothing much I’m afraid… My name is Kyle Demonia… currently… 20 years old…college student… other than that, just general things up to about… Uh… I think several weeks ago? I dunno.”
For a few minutes, nothing else was said. Kyle was feeling somewhat apprehensive. He was somewhat confuse, but at the same time he didn't feel shocked by the voice in the sword. A moment later, and said voice spoke up.
‘Sigh… Alright, not going exactly as planned here… listen up kid. My name is Zamil, Great sage of Hell, Demon Overlord and all around awesome . I also happen to be sealed in this sword you happen to be holding, something that you bought at a pawn shop a few weeks back.’
Kyle blinked a few times as he tried to process that info.
“Wait… I bought you? And overlord? As in a demon king of hell kind of overlord?”
The sword buzzed in his hands as Zamil spoke up again.
‘Pretty much right on both accounts, though to be fair, you obviously had no idea of what was in the sword when you bought it. So, any of this sinking in?’
Kyle furrowed his brow for a moment, some words triggering a response in his mind.
“I… Think so? Hold up… I think I'm getting a general idea of what's going On… you and I… Made a deal I think… You wanted to go somewhere… And I could help you with that? In exchange… I wanted to come with you…!!! Now I remember!”
Kyles eyes lit up as his mind suddenly seemed to click and information came back to him in a rush.
“You wanted to return home in order to reclaim your throne! I wanted to come along cause I got sick and tired of living in a world as boring as my own! You couldn't get back home and need a partner to do that, but you needed someone with a special power… The Laplace element!”
‘It's not called the Laplace element, you called it that on your own. It is called the individual separation negativity. In other words, a fragment of demons.’
Kyle stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry.
“It sounds cooler if you call it the Laplace element.”
‘Regardless… Yes, that was the agreement that we came to… though you seem to have forgotten some of the details.’
Kyle cocked his head to the side in some confusion.
“What kind of details?”
‘Oh, just the nitpicky things. Nothing you need to worry about at the moment. Anyway, I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the spell we cast was successful. Albeit with some mixed results. Your memory seems to still be jumbled up, plus… Is your body okay? Something feels off about it…’
“I didn't know you cared.”
He wasn't sure, but Kyle felt that Zamil may have started scowling at him.
‘Now why the hell should I give a damn? I'm only worried about what happens if you kick the bucket. I don't think I'll ever find anybody with your element in this world, and I don't like the thought of being stuck in the woods for the next 2000 or so years waiting for one.’
Kyle lightly chuckled to himself at the thought, his short time with the Overlord telling him that the foul-mouthed demon would no doubt be cursing everything but himself at such a misfortune.
“Alright alright… but what did you mean something feels off about it? I’m not sure what you-”
Before he could continue talking, Kyle ran his hand through his hair out of habit, doing so when he’s trying to think. When he did though, he felt something hard as his hand hit the top of his head. Not sure what in the world that might have been, Kyle ran his hand through his hair, and suddenly a cold and chilling realization came to him as he did. What he felt up there where horns running from around the base of his temples to up and over his head and pointing out in front of him. Kyle also felt that his fingernails where sharper and longer then he remembered them being. Not a good sign as far as he could tell.
“Uh…Hey… when you said that something felt off about my body… did you happen to mean some certain physical aspects had been altered…”
‘Not sure Kid. I can’t see ya. Plus, I’m feeling pretty drained from using such a large scale spell, so I can’t hook myself up to your body right now to check. However, I can feel that something about you has changed.’
Feeling somewhat anxious, Kyle quickly looked around the cave to see if there was something he could use to check himself like a mirror, or a crystal, anything at all. He quickly found it when he saw a small pool of shallow water close to the entrance of the cave. Making his way over, Kyle bent down to get a better look at his face. What he saw next in the water caused his eyes to widen in shock and his mouth to fall in horror. Kyle was used to seeing the face of an average human when he looked at himself. Short dirty blonde hair, causal blue colored eyes, a boring face with something of a cream colored complexion. What was looking back at him was nothing of the sort. Long Gray hair that went to the middle of his back, pale-gray skin, sharp pointed fangs for teeth and a set of horns out of his head. Even his usual Blue eyes where nowhere to be found, the whites being transformed into an evil black and his irises now a murky radioactive green color. He reached down to touch the water, as if by doing so, the illusion would be dispelled, but at the same time, he knew it was true, the claws for fingernails going even further to drive this point home for him.
‘Wassup kid. I feel that something is wrong.’
“Damn straight something is wrong! I look like something that came crawling out of the 9 circles of hell! I got horns now! Fucking horns! My eyes aren’t even the right color anymore! Everything about me is all screwed up!”
For a moment, the sword in his hand didn’t do anything, as if trying to process this information. However, Zamil did eventually speak up.
‘Ah… Okay then… I see what happened here. Okay kid, don’t freak out or anything-’
“Well beyond that point already!”
‘Settle down kid. Jeez… Okay, do you remember the moment we cast the spell?’
Kyle took a moment to try to remember the time he did such a thing. He wasn’t sure about it, but he remembered the feeling of power suddenly welling up in him, that feeling that was as if he suddenly had been connected to something in himself that just made him want to shout out in joy and just all around felt as fulfilling as the first time he ever won in a sports event. However, other than the feeling, Kyle couldn’t recall anything else.
“Um…no, not really. I just remember the rush of magic… I’d never felt that before, so I guess it’s what stuck the most.”
‘Understandable. Your world has been without any real sense of magic for thousands of years, so the fact that you even had any was something of a boon for me. However, your special due to the element in you, and that element gives you a crazy amount of power unlike anything a normal spellcaster could ever hope to have access to. I’d count yourself lucky on that one if I was you.’
“Okay, cool, I’m a special snowflake. Does not explain why I currently look like Satan spawn.”
‘I’m getting to it you whining bitch, get the thong out of your ass. Anyway, because you have such an amazing power, and have never used said power until you cast that spell, your body wasn’t accustomed to that kind of feeling or power. You ended up letting yourself get caught up in the rush of energy. A mage or any user of magic never, ever, should let that happen. In doing so, he lets the power erode his very being away in the bliss of Magic, and it takes hold of you and will never let go. Now humans, not being very in tune with magic, has this happen more often than not in my world. Sadly, you were on your way to becoming a magical piece of conscious flowing through the cosmos. You where tearing yourself apart by doing so, and since I was tethered along with your mind at the time, you would have drug me into it as well.’
Kyle flinched a little bit at the sounds of it. Suddenly, he felt a little more terrified of that feeling he had… but he still couldn’t deny what it felt like.
“Sorry… It just-”
‘-Felt great? Trust me kid, it’s easy for anything to get caught up in that. Just don’t let it happen again… anyway. Back to my explanation. Since you where willingly giving yourself up to your power, I had to kick you out of the driver’s seat, not too hard since your mind was already half-way out, and take control of the rest of the spell so that we didn’t end up dead or semiconscious for the rest of eternity. What I’m guessing happened is because I’m an overlord of such power, it kept you locked in place so that your mind wouldn’t be pulled out, but in doing so, I accelerated the rate of your Elements encroachment on you. In other words, since you’re a Fragment of demons, you resonated with me. Normally, such a thing would take years to start showing, the horns and eyes and all your physical changes having to takes hundreds of years to manifest. It happened in one short jump with me.’
“So… what? You turned me into a demon?”
‘No, not really, just your body changed is all. The soul will take much longer, and your body really isn’t all that done changing either. Anyway it would have happened eventually, I just made it go faster. Pretty neat right? Since you’re now more demon then human, you’ll be stronger, faster, have better mental and physical reflexes, and you’ll even have a closer link with your Demon Element, so casting more magic won’t be a problem. Damn kid, the luck just seems to stack further and further on you doesn’t it?’
Kyle rolled his eyes at the demon sword before he looked back down into the pool. He then touched his face in an attempt to try to dispel what he hoped was an illusion. He had no such luck sadly.
“Is there any way to change back?”
‘Why the fuck would you want to change back? Your old squishy human body got an update, your much better off this way in my opinion.’
“Hello? Currently looking as if I came crawling out of hell! The first guy or girl to see me is either gonna shank me or run screaming for someone who can! I can’t stay like this!”
‘Blegh… Too bad kid, the change is permanent. You can’t change back even if I wanted you to try.’
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Kyle felt the sword in his hand tremble a little bit, as if Zamil was laughing at him and his plight.
‘No jokes here kid… However, seeing as I’m having a great time right now, I’ll go ahead and mention that though you can’t regain your old form, you can in fact wear your old skin if you wanted to.’
“… uh… What the fuck are you talking about?”
‘Glamor dipshit, the ability to clothe yourself in a quasi-skin. It’ll feel real, and connects to your main body and shrinks down all the abnormalities that a demon has physically. However, Glamor is a pretty high level skill for most demons, so I would actually try to practice a bit before you try.’
“Can you show me how to do it?”
‘If your nice enough to me and do what I ask and stop bitching. Anyway, talk time over, if you’re not injured and not going to die soon, go out and check the air of this place. I need to confirm if we hit the right plane of existence.’
Kyle could only grumble to himself on the inside about his current state of affairs, but did as he was asked. He got up and then made his way for the entrance of the cave, where he then took a quick peek outside.
“Huh… check it out.”
‘Check what out what you moron. I can’t connect to you right now, so you’re going to have to be my ears and eyes until I can link up again.’
“Damn you’re touchy… Anyway, I see a really big forest in front of us, but some way in, I can see a dirt road. Looks well-traveled, so I’m guessing that it’s a main road of sorts. But the fact I can see it tells me it’s pretty close. I can probably walk to it in a few minutes.”
Zamil Hummed to himself in thought before he spoke up again.
‘Alright. Anything else of note? And make sure you look closely.’
Kyle let out a huff and rolled his eyes. He was doing as asked, why couldn’t the smartass overlord hold himself for a bit?
“Okay…Um… well… I see a big old mountain in the distance, but it looks really far away. It’s pretty spiky looking too, like someone stacked all the sharpest rocks they could find onto it. Other than that, some rolling green pastures… and what looks like a village off in the distance. That’s all.”
‘A big spiky mountain? Can’t say I know about it… Shit… not enough info… we’ll have to wait until I can connect myself to you before I can get a confirmation of the situation… just hang out for a few minutes while I try to recharge some more. And for the love of all things Unholy, don’t leave the cave while I do.’
“Yes mother.”
And with that, Kyle heard for the first time since he woke up the sounds of silence in his head. After a few seconds of that came the sounds of the dripping water in the cave behind him along with the chirping of birds in and rustling of leaves as the wind passed them by in the forest before him. It sounded nice, but he didn’t want to take time to enjoy it right now. For the time being he had to try to contemplate some things. The first and foremost was the fact that he had been turned into some kind of demon offspring. Zamil had told him that he was demon mostly in body, but he couldn’t help but feel perturbed about it. However, behind that feeling of concern, Kyle also felt elated and excited. He was getting the chance to do something he had never experience before in his life. He was in a bloody new world right now! Something that Astronauts and Otakus only ever dreamed of! If that change of scenery came with a change in his body, Kyle felt that he was more than willing to pay that price. He only wished it had been a little more subdued rather than right out of the gate.
Other than that, he could only wait and see while Zamil recharged his energy. Kyle wasn’t sure he remembered correctly, but he did think he had heard the Overlord mention that as long as he kept the sword that housed the demons soul on his person, the overlord could siphon off his own power to recharge faster. Kyle looked down at the sword in his hand, not having let go of it yet since he picked it up. It looked like it could hold itself in a fight thankfully, however, the actual sheath he had paid for was back in his room in another dimension. He was going to have to see about getting one since he might be mistaken for a thug if he had it out all the time… or a blood thirsty demon considering his current form. Putting it on his check list of STD’s or ‘Shit-to-do’ Kyle looked back into the cave he was currently in and decided that now would be a good idea to start practicing RPG etiquette.
“Alright… RPG basics 101, ‘when waking up in a new area, search every fucking nook and cranny for random shit.’ Okay then, let’s get looking.”
Thankfully, the cave itself wasn’t all that big. About the size of an average bear cave as far as he could tell. Thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any tunnels that lead back to a larger cave structure, so he was just limited to searching the immediate area. It only took him a few minutes of digging under rocks, peeking around stalagmites, cracks in the wall, and just overall searching before he sat back down. Not surprisingly, he hadn’t found anything of note or worth. As far as he could tell, this cave was just a random old cave that one could find. Not very interesting, but he couldn’t be expected to think that despite the RPG like elements he was applying, this was real life as much as it was in his own world, just more fantasy was involved. Stretching his arms a bit, Kyle found a nice smooth spot on the cavern floor next to a big rock and sat down there. His hand never left the sword, but at least he could give his arm a rest by leaning said sword against his leg while he sat. He then decided that it might be easier if he just lay down and rest a little bit. Though he hadn’t been doing anything particularly straining physical wise, he felt fatigued in general from the spell and his sudden transformation. Plus, he was still trying to take the whole ‘put in a new world’ thing and digest it.
Laying his head on the ground, Kyle put his hands behind his head, careful to point his now sharp-ish fingernails away from his skull, and used them as a pillow of sorts. He didn’t really feel like thinking and decided that now would be as good a time as any to try to relax and take in all the sounds around him. However, when he turned his head to look at the rock next to him, he was somewhat surprised to see a hole under the rock. He never would have noticed it from an overhead view, but down on the ground, he saw an arm sized hole going under the rock. Curious, Kyle rolled over on his belly and looked down into it, careful to keep Zamils current body in hand in case he needed to start stabbing something. However, he soon found that he wouldn’t be needing it. He could see the end of the hole, but at the same time, down in it was something very unusual looking. Kyle, without much thought put into it, reached down into the hole and felt his hand come into contact with something soft and velvety feeling. It wasn’t warm by any means, so he ruled out an animal of sorts, so he pulled it out. When he did get it out, he was surprised to see a scarf in his hand, and a silk one at that. Despite not even being remotely familiar with clothing and expensive finery, Kyle could tell just from the feel and the looks of it that the Scarf was very well made. It was a subtle blue color and seemed to catch light very easily, making it look as if it was reflecting sunlight all the time.
“Huh… well look at that… nifty find.”
Despite the fact that it had been under a rock, Kyle was quick to notice that it looked good as new, as if it hadn’t been there for a while. He could only guess that someone had hid it there, or that it was magical in nature and was meant to be preserved for a long period of time. He had no way to tell currently, so he opted to wait until Zamil came back. He then tried to find a place to keep it on his person, but the only place he could find that might work would be in one of his pockets on his cargo pants. He felt that to be a waste, so he decided that it might be better to wear it for the time being. With little effort, Kyle managed to get the scarf around his neck, the soft velvety feeling making his skin tingle warmly at the touch.
A few comfortable seconds later, and the familiar sound of Zamil’s voice came back to him.
‘Aight kid. I’ve managed to restore enough power for a link. After that and our combined conscious should let me recharge more of my power faster.’
Simply nodding his head in response, Kyle made his way back to the entrance of the cave and waited for Zamil to get ready.
‘Are you ready Kid?’
“Pretty much.”
Without another word, Kyle felt a jolt of power run from the blade in his hand and shock him all the way through the whole of his body, feeling as if a second layer of skin had just been added to him. He suddenly heard better, could see things around him more crisply, all his sense having felt as if they got jacked up to 11.
“Damn… that still feels awesome no matter how many times we do that.”
‘You’ll eventually start to feel this way naturally when your demon body starts to get stronger. How you humans manage to feel anything with such dull senses is beyond me. Anyway, the connection was successful. Also, you do seem to have the body of a powerful low rank demon. Almost to Mid-rank, but not quite there yet.’
“Is that a good thing?”
‘It means you skipped a few steps. So I would suggest you be careful with how much strength you use for now. With the way you are now, you could crush small rocks easily enough. Keep that in mind and you won’t kill everybody you end up punching.’
“If they let me get close to them first.”
‘Point taken. Now shut up and let me do my thing.’
Not really bothered by the sudden abrupt ending to the conversation, Kyle simply sat and waited for Zamil to finish whatever it was he was looking for. Oddly enough, He could sorta feel what it was he was trying to do, as his body would momentarily seem to shift without his known consent, and his senses would suddenly seem to spike on occasion. For a moment, he managed to see the very face of the jagged mountain in the distance, his hearing was able to pick up something like conversation somewhere, his nose could smell smoke coming from the small village, but it was something inside him that caused him to pause. It felt almost like the time he had used the transport spell back on earth, his inner body feeling warm for a moment before a feeling of some elation would fill him up. After what had to have been 10 minutes of his body spiking all over the place, Kyle felt the senses fading away and a slight rumbling sigh coming from the sword next to him.
‘Huh… I see I see…’
“You see? What did you learn?”
‘Well kid, I learned a lot. The most important bit being that we did arrive in the right place. Though I haven’t felt it in almost two millennium, this magic in the air is the one I remember. Problem is that it also feels slightly off, like something in the air has changed since I was last here.’
“That’s Kinda expected. You’ve been gone for 2000 years, you can’t expect everything to be the same when you get back.”
Kyle felt the sword buzz almost angrily, almost as if Zamil was bristling at him for some odd reason.
‘Dumb Shit, think I don’t know that? I’ve been gone for over 2000+ years, of course things will have changed. Given that’s if time passes the same here as it did in your world. Magic doesn’t change, not on this scale though, not without help of some sort. A Demon Lord or God might have changed something up while I’ve been away. Problem is, I can’t tell, not right now anyway.’
Kyle cocked his head to the side as he thought that over.
“So… What do we do right now? We are in the right place right?”
‘Kid, if I said we’re in the right place, we’re in the right place, got it? As for the plan… our plan is the same as it originally was.’
“Ah… K’ay… could you perhaps run the plan by me one more time? Ya know… in case my memories are messed up about that part…”
‘You forget the fucking plan didn’t you. Oh by my unholy name… clean your ears out and listen really good this time, cause I will in no way repeat myself anymore, got it?’
“I’m sure you’d talk my ear off even if I did.”
‘Shut the fuck up. Alright, first step: find any and all information going on in Tengoku that we can about the state of the world and the current Maou. Second step: after getting all that info, find out what happened to my body. If we can still find it, we go and get it, if not, we go and make a new one. After that, if My body is still around, we stuff my soul back into it. If not, we make a new one out of the strongest demons we can find. That or you let me possess you.’
“I’d rather that not happen.”
‘Step three, after we have accomplished this, we fuck up the current overlord and I reclaim my rightful place as the Maou. After that… I’ll think of it when we get there. The first three steps are going to be hard enough.’
“Okay… sounds simple enough… so what do I do with myself after all that is done?”
‘I’unno Kid, if you get strong enough as a demon though, I’ll let you become my right hand man. You can have land, woman, and power if you want, just name it. In my opinion, if you’re strong enough, you can have it, it’s pretty hard to come across someone who’s a fragment of demons after all. If not though… Just do whatever the hell you want. I’ll let you have that much at least.’
“Huh… well… I really just wanted out of my old world to get the chance to do something exciting. If becoming a lackey to an Overlord is what I get, then know what? Why the fuck not? It beats anything else I might have done…plus, I don’t think I’ll have much other choice since I’m already turning into a demon.”
‘Ha ha! Smart move Kid! Stick with me and you’ll be powerful in no time! Anyway… since we have our plan all sorted out, I wanted to ask you something.’
“Wazzat?”
‘What the hell have you got on around your neck? It feels nice, but at the same time, it feels like it has some kind of powerful enchantment on it.
“Beats me. I found it sitting under a rock in the cave here. Not sure what it was, so I took it.”
‘And the thought that it might have been cursed never once crossed your mind before you put it on?’
For a moment, there was a dead pan silence in the cave, almost as if the air was charged with the realization of the situation at hand.
“…No. That thought did not cross my mind.”
‘How fucking retarded are you.’
“That was uncalled for.”
‘But necessary. Anyway… seeing as you don’t have some debilitating problem right now or something, I can guess that it wasn’t cursed. But next time Kid, Don’t fucking touch it unless I say so, got it?’
“What are you, My mom? But okay, I differ to you when something like this pops up again. But anyway… what’s our next course of action? We staying here or are we heading out to the village we saw earlier?”
‘Have you forgotten that you currently look like something out of Dantes Inferno? You go waltzing into a human village looking like that and the first thing they’ll do is try to kill your ass. We fix your face first.’
Kyle looked down at his hands and he pale gray color of his skin before he smiled sheepishly.
“Oh… right…Also, you’re going to need a sheath. I can’t lug you around all the time in my hands. Even with a human like appearance, I’ll look like someone out to mug people.”
‘Good point. However, you’ll have to make due with something else until we can afford one. In the meantime, I have a few tips and tricks we can try until we get all the necessary things ready for our departure into town. I know it’s been several thousand years, but a few things might still be the same. Listen to me, and we should be able to pass you off as a normal individual.’
Kyle nodded his head in understanding. Despite his copious amounts of Video game knowledge, he knew that without a doubt, it would only be so helpful. Until the time came where he could take care of himself in this new word, he had no choice but to follow the orders of the Overlord. Without another word, Kyle made his way down the cave and into the forest, the new world around him filling him with a feeling of newfound excitement.
Spoiler: show
Chapter 1: Travel
“I feel terrible on the inside.”
‘Oh fucking suck it up Kid.’
“Suck it up? After what we just did? How am I supposed to suck it up? We just mugged these poor bastards for everything they own!”
Standing in a circle of less-then-human-more-like-meat-piles stood Kyle, his hand on his sword and his average everyday otherworld clothing looking cut up and tattered, his other hand pointing out to the poor saps who currently where messed the hell up at his feet.
‘Oh for fucks sake. They were bandits for crying out loud. Why are you feeling bad about mugging some pieces of human shit?’
“And how in the Deep Blue hades do you know that these men where in fact bandits? They could have been harmless Hobos for all we know!”
‘Uh, excuse me? Do ‘harmless hobos’ carry around half rusted axes and swords and look as if they’re out to kill people?’
“They may have been armed to defend themselves against rabid monsters or crazy psychos like you!”
‘Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me for trying to keep us alive then! However, I would like to point out to you princess bitch, that you didn’t have to listen to me. You could have damn well ignored what I said and instead find some other place to procure clothing and materials necessary for our everyday survival. However, I want to point out that it was not in fact me who beat the living shit out of them while laughing like a psycho the whole time. I have no control over anything you do save for what appears in your nightmares. Work yourself out of that one ya whiny bitch.’
Kyle cringed at the memory of what had just transpired over the course of several minutes ago. After he had left the cave, Kyle had seen to making his way to the road he had seen earlier and try to make his way to the village. However, as he had been doing so, he happened upon the current group of roguish looking characters currently at his feet. At first, he wasn’t sure what to think, but Zamil had told him to go beat the crap out of them since they obviously where up to no good. Granted, Kyle hadn’t attempted to listen in on the group, but he did just that and proceeded to beat the living day lights out of them. Thinking back, he had quickly also come to the conclusion that they were obviously bandits and made no motion to stop himself.
“…Okay, granted, they kinda do look like bandits, and I may have made a bad judgement call…but it suddenly doesn’t seem very right to just mug people out of the blue.”
‘We call that being a hypocrite. However, I ain’t gonna argue with you on this. Get what you can from this sad group and let’s make our way to the village. Also, not to praise you or anything… but good job not killing em despite your inhumane strength. Not sure why you didn’t, but I guess you have some control over yourself.’
Kyle looked down at his fist, and then to the men around him. He was also somewhat surprised at this fact. Yeah, the men all looked beat up, but they were all unconscious from the looks of it. Maybe he had held back subconsciously? He wasn’t sure and he was fine with this outcome, he didn’t want to kill people unless he needed to. Deciding that what is done is done, Kyle then took a few minutes to scrounge through the groups things, feeling all the while more like a bandit then the group he had just mugged.
“Hey… I don’t think I’m going to take everything… I think I’ll just grab all the money, a sheath, and maybe a traveling cloak as well.”
‘I really just wanted you to grab the money, but good call for the rest of it. Grab the sheath on the guy with the rusty machete, I think that sheath is the closest fit. As for the cloak… take your pick, they all look like shit to me.’
Agreeing with the Overlords suggestions, Kyle grabbed the sheath as he was told. It was actually a bit of a loose fit, the other man’s blade being thicker than the long sword that Kyle used. It did serve its purpose however, so he quickly strapped it to his side and sheathed Zamil in it. As for the cloak, he went with the one that had the least amount of travel wear in it. After that, he took one of the bandit’s coin pouches and took all the money he could find from the rest of them. After taking all he could like a thief, Kyle then made his getaway back into the woods, donning the cloak and counting out the coins as he did.
“Okay… so we got what looks like 34 bronze colored coins and what looks to be 4 silver coins… is that a lot in this world?”
‘Not sure Kid. We weren’t using money like this back when I was ruling. I never really bothered with the human currency at the time. We’ll just call the copper coins coppers and the silver coins silvers until we know what they are.’
Kyle let out a sigh as he put the money back and kept his eyes on the forest around him.
“So… now that we have some items to help us along… what are we going to do with my appearance?”
‘Not we kid, you’re going to have to fix that on your own. Unfortunately, a glamor spell is well beyond your ability to pull off at the current time, However, I can offer you an alternative, it’s not as great as a Glamor spell, but it’ll get the job done.’
Kyle looked down at the blade on his side and cocked his head in some curiosity.
“What is it?”
‘An Illusion spell. I thought of it when you nabbed the travel cloak. All you really have to do is keep yourself covered and the appearance of your head and hands when the need arises. However an Illusion spell will simply make you look like something else, it won’t wreath you in a magical shell that hides the protruding bits of your new anatomy. You’ll need to keep the hood down to hide the horns, but at your current level of ability, it shouldn’t be too hard to use an illusion spell.’
“Okay… how do I do it though? I’m not exactly the grand spell master right now ya know.”
‘Even with your ability as it is, as a demon, you have a more natural affinity with magic, so you shouldn’t have to worry about being sucked into the power this time like you were last time. But anyway, it’s not hard. Just reach into that power of yours a little bit, imagine yourself as you used to look, and force your power into that image. It’s not difficult, however, I suggest that-’
“Done.”
There was a moment of silence in the forest between the two of them, Zamil stuck for words at what it was he just heard.
‘What?’
“I said I’m done. You weren’t joking when you said I had a natural affinity with magic, that shit was easy. I did as you said and focused my face in my head, then I sorta felt my power and just… pushed. It didn’t take much either. I think I may have altered the entirety of my body though, not just the face. That isn’t going to be a problem is it?”
For another few minutes, the only noises that could be heard where the sounds of the forest critters and windy like elements.
‘…I… see… uh… well…Good! Body and all? Not bad… though next time, I suggest you let me finish talking before trying that again.’
“Okay! Sorry, don’t get so pissy about it. Anyway… I guess we’re good to go?”
‘Yeah, your good, just be careful. The spell will only work so long as someone doesn’t touch you, and in even worse cases, we run into someone who has a high level of magical control. Anybody with a high enough education in magic will see right through it like a veil, so try to stay out of really populated areas if you can.’
Kyle nodded his head before he rolled his shoulders a bit and made his way back into the forest, the road’s direction still pretty vivid in his mind as he did. As he made his way through the flora, Kyle made note to try to observe the forest around him, and started to make a mental checklist of some of the things he saw.
“So… Zamil-”
‘That’s Lord Zamil to you Kid.’
“…Fine. Lord Zamil… I was looking around, and I just now noticed that a lot of the trees from earth match up with some of the ones I see here. It also looks to have a single sun in the sky, the sky is blue, and the air seems breathable to me. I’m guessing that Humans look, act, and work the same way here as they did on my home planet?... or dimension in this case I guess.”
‘Kid, are your memories still fucked up? I know I explained this to you before we even cast the spell.’
“I just have a bad memory okay!”
‘Christ… Yes, you humans are pretty much the same here as they were on Earth. Tengoku just happens to be magical and stuck in the dark ages of technological and Diplomatic affairs. Or it was the last time I was here, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the middle of an industrial revolution right now.’
“Huh… cool. But I won’t get my hopes up, that village looked pretty low tech.”
‘Also, something I noticed kid, your gonna need to quite talking to me out loud. It’s alright for now cause nobody save for those bandits/Hobos where around, but do that in town and someone might call possession or insanity. That won’t end well for you or me.’
“Well how the fuck am I supposed to talk to you then?”
Something sounding like a sigh came from his hip, the Blade on his side oddly making some noise. He found that perhaps a little odd, but not unusual based on the stuff he was expecting to come in the near future.
‘Have you even tried to talk to me mentally?’
“…Huh… No. Can’t say I have.”
‘Go ahead and try. It’s not that hard really. We don’t need the future complications that’ll come from this if you keep doing it.’
Kyle thought about it for a moment as he kept on. Zamil was right. Talking to himself wasn’t necessarily seen as the greatest thing ever regardless of the age one happened to find themselves in.
“Alright then.”
Without another word, Kyle took a breath before he started to try talking to the overlord in the blade next to him via Psychic powers.
‘Hello. This is Kyle speaking. Is this working? Am I getting through? Do you hear my thoughts? Can you read the thoughts I’m trying to project to you? Not the ones I don’t want you to see like the time I started to-‘
‘Coming through nice and clear Kid so stop thinking right now before I see something I would rather not.’
‘Ah… good. I guess I’ll need to be careful then cause I feel like my mind might start to wander if I don’t try to concentrate and then things from my past might start popping up like that one time when I sat in class and I accidently-’
‘STOP.THINKING. RIGHT NOW.’
“Okay… sorry. But does that mean you can read my thoughts while we’re connected?”
‘Sometimes. Not all the time, but when you’re just talking, you don’t put much thought into it. Otherwise, I can mostly read your emotions. Anyway, enough talking, more walking. We got places to be and things to do and I want them done quickly.’
Kyle simply nodded his head in confirmation, he himself also wanting to get out and about to discover what he could about this Tengoku place he now called his temporary home. After a few more minutes of making his way through the woods, Kyle eventually found the road he was looking for. Thankfully, it still looked to be midday, so he wasn’t very worried about not making it to the village before nightfall. His only problem was the road itself. After getting himself on it, Kyle looked to his left, and then to his right.
“Okay… which way do I go?”
As far as he could see, there was no discernable landmarks he could use to tell which way was to the village. The woods around him also made it hard for him to see where the village was originally. For a moment, he tried to see if there was anything in the sky he might use to figure out where he might need to go next. Sadly, no such luck was with him today as the sky was clear as could be. He then turned his attention to the road itself in hopes of finding something there that might give him a little more direction. However, that was equally useless in that the road was well traveled and compact enough so that tracks and the like weren’t easily spotted.
‘You having some problem Kid?’
“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out which way to go here. I don’t want to waste time by going in one direction and then have to turn around to get back the right way. I have no idea how much time it’ll take even if we take the right way, and wasting time by going the incorrect path is such a pain.”
‘Well that’s easy enough to solve. Just sit by the way side and wait for someone to walk by.’
“How is that going to help us? If they go the other direction, then I’m screwed regardless.”
‘Ya ask em for directions you dipshit. Not that hard to do.’
“Oh… I don’t think people will really answer my question cause I asked em. I mean, some random dude comes up and asks ‘which way to the closest village?’ and they’ll probably be all like ‘how the fuck do you not know this?’”
‘It’s not uncommon for people from other lands to not know where they are going, even on a road. Relax and just do it. By the by, I hear a cart coming. From your right mind you.’
Kyle perked his ears up and listened in on the sounds around him, the crunching of dirt and the rolling of wheels telling him that Zamil was in fact right. Deciding that it was simply best to do as he said, Kyle moved off to the side of the road, not enough to be in the woods, but enough to be out of the way. After a minute or two, a large wagon came into view, However, Kyle had to do a double take when he saw what it was that was pulling it exactly. A massive black boar about the size of a small truck and tusks that would make an elephant look down in shame. It looked menacing and evil in appearance, Almost so much that Kyle nearly decided to run for his life when he saw the thing. However, before he could, he spotted someone sitting on top of the boars back looking content as could be, as if that was the most natural thing to do when with such a beast.
Unsure of what to think or do when faced with such a situation, Kyle simply watched for a moment as the cart continued along it’s merry way, and not until it was close enough that he could hear the monster boars breathing that he thought about what it was he needed to do in this situation.
‘Kid, get your head in the game already. Focus is key right now, and you sure don’t seem to be doing a lot of it at the moment.’
‘I got it! Geez! Shut up!’
Taking in a deep breath, Kyle walked out a little bit and waved at the person sitting on top of the Boar while smiling.
“Excuse me!”
The individual looked down from his perch, curiosity in his eyes, but a hint of wariness in them as well. Upon further inspection, Kyle was able to see that this person looked to be a young boy, maybe 10 or so years of age with sun touched skin, short spiky rust colored hair and emerald green eyes. The young boy cocked his head to the side for a moment in contemplation before he pulled on the reigns, the demon boar getting the picture and coming to a stop. The young boy then looked down at Kyle from his perch and spoke up.
“Yeah? Whatch need stranger?”
“Sorry for interrupting your journey, but could you perhaps give me directions to the closest village? I’m afraid I’m lost you see… I’m not native to the area, so I got sorta turned around.”
“Huh… you are? Then I’d have to ask where in the world you came from considering there’s only one road that goes between Haval and Durnim. However, it’s not really my means to pry in your business. The closest Village is the one I’m currently heading to. Haval is its name, it’s a go between mostly for travelers to stop and rest in case you were wondering.”
Kyle bowed his head in thanks.
“Thank you! Sorry for interrupting your journey. Have a Nice day!”
Kyle then turned in the direction the cart was facing and started walking. However, before he could go another 5 steps, the sound of the lad behind him stopped him.
“Oi, you’re not fixing to walk there are ya?”
Kyle turned around, puzzled and not sure where this line of questioning would be going.
“Uh… Since my feet are my only means of transportation, I would suppose that walking would be the best way to get there. That or running, but I don’t feel like doing that.”
The young boy simply looked at Kyle as if he had two heads before he shook his own in exasperation.
“Then you must really not be from around here then. It’ll take you more than 4 hours on foot to get there. And that’s not counting any bandits who come along or the stray Mamono who’d strip ya and ride ya on the road like a bitch in heat.”
“Uh… Mamono?”
“Monsters ya dolt! Well… granted your talking to a dwarf, so you might think otherwise about the Mamono thing, but it’s cause I’m a dwarf that I’m safe to talk to, find any Gals out there and your ass would be toast.”
“Huh… I see then…”
The young man looked cross and shook his head before he let out a sigh.
“I don’t think you’re really getting what I’m saying here bud. Tell ya what, I know we just met, but how about you hop on my cart and I’ll take you the rest of the way to Haval. It’ll be shorter, and the safety factor goes up. Despite ma current appearance, I’m pretty good in scraps, and that’s not counting the windmill that’s my wife. Trust me, you’ll be a lot safer in my cart then out by yourself.”
Kyle blinked a few times in thought at the prospect laid out to him. It was true that traveling by himself wasn’t the best of ideas right now, and the fact that he could get where he needed to be faster was tempting. He was also sure he could get more information out of this guy. Though he was still shocked at the fact that the person before him was a Dwarf. He was used to the stereotype of a dwarf, short, hairy, tough looking, and underground. This kid didn’t seem to fit the bill save for the short part. Even more surprising was the fact that the guy was married. However, that was a pretty moot point when he was being offered a free ride. Thinking it over for a second longer, Kyle nodded his head.
“Sure! We can do that!”
“Great, Hop on up when you’re ready and we’ll get going”
Without another word Kyle moved to the back of the cart, a large thing that would make one wonder what the short dwarf was lugging around, and quickly made his way into it. What was inside made him open his eyes wide in shock. There appeared to be a furnace inside the cart along with a portable fire. It was a moving forge as far as he could tell. A traveling blacksmith, a unique trade if there ever was one. A moment later and the male dwarf stuck his head in through the flap, something akin to a serious look to his face.
“Alright stranger, I got three rules ya need to follow before we get started. Rule number 1: Don’t touch any merchandise or I’ll knock you out.”
Jerking his thumb to his side, The dwarf pointed to the smithy and the large amount of weapons and armor that where currently nestled in there comfortable niches.
“Rule Number 2. Don’t mess with Bull, cause let me tell you, he will screw you up if he doesn’t like you and not a damn thing I can do to stop him if he wants to maul ya to death… Not that he ever has, but I would prefer there not be a first time.”
Kyle could only assume that ‘Bull’ was the Boar that was pulling the carriage. He had no qualms there; no reason to go picking a fight with a massive Boar-like creature that could more than likely gore him on a single thrust.
‘Eh, you could take it.’
“Rule number three, the last and most important of the three. Don’t touch my wife, or I’ll murder you. Violently.”
Jerking his thumb over to his left this time, Kyle looked in the direction of the pointed finger and saw a young girl about the same age as the dwarf lying on a small makeshift cot of linins. She, like her husband, was short, though her hair was long, almost the full length of her body, and a muddy brown in color. He couldn’t see her eyes since she was fast asleep, but she was also somewhat dark skinned, like the sun cooked them both a little longer than necessary. She, like her husband, was dressed in some rugged looking clothes, though the male dwarf didn’t bother to wear a shirt and instead wore some patchwork baggy pants. The Girl wore patchwork tight pants and shirt, though Kyle could see that there might have been more that went with the outfit. Kyle turned his attention back to the male Dwarf and nodded his head.
“Understood. I’ll make sure to follow them to the letter.”
“Great! We’ll get along well then! The Names Barrus by the way, a traveling smith along with my lovely wife Ralina.”
“My Name is Kyle Demonia. Wayfarer of life and seeker of thrills.”
“Ha! Funny title ya got there, but I can get a sense of ya now that ya told me. Anyway, sit tight and try to make yourself cozy, the ride’ll take another 2 or so hours if we don’t run into any troubles.”
With that said, Barrus nodded his head at Kyle and made his way back up the massive boar and took up the reigns again. Kyle for his part, found a seat closest to the front flap of the cart and sat there, his only means of information being the dwarf sitting on top of the boar. However, before he could initiate conversation, the lurching of the cart caught him off guard and he rolled back into a pile of rags and clothing.
“Ow… a little more warning would have been appreciated…” He muttered under his breath.
‘Suck it up ya baby. Good job getting a cart by the way, this’ll make the journey a little smoother. It’ll also give us some time to go over our current info and to see what else we can learn from the Dwarf.’
‘And what info is that that we have right now?’
‘Two things. One, it seems to me as if the dwarves are being treated as Monsters, or something similar to it.’
‘How is that useful?’
‘It tells us that with the time I’ve been gone, Humans have started to take over or something similar and are treating all non-human races as monsters. Thing 2, the thing he said about monsters in general. Or Mamono as he called them.’
‘I’ll ask my previous question. How is that useful?’
‘*sigh* Monsters are not being called monsters, why is that? He said Mamono and he mentioned something about you getting ridden like a bitch in heat if you ran into one. It’s confusing, but things seem to be different from what I’m used to. It’s all info we need, and I’m sure it’ll all start clicking into place the more we find out, so get to finding out more shit!’
“Alright already… geez…”
Letting out a small sigh, Kyle put his hands in the linens to push himself back to a sitting position. However, where he was expecting the soft feeling of clothing helping him to assist his upright positioning, Kyle felt instead the soft conforming feeling of something else giving way to his hand.
“What?”
Turning around, Kyle got on his knees and pulled some of the clothes away. Inside of the cocoon of warm clothing was a person. A sleeping person for that fact. From what he could see, it was a small young girl, looking to be maybe 12 or 13 years old. She had long blonde hair that she had tied into a ponytail that he couldn’t see the length of due to the fact that it was hidden under the linens, though Kyle was sure he wouldn’t have seen it past the nun habit she wore on her head if it hadn’t fallen off and showed off her adorable little head. Other than her head though, Kyle couldn’t see much else save for her neck and collarbone along with the girls hands, which where clutched cutely in front of her face around said habit.
“Who the heck is this?”
‘Don’t know don’t care, either rape her or get back to gathering info.’
‘Your first thing to tell me is to rape this poor girl? What the fuck is wrong with you?’
‘I said either rape her or get back to gathering info. Both of which you are doing neither of. And don’t you act like you wouldn’t do it. I’ve seen your Loli porn. And in the middle ages, having sex with younger girls and boys wasn’t uncommon. Hell, in my day, this kid would be considered middle aged.’
“Know what? Not even important right now… I’ll keep it in mind though. The question remains, who the hell is this?”
Not getting an answer out of the sleeping girl, Kyle decided that it would be best to alert Barrus to the change in situation. Crawling back to the front of the carriage, the risk of tumbling again forcing him to forego standing up, Kyle made his way to the flap and pulled it to the side. Sitting atop the massive Boar was Barrus, humming a little tune to himself as the road around him continued on with each clack of the hoof. However, the sound of Kyle clearing his throat caught the dwarfs attention and forced him to turn his head around.
“Eh? Wassup?”
“Um… sorry… I don’t mean to bug you or anything Mr. Barrus… but I thought that I might let you know that besides your wife and stuff… there happens to be a young girl on the carriage as well. Not sure what that’s all about, but she might be a stowaway.”
“Eh? Young girl? … Oh! That’s right! That kid! I forgot about the munchkin… Yeah, don’t worry about her. She’s just a traveler like yourself who Ralina picked up when she found her in the last town begging for donations. I said we shouldn’t bother since she happens to be affiliated with the Order, but ma wife wouldn’t take no for an answer. The smart man does as he’s told after all. So yeah, unless she starts chanting light magic at ya or tries ta preach at ya about the chief god or sumthin, she’s fine. Haven’t had a problem with her yet. Bit lacking in the common sense department though.”
Kyle nodded his head in understanding before he sat back down in his original spot.
“Alright Mr. Barrus, Thanks for telling me…”
For a few minutes, Kyle didn’t say anything, the cart bouncing on occasion as the wheels rolled over long dug out ruts in the road of hundreds of previous carts. However, though he could stay silent for a long time, his mind would not.
‘Hey. Zamil.’
‘Lord Zamil dammit. I’mma have to repeat that a lot aren’t I?’
‘Sorry… Anyway, what the heck is the Order?’
‘How the fuck am I supposed to know that? I know about as much as you do when it comes to the current situation of Tengoku ya dipshit. However… I will say that the Order does seem to ring a bell right now… Not to say it’s the same one or anything, but back in my day before I got sealed up some 2000+ years ago, there was this one group that had been starting out that followed Abmeal, a very high level divinity. Granted, back in my day, gods and demons where still trying to get a foothold of power against each other, so power shifts where happening all the time. New Cults popped up like wildfire every other week and a new religion would grow and die out just as quickly. If it’s the same Order, then it might be the same one… or at least has a history there somewhere. It might be different after so long… if time follows the same way here as it did on earth that is. I would suggest asking the dwarf for more if ya need more info. He seems the chatty type. I would suggest you try to be tactful when you ask your questions though, we still have no idea of how things work here right now.’
‘I got it… geez, even I’m not that stupid.’
Sighing lightly to himself, Kyle leaned back and looked out the front flap of the carriage.
“So… Mr. Barrus… You’re not worried about the girl trying to pull something?”
“Huh? No, not really… despite the talks about the church and all that, she’s been a rather sweet kid. No reason to worry, though I would worry about her since she doesn’t seem to know much about the world. You must not trust Order types though if you’re asking that eh? Does that mean you come from a place outside of Order control?”
“Uh… sorta… I mean, we have a church dedicated to a God, he just doesn’t mention much about Uh… mamono in general. Just love thy neighbor, don’t do bad things, and a bunch of other things I don’t really remember.”
‘You are so educated in theology.’
‘Fuck off. A demon doesn’t get to lecture me on the Bible.’
“Ha! What a lenient God! You must be from either far north or west if you’re talking like that. I can guess you don’t know much about us in the midlands do you?”
“Um… sadly, no. I can’t say I’m very… uh… knowledgeable about the way of the world. I lived in a very secluded place far west for most of my life, so things like the order or Mamono are actually pretty new to me…”
For a moment, there was silence. However, a few moments later and Barrus let out a big hearty laugh, the sounds of him hitting his side in amusement resounding out in the cart.
“Ha ha! So you’re some kind of sheltered Brat? Didn’t think something like that was possible in this day and age! Ha ha!”
Kyle smiled a little to himself sheepishly. More like he knew nothing about the world as it currently was, not having been a resident of it for more than a few hours now.
“Yeah… pretty much…”
Barrus laughed again before he turned his head to look over his shoulder.
“I take it you’re going to want to know everything there is to know about the midlands then eh? Alright, I got it. Since I’m probably the first person you’ve met who’s willing to listen to ya. Ask what ya wanna know, I’ll answer as much as I can.”
Kyle silently did a fist pump, the feeling of getting free info setting off a chain reaction of questions he wanted to ask in his mind while Zamil shared the same kind of elation.
“Great! Um… sorry, I’ve just been looking to get info for a while now… so yeah… kinda not sure how to proceed from here…”
“That’s alright. If you don’t know anything in particular to ask, I’ll go ahead and give ya a little run down of current events and things that might be useful. So far, the Midlands, which we are traveling in, are pretty much a go between zone for anybody looking to get to either the Order controlled lands or the lands under the rule of the Maou. Right now, we’re sorta at an uneasy peace with the Order, but nobody expects them to keep quiet for long. Assassination attempts are almost a monthly thing when it comes to our Lady Lilith. Nobody ends up dying though, and Mamono get some husbands in the process.”
“I see… the current Maou is Lilith? Who was the previous Maou then?”
“Dunno, that was before my time. But why do we care about the previous ruler of Monsters? Lady Lilith makes this place much better. If ya really wanted to know that, you could ask some older Mamono, but I’m not sure if you could find any that long lived. Other than asking the Maou herself or her daughters, it might just be considered ancient history.”
“I see…”
‘Hey, does the name Lilith ring any bells to you?’
‘No, the one who seemed to be the runner up after me was a guy from the Clan of Abaddon, Sugrin I think, if he was still alive after I got sealed, he may have taken over. No way to know that though.’
“So… this Lilith… what kind of demon is she?”
For a moment, there was some silence, but Kyle felt something akin to a cold glare being directed at him from Barrus oddly enough.
“Hey… Listen stranger… I know you’re probably not used to being in the presence of those like myself, but… we have a certain amount of respect for our Lady Maou, and Demon isn’t a very kindly thing to say about her… She’s more of a Succubus, and I know that the orderlits will tell ya that being a succubus means vile soul corruption and all that Hogshit, but… You really don’t know much better, but I ask ya don’t go around insulting the Good Lady in the presence of Mamono.”
“Oh… uh… I apologize… I hadn’t meant any disrespect or anything…”
For a moment, Kyle was at a loss for words, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the situation he had caused with his remark. However, Barrus dropped the cold glare and simply let out a sigh.
“It’s alright… I shouldn’t get angry at ya for such a small thing really, but I tend to hear it more often than not in my travels. Many have yet to meet the Lady Lilith, myself included, but ya can’t say something about somebody ya never met before. It’s silly really.”
“I know what ya mean. Can’t judge a book by its cover right?”
Barrus blinked in some mild interest before he huffed in amusement.
“That’s a good way to put it. Yeah, can’t judge a book by its cover… Anyway, I’m sure ya have a few more questions for me regarding the midlands and all that. Ask away.”
Kyle nodded at the Dwarf and continued his questions.
“Alright… So… the Order itself. I’ve heard of them, but rarely have I met them.”
“Really? There almost all over the place really, almost like Large Mice to be truthful. Damn pesky, but the only difference is that a Large mouse can be chased out. The order fights back. They harass Mamono and Mamono sympathizers alike, even outright killed. However, the killing is very far and few between, but it does happen.”
“They religious?”
“Aye, mass of Zealots to be honest. Or the ones I’ve seen have been. They worship the Chief God… or goddess in this case; and preach that all monsters are evil and steal the souls of men and corrupt woman… not all wrong, but they don’t kill people like they claim nor steal souls. In truth, it makes me somewhat happy to meet someone who isn’t spouting such nonsense. Even the Young lass hasn’t irritated me in such a manner, and I find that odd since she’s part of the order.”
“I see, I see…”
“Sorry, I sound like I’m rambling. All I really know of the Order is what I’ve heard and what I personally have seen of them. Other than that, you’ll need to ask them personally… not something I would recommend if you don’t want a sermon.”
“Alright then. Thank you Barrus, this is proving very helpful… but enough about all that. You’ve traveled a lot, have you heard anything of note recently?”
Barrus hummed for a moment before he shook his head in response.
“Nothing much really. The Order has been lax of late, but I told you that. The Maou though is pretty busy recently. She announced across her territories recently that she’s planning a festival in the Capitol, but that’s not for a few months. It’s said to be a big spectacle for all to enjoy. After that? Nothing. Unless you’re interested in hearing about random tidbits about other villages.”
“No, I think I’m good here. Oher then just natural geography and some history, I think I’ve got what I need for the time being. Other than that, can you tell me a little about the village we’re heading to? Haval you called it.”
“Yeah. Like I said, it’s more a go between for people going to either Durnim, the merchant city, or to Kelginki, the port town. It’s not Order controlled and its Monster friendly, so it should be a good place to find what it is you need.”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement. So far, he had all the info he needed for the next town thankfully, and the info he managed to get from Barrus was more than he had been hoping for, if not somewhat biased. But any info was good info right now. After that, Kyle felt a yawn work itself from his body and he let out a large sigh.
“Well Barrus… thanks for the info. I hate to leave you by yourself, but I’m feeling sorta tired right now, hope you don’t mind my taking a nap do you?”
“Naw. Go right ahead stranger. If you don’t wake up before we get there, I’ll get ya up. If my wife wakes up before you do and we still aren’t there… well, prepare to be woken rudely. That’s ma only warning.”
Kyle grinned to himself at the statement and leaned back into the coziest thing he could find, that something being a small pile of leather. It was comfortable enough for his own needs, and he felt tired enough for it to be nice and cozy. After that, the last thing Kyle thought before the drowsiness took him was of the gently rolling wheels and the wind rustling in the trees outside the cart.
“I feel terrible on the inside.”
‘Oh fucking suck it up Kid.’
“Suck it up? After what we just did? How am I supposed to suck it up? We just mugged these poor bastards for everything they own!”
Standing in a circle of less-then-human-more-like-meat-piles stood Kyle, his hand on his sword and his average everyday otherworld clothing looking cut up and tattered, his other hand pointing out to the poor saps who currently where messed the hell up at his feet.
‘Oh for fucks sake. They were bandits for crying out loud. Why are you feeling bad about mugging some pieces of human shit?’
“And how in the Deep Blue hades do you know that these men where in fact bandits? They could have been harmless Hobos for all we know!”
‘Uh, excuse me? Do ‘harmless hobos’ carry around half rusted axes and swords and look as if they’re out to kill people?’
“They may have been armed to defend themselves against rabid monsters or crazy psychos like you!”
‘Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me for trying to keep us alive then! However, I would like to point out to you princess bitch, that you didn’t have to listen to me. You could have damn well ignored what I said and instead find some other place to procure clothing and materials necessary for our everyday survival. However, I want to point out that it was not in fact me who beat the living shit out of them while laughing like a psycho the whole time. I have no control over anything you do save for what appears in your nightmares. Work yourself out of that one ya whiny bitch.’
Kyle cringed at the memory of what had just transpired over the course of several minutes ago. After he had left the cave, Kyle had seen to making his way to the road he had seen earlier and try to make his way to the village. However, as he had been doing so, he happened upon the current group of roguish looking characters currently at his feet. At first, he wasn’t sure what to think, but Zamil had told him to go beat the crap out of them since they obviously where up to no good. Granted, Kyle hadn’t attempted to listen in on the group, but he did just that and proceeded to beat the living day lights out of them. Thinking back, he had quickly also come to the conclusion that they were obviously bandits and made no motion to stop himself.
“…Okay, granted, they kinda do look like bandits, and I may have made a bad judgement call…but it suddenly doesn’t seem very right to just mug people out of the blue.”
‘We call that being a hypocrite. However, I ain’t gonna argue with you on this. Get what you can from this sad group and let’s make our way to the village. Also, not to praise you or anything… but good job not killing em despite your inhumane strength. Not sure why you didn’t, but I guess you have some control over yourself.’
Kyle looked down at his fist, and then to the men around him. He was also somewhat surprised at this fact. Yeah, the men all looked beat up, but they were all unconscious from the looks of it. Maybe he had held back subconsciously? He wasn’t sure and he was fine with this outcome, he didn’t want to kill people unless he needed to. Deciding that what is done is done, Kyle then took a few minutes to scrounge through the groups things, feeling all the while more like a bandit then the group he had just mugged.
“Hey… I don’t think I’m going to take everything… I think I’ll just grab all the money, a sheath, and maybe a traveling cloak as well.”
‘I really just wanted you to grab the money, but good call for the rest of it. Grab the sheath on the guy with the rusty machete, I think that sheath is the closest fit. As for the cloak… take your pick, they all look like shit to me.’
Agreeing with the Overlords suggestions, Kyle grabbed the sheath as he was told. It was actually a bit of a loose fit, the other man’s blade being thicker than the long sword that Kyle used. It did serve its purpose however, so he quickly strapped it to his side and sheathed Zamil in it. As for the cloak, he went with the one that had the least amount of travel wear in it. After that, he took one of the bandit’s coin pouches and took all the money he could find from the rest of them. After taking all he could like a thief, Kyle then made his getaway back into the woods, donning the cloak and counting out the coins as he did.
“Okay… so we got what looks like 34 bronze colored coins and what looks to be 4 silver coins… is that a lot in this world?”
‘Not sure Kid. We weren’t using money like this back when I was ruling. I never really bothered with the human currency at the time. We’ll just call the copper coins coppers and the silver coins silvers until we know what they are.’
Kyle let out a sigh as he put the money back and kept his eyes on the forest around him.
“So… now that we have some items to help us along… what are we going to do with my appearance?”
‘Not we kid, you’re going to have to fix that on your own. Unfortunately, a glamor spell is well beyond your ability to pull off at the current time, However, I can offer you an alternative, it’s not as great as a Glamor spell, but it’ll get the job done.’
Kyle looked down at the blade on his side and cocked his head in some curiosity.
“What is it?”
‘An Illusion spell. I thought of it when you nabbed the travel cloak. All you really have to do is keep yourself covered and the appearance of your head and hands when the need arises. However an Illusion spell will simply make you look like something else, it won’t wreath you in a magical shell that hides the protruding bits of your new anatomy. You’ll need to keep the hood down to hide the horns, but at your current level of ability, it shouldn’t be too hard to use an illusion spell.’
“Okay… how do I do it though? I’m not exactly the grand spell master right now ya know.”
‘Even with your ability as it is, as a demon, you have a more natural affinity with magic, so you shouldn’t have to worry about being sucked into the power this time like you were last time. But anyway, it’s not hard. Just reach into that power of yours a little bit, imagine yourself as you used to look, and force your power into that image. It’s not difficult, however, I suggest that-’
“Done.”
There was a moment of silence in the forest between the two of them, Zamil stuck for words at what it was he just heard.
‘What?’
“I said I’m done. You weren’t joking when you said I had a natural affinity with magic, that shit was easy. I did as you said and focused my face in my head, then I sorta felt my power and just… pushed. It didn’t take much either. I think I may have altered the entirety of my body though, not just the face. That isn’t going to be a problem is it?”
For another few minutes, the only noises that could be heard where the sounds of the forest critters and windy like elements.
‘…I… see… uh… well…Good! Body and all? Not bad… though next time, I suggest you let me finish talking before trying that again.’
“Okay! Sorry, don’t get so pissy about it. Anyway… I guess we’re good to go?”
‘Yeah, your good, just be careful. The spell will only work so long as someone doesn’t touch you, and in even worse cases, we run into someone who has a high level of magical control. Anybody with a high enough education in magic will see right through it like a veil, so try to stay out of really populated areas if you can.’
Kyle nodded his head before he rolled his shoulders a bit and made his way back into the forest, the road’s direction still pretty vivid in his mind as he did. As he made his way through the flora, Kyle made note to try to observe the forest around him, and started to make a mental checklist of some of the things he saw.
“So… Zamil-”
‘That’s Lord Zamil to you Kid.’
“…Fine. Lord Zamil… I was looking around, and I just now noticed that a lot of the trees from earth match up with some of the ones I see here. It also looks to have a single sun in the sky, the sky is blue, and the air seems breathable to me. I’m guessing that Humans look, act, and work the same way here as they did on my home planet?... or dimension in this case I guess.”
‘Kid, are your memories still fucked up? I know I explained this to you before we even cast the spell.’
“I just have a bad memory okay!”
‘Christ… Yes, you humans are pretty much the same here as they were on Earth. Tengoku just happens to be magical and stuck in the dark ages of technological and Diplomatic affairs. Or it was the last time I was here, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the middle of an industrial revolution right now.’
“Huh… cool. But I won’t get my hopes up, that village looked pretty low tech.”
‘Also, something I noticed kid, your gonna need to quite talking to me out loud. It’s alright for now cause nobody save for those bandits/Hobos where around, but do that in town and someone might call possession or insanity. That won’t end well for you or me.’
“Well how the fuck am I supposed to talk to you then?”
Something sounding like a sigh came from his hip, the Blade on his side oddly making some noise. He found that perhaps a little odd, but not unusual based on the stuff he was expecting to come in the near future.
‘Have you even tried to talk to me mentally?’
“…Huh… No. Can’t say I have.”
‘Go ahead and try. It’s not that hard really. We don’t need the future complications that’ll come from this if you keep doing it.’
Kyle thought about it for a moment as he kept on. Zamil was right. Talking to himself wasn’t necessarily seen as the greatest thing ever regardless of the age one happened to find themselves in.
“Alright then.”
Without another word, Kyle took a breath before he started to try talking to the overlord in the blade next to him via Psychic powers.
‘Hello. This is Kyle speaking. Is this working? Am I getting through? Do you hear my thoughts? Can you read the thoughts I’m trying to project to you? Not the ones I don’t want you to see like the time I started to-‘
‘Coming through nice and clear Kid so stop thinking right now before I see something I would rather not.’
‘Ah… good. I guess I’ll need to be careful then cause I feel like my mind might start to wander if I don’t try to concentrate and then things from my past might start popping up like that one time when I sat in class and I accidently-’
‘STOP.THINKING. RIGHT NOW.’
“Okay… sorry. But does that mean you can read my thoughts while we’re connected?”
‘Sometimes. Not all the time, but when you’re just talking, you don’t put much thought into it. Otherwise, I can mostly read your emotions. Anyway, enough talking, more walking. We got places to be and things to do and I want them done quickly.’
Kyle simply nodded his head in confirmation, he himself also wanting to get out and about to discover what he could about this Tengoku place he now called his temporary home. After a few more minutes of making his way through the woods, Kyle eventually found the road he was looking for. Thankfully, it still looked to be midday, so he wasn’t very worried about not making it to the village before nightfall. His only problem was the road itself. After getting himself on it, Kyle looked to his left, and then to his right.
“Okay… which way do I go?”
As far as he could see, there was no discernable landmarks he could use to tell which way was to the village. The woods around him also made it hard for him to see where the village was originally. For a moment, he tried to see if there was anything in the sky he might use to figure out where he might need to go next. Sadly, no such luck was with him today as the sky was clear as could be. He then turned his attention to the road itself in hopes of finding something there that might give him a little more direction. However, that was equally useless in that the road was well traveled and compact enough so that tracks and the like weren’t easily spotted.
‘You having some problem Kid?’
“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out which way to go here. I don’t want to waste time by going in one direction and then have to turn around to get back the right way. I have no idea how much time it’ll take even if we take the right way, and wasting time by going the incorrect path is such a pain.”
‘Well that’s easy enough to solve. Just sit by the way side and wait for someone to walk by.’
“How is that going to help us? If they go the other direction, then I’m screwed regardless.”
‘Ya ask em for directions you dipshit. Not that hard to do.’
“Oh… I don’t think people will really answer my question cause I asked em. I mean, some random dude comes up and asks ‘which way to the closest village?’ and they’ll probably be all like ‘how the fuck do you not know this?’”
‘It’s not uncommon for people from other lands to not know where they are going, even on a road. Relax and just do it. By the by, I hear a cart coming. From your right mind you.’
Kyle perked his ears up and listened in on the sounds around him, the crunching of dirt and the rolling of wheels telling him that Zamil was in fact right. Deciding that it was simply best to do as he said, Kyle moved off to the side of the road, not enough to be in the woods, but enough to be out of the way. After a minute or two, a large wagon came into view, However, Kyle had to do a double take when he saw what it was that was pulling it exactly. A massive black boar about the size of a small truck and tusks that would make an elephant look down in shame. It looked menacing and evil in appearance, Almost so much that Kyle nearly decided to run for his life when he saw the thing. However, before he could, he spotted someone sitting on top of the boars back looking content as could be, as if that was the most natural thing to do when with such a beast.
Unsure of what to think or do when faced with such a situation, Kyle simply watched for a moment as the cart continued along it’s merry way, and not until it was close enough that he could hear the monster boars breathing that he thought about what it was he needed to do in this situation.
‘Kid, get your head in the game already. Focus is key right now, and you sure don’t seem to be doing a lot of it at the moment.’
‘I got it! Geez! Shut up!’
Taking in a deep breath, Kyle walked out a little bit and waved at the person sitting on top of the Boar while smiling.
“Excuse me!”
The individual looked down from his perch, curiosity in his eyes, but a hint of wariness in them as well. Upon further inspection, Kyle was able to see that this person looked to be a young boy, maybe 10 or so years of age with sun touched skin, short spiky rust colored hair and emerald green eyes. The young boy cocked his head to the side for a moment in contemplation before he pulled on the reigns, the demon boar getting the picture and coming to a stop. The young boy then looked down at Kyle from his perch and spoke up.
“Yeah? Whatch need stranger?”
“Sorry for interrupting your journey, but could you perhaps give me directions to the closest village? I’m afraid I’m lost you see… I’m not native to the area, so I got sorta turned around.”
“Huh… you are? Then I’d have to ask where in the world you came from considering there’s only one road that goes between Haval and Durnim. However, it’s not really my means to pry in your business. The closest Village is the one I’m currently heading to. Haval is its name, it’s a go between mostly for travelers to stop and rest in case you were wondering.”
Kyle bowed his head in thanks.
“Thank you! Sorry for interrupting your journey. Have a Nice day!”
Kyle then turned in the direction the cart was facing and started walking. However, before he could go another 5 steps, the sound of the lad behind him stopped him.
“Oi, you’re not fixing to walk there are ya?”
Kyle turned around, puzzled and not sure where this line of questioning would be going.
“Uh… Since my feet are my only means of transportation, I would suppose that walking would be the best way to get there. That or running, but I don’t feel like doing that.”
The young boy simply looked at Kyle as if he had two heads before he shook his own in exasperation.
“Then you must really not be from around here then. It’ll take you more than 4 hours on foot to get there. And that’s not counting any bandits who come along or the stray Mamono who’d strip ya and ride ya on the road like a bitch in heat.”
“Uh… Mamono?”
“Monsters ya dolt! Well… granted your talking to a dwarf, so you might think otherwise about the Mamono thing, but it’s cause I’m a dwarf that I’m safe to talk to, find any Gals out there and your ass would be toast.”
“Huh… I see then…”
The young man looked cross and shook his head before he let out a sigh.
“I don’t think you’re really getting what I’m saying here bud. Tell ya what, I know we just met, but how about you hop on my cart and I’ll take you the rest of the way to Haval. It’ll be shorter, and the safety factor goes up. Despite ma current appearance, I’m pretty good in scraps, and that’s not counting the windmill that’s my wife. Trust me, you’ll be a lot safer in my cart then out by yourself.”
Kyle blinked a few times in thought at the prospect laid out to him. It was true that traveling by himself wasn’t the best of ideas right now, and the fact that he could get where he needed to be faster was tempting. He was also sure he could get more information out of this guy. Though he was still shocked at the fact that the person before him was a Dwarf. He was used to the stereotype of a dwarf, short, hairy, tough looking, and underground. This kid didn’t seem to fit the bill save for the short part. Even more surprising was the fact that the guy was married. However, that was a pretty moot point when he was being offered a free ride. Thinking it over for a second longer, Kyle nodded his head.
“Sure! We can do that!”
“Great, Hop on up when you’re ready and we’ll get going”
Without another word Kyle moved to the back of the cart, a large thing that would make one wonder what the short dwarf was lugging around, and quickly made his way into it. What was inside made him open his eyes wide in shock. There appeared to be a furnace inside the cart along with a portable fire. It was a moving forge as far as he could tell. A traveling blacksmith, a unique trade if there ever was one. A moment later and the male dwarf stuck his head in through the flap, something akin to a serious look to his face.
“Alright stranger, I got three rules ya need to follow before we get started. Rule number 1: Don’t touch any merchandise or I’ll knock you out.”
Jerking his thumb to his side, The dwarf pointed to the smithy and the large amount of weapons and armor that where currently nestled in there comfortable niches.
“Rule Number 2. Don’t mess with Bull, cause let me tell you, he will screw you up if he doesn’t like you and not a damn thing I can do to stop him if he wants to maul ya to death… Not that he ever has, but I would prefer there not be a first time.”
Kyle could only assume that ‘Bull’ was the Boar that was pulling the carriage. He had no qualms there; no reason to go picking a fight with a massive Boar-like creature that could more than likely gore him on a single thrust.
‘Eh, you could take it.’
“Rule number three, the last and most important of the three. Don’t touch my wife, or I’ll murder you. Violently.”
Jerking his thumb over to his left this time, Kyle looked in the direction of the pointed finger and saw a young girl about the same age as the dwarf lying on a small makeshift cot of linins. She, like her husband, was short, though her hair was long, almost the full length of her body, and a muddy brown in color. He couldn’t see her eyes since she was fast asleep, but she was also somewhat dark skinned, like the sun cooked them both a little longer than necessary. She, like her husband, was dressed in some rugged looking clothes, though the male dwarf didn’t bother to wear a shirt and instead wore some patchwork baggy pants. The Girl wore patchwork tight pants and shirt, though Kyle could see that there might have been more that went with the outfit. Kyle turned his attention back to the male Dwarf and nodded his head.
“Understood. I’ll make sure to follow them to the letter.”
“Great! We’ll get along well then! The Names Barrus by the way, a traveling smith along with my lovely wife Ralina.”
“My Name is Kyle Demonia. Wayfarer of life and seeker of thrills.”
“Ha! Funny title ya got there, but I can get a sense of ya now that ya told me. Anyway, sit tight and try to make yourself cozy, the ride’ll take another 2 or so hours if we don’t run into any troubles.”
With that said, Barrus nodded his head at Kyle and made his way back up the massive boar and took up the reigns again. Kyle for his part, found a seat closest to the front flap of the cart and sat there, his only means of information being the dwarf sitting on top of the boar. However, before he could initiate conversation, the lurching of the cart caught him off guard and he rolled back into a pile of rags and clothing.
“Ow… a little more warning would have been appreciated…” He muttered under his breath.
‘Suck it up ya baby. Good job getting a cart by the way, this’ll make the journey a little smoother. It’ll also give us some time to go over our current info and to see what else we can learn from the Dwarf.’
‘And what info is that that we have right now?’
‘Two things. One, it seems to me as if the dwarves are being treated as Monsters, or something similar to it.’
‘How is that useful?’
‘It tells us that with the time I’ve been gone, Humans have started to take over or something similar and are treating all non-human races as monsters. Thing 2, the thing he said about monsters in general. Or Mamono as he called them.’
‘I’ll ask my previous question. How is that useful?’
‘*sigh* Monsters are not being called monsters, why is that? He said Mamono and he mentioned something about you getting ridden like a bitch in heat if you ran into one. It’s confusing, but things seem to be different from what I’m used to. It’s all info we need, and I’m sure it’ll all start clicking into place the more we find out, so get to finding out more shit!’
“Alright already… geez…”
Letting out a small sigh, Kyle put his hands in the linens to push himself back to a sitting position. However, where he was expecting the soft feeling of clothing helping him to assist his upright positioning, Kyle felt instead the soft conforming feeling of something else giving way to his hand.
“What?”
Turning around, Kyle got on his knees and pulled some of the clothes away. Inside of the cocoon of warm clothing was a person. A sleeping person for that fact. From what he could see, it was a small young girl, looking to be maybe 12 or 13 years old. She had long blonde hair that she had tied into a ponytail that he couldn’t see the length of due to the fact that it was hidden under the linens, though Kyle was sure he wouldn’t have seen it past the nun habit she wore on her head if it hadn’t fallen off and showed off her adorable little head. Other than her head though, Kyle couldn’t see much else save for her neck and collarbone along with the girls hands, which where clutched cutely in front of her face around said habit.
“Who the heck is this?”
‘Don’t know don’t care, either rape her or get back to gathering info.’
‘Your first thing to tell me is to rape this poor girl? What the fuck is wrong with you?’
‘I said either rape her or get back to gathering info. Both of which you are doing neither of. And don’t you act like you wouldn’t do it. I’ve seen your Loli porn. And in the middle ages, having sex with younger girls and boys wasn’t uncommon. Hell, in my day, this kid would be considered middle aged.’
“Know what? Not even important right now… I’ll keep it in mind though. The question remains, who the hell is this?”
Not getting an answer out of the sleeping girl, Kyle decided that it would be best to alert Barrus to the change in situation. Crawling back to the front of the carriage, the risk of tumbling again forcing him to forego standing up, Kyle made his way to the flap and pulled it to the side. Sitting atop the massive Boar was Barrus, humming a little tune to himself as the road around him continued on with each clack of the hoof. However, the sound of Kyle clearing his throat caught the dwarfs attention and forced him to turn his head around.
“Eh? Wassup?”
“Um… sorry… I don’t mean to bug you or anything Mr. Barrus… but I thought that I might let you know that besides your wife and stuff… there happens to be a young girl on the carriage as well. Not sure what that’s all about, but she might be a stowaway.”
“Eh? Young girl? … Oh! That’s right! That kid! I forgot about the munchkin… Yeah, don’t worry about her. She’s just a traveler like yourself who Ralina picked up when she found her in the last town begging for donations. I said we shouldn’t bother since she happens to be affiliated with the Order, but ma wife wouldn’t take no for an answer. The smart man does as he’s told after all. So yeah, unless she starts chanting light magic at ya or tries ta preach at ya about the chief god or sumthin, she’s fine. Haven’t had a problem with her yet. Bit lacking in the common sense department though.”
Kyle nodded his head in understanding before he sat back down in his original spot.
“Alright Mr. Barrus, Thanks for telling me…”
For a few minutes, Kyle didn’t say anything, the cart bouncing on occasion as the wheels rolled over long dug out ruts in the road of hundreds of previous carts. However, though he could stay silent for a long time, his mind would not.
‘Hey. Zamil.’
‘Lord Zamil dammit. I’mma have to repeat that a lot aren’t I?’
‘Sorry… Anyway, what the heck is the Order?’
‘How the fuck am I supposed to know that? I know about as much as you do when it comes to the current situation of Tengoku ya dipshit. However… I will say that the Order does seem to ring a bell right now… Not to say it’s the same one or anything, but back in my day before I got sealed up some 2000+ years ago, there was this one group that had been starting out that followed Abmeal, a very high level divinity. Granted, back in my day, gods and demons where still trying to get a foothold of power against each other, so power shifts where happening all the time. New Cults popped up like wildfire every other week and a new religion would grow and die out just as quickly. If it’s the same Order, then it might be the same one… or at least has a history there somewhere. It might be different after so long… if time follows the same way here as it did on earth that is. I would suggest asking the dwarf for more if ya need more info. He seems the chatty type. I would suggest you try to be tactful when you ask your questions though, we still have no idea of how things work here right now.’
‘I got it… geez, even I’m not that stupid.’
Sighing lightly to himself, Kyle leaned back and looked out the front flap of the carriage.
“So… Mr. Barrus… You’re not worried about the girl trying to pull something?”
“Huh? No, not really… despite the talks about the church and all that, she’s been a rather sweet kid. No reason to worry, though I would worry about her since she doesn’t seem to know much about the world. You must not trust Order types though if you’re asking that eh? Does that mean you come from a place outside of Order control?”
“Uh… sorta… I mean, we have a church dedicated to a God, he just doesn’t mention much about Uh… mamono in general. Just love thy neighbor, don’t do bad things, and a bunch of other things I don’t really remember.”
‘You are so educated in theology.’
‘Fuck off. A demon doesn’t get to lecture me on the Bible.’
“Ha! What a lenient God! You must be from either far north or west if you’re talking like that. I can guess you don’t know much about us in the midlands do you?”
“Um… sadly, no. I can’t say I’m very… uh… knowledgeable about the way of the world. I lived in a very secluded place far west for most of my life, so things like the order or Mamono are actually pretty new to me…”
For a moment, there was silence. However, a few moments later and Barrus let out a big hearty laugh, the sounds of him hitting his side in amusement resounding out in the cart.
“Ha ha! So you’re some kind of sheltered Brat? Didn’t think something like that was possible in this day and age! Ha ha!”
Kyle smiled a little to himself sheepishly. More like he knew nothing about the world as it currently was, not having been a resident of it for more than a few hours now.
“Yeah… pretty much…”
Barrus laughed again before he turned his head to look over his shoulder.
“I take it you’re going to want to know everything there is to know about the midlands then eh? Alright, I got it. Since I’m probably the first person you’ve met who’s willing to listen to ya. Ask what ya wanna know, I’ll answer as much as I can.”
Kyle silently did a fist pump, the feeling of getting free info setting off a chain reaction of questions he wanted to ask in his mind while Zamil shared the same kind of elation.
“Great! Um… sorry, I’ve just been looking to get info for a while now… so yeah… kinda not sure how to proceed from here…”
“That’s alright. If you don’t know anything in particular to ask, I’ll go ahead and give ya a little run down of current events and things that might be useful. So far, the Midlands, which we are traveling in, are pretty much a go between zone for anybody looking to get to either the Order controlled lands or the lands under the rule of the Maou. Right now, we’re sorta at an uneasy peace with the Order, but nobody expects them to keep quiet for long. Assassination attempts are almost a monthly thing when it comes to our Lady Lilith. Nobody ends up dying though, and Mamono get some husbands in the process.”
“I see… the current Maou is Lilith? Who was the previous Maou then?”
“Dunno, that was before my time. But why do we care about the previous ruler of Monsters? Lady Lilith makes this place much better. If ya really wanted to know that, you could ask some older Mamono, but I’m not sure if you could find any that long lived. Other than asking the Maou herself or her daughters, it might just be considered ancient history.”
“I see…”
‘Hey, does the name Lilith ring any bells to you?’
‘No, the one who seemed to be the runner up after me was a guy from the Clan of Abaddon, Sugrin I think, if he was still alive after I got sealed, he may have taken over. No way to know that though.’
“So… this Lilith… what kind of demon is she?”
For a moment, there was some silence, but Kyle felt something akin to a cold glare being directed at him from Barrus oddly enough.
“Hey… Listen stranger… I know you’re probably not used to being in the presence of those like myself, but… we have a certain amount of respect for our Lady Maou, and Demon isn’t a very kindly thing to say about her… She’s more of a Succubus, and I know that the orderlits will tell ya that being a succubus means vile soul corruption and all that Hogshit, but… You really don’t know much better, but I ask ya don’t go around insulting the Good Lady in the presence of Mamono.”
“Oh… uh… I apologize… I hadn’t meant any disrespect or anything…”
For a moment, Kyle was at a loss for words, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the situation he had caused with his remark. However, Barrus dropped the cold glare and simply let out a sigh.
“It’s alright… I shouldn’t get angry at ya for such a small thing really, but I tend to hear it more often than not in my travels. Many have yet to meet the Lady Lilith, myself included, but ya can’t say something about somebody ya never met before. It’s silly really.”
“I know what ya mean. Can’t judge a book by its cover right?”
Barrus blinked in some mild interest before he huffed in amusement.
“That’s a good way to put it. Yeah, can’t judge a book by its cover… Anyway, I’m sure ya have a few more questions for me regarding the midlands and all that. Ask away.”
Kyle nodded at the Dwarf and continued his questions.
“Alright… So… the Order itself. I’ve heard of them, but rarely have I met them.”
“Really? There almost all over the place really, almost like Large Mice to be truthful. Damn pesky, but the only difference is that a Large mouse can be chased out. The order fights back. They harass Mamono and Mamono sympathizers alike, even outright killed. However, the killing is very far and few between, but it does happen.”
“They religious?”
“Aye, mass of Zealots to be honest. Or the ones I’ve seen have been. They worship the Chief God… or goddess in this case; and preach that all monsters are evil and steal the souls of men and corrupt woman… not all wrong, but they don’t kill people like they claim nor steal souls. In truth, it makes me somewhat happy to meet someone who isn’t spouting such nonsense. Even the Young lass hasn’t irritated me in such a manner, and I find that odd since she’s part of the order.”
“I see, I see…”
“Sorry, I sound like I’m rambling. All I really know of the Order is what I’ve heard and what I personally have seen of them. Other than that, you’ll need to ask them personally… not something I would recommend if you don’t want a sermon.”
“Alright then. Thank you Barrus, this is proving very helpful… but enough about all that. You’ve traveled a lot, have you heard anything of note recently?”
Barrus hummed for a moment before he shook his head in response.
“Nothing much really. The Order has been lax of late, but I told you that. The Maou though is pretty busy recently. She announced across her territories recently that she’s planning a festival in the Capitol, but that’s not for a few months. It’s said to be a big spectacle for all to enjoy. After that? Nothing. Unless you’re interested in hearing about random tidbits about other villages.”
“No, I think I’m good here. Oher then just natural geography and some history, I think I’ve got what I need for the time being. Other than that, can you tell me a little about the village we’re heading to? Haval you called it.”
“Yeah. Like I said, it’s more a go between for people going to either Durnim, the merchant city, or to Kelginki, the port town. It’s not Order controlled and its Monster friendly, so it should be a good place to find what it is you need.”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement. So far, he had all the info he needed for the next town thankfully, and the info he managed to get from Barrus was more than he had been hoping for, if not somewhat biased. But any info was good info right now. After that, Kyle felt a yawn work itself from his body and he let out a large sigh.
“Well Barrus… thanks for the info. I hate to leave you by yourself, but I’m feeling sorta tired right now, hope you don’t mind my taking a nap do you?”
“Naw. Go right ahead stranger. If you don’t wake up before we get there, I’ll get ya up. If my wife wakes up before you do and we still aren’t there… well, prepare to be woken rudely. That’s ma only warning.”
Kyle grinned to himself at the statement and leaned back into the coziest thing he could find, that something being a small pile of leather. It was comfortable enough for his own needs, and he felt tired enough for it to be nice and cozy. After that, the last thing Kyle thought before the drowsiness took him was of the gently rolling wheels and the wind rustling in the trees outside the cart.
Spoiler: show
Chapter 2: Extra baggage.
--
‘Oi. Kid.’
Kyle only twitched at the sudden sound in his mind, the feeling of sleep being far stronger than anything else right now.
‘Kid. Wake up. I’m being serious here.’
Despite the persistence of the voice in his mind, Kyle did no such thing, though he did feel slightly more wakeful at the moment then he did a second ago. It also felt like something was wrong with his face at the moment.
‘Kid, wake the fuck up already. You got an issue right now.’
‘Noooooooooooooo… I don’t wanna… let me sleep…’
After trying to get his mental message across, Kyle suddenly felt as if he just said the wrong thing. Not only that, but that feeling on his face was persisting.
‘… WAKE YOUR BITCH ASS UP RIGHT NOW OR BY THE HELLFIRE BELOW I’LL SCREAM HORRORS INTO YOUR MIND FROM HERE TO THE END OF TIME!!!’
With the vicious yelling of what was now a very pissed off Overlord, Kyle’s eyes shot wide open and his mind quickly tried to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t asleep anymore. It took him a moment, but Kyle was awake enough now to think coherently. A second later and Kyle felt that soft feeling on his face again, more specifically, a pointed feeling on his cheek. Looking to his side, the half-demon spawn found himself looking at something he hadn’t been expecting.
Bent down next to him, her knees drawn up to her chin and her head cocked to the side in curiosity, was the Nun girl he had found sleeping in the linins earlier. Now that he got a better look at her, she was pretty cute awake as well, and her eyes where a strange golden color. Something he didn’t think was too common where he came from, but at the same time, he wasn’t in his own world at the moment, so it was a moot point to be making. Also, she had not put her habit back on yet, so he could finally get a better look at her hair. He could now see that if this girl was standing, her hair would have gone to her waist. Not only that, but she seemed to have it tied into a side ponytail oddly enough. However, that wasn’t his main concern since her hair didn’t seem to be doing anything to him at the moment.
Kyle glanced to the side, more specifically, to where he was currently feeling something poking into his face. Oddly enough, the Nun child before him was the reason for that. She currently had her index digit poking into his cheek, the feeling causing his mouth to deform a bit with each finger related assault on his soft cheeks. For a moment, he let her keep doing this, not sure as to how to react in this situation. However, Zamil quickly made that decision for him.
‘Kid what the fuck are you doing?! Stop her, I can’t keep her from breaking the illusion much longer!’
Blinking a little to himself in surprise at the sudden seriousness of the situation, Kyle pulled his face away from her pointing finger, something the girl was quick to notice and put on a cute pouting expression. Kyle felt his heart melt at the scene. However, the fact she was even touching him in the first place despite the two not even knowing each other made him push that feeling back for a moment.
“Um… Hi there?”
The girl stopped pouting and cocked her head to the side in some curiosity before she smiled at him.
“Hello Mr. Stranger.”
For a moment, there was nothing else said. However, Kyle felt that she maybe should have said something else after that, maybe to explain why she was touching his face in the first place. However, a few seconds passed by, and she had yet to say anything to him, her smile the only form of communication she was currently showing. A second later and Kyle took it on himself to start up the conversation.
“Hello to you too Little Nun… Sorry, don’t think we’ve been introduced. The Name is Kyle. Kyle Demonia. Traveler by trade.”
The girl nodded her head in affirmation before she finally sat down on the ground, her long nun clothing allowing for a comfortable seat for her.
“Hello Mr. Kyle. My name is Celti. I’m a Bishop-in-training.”
“Huh… Bishop?”
Before he could get an answer to his question, Kyle heard the sound of a familiar voice off to his side.
“Oh Hey! You’re awake Stranger!”
Looking over, Kyle could see that Barrus was still in the place he was last sitting, Right on top of that monster Bull of his. However, there appeared to be a new addition right there with him. Sitting on Barrus’s lap was the Dwarf girl he saw earlier, the gal leaning back into his chest while looking past his side and directly into the cart directly at both Kyle and Celti.
Kyle nodded his head in greeting and waved at the dwarf pair.
“Hey Barrus. How long was I out for?”
“Not for very long. You’ve only been asleep for about an hour and a half now? But thanks to that, we’re almost there, so you missed most of the boring parts of the trip. But enough about that. Kyle, I believe I mentioned my lovely wife to you when you were awake, sadly, she wasn’t at the time, so you never got the chance of a proper greeting.”
The dwarf girl waved at him before she cracked a large smile.
“Hi there. Names Ralina! Master Smith and traveling gourmet. My husband’s been talking about ya for a bit since I woke up. Nice to meet ya Mr. Kyle.”
Kyle smiled as well before Bowing his head in response.
“The feeling is mutual Ms. Ralina.”
“Aw, now don’t start with that ‘Miss’ junk. I start to feel old when someone calls me that. and trust me, does this look old to you?”
Jerking her thumb in her direction, Kyle could only cock his eye upward in amusement. However, Barrus made it even better with his next statement.
“Sure, you don’t look it, but you’ve been around the block more than one- HURK!”
Before he could continue, an elbow from the woman in his lap quickly put an end to the no doubt incriminating statement. Kyle chuckled to himself as Barrus made an attempt to apologize with his gestures and Ralina simply humphed at him. However, the three where brought back to the other person in the carriage with them.
“He he… You two are so funny. I guess it comes from being married for so long.”
Kyle turned his head back to Celti, the girl smiling as she continued to look on at the two dwarves. Kyle smiled to himself at her before he sat himself up a little straighter. The motion itself suddenly left him with a tingling in his back, and he quickly came to realize what that bit was all about.
“Owowowowowowowowow… I forgot that sleeping sitting down gives me issues…”
Trying to get blood flow back into his lower body, Kyle simply sat straight up and moved about a little bit. However as he was doing so, the young girl had decided to poke him in the cheek yet again, an action that shocked him a little bit as he tried to pull back from her finger.
“Hey! Why are you doing that?”
“Cause something about you feels funny… both when I touch you and when I see you… Like something about you doesn’t seem quite right…”
Kyle felt his body freeze up for a moment, The thought of if he had let himself slip up running through his mind playing itself over and over again, before Zamil spoke up to him.
‘You never once slipped up Kid. I was making sure your illusion stayed put while you were asleep. However, when the kid started to poke into your face, I had to double my efforts. It didn’t help that she was pushing holy energy into her hand while she did it. I would suggest you be careful around this little girl. She doesn’t seem very smart, But I can feel she has a lot of potential as a magic user. Her Usage of Holy energy worries me as well.’
‘Holy Energy?’
‘Think like sacred light or something. It hurts the hell out of demons and easily disrupts other magic’s. Even back in my day, it was a rare power to have. I would say to ditch her, but I think her budding skill in magic has given her a hint to your true identity. Thank hell she’s a kid else she might have tried a more forceful approach. But let this be a lesson to you, be double cautious from now on.’
Kyle nodded his head in agreement. If he had turned into that demonic shape while sleeping, old Barrus might have tried to cave his head in out of fear of what Kyle would have done. Kyle felt a small shiver run up his spine at the gruesome prospects that could have unfolded.
“Whatcha shaking for?”
Kyle turned his attention back to the reason he started to shiver in the first place.
“Nothing important. By the way… when you said I felt ‘funny’ what did you mean by that?”
Celti simply cocked her head to the side while she thought about it. A few seconds later, and her reply consisted of a shoulder shrug and an obscure reply.
“Not sure. What’s funny is funny I guess.”
Unsure of how to best answer that, Kyle shrugged his shoulders in turn.
“Alright then. However, I ask that you not carelessly touch me in the future though... I’m not very comfortable with people I don’t know just up and touching me for no reason…”
On that, Kyle could only speak his own inner truth. He had something of a pet peeve about physical contact in general. It wasn’t something born out of anti-social behavior or suspicion, Kyle simply didn’t feel comfortable enough to let a stranger come into contact with him. That should be something shared with good friends in his opinion. Celti, for a moment, simply cocked her head in some confusion before she nodded her head.
“I’m not really sure I get it, but you’ll only let me touch you if we’re closer right? Okay, I can do that.”
Unsure of what conclusion the young blonde had come to, Kyle simply decided it best to not try to think too hard on it. He then brought his attention back to the front of the carriage, where he saw that both Barrus and Ralina where staring at the both of them with some mild interest.
“What?” was about the only thing that Kyle could get out given the situation.
“Nothing.” The both of them said in turn.
With that, the two dwarves turned their attention back to driving the cart, the show now being over between the younger generation on board. Unable to think of anything to say in the current situation, Kyle simply leaned back into the wall to try to straighten his back out and work the numbness out. Other than that, the only other noise that could be heard was the crunching of wooden wheels on gravel. After a few more minutes of the silence, Celti broke it with a sigh.
“*Sigh* How much longer until we get there? You told me it wouldn’t be much longer Mr. Dwarf.”
The Dwarf looked over his shoulder with a grin on his face.
“Not too much longer. You’ll be seeing Havals Gate here in a bit. Hold on for a bit longer and we’ll be in good straits.”
Placated by those words for a moment, Celti lay down on the floorboards of the carriage, her attention still on Kyle as he let out a small sigh. Despite the wait time, Kyle didn’t feel as if he needed to hurry very much, and by thinking that, he found himself trying to find something interesting to look at. It wasn’t until he brought his attention to Celti that he found it. Unlike what he would normally expect from a Nun outfit, the skirt was short, to the point of being a mini-skirt. The robe that normally went around her body was tight fitting and sleeveless.
‘Almost like Bridget’s outfit, only his was blue and white. This one is gold and white.’
‘Gah! Are you reading my mind?’
‘Oh yeah. You’re also not making it very hard to do so with the way your mind is wandering’
‘Stop it!’
‘Relax kid, who am I going to tell about your Loli fantasies? The next trapped overlord?’
Letting out a sigh, Kyle could only roll his eyes at the truth in that statement. However, despite the secrecy that came with it, it didn’t make him feel much better about it. He couldn’t deny his libido after all.
“Hey Kyle. Come take a look. You can see Haval’s gate already.”
Pushing his thoughts to the back for the time being, Kyle made his way to the front of the carriage. Unexpectedly, the younger girl also came up next to him and tried to peer past his arm to get a better look. Deciding it would be better for her not to touch him at the moment, Kyle moved in compliance. After that, he got back to his original objective. Up the road stood a large wooden gate, standing at about 15 or so feet in the air. Despite the fact that it was made of wood, Kyle had to admit that it looked both well made, and very sturdy. However, as they got closer, it was the two individuals that where guarding said gate that caught his attention. On the left was what one would expect of guards. Decked out in light armor, weapon on the side and constantly looking vigilant. However, the guard’s counterpart, though sharing all of these traits, was vastly different in her physical appearance from her companion. Both though female, one was a human and the other was, for lack of a better term, a lizard woman. As they got closer, Kyle had to alter up his statement a little bit. More like it was a woman that shared lizard-like characteristics. She had inhuman arms and legs, covered in earthy brown scales with her fingers and toes looking more like claws. She had a long tail, thin mostly, but looking rather prehensile from the way it would move about and curl around her leg. Where her ears should be, instead where what looked like fins of sorts, like the kind found on mermaids. Kyle blinked in some confusion for a moment before Barrus interrupted him.
“First time seeing a mamono?”
“Uh… Not exactly…but I can say that I am surprised to see someone who looks… well, sexy and dangerous at the same time.”
Barrus ended up chuckling to himself at that remark.
“Ha! Aptly put! However, Mamono all are naturally beautiful, they also retain the powers of their ancestors, so most are still as strong as the generation of the previous Maou… they just prefer not to use brute strength anymore. So don’t worry about being attacked physically… sexually… well, that’s up to fate.”
Barrus chuckled to himself, some fact that Kyle was missing very apparent on the Dwarfs face.
“Honey, could you get the trading papers? We’ll need to present em to the guard.”
Ralina puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, the act of getting out of her current spot not the most exciting thing she wanted to do right now. However, she complied with her husband’s demand and got herself up. With deft feet, the dwarf woman hopped off Bulls back before she nailed her landing on the edge of the cart where Kyle and Celti where sitting before she bounded once again over their heads and into the cart, the soft landing followed by the sound of searching telling them she had landed safely.
Kyle felt his face turn upward into an impressed image. He hadn’t been expecting something like that, but it was still awesome regardless. As he turned his attention back to the front of the Cart, Kyle was quick to notice that Celti was staring at the gate ahead of them nervously. She seemed to fidget as she sat, and her eyes would dart quickly between the two guards while her hands would fiddle with a small silver cross around her neck. Kyle cocked his head to the side in some confusion before he spoke up.
“Hey… You okay?”
“Huh? Uh… yes, I’m alright… I’ve just… well… never met a Mamono before is all… I’m… not sure how to react right now is all…”
Kyle looked down at her for a moment before he smiled at her and chuckled.
“He he… Cute. All I can say in such a situation is take it in stride. You’re not sure what to do? Then wait for something to happen. You can’t do anything now, so why worry about it? Let it be and learn all you can from new experiences… My Father used to tell me that all the time.”
Celti looked over to Kyle, the words he spoke sounding rather sage and important. Kyle was left with the feeling that he may have made something of an impact on the young girl.
‘Sound words, but at the same time, this is a pretty unusual situation so I’m not sure how much they might help you here.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well… I can’t say for certain… Just keep your eyes open for now and try to keep gathering info.’
‘Got it.’
Kyle nodded his head in affirmation to Zamil’s order before he gave Celti another reassuring smile. The young girl blinked in some small awe before she smiled back at him. Kyle then turned his attention back to the front of the carriage, and saw that Barrus was smiling smugly as he looked at the both of them.
“What?” Was all Kyle could say in the face of such an annoying expression.
“Oh nothing…”
He then turned his attention back to the road, the gate having gotten closer since the last time he saw it.
After that, Ralina quickly made her way back to the comfortable spot in her husband’s lap, a roll of paper in her hand as she got settled back in. After that, the rest of the trip was short, less than 10 minutes of riding. As they got to the gate, Kyle noted that the guards seemed to be eyeing him in particular, especially the Lizard woman. Not sure what to think of it, he simply kept his eyes forward until they came to a stop. The woman on the left, a rather plain looking gal with short chestnut brown hair, came forward.
“Please state your business.”
“The names Barrus, traveling smith and on my way to deliver a shipment of demon realm weapons to the Guard captain of Haval. Here’s the invitation into the city itself.”
Barrus took the roll of paper from Ralinas hand and gave it to the guard woman. After a moment of inspection, the woman nodded her head once before she gave it back.
“It looks in order… However, I have to ask, are the two in the cart part of your entourage?”
Barrus looked back at Kyle and Celti before he gave the woman a small smile.
“Sadly not. They both happen to be travelers I picked up when they looked pretty lost. I can say that they are both decent however, so I wouldn’t worry about them causing a ruckus.”
“I’ll hold you to those words then. Don’t cause problems here and you’ll get along in town just fine.”
Both Kyle and Celti nodded in understanding, neither one wanting to cause any such problems intentionally. After that, the two guards moved to the side and allowed Barrus to make his way into the city. However, Kyle overheard the two guards talking as they were passed the gate.
“Did you see that Stud? He looked unclaimed to me! And not bad looking either!”
“I don’t care if he’s unclaimed. He would have to be a strong warrior before I even considered it. Stop thinking with your lower half.”
“You’re the Mamono! That should be a natural thing for you!”
Before the conversation could get any further along, the Cart made its way past the stone walls, and the sound of the guards voices died at the stone. Turning back around, Kyle noticed Barrus and Ralina’s smiling faces.
“You best be careful stranger.”
“Yeah. Most Mamono around here wouldn’t give a second thought to trying to get you in one of the back ally’s and having her way with you… of course, that’s what the guard is for, to stop such things most of the time… course, it also depends on the guard itself.”
Unsure of how to take that Info, Kyle simply stared on curiously at the two before they finally came to a stop. Ralina was the first one up and off, and when Kyle and Celti looked out the carriage, they saw that there were a few guards and several carriages of their own ahead of them. Barrus looked back at the both of them and jerked his thumb off to the side.
“Alright you two. Rides over. It was nice meeting the both of ya, but from here on, you’re on your own. Stay safe I say. My wife and I will be in town for the next few days if ya wanna talk to us, but after that, we’ll be making our way further east. If ya need a ride over, I’ll be happy to let you come with us.”
Kyle nodded his head in understanding before he gave Barrus a small bow.
“Thank you for your kindness Barrus. If I need help, I’ll know who to look for. I’m not sure if my business will conclude in that short of time, but I’ll see if I can find you when the time comes. Until then, take care of yourself along with your wife.”
With one final wave, Kyle then made his way past the cart along with the guards who were getting ready to transport the necessary arms and armaments. After that, he continued into the city proper, and actually had to stop for a second. It had never truly hit him that he had been dropped into another world until this very moment. The town looked straight out of a medieval picture. Cobblestone streets, wood and stone houses. People wearing old clothing lining the streets and going about their business in the Trade hub at the center of town up the road. There where carts being pulled by the usual oxen, but others being pulled by Boars Like the one pulling Barrus’s carriage, but he also spotted an odd bird like creature that he couldn’t help but associate with a Chocobo pulling carts as well. However, the oddest thing was the difference in people around him. More specifically, the female populace. Despite the fact that he could see his fair share of regular human woman, only about a quarter of the female crowd was ‘normal’ by any definition of the word. Scales, fluff, different colored skin, horns, hooves and other unnatural body alterations could be seen across the crowd, one girl having wings for arms. For a moment Kyle was unsure of how to react outside of simply having his mouth slightly open in surprise. That came to a stop when Zamil started up.
‘Hey, get your mouth up off the ground kid. Seeing monsters really shouldn’t be considered odd based on the fact you’re in the equivalent of a real life Dragon Quest game.’
‘Sorry… This is so unusual to me right now… I really have no idea how I’m supposed to react right now.’
‘Of course you don’t. However, I suggest you get walking and start gathering info or else you’ll run the risk of looking both stupid, and getting your sorry ass run over by an unreceptive wagon driver.’
Taking Zamils words to heart, Kyle decided to get himself moving for the time being and made his way off to the side so that he wouldn’t get in anyone’s way. However, as he continued walking, he found himself unsure of how best to proceed.
‘Um… so… Zamil. How should we go about getting info now? I’m not sure if the things we want to know can be found in a regular tavern.’
‘Lord Zamil you brat. And I agree with you to a point. Anything about the past would best be reserved for if we can find a history book or a historian. Anything new and happing now and days seems to be pretty traditional from what the dwarf said. However, I still think our best bet would be to go to some tavern. Information is still valuable, and Taverns are the best place to get the here and now across the land. Find a bar I say, the busier the better.’
“Won’t argue with that logic…”
“What Logic?”
“GAH!”
Kyle jumped back in fright from a voice right next to him. Flying back into the wall in fright, he turned around to see that Celti had been standing behind him, the young nun looking curious as to Kyles recent reaction.
“What’s wrong? Why are you acting all scared?”
“Maybe that’s because you managed to sneak up on me and scare the fire out of me?”
‘It sure didn’t take much. You’re not exactly the most attentive person right now.’
‘Shut up.’
‘I’d like to see you make me try Kid.’
Unable to respond to that, Kyle simply drew his attention back to Celti.
“Oh… sorry. I didn’t mean too. I was just following you.”
Managing to get himself off the wall and back on the street, Kyle looked over at the young Nun curiously.
“And why exactly are you following me may I ask?”
For a moment, the nun looked somewhat hesitant to answer. However, she managed to mumble out a response a moment later.
“I’m new here and don’t know where to go…”
For a moment, Kyle wasn’t sure how to best respond or proceed after that statement. However he sheepishly laughed to himself before he started to scratch his cheek at the display of her cute, blushing face.
“Um… I guess that makes two of us then. I’m not really sure where it is I’m at right now myself actually…So… I guess… if you wanted to, you can stay with me for a bit until you find where it is you need to go or do. However, this would be a case of the blind leading the blind so don’t expect to get anywhere real quick.”
At that, Celti visibly brightened at his words, and looked quite happy about it.
“Oh Thank you! Your kindness will not go unnoticed by the eyes of Heaven!”
Not sure what that might mean, Kyle simply took it for what it was worth with a comfortable smile on his face… that is until Zamil decided to ruin that moment.
‘First off, I know what you’re really trying to do here. Make sure you knock her out so she can’t call for the guard, oh and make sure you’re in a pretty secluded spot, like under a bridge or something so some guard doesn’t stop ya.’
‘Why must you ruin my pure intentions with debased conjecture and perverse fantasies?’
‘Oh like you weren’t thinking it. Second, I don’t think bringing her along is a good idea Hombre, and I’ll give you a few good reasons why. First off, her holy energy makes this illusion spell of yours even more unsteady then it already is. If I wasn’t trying to keep it on your face, it would have dissolved quite a number of times already. By the by, we really need to get you studying on magic, would make my life much easier. Second reason, she is affiliated with a religious order that, as far as I know, has something of a fanatical reputation. She might be sweet now, but we got no idea if she’ll go Alu Akbar on someone’s ass for a holy mission.’
‘First off, that is horrendously racist.’
‘Hello? Demon Overlord? I give no fucks.’
‘Second, she’s a friggen kid for crying out loud! There is no way in this time period that the not-catholic church they have going on here would have anything like Kamakazi nuts.’
‘Maybe not, but you just pointed out my third reason. She’s a kid, in a day and age like this, she could hardly have been out and about in the world, not only that, but she won’t have the mentality that you’ll have about our current situation. She might also try to kill you if she discovers your true form.’
Kyle sighed both internally and externally, his eyes rolling at the extremes that Zamil was presenting to him.
‘I get what you’re saying Zamil, I really do.’
‘Lord dammit!’
Ignoring that, Kyle simply continued his explanation.
‘However, it’ll only be for a short while! Let her get her bearings, and when she does, she’ll be gone quick enough when she finds what she needs. Relax, it won’t be a problem.’
Kyle could have sworn that the sword sighed. The exasperated voice that came next somewhat confirmed Kyles thought that Zamil was growing tired of arguing the point.
‘Fine. Do what you want Kid. I can’t stop you. However, when things go pear shaped, I will be screaming at you about how right I was. Until then, don’t bother me until you get more info or if something really needs my attention. Keeping your shoddy spell going is already too much of a pain in the ass for me.’
Without another word, Kyle felt the small buzzing in his mind become more muted. He could only attribute it to Zamils comment about needing to concentrate. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle turned his attention back to Celti and gave her a warm smile.
“Anyway… I guess since we have that all straightened out, we should probably get going.”
“Where to?”
“Well… if you don’t have anything urgent to do right now, try to find a library.”
“Why’s that?”
Kyle shrugged his shoulders before he responded.
“I feel as if I could go for a bit more knowledge about the current comings and goings of the world as it is right now. Not only that, but I feel as if I might be lacking in some common sense around here and how things work in a monster friendly town.”
“That makes sense. However, I’m not sure where one could find a library…”
Kyle looked back behind himself, more pointedly at the town center that just seemed to be bustling with activity right now.
“Well, if not a library, anywhere where one can procure information really. Bars and Taverns would be good, but our best bet to find any of those places would be to go to the Bazaar and see if anybody can direct us to any such place.”
Celti nodded in agreement.
“Sounds like it would work. I’ll follow you since you seem to know what to do.”
“Okay… but first, is there anywhere you need to go or do? Or are you just going to waltz around with me?”
“Waltz? Why are we going to dance?”
“Uh… sorry, wrong form of expression.”
‘Great going dipshit. Try to keep your new age-y crap to yourself, nobody will understand it.’
‘Slight slip okay? Gimme a break. And aren’t you supposed to be concentrating on making sure I don’t go full demon in the middle of town.’
‘I’ll do what I damn well want to.’
Without another word, Kyle felt Zamil shut him out again and could only roll his eyes internally at him before Celti got his attention again.
“I don’t know what you really mean by waltzing… but I don’t have any place I need to be right at this very moment. However, I was hoping to find a local church around here somewhere… I need to see if I can find something.”
“Okay then, we’ll ask about a church while we’re looking for a place that sells or stores book.”
With a plan now formed, Kyle and Celti made their way into the town square, where they both quickly came to the conclusion that if they did not try to stay together, they would no doubt get separated very quickly in the large crowd of Monsters and people.
Kyle did his best to keep track of the little nun he had in his charge, but on a number of occasions he had managed to lose sight of her for a few minutes. Thankfully her nun habit was something that stood out in the crowd and made it very easy for him to find Celti yet again, not many of the people around seeming to have a need for religious clothing it would seem. After a few more minutes of trying to navigate in the crowd, Kyle decided that they needed to get out while he was still together with Celti. He then nabbed the girl by her hand and pulled her along to by a fountain that sat in the middle of the large town square. Though it had many other such people around it trying to escape the crowd, the hustle and bustle seemed to keep its distance from the fountain. Thankfully Kyle found a spot for the both of them to sit and let out a sigh as he placed his keister on the stone lip.
“Okay… well… busier than I was expecting.”
“Well, it is a town market. If it wasn’t busy, that would show that the town probably wasn’t doing so well for itself.”
“Good point. Still doesn’t make it any easier to navigate though. We really just need to find someone or something that could point us in the right direction. This crowd doesn’t make that easy though.”
Kyle waved his hand about in the direction of the large number of people, as if to emphasize his point on the size of the crowd. Celti really had nothing to say to Kyle, in encouragement or to deny his current statement.
Letting out a sigh, Kyle looked around himself at the people currently sitting on and around the fountain. The people, and monsters if he took a closer look, all seemed to be taking resting either from the heat, or from walking. He wasn’t sure, but it started to dawn on him that maybe instead of walking aimlessly trying to find the things he needed, he should perhaps ask someone who was more familiar with the layout of the town. After thinking it over for a moment, Kyle nodded his head to himself in agreement with that thought and started to look around the area for someone who wouldn’t mind being bothered.
A few minutes into searching, and Kyle found someone he thought would be helpful. A Monster from the looks of it. Some form of rabbit girl as far as he could tell. She had long floppy ears, white fur, a tighter than average button up shirt that seemed ready to bust at the buttons and didn’t even go below her belly button. Her legs where animal in appearance and looked like those of a rabbits back legs. She even had a cute puffball of a tail that wiggled on occasion when she would look this way and that. As for any semblance of pants… Kyle could see that her fur did a well enough job of covering any lower nudity of hers. And the fact that nobody seemed bothered by her current dress told him that it was probably normal for monsters like her. Taking a small breath, Kyle made his way to the rabbit girl and smiled as pleasantly as he could before he spoke up and waved at her.
“Excuse me.”
For a moment, there was no reaction from the rabbit, but Kyle was quick to note that a few people, human and monster alike, quickly glanced at him in some confusion followed by varied looks of lewd, and confused. Ignoring them for the moment, he spoke up again seeing as the rabbit had yet to react to him.
“Excuse me, the one with the rabbit ears.”
At that, the girl quickly turned her head in his direction, her bright red eyes curiously looking for the source of the voice that called her out. Seeing as Kyle had her attention, he pointed to her and then nodded his head.
“Yes, you.”
The girl was, at first, almost flabbergasted, something Kyle took as odd. Before he could continue on with his line of questioning however, the girls eyes told him that she had just come to some realization, a knowing look in her eyes, which quickly gave way to an excited gleam. Kyle probably should have taken that as a warning, but he didn’t see any danger in his current situation.
“Hello there! Sorry to bother you, but I had a-”
Before he could even finish forming his question, the rabbit girl got to her feet, turned in his direction, and launched herself off the ground and tackled Kyle to the ground. Feeling the wind escaping from his lungs and his feet leaving the ground, Kyle had no idea what was going on, his mind trying to piece together what in the hell was currently going on. The impact on the ground forced any remaining air out of his body and cracked his head on the stone tile of the street, though the impact wasn’t all that painful from his newly transformed body. Thankfully, he got the feeling that if he didn’t have it, he might have had a cracked skull right about now. The next thing he knew, two strong pairs of hands where on his shoulders, a heavy, hot, and very fluffy set of hips where over his own, and a very happy looking girl was looking down at him, her eyes gleaming and her breaths coming in quick pants.
“You! You talked to Luvi! You gave Luvi a kind gesture! You want to be friends with Luvi?”
Kyle, unsure of what was going on, simply stammered under both the physical and mental pressure.
“Uh… well… I… Uh… Yeah? I guess?”
He wasn’t sure how she did it, but Kyle was sure the rabbit was beaming with actual light at that point, her eyes bright enough with happiness that he was sure light was coming out of them.
“Luvi has a friend now! Luvi’s Friend! Now Luvi has a friend to help her!”
Before he could even ask what the nut was on about, the rabbit now named Luvi clasped his cheeks in her hands and threw her lips into his own. There was nothing Kyle could do at the moment except be stunned at the sudden assault on his lips and the fact that the rabbit seemed to want to keep it up. Kyle couldn’t even gain a good grasp of the situation at hand, his mind filled up with the soft sensation of the rabbits velvet like mouth, his mind simply seeming to let it happen for no better reason then the fact that it felt nice. That is until he felt a warm, wet, and somewhat pushy piece of mouth anatomy try to force it’s way past his lips, and by extension, his somewhat gaping mouth.
At that point, Kyle decided that now would be a good time to put this to an end since he wasn’t sure how much further his sexual assault-ie was going to go. Taking quick note of his partners lack of concentration on the rest of his body, Kyle threw his arms up and grabbed Luvi by the shoulders and forced her to decease her attempted tongue tangling, the girl letting out a surprised gasp as she did. It was quickly followed up by a cute sounding, “eh?’ of confusion as the rabbit was trying to work her brain to figure out why she wasn’t kissing anymore, and why the situation wasn’t going towards her ideal.
“What…you… why… what the hell are you doing?!”
At first, Luvi wasn’t sure where that question was directed at, but the fact that Kyle was somewhat red from embarrassment and anger quickly got across to the rabbit and she knew that she had just been asked that question. Looking down at him with a cute expression of confusion, Luvi cocked her head to the side while she smiled at him warmly.
“You’re Luvi’s friend now! So Luvi is willing to help her friends in the best way she knows how!”
“By suddenly attacking me and forcing yourself on me?”
The look of true confusion on her face told Kyle that she didn’t seem to think that what she was doing was wrong.
“??? Luvi’s not sure if she understands… But Luvi will help her friend by giving him the best sex she can give!”
At that point Luvi once again tried to dive bomb his face with another of her deeply intimate kisses, But Kyle knew what was coming and held her fast at her shoulders. The attempted kissing/rape was now turning into a struggle between the two individuals fighting against each other on the road. Something that was now starting to gather a crowd of onlookers who were curious as to what was going on, and to others who had heard, expecting the wererabbit to overpower him and get a good hot showing of public sex. For a few more minutes, Kyle was busy trying to keep a squirming wererabbit from getting her way with him, while Luvi was trying equally as hard to get her own way. However, for the wererabbit, this was becoming increasingly more frustrating for her due to the fact that she was not used to humans being quite this strong, her own strength being greater than that of an average human.
“Okay! What the hell is going on over here?”
At the sound of a commanding voice, much of the crowd turned its attention to the direction of the voice, and upon seeing who it was, very quickly moved the hell out of their way. Those who didn’t have the presence of mind to pay attention to things going on behind them in hopes that the beginnings of an outdoor orgy was to take place where quickly and rudely shoved to the side. After that, the rest of the crowd made their way out of the way.
Finally at the edge of the scenario before them, a man decked out in solid black armor with dragon red veins running through the metal of the heavy armor along with a heavy red cape to guard his back against the sun. Upon stopping at the site, the man looked down at the two people struggling with each other, his helmet not allowing others to see his face, but his vicious red eyes still visible behind the cross shaped visor and allowing him perfect vision.
The sound of heavy clanking behind him told others that the man had not in fact come alone. Standing behind him was an equally imposing individual, also decked out in jet black armor, though in contrast to the mans, it was smaller in comparison, and wasn’t quite as fully detailed as his own, the thighs, upper arms, and midriff being more exposed to the elements then others. However, seeing as the newest arrival was in fact a woman, and most of the armor plating seemed to go around her neck, an odd choice, many would come to the conclusion that the newest arrival was a Dullahan. Unlike her partner, she didn’t don a helmet, instead allowing her natural beauty to be displayed to all around her. The woman slowly turned her head to observe the crowd, her cyan eyes moving quickly to ascertain the situation before her while her short violet hair would sway back and forth as she made several passes. Before she could complete her evaluation of the outer situation, the man let out a rough sigh before he placed his armored hand to his helmet and pinched where the bridge of his nose would be.
“For god’s sake… I’m not even part of the damn militia of this town and I still manage to find myself loaded down with work…”
“Well, you didn’t try very hard to avoid it Captain Agni.”
The man turned his attention back to the Violet haired woman behind him and gazed at her for a moment, his gaze unreadable to others outside of his line of sight.
“Point taken Kristin. Drive the crowd away, nothing to see here.”
“Hey! We see something going on right now!”
“It won’t be in a second. Now scram, all of you. As for you two…”
Captain Agni as he was called, turned his attention to Kyle and Luvi, who throughout this, where still tussling with each other, only Luvi had managed to get one of Kyles hands pinned down while the other was furiously trying to pin his other hand, which was proving very hard to do since he had it gripped firmly in his free hand. The Captain looked down at the two of them for a moment before he reached down, grabbed the rabbit by the back of her collar, and forcefully ripped her from the young man. The rabbit squealed in surprise at the sudden force and fell on her back in confusion, the sudden change in position and scenery leaving her at a loss. Meanwhile, Kyle took quick note of his sudden freedom and scrambled to his feet, relishing the newfound freedom of movement.
“Are you quite done here? If you are, good. Don’t do it again. If not… well, I won’t be so nice about it next time.”
Turning his attention to the man who had helped him, Kyle nodded his head in appreciation before he spoke up in response.
“Thanks for the help, and not that I’m not appreciative or anything, but she sorta forced herself on me for no reason. So… not really my fault.”
“Doesn’t matter who did what. You should know well enough that any Mamono/Human relations are to be kept strictly chaste in view of the town public in any Mamono friendly towns.”
Kyle, somewhat at a loss for words, simply glanced this way and that, as if not sure what to say or do about this.
“Uh… Um… Sorry… I actually don’t know that much about the rules around here… or about Mamono in general if we’re being honest here.”
For a moment, there was some silence in the area, the usual hustle and bustle going about their day, and the crowd already having dispersed upon Captain Agni’s command. However, it was the woman who came with the captain that broke the momentary silence.
“I take it that you’re somewhat new to the whole aspect of both exploring and in the ways of understanding Mamono. It’s rare we get someone in town like you, but not so much to be uncommon. I’ll take a guess and say you must be from either further east in the order controlled region, or further north-west in the more isolated lands. Either way, you’re going to need educate yourself a bit more before you really go any further for now.”
“Yeah… Kinda figured that… only problem is, I got no idea where I can find the closest Bookstore or tavern for info. Was attempting to ask that girl there where I could find them, next thing I know, she jumps me.”
Though it couldn’t be seen past his helmet, Captain Agni rolled his eyes.
“Well, if you gave the wererabbit a friendly greeting, she’s more than likely going to be attached to you on a deep emotional-”
Before the man could finish his sentence, a familiar wererabbit came bounding up from behind the captain and collided into Kyle, only this time, Kyle had a split second more to see what was coming and managed to brace himself in time to catch Luvi instead. Only he didn’t manage to get her away from him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck while she fondly rubbed her cheek against his own.
“Luvi’s friend is just shy! Luvi will wait patiently until he is ready!”
Agni let out a sigh while Kristin smiled to the two of them.
“Sadly, when a Wererabbit is greeted in such a friendly manner, she will never relent and will then determine you as a ‘friend’ and in Mamono language, that means you’re pretty much stuck with her.”
Kyle attempted to push Luvi off himself again, only to have the rabbit hold him tighter in response. Her stubborn nature obviously not allowing for him to get free anytime soon.
“Um… that might be a problem… is there any way I can get her un-attached to me? Emotionally and physically?”
Kristin simply shook her head at him, though gently in lieu of her head having the habit of falling off if she moved it to viciously.
“That’s up to you, just don’t do any acts of indecency in public and we don’t care what you do from here on out. Anyway, I can’t help with that, but I do know the location of a local bookstore. Just go the north main road and follow it until you see Maddies merchandise. On the left, can’t miss the big yellow sign.”
“Well… thanks for that at least… oh, and thanks again for helping me up off the ground good sir.”
For a moment, Agni didn’t say anything. However, his compatriot Kristin knew that her commander was contemplating something. However, before she could think further on it, the Man nodded.
“Not a problem. I bid you a good day. Kristin, come with me. We still have much to do.”
“Understood captain.”
Without another word, the two left left as quickly as they came. On their way back into the crowd, the Dullahan briskly paced next to her captain, deep in thought with a touch of concern on her brow.
“Captain Agni…”
“Yes?”
“Is it just me…or did something seem… off about that young man?”
“You’ll have to be more specific Kristin. There we’re several things odd I noticed about him.”
“So you spotted them as well?”
“Both physical and magical.”
“Should we go back and apprehend him Captain?”
Agni stopped in his tracks for a moment before he quickly changed course, his subordinate following behind in haste to keep up.
“No… we will however follow him for a time… stay close to me, we will attempt to follow him to the Library. After that… we will solve whatever this is about.”
And with that, the two made their way to the library, leaving Kyle in the dark about his current Stalkers. Said individual himself already attempting to make his way to the direction he was told, wererabbit in tow along with the little nun who was somewhat unsure of what to do with herself in the wake of this new situation.
Xx Makai, Maou’s Castle. xX
*Pit, pat, pit, pat, pit, pat.*
Deep in the cavernous halls of the Maou’s castle, noises weren’t an unusual thing to be heard down its corridors. Normally, it consisted of wet slapping sounds, moaning, and the occasional scream of ecstasy, most of the time, all in the span of about thirty or so feet. However, walking wasn’t an unusual sound to be heard, running through? That was more rare. One normally only ran in the halls of the castle if they we’re playing sexy tag, cat and mouse, or running for something important. In this case, the running was for the latter.
Running down the great halls and corridors was a young looking girl, about 10-12 years old in appearance. She was decked out in a very short cut black and white witches skirt, hardly hiding anything to be honest. She had a black sleeveless overcoat with three buttons holding it together and a white undershirt that only went to her shoulders. Cutely enough, she had a Black witches hat on her head that she was forced to push back up her head due to the fact that it was several sizes too large for her, which was making a mess of her long white hair. The girls Red eyes scanned the area around her in hopes that she might find the one door she needed to find, her heart tipped tail wrapped tightly around a paper note. On her way down the hall, she wasn’t really bringing herself to pay attention to the things in front of her, and happened to miss a rather large pool of liquid on the floor in her chosen direction and ended up stepping in it at full speed.
The next little bit was quite comedic In that the girl slipped, skidded forward for a few feet before she landed flat on her back in a giant squishy mess. Upon coming into contact with the floor, Her hat came off on the floor, revealing for all to see her budding pair of twin demon horns sprouting from behind her ears and only going about as far as her temples.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww…”
Letting out that kind of cough that lets you know the wind just got knocked out of you, the girl lifted her arm to feel the now enlarging bump on the back of her head. However, as she saw her arm, she noticed the sticky strands trailing from her arm to the floor, dripping obscenely in a mix of milky white and clear.
“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww crap baskets… that better not be what I think it is…”
Bringing her arm closer to her face, The young girl took a quick sniff before instant recognition kicked in and she let out a huff.
“Dammit Druella! Can you not fuck in the middle of a hallway when someone’s in a hurry!”
Quickly getting to her feet, the young girl stripped everything down that was wet in girl jill, which was almost everything save her panties, and then booked it down the hall, using her tiny white wings to help give her a gliding edge when she jumped a few times over a few raging orgy couples.
“Gotta find mom, Gotta find mom… which floor would she be on… Throne room? Naw, not at this hour… which leaves only one other option… To the Bedroom!”
Meanwhile, in the Maou’s bed chamber 20 or so floors up, sat the lady in question, the chair she was currently seated on scooted out away from the massive Oak wood desk with the Lady Maous face buried in what appeared to be an Imposing pile of papers on her desk, the actual surface of the desk covered in yellow parchment, stamps, and pens.
There had been many tales of the Maous Beauty, her silky midnight Hair, the pale complexion of her skin, the fact that her body seemed to radiate sex all about it with her full hips, Heart shaped ass, large breasts, shapely figure and stunning red eyes. However, nobody could see that right now under her twelve large demonic wings that lay across her whole body like a large cape. If anybody was paying attention, they would notice a slow mumbling under her breath, as if she was speaking into the desk itself.
“Burn it… Burn it all… I don’t wanna do this anymore… throw it out the window, let the breeze take it to some forgotten hole in Makai and hopefully burn brightly in the sky as it comes into contact with a very convenient lava pool…”
Off in the corner of the room, a man chuckled to himself as he leaned back into his chair, his dark hair doing a good job of obscuring his right eye and half of the mirth in the deep blue.
“Now, now Lilith. You decided on this, and you promised me that you would stop putting it off for the day. It needs to be done after all, and we can’t have that Carnival if you don’t sign all the appropriate forms after all.”
The Maou stopped looking lovingly at the table and turned her attention to the man in the room, a cute pout on her face and a set of puffed up cheeks to go with it as she looked at him in annoyance.
“Nobody told me I would need to do so much work when I became the Overlord… The last one made it look so easy…”
“Maybe that’s because he had a lot less paper to work with and was more interested in wiping out humanity.”
Looking back down at the papers, The Lady looked it over for a second before she placed her hands on the edges of the desk and flipped the table in anger, scattering the papers everywhere.
“Screw this! Sergio! You do it!”
The man in the corner got up from his seat and gave her a smile while shaking his head before he started to pick up all the scattered papers, this not being the first time his wife has exhibited such childish behavior. Looking over, he could see that she had slumped into the chair, the regal, beautiful, sexy, and to some degree terrifying Maou currently looking like a tuckered out housewife. However, Sergio wasn’t aware of any usual housewives that wore leather Dominatrix harness’s that left very little to the imagination. Sergio didn’t need to try to ‘imagine’ what was under that clothing though, his hands and eyes already having had more then there fill over the years of the tender pale flesh underneath.
Smiling devilishly to himself at his salacious memories, Sergio maneuvered himself closer to Lilith as he picked up papers and stacked them accordingly. However, his true aim was something far more physical… and pleasurable in his opinion. He finally managed to work himself close enough to her where he could actually feel her power radiating off of her body, and with it, her charm and barely restrained desire. The Maou wasn’t really paying much attention to her husband at the moment, her eyes closed and her mind wandering for the first time in a few days.
Such a thing was what Sergio was looking for and he decided to act on it, both out of loving concern for his wife, and for the deep seated desire burning in his belly. Leaning down intentionally close to her side, Sergio ‘accidently’ brushed his shoulder against her thigh as he made an attempt to grab some papers that got up under her chair. Lilith didn’t seem to react, but the small jerk of her wings told Sergio that she knew he was there, and that he was obviously going to try something.
“Oh… looks like I’ll need to get a little closer… this chair is so abnormally large you know.”
Moving closer, the knight intentionally rubbed his hand against the side of her leg as he reached under the table, making the motion as slow as possible as he did. The Maou didn’t react, but if he had been looking up, Sergio would have noticed a small smirk on his wife’s face. Sergio gently and slowly ran the length of his arm across the smooth skin of her leg, the feeling sending a small shiver up her spin as he did. Leaning down right next to her calf, Sergio’s warm breath on her skin made Lilith’s body tremble at the feeling. However, The Maou wasn’t known to be a passive woman, especially in the affairs that made her a succubus.
Lilith lifted her other leg and gently placed it over her other leg, Sergio’s cheek pressing gently into the calf. At this point, both of them knew that anymore pretenses would be simple delay for what it was they truly desired, and not being wasteful, got down to it. Sergio ran his hand up the length of her inner leg, coming to a stand as he did. Lilith for her part followed closely afterward. The both of them wrapped their arms around each other, Sergio removing the leather bands from his wife's shoulders and watching as the whole of her outfit crumpled to the floor softly, allowing him to get a prominent view of his wife's partially hidden anatomy.
Sergio was always amazed at what a change in clothing, Or lack thereof, could do to a man when he saw it. The sight of his wife, undressed and looking lavish in her birthday suite would Always set a fire in his loins. Lilith gently ran her hand over his tunic and down his chest, the feeling of her long fingers setting his lust even further on edge.
Upon looking, the Maou found the thing she was looking for. The tight string to the obscuring piece of clothing that her husband used to keep some level of modesty. Pulling it leisurely, Lilith gently went to her knees, her hands bringing the slight irritant of cloth down with her. A moment later and Sergio felt a smaller part of himself spring forth from its confines, his dick standing at attention in the eyes of his beloved.
Without a word needing to be said between them, the overlord of makai smoothly ran her hand over the length of his cock, the silky touch of her pale fingers causing Sergio to feel his inner beast swell up and his cock to throb in want. Knowing his thoughts, Lilith gently grabbed hold of her beloved and began to stroke him with slow and knowing movements, the feel of his manhood and the smell of his leaking mana causing her own lust to build and her sex to moisten.
Letting out a sight of pleasure, Sergio felt his cock begin to throb the longer she went on. Yet Lilith wasn't even getting started, her husband a man with a quickly growing lust, the Maou took it a step further. Pushing her hair back, Lilith opened her mouth and gently ran her tongue across his tip, the warm dampness making Sergio clench up at the feeling. She knew him well, and he didn't doubt she could finish him in a few seconds if she really wanted to. Slow, however, was there much preferred game.
Gently rolling her tongue over his head, Sergio could feel the rough slickness across the sensitive glans, causing him to shudder even more as he let out a small groan. Lilith giggled a little to herself at her husband’s cute expression and kissed the head of his cock, the fullness of her soft lips causing his manhood to twitch in excitement. Passing a glance to his wife, Sergio gave her a beastly smile, the kind that showed his inner lust was brimming to the fullest. Feeling her body quiver at the sight, The Maous body began to heat up while her loins tightened at the thought of her husband’s animal nature waiting to be unleased. Lusty impatience getting the better of her, the overlord ran her free hand to her own needing body and began to play with her lower lips while the hand on her husband’s cock got to work. Lilith began to stroke softly, using her full of her hand to warmly rub the full length of manhood before her, each stroke bringing out a small spurt of pre-cum. Eventually, the smell of leaking mana was almost to much for her to ignore anymore, and her mouth opened eagerly once again. This time though, she refrained from licking, and instead part of his cock with her mouth. The warmth and dampness of his wife’s mouth made Sergio breath in sharply, the feeling never getting old. Placing a hand on her head, Sergio ran his hand across her face gently, the sign for her to get started.
She wouldn’t need such a signal again.
Stroking only what could be felt, Lilith ran her mouth over half of his bulging erection, the salty taste almost making her inner nature run wild. But Sergio was there to keep it slow for the time being and knew his wife was a creature of wonton lust. He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair while giving small guidance to her actions. Feeling the loving hand of her husband, the Maou held herself back for the time being, and simply began to suck on his cock, rolling her tongue around and across his head again with practiced precision. Sergio felt his body buck in response to the new stimulant, his cock growing harder in anticipation as he himself was. However, Sergio was not a passive man, and he could feel his body wanting to dive into its amorous nature. Who was he to deny himself?
Lightly pushing his hips forward, Sergio made an attempt to push himself further into her mouth, the feeling of her moist cavity savaging his mind in delight of the feeling. Lilith wasn’t one to hold back for much longer herself and let her husband push himself into her mouth until they both felt his cock hit the back of her throat.
Just as they were about to get started with the vicious throat fucking that they were anticipating, the sound of the door being blasted open didn't leave either one with enough time to finish what was being started.
“Moooooooooom! We got a pro- agh!!”
Rushing through the door and promptly crashing into her father’s back, the panicking Lilim tumbled to the ground on impact as she bounced of Sergio's back. However, her little run-in did more damage then what one would think could happen in a quick second. Sadly, due to the fact that Sergio's cock had still been in his wife's mouth, the impact had shoved his overly long dick much further than a cock should go in a throat. Not only that, but lady Lilith had reacted on instinct and had tried to get out of the way. Sadly, it had happened so fast that the best she could do was move back and feel her husband’s dick shove itself painfully into the back of her mouth, where upon being shoved in by force, she instinctively had tried to close her mouth and had bit much harder then was comfortable for soft tissue. The worst part was that they had yet to truly get into their sexy time, so the magic that would normally make something like this feel pleasurable had yet to kick in. Having to pull his now throbbing and softening dick out of his wife's mouth, Sergio had to grab at his groin in pain, while the overlord herself was busy having a coughing fit and trying her damnedest to not retch all over the floor.
The cause of this situation was busy getting back up off the floor and looking at her handiwork with a sheepish grin on her face.
“Uh… Oops.”
With the both of them now entirely out of the mood and now suffering from inconvenient injuries that they had not been expecting, both Lilith and Sergio looked toward their daughter, Sergio looking less peeved and more amused despite his still aching dick while the Maou looked somewhat pissed at having her fun time ruined.
“Zellha… This had better be important for such a rash action. You almost killed me!”
The Lilim held her hands up in her defense against her mother, her nervous smile never having left her face.
“Sorry Mom… I didn’t mean to…”
Sergio let out a small sigh before he grabbed his pants off the floor. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed about his daughter seeing him naked, many of his children had seen him have sex with his wife in public on quite a few occasion. It was more out of a mental rule to cover himself up quickly in the presence of other mamono least they attempt to jump him for his potent Mana. However, he knew that it meant nothing, and answered his daughter seeing as his wife was looking somewhat peeved right now.
“It’s alright Zellha… Now, what’s so important that you didn’t bother to knock on the door?”
For a moment, Zellha looked somewhat confused. However, it only lasted for that one moment before she remembered what she was in a hurry for.
“Oh! Right! Mom! Dad! We got a serious problem!”
Not waiting for either of them, Zellha flipped the overturned cabinet back on its legs with a flick of her wrist. With yet another flick, all the scattered papers on the floor flew into a flurry and landed in neat piles next to the desk. Lilith was sad to note that the ‘out’ stack was visibly smaller than the ‘in’ stack. However, Her daughter drew her attention back to her when she placed a scroll she had in her tail on the table with a slam.
“Okay Mom. Watch this, and you’ll know exactly why I was in a hurry.”
Having captured the attention of both her parents, the young Lilim opened the scroll. What happened next was an array of light shot out of the scroll and started to work itself into intricate patterns in the open air, the prismatic colors interweaving themselves and changing both color and shapes for the next few seconds before it all eventually set itself into several spheres overlapping each other.
“Isn’t that our world?”
Sergio pointed to the inner sphere quizzically.
Both the Maou and her daughter nodded their heads in agreement.
“Yes Darling, that’s our world, and the inner world of Hades, along with the Celestial Plane… and the Outer Prana Membrane if this is correct… I do not like where this is going.”
“Just wait a second Mom, you’ll hate what happens next.”
True to her word, a few seconds later, and something did in fact happen. Something that made the Mighty Maou look on in dread. For a second, everything seemed calm, the four spheres rotating at their own rates. That is until the outer Membrane started to dip outward before it just seemed to shatter into a fist sized hole. A second later and something came shooting out of the hole so fast that had anybody blinked, they would have missed its initial decent. It then passed through the Celestial plane, leaving a smaller hole in it, but then coming to a stop on the 3rd plane. The Mortal Plane.
There was a heavy silence in the room. For two of the three people present, the ramifications of what was just displayed was something to be considered terrifying. However, of the three, one didn’t quite get it. Sergio looked to his wife, and then to his daughter, and then to the large magical projection still present in the room before he said anything.
“So… what does it mean?”
Lilith was the first to answer his question, but she didn’t look away from the projection, her eyes wide open in fear and her fingers tapping across the surface of the desk in a rapid and chaotic fashion.
“Honey… it means that we’re in trouble.”
--
‘Oi. Kid.’
Kyle only twitched at the sudden sound in his mind, the feeling of sleep being far stronger than anything else right now.
‘Kid. Wake up. I’m being serious here.’
Despite the persistence of the voice in his mind, Kyle did no such thing, though he did feel slightly more wakeful at the moment then he did a second ago. It also felt like something was wrong with his face at the moment.
‘Kid, wake the fuck up already. You got an issue right now.’
‘Noooooooooooooo… I don’t wanna… let me sleep…’
After trying to get his mental message across, Kyle suddenly felt as if he just said the wrong thing. Not only that, but that feeling on his face was persisting.
‘… WAKE YOUR BITCH ASS UP RIGHT NOW OR BY THE HELLFIRE BELOW I’LL SCREAM HORRORS INTO YOUR MIND FROM HERE TO THE END OF TIME!!!’
With the vicious yelling of what was now a very pissed off Overlord, Kyle’s eyes shot wide open and his mind quickly tried to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t asleep anymore. It took him a moment, but Kyle was awake enough now to think coherently. A second later and Kyle felt that soft feeling on his face again, more specifically, a pointed feeling on his cheek. Looking to his side, the half-demon spawn found himself looking at something he hadn’t been expecting.
Bent down next to him, her knees drawn up to her chin and her head cocked to the side in curiosity, was the Nun girl he had found sleeping in the linins earlier. Now that he got a better look at her, she was pretty cute awake as well, and her eyes where a strange golden color. Something he didn’t think was too common where he came from, but at the same time, he wasn’t in his own world at the moment, so it was a moot point to be making. Also, she had not put her habit back on yet, so he could finally get a better look at her hair. He could now see that if this girl was standing, her hair would have gone to her waist. Not only that, but she seemed to have it tied into a side ponytail oddly enough. However, that wasn’t his main concern since her hair didn’t seem to be doing anything to him at the moment.
Kyle glanced to the side, more specifically, to where he was currently feeling something poking into his face. Oddly enough, the Nun child before him was the reason for that. She currently had her index digit poking into his cheek, the feeling causing his mouth to deform a bit with each finger related assault on his soft cheeks. For a moment, he let her keep doing this, not sure as to how to react in this situation. However, Zamil quickly made that decision for him.
‘Kid what the fuck are you doing?! Stop her, I can’t keep her from breaking the illusion much longer!’
Blinking a little to himself in surprise at the sudden seriousness of the situation, Kyle pulled his face away from her pointing finger, something the girl was quick to notice and put on a cute pouting expression. Kyle felt his heart melt at the scene. However, the fact she was even touching him in the first place despite the two not even knowing each other made him push that feeling back for a moment.
“Um… Hi there?”
The girl stopped pouting and cocked her head to the side in some curiosity before she smiled at him.
“Hello Mr. Stranger.”
For a moment, there was nothing else said. However, Kyle felt that she maybe should have said something else after that, maybe to explain why she was touching his face in the first place. However, a few seconds passed by, and she had yet to say anything to him, her smile the only form of communication she was currently showing. A second later and Kyle took it on himself to start up the conversation.
“Hello to you too Little Nun… Sorry, don’t think we’ve been introduced. The Name is Kyle. Kyle Demonia. Traveler by trade.”
The girl nodded her head in affirmation before she finally sat down on the ground, her long nun clothing allowing for a comfortable seat for her.
“Hello Mr. Kyle. My name is Celti. I’m a Bishop-in-training.”
“Huh… Bishop?”
Before he could get an answer to his question, Kyle heard the sound of a familiar voice off to his side.
“Oh Hey! You’re awake Stranger!”
Looking over, Kyle could see that Barrus was still in the place he was last sitting, Right on top of that monster Bull of his. However, there appeared to be a new addition right there with him. Sitting on Barrus’s lap was the Dwarf girl he saw earlier, the gal leaning back into his chest while looking past his side and directly into the cart directly at both Kyle and Celti.
Kyle nodded his head in greeting and waved at the dwarf pair.
“Hey Barrus. How long was I out for?”
“Not for very long. You’ve only been asleep for about an hour and a half now? But thanks to that, we’re almost there, so you missed most of the boring parts of the trip. But enough about that. Kyle, I believe I mentioned my lovely wife to you when you were awake, sadly, she wasn’t at the time, so you never got the chance of a proper greeting.”
The dwarf girl waved at him before she cracked a large smile.
“Hi there. Names Ralina! Master Smith and traveling gourmet. My husband’s been talking about ya for a bit since I woke up. Nice to meet ya Mr. Kyle.”
Kyle smiled as well before Bowing his head in response.
“The feeling is mutual Ms. Ralina.”
“Aw, now don’t start with that ‘Miss’ junk. I start to feel old when someone calls me that. and trust me, does this look old to you?”
Jerking her thumb in her direction, Kyle could only cock his eye upward in amusement. However, Barrus made it even better with his next statement.
“Sure, you don’t look it, but you’ve been around the block more than one- HURK!”
Before he could continue, an elbow from the woman in his lap quickly put an end to the no doubt incriminating statement. Kyle chuckled to himself as Barrus made an attempt to apologize with his gestures and Ralina simply humphed at him. However, the three where brought back to the other person in the carriage with them.
“He he… You two are so funny. I guess it comes from being married for so long.”
Kyle turned his head back to Celti, the girl smiling as she continued to look on at the two dwarves. Kyle smiled to himself at her before he sat himself up a little straighter. The motion itself suddenly left him with a tingling in his back, and he quickly came to realize what that bit was all about.
“Owowowowowowowowow… I forgot that sleeping sitting down gives me issues…”
Trying to get blood flow back into his lower body, Kyle simply sat straight up and moved about a little bit. However as he was doing so, the young girl had decided to poke him in the cheek yet again, an action that shocked him a little bit as he tried to pull back from her finger.
“Hey! Why are you doing that?”
“Cause something about you feels funny… both when I touch you and when I see you… Like something about you doesn’t seem quite right…”
Kyle felt his body freeze up for a moment, The thought of if he had let himself slip up running through his mind playing itself over and over again, before Zamil spoke up to him.
‘You never once slipped up Kid. I was making sure your illusion stayed put while you were asleep. However, when the kid started to poke into your face, I had to double my efforts. It didn’t help that she was pushing holy energy into her hand while she did it. I would suggest you be careful around this little girl. She doesn’t seem very smart, But I can feel she has a lot of potential as a magic user. Her Usage of Holy energy worries me as well.’
‘Holy Energy?’
‘Think like sacred light or something. It hurts the hell out of demons and easily disrupts other magic’s. Even back in my day, it was a rare power to have. I would say to ditch her, but I think her budding skill in magic has given her a hint to your true identity. Thank hell she’s a kid else she might have tried a more forceful approach. But let this be a lesson to you, be double cautious from now on.’
Kyle nodded his head in agreement. If he had turned into that demonic shape while sleeping, old Barrus might have tried to cave his head in out of fear of what Kyle would have done. Kyle felt a small shiver run up his spine at the gruesome prospects that could have unfolded.
“Whatcha shaking for?”
Kyle turned his attention back to the reason he started to shiver in the first place.
“Nothing important. By the way… when you said I felt ‘funny’ what did you mean by that?”
Celti simply cocked her head to the side while she thought about it. A few seconds later, and her reply consisted of a shoulder shrug and an obscure reply.
“Not sure. What’s funny is funny I guess.”
Unsure of how to best answer that, Kyle shrugged his shoulders in turn.
“Alright then. However, I ask that you not carelessly touch me in the future though... I’m not very comfortable with people I don’t know just up and touching me for no reason…”
On that, Kyle could only speak his own inner truth. He had something of a pet peeve about physical contact in general. It wasn’t something born out of anti-social behavior or suspicion, Kyle simply didn’t feel comfortable enough to let a stranger come into contact with him. That should be something shared with good friends in his opinion. Celti, for a moment, simply cocked her head in some confusion before she nodded her head.
“I’m not really sure I get it, but you’ll only let me touch you if we’re closer right? Okay, I can do that.”
Unsure of what conclusion the young blonde had come to, Kyle simply decided it best to not try to think too hard on it. He then brought his attention back to the front of the carriage, where he saw that both Barrus and Ralina where staring at the both of them with some mild interest.
“What?” was about the only thing that Kyle could get out given the situation.
“Nothing.” The both of them said in turn.
With that, the two dwarves turned their attention back to driving the cart, the show now being over between the younger generation on board. Unable to think of anything to say in the current situation, Kyle simply leaned back into the wall to try to straighten his back out and work the numbness out. Other than that, the only other noise that could be heard was the crunching of wooden wheels on gravel. After a few more minutes of the silence, Celti broke it with a sigh.
“*Sigh* How much longer until we get there? You told me it wouldn’t be much longer Mr. Dwarf.”
The Dwarf looked over his shoulder with a grin on his face.
“Not too much longer. You’ll be seeing Havals Gate here in a bit. Hold on for a bit longer and we’ll be in good straits.”
Placated by those words for a moment, Celti lay down on the floorboards of the carriage, her attention still on Kyle as he let out a small sigh. Despite the wait time, Kyle didn’t feel as if he needed to hurry very much, and by thinking that, he found himself trying to find something interesting to look at. It wasn’t until he brought his attention to Celti that he found it. Unlike what he would normally expect from a Nun outfit, the skirt was short, to the point of being a mini-skirt. The robe that normally went around her body was tight fitting and sleeveless.
‘Almost like Bridget’s outfit, only his was blue and white. This one is gold and white.’
‘Gah! Are you reading my mind?’
‘Oh yeah. You’re also not making it very hard to do so with the way your mind is wandering’
‘Stop it!’
‘Relax kid, who am I going to tell about your Loli fantasies? The next trapped overlord?’
Letting out a sigh, Kyle could only roll his eyes at the truth in that statement. However, despite the secrecy that came with it, it didn’t make him feel much better about it. He couldn’t deny his libido after all.
“Hey Kyle. Come take a look. You can see Haval’s gate already.”
Pushing his thoughts to the back for the time being, Kyle made his way to the front of the carriage. Unexpectedly, the younger girl also came up next to him and tried to peer past his arm to get a better look. Deciding it would be better for her not to touch him at the moment, Kyle moved in compliance. After that, he got back to his original objective. Up the road stood a large wooden gate, standing at about 15 or so feet in the air. Despite the fact that it was made of wood, Kyle had to admit that it looked both well made, and very sturdy. However, as they got closer, it was the two individuals that where guarding said gate that caught his attention. On the left was what one would expect of guards. Decked out in light armor, weapon on the side and constantly looking vigilant. However, the guard’s counterpart, though sharing all of these traits, was vastly different in her physical appearance from her companion. Both though female, one was a human and the other was, for lack of a better term, a lizard woman. As they got closer, Kyle had to alter up his statement a little bit. More like it was a woman that shared lizard-like characteristics. She had inhuman arms and legs, covered in earthy brown scales with her fingers and toes looking more like claws. She had a long tail, thin mostly, but looking rather prehensile from the way it would move about and curl around her leg. Where her ears should be, instead where what looked like fins of sorts, like the kind found on mermaids. Kyle blinked in some confusion for a moment before Barrus interrupted him.
“First time seeing a mamono?”
“Uh… Not exactly…but I can say that I am surprised to see someone who looks… well, sexy and dangerous at the same time.”
Barrus ended up chuckling to himself at that remark.
“Ha! Aptly put! However, Mamono all are naturally beautiful, they also retain the powers of their ancestors, so most are still as strong as the generation of the previous Maou… they just prefer not to use brute strength anymore. So don’t worry about being attacked physically… sexually… well, that’s up to fate.”
Barrus chuckled to himself, some fact that Kyle was missing very apparent on the Dwarfs face.
“Honey, could you get the trading papers? We’ll need to present em to the guard.”
Ralina puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, the act of getting out of her current spot not the most exciting thing she wanted to do right now. However, she complied with her husband’s demand and got herself up. With deft feet, the dwarf woman hopped off Bulls back before she nailed her landing on the edge of the cart where Kyle and Celti where sitting before she bounded once again over their heads and into the cart, the soft landing followed by the sound of searching telling them she had landed safely.
Kyle felt his face turn upward into an impressed image. He hadn’t been expecting something like that, but it was still awesome regardless. As he turned his attention back to the front of the Cart, Kyle was quick to notice that Celti was staring at the gate ahead of them nervously. She seemed to fidget as she sat, and her eyes would dart quickly between the two guards while her hands would fiddle with a small silver cross around her neck. Kyle cocked his head to the side in some confusion before he spoke up.
“Hey… You okay?”
“Huh? Uh… yes, I’m alright… I’ve just… well… never met a Mamono before is all… I’m… not sure how to react right now is all…”
Kyle looked down at her for a moment before he smiled at her and chuckled.
“He he… Cute. All I can say in such a situation is take it in stride. You’re not sure what to do? Then wait for something to happen. You can’t do anything now, so why worry about it? Let it be and learn all you can from new experiences… My Father used to tell me that all the time.”
Celti looked over to Kyle, the words he spoke sounding rather sage and important. Kyle was left with the feeling that he may have made something of an impact on the young girl.
‘Sound words, but at the same time, this is a pretty unusual situation so I’m not sure how much they might help you here.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well… I can’t say for certain… Just keep your eyes open for now and try to keep gathering info.’
‘Got it.’
Kyle nodded his head in affirmation to Zamil’s order before he gave Celti another reassuring smile. The young girl blinked in some small awe before she smiled back at him. Kyle then turned his attention back to the front of the carriage, and saw that Barrus was smiling smugly as he looked at the both of them.
“What?” Was all Kyle could say in the face of such an annoying expression.
“Oh nothing…”
He then turned his attention back to the road, the gate having gotten closer since the last time he saw it.
After that, Ralina quickly made her way back to the comfortable spot in her husband’s lap, a roll of paper in her hand as she got settled back in. After that, the rest of the trip was short, less than 10 minutes of riding. As they got to the gate, Kyle noted that the guards seemed to be eyeing him in particular, especially the Lizard woman. Not sure what to think of it, he simply kept his eyes forward until they came to a stop. The woman on the left, a rather plain looking gal with short chestnut brown hair, came forward.
“Please state your business.”
“The names Barrus, traveling smith and on my way to deliver a shipment of demon realm weapons to the Guard captain of Haval. Here’s the invitation into the city itself.”
Barrus took the roll of paper from Ralinas hand and gave it to the guard woman. After a moment of inspection, the woman nodded her head once before she gave it back.
“It looks in order… However, I have to ask, are the two in the cart part of your entourage?”
Barrus looked back at Kyle and Celti before he gave the woman a small smile.
“Sadly not. They both happen to be travelers I picked up when they looked pretty lost. I can say that they are both decent however, so I wouldn’t worry about them causing a ruckus.”
“I’ll hold you to those words then. Don’t cause problems here and you’ll get along in town just fine.”
Both Kyle and Celti nodded in understanding, neither one wanting to cause any such problems intentionally. After that, the two guards moved to the side and allowed Barrus to make his way into the city. However, Kyle overheard the two guards talking as they were passed the gate.
“Did you see that Stud? He looked unclaimed to me! And not bad looking either!”
“I don’t care if he’s unclaimed. He would have to be a strong warrior before I even considered it. Stop thinking with your lower half.”
“You’re the Mamono! That should be a natural thing for you!”
Before the conversation could get any further along, the Cart made its way past the stone walls, and the sound of the guards voices died at the stone. Turning back around, Kyle noticed Barrus and Ralina’s smiling faces.
“You best be careful stranger.”
“Yeah. Most Mamono around here wouldn’t give a second thought to trying to get you in one of the back ally’s and having her way with you… of course, that’s what the guard is for, to stop such things most of the time… course, it also depends on the guard itself.”
Unsure of how to take that Info, Kyle simply stared on curiously at the two before they finally came to a stop. Ralina was the first one up and off, and when Kyle and Celti looked out the carriage, they saw that there were a few guards and several carriages of their own ahead of them. Barrus looked back at the both of them and jerked his thumb off to the side.
“Alright you two. Rides over. It was nice meeting the both of ya, but from here on, you’re on your own. Stay safe I say. My wife and I will be in town for the next few days if ya wanna talk to us, but after that, we’ll be making our way further east. If ya need a ride over, I’ll be happy to let you come with us.”
Kyle nodded his head in understanding before he gave Barrus a small bow.
“Thank you for your kindness Barrus. If I need help, I’ll know who to look for. I’m not sure if my business will conclude in that short of time, but I’ll see if I can find you when the time comes. Until then, take care of yourself along with your wife.”
With one final wave, Kyle then made his way past the cart along with the guards who were getting ready to transport the necessary arms and armaments. After that, he continued into the city proper, and actually had to stop for a second. It had never truly hit him that he had been dropped into another world until this very moment. The town looked straight out of a medieval picture. Cobblestone streets, wood and stone houses. People wearing old clothing lining the streets and going about their business in the Trade hub at the center of town up the road. There where carts being pulled by the usual oxen, but others being pulled by Boars Like the one pulling Barrus’s carriage, but he also spotted an odd bird like creature that he couldn’t help but associate with a Chocobo pulling carts as well. However, the oddest thing was the difference in people around him. More specifically, the female populace. Despite the fact that he could see his fair share of regular human woman, only about a quarter of the female crowd was ‘normal’ by any definition of the word. Scales, fluff, different colored skin, horns, hooves and other unnatural body alterations could be seen across the crowd, one girl having wings for arms. For a moment Kyle was unsure of how to react outside of simply having his mouth slightly open in surprise. That came to a stop when Zamil started up.
‘Hey, get your mouth up off the ground kid. Seeing monsters really shouldn’t be considered odd based on the fact you’re in the equivalent of a real life Dragon Quest game.’
‘Sorry… This is so unusual to me right now… I really have no idea how I’m supposed to react right now.’
‘Of course you don’t. However, I suggest you get walking and start gathering info or else you’ll run the risk of looking both stupid, and getting your sorry ass run over by an unreceptive wagon driver.’
Taking Zamils words to heart, Kyle decided to get himself moving for the time being and made his way off to the side so that he wouldn’t get in anyone’s way. However, as he continued walking, he found himself unsure of how best to proceed.
‘Um… so… Zamil. How should we go about getting info now? I’m not sure if the things we want to know can be found in a regular tavern.’
‘Lord Zamil you brat. And I agree with you to a point. Anything about the past would best be reserved for if we can find a history book or a historian. Anything new and happing now and days seems to be pretty traditional from what the dwarf said. However, I still think our best bet would be to go to some tavern. Information is still valuable, and Taverns are the best place to get the here and now across the land. Find a bar I say, the busier the better.’
“Won’t argue with that logic…”
“What Logic?”
“GAH!”
Kyle jumped back in fright from a voice right next to him. Flying back into the wall in fright, he turned around to see that Celti had been standing behind him, the young nun looking curious as to Kyles recent reaction.
“What’s wrong? Why are you acting all scared?”
“Maybe that’s because you managed to sneak up on me and scare the fire out of me?”
‘It sure didn’t take much. You’re not exactly the most attentive person right now.’
‘Shut up.’
‘I’d like to see you make me try Kid.’
Unable to respond to that, Kyle simply drew his attention back to Celti.
“Oh… sorry. I didn’t mean too. I was just following you.”
Managing to get himself off the wall and back on the street, Kyle looked over at the young Nun curiously.
“And why exactly are you following me may I ask?”
For a moment, the nun looked somewhat hesitant to answer. However, she managed to mumble out a response a moment later.
“I’m new here and don’t know where to go…”
For a moment, Kyle wasn’t sure how to best respond or proceed after that statement. However he sheepishly laughed to himself before he started to scratch his cheek at the display of her cute, blushing face.
“Um… I guess that makes two of us then. I’m not really sure where it is I’m at right now myself actually…So… I guess… if you wanted to, you can stay with me for a bit until you find where it is you need to go or do. However, this would be a case of the blind leading the blind so don’t expect to get anywhere real quick.”
At that, Celti visibly brightened at his words, and looked quite happy about it.
“Oh Thank you! Your kindness will not go unnoticed by the eyes of Heaven!”
Not sure what that might mean, Kyle simply took it for what it was worth with a comfortable smile on his face… that is until Zamil decided to ruin that moment.
‘First off, I know what you’re really trying to do here. Make sure you knock her out so she can’t call for the guard, oh and make sure you’re in a pretty secluded spot, like under a bridge or something so some guard doesn’t stop ya.’
‘Why must you ruin my pure intentions with debased conjecture and perverse fantasies?’
‘Oh like you weren’t thinking it. Second, I don’t think bringing her along is a good idea Hombre, and I’ll give you a few good reasons why. First off, her holy energy makes this illusion spell of yours even more unsteady then it already is. If I wasn’t trying to keep it on your face, it would have dissolved quite a number of times already. By the by, we really need to get you studying on magic, would make my life much easier. Second reason, she is affiliated with a religious order that, as far as I know, has something of a fanatical reputation. She might be sweet now, but we got no idea if she’ll go Alu Akbar on someone’s ass for a holy mission.’
‘First off, that is horrendously racist.’
‘Hello? Demon Overlord? I give no fucks.’
‘Second, she’s a friggen kid for crying out loud! There is no way in this time period that the not-catholic church they have going on here would have anything like Kamakazi nuts.’
‘Maybe not, but you just pointed out my third reason. She’s a kid, in a day and age like this, she could hardly have been out and about in the world, not only that, but she won’t have the mentality that you’ll have about our current situation. She might also try to kill you if she discovers your true form.’
Kyle sighed both internally and externally, his eyes rolling at the extremes that Zamil was presenting to him.
‘I get what you’re saying Zamil, I really do.’
‘Lord dammit!’
Ignoring that, Kyle simply continued his explanation.
‘However, it’ll only be for a short while! Let her get her bearings, and when she does, she’ll be gone quick enough when she finds what she needs. Relax, it won’t be a problem.’
Kyle could have sworn that the sword sighed. The exasperated voice that came next somewhat confirmed Kyles thought that Zamil was growing tired of arguing the point.
‘Fine. Do what you want Kid. I can’t stop you. However, when things go pear shaped, I will be screaming at you about how right I was. Until then, don’t bother me until you get more info or if something really needs my attention. Keeping your shoddy spell going is already too much of a pain in the ass for me.’
Without another word, Kyle felt the small buzzing in his mind become more muted. He could only attribute it to Zamils comment about needing to concentrate. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle turned his attention back to Celti and gave her a warm smile.
“Anyway… I guess since we have that all straightened out, we should probably get going.”
“Where to?”
“Well… if you don’t have anything urgent to do right now, try to find a library.”
“Why’s that?”
Kyle shrugged his shoulders before he responded.
“I feel as if I could go for a bit more knowledge about the current comings and goings of the world as it is right now. Not only that, but I feel as if I might be lacking in some common sense around here and how things work in a monster friendly town.”
“That makes sense. However, I’m not sure where one could find a library…”
Kyle looked back behind himself, more pointedly at the town center that just seemed to be bustling with activity right now.
“Well, if not a library, anywhere where one can procure information really. Bars and Taverns would be good, but our best bet to find any of those places would be to go to the Bazaar and see if anybody can direct us to any such place.”
Celti nodded in agreement.
“Sounds like it would work. I’ll follow you since you seem to know what to do.”
“Okay… but first, is there anywhere you need to go or do? Or are you just going to waltz around with me?”
“Waltz? Why are we going to dance?”
“Uh… sorry, wrong form of expression.”
‘Great going dipshit. Try to keep your new age-y crap to yourself, nobody will understand it.’
‘Slight slip okay? Gimme a break. And aren’t you supposed to be concentrating on making sure I don’t go full demon in the middle of town.’
‘I’ll do what I damn well want to.’
Without another word, Kyle felt Zamil shut him out again and could only roll his eyes internally at him before Celti got his attention again.
“I don’t know what you really mean by waltzing… but I don’t have any place I need to be right at this very moment. However, I was hoping to find a local church around here somewhere… I need to see if I can find something.”
“Okay then, we’ll ask about a church while we’re looking for a place that sells or stores book.”
With a plan now formed, Kyle and Celti made their way into the town square, where they both quickly came to the conclusion that if they did not try to stay together, they would no doubt get separated very quickly in the large crowd of Monsters and people.
Kyle did his best to keep track of the little nun he had in his charge, but on a number of occasions he had managed to lose sight of her for a few minutes. Thankfully her nun habit was something that stood out in the crowd and made it very easy for him to find Celti yet again, not many of the people around seeming to have a need for religious clothing it would seem. After a few more minutes of trying to navigate in the crowd, Kyle decided that they needed to get out while he was still together with Celti. He then nabbed the girl by her hand and pulled her along to by a fountain that sat in the middle of the large town square. Though it had many other such people around it trying to escape the crowd, the hustle and bustle seemed to keep its distance from the fountain. Thankfully Kyle found a spot for the both of them to sit and let out a sigh as he placed his keister on the stone lip.
“Okay… well… busier than I was expecting.”
“Well, it is a town market. If it wasn’t busy, that would show that the town probably wasn’t doing so well for itself.”
“Good point. Still doesn’t make it any easier to navigate though. We really just need to find someone or something that could point us in the right direction. This crowd doesn’t make that easy though.”
Kyle waved his hand about in the direction of the large number of people, as if to emphasize his point on the size of the crowd. Celti really had nothing to say to Kyle, in encouragement or to deny his current statement.
Letting out a sigh, Kyle looked around himself at the people currently sitting on and around the fountain. The people, and monsters if he took a closer look, all seemed to be taking resting either from the heat, or from walking. He wasn’t sure, but it started to dawn on him that maybe instead of walking aimlessly trying to find the things he needed, he should perhaps ask someone who was more familiar with the layout of the town. After thinking it over for a moment, Kyle nodded his head to himself in agreement with that thought and started to look around the area for someone who wouldn’t mind being bothered.
A few minutes into searching, and Kyle found someone he thought would be helpful. A Monster from the looks of it. Some form of rabbit girl as far as he could tell. She had long floppy ears, white fur, a tighter than average button up shirt that seemed ready to bust at the buttons and didn’t even go below her belly button. Her legs where animal in appearance and looked like those of a rabbits back legs. She even had a cute puffball of a tail that wiggled on occasion when she would look this way and that. As for any semblance of pants… Kyle could see that her fur did a well enough job of covering any lower nudity of hers. And the fact that nobody seemed bothered by her current dress told him that it was probably normal for monsters like her. Taking a small breath, Kyle made his way to the rabbit girl and smiled as pleasantly as he could before he spoke up and waved at her.
“Excuse me.”
For a moment, there was no reaction from the rabbit, but Kyle was quick to note that a few people, human and monster alike, quickly glanced at him in some confusion followed by varied looks of lewd, and confused. Ignoring them for the moment, he spoke up again seeing as the rabbit had yet to react to him.
“Excuse me, the one with the rabbit ears.”
At that, the girl quickly turned her head in his direction, her bright red eyes curiously looking for the source of the voice that called her out. Seeing as Kyle had her attention, he pointed to her and then nodded his head.
“Yes, you.”
The girl was, at first, almost flabbergasted, something Kyle took as odd. Before he could continue on with his line of questioning however, the girls eyes told him that she had just come to some realization, a knowing look in her eyes, which quickly gave way to an excited gleam. Kyle probably should have taken that as a warning, but he didn’t see any danger in his current situation.
“Hello there! Sorry to bother you, but I had a-”
Before he could even finish forming his question, the rabbit girl got to her feet, turned in his direction, and launched herself off the ground and tackled Kyle to the ground. Feeling the wind escaping from his lungs and his feet leaving the ground, Kyle had no idea what was going on, his mind trying to piece together what in the hell was currently going on. The impact on the ground forced any remaining air out of his body and cracked his head on the stone tile of the street, though the impact wasn’t all that painful from his newly transformed body. Thankfully, he got the feeling that if he didn’t have it, he might have had a cracked skull right about now. The next thing he knew, two strong pairs of hands where on his shoulders, a heavy, hot, and very fluffy set of hips where over his own, and a very happy looking girl was looking down at him, her eyes gleaming and her breaths coming in quick pants.
“You! You talked to Luvi! You gave Luvi a kind gesture! You want to be friends with Luvi?”
Kyle, unsure of what was going on, simply stammered under both the physical and mental pressure.
“Uh… well… I… Uh… Yeah? I guess?”
He wasn’t sure how she did it, but Kyle was sure the rabbit was beaming with actual light at that point, her eyes bright enough with happiness that he was sure light was coming out of them.
“Luvi has a friend now! Luvi’s Friend! Now Luvi has a friend to help her!”
Before he could even ask what the nut was on about, the rabbit now named Luvi clasped his cheeks in her hands and threw her lips into his own. There was nothing Kyle could do at the moment except be stunned at the sudden assault on his lips and the fact that the rabbit seemed to want to keep it up. Kyle couldn’t even gain a good grasp of the situation at hand, his mind filled up with the soft sensation of the rabbits velvet like mouth, his mind simply seeming to let it happen for no better reason then the fact that it felt nice. That is until he felt a warm, wet, and somewhat pushy piece of mouth anatomy try to force it’s way past his lips, and by extension, his somewhat gaping mouth.
At that point, Kyle decided that now would be a good time to put this to an end since he wasn’t sure how much further his sexual assault-ie was going to go. Taking quick note of his partners lack of concentration on the rest of his body, Kyle threw his arms up and grabbed Luvi by the shoulders and forced her to decease her attempted tongue tangling, the girl letting out a surprised gasp as she did. It was quickly followed up by a cute sounding, “eh?’ of confusion as the rabbit was trying to work her brain to figure out why she wasn’t kissing anymore, and why the situation wasn’t going towards her ideal.
“What…you… why… what the hell are you doing?!”
At first, Luvi wasn’t sure where that question was directed at, but the fact that Kyle was somewhat red from embarrassment and anger quickly got across to the rabbit and she knew that she had just been asked that question. Looking down at him with a cute expression of confusion, Luvi cocked her head to the side while she smiled at him warmly.
“You’re Luvi’s friend now! So Luvi is willing to help her friends in the best way she knows how!”
“By suddenly attacking me and forcing yourself on me?”
The look of true confusion on her face told Kyle that she didn’t seem to think that what she was doing was wrong.
“??? Luvi’s not sure if she understands… But Luvi will help her friend by giving him the best sex she can give!”
At that point Luvi once again tried to dive bomb his face with another of her deeply intimate kisses, But Kyle knew what was coming and held her fast at her shoulders. The attempted kissing/rape was now turning into a struggle between the two individuals fighting against each other on the road. Something that was now starting to gather a crowd of onlookers who were curious as to what was going on, and to others who had heard, expecting the wererabbit to overpower him and get a good hot showing of public sex. For a few more minutes, Kyle was busy trying to keep a squirming wererabbit from getting her way with him, while Luvi was trying equally as hard to get her own way. However, for the wererabbit, this was becoming increasingly more frustrating for her due to the fact that she was not used to humans being quite this strong, her own strength being greater than that of an average human.
“Okay! What the hell is going on over here?”
At the sound of a commanding voice, much of the crowd turned its attention to the direction of the voice, and upon seeing who it was, very quickly moved the hell out of their way. Those who didn’t have the presence of mind to pay attention to things going on behind them in hopes that the beginnings of an outdoor orgy was to take place where quickly and rudely shoved to the side. After that, the rest of the crowd made their way out of the way.
Finally at the edge of the scenario before them, a man decked out in solid black armor with dragon red veins running through the metal of the heavy armor along with a heavy red cape to guard his back against the sun. Upon stopping at the site, the man looked down at the two people struggling with each other, his helmet not allowing others to see his face, but his vicious red eyes still visible behind the cross shaped visor and allowing him perfect vision.
The sound of heavy clanking behind him told others that the man had not in fact come alone. Standing behind him was an equally imposing individual, also decked out in jet black armor, though in contrast to the mans, it was smaller in comparison, and wasn’t quite as fully detailed as his own, the thighs, upper arms, and midriff being more exposed to the elements then others. However, seeing as the newest arrival was in fact a woman, and most of the armor plating seemed to go around her neck, an odd choice, many would come to the conclusion that the newest arrival was a Dullahan. Unlike her partner, she didn’t don a helmet, instead allowing her natural beauty to be displayed to all around her. The woman slowly turned her head to observe the crowd, her cyan eyes moving quickly to ascertain the situation before her while her short violet hair would sway back and forth as she made several passes. Before she could complete her evaluation of the outer situation, the man let out a rough sigh before he placed his armored hand to his helmet and pinched where the bridge of his nose would be.
“For god’s sake… I’m not even part of the damn militia of this town and I still manage to find myself loaded down with work…”
“Well, you didn’t try very hard to avoid it Captain Agni.”
The man turned his attention back to the Violet haired woman behind him and gazed at her for a moment, his gaze unreadable to others outside of his line of sight.
“Point taken Kristin. Drive the crowd away, nothing to see here.”
“Hey! We see something going on right now!”
“It won’t be in a second. Now scram, all of you. As for you two…”
Captain Agni as he was called, turned his attention to Kyle and Luvi, who throughout this, where still tussling with each other, only Luvi had managed to get one of Kyles hands pinned down while the other was furiously trying to pin his other hand, which was proving very hard to do since he had it gripped firmly in his free hand. The Captain looked down at the two of them for a moment before he reached down, grabbed the rabbit by the back of her collar, and forcefully ripped her from the young man. The rabbit squealed in surprise at the sudden force and fell on her back in confusion, the sudden change in position and scenery leaving her at a loss. Meanwhile, Kyle took quick note of his sudden freedom and scrambled to his feet, relishing the newfound freedom of movement.
“Are you quite done here? If you are, good. Don’t do it again. If not… well, I won’t be so nice about it next time.”
Turning his attention to the man who had helped him, Kyle nodded his head in appreciation before he spoke up in response.
“Thanks for the help, and not that I’m not appreciative or anything, but she sorta forced herself on me for no reason. So… not really my fault.”
“Doesn’t matter who did what. You should know well enough that any Mamono/Human relations are to be kept strictly chaste in view of the town public in any Mamono friendly towns.”
Kyle, somewhat at a loss for words, simply glanced this way and that, as if not sure what to say or do about this.
“Uh… Um… Sorry… I actually don’t know that much about the rules around here… or about Mamono in general if we’re being honest here.”
For a moment, there was some silence in the area, the usual hustle and bustle going about their day, and the crowd already having dispersed upon Captain Agni’s command. However, it was the woman who came with the captain that broke the momentary silence.
“I take it that you’re somewhat new to the whole aspect of both exploring and in the ways of understanding Mamono. It’s rare we get someone in town like you, but not so much to be uncommon. I’ll take a guess and say you must be from either further east in the order controlled region, or further north-west in the more isolated lands. Either way, you’re going to need educate yourself a bit more before you really go any further for now.”
“Yeah… Kinda figured that… only problem is, I got no idea where I can find the closest Bookstore or tavern for info. Was attempting to ask that girl there where I could find them, next thing I know, she jumps me.”
Though it couldn’t be seen past his helmet, Captain Agni rolled his eyes.
“Well, if you gave the wererabbit a friendly greeting, she’s more than likely going to be attached to you on a deep emotional-”
Before the man could finish his sentence, a familiar wererabbit came bounding up from behind the captain and collided into Kyle, only this time, Kyle had a split second more to see what was coming and managed to brace himself in time to catch Luvi instead. Only he didn’t manage to get her away from him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck while she fondly rubbed her cheek against his own.
“Luvi’s friend is just shy! Luvi will wait patiently until he is ready!”
Agni let out a sigh while Kristin smiled to the two of them.
“Sadly, when a Wererabbit is greeted in such a friendly manner, she will never relent and will then determine you as a ‘friend’ and in Mamono language, that means you’re pretty much stuck with her.”
Kyle attempted to push Luvi off himself again, only to have the rabbit hold him tighter in response. Her stubborn nature obviously not allowing for him to get free anytime soon.
“Um… that might be a problem… is there any way I can get her un-attached to me? Emotionally and physically?”
Kristin simply shook her head at him, though gently in lieu of her head having the habit of falling off if she moved it to viciously.
“That’s up to you, just don’t do any acts of indecency in public and we don’t care what you do from here on out. Anyway, I can’t help with that, but I do know the location of a local bookstore. Just go the north main road and follow it until you see Maddies merchandise. On the left, can’t miss the big yellow sign.”
“Well… thanks for that at least… oh, and thanks again for helping me up off the ground good sir.”
For a moment, Agni didn’t say anything. However, his compatriot Kristin knew that her commander was contemplating something. However, before she could think further on it, the Man nodded.
“Not a problem. I bid you a good day. Kristin, come with me. We still have much to do.”
“Understood captain.”
Without another word, the two left left as quickly as they came. On their way back into the crowd, the Dullahan briskly paced next to her captain, deep in thought with a touch of concern on her brow.
“Captain Agni…”
“Yes?”
“Is it just me…or did something seem… off about that young man?”
“You’ll have to be more specific Kristin. There we’re several things odd I noticed about him.”
“So you spotted them as well?”
“Both physical and magical.”
“Should we go back and apprehend him Captain?”
Agni stopped in his tracks for a moment before he quickly changed course, his subordinate following behind in haste to keep up.
“No… we will however follow him for a time… stay close to me, we will attempt to follow him to the Library. After that… we will solve whatever this is about.”
And with that, the two made their way to the library, leaving Kyle in the dark about his current Stalkers. Said individual himself already attempting to make his way to the direction he was told, wererabbit in tow along with the little nun who was somewhat unsure of what to do with herself in the wake of this new situation.
Xx Makai, Maou’s Castle. xX
*Pit, pat, pit, pat, pit, pat.*
Deep in the cavernous halls of the Maou’s castle, noises weren’t an unusual thing to be heard down its corridors. Normally, it consisted of wet slapping sounds, moaning, and the occasional scream of ecstasy, most of the time, all in the span of about thirty or so feet. However, walking wasn’t an unusual sound to be heard, running through? That was more rare. One normally only ran in the halls of the castle if they we’re playing sexy tag, cat and mouse, or running for something important. In this case, the running was for the latter.
Running down the great halls and corridors was a young looking girl, about 10-12 years old in appearance. She was decked out in a very short cut black and white witches skirt, hardly hiding anything to be honest. She had a black sleeveless overcoat with three buttons holding it together and a white undershirt that only went to her shoulders. Cutely enough, she had a Black witches hat on her head that she was forced to push back up her head due to the fact that it was several sizes too large for her, which was making a mess of her long white hair. The girls Red eyes scanned the area around her in hopes that she might find the one door she needed to find, her heart tipped tail wrapped tightly around a paper note. On her way down the hall, she wasn’t really bringing herself to pay attention to the things in front of her, and happened to miss a rather large pool of liquid on the floor in her chosen direction and ended up stepping in it at full speed.
The next little bit was quite comedic In that the girl slipped, skidded forward for a few feet before she landed flat on her back in a giant squishy mess. Upon coming into contact with the floor, Her hat came off on the floor, revealing for all to see her budding pair of twin demon horns sprouting from behind her ears and only going about as far as her temples.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww…”
Letting out that kind of cough that lets you know the wind just got knocked out of you, the girl lifted her arm to feel the now enlarging bump on the back of her head. However, as she saw her arm, she noticed the sticky strands trailing from her arm to the floor, dripping obscenely in a mix of milky white and clear.
“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww crap baskets… that better not be what I think it is…”
Bringing her arm closer to her face, The young girl took a quick sniff before instant recognition kicked in and she let out a huff.
“Dammit Druella! Can you not fuck in the middle of a hallway when someone’s in a hurry!”
Quickly getting to her feet, the young girl stripped everything down that was wet in girl jill, which was almost everything save her panties, and then booked it down the hall, using her tiny white wings to help give her a gliding edge when she jumped a few times over a few raging orgy couples.
“Gotta find mom, Gotta find mom… which floor would she be on… Throne room? Naw, not at this hour… which leaves only one other option… To the Bedroom!”
Meanwhile, in the Maou’s bed chamber 20 or so floors up, sat the lady in question, the chair she was currently seated on scooted out away from the massive Oak wood desk with the Lady Maous face buried in what appeared to be an Imposing pile of papers on her desk, the actual surface of the desk covered in yellow parchment, stamps, and pens.
There had been many tales of the Maous Beauty, her silky midnight Hair, the pale complexion of her skin, the fact that her body seemed to radiate sex all about it with her full hips, Heart shaped ass, large breasts, shapely figure and stunning red eyes. However, nobody could see that right now under her twelve large demonic wings that lay across her whole body like a large cape. If anybody was paying attention, they would notice a slow mumbling under her breath, as if she was speaking into the desk itself.
“Burn it… Burn it all… I don’t wanna do this anymore… throw it out the window, let the breeze take it to some forgotten hole in Makai and hopefully burn brightly in the sky as it comes into contact with a very convenient lava pool…”
Off in the corner of the room, a man chuckled to himself as he leaned back into his chair, his dark hair doing a good job of obscuring his right eye and half of the mirth in the deep blue.
“Now, now Lilith. You decided on this, and you promised me that you would stop putting it off for the day. It needs to be done after all, and we can’t have that Carnival if you don’t sign all the appropriate forms after all.”
The Maou stopped looking lovingly at the table and turned her attention to the man in the room, a cute pout on her face and a set of puffed up cheeks to go with it as she looked at him in annoyance.
“Nobody told me I would need to do so much work when I became the Overlord… The last one made it look so easy…”
“Maybe that’s because he had a lot less paper to work with and was more interested in wiping out humanity.”
Looking back down at the papers, The Lady looked it over for a second before she placed her hands on the edges of the desk and flipped the table in anger, scattering the papers everywhere.
“Screw this! Sergio! You do it!”
The man in the corner got up from his seat and gave her a smile while shaking his head before he started to pick up all the scattered papers, this not being the first time his wife has exhibited such childish behavior. Looking over, he could see that she had slumped into the chair, the regal, beautiful, sexy, and to some degree terrifying Maou currently looking like a tuckered out housewife. However, Sergio wasn’t aware of any usual housewives that wore leather Dominatrix harness’s that left very little to the imagination. Sergio didn’t need to try to ‘imagine’ what was under that clothing though, his hands and eyes already having had more then there fill over the years of the tender pale flesh underneath.
Smiling devilishly to himself at his salacious memories, Sergio maneuvered himself closer to Lilith as he picked up papers and stacked them accordingly. However, his true aim was something far more physical… and pleasurable in his opinion. He finally managed to work himself close enough to her where he could actually feel her power radiating off of her body, and with it, her charm and barely restrained desire. The Maou wasn’t really paying much attention to her husband at the moment, her eyes closed and her mind wandering for the first time in a few days.
Such a thing was what Sergio was looking for and he decided to act on it, both out of loving concern for his wife, and for the deep seated desire burning in his belly. Leaning down intentionally close to her side, Sergio ‘accidently’ brushed his shoulder against her thigh as he made an attempt to grab some papers that got up under her chair. Lilith didn’t seem to react, but the small jerk of her wings told Sergio that she knew he was there, and that he was obviously going to try something.
“Oh… looks like I’ll need to get a little closer… this chair is so abnormally large you know.”
Moving closer, the knight intentionally rubbed his hand against the side of her leg as he reached under the table, making the motion as slow as possible as he did. The Maou didn’t react, but if he had been looking up, Sergio would have noticed a small smirk on his wife’s face. Sergio gently and slowly ran the length of his arm across the smooth skin of her leg, the feeling sending a small shiver up her spin as he did. Leaning down right next to her calf, Sergio’s warm breath on her skin made Lilith’s body tremble at the feeling. However, The Maou wasn’t known to be a passive woman, especially in the affairs that made her a succubus.
Lilith lifted her other leg and gently placed it over her other leg, Sergio’s cheek pressing gently into the calf. At this point, both of them knew that anymore pretenses would be simple delay for what it was they truly desired, and not being wasteful, got down to it. Sergio ran his hand up the length of her inner leg, coming to a stand as he did. Lilith for her part followed closely afterward. The both of them wrapped their arms around each other, Sergio removing the leather bands from his wife's shoulders and watching as the whole of her outfit crumpled to the floor softly, allowing him to get a prominent view of his wife's partially hidden anatomy.
Sergio was always amazed at what a change in clothing, Or lack thereof, could do to a man when he saw it. The sight of his wife, undressed and looking lavish in her birthday suite would Always set a fire in his loins. Lilith gently ran her hand over his tunic and down his chest, the feeling of her long fingers setting his lust even further on edge.
Upon looking, the Maou found the thing she was looking for. The tight string to the obscuring piece of clothing that her husband used to keep some level of modesty. Pulling it leisurely, Lilith gently went to her knees, her hands bringing the slight irritant of cloth down with her. A moment later and Sergio felt a smaller part of himself spring forth from its confines, his dick standing at attention in the eyes of his beloved.
Without a word needing to be said between them, the overlord of makai smoothly ran her hand over the length of his cock, the silky touch of her pale fingers causing Sergio to feel his inner beast swell up and his cock to throb in want. Knowing his thoughts, Lilith gently grabbed hold of her beloved and began to stroke him with slow and knowing movements, the feel of his manhood and the smell of his leaking mana causing her own lust to build and her sex to moisten.
Letting out a sight of pleasure, Sergio felt his cock begin to throb the longer she went on. Yet Lilith wasn't even getting started, her husband a man with a quickly growing lust, the Maou took it a step further. Pushing her hair back, Lilith opened her mouth and gently ran her tongue across his tip, the warm dampness making Sergio clench up at the feeling. She knew him well, and he didn't doubt she could finish him in a few seconds if she really wanted to. Slow, however, was there much preferred game.
Gently rolling her tongue over his head, Sergio could feel the rough slickness across the sensitive glans, causing him to shudder even more as he let out a small groan. Lilith giggled a little to herself at her husband’s cute expression and kissed the head of his cock, the fullness of her soft lips causing his manhood to twitch in excitement. Passing a glance to his wife, Sergio gave her a beastly smile, the kind that showed his inner lust was brimming to the fullest. Feeling her body quiver at the sight, The Maous body began to heat up while her loins tightened at the thought of her husband’s animal nature waiting to be unleased. Lusty impatience getting the better of her, the overlord ran her free hand to her own needing body and began to play with her lower lips while the hand on her husband’s cock got to work. Lilith began to stroke softly, using her full of her hand to warmly rub the full length of manhood before her, each stroke bringing out a small spurt of pre-cum. Eventually, the smell of leaking mana was almost to much for her to ignore anymore, and her mouth opened eagerly once again. This time though, she refrained from licking, and instead part of his cock with her mouth. The warmth and dampness of his wife’s mouth made Sergio breath in sharply, the feeling never getting old. Placing a hand on her head, Sergio ran his hand across her face gently, the sign for her to get started.
She wouldn’t need such a signal again.
Stroking only what could be felt, Lilith ran her mouth over half of his bulging erection, the salty taste almost making her inner nature run wild. But Sergio was there to keep it slow for the time being and knew his wife was a creature of wonton lust. He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair while giving small guidance to her actions. Feeling the loving hand of her husband, the Maou held herself back for the time being, and simply began to suck on his cock, rolling her tongue around and across his head again with practiced precision. Sergio felt his body buck in response to the new stimulant, his cock growing harder in anticipation as he himself was. However, Sergio was not a passive man, and he could feel his body wanting to dive into its amorous nature. Who was he to deny himself?
Lightly pushing his hips forward, Sergio made an attempt to push himself further into her mouth, the feeling of her moist cavity savaging his mind in delight of the feeling. Lilith wasn’t one to hold back for much longer herself and let her husband push himself into her mouth until they both felt his cock hit the back of her throat.
Just as they were about to get started with the vicious throat fucking that they were anticipating, the sound of the door being blasted open didn't leave either one with enough time to finish what was being started.
“Moooooooooom! We got a pro- agh!!”
Rushing through the door and promptly crashing into her father’s back, the panicking Lilim tumbled to the ground on impact as she bounced of Sergio's back. However, her little run-in did more damage then what one would think could happen in a quick second. Sadly, due to the fact that Sergio's cock had still been in his wife's mouth, the impact had shoved his overly long dick much further than a cock should go in a throat. Not only that, but lady Lilith had reacted on instinct and had tried to get out of the way. Sadly, it had happened so fast that the best she could do was move back and feel her husband’s dick shove itself painfully into the back of her mouth, where upon being shoved in by force, she instinctively had tried to close her mouth and had bit much harder then was comfortable for soft tissue. The worst part was that they had yet to truly get into their sexy time, so the magic that would normally make something like this feel pleasurable had yet to kick in. Having to pull his now throbbing and softening dick out of his wife's mouth, Sergio had to grab at his groin in pain, while the overlord herself was busy having a coughing fit and trying her damnedest to not retch all over the floor.
The cause of this situation was busy getting back up off the floor and looking at her handiwork with a sheepish grin on her face.
“Uh… Oops.”
With the both of them now entirely out of the mood and now suffering from inconvenient injuries that they had not been expecting, both Lilith and Sergio looked toward their daughter, Sergio looking less peeved and more amused despite his still aching dick while the Maou looked somewhat pissed at having her fun time ruined.
“Zellha… This had better be important for such a rash action. You almost killed me!”
The Lilim held her hands up in her defense against her mother, her nervous smile never having left her face.
“Sorry Mom… I didn’t mean to…”
Sergio let out a small sigh before he grabbed his pants off the floor. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed about his daughter seeing him naked, many of his children had seen him have sex with his wife in public on quite a few occasion. It was more out of a mental rule to cover himself up quickly in the presence of other mamono least they attempt to jump him for his potent Mana. However, he knew that it meant nothing, and answered his daughter seeing as his wife was looking somewhat peeved right now.
“It’s alright Zellha… Now, what’s so important that you didn’t bother to knock on the door?”
For a moment, Zellha looked somewhat confused. However, it only lasted for that one moment before she remembered what she was in a hurry for.
“Oh! Right! Mom! Dad! We got a serious problem!”
Not waiting for either of them, Zellha flipped the overturned cabinet back on its legs with a flick of her wrist. With yet another flick, all the scattered papers on the floor flew into a flurry and landed in neat piles next to the desk. Lilith was sad to note that the ‘out’ stack was visibly smaller than the ‘in’ stack. However, Her daughter drew her attention back to her when she placed a scroll she had in her tail on the table with a slam.
“Okay Mom. Watch this, and you’ll know exactly why I was in a hurry.”
Having captured the attention of both her parents, the young Lilim opened the scroll. What happened next was an array of light shot out of the scroll and started to work itself into intricate patterns in the open air, the prismatic colors interweaving themselves and changing both color and shapes for the next few seconds before it all eventually set itself into several spheres overlapping each other.
“Isn’t that our world?”
Sergio pointed to the inner sphere quizzically.
Both the Maou and her daughter nodded their heads in agreement.
“Yes Darling, that’s our world, and the inner world of Hades, along with the Celestial Plane… and the Outer Prana Membrane if this is correct… I do not like where this is going.”
“Just wait a second Mom, you’ll hate what happens next.”
True to her word, a few seconds later, and something did in fact happen. Something that made the Mighty Maou look on in dread. For a second, everything seemed calm, the four spheres rotating at their own rates. That is until the outer Membrane started to dip outward before it just seemed to shatter into a fist sized hole. A second later and something came shooting out of the hole so fast that had anybody blinked, they would have missed its initial decent. It then passed through the Celestial plane, leaving a smaller hole in it, but then coming to a stop on the 3rd plane. The Mortal Plane.
There was a heavy silence in the room. For two of the three people present, the ramifications of what was just displayed was something to be considered terrifying. However, of the three, one didn’t quite get it. Sergio looked to his wife, and then to his daughter, and then to the large magical projection still present in the room before he said anything.
“So… what does it mean?”
Lilith was the first to answer his question, but she didn’t look away from the projection, her eyes wide open in fear and her fingers tapping across the surface of the desk in a rapid and chaotic fashion.
“Honey… it means that we’re in trouble.”
Spoiler: show
Chapter 3: this and that.
‘Kill her.’
‘No.’
‘Kill her.’
‘No.’
‘Oh by hellfire you have got to be kidding me, KILL THE FUCKING RABBIT CHICK ALREADY.’
Kyle let out an audible sigh as he pulled the book away from his face and fixed a gaze at the Blade at his side.
‘No, and it’s final. I’m not going to kill her because you want me to.’
‘Okay, don’t think of it as killing her because you want me to. Think of it as getting rid of a future problem. Cause let me tell you. That rabbit? Huge ass problem in the future. Now kill it off.’
‘I refuse. I won’t kill her. You don’t even know if she’ll be a problem in the future.’
“Look what Luvi found!”
Kyle turned his attention away from Zamil and to the end of the shelf that the voice had come from, standing there on her tip toes and pulling something from the top of a shelf was the whole reason for their argument, Luvi, the Wererabbit.
A second later, and the thing she had grabbed had pulled with it the rest of the objects that had been on top of it, causing the whole pile to come down on her head with a crash and clatter.
“Ooooow…”
For a moment or two, Kyle said nothing, However Zamil was all up for saying something in that moment.
‘Oh really? How many times has she done that now?’
‘Nobody likes a smartass.’
Sadly, Kyle could not refute what the overlord was saying. After he had left the town square, Kyle had brought Celti and Luvi along with him to the store that the two armored individuals told him about. He had been surprised to see a young girl watching the counter, but he attributed her to some kind of monster at that point due to the fact that she was dressed up in a witch outfit and talked far more eloquently then one her age should have. Sadly, despite having been there an hour now, most of it was spent cleaning up messes that Luvi had been making in her overeager manner. Kyle had noticed that with this most recent accident, the Store owner was starting to look pissed, the glare she was throwing at him something of a dead giveaway. Thankfully, nothing had been broken, but Kyle knew his luck was going to run out sooner or later.
Rolling his eyes in some frustration, Kyle went over and helped her out of the pile, starting to pick up her mess in the process.
“How many times am I going to have to tell you? Stop touching things. It’s only going to make the shopkeeper angrier at us…”
Luvi gave him a sheepish smile as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.
“Sorry! Won’t happen again!”
“That’s what you said last time… what where you trying to get this time anyway?”
With a flourish, the white rabbit pulled up the thing she had in her hand, her eyes lighting up at the sight of it.
“This thing!”
Kyle took one long hard look at it before he let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Another fucking dildo… Go sit in the corner, and for the last time, don’t move away from it. And give me that.”
Taking the oblong shlong from her hand, Kyle pointed to a corner of the store for her to sit in, the spot already having been set up with all the things Luvi had gathered up and looked at with short interest. Without another word, Luvi happily skipped her way to the corner and picked up one of the random objects she had found and started to fiddle with it.
Kyle let out what he assumed was his 18th sigh in a row and looked back at the shelf with the book he was looking at.
‘Still don’t think she’s going to be a problem?’
‘We’ll ditch her when we can okay? Until then, we’ll just have to contend with her… and I still refuse to kill her. That’s to extreme in my opinion. And if we can’t get rid of her… then I guess where stuck with her.’
‘I seriously doubt you’re going to be able to do anything about her with that attitude. Whatever, she can’t stay, that’s final. Do something about her before we leave town. Getting rid of her as quickly as possible is the best bet before she starts to get more attached then she already is.’
‘Yes yes… anyway, bringing ourselves away from that topic, I haven’t managed to glen anything from these books. I’m reading up on the history of Tengoku, but anything relating to before the time of the current Maou doesn’t seem to be mentioned very much… the only things I can find say things along the lines of how it was a terrible time of death and murder…’
‘Yup. That’s all I’ve managed to gather from the books myself. However, this in of itself is information we can use to determine the situation.’
Kyle cocked his head to the side in some curiosity as he looked down at his blade.
‘How so?’
‘Well, for starters, the current Maou, Lady Lilith as she’s called, is a total pacifist. Not only that, but the name she’s donned herself with is something of a symbol of what kind of Maou, and in this regard, Monster she is.’
‘You got all that from the books?’
‘More like the information that isn’t found in them. Notice how this book in your hand mentions all the ‘terrible battles’ in less than 4 paragraphs. The author obviously didn’t want to go into detail about all the gore and horror. This book also goes into great detail about the current Maous exploits and all the great things she’s done for Makai. Notice how hardly any of it is about any kind of war or military achievement. Lilith is a pacifist, and seems to refuse to fight if she can help it.’
‘Then she’s a weakling.’
‘Dead wrong there.’
Confused, Kyle scratched the back of his head while he gave Zamil a baited look.
‘Pay attention for a second. Lilith is the current Maou. Now, that position can’t be obtained by bribery or through backstabbing the previous Maou.’
‘Why is that?’
‘Because the position is one of power. Being the Maou is something like a natural thing in this world. All monsters in the world answer to her to some degree, and are linked to her via a subconscious and magical level. I should know, I held the position once. However, that’s not all there is to it. As Maou, one needs power to obtain the positon, as it is inherited to another monster who has the power in body, mind, and soul. However, this privilege is normally reserved for bigger going demons that come from the Clans. Before you ask, Clans are what you might call the ‘species’ of demons. All clans fall under a category of sin. Pride, wrath, Envy, Gluttony, sloth, greed, and Lust. Under each of those categories, you have a progenitor. These Progenitor clans are, Lucifer, Satan, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Belphegor, Mammon, and lastly, Asmodeus.’
‘Wait… so the seven princes of hell are actually the seven clans of hell? Holy shit.’
‘Good way to think about it. These clans are actually named after the demons who started them. So the name can mean either the demon or the Clan itself. Anyway, after that, you have the Hierarchy of hell, which would be the dukes, marquis’s, Arch-dukes, and so on and so forth. All other clans originated from the seven original clans, The clan of Abaddon for example, having come from the Clan of Satan. Lilith, as she’s called, is more than likely someone from one of the lesser clans of Asmodeus. Which in turn, would make her a demon of lust, more than likely a Higher succubus.’
Kyle, who had been very keen on learning all of this, tapped the book he was holding as he pondered what was being said.
‘How do you figure that?’
‘Oh for fucks sake kid, have you been paying any attention to the world around you right now? Look out the window and tell me what you see.’
Confused, Kyle did as he was asked and walked over to the front of the shop to look out the large class window. Observing for a moment, he was hesitant to answer, not sure what it was he was looking for.
‘Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh… a lot of people?’
‘Not all of them are people.’
‘Okay, a lot of people and monsters.’
‘And between the two species, what do you see that happens to be different from the rest?’
‘Other than the things that make them monsters? Eh… I dunno.’
‘You’re lucky I’m patient… pay closer attention. You’re looking at the right part, but not so much the right ‘parts’ if you catch my meaning.’
Unsure of what it was he was saying, Kyle looked more closely at the monsters. Just like last time, the things he saw where similar to all the other oddities they shared. Scales on some, tauric types for others, feathers on flying ones. He even noticed that some of them where small girls that where walking hand in hand with men who seemed a little to lecherous in there demeanor.
‘… wait a minute…’
Suddenly, something seemed to click in his mind. Girls? Taking a closer look at all the Mamono, Kyle felt his brain begin to make a connection. After a few more seconds of observing, he even looked back at Luvi who was looking rather bored, and once again eyeing something on the shelf.
‘… You gotta be kidding me. Not a single one of those Monsters are male in any way.’
‘Ding-ding-ding! Give the Kid a fucking prize! Yes, all the monsters are Female. Remember what a said a few hours ago back at the cave? That something felt off? The energy in the air is saturated with succubus Power. The current Maou has got to be a Demi-god Class succubus.’
‘So she’s really strong?’
‘Yes. You probably don’t really understand, but when Lilith took over, she probably cast some powerful alteration magic on a Planet wide scale. The monsters we see before us where probably bloodthirsty creatures previously.’
Kyle blinked a few times, his mind taking a second to try to register the vastness of such a situation. To be able to change the physical appearance of all monsters on the planet to one of females… he had no idea how much power that might require.
‘Also, judging from the way these girls seem to act, I’m guessing the magic was far more then cosmetic. I don’t detect a serious amount of bloodlust in any of the monsters here… actually, it would be more accurate to say that the bloodlust seems to have changed to just simple lust.’
‘Then… does that mean that since she happens to be a demon of Asmodeus, all the others are like succubi?’
Kyle wasn’t sure if he was feeling it right, but he thought he may have heard something akin to a grunt of approval in his mind from Zamil.
‘Huh, smarter than I thought you were. From an instinctual standpoint, yeah, many of the Monsters… or mamono in this case, don’t seek to kill humans anymore. They probably seek to rape and copulate with Humans now. I don’t know how that might work with human woman, but we can find more out later. But with this, we’ve obtained some pretty valuable information.’
‘I can see how it might be useful from an informational standpoint, but I don’t know how it might help us with our larger goal in getting your body back.’
‘It won’t really, it just keeps us in the loop. The common sense of this world is what we need to learn kid. Also, any information relating to me probably won’t be found in such a simple store such as this. We’ll need to find a Monster who’s lived that long or some library with books dating back 2000 years ago.’
‘Agreed. Looking over these past few books hasn’t shown much save, like you said, the Current Demon Lord doesn’t seem to want to spread information about those dark times. I guess we’ve done all we can while here… I wonder what else we can learn while here…’
“*Ah-hem*”
The sound of someone clearing their throat caught Kyle’s attention and he turned in the direction of the voice. The Young shop owner was next to him, looking up at him in a somewhat agitated manner.
“Excuse me… I’m not one to be nasty or anything… But, you’ve been reading most of my books for a while. As I allow people to sample and try out our merchandise, I can understand people finding things they might like. However, I’m not really ecstatic about you reading the entire contents of my literary section. So, either please buy something from my library, or stop reading all my books.”
Kyle blinked in some confusion for a moment before he suddenly got the hint. She’s running a business after all, not a library. Laughing sheepishly to her, Kyle put the book back on the shelf and gave her an apologetic look.
“Sorry… I’m sorta new around here in the midlands… so I’m just trying to gather information is all…”
“I see… well, if you require information about the midlands, I happen to have a primer on the area if you so wish to buy it. 30 copper and it’s yours.”
“I might… but if I may ask… do you also happen to have a primer on Mamono and common flora and Fauna?”
Looking up at him quizzically, the shop owner nodded her head in affirmation.
“I do actually. It’s the Makai Travelers guide. It has all sorts of useful information in it, including all of the known mamono, most of the important plants and Animals in Makai, and many of the better known hot spots to be found in Makai. I’ll give it to you for 70 copper… However… if you don’t mind my asking, are you and that young girl you came in with… eh he he… friends by chance?”
Kyle wasn’t certain if he liked the sound of that laugh, but he couldn’t find a reason to refuse her question and nodded his head.
“Sorta, yeah.”
“I see I see… Tell ya what. I’m gonna give the book to you for 50 Copper and I’ll throw in a Sabbath Handbook for free. That sound fair to you?”
Kyle, uncertain of why the little shopkeeper was even doing that, simply cocked his head to the side in some confusion. He hadn’t thought the price was unfair or anything, but the way she seemed to be acting so weird when she mentioned Celti sorta bugged him.
‘Oh for fucks sake kid, take the bargain! Misunderstandings aside, this is a chance to get some info.’
“Um… Okay. Sure. I’ll take it.”
“Splendid! I’ll gather the items for you now. When your done looking around, they’ll be waiting for you at the front desk… oh, and keep that rabbit from messing anything else up. Nothing will break around here due to my magic, but cleaning up her mess is going to be a pain.”
“I see… Understood… and my apologies.”
With those words, Kyle watched the Storekeeper walk away humming to herself and a cheerful smile on her face. Not exactly sure what may have just transpired, Kyle decided that maybe he should see if there was anything else he might be able to buy. However, a quick cursory glance at the bookshelf told him that he couldn’t really find anything that might allow him that kind of knowledge.
‘Ya know, I didn’t think about it until now, but I didn’t know that the language and written letters of this world would be so similar to those of earth. Useful I suppose, but at the same time, I find it sorta odd.’
‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth kid. However, I can see how you would be confused. At the same time, it’s actually pretty easy to explain. You know how the idea of parallel worlds works? It’s kinda like that. This world is probably very similar to your own in its origins save for the usage of magic. Anyway, I suggest you get to checking out and finding the Loli nun... and I guess the rabbit too while you’re at it, though ditching her is still the most solid plan here.’
‘We’ll figure out what to do with her later like we agreed. IN the meantime, after we get done here, I think we should head to a bar for more info or to at least see if this town has some kind of library.’
‘Sounds like a plan to me.’
With that worked out, Kyle felt Zamil sink back into his subconscious to keep the illusion going for a bit longer. Turning to the spot he last had seen Luvi, Kyle wasn’t really surprised to see that she was still there, though her current mood was starting to get antsy and impatient, so he knew it was only a matter of time before she started to wander again. Celti, however, was another matter. Ever since they had come into the bookstore, Kyle had lost track of the nun, though he had spotted her walking around the store as if in hopes of finding something. The current situation was somewhat similar, only Celti was in a more fixed position. She seemed to have navigated herself to the front of the store and had been patiently waiting for the store owner to make her way back to the counter. Kyle, curious, stood a bit back and out of her line of sight, but still close enough to listen in on her.
“Um… Uh… excuse me…”
The shopkeeper, who had been busy trying to get Kyles order ready, looked back over the counter to see the Nun looking at her nervously. Being professional about the disturbance, the little girl gave her a charming smile.
“Yeeeeeeeees? How can I help you?”
“Um… I was wondering… I was looking a minute ago for it… but I didn’t see any sacred texts on the bookshelf at all… do you not carry them?”
For a moment, the shopkeeper was confused for a moment before she suddenly realized what the girl was asking.
“Ahhhhhhhhh, are you perhaps talking about religious texts from certain gods? If so, I happen to keep them behind the counter here since those are hard to come by. Let me get them for you…”
The girl ducked down behind the counter for a minute or two before she came back up with several books in hand and lay them out on the counter for Celti to see.
“Here we go! I happen to have 5 books here that might interest you! Starting from the left we have a book of love from the Goddess Eros, very good read if I say so myself. The next one is a marriage text from sea bishops given to them by Poseidon directly. It’s mostly about certain marriage rules and all that, but it’s the closest thing we have to a religion relating to Poseidon. The next one is a hard to come by text from Pandemonium. I wouldn’t recommend this one due to the chaotic nature of the writing and due to the fact the language used is a corrupted version of Divine text. The next one is a lesser known text from Zipangu. That place is crawling with minor deities called ‘Land Gods’, but still a decent read. And the last one is a war text from Ares about how best to glorify her in combat. Not very long, but still pretty informative. So? Which one is to your liking?”
For a moment, Celti wasn’t sure how best to respond and simply looked down at the texts with something akin to confusion mixed with apprehension before she looked back up at the clerk with a sheepish smile on her face.
“Um… None of them really… do you happen to have anything… relating to the chief god?”
Kyle was somewhat faraway, but he was quick to note the small change in the shopkeepers expression. It was small, but the smile which looked so natural a moment ago, looked somewhat strained at that moment. However, despite the fact the change in expression was slight, the change in her voice was massive, going from cheery, to downright disappointed.
“Oh… You’re interested in those texts… Sorry, we don’t have those in the store due to the numerous complaints we received a while back from several Town folk who didn’t like seeing them. I couldn’t sell them, so I donated them at the local Sabbath branch here in town. If you still want them, you could ask them and see if they have them. The Sabbath here is interested in preserving all forms of texts… even those of a generally distasteful nature.”
Celti nodded her head, noting the fact that she shopkeeper didn’t look very happy right at that moment and gave her a small thank you before she scampered off to the front of the store. Kyle, taking that as a que, made his way to the front desk.
“Not generally accepting of Religious texts?”
“It’s not that. I Just can’t sell Order books. And the people who do ask for them are hoity toity Order goers who give me no end of trouble about ‘why isn’t the sacred text in the front?!’ and ‘blasphemy! To come to a store owned by a monster!’ and it just gives me a headache…” Kyle gave her a small laugh as the girl pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
“Sorry, I don’t think she meant any harm by it…”
“Probably not, but I’m guessing that’s why you have her with you. I mean, it’s rare to find a guy who’s so willing to corrupt such a young nubile order girl at such a tender age.”
The tired expression on the girls face was gone, and it was quickly replaced with a smirk filled with lascivious intentions aimed directly at Kyle, who for lack of a better term, started to burn a bright red at the suggestion.
“Uh… I… Uh… that’s… Um… not really my intention… I mean… we sorta just met a few hours ago… and… I just wanted to be nice to her and take her around town… and I don’t really have any plans to uh… corrupt her or anything…”
“Really? I could have sworn you were trying to turn her with all that Mana leaking out of you… Plus, you just seem to have the face of a child lover.”
“Um… I can’t really deny the child lover part… a Lolicon if it means anything to you, but what do you mean by my Mana is leaking all over the place?”
For a moment, the shopkeep looked genuinely confused before she leaned over the counter and looked him right in the eyes.
“Are you not aware? Your mana, which has been gushing out of you like a geyser since you walked in my door, is super strong, so I thought you were trying to catch the attention of some monsters or girls. Do you not know how to control it?”
“Um… Uh…”
‘Zamil! What is she on about!?’
‘You’re just not going to give me the proper respect are you?... anyway…Your Mana kid, your essence and life force, is leaking all over the place. Since you haven’t been trained in it, you’re kinda just letting it out all over the place.’
‘Life force? Am I dying? Is this a bad thing?’
‘Relax. It’s not a major issue if you let it permeate the area or just let it loose. And no, it’s not killing you, it’s just like breathing for your soul. Thing is, demons have incredible amounts of life force due to the fact that most demons are neigh immortal. It makes the life energy super potent. Since you’re new to this whole demon thing, you don’t really know how to handle it and so it’s coming out in waves. This wouldn’t’ be an issue normally, but I get the feeling that most of the succubus type monsters are attracted to this kind of thing. I’ve been trying to keep a lid on it for a while now, but even with my help, since you’re not trying to repress it or anything, it’s something of a tough fight. Couple that with your half-assed illusion spell and it’s a tough fight for me right now.’
‘I see… anything I can do to help?’
‘Since you don’t really know how to do it, I would suggest you just try to find some item that could help you repress it. Trying to learn how to do it from the ground up is going to take time, and we don’t have that much of it right now.’
‘Got it… but in the event we can’t find something to help me repress it?’
‘You better start learning how to beat chicks off then.’
It wasn’t a very hopeful answer, but Kyle could only sign internally. Bringing his attention back to the shopkeeper, Kyle simply shook his head at her in response.
“Sadly not… it’s been a bit of a problem if what you’re saying is true.”
“I see… well, it’s not that big a deal in town since we have some rules to follow, but I would suggest you go to the Sabbath for most magical related problems. They can probably give you something or cast a spell that can help you to repress that amount leaking out. Other than that… that’ll be 50 copper in total for the guide.”
Nodding his head at her, Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out the small pouch with the stolen money in it and pulled out the copper and silver. He didn’t count enough coppers to cover the cost, so he handed her a silver instead.
“Alright… give me one moment as I count out your change…”
As she reached under the counter to look for the change, Kyle took a glance at the five texts that she had shown to Celti and glanced over them in some interest.
“By the by… how much are those texts each?”
Not even bothering to glance up as she counted out the change, the shopkeeper thought it over for a second before replying.
“One silver each.”
“Nope. Too much for my blood. Thanks for the info though.”
With a nod, Kyle held out his hand and took the money leftover and put it in his pouch while taking the books in hand. Before he could walk out the door though, the shopkeeper grabbed his attention one more time by reaching under the counter and holding up a semi-large gray bag.
“Here. I noticed that you didn’t seem to have a bag of your own to keep your stuff in. I’ll give this to you as a gift. From one likeminded individual to another. “
Not sure what to think of that line of reasoning, Kyle simply took the bag despite the sly wink and lecherous smirk on her face. He still couldn’t’ grasp words even when he noticed the odd heart shaped goat skull pendent on the bag clasp. However, he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and he was sure Zamil would tell him to take it anyway, so he gave her a smile and a nod of thanks.
“Much appreciated. Have a wonderful day.”
“Likewise! And give the Sabbath a visit if you find the time! It’s on the other side of town close to the other churches. Can’t miss it!”
And with that, Kyle made his way out the door, noting that both Luvi and Celti where both there already. Luvi looking very interested about the things outside the store while Celti seemed somewhat lost in thought.
“Okay you two. Let’s get going. We’ll be heading to the Sabbath to see what kind of books they have there… and from the sounds of it, they have the things you’re looking for as well Celti.”
The Nun nodded her head in understanding to the statement. However, Luvi for the most part was too busy keeping her attention elsewhere to really get the gist of the two next to her where discussing. Something Lyle took notice of when she seemed to start spacing out a moment ago.
Simply rolling his eyes, Kyle made his way out the door… and almost ran into a standing pedestrian who just barely moved out of the way of the door itself.
“Whoa! Sorry!”
Kyle was quick to right himself, the sensation of trying to stop the door almost making him lose his balance. The individual in front of him, a human male as far as he could tell, looked over at him with a small smile on his face.
“No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have been standing in the doorway to begin with… of course, trying to get through the road right now is a bit of a pain due to the small sideshow that nut’s got set up in the plaza right now.”
“Nut Job? Side show? What’s going on?”
“Oh, some priest set up shop in the middle of the town plaza and started raving again. Not the first time it’s happened, but the guard can’t do anything about it at the moment until they get enough complaints… Seriously…”
Curious about it, Kyle peeked around the edge of the building and saw that most people were trying there hardest to stay away from the plaza, the roads congested with stock still bystanders.
“Huh… this could be interesting… Hey guys, it’s on the way, so let’s go and see what this mess is all about.”
“Sure!/ Alright.” Where the responses he got in return.
‘Uhhhhhhhhhhh… Kid? What the fuck? Why are we going to go and watch this loony bin? I want to hear a pretty good reason, and if it isn’t good enough, I’ll scream t you death metal style.’
‘It’s an opportunity to figure out what the Order is like, or at least try to gain an understanding of what we’ll be dealing with. We don’t know if the guy is high on the food chain, but any information is useful information, am I right?’
‘Okay, I’ll give you that. but If it’s just some mad fuck speaking about the end times, we ain’t listening.’
‘Got it. I don’t plan to be long.’
Making their way past the crowd with much pushing and apologies, Kyle and his merry band where slowly making their way through it. A bit into it and Kyle started to hear a loud voice off in the distance, though he couldn’t make much of what it was saying past the grumbling and angry huffs of the people around himself.
Eventually, the crowd started to thin out the closer to the plaza he got until eventually he could maneuver easily enough through the gaps in the crowd without actually stepping on toes… or tails for that matter. Before he knew it, Kyle had managed to make it into the plaza, which in comparison to earlier, was a lot less crowded. In fact, other than on the outskirts of the Plaza, nobody seemed willing to get closer to the middle of the plaza, in which this individual had set up some kind of makeshift dais and was talking from the top of it with pointed gestures and loud bravado.
“Heed me children of man! The creatures that you so willingly stand next to in utter contempt to our grand creator are no more ‘human’ then a log or a some rock! Nay! They are worse than that! They are monstrosities peeled away from the hide of evil and wear the flesh of their victims in hopes of catching you unaware!”
‘Nope. I’m out. Not even a minute and I can tell how this is going to turn out. Let the guard cut his head off or drag him out of town, nothing to hear here.’
‘Oh come on. It’s not even been 2 minutes yet. Let’s hear him out for a few more minutes.’
‘Five minutes. That’s all I’m giving you. Anymore and I’ll start singing my edited version of Gilbert and Sullivan's modern major general.’
‘Fine… though that does sound like it would be an interesting thing to hear…’
Taking his attention away from the Overlord, Kyle brought his attention back to the priest, who was once again talking with flourish.
“-And so I say ask each of you! What is the point to this mortal existence if in the process of living it you curse your soul to eternal damnation!? Heed the word of the chief god! Strike these creatures down next to you! Repent your souls so that you may return to the heavens and to the bosom of our God!”
‘Learn anything yet? Cause it all sounds the same to me.’
‘Wise-ass. Just be quiet for a second okay?’
Without another word, Kyle felt Zamil simply resign himself to this sermon for the time being, which in turn, allowed him to listen in on the guy again. Granted, he wasn’t hearing much else that could help him, but he was willing to slog a little bit more through it.
“-And so I say to each of you! Would you risk yourself and your soul just to enjoy a simple fleeting moment of mortal pleasure when the kingdoms of heaven have far grander treasures in them then of this fleshy coil?! Think on it I say! These creatures before us must be disposed of, not conjoined with!”
“Oh my Maou! Would you shut up already!”
Unsure of where that had come from, Kyle glanced to the side to see that what was basically a centaur of a woman had pulled away from the crowd to tell this man to shut his mouth.
“You’ve been going on for a solid 30 minutes now, and let me tell you something. Nobody is giving one damn about what you say.”
The preacher, if in fact that was what he was, threw his hand up in the air and looked on at the centaur(?) with disgust.
“I cast you out impure creature! Do not talk to me as if we we’re equals! Be gone in the name of the Holy God!”
Kyle knew he wasn’t one who could read mood changes very well, but even he was sure that the crowds mood had changed from simply being mildly irritated, to downright hostile. If something wasn’t done quick, he was sure this man would be on the receiving end of a lynching. Deciding that no one in this crowd was willing to stop the eventual Brutality that would no doubt ensue, Kyle decided to take it on himself, against his better judgment and the judgement of the Overlord in his sword, to at least try to settle this quietly with words.
“Luvi, Celti. You two stay here… I’mma go and take care of this before it starts to get out of hand.”
Not giving them any time to retort or respond, Kyle walked out of the crowd and into very open view of the Priest and the rest of the crowd.
“S’cuse me pal… May I perhaps have a moment of your time?”
The priest, somewhat surprised that a regular human had come up to talk with him, was somewhat confused for a moment before he took a much more neutral tone with him.
“Yes Child? How can I help you?”
“Thank you… Now, I couldn’t help but hear your riveting and otherwise very informative speech about other races and all that… but… I have to admit, I see some fallacies with a couple of your points. Now, I’m not really from around here, but the place I used to live happened to have this thing called ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Do you know for a fact if these Mamono are truly as you claim? Cause in my opinion, I have yet to see anything like what your talking about in this town here.”
For a moment, the priest simply looked on in some confusion before realization set in and his mouth turned downward in disgust.
“You must be a Monster sympathizer to hold such a thought in your head. But in answer to your question, yes. There is no doubt in what I am saying, the scriptures tell us the true nature of these monsters and it is through the scriptures that we learn all that we need to know.”
Kyle nodded his head, as if in understanding before he spoke up again.
“Okay, sounds okay enough. But have you actually lived amongst them? Understood them?”
“Why in the name of the Light would I do such an action? To even be in this city infested with their kind is enough of a sin as is!”
“…and we already have your first error. I can’t take you seriously if, in truth, you yourself haven’t tried to enlighten yourself. If you sit in a room and keep yourself away from Mamono, then how can I know if what you say is true? You have no firsthand experience dealing with them other then what you’re taught in a book that’s probably hundreds of years old.”
“The scripture of light is mankind’s truest word to our most holy God! It is accurate in that our god had set the words in them at the dawn of this world! To doubt them is to doubt our God, to disobey the commandments is to disobey the words of our creator! This in of itself is a sin of the highest order!”
“So you’re saying the book is right cause it says it’s right. Sorry, but where I come from, we call that a Euthyphro dilemma. We can’t say it’s right cause it says it’s right. Educated individuals learn all they can about something before they make an educated guess.”
“These are the mandates that have been with mankind since the dawn of the ages! In doubting them, you say that mankind is to be doubted!”
“Whoo! That’s not what I said. I’m not saying your mandates are wrong, humans need structure in their lives to keep them going else they would devolve into more baser creatures fit only to try to pass on seed. All I’m saying is, you need to take what your told with a grain of salt and try thinking for yourself is all. I’ve been with some of these Mamono, and as far as I can tell, they don’t have evil intentions or seem to want to eat me whole. In fact, it could be said that they follow one of the more basic of human emotions to its fullest.”
“They do so to blind you to their true intentions! The only basic urge they have is the emotion of evil and no other!”
“I would doubt that. evil is done via actions, not by emotions. Mamono seem to follow one of the things that would make a human so human… and as corny as it sounds, love is a pretty powerful emotion.”
The priest snorted to himself at the mention of the word.
“Love? Lust is what drives these creatures! These Monsters don’t have the basic ability to comprehend the power of love! They are not loved by the creator! How can they understand that which isn’t given to them?”
“Okay, I can’t claim to know this Chief God very well, but in my opinion, a God that can’t love everything equally isn’t really an almighty god, and doesn’t sound very benevolent in my opinion. So, maybe it would be best of not everyone worshiped such a god. Just my 2 cents on that though.”
The priest seemed to grit his teeth at those words and his face took on a shade of red that told Kyle that he may have just stepped on a landmine. However, before the argument could continue even further, the sound of several heavy metal boots coming down caught the attention of everyone present. Looking off to the side, about 4 armored individuals where coming up on the scene, two of them human in appearance while the others were definitely monster. The one in the lead quickly made their way to the middle of the plaza and started speaking out.
“Okay Okay, what in the 9 hells is going on out here and why are the streets clogged to the brim with unmoving pedestrians?”
Kyle, not wanting to be blamed for anything revolving around this incident, jerked his thumb in the direction of the priest on the podium.
“That would be your cause there Officer.”
The young man looked from Kyle to the zealot on the Dais and seemed to visably change his whole stance to one of frustration.
“Oh by Ares short sword… You again? Listen pal, I’ve told you 4 times now, You need a preaching permit if you want to go around and talk peoples ears off around here. Until then, no permit, no preaching.”
“My words will not be kept back by the likes of Monster sympathizers and there ilk! My words will be heard so that the few lost souls who may yet be saved will come to a true understanding and-”
Before he could continue, a charged feeling hung in the air for a moment and in the next instant, something strange happened. Kyle felt the air charge up for a moment, and a second later, the priest, who had been in the middle of a rant, suddenly went mute. Kyle was confused for a moment before he saw it. The mans mouth was still moving, but no sound was coming out. Unaware of this, the priest kept on talking with gusto, unaware that his words couldn’t be heard.
’Hey kid. Check out that dude over there.’
Following his gaze to where the overlord wanted him to look, Kyle saw that one of the more human looking armored Knights had their hand up with a green glow around his hand.
‘Huh… is he casting magic?’
‘Yup. A mute spell of sorts from the looks of it.’
Curious, Kyle ordained to watch to see what he could learn, but the man who had been talking the priest down looked to him and drew his attention away.
“Our apologies for the late arrival everyone. You may proceed about your business… except for you.”
Kyle blinked for a second before he pointed to himself. As if to punctuate that point, the man nodded his head.
“Yes, You. We need to have a talk about a few things.”
“Um… before any fingers get pointed officer, I’m just a bystander in this situation. One who happened to be curious about the priest in general and wanted to try to talk him down is all.”
“Oh? That? We don’t really care about that. as long as it doesn’t come to blows or causes to much trouble for the rest of the people, we don’t mind some banter between priests. No, the thing I wanted to talk with you about is your Mana. Your spilling it everywhere, I’ll have to ask you to try to put a lid on it. Such a potent amount is bound to cause trouble for the single Mamono wandering around town.”
“Oh! That! Sorry, sadly I wish I could, but I’ve never really needed to until now… someone already made a mention of it, so I’m on my way to the Sabbath to see if they can fix it.”
“I see, as long as you understand… do you know how to get there? I take it from your conversation that you’re not really from around here.”
“Yeah, you would guess right. But in answer to your question, no, I know where it’s at, with the rest of the temples and shrines right? Just down that road?”
The Man looked to where Kyle was pointing and nodded his head in confirmation.
“Correct. If you already know, then all is well. I bid you a good day.”
With a nod of his head, the knight went back to his group, who was in the middle if trying to pacify the mute priest, who must have realized he had been silenced with magical means and was looking far more red in the face then he was a few minutes ago.
Simply nodding his head at the situation, Kyle looked back to see if he could find Luvi and Celti. He wasn’t surprised to see them already coming toward him, though he had to backpedal to stop the wererabbit from tackling him to the ground again. After managing to avoid her, he looked to the both of them and gave them an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep us from our goal.”
Luvi raised her hand in exuberance and smiled at him happily in answer.
“It’s okay! I didn’t really get half of what was going on anyway!”
‘I’m not surprised.’
Rolling his eyes internally, Kyle looked down to see Celti looking surprised, and perhaps on the verge of trying to say something.
“What’s wrong Celti?”
“Um… I’m sorry… it’s just… you say some things similar to the abbot at my church… he… he also said to see things with an impartial attitude…”
Kyle, cocked his head to the side in some curiosity.
“Did he now? Smart man. Keep your mind open Celti, the world will be willing to offer more to those who see many things over those who keep to a narrow gaze.”
Celti nodded her head in understanding while Luvi simply stared into space absentmindedly.
‘Alright Mister Miyagi, can we get going now? Grass is dying around us and the world is coming to an end as we know while you sit here and impart half-assed advice.’
‘Alright, jeez…’
“Okay, enough dawdling around. Let’s get going you two.”
“Understood/Oki doki!”
With that, the trio made their way down the road, however, unawares to them was a duo who had been tailing them for a while, a knight in black and a woman in something akin to a skimpier version of the man’s own armor.
The Black knight tapped the side of his blade a few times as if in thought, his face obscured by his helmet. However, his companion could instantly tell what it was he was thinking after having been with him for so long.
“Captain Agni… I’m not sure what it is about him, but I’m starting to think he might not be meaning any harm. Despite his body giving off such a large amount of Mana, I don’t think he’ll be trying to hurt anyone soon.”
“I’m aware of that Kristin. He seems an honest sort if nothing else. However, I’m sure you can tell as well as I can that the person we see before us is not showing a true image of himself.”
“You mean the shoddy illusion spell he’s holding up around himself?”
The man nodded his head before he took several steps to continue to follow him.
“Precisely. It’s a spell that should have dissolved long ago. It’s not very powerful, but at the same time… something about it is quite strong. My eyes can neither pierce the veil that keeps his face hidden, nor does it seem to dissipate when he comes into contact with others. Though he seems to keep contact to a bare minimum from the looks of it…”
“I agree with both points Captain, though maybe he simply keeps a disfigurement hidden? And the strength of the spell… maybe he’s using an item to keep it going? It’s not uncommon after all for spell casters to use enchanted items to take the place of magic after all.”
“I have thought of those points as well Kristin… it just bugs me is all…”
“Then am I to guess that we will follow him still?”
“Until this unease vanishes… yes, we will still follow him.”
Kristin simply bowed her head in confirmation to his words without uttering a word, and upon finishing their conversation, the both of them made their way to follow the young man and his group.
‘Kill her.’
‘No.’
‘Kill her.’
‘No.’
‘Oh by hellfire you have got to be kidding me, KILL THE FUCKING RABBIT CHICK ALREADY.’
Kyle let out an audible sigh as he pulled the book away from his face and fixed a gaze at the Blade at his side.
‘No, and it’s final. I’m not going to kill her because you want me to.’
‘Okay, don’t think of it as killing her because you want me to. Think of it as getting rid of a future problem. Cause let me tell you. That rabbit? Huge ass problem in the future. Now kill it off.’
‘I refuse. I won’t kill her. You don’t even know if she’ll be a problem in the future.’
“Look what Luvi found!”
Kyle turned his attention away from Zamil and to the end of the shelf that the voice had come from, standing there on her tip toes and pulling something from the top of a shelf was the whole reason for their argument, Luvi, the Wererabbit.
A second later, and the thing she had grabbed had pulled with it the rest of the objects that had been on top of it, causing the whole pile to come down on her head with a crash and clatter.
“Ooooow…”
For a moment or two, Kyle said nothing, However Zamil was all up for saying something in that moment.
‘Oh really? How many times has she done that now?’
‘Nobody likes a smartass.’
Sadly, Kyle could not refute what the overlord was saying. After he had left the town square, Kyle had brought Celti and Luvi along with him to the store that the two armored individuals told him about. He had been surprised to see a young girl watching the counter, but he attributed her to some kind of monster at that point due to the fact that she was dressed up in a witch outfit and talked far more eloquently then one her age should have. Sadly, despite having been there an hour now, most of it was spent cleaning up messes that Luvi had been making in her overeager manner. Kyle had noticed that with this most recent accident, the Store owner was starting to look pissed, the glare she was throwing at him something of a dead giveaway. Thankfully, nothing had been broken, but Kyle knew his luck was going to run out sooner or later.
Rolling his eyes in some frustration, Kyle went over and helped her out of the pile, starting to pick up her mess in the process.
“How many times am I going to have to tell you? Stop touching things. It’s only going to make the shopkeeper angrier at us…”
Luvi gave him a sheepish smile as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.
“Sorry! Won’t happen again!”
“That’s what you said last time… what where you trying to get this time anyway?”
With a flourish, the white rabbit pulled up the thing she had in her hand, her eyes lighting up at the sight of it.
“This thing!”
Kyle took one long hard look at it before he let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Another fucking dildo… Go sit in the corner, and for the last time, don’t move away from it. And give me that.”
Taking the oblong shlong from her hand, Kyle pointed to a corner of the store for her to sit in, the spot already having been set up with all the things Luvi had gathered up and looked at with short interest. Without another word, Luvi happily skipped her way to the corner and picked up one of the random objects she had found and started to fiddle with it.
Kyle let out what he assumed was his 18th sigh in a row and looked back at the shelf with the book he was looking at.
‘Still don’t think she’s going to be a problem?’
‘We’ll ditch her when we can okay? Until then, we’ll just have to contend with her… and I still refuse to kill her. That’s to extreme in my opinion. And if we can’t get rid of her… then I guess where stuck with her.’
‘I seriously doubt you’re going to be able to do anything about her with that attitude. Whatever, she can’t stay, that’s final. Do something about her before we leave town. Getting rid of her as quickly as possible is the best bet before she starts to get more attached then she already is.’
‘Yes yes… anyway, bringing ourselves away from that topic, I haven’t managed to glen anything from these books. I’m reading up on the history of Tengoku, but anything relating to before the time of the current Maou doesn’t seem to be mentioned very much… the only things I can find say things along the lines of how it was a terrible time of death and murder…’
‘Yup. That’s all I’ve managed to gather from the books myself. However, this in of itself is information we can use to determine the situation.’
Kyle cocked his head to the side in some curiosity as he looked down at his blade.
‘How so?’
‘Well, for starters, the current Maou, Lady Lilith as she’s called, is a total pacifist. Not only that, but the name she’s donned herself with is something of a symbol of what kind of Maou, and in this regard, Monster she is.’
‘You got all that from the books?’
‘More like the information that isn’t found in them. Notice how this book in your hand mentions all the ‘terrible battles’ in less than 4 paragraphs. The author obviously didn’t want to go into detail about all the gore and horror. This book also goes into great detail about the current Maous exploits and all the great things she’s done for Makai. Notice how hardly any of it is about any kind of war or military achievement. Lilith is a pacifist, and seems to refuse to fight if she can help it.’
‘Then she’s a weakling.’
‘Dead wrong there.’
Confused, Kyle scratched the back of his head while he gave Zamil a baited look.
‘Pay attention for a second. Lilith is the current Maou. Now, that position can’t be obtained by bribery or through backstabbing the previous Maou.’
‘Why is that?’
‘Because the position is one of power. Being the Maou is something like a natural thing in this world. All monsters in the world answer to her to some degree, and are linked to her via a subconscious and magical level. I should know, I held the position once. However, that’s not all there is to it. As Maou, one needs power to obtain the positon, as it is inherited to another monster who has the power in body, mind, and soul. However, this privilege is normally reserved for bigger going demons that come from the Clans. Before you ask, Clans are what you might call the ‘species’ of demons. All clans fall under a category of sin. Pride, wrath, Envy, Gluttony, sloth, greed, and Lust. Under each of those categories, you have a progenitor. These Progenitor clans are, Lucifer, Satan, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Belphegor, Mammon, and lastly, Asmodeus.’
‘Wait… so the seven princes of hell are actually the seven clans of hell? Holy shit.’
‘Good way to think about it. These clans are actually named after the demons who started them. So the name can mean either the demon or the Clan itself. Anyway, after that, you have the Hierarchy of hell, which would be the dukes, marquis’s, Arch-dukes, and so on and so forth. All other clans originated from the seven original clans, The clan of Abaddon for example, having come from the Clan of Satan. Lilith, as she’s called, is more than likely someone from one of the lesser clans of Asmodeus. Which in turn, would make her a demon of lust, more than likely a Higher succubus.’
Kyle, who had been very keen on learning all of this, tapped the book he was holding as he pondered what was being said.
‘How do you figure that?’
‘Oh for fucks sake kid, have you been paying any attention to the world around you right now? Look out the window and tell me what you see.’
Confused, Kyle did as he was asked and walked over to the front of the shop to look out the large class window. Observing for a moment, he was hesitant to answer, not sure what it was he was looking for.
‘Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh… a lot of people?’
‘Not all of them are people.’
‘Okay, a lot of people and monsters.’
‘And between the two species, what do you see that happens to be different from the rest?’
‘Other than the things that make them monsters? Eh… I dunno.’
‘You’re lucky I’m patient… pay closer attention. You’re looking at the right part, but not so much the right ‘parts’ if you catch my meaning.’
Unsure of what it was he was saying, Kyle looked more closely at the monsters. Just like last time, the things he saw where similar to all the other oddities they shared. Scales on some, tauric types for others, feathers on flying ones. He even noticed that some of them where small girls that where walking hand in hand with men who seemed a little to lecherous in there demeanor.
‘… wait a minute…’
Suddenly, something seemed to click in his mind. Girls? Taking a closer look at all the Mamono, Kyle felt his brain begin to make a connection. After a few more seconds of observing, he even looked back at Luvi who was looking rather bored, and once again eyeing something on the shelf.
‘… You gotta be kidding me. Not a single one of those Monsters are male in any way.’
‘Ding-ding-ding! Give the Kid a fucking prize! Yes, all the monsters are Female. Remember what a said a few hours ago back at the cave? That something felt off? The energy in the air is saturated with succubus Power. The current Maou has got to be a Demi-god Class succubus.’
‘So she’s really strong?’
‘Yes. You probably don’t really understand, but when Lilith took over, she probably cast some powerful alteration magic on a Planet wide scale. The monsters we see before us where probably bloodthirsty creatures previously.’
Kyle blinked a few times, his mind taking a second to try to register the vastness of such a situation. To be able to change the physical appearance of all monsters on the planet to one of females… he had no idea how much power that might require.
‘Also, judging from the way these girls seem to act, I’m guessing the magic was far more then cosmetic. I don’t detect a serious amount of bloodlust in any of the monsters here… actually, it would be more accurate to say that the bloodlust seems to have changed to just simple lust.’
‘Then… does that mean that since she happens to be a demon of Asmodeus, all the others are like succubi?’
Kyle wasn’t sure if he was feeling it right, but he thought he may have heard something akin to a grunt of approval in his mind from Zamil.
‘Huh, smarter than I thought you were. From an instinctual standpoint, yeah, many of the Monsters… or mamono in this case, don’t seek to kill humans anymore. They probably seek to rape and copulate with Humans now. I don’t know how that might work with human woman, but we can find more out later. But with this, we’ve obtained some pretty valuable information.’
‘I can see how it might be useful from an informational standpoint, but I don’t know how it might help us with our larger goal in getting your body back.’
‘It won’t really, it just keeps us in the loop. The common sense of this world is what we need to learn kid. Also, any information relating to me probably won’t be found in such a simple store such as this. We’ll need to find a Monster who’s lived that long or some library with books dating back 2000 years ago.’
‘Agreed. Looking over these past few books hasn’t shown much save, like you said, the Current Demon Lord doesn’t seem to want to spread information about those dark times. I guess we’ve done all we can while here… I wonder what else we can learn while here…’
“*Ah-hem*”
The sound of someone clearing their throat caught Kyle’s attention and he turned in the direction of the voice. The Young shop owner was next to him, looking up at him in a somewhat agitated manner.
“Excuse me… I’m not one to be nasty or anything… But, you’ve been reading most of my books for a while. As I allow people to sample and try out our merchandise, I can understand people finding things they might like. However, I’m not really ecstatic about you reading the entire contents of my literary section. So, either please buy something from my library, or stop reading all my books.”
Kyle blinked in some confusion for a moment before he suddenly got the hint. She’s running a business after all, not a library. Laughing sheepishly to her, Kyle put the book back on the shelf and gave her an apologetic look.
“Sorry… I’m sorta new around here in the midlands… so I’m just trying to gather information is all…”
“I see… well, if you require information about the midlands, I happen to have a primer on the area if you so wish to buy it. 30 copper and it’s yours.”
“I might… but if I may ask… do you also happen to have a primer on Mamono and common flora and Fauna?”
Looking up at him quizzically, the shop owner nodded her head in affirmation.
“I do actually. It’s the Makai Travelers guide. It has all sorts of useful information in it, including all of the known mamono, most of the important plants and Animals in Makai, and many of the better known hot spots to be found in Makai. I’ll give it to you for 70 copper… However… if you don’t mind my asking, are you and that young girl you came in with… eh he he… friends by chance?”
Kyle wasn’t certain if he liked the sound of that laugh, but he couldn’t find a reason to refuse her question and nodded his head.
“Sorta, yeah.”
“I see I see… Tell ya what. I’m gonna give the book to you for 50 Copper and I’ll throw in a Sabbath Handbook for free. That sound fair to you?”
Kyle, uncertain of why the little shopkeeper was even doing that, simply cocked his head to the side in some confusion. He hadn’t thought the price was unfair or anything, but the way she seemed to be acting so weird when she mentioned Celti sorta bugged him.
‘Oh for fucks sake kid, take the bargain! Misunderstandings aside, this is a chance to get some info.’
“Um… Okay. Sure. I’ll take it.”
“Splendid! I’ll gather the items for you now. When your done looking around, they’ll be waiting for you at the front desk… oh, and keep that rabbit from messing anything else up. Nothing will break around here due to my magic, but cleaning up her mess is going to be a pain.”
“I see… Understood… and my apologies.”
With those words, Kyle watched the Storekeeper walk away humming to herself and a cheerful smile on her face. Not exactly sure what may have just transpired, Kyle decided that maybe he should see if there was anything else he might be able to buy. However, a quick cursory glance at the bookshelf told him that he couldn’t really find anything that might allow him that kind of knowledge.
‘Ya know, I didn’t think about it until now, but I didn’t know that the language and written letters of this world would be so similar to those of earth. Useful I suppose, but at the same time, I find it sorta odd.’
‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth kid. However, I can see how you would be confused. At the same time, it’s actually pretty easy to explain. You know how the idea of parallel worlds works? It’s kinda like that. This world is probably very similar to your own in its origins save for the usage of magic. Anyway, I suggest you get to checking out and finding the Loli nun... and I guess the rabbit too while you’re at it, though ditching her is still the most solid plan here.’
‘We’ll figure out what to do with her later like we agreed. IN the meantime, after we get done here, I think we should head to a bar for more info or to at least see if this town has some kind of library.’
‘Sounds like a plan to me.’
With that worked out, Kyle felt Zamil sink back into his subconscious to keep the illusion going for a bit longer. Turning to the spot he last had seen Luvi, Kyle wasn’t really surprised to see that she was still there, though her current mood was starting to get antsy and impatient, so he knew it was only a matter of time before she started to wander again. Celti, however, was another matter. Ever since they had come into the bookstore, Kyle had lost track of the nun, though he had spotted her walking around the store as if in hopes of finding something. The current situation was somewhat similar, only Celti was in a more fixed position. She seemed to have navigated herself to the front of the store and had been patiently waiting for the store owner to make her way back to the counter. Kyle, curious, stood a bit back and out of her line of sight, but still close enough to listen in on her.
“Um… Uh… excuse me…”
The shopkeeper, who had been busy trying to get Kyles order ready, looked back over the counter to see the Nun looking at her nervously. Being professional about the disturbance, the little girl gave her a charming smile.
“Yeeeeeeeees? How can I help you?”
“Um… I was wondering… I was looking a minute ago for it… but I didn’t see any sacred texts on the bookshelf at all… do you not carry them?”
For a moment, the shopkeeper was confused for a moment before she suddenly realized what the girl was asking.
“Ahhhhhhhhh, are you perhaps talking about religious texts from certain gods? If so, I happen to keep them behind the counter here since those are hard to come by. Let me get them for you…”
The girl ducked down behind the counter for a minute or two before she came back up with several books in hand and lay them out on the counter for Celti to see.
“Here we go! I happen to have 5 books here that might interest you! Starting from the left we have a book of love from the Goddess Eros, very good read if I say so myself. The next one is a marriage text from sea bishops given to them by Poseidon directly. It’s mostly about certain marriage rules and all that, but it’s the closest thing we have to a religion relating to Poseidon. The next one is a hard to come by text from Pandemonium. I wouldn’t recommend this one due to the chaotic nature of the writing and due to the fact the language used is a corrupted version of Divine text. The next one is a lesser known text from Zipangu. That place is crawling with minor deities called ‘Land Gods’, but still a decent read. And the last one is a war text from Ares about how best to glorify her in combat. Not very long, but still pretty informative. So? Which one is to your liking?”
For a moment, Celti wasn’t sure how best to respond and simply looked down at the texts with something akin to confusion mixed with apprehension before she looked back up at the clerk with a sheepish smile on her face.
“Um… None of them really… do you happen to have anything… relating to the chief god?”
Kyle was somewhat faraway, but he was quick to note the small change in the shopkeepers expression. It was small, but the smile which looked so natural a moment ago, looked somewhat strained at that moment. However, despite the fact the change in expression was slight, the change in her voice was massive, going from cheery, to downright disappointed.
“Oh… You’re interested in those texts… Sorry, we don’t have those in the store due to the numerous complaints we received a while back from several Town folk who didn’t like seeing them. I couldn’t sell them, so I donated them at the local Sabbath branch here in town. If you still want them, you could ask them and see if they have them. The Sabbath here is interested in preserving all forms of texts… even those of a generally distasteful nature.”
Celti nodded her head, noting the fact that she shopkeeper didn’t look very happy right at that moment and gave her a small thank you before she scampered off to the front of the store. Kyle, taking that as a que, made his way to the front desk.
“Not generally accepting of Religious texts?”
“It’s not that. I Just can’t sell Order books. And the people who do ask for them are hoity toity Order goers who give me no end of trouble about ‘why isn’t the sacred text in the front?!’ and ‘blasphemy! To come to a store owned by a monster!’ and it just gives me a headache…” Kyle gave her a small laugh as the girl pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
“Sorry, I don’t think she meant any harm by it…”
“Probably not, but I’m guessing that’s why you have her with you. I mean, it’s rare to find a guy who’s so willing to corrupt such a young nubile order girl at such a tender age.”
The tired expression on the girls face was gone, and it was quickly replaced with a smirk filled with lascivious intentions aimed directly at Kyle, who for lack of a better term, started to burn a bright red at the suggestion.
“Uh… I… Uh… that’s… Um… not really my intention… I mean… we sorta just met a few hours ago… and… I just wanted to be nice to her and take her around town… and I don’t really have any plans to uh… corrupt her or anything…”
“Really? I could have sworn you were trying to turn her with all that Mana leaking out of you… Plus, you just seem to have the face of a child lover.”
“Um… I can’t really deny the child lover part… a Lolicon if it means anything to you, but what do you mean by my Mana is leaking all over the place?”
For a moment, the shopkeep looked genuinely confused before she leaned over the counter and looked him right in the eyes.
“Are you not aware? Your mana, which has been gushing out of you like a geyser since you walked in my door, is super strong, so I thought you were trying to catch the attention of some monsters or girls. Do you not know how to control it?”
“Um… Uh…”
‘Zamil! What is she on about!?’
‘You’re just not going to give me the proper respect are you?... anyway…Your Mana kid, your essence and life force, is leaking all over the place. Since you haven’t been trained in it, you’re kinda just letting it out all over the place.’
‘Life force? Am I dying? Is this a bad thing?’
‘Relax. It’s not a major issue if you let it permeate the area or just let it loose. And no, it’s not killing you, it’s just like breathing for your soul. Thing is, demons have incredible amounts of life force due to the fact that most demons are neigh immortal. It makes the life energy super potent. Since you’re new to this whole demon thing, you don’t really know how to handle it and so it’s coming out in waves. This wouldn’t’ be an issue normally, but I get the feeling that most of the succubus type monsters are attracted to this kind of thing. I’ve been trying to keep a lid on it for a while now, but even with my help, since you’re not trying to repress it or anything, it’s something of a tough fight. Couple that with your half-assed illusion spell and it’s a tough fight for me right now.’
‘I see… anything I can do to help?’
‘Since you don’t really know how to do it, I would suggest you just try to find some item that could help you repress it. Trying to learn how to do it from the ground up is going to take time, and we don’t have that much of it right now.’
‘Got it… but in the event we can’t find something to help me repress it?’
‘You better start learning how to beat chicks off then.’
It wasn’t a very hopeful answer, but Kyle could only sign internally. Bringing his attention back to the shopkeeper, Kyle simply shook his head at her in response.
“Sadly not… it’s been a bit of a problem if what you’re saying is true.”
“I see… well, it’s not that big a deal in town since we have some rules to follow, but I would suggest you go to the Sabbath for most magical related problems. They can probably give you something or cast a spell that can help you to repress that amount leaking out. Other than that… that’ll be 50 copper in total for the guide.”
Nodding his head at her, Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out the small pouch with the stolen money in it and pulled out the copper and silver. He didn’t count enough coppers to cover the cost, so he handed her a silver instead.
“Alright… give me one moment as I count out your change…”
As she reached under the counter to look for the change, Kyle took a glance at the five texts that she had shown to Celti and glanced over them in some interest.
“By the by… how much are those texts each?”
Not even bothering to glance up as she counted out the change, the shopkeeper thought it over for a second before replying.
“One silver each.”
“Nope. Too much for my blood. Thanks for the info though.”
With a nod, Kyle held out his hand and took the money leftover and put it in his pouch while taking the books in hand. Before he could walk out the door though, the shopkeeper grabbed his attention one more time by reaching under the counter and holding up a semi-large gray bag.
“Here. I noticed that you didn’t seem to have a bag of your own to keep your stuff in. I’ll give this to you as a gift. From one likeminded individual to another. “
Not sure what to think of that line of reasoning, Kyle simply took the bag despite the sly wink and lecherous smirk on her face. He still couldn’t’ grasp words even when he noticed the odd heart shaped goat skull pendent on the bag clasp. However, he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and he was sure Zamil would tell him to take it anyway, so he gave her a smile and a nod of thanks.
“Much appreciated. Have a wonderful day.”
“Likewise! And give the Sabbath a visit if you find the time! It’s on the other side of town close to the other churches. Can’t miss it!”
And with that, Kyle made his way out the door, noting that both Luvi and Celti where both there already. Luvi looking very interested about the things outside the store while Celti seemed somewhat lost in thought.
“Okay you two. Let’s get going. We’ll be heading to the Sabbath to see what kind of books they have there… and from the sounds of it, they have the things you’re looking for as well Celti.”
The Nun nodded her head in understanding to the statement. However, Luvi for the most part was too busy keeping her attention elsewhere to really get the gist of the two next to her where discussing. Something Lyle took notice of when she seemed to start spacing out a moment ago.
Simply rolling his eyes, Kyle made his way out the door… and almost ran into a standing pedestrian who just barely moved out of the way of the door itself.
“Whoa! Sorry!”
Kyle was quick to right himself, the sensation of trying to stop the door almost making him lose his balance. The individual in front of him, a human male as far as he could tell, looked over at him with a small smile on his face.
“No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have been standing in the doorway to begin with… of course, trying to get through the road right now is a bit of a pain due to the small sideshow that nut’s got set up in the plaza right now.”
“Nut Job? Side show? What’s going on?”
“Oh, some priest set up shop in the middle of the town plaza and started raving again. Not the first time it’s happened, but the guard can’t do anything about it at the moment until they get enough complaints… Seriously…”
Curious about it, Kyle peeked around the edge of the building and saw that most people were trying there hardest to stay away from the plaza, the roads congested with stock still bystanders.
“Huh… this could be interesting… Hey guys, it’s on the way, so let’s go and see what this mess is all about.”
“Sure!/ Alright.” Where the responses he got in return.
‘Uhhhhhhhhhhh… Kid? What the fuck? Why are we going to go and watch this loony bin? I want to hear a pretty good reason, and if it isn’t good enough, I’ll scream t you death metal style.’
‘It’s an opportunity to figure out what the Order is like, or at least try to gain an understanding of what we’ll be dealing with. We don’t know if the guy is high on the food chain, but any information is useful information, am I right?’
‘Okay, I’ll give you that. but If it’s just some mad fuck speaking about the end times, we ain’t listening.’
‘Got it. I don’t plan to be long.’
Making their way past the crowd with much pushing and apologies, Kyle and his merry band where slowly making their way through it. A bit into it and Kyle started to hear a loud voice off in the distance, though he couldn’t make much of what it was saying past the grumbling and angry huffs of the people around himself.
Eventually, the crowd started to thin out the closer to the plaza he got until eventually he could maneuver easily enough through the gaps in the crowd without actually stepping on toes… or tails for that matter. Before he knew it, Kyle had managed to make it into the plaza, which in comparison to earlier, was a lot less crowded. In fact, other than on the outskirts of the Plaza, nobody seemed willing to get closer to the middle of the plaza, in which this individual had set up some kind of makeshift dais and was talking from the top of it with pointed gestures and loud bravado.
“Heed me children of man! The creatures that you so willingly stand next to in utter contempt to our grand creator are no more ‘human’ then a log or a some rock! Nay! They are worse than that! They are monstrosities peeled away from the hide of evil and wear the flesh of their victims in hopes of catching you unaware!”
‘Nope. I’m out. Not even a minute and I can tell how this is going to turn out. Let the guard cut his head off or drag him out of town, nothing to hear here.’
‘Oh come on. It’s not even been 2 minutes yet. Let’s hear him out for a few more minutes.’
‘Five minutes. That’s all I’m giving you. Anymore and I’ll start singing my edited version of Gilbert and Sullivan's modern major general.’
‘Fine… though that does sound like it would be an interesting thing to hear…’
Taking his attention away from the Overlord, Kyle brought his attention back to the priest, who was once again talking with flourish.
“-And so I say ask each of you! What is the point to this mortal existence if in the process of living it you curse your soul to eternal damnation!? Heed the word of the chief god! Strike these creatures down next to you! Repent your souls so that you may return to the heavens and to the bosom of our God!”
‘Learn anything yet? Cause it all sounds the same to me.’
‘Wise-ass. Just be quiet for a second okay?’
Without another word, Kyle felt Zamil simply resign himself to this sermon for the time being, which in turn, allowed him to listen in on the guy again. Granted, he wasn’t hearing much else that could help him, but he was willing to slog a little bit more through it.
“-And so I say to each of you! Would you risk yourself and your soul just to enjoy a simple fleeting moment of mortal pleasure when the kingdoms of heaven have far grander treasures in them then of this fleshy coil?! Think on it I say! These creatures before us must be disposed of, not conjoined with!”
“Oh my Maou! Would you shut up already!”
Unsure of where that had come from, Kyle glanced to the side to see that what was basically a centaur of a woman had pulled away from the crowd to tell this man to shut his mouth.
“You’ve been going on for a solid 30 minutes now, and let me tell you something. Nobody is giving one damn about what you say.”
The preacher, if in fact that was what he was, threw his hand up in the air and looked on at the centaur(?) with disgust.
“I cast you out impure creature! Do not talk to me as if we we’re equals! Be gone in the name of the Holy God!”
Kyle knew he wasn’t one who could read mood changes very well, but even he was sure that the crowds mood had changed from simply being mildly irritated, to downright hostile. If something wasn’t done quick, he was sure this man would be on the receiving end of a lynching. Deciding that no one in this crowd was willing to stop the eventual Brutality that would no doubt ensue, Kyle decided to take it on himself, against his better judgment and the judgement of the Overlord in his sword, to at least try to settle this quietly with words.
“Luvi, Celti. You two stay here… I’mma go and take care of this before it starts to get out of hand.”
Not giving them any time to retort or respond, Kyle walked out of the crowd and into very open view of the Priest and the rest of the crowd.
“S’cuse me pal… May I perhaps have a moment of your time?”
The priest, somewhat surprised that a regular human had come up to talk with him, was somewhat confused for a moment before he took a much more neutral tone with him.
“Yes Child? How can I help you?”
“Thank you… Now, I couldn’t help but hear your riveting and otherwise very informative speech about other races and all that… but… I have to admit, I see some fallacies with a couple of your points. Now, I’m not really from around here, but the place I used to live happened to have this thing called ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Do you know for a fact if these Mamono are truly as you claim? Cause in my opinion, I have yet to see anything like what your talking about in this town here.”
For a moment, the priest simply looked on in some confusion before realization set in and his mouth turned downward in disgust.
“You must be a Monster sympathizer to hold such a thought in your head. But in answer to your question, yes. There is no doubt in what I am saying, the scriptures tell us the true nature of these monsters and it is through the scriptures that we learn all that we need to know.”
Kyle nodded his head, as if in understanding before he spoke up again.
“Okay, sounds okay enough. But have you actually lived amongst them? Understood them?”
“Why in the name of the Light would I do such an action? To even be in this city infested with their kind is enough of a sin as is!”
“…and we already have your first error. I can’t take you seriously if, in truth, you yourself haven’t tried to enlighten yourself. If you sit in a room and keep yourself away from Mamono, then how can I know if what you say is true? You have no firsthand experience dealing with them other then what you’re taught in a book that’s probably hundreds of years old.”
“The scripture of light is mankind’s truest word to our most holy God! It is accurate in that our god had set the words in them at the dawn of this world! To doubt them is to doubt our God, to disobey the commandments is to disobey the words of our creator! This in of itself is a sin of the highest order!”
“So you’re saying the book is right cause it says it’s right. Sorry, but where I come from, we call that a Euthyphro dilemma. We can’t say it’s right cause it says it’s right. Educated individuals learn all they can about something before they make an educated guess.”
“These are the mandates that have been with mankind since the dawn of the ages! In doubting them, you say that mankind is to be doubted!”
“Whoo! That’s not what I said. I’m not saying your mandates are wrong, humans need structure in their lives to keep them going else they would devolve into more baser creatures fit only to try to pass on seed. All I’m saying is, you need to take what your told with a grain of salt and try thinking for yourself is all. I’ve been with some of these Mamono, and as far as I can tell, they don’t have evil intentions or seem to want to eat me whole. In fact, it could be said that they follow one of the more basic of human emotions to its fullest.”
“They do so to blind you to their true intentions! The only basic urge they have is the emotion of evil and no other!”
“I would doubt that. evil is done via actions, not by emotions. Mamono seem to follow one of the things that would make a human so human… and as corny as it sounds, love is a pretty powerful emotion.”
The priest snorted to himself at the mention of the word.
“Love? Lust is what drives these creatures! These Monsters don’t have the basic ability to comprehend the power of love! They are not loved by the creator! How can they understand that which isn’t given to them?”
“Okay, I can’t claim to know this Chief God very well, but in my opinion, a God that can’t love everything equally isn’t really an almighty god, and doesn’t sound very benevolent in my opinion. So, maybe it would be best of not everyone worshiped such a god. Just my 2 cents on that though.”
The priest seemed to grit his teeth at those words and his face took on a shade of red that told Kyle that he may have just stepped on a landmine. However, before the argument could continue even further, the sound of several heavy metal boots coming down caught the attention of everyone present. Looking off to the side, about 4 armored individuals where coming up on the scene, two of them human in appearance while the others were definitely monster. The one in the lead quickly made their way to the middle of the plaza and started speaking out.
“Okay Okay, what in the 9 hells is going on out here and why are the streets clogged to the brim with unmoving pedestrians?”
Kyle, not wanting to be blamed for anything revolving around this incident, jerked his thumb in the direction of the priest on the podium.
“That would be your cause there Officer.”
The young man looked from Kyle to the zealot on the Dais and seemed to visably change his whole stance to one of frustration.
“Oh by Ares short sword… You again? Listen pal, I’ve told you 4 times now, You need a preaching permit if you want to go around and talk peoples ears off around here. Until then, no permit, no preaching.”
“My words will not be kept back by the likes of Monster sympathizers and there ilk! My words will be heard so that the few lost souls who may yet be saved will come to a true understanding and-”
Before he could continue, a charged feeling hung in the air for a moment and in the next instant, something strange happened. Kyle felt the air charge up for a moment, and a second later, the priest, who had been in the middle of a rant, suddenly went mute. Kyle was confused for a moment before he saw it. The mans mouth was still moving, but no sound was coming out. Unaware of this, the priest kept on talking with gusto, unaware that his words couldn’t be heard.
’Hey kid. Check out that dude over there.’
Following his gaze to where the overlord wanted him to look, Kyle saw that one of the more human looking armored Knights had their hand up with a green glow around his hand.
‘Huh… is he casting magic?’
‘Yup. A mute spell of sorts from the looks of it.’
Curious, Kyle ordained to watch to see what he could learn, but the man who had been talking the priest down looked to him and drew his attention away.
“Our apologies for the late arrival everyone. You may proceed about your business… except for you.”
Kyle blinked for a second before he pointed to himself. As if to punctuate that point, the man nodded his head.
“Yes, You. We need to have a talk about a few things.”
“Um… before any fingers get pointed officer, I’m just a bystander in this situation. One who happened to be curious about the priest in general and wanted to try to talk him down is all.”
“Oh? That? We don’t really care about that. as long as it doesn’t come to blows or causes to much trouble for the rest of the people, we don’t mind some banter between priests. No, the thing I wanted to talk with you about is your Mana. Your spilling it everywhere, I’ll have to ask you to try to put a lid on it. Such a potent amount is bound to cause trouble for the single Mamono wandering around town.”
“Oh! That! Sorry, sadly I wish I could, but I’ve never really needed to until now… someone already made a mention of it, so I’m on my way to the Sabbath to see if they can fix it.”
“I see, as long as you understand… do you know how to get there? I take it from your conversation that you’re not really from around here.”
“Yeah, you would guess right. But in answer to your question, no, I know where it’s at, with the rest of the temples and shrines right? Just down that road?”
The Man looked to where Kyle was pointing and nodded his head in confirmation.
“Correct. If you already know, then all is well. I bid you a good day.”
With a nod of his head, the knight went back to his group, who was in the middle if trying to pacify the mute priest, who must have realized he had been silenced with magical means and was looking far more red in the face then he was a few minutes ago.
Simply nodding his head at the situation, Kyle looked back to see if he could find Luvi and Celti. He wasn’t surprised to see them already coming toward him, though he had to backpedal to stop the wererabbit from tackling him to the ground again. After managing to avoid her, he looked to the both of them and gave them an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep us from our goal.”
Luvi raised her hand in exuberance and smiled at him happily in answer.
“It’s okay! I didn’t really get half of what was going on anyway!”
‘I’m not surprised.’
Rolling his eyes internally, Kyle looked down to see Celti looking surprised, and perhaps on the verge of trying to say something.
“What’s wrong Celti?”
“Um… I’m sorry… it’s just… you say some things similar to the abbot at my church… he… he also said to see things with an impartial attitude…”
Kyle, cocked his head to the side in some curiosity.
“Did he now? Smart man. Keep your mind open Celti, the world will be willing to offer more to those who see many things over those who keep to a narrow gaze.”
Celti nodded her head in understanding while Luvi simply stared into space absentmindedly.
‘Alright Mister Miyagi, can we get going now? Grass is dying around us and the world is coming to an end as we know while you sit here and impart half-assed advice.’
‘Alright, jeez…’
“Okay, enough dawdling around. Let’s get going you two.”
“Understood/Oki doki!”
With that, the trio made their way down the road, however, unawares to them was a duo who had been tailing them for a while, a knight in black and a woman in something akin to a skimpier version of the man’s own armor.
The Black knight tapped the side of his blade a few times as if in thought, his face obscured by his helmet. However, his companion could instantly tell what it was he was thinking after having been with him for so long.
“Captain Agni… I’m not sure what it is about him, but I’m starting to think he might not be meaning any harm. Despite his body giving off such a large amount of Mana, I don’t think he’ll be trying to hurt anyone soon.”
“I’m aware of that Kristin. He seems an honest sort if nothing else. However, I’m sure you can tell as well as I can that the person we see before us is not showing a true image of himself.”
“You mean the shoddy illusion spell he’s holding up around himself?”
The man nodded his head before he took several steps to continue to follow him.
“Precisely. It’s a spell that should have dissolved long ago. It’s not very powerful, but at the same time… something about it is quite strong. My eyes can neither pierce the veil that keeps his face hidden, nor does it seem to dissipate when he comes into contact with others. Though he seems to keep contact to a bare minimum from the looks of it…”
“I agree with both points Captain, though maybe he simply keeps a disfigurement hidden? And the strength of the spell… maybe he’s using an item to keep it going? It’s not uncommon after all for spell casters to use enchanted items to take the place of magic after all.”
“I have thought of those points as well Kristin… it just bugs me is all…”
“Then am I to guess that we will follow him still?”
“Until this unease vanishes… yes, we will still follow him.”
Kristin simply bowed her head in confirmation to his words without uttering a word, and upon finishing their conversation, the both of them made their way to follow the young man and his group.
Spoiler: show
Chapter 4: Confidants and allies.
Xx Far to the west, the Lugarian Theocracy, High Chapel of the Divine. xX
In Tengoku, there exists a vast swath of land to the west. This land, lush in forests and many natural ponds and lakes, was once the home to a small and neigh inconsequential settlement. It had to be that way, for in the age when gods and demons would fight more openly and with far more abandon to the human realm, man was all but a weak and nigh powerless thing in that age, and would cower at the spectacle of the power displayed before them. So they fled as far as they could and set up this small haven, the last bastion for man to safeguard itself against the gods war. Eventually, the power struggle of the gods did eventually die down, and in its aftermath, the small settlement that had been the humans’ refuge, had become a powerful kingdom that would eventually come to take over most of the western world. This small kingdom eventually had grown into a vast theocracy, and at its heart was a god that had managed to survive the raging conflict. The god had a name, but it was lost to history, only the revered name of chief god being the only thing the humans called this great deity. Thus, for the next 2000 years, this Theocracy came under the name of Lugaria and to this day, it holds the most anti-Mamono support and human supremacy mindset in the whole of the world of Tengoku. It is where the tenants of the chief god are upheld the strongest and what many anti-mamono minded humans considered to be the last bastion against the Mamono ‘invasion’.
Here in this great city, at its very center, its heart as many of its citizens would call it, stands the Grand Lugarian Cathedral. It was a massive structure of Romanesque architecture fashioned from white stone, making the building almost have a solemn feeling of purity to it. The tinted glass that was fitted in the windows was of a multitude of colors, each one showering the interior with prismatic colors as if in an attempt to display the glory of their god in some meager form. Looking at the outside, one could see the size of this structure, but upon entering, it felt as if the concept of ‘massive’ had been squeezed in that one large walkway. The inside was lined with many rows of wooden benches for the commons to sit in the church during mass, the large wooden cross at the end of the hall arresting all attention to it. It was here, under this rough wooden cross that the head of the Order would give his sermons to the people, and it is here where many acolytes would pray under the Cross of the Chief God. As of right now, the building was vacant and silent, as one would expect from a church. All save for one man, knelt at the foot of the cross and in deep prayer.
The man looked to be in has late fifties, his hair white and balding past the white camauro and his skin looking weathered and wrinkled like old parchment past his white priest outfit. This old man, kneeling before a cross, gnarled hands clasped in prayer, was known as Pope Victor Olther Romania, Head of the Order church and whom all branches of the Order directly fall under. In Lugaria, there are none who are higher. As the Pope of the Order, it fell to Victor to ordain orders to the paladins, grant pardons for criminals, offer prayers to the sick and ailing, council the lost and the dismal, and talk with the limited voice of the Chief god on Tengoku. However, ever since last night, he had yet to hear the music of the heavens in his prayers nor the sounds of the Chief Gods voice even once on his mind. Sometimes this would happen, and he knew that he must pray fervently in order to quell unease in his heart, for the Chief God could not grant him audience for all times of the day. However, what made this recent silence most disturbing was due to what he had seen last night in this very room. On the back wall, past the Cross was a massive glass mosaic depicting the fields of the heavens. It was a stunning and beautiful work of art. However, sometime last night as Victor had been making his last round of prayers for the night, the sound of shattering glass had caught his attention. When he had looked up at that very Mural, he saw something he had not been expecting to see. Without rhyme or reason, a large hole had opened up in the sky of heaven, and with the backdrop of the moonless night outside, it had looked to be a gaping hole of darkness. It had set his heart alight with fear and he had taken to kneeling and praying for the Gods guidance for this ill omen. Yet he had to hear from his God, and this disturbed his heart greatly. However, he knew he had to persevere, for those who were diligent in their faith would be rewarded. Victor kept to his praying, his knees already having grown tired and his back aching from his bowing, and still he prayed. Just as it seemed his faith would begin to crumble and heart waver, he suddenly felt a change in the room around him.
It was a sudden calming, the air of the sanctuary around, already having been still, grew quiet and relaxed. Feeling his heart come at ease, the Pope looked up to the top of the cross and was delighted in his heart of hearts to see something of a most divine nature. An angel from his Gods heavenly ranks had descended to this great church. Wreathed in light, the humanoid shaped angel had wings of pure white that looked to fill the entirety of the hall and had wrapped it’s body in clothing that looked beyond the realm of mortals. A principality, one of the lower angels of heaven, but in this time of spiritual unrest, Victor felt that it was a sign from the Chief god that she was still staying in contact with her faithful. However, the fact that something had been sent also told him that the sign he had seen might be more serious than he had thought, for if the Chief God would not talk to him through his spirit, that meant there was something going on that required her undivided attention.
“Lo Mortal. I have come to relay a message from the most High God to ye in your time of unrest. The sign you saw last night was a foreboding omen of the events going on in heaven. A day past, something rent the barrier of the stars in heaven and caused great destruction in the holy land. We of the Divine have been at work to restore the order of the heavens and are attempting to restructure the natural balance, for though you do not feel it, the world is in disarray. Not only that; but the entity that has done this has intruded into the mortal world.”
Victor felt his stomach drop at the words. Something from beyond the stars has caused damage to heaven and has made its way to earth? The thought made him quake in fear to this sudden announcement.
“However, you should not fear. Whatever it may be has most undoubtedly become weakened from such an exertion in power. Thus, the Chief God has presented you with a command. You must either persuade this entity to join us in our righteous cause, or destroy it so that our enemies will not be able to use it against us.”
The holy man looked on at the angel with an uncertain look in his eyes before he spoke up, his voice filled with doubt.
“How are we to do this? How are we to find this entity? Will it be something we can discern with our own eyes?”
“Fear Not mortal, for the Chief God has given you a way to detect this outsider.”
A moment later and a small flash of light emitted from the angels body. In the next instant, a small oval crystal hovered before Victor. The Old man reached his hand out and gently took the jewel from the air, his fingers grasping the outside of the gem preciously.
“That Gem will allow you to find the entity in our world. After that, it will fall to you humans to do with it as you wish. So this is decided by our God. We hope for your success in this matter.”
A moment later and the principality vanished in a flash of light, leaving Victor to stare momentarily at the spot it had been previously. A moment later and he stood to his feet, his knees aching from his night long vigil and the gem grasped tightly in his hand as he turned toward the door to begin the hunt for this entity.
Xx Meanwhile, Back at Haval xX
Kyle looked up at the building before him, unsure of what it was he was seeing and wondering if he hadn’t in fact managed to mess up the address he had been given. Sadly, no matter how hard he wanted it to be, the building he was currently standing in front of was no doubt the Sabbath. Kyle just stood there for a moment to take in everything he was currently seeing; just to be sure that he wasn’t just imagining what it was he was looking at. However, he knew that there was no way that just staring at it was going to change what it was, and that was that the supposed ‘Sabbath’ something he had been assuming would have been a more ominous looking cathedral, looked like something that a cute Goat themed mahou shojou would come up with. The outside was made of stone oddly enough, but there where odd heart patterns in the shape of goat skulls etched in the stone along with several small girls wearing cute witch outfits handing out flyers to those who would walk by. There was also no missing the big word “SABBATH” spelled out on the front of the building in stone. The little advertisement on the ground on the small chalk board also made Kyle somewhat reluctant to step forth, the sign reading ‘Welcome to the Sabbath, we hope you find what you need Onii-chan!’
’Oi. What’s the holdup kid?’
‘Zamil… how do I put this… I’m a little… reluctant to go into this building.’
‘Reason being?’
‘Are you serious? You’re not seeing what I’m seeing here? It’s embarrassing to go into such a weird looking building!’
‘Oh, I see what you’re seeing kid, I just don’t give a shit right now. What do I care if it looks like something out of black magic Sailor Moon? It’s just a building. Now walk your fucking ass in there and get a charm for your leaking dick, sorry, I mean mana.’
Kyle let out a small sigh and ignored the sarcasm. He knew that he couldn’t refute the Overlord since he had no doubt that such a thing would be a hindrance later on. Kyle then let out a sigh in resignation before he turned to Celti and Luvi and waved for them to come on. Walking up the flagstone steps, Kyle made his way through the oak wood doors into the Sabbath interior. It was a pretty simple looking lobby as far as he could see, two large arched doorways on both sides of a long wooden counter with three young girls manning the counter. The three young girls were different in looks, but the attire was so similar that he would have thought that they were all wearing the same article of clothing if it wasn’t for the difference in color. All the clothes they wore where distinctly stylish up top, he couldn’t see what they wore below the waist, but the upper part looked like some type of low cut jacket that only came up to just below where their breasts would be and only extended sleeve-wise to just behind the elbow. The colors where distinct in that the clothing was black in color, but with yellow, red, and blue variations around the collar and on the hats’ they wore. Each hat was a primary color to the girl’s clothes; the beret’s sitting snugly on their heads as the girls seemed to be writing away without much focus to the outside. However, Kyle found himself rather wrong in that thinking when he walked over to the counter and the one in the red hat looked up quickly, a professional smile on her face as she turned her attention to Kyle.
“Hello there! Welcome to the Sabbath Haval Branch! Is this your first time here?”
Kyle nodded his head in answer to her question, in which she responded with a nod of her own.
“I see! Well then, let me give you a small run down of what it is we do here! We are an organization tasked with managing and creating magics of many different types, we also happen to offer many such magical services for our customers, whether those happen to be magical reagents, spells and charms, or magical items, we offer them in vast quantity and in varied qualities and in many types of services. Another of our services is that we happen to teach young mamono in the ways of young girls and in the arts of seduction and sexual congress.”
Kyle had been paying quite a bit of attention up until she said that little bit. For a moment, he wasn’t quite sure if he had heard her right and had blinked a few times as he mentally ran that through his mind a few more times. Concluding that he had not in fact misheard her, he could only listen on to the rest of her explanation in a way to try to keep his shock from showing.
“… Is everything alright sir?”
“Yes, yes… it’s fine, please continue.”
“Understood… anyway, The last of our services is also related to our religious beliefs. The Sabbath upholds the two tenants that state ‘We shall be devoted to pleasure such as the Mamono that we are.’ And that ‘we shall impart the charm and indecency of little girls to all men and Mamono.’ ”
At that, Kyle couldn’t stop his mouth from running as he smashed his hands into the counter and looked at the young girl with a look of absolute bewilderment.
“A church dedicated to Loli lovers!?!?”
The girl, continuing to smile as if this reaction was more common then what one would expect, nodded her head while she beamed at him.
“Yes! Our church is dedicated to spreading the word about the pure ecstasy one can feel from having a small childish body that can be ravaged by older Onii-chans… or Older brothers if the Zipangu term is hard to understand. You seem to be rather excited about that, maybe you would be interested in joining the Sabbath?”
Kyle just about said yes right then and there before the sound of something screeching in his mind stopped him cold.
‘Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooold it right there mother fucker! Get your finger away from any pens, cause we are not joining up with a Loli Cult!’
‘Oh come on! I wasn’t going to… I think… maybe…’
‘Exactly why I stopped you. Now just ask her about the charms and lets be done with this place.
Letting out a small sigh in resignation, Kyle smiled at the Desk clerk and politely shook his head.
“Sorry… not today. I’m only here get some kind of charm or spell cast on me so my leaking Mana won’t cause a problem.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh… so you can’t control what you have… no wonder it was spilling out all over the place. Alright then, if you want to use our spell services, you’ll want to head on down the hall on your right there and make your way to the door with ‘magical maladies’ written in bold on it.”
“How much will it cost me?”
“That depends on what will need to be done to fix your issue.”
“Okay, got it. Thank you for your time.”
“No problem! By the way, where always looking for new recruits into the Sabbath, so if you’re still interested in joining later on, just come back and we’ll get you all taken care of!”
“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”
Kyle then turned toward the hall the young girl had pointed him to and was about to head on before he remembered he had two people following him. Turning his attention back to Luvi and Celti, Kyle noted that Luvi looked somewhat bored while Celti looked as if she wanted to ask him something. Remembering something she had said back at the bookstore, Kyle turned back to the witch.
“Um… sorry… I forgot to ask something. My Friend here-” Kyle pointed to Celti. “-Is looking for some sacred texts from the Order. We were told you guys might have them here somewhere.”
The red witch looked to Kyle and then to Celti before nodding.
“I see… yes, we do have them, however, I’ll have to ask what your purpose for them might be. Despite the distasteful nature of the texts themselves, we do consider most knowledge to be important.”
“Uh… Um… I was…I was somewhat hoping that I might read them if it’s not too much of a problem?”
The witch nodded her head before she reached from under her desk and handed Celti a card of sorts.
“Here you go, take the hall on your left and go down until you find Archives in bold text. Show that receptionist that card and she’ll find them for you. Word of advice, make sure you know what you’re looking for because she’s not a very patient person…”
Celti nodded her head in thanks before she turned her attention to Kyle.
“Thank you for bringing me here Mr. Kyle. I probably would still be looking if you hadn’t helped me.”
“No problem. It was my pleasure… well, I hope you find what you need. Take care.”
“May your day be a blessed one Mr. Kyle.”
Kyle watched as she walked off in the direction the witch had indicated, but only for a moment more before he turned his attention back to Luvi, who still looked somewhat absentminded.
“Hey… Luvi. Pay attention for a moment if you would please.”
The wererabbit seemed to jump at being talked to before she realized who it was that was talking to her.
“Oh! What’s up?”
“Nothing, I just need you to stay here and not cause problems okay? There are some comfy looking chairs over there, so please stay there while I go and get what I need to do done alright?”
“Ummmm… can’t I just come with you? Luvi will get bored if you’re not around…”
“No, you can’t. Just stay here okay? It won’t take long.”
For a moment, Luvi looked as if she was going to object. However, she seemed to think it over for a moment before she simply nodded her head, causing her large floppy ears to bob up and down.
“M’kay. Luvi will wait here!”
Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, Kyle simply decided he should count his blessings and pat her on the head.
“Good. I’ll be right back.”
“Eh he… ‘Kay!”
Kyle removed his hand from her head and made his way down the hall the witch told him about. He continued to pass a number of doors, and by that account, several different people on his way. The fact that all of the Mamono he had seen where so cute or beautiful made him happy that he had done this. Eventually, Kyle managed to find the door he was looking for. Nodding his head, he gently knocked on the door and waited for a response. It didn’t take very long before he heard someone on the other side call for him to come in. Doing so, Kyle pushed the door open before a thought hit him.
‘Wait… won’t people with high magic skills be able to see through this shoddy illusion?’
Too little too late, the person on the other side of the door, a young girl like the many he had seen so far, looked up from a small crystal she had just been looking at before her gaze fell on his own, the only difference between her and them was that she was wearing glasses and had an expressionless face. For the next few seconds, neither one said anything, just staring at each other.
“Well? Are you coming in?”
Kyle blinked a few times in some confusion before what she said registered. Nodding his head quickly, he came into the room.
“Sorry...”
Seeing that there was a chair opposite from where the girl was sitting, Kyle decided that that was probably the place for him to be. He then placed himself on the chair and looked at the witch in front of him, waiting for her to say something to him.
‘I guess she can’t see past the illusion?’
“So, how can I help you?”
“Huh?”
“I said, How can I help you? You obviously came to my department cause you needed something taken care of did you not?”
“Oh! Sorry… right… Yeah, I need some help with something…”
“I can guess that it has something with your leaking Mana right?”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement with her.
“Yeah… for reasons I can’t really discuss, I only just now recently gained the ability to use it, but I’m not very good at holding it in it seems. It hasn’t caused me a problem yet, but I thought it might be best to do something about it before I cause an issue.”
“I see… I’m guessing your current inability to control your Mana has something to do with your change into your current form?”
For a moment, the room went silent, the only sound Kyle was able to hear being the sounds of people walking outside the door. He could suddenly feel his sweat start to form on his skin, his mind racing while only a few words could come out of his mouth.
“Uh… Current form?”
“Yes, the one you’re keeping hidden behind your rather half-baked Illusion.”
For a moment, Kyle wasn’t sure what to think, but the first thing that crossed his mind was to run away. He was wondering if he could make it to the door before she tried something before oddly enough, Zamil was the one who spoke up.
‘Calm the fuck down kid.’
‘Dude! She just exposed us! We need to get the hell out of here!’
‘First of all, if you wanted to stop her, you should have gone straight for her jugular and not give her time to react. Second, are you even paying any attention to her tone of voice right now? That doesn’t sound like someone who hasn’t encountered this type of thing before. She sounds calm and collected to me.’
‘That could be an act for all we know! She might be ready to cast a spell on us any second now!’
‘Seriously kid, you need to start paying better attention to the things around you. Despite what you might think, there always happens to be a tell when someone comes across something unusual. A change in expression, a change in body language, a change in the language used, all these things can be used to gauge a person’s reaction to a new situation. Her tone of voice hasn’t changed, she still sounds like she’s dealing with a customer, and the girl hasn’t moved an inch from her seat since she started talking with you. Her body is composed and relaxed. It’s easy to infer one of two things about this situation. She’s either a pro, or she’s dealt with things like this before. So take it easy. Also, don’t act so fidgety, it makes others nervous… also, I’m dropping the illusion, it’s wearing me out. I’ll still try to keep a lid on your mana though.’
Before Kyle could have any say in the matter, he could feel something like a light sheet falling away from his body and when he looked at his hands, he could see that it had gone back to his demonic form. Looking back to the witch, he could see she was somewhat confused as to his current action. Deciding that he could mix some truth with lies, Kyle gave her a nervous smile.
“Uh… Yeah… sorry… I turned into this some time back, and when I did, I gained the ability to use Mana… thing is, I don’t know how to use it or control it… and that’s kinda why I’m here today. I’m sorta hoping you can do something to help me regulate my Mana flow.”
“Well, you came to the right place for it… I suppose you’ll also want something to hide your physical appearance as well?”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement.
“That would be quite helpful.”
The witch nodded her head before she wrote something down on a piece of paper. It didn’t take long, and she had her attention back to Kyle when she got done.
“Alright. So you’ll want something that can take care of your mana and also cast an illusion on your body?”
“Only until I can do it myself at any rate. I’m hoping that I can get good enough to control my mana while also upgrading from a simple illusion spell to a Glamor.”
The witch nodded once again in agreement.
“A good idea. I’ll see what I can come up with… Also, I’m going to need a full gauge of your power. I can already feel what it’s like just from you trying to bottle it up, but in order to figure out the best kind of seal, I’ll need to see you at your best. All Mana is different based on the individual, so It’s best if you let it all out.”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement, but mentally, he wasn’t sure how much of a good idea that was. Zamil, however, decided to give some input.
‘Just do it kid. She might be way weaker than me, but she does have solid points. She’ll need a gauge of what your power is like. However, I would suggest you ask her if this room is magically sealed. Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll blow the top off this thing.’
Kyle internally agreed with him before he spoke up with Zamils suggestion.
“Alright… however, before I do, is this room magically sealed? I’d rather there not be an issue with others.”
The witch nodded her head before she pointed to several sigils etched into the walls.
“No need to worry. You would need to be just below the Maou in order for your mana to slip out of this room. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
Kyle nodded his head before he spoke to Zamil again.
‘Okay, let’s do it.’
“Alright… Here we go.”
A second later, and Kyle felt something in his body seem to slightly shift and he felt a great deal of energy start to fill his body. It was almost like he got an adrenalin rush for his soul all of a sudden and he could feel the power brimming in him barely contained past his mortal figure. Of course, that was what he was currently feeling, he knew that it must be filling the room every second that passed. However, when he turned to the witch, whom he was expecting to be eyeing him critically, he was instead greeted with something he hadn’t been expecting. The girl before him had gone from being a quiet and expressionless individual, to someone who was full of emotion. Lewd emotion if what he was seeing was right. The girl’s face was deep crimson with little beads of sweat falling off her face. Her breath was coming in heavy gasps and her eyes looked somewhat unfocused and heavy with desire. Kyle wasn’t sure what to think of the situation, his mind never having once encountered anything quite like this before.
‘Huh… so that’s the kind of effect strong Mana has on Mamono. Good to know.’
Kyle didn’t pay much attention to Zamil before he spoke up, some concern in his voice.
“Um… are you okay?”
Kyle watched her for a moment, the girl seemingly unable to string together a conversation at the moment. However, he did notice one thing about her, Just as she was dressed up like the girls at the front desk, he noticed that she wore the same outfit. However, a small detail he had missed was the small heart shaped goat skull pendent. The girls at the front desk pins had been a bright pink in color, however, the one on the girl in front of him was flashing back and forth between a bright lime green to the same shade of pink as the previous pins. He had no idea what that was about, but stopped paying it much mind when the girls eyes locked with his. Kyle quickly noticed a shift seem to come over the girl, and the eyes that refrained from showing much emotion, looked like some kind of cat stalking its prey. A moment later and the witch started to grin lewdly while her hand seemed to vanish under the desk she sat at. Kyle felt like the situation was starting to spiral out of control quickly, especially when he saw the girls breath starting to quicken as she leaned forward.
‘Wow, I guess they really don’t care much when they get horny do they?’
‘So I see, put a lid on the mana please, I don’t want this to get anymore awkward then it should be.’
‘Eh, why? Just go ahead and screw her. The situation seems to be making its way there anyway.
‘How about not!! This does not help our situation at all!’
‘Point. But it wouldn’t kill you to break from abstinence every once in a while ya know.’
Despite the somewhat reluctant sigh from the Overlord, Kyle felt the power that was surging through his body seem to stop just as suddenly as it had started. Shutting off his mana supply so abruptly didn’t seem to have any negative effects on him at the moment, but the change that came over the witch in the room was rapid. It was apparent to see that the girl’s body didn’t seem so sweaty anymore, and her expression, which was wild with lust, now looked confused and disoriented. That only lasted a moment before her face went red in embarrassment and she quickly wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Uh… Um.. M-My apologies for that… uh… display… I know there are rules to follow, but I fear that the level… and potency of your Mana was… to say the least, overwhelming… I can see why you would want to do something about it...”
“Yeah… I think it will definitely be a problem later on if I leave it alone…”
“Okay… also… I was somewhat lucid the whole time that was going on… and I can say that… your level… the power and raw energy behind it… is going to need something very powerful to take care of…”
“…I don’t like the sounds of that. How expensive is sealing it up going to be?”
“Minimum of 50 Gold coins.”
“Holy-! I do not have that much on me… I probably know the answer to this question already, but would it be possible to pay later or to negotiate the price?”
The witch simply gave Kyle a sad look before she shook her head.
“Sadly no. the price is as low as I can get it… You could pay in installments, but we do have a 5 gold minimum payment per week.”
Kyle simply shook his head. This wasn’t looking like a good situation. He didn’t even have a single gold piece on him, and he had no idea how quickly or efficiently he could gather that money. Plus, he had no time to be going around gathering money. Letting out a sigh, Kyle looked to the girl before he shook his head at her.
“Sorry, I’m not going to be able to pay that. Is there another option I can use like a spell or something?”
“A spell would be cheaper, yes, but sadly, spells are indefinite. You won’t know how long it’ll last, and with something this powerful, I doubt even some of our best spell casters could make it last more than a day at most. You would be better off going in to the next town over, but that’s a weeks’ worth of travel in of itself.”
Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He couldn’t hope to make it the next town in a week. Zamil probably couldn’t keep the Mana back for that long, and when he did let go, the same effect that happened in this room would happen out in the woods, only with more than likely even worse consequences, no doubt about it.
‘I see no way out of this other than to earn the money or learn to control my mana. Both of which are time consuming.’
‘I’d be willing to let you sit around for a week. Problem is, you’re a total beginner at magic and sorcery. I can only teach you so much while in this state, and even with a proper teacher and your innate talent for magic, it would probably take you a few months to learn the basics. That’s too long to be sitting around for my tastes. My plan had been to teach you while we traveled, maybe find someone who would be willing to teach you. From the looks of it, you’ll need to learn magic first and foremost, but in the meantime it might be better for you to start earning money to pay for that charm.’
Kyle agreed with that logic mentally. Before he could say anything to the clerk though, he noticed that she seemed as if she wanted to say something.
“What is it?”
“I have a suggestion. Haval is a pretty well-known travelers rest stop. If you want, you could see if you could find someone willing to teach you some basics, you could get your Mana under control with them. The Sabbath is also willing to teach you, but it would cost you quite a bit… However… Members get lessons for free, so if you become a member, we could teach you about magic basics. You also get a serious discount on all Sabbath related products and services.”
The last statement was told with a practiced ease, and Kyle couldn’t help but applaud the Sabbaths sales Reps for such a drive for members. Not that he was opposed to joining such a cult.
‘Maybe we should consider jo-’
‘No fucking way.’
‘Worth a shot at any rate…’
With his hopes dashed, Kyle simply let out a small disappointed sigh with himself. However, he noticed something about the witch in front of him, the broaches she was wearing were a lime green color. He remembered that during that small episode, they had been flashing between pink and green. Curious, he decided to pose a question.
“Sorry, this isn’t related to my current situation, but I saw that little broach of yours flashing different colors when you were… eh… Horny if you’ll forgive the term.”
The witch smiled at him before she started to fiddle with said broach.
“It’s fine, I hear many different such words from our boss and other mamono, so you’re okay. But in answer to the question, the broach is something like a beacon for men to know if he can hit on a Mamono. We may suck semen out of men for nutrition, but we do have woman’s hearts after all. When these are Pink, it means where married or have our hearts set one someone else. If it’s green though, free game. We tend to use them most often in monster friendly towns for new people.”
“I… See…”
Kyle, however, felt as if he had just heard something pretty outrageous. Consume male semen for nutrition? Even this young girl in front of him? He was finding it a little hard to wrap his brain around that concept. Outside of succubi, he had thought that other monsters probably ate more normally.
“Um… I have a question…are all… Mamono like that?”
“Like what?”
“Well… do they all consume semen for survival?”
“We can live off other foods, but human semen offers the most power and energy for Mamono… I take it your pretty new to all this? If so, I would suggest buying a Makai traveler’s guide.”
“Already have one now that you mention it.”
“Good! Read that first before anything else, it’ll be a lifesaver for you. But anyway… back to the topic at hand, what do you want to do about your Mana?”
“Uh, I’ll probably go out and about and see more of the town and see if I can find someone who’d be willing to teach me. I have a lot of other things to do today as well, so it’s just something I’ll add to the list.”
“I see… very well then. Sorry I can’t do anything about your mana issue.”
Kyle simply shook his head at her.
“It’s fine. My circumstances are a bit odd at any rate…”
“I see… well, despite not being able to do anything about your Mana at the moment, I do have to ask about what you want to do with your appearance. If you simply want to use an illusion, I have something for that. If it’s a glamor, I have something for that as well, but it’s more expensive.”
“Hum… How much more expensive?”
“10 Gold for the glamor charm, 10 silver for the illusion charm.”
“That’s a big difference.”
The witch simply nodded her head in confirmation.
“Yes, it is. Illusions just mask something, it won’t change it. Glamor’s are used to make something look and feel real. Different process, different price.”
“Makes sense… only problem is, I have about 3 silver and 84 copper on me at the moment. I couldn’t even hope to pay for the cheap one.”
“You’re… sorta broke huh?”
“Pretty much…”
For a minute, there was nothing said between the two of them, the silence somewhat awkward for Kyle while the witch simply waited for him to respond. However, after another minute or so of nothing being said, the Witch in front of him broke the silence with a sigh.
“Well… Give me a second…”
Curious, Kyle watched as the young witch got up from her seat behind her desk and made her way across the room. Kyle was able to see the lower half of her body for the first time and was somewhat surprised to see that this girl was wearing some tight fitting hot pants while the only kind of footwear he could see was some basic leatherwork shoes. A moment later and the girl got to one of the cabinets lining the walls and opened one of the draws. A moment of sorting later and the witch pulled out what looked like a simple bronze colored ring. She quickly came back, and instead of sitting down, came up next to Kyles chair.
“Here, hold out your hand please.”
Interested in what she as doing, Kyle did as he was asked and held out his right hand. The next thing he knew, she slipped the ring on his middle finger and placed both her hands under and over his own
“Alright, I want you to think of your human form as hard as you can. When you have it firmly in your mind, I want you to try to push your Mana into the ring. After that, I’ll work with it from there.”
Kyle did as she asked of him and followed her instructions. A moment later and he felt the bronze ring warm up on his finger and saw that the witch was concentrating intently on the ring itself. That only lasted for a few more seconds before she let out a held breath and looked to him with a small smile.
“There we are. All done. Now you look like a person again. Just put the ring on when you want to look human and take it off to conserve the rings energy. Based on what I put into it, it should last you the rest of the day. When it does run out of magic, just hold it in your hand and do what you just did. The spell is already set, so all you have to do is charge the ring.”
“Wait… you cast some kind of illusion spell on this ring?”
“More specifically, I enchanted it to take on a certain appearance when worn. It’s just an illusion spell though, so someone will be able to tell if you’re human or not if they touch any of your unusual parts… and if they have high enough magical aptitude, they can see right through it. It really isn’t a problem in Makai or any monster friendly towns though, Men have their appearances change all the time around here after all. I’m guessing it’s something of an emotional thing for you though.”
Kyle laughed a little to himself, the young girl coming a little closer to home then she knew.
“Correct… However… doesn’t one need to pay for this before you go ahead and set it up? I mean, I’m not even sure I can pay it.”
The witch smiled at him with a hint of something behind it.
“True. Normally I would charge for something like that. Being so low level, I would only charge you about 5 silver… but you don’t even have that. So I’m willing to give it to you in exchange for a service rendered.”
Kyle wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he took the bait and bit on it.
“What kind of service?”
The witch smiled to herself lasciviously before she reached down toward her pants and undid the buttons with a meticulous and deliberate slowness. Despite the fact that she had been wearing such tight looking hot pants, the moment the last button came undone, they fell to the floor as if they were several sizes too large on a body much too small. Kyle had to take a moment to register what it was he was currently looking at right at that moment along with the specific action that had just been taken. It didn’t take long though, and the fact that the young witch had been wearing nothing underneath quickly registered in his head. The young witch sauntered over right next to him, her movements catching his eyes as she did as she added emphases on her legs when she walked.
“A simple service really… ever since I felt that Mana of yours… I’ve been feeling my body tense up and my thoughts have been finding themselves back to that… potency that I felt… it makes me weak in the knees and fills my head with a fog… you can obviously see what it’s done to me you sly man...”
At the mention of the word, Kyle subconsciously glanced down at her nethers and could see that the young witch had become quite aroused with her labia rosy red and slightly shining. Kyle found himself becoming quite red as well when he felt the heat on his face, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from her, though he did take his eyes off her pussy and directed it to her face. What he saw was that her eyes where glazed over with desire while her breath was coming heavy with ragged breathing.
“If you’re willing to offer me this simple service, I’ll more than happily give you that ring…”
Kyle could tell where this was going, it almost sounded like something out of some kind of Doujin, but at the same time, he couldn’t deny the state of the situation. The girl in front of him, despite looking young, was willing to offer him the ring he wore in exchange for releasing her growing desire. In truth, given what he was seeing, he couldn’t quite deny that he himself was feeling pretty horny right now.
“Uh… sure… yeah, I can do that.”
‘Uh sure? You sound so confident right now.’
‘Fuck off. About to get laid here.’
‘For the first time in forever from the sounds of it.
Ignoring the overlord, Kyle stood to his feet a little more quickly than he was meaning to and started to get to work on the belt around his pants before he noticed something off. Usually when one gets an erection, he can feel it on the front of his pants, however, Kyle felt that he couldn’t get his dick straight, or more like, it couldn’t get straight because his pants where too tight. Though he was ashamed to admit it, Kyle knew his dick was somewhat below average in the size department, so he knew that it usually didn’t get caught up like this. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what the issue might be before he remembered that his body wasn’t human anymore.
“Uh… sorry… could you give me a second?”
Not really giving her time to respond, Kyle turned off to the side for a moment before he took the ring off and placed it in his pocket. Now having assumed his more demonic form, Kyle took his belt off and undid the rest of the restraints usually found on a pair of Khakis. After a second he finally got them off and reached down into his pants to see if he could pull his dick out. Such wasn’t the case, and what his hand felt when it touched his groin was almost something alien to him. Unsure of what to think, Kyle pulled the rest of his pants down to get a clear look at the real situation. What he saw made his eyes widen in shock and his jaw hang slack.
“I… wha…”
‘Huh… well would you look at that. Bigger then I was expecting it to be.’
‘Bigger!?! That’s a goddamned salami attached to where my dick used to hang! What the hell!’
‘Settle down ya dip shit. Demons are nigh immortal, and with such immortality, they tend to have virulent life force. This sometimes comes out in larger than average sexual organs. Ever wonder why Succubi and Incubi have massive tits/schlongs? That would be the answer.’
‘Okay, that makes sense, but I mean, seriously! This fucker looks like it might kill someone!
Kyle could hardly bring his mouth to move at the sight before him. His dick, which had been a small thing in the past, was now almost comically huge. Just like the rest of his body, it was gray in color, with the head being just a darker gray compared to the rest. However, unlike a normal human dick, it looked like something out of a twisted hentai with small nubs around the ring of his cock and a shiny sheen to the whole thing with thick veins running across the whole of it. Kyle grabbed it firmly by the base to be sure it was in fact his. When he felt his hand grip it, he had no doubt in his mind that his dick was now this half-erect obscene thing. Turning back around, Kyle was going to say that he might need to call this off since his dick was almost too big for her body. Or he would have at any rate, had the girl just kept standing. Instead, Kyle’s eyes found that the witch was on her knees, both her hands currently working on her own body, one hand pinching her own nipples while the other was between her legs and working herself. The killer though was the bright red blush on her face with her mouth hanging open and her eyes glazed over. He was half erect before, but Kyles dick was now currently at full mast at the sight.
‘Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn… I’m more of a busty beauty type of overlord myself… but… those tiny tits, those thicker than average thighs… that small frame that seems to scream of frailty… and the icing on the cake is that expression, like she just needs something shoved up in her right this very second. If I had my real body right now, I’d be fucking that witch til she screamed, I also know for a fact your thinking the same thing right now kid’
Kyle felt himself swallow on reflex, his mind only half processing what the overlord was saying to him, the sight of the girl before him unabashedly masturbating in front of him making him think only lewd thoughts of what it might be like to stuff this dick of his in that wet pussy of hers. The girl, who Kyle had assumed was too absorbed in herself to really notice him, wasn’t quite so out of it as he had believed. A second later, when she brought her eyes up from her body and saw a large dick in front of her, she couldn’t help but go wide eyed in excitement.
“Oh my Maou is that your dick? Oh gods I need that in me right now! Please please PLEASE!!”
Kyle felt as if he should have questioned himself at this point for even debating on wanting to screw such a young looking girl… or his rational part of his brain did anyway. However, something much deeper in him felt the need to procreate. He felt that he himself as a human wanted to do it… but this was something much stronger, much more ingrained in his mind… it was a need to satiate a lustful hunger in his body, and despite the misgivings, he found himself unable to draw away from the carnal yearning. Kyle swallowed yet again before he nervously walked over to the girl, his hand subconsciously starting to stroke his massive dick. The witch, seeing his approach, felt her heart speed up and her eyes went wide in excitement. She quickly got to her feet and laid herself face up on her desk, her legs opened wide and enticingly opening up her lower lips. Kyle’s felt his erection jump a bit from the warm pink pussy exposed in front of him. Coming to a stop in front of her, Kyle felt that his face was incredibly flush with arousal, but at the same time was feeling just a hint of some higher moral standing in the back of his mind telling him that this might be wrong on several levels. However, rational and higher moral conscious where tossed out the second story window when the witch started to grind her pussy against the length of his shaft, the slick and warm feeling of her snatch sending his brain into a lust filled frenzy.
Kyle started to grind his shaft against the girls slickness, the warm sensation of a pussy after a few years of abstinence making him feel weak in the knees. However, his lust burned all the brighter, and the feeling in his chest made him seek out the inner warmth of the girl in front of him. Hardly even thinking anymore, Kyle gripped the young witch by her legs, her young skin feeling soft and almost plushy in his hands, and started to work the tip of his pulsing dick into the warm snatch. The girl started to moan lustfully, the feeling of Kyles dick penetrating her causing jolts of pleasure to run up her spine. Kyle could barely prevent himself from ramming the rest of his engorged cock in her, the tight fitting entrance of her pussy already doing more than enough to pleasure his head. However, such reasoning was blown out the window when the witch, herself having long since drowned in the thought of her own pleasure, forced Kyles dick the rest of the way in one quick push. Kyle almost blew his load then and there, his lower half seizing up, but not quite coming to the point of no return. He had to stifle a groan that had worked its way into his throat, yet that was harder then he thought. His dick was hilt deep in the witch, the tight walls clenching up around him, the warmth and slick sensation of her pussy seeping into his cock.
Said witch was also shivering uncontrollably, the feeling of such a massive dick overflowing with mana in her body causing her to lose her proper reasoning. However, such reasoning was already on its way out the door in Kyles’ mind, and he started to pump his lower half like a slow piston.
The slowness of his thrusts allowed Kyle to feel the full length of the walls of the girl he was currently impaled inside, the slickness and warmth urging his body further into his lust and depravity and making his lower body pick up the pace. To say nothing of the witch herself, her mind having gone blank with each new and renewed thrust, was making her whole body tense up and causing little gasps to escape her mouth with each impalement. Each pass caused Kyles little nubs to scrape along the pink inner folds, the tickling and delightful sensation spurring him on harder to seek more of that same pleasure.
At that point in time, the witches cunny was gushing, allowing Kyles dick to easily and quickly penetrate into her deepest part, and with each bump into her womb simply pushed out a louder moan. Kyle felt his body building up, his lower half clenching more and more with each thrust until finally, when he was almost slamming his dick into her little pussy, his body gave out and his balls exploded with built up semen. The witch, also having been building up, felt her own body climax at the same time she felt her womb begin to turn white with seed.
For Kyle, what he was currently feeling was a first. He had had a girlfriend or two in the past, so he wasn’t a stranger to sex, but in all the times he had ejaculated, this one far outstripped the others by miles. It felt so much more powerful, like he had been building up for years, thick strands of ropy jizz pushing itself out of his dick almost like a faucet for each convulsion he felt. Just the amount of time it took for him to squirt each time was beyond anything he had felt before, each shot lasting tens of seconds, and his mind whiting out with each shot. After what had to have been a solid minute of cumming, the witches belly had become distended with his cum while a steady trickle oozed out of the narrow space of her much too stuffed pussy. Kyle almost collapsed right on top of her, his breathing coming in gasps while his dick went flaccid. With an audible sucking sound, Kyle managed to extract himself from the witch and sat back down, watching in fascination as what looked to be a full cup of his jizz came out of her cunny. The witch, having felt a mind blowing orgasm from this whole ordeal, was still panting heavily and grinning dumbly as she stared vaguely at the ceiling, her tongue lulled out while she would giggle every few seconds. For the next minute or so, nothing was said, the two of them simply recovering from the vicious desktop sex that had just happened. That is until Kyle heard something in his head. A familiar something.
‘Huh, not bad. I’d give that a 7/10. The first fuck I’ve felt in a long while, sadly there were no tits involved, but the fact that you went at it like a champ was worth some points. Lost some due to lack of stamina. Gonna have to work on that by the way. When I had my body, I could do about 30 of her before I actually started to break a sweat.’
Kyle, having managed to recover enough of his senses, started to put his pants back on as he replied.
‘Hey, been a while for me okay? Let me enjoy this without your peanut gallery coooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwait a second! Did you just watch this whole thing?’
‘Through your eyes kid. Felt the whole thing to.’
Kyle blinked a few times at the sword on his hip, his face a look of horror, disgust, and bewilderment.
‘That… that is all kinds of fucked up. I… I don’t really know how to feel about this other then maybe horrified?’
‘Ah suck it up you little bitch. You and I are connected at this point. Anything you feel I’ll feel, so better get used to it. Anyway… got a free ring of illusion. This is a good start for us. Anyway, you better get going soon before she gets up for round two… not that I would mind that, maybe get a couple of her co-workers and-’
Kyle firmly put his foot down then and there.
‘No, once was fine thank you. Also, I gotta ask you a few questions about what just happened. I’ve never had sex that… powerful? Great? Whatever the word, it was beyond anything I had ever experienced before.’
‘Three words should explain this. Demon Life Force.’
Zamil only gave him a knowing chuckle and didn’t seem to want to elaborate any further on that. Kyle decided that it made enough sense as is and then turned his attention to the young witch. He had noticed that she was starting to come around and was looking somewhat more coherent. However, she still seemed somewhat out of it. Being the gentleman that he was, Kyle decided to check up on her.
“Hey… everything okay?”
The witch lazily lifted her hand and waved it at him with a blissful expression on her face.
“Aw yeah… peachy… best lay I’ve had in a good while… that mana… wow… I’ll be feeling the effects of your mana for weeks at least…”
Kyle, feeling somewhat embarrassed, looked her over and noted that she seemed to have recovered at this point, the only thing stopping her the beautiful after glow. The witch turned her attention to him and gave him a smile.
“You’re free to go if you want… however… if you wanted to go for round two, no way I’m going to be able to stop you…”
She gave Kyle a lewd wink, something he took notice of, but didn’t act on.
“Nah… I think I’m good… If you’re alright though, then I’m just going to go ahead and head on.”
“Alright… come back anytime you want… especially if you’re looking to do this again.”
Not letting the conversation go on any further than that, Kyle bid his farewell one more time before he exited the room and made his way to the front desk, hunching over a little the whole way to prevent himself from getting a stiffy at the thought of another round.
Eventually Kyle found his way out to the front desk, and in that time, nothing of note seemed to happen other than the lobby not being quite as empty as when he first entered. He was only able to notice this for a moment before he took note of the fact that the moment he had walked in the room, most of the Mamono present turned to look at him. A few of them even took a whiff in his general direction before giving him a knowingly lewd smile. Kyle quickly realized that he probably smelled a lot like sex right now and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible despite the stares he was getting. It didn’t take him very long to get to the front desk, thankfully making it there without incident, Kyle took a moment to see if he could find the other member of his party.
It didn’t take him very long to find her.
Cutely twitching in her sleep on one of the many couches in the front entryway was Luvi, the wererabbit obviously having drifted off to sleep in the time it took him to get his transaction out of the way. Huffing to himself in an amused manner, Kyle made his way over to the prone figure and looked down at the sleeping bunny.
‘Know what? She’s kinda cute like this.’
‘…’
Oddly silent, Kyle found the lack of a response from the overlord somewhat puzzling. However, he wasn’t going to question it and didn’t say anything more. Bringing his attention back to the white rabbit, Kyle raised his voice to rouse her.
“Hey, Luvi, time to get going.”
The most she did was maybe twitch at the mention of her name, but she didn’t wake up. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle tried yet again, only a little louder this time and closer to the elongated rabbit ears of hers.
“Oi, wakey wakey. Daylight is fading and we got thing to do.”
Yet again, Luvi showed absolutely no reaction to his attempts.
Kyle sat there for a moment and simply looked at her before he spoke to the only other person he could.
‘She’s not dead is she?’[/b]
‘Well that’s an extreme conclusion to come to. I wouldn’t care if she did though, saves us some trouble. But no, I can see it from here, she’s breathing… maybe you should punch her in the face to get her up.’
‘Well that’s an extreme method to use. But it does sorta give me an idea.’
Kyle looked down at Luvi and smiled a little to himself before he reached down and started to poke her cheeks. Not much of a reaction, but Kyle didn’t care much considering it was just a test. However, he couldn’t help but notice that her cheeks where very soft and cuddly feeling. For lack of a better term, it was about like petting downy fur from a rabbit, only without the fur. Not really thinking about it, Kyle bent down and cupped his hands around Luvis cheeks and began to gently stroke out of curiosity. The girls face contorted with each pass, though she didn’t seem to mind as she slept.
“Huh… this is soft…”
Kyle continued unabashed with the stroking of her face, feeling somewhat relaxed about the whole thing. However, a moment later and he suddenly felt like his body was charged with electricity that buzzed through his whole being before he felt it jolt from his fingertips and into the face he happened to be holding. However, Luvi didn’t react at all and continued to sleep. Kyle removed his hands from her face and looked at them with some confusion, flexing and checking them over.
“Wha?”
‘Okay kid, lets’ get going.’
‘What? Why? What just happened?’
‘Just get going already dammit.’
‘But what about Luvi?’
Kyle could feel agitation growing in Zamil and felt that the overlord was just about at the end of his patience.
‘Just fucking go! She won’t even remember you when she gets up!’
Kyle blinked in some confusion before the reality of those words hit him and he felt something like ice drop in his stomach.
‘…What did you do to her?’
‘Oh my fucking me… will you finally go if I tell you?’
‘Just answer the question!’
‘Don’t give me your attitude you little shit. If anything you should be thanking me! All I did was wipe her memory of you for the past few hours or so. Not a big deal. That won’t mean anything though if you stick around for her to wake up and go all gaga for you again. So hurry up and fucking move already!’
Kyle had no idea how to react to this info, and he found himself not quite moving as quickly as the overlord wanted him to. In fact, He was more focused on Luvi then anything else right that moment. Her memory had just been wiped, just like that. Kyle knew that Zamil thought of it as nothing more than an advantage, but Kyle felt differently. The poor girl had just been unnaturally attracted to him was all. He could see the point behind the memory wipe, but at the same time, he felt it was wrong to just up and do it.
‘… Kid, what’s done is done at this point. I can’t go back and replace them if that’s what you want me to do. It didn’t hurt her or anything, hell she’ll probably just be a little disoriented, but I told you that we would need to take care of her, and I went about it in the best way possible, so suck it up and get moving.’
Kyle blinked a few times, his mind in some turmoil about the whole thing. However, Zamil was right, what’s done is done. Looking down at the rabbit one more time, Kyle felt it appropriate to lay his hand on her head one more time and give it a nice ruffle. He felt his heart twist when she smiled with the most content look on her face. Not wanting to deal with the fallout of this situation, Kyle then turned around and made his way out the door, his mind beginning to wonder if traveling with an ancient demon was in fact a good idea at this point…
Xx Far to the west, the Lugarian Theocracy, High Chapel of the Divine. xX
In Tengoku, there exists a vast swath of land to the west. This land, lush in forests and many natural ponds and lakes, was once the home to a small and neigh inconsequential settlement. It had to be that way, for in the age when gods and demons would fight more openly and with far more abandon to the human realm, man was all but a weak and nigh powerless thing in that age, and would cower at the spectacle of the power displayed before them. So they fled as far as they could and set up this small haven, the last bastion for man to safeguard itself against the gods war. Eventually, the power struggle of the gods did eventually die down, and in its aftermath, the small settlement that had been the humans’ refuge, had become a powerful kingdom that would eventually come to take over most of the western world. This small kingdom eventually had grown into a vast theocracy, and at its heart was a god that had managed to survive the raging conflict. The god had a name, but it was lost to history, only the revered name of chief god being the only thing the humans called this great deity. Thus, for the next 2000 years, this Theocracy came under the name of Lugaria and to this day, it holds the most anti-Mamono support and human supremacy mindset in the whole of the world of Tengoku. It is where the tenants of the chief god are upheld the strongest and what many anti-mamono minded humans considered to be the last bastion against the Mamono ‘invasion’.
Here in this great city, at its very center, its heart as many of its citizens would call it, stands the Grand Lugarian Cathedral. It was a massive structure of Romanesque architecture fashioned from white stone, making the building almost have a solemn feeling of purity to it. The tinted glass that was fitted in the windows was of a multitude of colors, each one showering the interior with prismatic colors as if in an attempt to display the glory of their god in some meager form. Looking at the outside, one could see the size of this structure, but upon entering, it felt as if the concept of ‘massive’ had been squeezed in that one large walkway. The inside was lined with many rows of wooden benches for the commons to sit in the church during mass, the large wooden cross at the end of the hall arresting all attention to it. It was here, under this rough wooden cross that the head of the Order would give his sermons to the people, and it is here where many acolytes would pray under the Cross of the Chief God. As of right now, the building was vacant and silent, as one would expect from a church. All save for one man, knelt at the foot of the cross and in deep prayer.
The man looked to be in has late fifties, his hair white and balding past the white camauro and his skin looking weathered and wrinkled like old parchment past his white priest outfit. This old man, kneeling before a cross, gnarled hands clasped in prayer, was known as Pope Victor Olther Romania, Head of the Order church and whom all branches of the Order directly fall under. In Lugaria, there are none who are higher. As the Pope of the Order, it fell to Victor to ordain orders to the paladins, grant pardons for criminals, offer prayers to the sick and ailing, council the lost and the dismal, and talk with the limited voice of the Chief god on Tengoku. However, ever since last night, he had yet to hear the music of the heavens in his prayers nor the sounds of the Chief Gods voice even once on his mind. Sometimes this would happen, and he knew that he must pray fervently in order to quell unease in his heart, for the Chief God could not grant him audience for all times of the day. However, what made this recent silence most disturbing was due to what he had seen last night in this very room. On the back wall, past the Cross was a massive glass mosaic depicting the fields of the heavens. It was a stunning and beautiful work of art. However, sometime last night as Victor had been making his last round of prayers for the night, the sound of shattering glass had caught his attention. When he had looked up at that very Mural, he saw something he had not been expecting to see. Without rhyme or reason, a large hole had opened up in the sky of heaven, and with the backdrop of the moonless night outside, it had looked to be a gaping hole of darkness. It had set his heart alight with fear and he had taken to kneeling and praying for the Gods guidance for this ill omen. Yet he had to hear from his God, and this disturbed his heart greatly. However, he knew he had to persevere, for those who were diligent in their faith would be rewarded. Victor kept to his praying, his knees already having grown tired and his back aching from his bowing, and still he prayed. Just as it seemed his faith would begin to crumble and heart waver, he suddenly felt a change in the room around him.
It was a sudden calming, the air of the sanctuary around, already having been still, grew quiet and relaxed. Feeling his heart come at ease, the Pope looked up to the top of the cross and was delighted in his heart of hearts to see something of a most divine nature. An angel from his Gods heavenly ranks had descended to this great church. Wreathed in light, the humanoid shaped angel had wings of pure white that looked to fill the entirety of the hall and had wrapped it’s body in clothing that looked beyond the realm of mortals. A principality, one of the lower angels of heaven, but in this time of spiritual unrest, Victor felt that it was a sign from the Chief god that she was still staying in contact with her faithful. However, the fact that something had been sent also told him that the sign he had seen might be more serious than he had thought, for if the Chief God would not talk to him through his spirit, that meant there was something going on that required her undivided attention.
“Lo Mortal. I have come to relay a message from the most High God to ye in your time of unrest. The sign you saw last night was a foreboding omen of the events going on in heaven. A day past, something rent the barrier of the stars in heaven and caused great destruction in the holy land. We of the Divine have been at work to restore the order of the heavens and are attempting to restructure the natural balance, for though you do not feel it, the world is in disarray. Not only that; but the entity that has done this has intruded into the mortal world.”
Victor felt his stomach drop at the words. Something from beyond the stars has caused damage to heaven and has made its way to earth? The thought made him quake in fear to this sudden announcement.
“However, you should not fear. Whatever it may be has most undoubtedly become weakened from such an exertion in power. Thus, the Chief God has presented you with a command. You must either persuade this entity to join us in our righteous cause, or destroy it so that our enemies will not be able to use it against us.”
The holy man looked on at the angel with an uncertain look in his eyes before he spoke up, his voice filled with doubt.
“How are we to do this? How are we to find this entity? Will it be something we can discern with our own eyes?”
“Fear Not mortal, for the Chief God has given you a way to detect this outsider.”
A moment later and a small flash of light emitted from the angels body. In the next instant, a small oval crystal hovered before Victor. The Old man reached his hand out and gently took the jewel from the air, his fingers grasping the outside of the gem preciously.
“That Gem will allow you to find the entity in our world. After that, it will fall to you humans to do with it as you wish. So this is decided by our God. We hope for your success in this matter.”
A moment later and the principality vanished in a flash of light, leaving Victor to stare momentarily at the spot it had been previously. A moment later and he stood to his feet, his knees aching from his night long vigil and the gem grasped tightly in his hand as he turned toward the door to begin the hunt for this entity.
Xx Meanwhile, Back at Haval xX
Kyle looked up at the building before him, unsure of what it was he was seeing and wondering if he hadn’t in fact managed to mess up the address he had been given. Sadly, no matter how hard he wanted it to be, the building he was currently standing in front of was no doubt the Sabbath. Kyle just stood there for a moment to take in everything he was currently seeing; just to be sure that he wasn’t just imagining what it was he was looking at. However, he knew that there was no way that just staring at it was going to change what it was, and that was that the supposed ‘Sabbath’ something he had been assuming would have been a more ominous looking cathedral, looked like something that a cute Goat themed mahou shojou would come up with. The outside was made of stone oddly enough, but there where odd heart patterns in the shape of goat skulls etched in the stone along with several small girls wearing cute witch outfits handing out flyers to those who would walk by. There was also no missing the big word “SABBATH” spelled out on the front of the building in stone. The little advertisement on the ground on the small chalk board also made Kyle somewhat reluctant to step forth, the sign reading ‘Welcome to the Sabbath, we hope you find what you need Onii-chan!’
’Oi. What’s the holdup kid?’
‘Zamil… how do I put this… I’m a little… reluctant to go into this building.’
‘Reason being?’
‘Are you serious? You’re not seeing what I’m seeing here? It’s embarrassing to go into such a weird looking building!’
‘Oh, I see what you’re seeing kid, I just don’t give a shit right now. What do I care if it looks like something out of black magic Sailor Moon? It’s just a building. Now walk your fucking ass in there and get a charm for your leaking dick, sorry, I mean mana.’
Kyle let out a small sigh and ignored the sarcasm. He knew that he couldn’t refute the Overlord since he had no doubt that such a thing would be a hindrance later on. Kyle then let out a sigh in resignation before he turned to Celti and Luvi and waved for them to come on. Walking up the flagstone steps, Kyle made his way through the oak wood doors into the Sabbath interior. It was a pretty simple looking lobby as far as he could see, two large arched doorways on both sides of a long wooden counter with three young girls manning the counter. The three young girls were different in looks, but the attire was so similar that he would have thought that they were all wearing the same article of clothing if it wasn’t for the difference in color. All the clothes they wore where distinctly stylish up top, he couldn’t see what they wore below the waist, but the upper part looked like some type of low cut jacket that only came up to just below where their breasts would be and only extended sleeve-wise to just behind the elbow. The colors where distinct in that the clothing was black in color, but with yellow, red, and blue variations around the collar and on the hats’ they wore. Each hat was a primary color to the girl’s clothes; the beret’s sitting snugly on their heads as the girls seemed to be writing away without much focus to the outside. However, Kyle found himself rather wrong in that thinking when he walked over to the counter and the one in the red hat looked up quickly, a professional smile on her face as she turned her attention to Kyle.
“Hello there! Welcome to the Sabbath Haval Branch! Is this your first time here?”
Kyle nodded his head in answer to her question, in which she responded with a nod of her own.
“I see! Well then, let me give you a small run down of what it is we do here! We are an organization tasked with managing and creating magics of many different types, we also happen to offer many such magical services for our customers, whether those happen to be magical reagents, spells and charms, or magical items, we offer them in vast quantity and in varied qualities and in many types of services. Another of our services is that we happen to teach young mamono in the ways of young girls and in the arts of seduction and sexual congress.”
Kyle had been paying quite a bit of attention up until she said that little bit. For a moment, he wasn’t quite sure if he had heard her right and had blinked a few times as he mentally ran that through his mind a few more times. Concluding that he had not in fact misheard her, he could only listen on to the rest of her explanation in a way to try to keep his shock from showing.
“… Is everything alright sir?”
“Yes, yes… it’s fine, please continue.”
“Understood… anyway, The last of our services is also related to our religious beliefs. The Sabbath upholds the two tenants that state ‘We shall be devoted to pleasure such as the Mamono that we are.’ And that ‘we shall impart the charm and indecency of little girls to all men and Mamono.’ ”
At that, Kyle couldn’t stop his mouth from running as he smashed his hands into the counter and looked at the young girl with a look of absolute bewilderment.
“A church dedicated to Loli lovers!?!?”
The girl, continuing to smile as if this reaction was more common then what one would expect, nodded her head while she beamed at him.
“Yes! Our church is dedicated to spreading the word about the pure ecstasy one can feel from having a small childish body that can be ravaged by older Onii-chans… or Older brothers if the Zipangu term is hard to understand. You seem to be rather excited about that, maybe you would be interested in joining the Sabbath?”
Kyle just about said yes right then and there before the sound of something screeching in his mind stopped him cold.
‘Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooold it right there mother fucker! Get your finger away from any pens, cause we are not joining up with a Loli Cult!’
‘Oh come on! I wasn’t going to… I think… maybe…’
‘Exactly why I stopped you. Now just ask her about the charms and lets be done with this place.
Letting out a small sigh in resignation, Kyle smiled at the Desk clerk and politely shook his head.
“Sorry… not today. I’m only here get some kind of charm or spell cast on me so my leaking Mana won’t cause a problem.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh… so you can’t control what you have… no wonder it was spilling out all over the place. Alright then, if you want to use our spell services, you’ll want to head on down the hall on your right there and make your way to the door with ‘magical maladies’ written in bold on it.”
“How much will it cost me?”
“That depends on what will need to be done to fix your issue.”
“Okay, got it. Thank you for your time.”
“No problem! By the way, where always looking for new recruits into the Sabbath, so if you’re still interested in joining later on, just come back and we’ll get you all taken care of!”
“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”
Kyle then turned toward the hall the young girl had pointed him to and was about to head on before he remembered he had two people following him. Turning his attention back to Luvi and Celti, Kyle noted that Luvi looked somewhat bored while Celti looked as if she wanted to ask him something. Remembering something she had said back at the bookstore, Kyle turned back to the witch.
“Um… sorry… I forgot to ask something. My Friend here-” Kyle pointed to Celti. “-Is looking for some sacred texts from the Order. We were told you guys might have them here somewhere.”
The red witch looked to Kyle and then to Celti before nodding.
“I see… yes, we do have them, however, I’ll have to ask what your purpose for them might be. Despite the distasteful nature of the texts themselves, we do consider most knowledge to be important.”
“Uh… Um… I was…I was somewhat hoping that I might read them if it’s not too much of a problem?”
The witch nodded her head before she reached from under her desk and handed Celti a card of sorts.
“Here you go, take the hall on your left and go down until you find Archives in bold text. Show that receptionist that card and she’ll find them for you. Word of advice, make sure you know what you’re looking for because she’s not a very patient person…”
Celti nodded her head in thanks before she turned her attention to Kyle.
“Thank you for bringing me here Mr. Kyle. I probably would still be looking if you hadn’t helped me.”
“No problem. It was my pleasure… well, I hope you find what you need. Take care.”
“May your day be a blessed one Mr. Kyle.”
Kyle watched as she walked off in the direction the witch had indicated, but only for a moment more before he turned his attention back to Luvi, who still looked somewhat absentminded.
“Hey… Luvi. Pay attention for a moment if you would please.”
The wererabbit seemed to jump at being talked to before she realized who it was that was talking to her.
“Oh! What’s up?”
“Nothing, I just need you to stay here and not cause problems okay? There are some comfy looking chairs over there, so please stay there while I go and get what I need to do done alright?”
“Ummmm… can’t I just come with you? Luvi will get bored if you’re not around…”
“No, you can’t. Just stay here okay? It won’t take long.”
For a moment, Luvi looked as if she was going to object. However, she seemed to think it over for a moment before she simply nodded her head, causing her large floppy ears to bob up and down.
“M’kay. Luvi will wait here!”
Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, Kyle simply decided he should count his blessings and pat her on the head.
“Good. I’ll be right back.”
“Eh he… ‘Kay!”
Kyle removed his hand from her head and made his way down the hall the witch told him about. He continued to pass a number of doors, and by that account, several different people on his way. The fact that all of the Mamono he had seen where so cute or beautiful made him happy that he had done this. Eventually, Kyle managed to find the door he was looking for. Nodding his head, he gently knocked on the door and waited for a response. It didn’t take very long before he heard someone on the other side call for him to come in. Doing so, Kyle pushed the door open before a thought hit him.
‘Wait… won’t people with high magic skills be able to see through this shoddy illusion?’
Too little too late, the person on the other side of the door, a young girl like the many he had seen so far, looked up from a small crystal she had just been looking at before her gaze fell on his own, the only difference between her and them was that she was wearing glasses and had an expressionless face. For the next few seconds, neither one said anything, just staring at each other.
“Well? Are you coming in?”
Kyle blinked a few times in some confusion before what she said registered. Nodding his head quickly, he came into the room.
“Sorry...”
Seeing that there was a chair opposite from where the girl was sitting, Kyle decided that that was probably the place for him to be. He then placed himself on the chair and looked at the witch in front of him, waiting for her to say something to him.
‘I guess she can’t see past the illusion?’
“So, how can I help you?”
“Huh?”
“I said, How can I help you? You obviously came to my department cause you needed something taken care of did you not?”
“Oh! Sorry… right… Yeah, I need some help with something…”
“I can guess that it has something with your leaking Mana right?”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement with her.
“Yeah… for reasons I can’t really discuss, I only just now recently gained the ability to use it, but I’m not very good at holding it in it seems. It hasn’t caused me a problem yet, but I thought it might be best to do something about it before I cause an issue.”
“I see… I’m guessing your current inability to control your Mana has something to do with your change into your current form?”
For a moment, the room went silent, the only sound Kyle was able to hear being the sounds of people walking outside the door. He could suddenly feel his sweat start to form on his skin, his mind racing while only a few words could come out of his mouth.
“Uh… Current form?”
“Yes, the one you’re keeping hidden behind your rather half-baked Illusion.”
For a moment, Kyle wasn’t sure what to think, but the first thing that crossed his mind was to run away. He was wondering if he could make it to the door before she tried something before oddly enough, Zamil was the one who spoke up.
‘Calm the fuck down kid.’
‘Dude! She just exposed us! We need to get the hell out of here!’
‘First of all, if you wanted to stop her, you should have gone straight for her jugular and not give her time to react. Second, are you even paying any attention to her tone of voice right now? That doesn’t sound like someone who hasn’t encountered this type of thing before. She sounds calm and collected to me.’
‘That could be an act for all we know! She might be ready to cast a spell on us any second now!’
‘Seriously kid, you need to start paying better attention to the things around you. Despite what you might think, there always happens to be a tell when someone comes across something unusual. A change in expression, a change in body language, a change in the language used, all these things can be used to gauge a person’s reaction to a new situation. Her tone of voice hasn’t changed, she still sounds like she’s dealing with a customer, and the girl hasn’t moved an inch from her seat since she started talking with you. Her body is composed and relaxed. It’s easy to infer one of two things about this situation. She’s either a pro, or she’s dealt with things like this before. So take it easy. Also, don’t act so fidgety, it makes others nervous… also, I’m dropping the illusion, it’s wearing me out. I’ll still try to keep a lid on your mana though.’
Before Kyle could have any say in the matter, he could feel something like a light sheet falling away from his body and when he looked at his hands, he could see that it had gone back to his demonic form. Looking back to the witch, he could see she was somewhat confused as to his current action. Deciding that he could mix some truth with lies, Kyle gave her a nervous smile.
“Uh… Yeah… sorry… I turned into this some time back, and when I did, I gained the ability to use Mana… thing is, I don’t know how to use it or control it… and that’s kinda why I’m here today. I’m sorta hoping you can do something to help me regulate my Mana flow.”
“Well, you came to the right place for it… I suppose you’ll also want something to hide your physical appearance as well?”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement.
“That would be quite helpful.”
The witch nodded her head before she wrote something down on a piece of paper. It didn’t take long, and she had her attention back to Kyle when she got done.
“Alright. So you’ll want something that can take care of your mana and also cast an illusion on your body?”
“Only until I can do it myself at any rate. I’m hoping that I can get good enough to control my mana while also upgrading from a simple illusion spell to a Glamor.”
The witch nodded once again in agreement.
“A good idea. I’ll see what I can come up with… Also, I’m going to need a full gauge of your power. I can already feel what it’s like just from you trying to bottle it up, but in order to figure out the best kind of seal, I’ll need to see you at your best. All Mana is different based on the individual, so It’s best if you let it all out.”
Kyle nodded his head in agreement, but mentally, he wasn’t sure how much of a good idea that was. Zamil, however, decided to give some input.
‘Just do it kid. She might be way weaker than me, but she does have solid points. She’ll need a gauge of what your power is like. However, I would suggest you ask her if this room is magically sealed. Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll blow the top off this thing.’
Kyle internally agreed with him before he spoke up with Zamils suggestion.
“Alright… however, before I do, is this room magically sealed? I’d rather there not be an issue with others.”
The witch nodded her head before she pointed to several sigils etched into the walls.
“No need to worry. You would need to be just below the Maou in order for your mana to slip out of this room. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
Kyle nodded his head before he spoke to Zamil again.
‘Okay, let’s do it.’
“Alright… Here we go.”
A second later, and Kyle felt something in his body seem to slightly shift and he felt a great deal of energy start to fill his body. It was almost like he got an adrenalin rush for his soul all of a sudden and he could feel the power brimming in him barely contained past his mortal figure. Of course, that was what he was currently feeling, he knew that it must be filling the room every second that passed. However, when he turned to the witch, whom he was expecting to be eyeing him critically, he was instead greeted with something he hadn’t been expecting. The girl before him had gone from being a quiet and expressionless individual, to someone who was full of emotion. Lewd emotion if what he was seeing was right. The girl’s face was deep crimson with little beads of sweat falling off her face. Her breath was coming in heavy gasps and her eyes looked somewhat unfocused and heavy with desire. Kyle wasn’t sure what to think of the situation, his mind never having once encountered anything quite like this before.
‘Huh… so that’s the kind of effect strong Mana has on Mamono. Good to know.’
Kyle didn’t pay much attention to Zamil before he spoke up, some concern in his voice.
“Um… are you okay?”
Kyle watched her for a moment, the girl seemingly unable to string together a conversation at the moment. However, he did notice one thing about her, Just as she was dressed up like the girls at the front desk, he noticed that she wore the same outfit. However, a small detail he had missed was the small heart shaped goat skull pendent. The girls at the front desk pins had been a bright pink in color, however, the one on the girl in front of him was flashing back and forth between a bright lime green to the same shade of pink as the previous pins. He had no idea what that was about, but stopped paying it much mind when the girls eyes locked with his. Kyle quickly noticed a shift seem to come over the girl, and the eyes that refrained from showing much emotion, looked like some kind of cat stalking its prey. A moment later and the witch started to grin lewdly while her hand seemed to vanish under the desk she sat at. Kyle felt like the situation was starting to spiral out of control quickly, especially when he saw the girls breath starting to quicken as she leaned forward.
‘Wow, I guess they really don’t care much when they get horny do they?’
‘So I see, put a lid on the mana please, I don’t want this to get anymore awkward then it should be.’
‘Eh, why? Just go ahead and screw her. The situation seems to be making its way there anyway.
‘How about not!! This does not help our situation at all!’
‘Point. But it wouldn’t kill you to break from abstinence every once in a while ya know.’
Despite the somewhat reluctant sigh from the Overlord, Kyle felt the power that was surging through his body seem to stop just as suddenly as it had started. Shutting off his mana supply so abruptly didn’t seem to have any negative effects on him at the moment, but the change that came over the witch in the room was rapid. It was apparent to see that the girl’s body didn’t seem so sweaty anymore, and her expression, which was wild with lust, now looked confused and disoriented. That only lasted a moment before her face went red in embarrassment and she quickly wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Uh… Um.. M-My apologies for that… uh… display… I know there are rules to follow, but I fear that the level… and potency of your Mana was… to say the least, overwhelming… I can see why you would want to do something about it...”
“Yeah… I think it will definitely be a problem later on if I leave it alone…”
“Okay… also… I was somewhat lucid the whole time that was going on… and I can say that… your level… the power and raw energy behind it… is going to need something very powerful to take care of…”
“…I don’t like the sounds of that. How expensive is sealing it up going to be?”
“Minimum of 50 Gold coins.”
“Holy-! I do not have that much on me… I probably know the answer to this question already, but would it be possible to pay later or to negotiate the price?”
The witch simply gave Kyle a sad look before she shook her head.
“Sadly no. the price is as low as I can get it… You could pay in installments, but we do have a 5 gold minimum payment per week.”
Kyle simply shook his head. This wasn’t looking like a good situation. He didn’t even have a single gold piece on him, and he had no idea how quickly or efficiently he could gather that money. Plus, he had no time to be going around gathering money. Letting out a sigh, Kyle looked to the girl before he shook his head at her.
“Sorry, I’m not going to be able to pay that. Is there another option I can use like a spell or something?”
“A spell would be cheaper, yes, but sadly, spells are indefinite. You won’t know how long it’ll last, and with something this powerful, I doubt even some of our best spell casters could make it last more than a day at most. You would be better off going in to the next town over, but that’s a weeks’ worth of travel in of itself.”
Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He couldn’t hope to make it the next town in a week. Zamil probably couldn’t keep the Mana back for that long, and when he did let go, the same effect that happened in this room would happen out in the woods, only with more than likely even worse consequences, no doubt about it.
‘I see no way out of this other than to earn the money or learn to control my mana. Both of which are time consuming.’
‘I’d be willing to let you sit around for a week. Problem is, you’re a total beginner at magic and sorcery. I can only teach you so much while in this state, and even with a proper teacher and your innate talent for magic, it would probably take you a few months to learn the basics. That’s too long to be sitting around for my tastes. My plan had been to teach you while we traveled, maybe find someone who would be willing to teach you. From the looks of it, you’ll need to learn magic first and foremost, but in the meantime it might be better for you to start earning money to pay for that charm.’
Kyle agreed with that logic mentally. Before he could say anything to the clerk though, he noticed that she seemed as if she wanted to say something.
“What is it?”
“I have a suggestion. Haval is a pretty well-known travelers rest stop. If you want, you could see if you could find someone willing to teach you some basics, you could get your Mana under control with them. The Sabbath is also willing to teach you, but it would cost you quite a bit… However… Members get lessons for free, so if you become a member, we could teach you about magic basics. You also get a serious discount on all Sabbath related products and services.”
The last statement was told with a practiced ease, and Kyle couldn’t help but applaud the Sabbaths sales Reps for such a drive for members. Not that he was opposed to joining such a cult.
‘Maybe we should consider jo-’
‘No fucking way.’
‘Worth a shot at any rate…’
With his hopes dashed, Kyle simply let out a small disappointed sigh with himself. However, he noticed something about the witch in front of him, the broaches she was wearing were a lime green color. He remembered that during that small episode, they had been flashing between pink and green. Curious, he decided to pose a question.
“Sorry, this isn’t related to my current situation, but I saw that little broach of yours flashing different colors when you were… eh… Horny if you’ll forgive the term.”
The witch smiled at him before she started to fiddle with said broach.
“It’s fine, I hear many different such words from our boss and other mamono, so you’re okay. But in answer to the question, the broach is something like a beacon for men to know if he can hit on a Mamono. We may suck semen out of men for nutrition, but we do have woman’s hearts after all. When these are Pink, it means where married or have our hearts set one someone else. If it’s green though, free game. We tend to use them most often in monster friendly towns for new people.”
“I… See…”
Kyle, however, felt as if he had just heard something pretty outrageous. Consume male semen for nutrition? Even this young girl in front of him? He was finding it a little hard to wrap his brain around that concept. Outside of succubi, he had thought that other monsters probably ate more normally.
“Um… I have a question…are all… Mamono like that?”
“Like what?”
“Well… do they all consume semen for survival?”
“We can live off other foods, but human semen offers the most power and energy for Mamono… I take it your pretty new to all this? If so, I would suggest buying a Makai traveler’s guide.”
“Already have one now that you mention it.”
“Good! Read that first before anything else, it’ll be a lifesaver for you. But anyway… back to the topic at hand, what do you want to do about your Mana?”
“Uh, I’ll probably go out and about and see more of the town and see if I can find someone who’d be willing to teach me. I have a lot of other things to do today as well, so it’s just something I’ll add to the list.”
“I see… very well then. Sorry I can’t do anything about your mana issue.”
Kyle simply shook his head at her.
“It’s fine. My circumstances are a bit odd at any rate…”
“I see… well, despite not being able to do anything about your Mana at the moment, I do have to ask about what you want to do with your appearance. If you simply want to use an illusion, I have something for that. If it’s a glamor, I have something for that as well, but it’s more expensive.”
“Hum… How much more expensive?”
“10 Gold for the glamor charm, 10 silver for the illusion charm.”
“That’s a big difference.”
The witch simply nodded her head in confirmation.
“Yes, it is. Illusions just mask something, it won’t change it. Glamor’s are used to make something look and feel real. Different process, different price.”
“Makes sense… only problem is, I have about 3 silver and 84 copper on me at the moment. I couldn’t even hope to pay for the cheap one.”
“You’re… sorta broke huh?”
“Pretty much…”
For a minute, there was nothing said between the two of them, the silence somewhat awkward for Kyle while the witch simply waited for him to respond. However, after another minute or so of nothing being said, the Witch in front of him broke the silence with a sigh.
“Well… Give me a second…”
Curious, Kyle watched as the young witch got up from her seat behind her desk and made her way across the room. Kyle was able to see the lower half of her body for the first time and was somewhat surprised to see that this girl was wearing some tight fitting hot pants while the only kind of footwear he could see was some basic leatherwork shoes. A moment later and the girl got to one of the cabinets lining the walls and opened one of the draws. A moment of sorting later and the witch pulled out what looked like a simple bronze colored ring. She quickly came back, and instead of sitting down, came up next to Kyles chair.
“Here, hold out your hand please.”
Interested in what she as doing, Kyle did as he was asked and held out his right hand. The next thing he knew, she slipped the ring on his middle finger and placed both her hands under and over his own
“Alright, I want you to think of your human form as hard as you can. When you have it firmly in your mind, I want you to try to push your Mana into the ring. After that, I’ll work with it from there.”
Kyle did as she asked of him and followed her instructions. A moment later and he felt the bronze ring warm up on his finger and saw that the witch was concentrating intently on the ring itself. That only lasted for a few more seconds before she let out a held breath and looked to him with a small smile.
“There we are. All done. Now you look like a person again. Just put the ring on when you want to look human and take it off to conserve the rings energy. Based on what I put into it, it should last you the rest of the day. When it does run out of magic, just hold it in your hand and do what you just did. The spell is already set, so all you have to do is charge the ring.”
“Wait… you cast some kind of illusion spell on this ring?”
“More specifically, I enchanted it to take on a certain appearance when worn. It’s just an illusion spell though, so someone will be able to tell if you’re human or not if they touch any of your unusual parts… and if they have high enough magical aptitude, they can see right through it. It really isn’t a problem in Makai or any monster friendly towns though, Men have their appearances change all the time around here after all. I’m guessing it’s something of an emotional thing for you though.”
Kyle laughed a little to himself, the young girl coming a little closer to home then she knew.
“Correct… However… doesn’t one need to pay for this before you go ahead and set it up? I mean, I’m not even sure I can pay it.”
The witch smiled at him with a hint of something behind it.
“True. Normally I would charge for something like that. Being so low level, I would only charge you about 5 silver… but you don’t even have that. So I’m willing to give it to you in exchange for a service rendered.”
Kyle wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he took the bait and bit on it.
“What kind of service?”
The witch smiled to herself lasciviously before she reached down toward her pants and undid the buttons with a meticulous and deliberate slowness. Despite the fact that she had been wearing such tight looking hot pants, the moment the last button came undone, they fell to the floor as if they were several sizes too large on a body much too small. Kyle had to take a moment to register what it was he was currently looking at right at that moment along with the specific action that had just been taken. It didn’t take long though, and the fact that the young witch had been wearing nothing underneath quickly registered in his head. The young witch sauntered over right next to him, her movements catching his eyes as she did as she added emphases on her legs when she walked.
“A simple service really… ever since I felt that Mana of yours… I’ve been feeling my body tense up and my thoughts have been finding themselves back to that… potency that I felt… it makes me weak in the knees and fills my head with a fog… you can obviously see what it’s done to me you sly man...”
At the mention of the word, Kyle subconsciously glanced down at her nethers and could see that the young witch had become quite aroused with her labia rosy red and slightly shining. Kyle found himself becoming quite red as well when he felt the heat on his face, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from her, though he did take his eyes off her pussy and directed it to her face. What he saw was that her eyes where glazed over with desire while her breath was coming heavy with ragged breathing.
“If you’re willing to offer me this simple service, I’ll more than happily give you that ring…”
Kyle could tell where this was going, it almost sounded like something out of some kind of Doujin, but at the same time, he couldn’t deny the state of the situation. The girl in front of him, despite looking young, was willing to offer him the ring he wore in exchange for releasing her growing desire. In truth, given what he was seeing, he couldn’t quite deny that he himself was feeling pretty horny right now.
“Uh… sure… yeah, I can do that.”
‘Uh sure? You sound so confident right now.’
‘Fuck off. About to get laid here.’
‘For the first time in forever from the sounds of it.
Ignoring the overlord, Kyle stood to his feet a little more quickly than he was meaning to and started to get to work on the belt around his pants before he noticed something off. Usually when one gets an erection, he can feel it on the front of his pants, however, Kyle felt that he couldn’t get his dick straight, or more like, it couldn’t get straight because his pants where too tight. Though he was ashamed to admit it, Kyle knew his dick was somewhat below average in the size department, so he knew that it usually didn’t get caught up like this. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what the issue might be before he remembered that his body wasn’t human anymore.
“Uh… sorry… could you give me a second?”
Not really giving her time to respond, Kyle turned off to the side for a moment before he took the ring off and placed it in his pocket. Now having assumed his more demonic form, Kyle took his belt off and undid the rest of the restraints usually found on a pair of Khakis. After a second he finally got them off and reached down into his pants to see if he could pull his dick out. Such wasn’t the case, and what his hand felt when it touched his groin was almost something alien to him. Unsure of what to think, Kyle pulled the rest of his pants down to get a clear look at the real situation. What he saw made his eyes widen in shock and his jaw hang slack.
“I… wha…”
‘Huh… well would you look at that. Bigger then I was expecting it to be.’
‘Bigger!?! That’s a goddamned salami attached to where my dick used to hang! What the hell!’
‘Settle down ya dip shit. Demons are nigh immortal, and with such immortality, they tend to have virulent life force. This sometimes comes out in larger than average sexual organs. Ever wonder why Succubi and Incubi have massive tits/schlongs? That would be the answer.’
‘Okay, that makes sense, but I mean, seriously! This fucker looks like it might kill someone!
Kyle could hardly bring his mouth to move at the sight before him. His dick, which had been a small thing in the past, was now almost comically huge. Just like the rest of his body, it was gray in color, with the head being just a darker gray compared to the rest. However, unlike a normal human dick, it looked like something out of a twisted hentai with small nubs around the ring of his cock and a shiny sheen to the whole thing with thick veins running across the whole of it. Kyle grabbed it firmly by the base to be sure it was in fact his. When he felt his hand grip it, he had no doubt in his mind that his dick was now this half-erect obscene thing. Turning back around, Kyle was going to say that he might need to call this off since his dick was almost too big for her body. Or he would have at any rate, had the girl just kept standing. Instead, Kyle’s eyes found that the witch was on her knees, both her hands currently working on her own body, one hand pinching her own nipples while the other was between her legs and working herself. The killer though was the bright red blush on her face with her mouth hanging open and her eyes glazed over. He was half erect before, but Kyles dick was now currently at full mast at the sight.
‘Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn… I’m more of a busty beauty type of overlord myself… but… those tiny tits, those thicker than average thighs… that small frame that seems to scream of frailty… and the icing on the cake is that expression, like she just needs something shoved up in her right this very second. If I had my real body right now, I’d be fucking that witch til she screamed, I also know for a fact your thinking the same thing right now kid’
Kyle felt himself swallow on reflex, his mind only half processing what the overlord was saying to him, the sight of the girl before him unabashedly masturbating in front of him making him think only lewd thoughts of what it might be like to stuff this dick of his in that wet pussy of hers. The girl, who Kyle had assumed was too absorbed in herself to really notice him, wasn’t quite so out of it as he had believed. A second later, when she brought her eyes up from her body and saw a large dick in front of her, she couldn’t help but go wide eyed in excitement.
“Oh my Maou is that your dick? Oh gods I need that in me right now! Please please PLEASE!!”
Kyle felt as if he should have questioned himself at this point for even debating on wanting to screw such a young looking girl… or his rational part of his brain did anyway. However, something much deeper in him felt the need to procreate. He felt that he himself as a human wanted to do it… but this was something much stronger, much more ingrained in his mind… it was a need to satiate a lustful hunger in his body, and despite the misgivings, he found himself unable to draw away from the carnal yearning. Kyle swallowed yet again before he nervously walked over to the girl, his hand subconsciously starting to stroke his massive dick. The witch, seeing his approach, felt her heart speed up and her eyes went wide in excitement. She quickly got to her feet and laid herself face up on her desk, her legs opened wide and enticingly opening up her lower lips. Kyle’s felt his erection jump a bit from the warm pink pussy exposed in front of him. Coming to a stop in front of her, Kyle felt that his face was incredibly flush with arousal, but at the same time was feeling just a hint of some higher moral standing in the back of his mind telling him that this might be wrong on several levels. However, rational and higher moral conscious where tossed out the second story window when the witch started to grind her pussy against the length of his shaft, the slick and warm feeling of her snatch sending his brain into a lust filled frenzy.
Kyle started to grind his shaft against the girls slickness, the warm sensation of a pussy after a few years of abstinence making him feel weak in the knees. However, his lust burned all the brighter, and the feeling in his chest made him seek out the inner warmth of the girl in front of him. Hardly even thinking anymore, Kyle gripped the young witch by her legs, her young skin feeling soft and almost plushy in his hands, and started to work the tip of his pulsing dick into the warm snatch. The girl started to moan lustfully, the feeling of Kyles dick penetrating her causing jolts of pleasure to run up her spine. Kyle could barely prevent himself from ramming the rest of his engorged cock in her, the tight fitting entrance of her pussy already doing more than enough to pleasure his head. However, such reasoning was blown out the window when the witch, herself having long since drowned in the thought of her own pleasure, forced Kyles dick the rest of the way in one quick push. Kyle almost blew his load then and there, his lower half seizing up, but not quite coming to the point of no return. He had to stifle a groan that had worked its way into his throat, yet that was harder then he thought. His dick was hilt deep in the witch, the tight walls clenching up around him, the warmth and slick sensation of her pussy seeping into his cock.
Said witch was also shivering uncontrollably, the feeling of such a massive dick overflowing with mana in her body causing her to lose her proper reasoning. However, such reasoning was already on its way out the door in Kyles’ mind, and he started to pump his lower half like a slow piston.
The slowness of his thrusts allowed Kyle to feel the full length of the walls of the girl he was currently impaled inside, the slickness and warmth urging his body further into his lust and depravity and making his lower body pick up the pace. To say nothing of the witch herself, her mind having gone blank with each new and renewed thrust, was making her whole body tense up and causing little gasps to escape her mouth with each impalement. Each pass caused Kyles little nubs to scrape along the pink inner folds, the tickling and delightful sensation spurring him on harder to seek more of that same pleasure.
At that point in time, the witches cunny was gushing, allowing Kyles dick to easily and quickly penetrate into her deepest part, and with each bump into her womb simply pushed out a louder moan. Kyle felt his body building up, his lower half clenching more and more with each thrust until finally, when he was almost slamming his dick into her little pussy, his body gave out and his balls exploded with built up semen. The witch, also having been building up, felt her own body climax at the same time she felt her womb begin to turn white with seed.
For Kyle, what he was currently feeling was a first. He had had a girlfriend or two in the past, so he wasn’t a stranger to sex, but in all the times he had ejaculated, this one far outstripped the others by miles. It felt so much more powerful, like he had been building up for years, thick strands of ropy jizz pushing itself out of his dick almost like a faucet for each convulsion he felt. Just the amount of time it took for him to squirt each time was beyond anything he had felt before, each shot lasting tens of seconds, and his mind whiting out with each shot. After what had to have been a solid minute of cumming, the witches belly had become distended with his cum while a steady trickle oozed out of the narrow space of her much too stuffed pussy. Kyle almost collapsed right on top of her, his breathing coming in gasps while his dick went flaccid. With an audible sucking sound, Kyle managed to extract himself from the witch and sat back down, watching in fascination as what looked to be a full cup of his jizz came out of her cunny. The witch, having felt a mind blowing orgasm from this whole ordeal, was still panting heavily and grinning dumbly as she stared vaguely at the ceiling, her tongue lulled out while she would giggle every few seconds. For the next minute or so, nothing was said, the two of them simply recovering from the vicious desktop sex that had just happened. That is until Kyle heard something in his head. A familiar something.
‘Huh, not bad. I’d give that a 7/10. The first fuck I’ve felt in a long while, sadly there were no tits involved, but the fact that you went at it like a champ was worth some points. Lost some due to lack of stamina. Gonna have to work on that by the way. When I had my body, I could do about 30 of her before I actually started to break a sweat.’
Kyle, having managed to recover enough of his senses, started to put his pants back on as he replied.
‘Hey, been a while for me okay? Let me enjoy this without your peanut gallery coooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwait a second! Did you just watch this whole thing?’
‘Through your eyes kid. Felt the whole thing to.’
Kyle blinked a few times at the sword on his hip, his face a look of horror, disgust, and bewilderment.
‘That… that is all kinds of fucked up. I… I don’t really know how to feel about this other then maybe horrified?’
‘Ah suck it up you little bitch. You and I are connected at this point. Anything you feel I’ll feel, so better get used to it. Anyway… got a free ring of illusion. This is a good start for us. Anyway, you better get going soon before she gets up for round two… not that I would mind that, maybe get a couple of her co-workers and-’
Kyle firmly put his foot down then and there.
‘No, once was fine thank you. Also, I gotta ask you a few questions about what just happened. I’ve never had sex that… powerful? Great? Whatever the word, it was beyond anything I had ever experienced before.’
‘Three words should explain this. Demon Life Force.’
Zamil only gave him a knowing chuckle and didn’t seem to want to elaborate any further on that. Kyle decided that it made enough sense as is and then turned his attention to the young witch. He had noticed that she was starting to come around and was looking somewhat more coherent. However, she still seemed somewhat out of it. Being the gentleman that he was, Kyle decided to check up on her.
“Hey… everything okay?”
The witch lazily lifted her hand and waved it at him with a blissful expression on her face.
“Aw yeah… peachy… best lay I’ve had in a good while… that mana… wow… I’ll be feeling the effects of your mana for weeks at least…”
Kyle, feeling somewhat embarrassed, looked her over and noted that she seemed to have recovered at this point, the only thing stopping her the beautiful after glow. The witch turned her attention to him and gave him a smile.
“You’re free to go if you want… however… if you wanted to go for round two, no way I’m going to be able to stop you…”
She gave Kyle a lewd wink, something he took notice of, but didn’t act on.
“Nah… I think I’m good… If you’re alright though, then I’m just going to go ahead and head on.”
“Alright… come back anytime you want… especially if you’re looking to do this again.”
Not letting the conversation go on any further than that, Kyle bid his farewell one more time before he exited the room and made his way to the front desk, hunching over a little the whole way to prevent himself from getting a stiffy at the thought of another round.
Eventually Kyle found his way out to the front desk, and in that time, nothing of note seemed to happen other than the lobby not being quite as empty as when he first entered. He was only able to notice this for a moment before he took note of the fact that the moment he had walked in the room, most of the Mamono present turned to look at him. A few of them even took a whiff in his general direction before giving him a knowingly lewd smile. Kyle quickly realized that he probably smelled a lot like sex right now and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible despite the stares he was getting. It didn’t take him very long to get to the front desk, thankfully making it there without incident, Kyle took a moment to see if he could find the other member of his party.
It didn’t take him very long to find her.
Cutely twitching in her sleep on one of the many couches in the front entryway was Luvi, the wererabbit obviously having drifted off to sleep in the time it took him to get his transaction out of the way. Huffing to himself in an amused manner, Kyle made his way over to the prone figure and looked down at the sleeping bunny.
‘Know what? She’s kinda cute like this.’
‘…’
Oddly silent, Kyle found the lack of a response from the overlord somewhat puzzling. However, he wasn’t going to question it and didn’t say anything more. Bringing his attention back to the white rabbit, Kyle raised his voice to rouse her.
“Hey, Luvi, time to get going.”
The most she did was maybe twitch at the mention of her name, but she didn’t wake up. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle tried yet again, only a little louder this time and closer to the elongated rabbit ears of hers.
“Oi, wakey wakey. Daylight is fading and we got thing to do.”
Yet again, Luvi showed absolutely no reaction to his attempts.
Kyle sat there for a moment and simply looked at her before he spoke to the only other person he could.
‘She’s not dead is she?’[/b]
‘Well that’s an extreme conclusion to come to. I wouldn’t care if she did though, saves us some trouble. But no, I can see it from here, she’s breathing… maybe you should punch her in the face to get her up.’
‘Well that’s an extreme method to use. But it does sorta give me an idea.’
Kyle looked down at Luvi and smiled a little to himself before he reached down and started to poke her cheeks. Not much of a reaction, but Kyle didn’t care much considering it was just a test. However, he couldn’t help but notice that her cheeks where very soft and cuddly feeling. For lack of a better term, it was about like petting downy fur from a rabbit, only without the fur. Not really thinking about it, Kyle bent down and cupped his hands around Luvis cheeks and began to gently stroke out of curiosity. The girls face contorted with each pass, though she didn’t seem to mind as she slept.
“Huh… this is soft…”
Kyle continued unabashed with the stroking of her face, feeling somewhat relaxed about the whole thing. However, a moment later and he suddenly felt like his body was charged with electricity that buzzed through his whole being before he felt it jolt from his fingertips and into the face he happened to be holding. However, Luvi didn’t react at all and continued to sleep. Kyle removed his hands from her face and looked at them with some confusion, flexing and checking them over.
“Wha?”
‘Okay kid, lets’ get going.’
‘What? Why? What just happened?’
‘Just get going already dammit.’
‘But what about Luvi?’
Kyle could feel agitation growing in Zamil and felt that the overlord was just about at the end of his patience.
‘Just fucking go! She won’t even remember you when she gets up!’
Kyle blinked in some confusion before the reality of those words hit him and he felt something like ice drop in his stomach.
‘…What did you do to her?’
‘Oh my fucking me… will you finally go if I tell you?’
‘Just answer the question!’
‘Don’t give me your attitude you little shit. If anything you should be thanking me! All I did was wipe her memory of you for the past few hours or so. Not a big deal. That won’t mean anything though if you stick around for her to wake up and go all gaga for you again. So hurry up and fucking move already!’
Kyle had no idea how to react to this info, and he found himself not quite moving as quickly as the overlord wanted him to. In fact, He was more focused on Luvi then anything else right that moment. Her memory had just been wiped, just like that. Kyle knew that Zamil thought of it as nothing more than an advantage, but Kyle felt differently. The poor girl had just been unnaturally attracted to him was all. He could see the point behind the memory wipe, but at the same time, he felt it was wrong to just up and do it.
‘… Kid, what’s done is done at this point. I can’t go back and replace them if that’s what you want me to do. It didn’t hurt her or anything, hell she’ll probably just be a little disoriented, but I told you that we would need to take care of her, and I went about it in the best way possible, so suck it up and get moving.’
Kyle blinked a few times, his mind in some turmoil about the whole thing. However, Zamil was right, what’s done is done. Looking down at the rabbit one more time, Kyle felt it appropriate to lay his hand on her head one more time and give it a nice ruffle. He felt his heart twist when she smiled with the most content look on her face. Not wanting to deal with the fallout of this situation, Kyle then turned around and made his way out the door, his mind beginning to wonder if traveling with an ancient demon was in fact a good idea at this point…
Spoiler: show
Chapter 5: New friends
Xx Makai, Maou’s Castle, Throne room. xX
Sergio was currently trying not to laugh out loud. As for why… well, given the situation, he really shouldn’t be laughing at all. However, rare was it for him to see his wife to look so out of sorts that she hadn’t even had time to do her usual cosmetic upkeep for the past few hours. Normally she would take a few minutes of each hour to change herself up to look different in some way shape or form, her usage of polymorphism at a masters level. However, not only had Lilith not taken the time to alter herself in any way, she had also let herself look the part of a panicked housewife. Her hair, which was normally smooth and silky, looked curled and frazzled, her expression was also shifting around faster than one would think possible. Needless to say, He had rarely every seen her look this upset over something. It was rare to say the least, and he found himself chuckling over the fact that his perfect and elegant wife wasn’t always quite so.
Lilith, for her part, was busy looking over countless magical arrays with Zellha, the both of them fine combing everything that they could possibly fit into the room. However, a moment later and a clearly disgruntled Maou let out a massive sigh as she pushed everything to the side and leaned back in her chair in resignation.
“Well isn’t this just a right mess we managed to find.”
Quickly getting up from her seat, Lilith started to walk away to a more open end of the room and magically conjured up a mirror. Sergio and Zellha had no doubt what she was fixing to do.
“Zellha? Could you be a doll and try to finish up what you can? Mommy needs to spend a few minutes making herself presentable again.”
Zellha, far too absorbed in the work she was given, gave no answer other than a small grunt. Lilith took that as a yes and got to work on her features. Sergio and Zellha however where busy looking over the data they had. Well… Zellha was, Sergio was just watching. A few moments later and Sergio decided that he had been in the dark long enough.
“Okay… so I know you two said this was a really major issue… But uh… no one has exactly told me what's going on.”
Zellha, not even looking up from her work, spoke up first, the Maou to busy trying to get herself straightened out.
“Well Dad… it’s a little complicated, but let me see what I can explain… You know that in our world we happen to have about 3 levels of existence right?”
“Well technically 6 if we count in pandemonium, Hades, and the inner realms.”
“… Yeah, but so as not to make this confusing, let’s just stick with Makai, Tengoku, and Heaven. Anyway, as you saw from the crystal, something or someone managed to breach the outer layer of our world, bust through heaven with ease before making a landing on the mortal coil of Tengoku. The real problem? Judging from the numbers and the calculations, it probably would have kept going until it hit Makai.”
“…That’s bad right?”
“Yes Dad, very bad. To put it into perspective… remember when you and Mom had to go to Heaven to knock some heads around to try to alter reality?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah… so remember when you had to go to Tengoku, break into the holiest place you could get into, convert almost half a nation of magical power to warp you guys up to heaven, and then had to use another half to kick the Chief Gods ass?”
“Yup… good times.”
“Well, this thing just took your achievement and made it look like a cheap magic trick in comparison. Whatever this is, is that freaking powerful.”
For a moment, Sergio let his daughters words sink in before the full implication hit him.
“Oh… wow… yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah… that’s pretty damn strong. But… if it is that strong, why didn’t it get into Makai?”
Zellha simply let out a huff before she shrugged her shoulders. However, Lilith was the one to answer that question, all done with altering herself to be more presentable as a Maou.
“We don’t know honey… but… if I was going to make an educated guess, I get the feeling it stopped cause it wanted to… and before you ask, no I don’t know what for…”
For a moment, the only thing that could be heard in the room was the faint buzzing of magical apparatuses along with a tense silence. However, Sergio could only stay quiet for so long.
“So… do we know what it is?”
Lilith let a sigh escape her lips before she shook her head.
“Not a clue… however, if the numbers are right and our calculations accurate, then whatever… or whoever it might be, has to be of an Overlord level of power…”
“I… get the feeling you told me what that is… but I can’t really remember what. Could you enlighten me Honey?”
The Maou should have felt agitated, she should considering the situation, but in all honesty, she couldn’t muster the strength of will to chastise her husband about his lack of study.
“It is at least on par with my level of power… Ah fuck it, let’s not mince words here. It’s stronger then me whatever it is.”
“… Honey… that is not a good thing.”
Zellha spoke up over the other two, her hand in the air and a look of knowing on her face.
“We don’t know that for certain Dad. Since we can’t seem to get a reading on it at the moment, we can’t arbitrarily make assumptions that it’s here to harm. They may just be lost and might try to find their way home.”
“Right, and lets not overlook the fact that whoever they are, they really messed up Heaven right now, and anything that gives that angelic bitch a headache isn’t all bad in my book, He he he…”
Sergio rolled his eyes at his wife’s evil laugh, but at the same time, he didn’t rebut her for it.
“But that just leaves us with the question of… is it benign… or is it malign?”
Nobody said anything. How could they when something that was as strong as the maou with unknown intentions was wandering around in the mortal realm? It made everyone feel uneasy, and for Lilith, scared for what this might do to the world. Something of such power had the potential to tip scales in favor of those who happened to acquire such powerful help. However, if nothing, she was someone who did things, not be passive.
“Well… for the time being, I’ll send out a small group of some of our strongest warriors to see what we can learn about the situation. Zellha, I want you to lead the team. Gather data as quickly as possible, and if you happen to encounter the being, ascertain if it can be reasoned with, even better if you can get it on our side. Also, watch out for the Order toady’s, they’ll most likely be investigating this on heavens behalf as well. ”
Zellha nodded confidently to her mother, a broad smile on her face.
“You got it mom!”
“That’s my girl. As for you Honey… I hate to ask you to do this, but in case it proves not so nice, I‘ll need you to be at your best. I want you gather up your old allies and to get yourselves ready for the worst case scenario. I’ll stay here and try to figure out what I can, I’ll have to leave the state of affairs with Charolet to keep Makai running smoothly.”
Sergio nodded his head empathetically.
“I understand Love. I’ll get right on it.”
Lilith gave her husband a smile before she walked over and gave him a quick and almost chaste kiss on the cheek. She then walked back to the table and sat down, giving the two of them one final nod before they departed. The Demon Lord simply sat there after the door closed, looking out into the room in deep thought as she tapped her fingers together.
“… I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come…”
Xx Meanwhile, Back in Havel xX
Kyle let out a long and heavy sigh as he flipped through the pages of the Monster girl encyclopedia, only half reading the words with the rest of his attention simply looking at the illustrations. Even then he wasn’t giving his full mental capacity to that, simply sitting on a bench he had found and contemplated the last few hours to himself, in particular, on Luvi.
‘You’re still thinking about the damn rabbit? Will you let it go already?’
‘Well excuse me for having a conscious and worrying about people we may encounter in the future. Is this going to be a reoccurring thing? Every time we run across someone, we just up and kapow! Memories gone?’
‘Oh by my unholy name, you whine about the dumbest things you know that? I won’t just up and zap memories away like that okay? I wiped the rabbits memories cause she was going to be the biggest pain in our ass. We don’t need such a useless tag along.’
Kyle closed the book forcefully, almost glaring down at the blade on his side.
‘Alright, then why didn’t you wipe Celti’s memories? Wasn’t she a nuisance?’
‘I do not have to explain every fucking thing I do you annoying shit. But out of the grace of my own limited patience, I’m going to explain why. The loli nun wasn’t going to stay with us forever, she wasn’t going to tag along like an annoying yappy dog, the meeting you two had was at most a passing meeting. The rabbit however, was going to keep following you until the end of your fucking days. As I have pointed out, she’s useless to us in the grand scheme of things, so I wiped her memories. End of story. Now let it drop. We don’t have time to think over things as stupid as this.’
Kyle wanted very badly to yell at Zamil and tell him that he shouldn’t have done anything to begin with, that he could have handled it well enough on his own. A moment later and he realized that he was something of an optimist, so he probably would have let Luvi stay… even if it was something of a bad idea. Letting out a sigh filled with all his pent up annoyance, Kyle looked back down at the Mamono encyclopedia and opened it back up again, oddly enough, dropping on an article he recognized immediately to be the wererabbit. It filled him with guilt the moment he saw it, but he decided to repress it and read the article more intently then the rest of the book. Spending a few minutes reading the article, Kyle took note of how Luvi acted and how the encyclopedia had described the very same behavior.
‘Good lord… I should have picked this up sooner… this could have saved me the guilt I feel right now.’
Zamil did not respond, obviously done talking about the whole situation and simply doing his best to keep Kyle’s Mana from leaking all over the place, this task much easier to do since the Overlord wasn’t busy trying to do two things at the same time. Kyle spent a few more moments looking over the wererabbit entry, his guilt still there, but deciding that his time was best spent doing something to take his mind off of it. Closing the book, Kyle stowed it away in his new bag and got back up, his gaze directing itself down the road and toward the bar he had been told about. Thankfully, on his way out of the Sabbath, Kyle had come across someone who looked like something of a guide. He was spot on, and when he asked where he could find the closest bar with decent information, he had been directed to a place that was called… the Bear Hug. Kyle had turned his eyebrow up at the name, but had thanked the man for the info and made his way into the city. Some 15 minutes later and he had decided to take a break to read the manuals he got from the bookstore.
That had been something like 40 minutes ago, and Kyle had felt as if he had been sitting long enough, his mind drifting far too much on Luvi for him to keep reading the manuals. Kyle made his way over to the entrance of the bar, the sign catching his attention for a moment with its bear arms wrapped around the name. Again, Kyle couldn’t help but cock his eyebrows upward in some wonder at the apt name. However, the exact moment he took his eyes off the door was the moment when someone obviously decided to make their way out said door. Kyle, not paying attention, in an almost cliché manner, ran into said individual. However, instead of either of them bouncing off of each other, Kyle felt himself almost sink into something soft in front of him. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what just happened, but he wasn’t quite panicking. After a second of confusion, Kyle backed up a bit to see exactly what it was he had run into.
He quickly got his answer when he saw the very large and very bouncy bosom that his head had made a temporary home. After taking a moment to admire it, Kyle realized what it was that just happened and looked up to apologize. However, the person he had run into looked rather relaxed, even amorous, of course, the fact that the person before him wasn’t a human and was in fact a Mamono might have explained that last one.
“Oh Dear, my apologies. I didn’t know someone was on the other side of the door.”
Kyle, rather flustered, spoke up quickly.
“Oh! Uh… no, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been standing in front of the door to begin with. My bad.”
Kyle took a moment to look the ‘woman’ over, her obvious Mamono traits sticking out to him. The first thing he noticed was the fact that she stood well over 7 feet tall, a large size for an average individual. However, he could only attribute that to the fact that her human legs were replaced with a horse body with its head replaced with a woman’s upper torso. He quickly came to the conclusion that this woman was a centaur of some kind. However, he had no knowledge of what kind she might be, seeing as he didn’t know of any kind of centaur with two dark red horns that ran straight up behind the ears. Her hair and fur where of the same color, a deep violet color, which seemed to complement her deep red horns and eyes. Another thing to note about her was the unusual dress she had on. Shoulder length embroidered black gloves, a dark veil behind her head that covered her long hair, and as if she felt like her bust needed to be seen, the only thing covering her chestly modesty was what looked to be some kind of vertical metallic micro bikini that suspiciously seemed to be hanging on by magic alone. Oddly enough, she also had some kind of metal skirt around her human waist, though he wasn’t sure why that was. One of the last things to note was that on the back of her taruic-half seemed to be some kind of cloth saddle that was outlined with emerald green vines with some crimson red roses dotting across it… and oddly enough, those rose cores looked suspiciously like yellow eyes, though Kyle was sure he was imagining that.
However, the woman took his attention away from her body when she started talking, her hand cupped under her chin with a semi-worried expression on her face.
“No, it’s alright. If anything, I should be apologizing for running into you. I find my attention has been drifting a lot more as of late really, so running into people or things has become a little more common place then I would like. I hope I didn’t hurt you?”
Kyle held up his hand as if to deflect her question in some flustered reaction.
“No, no, I’m totally fine. You weren’t going at any speed to hurt me, and if anything, that bust of yours waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
Realizing what it is he had said, Kyle felt himself go red in the face.
‘Real smooth playa. So silky I could feel the whole conversation being run over.’
‘Fuck yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou.’
However, unlike the indignant reaction or the angry blush he was expecting, the Centaur(?) woman simply giggled at him before she cupped both her hands under her massive bust.
“Well, Glad to see I offered a good safe guard for you. My name is Helen by the way. May I ask for the pleasure of your name stranger?”
Kyle, still somewhat fumbling around due to his slip-up, found it hard to continue the conversation at the moment, but eventually he did in fact manage to get himself back in order, the woman’s patience being quite long from the looks of it.
“Oh… uh… sorry, Kyle. My name is Kyle Demonia. And, again… sorry for running into you… and being an outright idiot.”
“Oh, I don’t mind about the last bit, if anything, It’s nice for someone to make mention of my feminine parts. Maou knows I haven’t had much chance to hear them as of late… However, if your still feeling bad about our impactful meeting, then mayhap you would grant me the privilege of joining you in the bar?”
Kyle was just being run over in terms of conversation today, his mind not quite keeping up with all the things happening in such quick succession. He blamed the new environment for it all really.
“Oh… Uh… weren’t you just on your way out though?”
‘True, but at the same time, I didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day anyway. Plus, escorting such a handsome and… rare young man beats anything I could have done on my own.”
Kyle felt that her wording was quite deliberate, but he took it due to the fact that he had in fact just got done fucking a young witch not but an hour ago, so the scent of sex might seem strong to a Mamono, so he didn’t think much more of it.
“Well, if you’re not busy, then sure, I would be delighted.”
With that, Helen moved herself back into the bar with Kyle following behind her.
“Oh! Helen, forget something?”
Helen looked to the man who had just spoken.
“Oh, no, not at all Bert. I happen to come across something of interest was all, so I’m coming back in.”
Kyle looked from Helen, to the man she was speaking to. From this angle Kyle could tell that it was the barkeeper she was communicating with, and it immediately dawned on him where the name ‘bear hug’ came from. The Bar keeper, Bert as he was just called, was a bear of a man if you would pardon the ironic pun. Standing well over 6 feet tall, he was muscular by far, making one think of a thick standing oak. He was almost cliché in that he was bald, had a full beard and mustache combo, and even had some scars across his thick arms and his face. The bear aspect of him not only came from his size, but the fact that he was hairy like a bear as well.
‘Huh… didn’t expect to run into a cliché like that.
‘Clichés exist for a reason fool.’
Not wanting to get into a mental debate, Kyle brought his attention to Burt, the man doing much the same. Kyle wasn’t sure what the man was looking for, but he could tell the Barkeeper was giving him a critical eye. A moment later though and the older gentleman simply smiled.
“Oh? Showing the guy around are we Helen?”
“But of course, if I am to run into such a handsome young man, then who am I to squander the chance presented to me by fate?”
Kyle was sure he was missing something in this conversation, the obvious smile on Helens face telling him that the Bartender and Centaur must be sharing some privet joke together. However, Kyle didn’t get a chance to think further on it when Helen looked back and motioned for him to go ahead.
“Take your seat, I’ll sit where you do.”
Kyle took her advice and did in fact find a place to sit down. The place had obviously been tailored to many different types of Mamono if the amount of different seating was any indicator. Kyle took note of a table that had an average chair, and a kind of long body stool. He took it that this type of table seemed to be geared more toward the Taruic types, and took Helen into consideration. It didn’t take long for them both to be seated, and after a minute of getting themselves situated, Kyle found himself looking at a very eager and interested Centaur.
Giving himself a moment to think about it, the fact that Helen had been so eager to want to come and talk with him made him somewhat suspicious. However, he wasn’t going to go full on paranoid and starts assuming she was out to get him in some way, though he had learned it was good to stay cautious. After a few more moments of silence between the two of them, Kyle decided to initiate conversation. Or he would have had Helen not started it off.
“Soooooooooooooooooo… Kyle was it? What brings someone like you, a new, fresh and wide eyed adventurer to a place like Havel?”
Kyle took a moment to think on her question and thought it might be best to keep it pretty minimalistic as possible with a faint hint of suspicion.
“How do you know I’m some kind of adventurer? And how do you know if I’m new to the area?”
Helen giggled to herself for a moment before she lazily analyzed Kyle.
“It’s not very hard really. Your dress is quite unique, I can say I’ve never seen anything like it before. You also have the look of someone who drinks in his surroundings, as if you’re trying to gather as much information about the area as you can. However, your biggest tell is the fact that your Mana is leaking. I take it you’ve only just recently converted, so that’s why you’re wandering around town, which is probably why you came to the bar in the first place. Information is key after all.”
Kyle couldn’t necessarily bring himself to disagree with anything she said, a lot of her postulating coming very close to home.
“Huh… You’re right on quite a number of those. But I see it’s my Mana that has caught your attention huh?”
“Oh yes. From what I can feel of it, it’s quite… raw shall we say. You’re not sure how to control it, so you’re mostly just pushing it down. I take it someone told you about keeping it civil in a Mamono friendly town, which is why you’re trying so hard.”
“Yup… I’ve already had an incident of what happens if I don’t try to keep a lid on it.”
With a knowing smile, Helen stared knowingly at him as she tapped her finger teasingly on the wood of the table.
“I take it you ended up getting frisky with a Mamono if your smell is anything to go by. Your Mana, though still very potent with its untouched flavor, has a hint of something else added to it.”
Feeling his face flush, Kyle could only nod while muttering under his breath.
“Pretty much…”
Helen giggled to herself before she gave Kyle a reassuring look.
“I wouldn’t worry about it to much. As long as it was just the one time, any law enforcement is going to just ignore it the first time. However, repeated times and they might say something.”
Kyle nodded in understanding before letting out a small sigh.
“Yeah… but the ‘preventing it from happening again’ thing is gonna be a problem for me. I don’t have enough money to get something that might help, and I doubt I’m going to find some mage or sorcerer to teach me how to do that free of charge.”
Helen listened to Kyle before a thought popped in her head. Kyle, had he been paying much attention to her, would have seen the reflexive smirk of a cougar on her face for a brief instant. However, seeing as he was more curious about what info he could get out of the Barkeep, Kyle missed it. Helen then cleared her throat before speaking up.
“You’re right, looking for someone to teach you magic would be hard, even for a trading town like this that sees all kinds pass through its streets. And for free? Your chances are, at best, next to non-existent.”
Kyle let out a sigh. He knew the truth when it was staring him in the face, he just didn’t want to see it at the moment. However, he had not been expecting what next came from Helens mouth.
“However… if say you did in fact find someone who was willing to teach you how to control your Mana, and be willing to travel with you to show you how best to acclimate to your new circumstances… how would you react?”
It took him a moment to process that, but Kyle quickly caught the gist of what she was saying. However, he wasn’t sure how best to handle the situation. He couldn’t help but feel a couple of red lights where going off in his head, and since he had Zamil to deal with, he wasn’t sure how best to think this through. However, that didn’t mean he was just going to keep quiet about his thoughts.
‘Well Zamil… I’ll be honest, this sounds almost too good to be true. I’m not sure about a few things, but even I know how to pick up on some social nuances. She wants to travel with me, and is willing to teach me how best to control my man… and I don’t know why or what she’s even after.’
For a moment, Kyle only got static, telling him that the Zamil also seemed to be thinking it over.
‘Well Kid… suspicions aside, I can tell she’s a potent spell caster. I know you can’t see anything right this moment, but I can feel her power through you, and what I feel tells me she’s got some ability… a lot of it in fact. To me, it’s pretty obvious what needs to be done. I would accept for the time being, and if she shows that she happens to be some kind of pain in the ass, we can take care of her later.’
‘Yeah, but not before okay?’
‘Oh god… fine, only if she proves hostile or absolute positively fucking garbage will I wipe her memory, happy?’
‘Acceptable’
With that little agreement out of the way, Kyle turned his attention back to Helen, who had been waiting patiently for his reply. Kyle, despite the sheer amount of good luck this kind of deal was, couldn’t help but be skeptical all the same about it.
“Well Helen, I would say I would happen to be very fortuitous. It almost sounds like it would be too good to be true., hence I would be skeptical.”
Helen nodded her head in agreement.
“You would have every right to, I mean, where does such a chance come from if not through a planned effort? I will admit that I do in fact have a bit of an agenda with this bargaining, so you’re free to refuse if you wish. However, I guarantee you’re not going to find anyone else so willing to help you out at such little charge.”
“Yeah… you’re quite right. In truth, I’m more than willing to accept your proposal. However, would it be too much to ask what it is you hope to gain out of this?”
Helen giggled a little to herself before she pointed to herself.
“Answer me this. Do you know what I am?”
Kyle turned his head up in some confusion before he looked her over once or twice. He had been pondering that himself for some time now, because he was sure she was a centaur of some kind, but he couldn’t place if she was some kind of demon horse or not.
‘Look it up in the manual you idiot.’
‘Oh, right.’
Upon being reminded that he had a viable source of information at his fingertips, Kyle reached into his bag and pulled out the Mamono encyclopedia and quickly looked for anything that might resemble Helen. It didn’t take him very long, all he had to do was look in the B section of the encyclopedia before the answer came to him. Kyle read the article over once or twice, before he turned his attention back to the… Bicorn across from him.
“You’re… a Bicorn?”
Helen clapped once in excitement as she smiled lewdly at Kyle, her eyes looking for all intents and purposes as if she had hit the jackpot.
“Ding Ding! You win the prize, your prize being that you now have one new companion added into your party!”
Kyle, despite knowing what she was, felt as if his question had yet to be answered.
“Okay… so you’re a Bicorn… what does that explain?”
Helen wagged her finger a bit before she pointed to his book.
“What does your book tell you?”
“That your species is lustful on principle and that you seem to want to get your man a… Harem…”
It suddenly clicked in his head. This woman… Mamono, had just set herself up as some kind of wife seeker for him, and it was dawning on him that she probably planned on sticking around a lot longer than for a bit.
Helen noticed his growing realization and smiled at him playfully before she cupped her hands over her cheeks and started to wiggle her hips to and fro like a bashful schoolgirl.
“I like to think I’m a bit of a realist, but with you, it was love at first sight… and touch… and smell… heck, I fell in love with you the moment you landed right between my chest. I need to try to spread this feeling to others if I can help it, and with your level of power, doing this will be no problem. You’ll have yourself a decent Harem before the year is even up!”
Kyle felt as if now would be a good time for Zamil to make good on his promise.
‘Okay, here’s what we do… I lure her to the back on promise that we celebrate our meeting with some nooki, I take you in the sheath and club her over the head when she isn’t looking, sound like a plan?’
‘Sounds like a decent plan. Might work… only one problem with it though.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I ain’t gonna wipe her memories.’
For the longest internal moment, Kyle didn’t say anything, his brain trying to process what it is he just heard.
‘You fucking what?’
With an almost mocking tone, Zamil chuckled to himself.
‘Oh? I’m sorry, I thought we were trying to practice being considerate here. Ya know, ditch the whole mind wipe thing in lieu of a more tolerant style of communication. Be peaceful and all that shit ya know.’
Kyle felt as if he was going to toss the overlord across the bar, but refrained from doing so at first.
‘Why!?’
‘I dunno, you’re the one who doesn’t want to wipe memories. But in a more serious tone, she’s good, I mean real good. I doubt your gonna find such a top class individual like her for a good long while. And hey, if she wants to help you make a Harem in the process, then why the fuck not? If your still planning on being my right hand man, I would have been a mite bit miffed if you didn’t have a hoard of slavering cock-slaves of your own.’
‘I-You-!!! I don’t fucking believe this…’
‘Ah get over it, Plus, in the long run, this helps us, not hinders us. Give her a shot, she might not be all that bad. But hey, I’m a trapped overlord, I can’t sway you through any other means other than logical reasoning.’
Kyle should have made a retort, he really should have, but when it came right down to it, the only thing he could really do is whine about it, which did absolutely nothing for him and made him look like a giant man-child. There was reasoning here, and everything about the situation was a boon, not a negative. If he continued to bitch and moan about it, Kyle felt that he would end up looking like nothing more than a child, thus he relented, albeit reluctantly.
Letting out a small sigh, Kyle looked back at Helen and gave her a small smile.
“Very well then… If you’re so determined about it, I have no choice but to let you come along. I welcome you with open arms Helen.”
Surprisingly, The Bicorn nodded her head and did something akin to a curtsy, as impossible as that sounds.
“The pleasure is mine Kyle… or would you prefer I call you ‘darling’?”
“Ehhhhh… Mind if we just stick with our usual names for now? I’m… kinda not sure how to react to all of this…”
Helen nodded in understanding.
“Of course, It’ll take time for us to get to know each other, but that’s time that will be well spent in a more… intimate setting.”
With the predatory eyes of a cougar, Helen looked Kyle up and down, causing him to sweat a little.
‘I hope this doesn’t turn out badly…’
Xx Makai, Maou’s Castle, Throne room. xX
Sergio was currently trying not to laugh out loud. As for why… well, given the situation, he really shouldn’t be laughing at all. However, rare was it for him to see his wife to look so out of sorts that she hadn’t even had time to do her usual cosmetic upkeep for the past few hours. Normally she would take a few minutes of each hour to change herself up to look different in some way shape or form, her usage of polymorphism at a masters level. However, not only had Lilith not taken the time to alter herself in any way, she had also let herself look the part of a panicked housewife. Her hair, which was normally smooth and silky, looked curled and frazzled, her expression was also shifting around faster than one would think possible. Needless to say, He had rarely every seen her look this upset over something. It was rare to say the least, and he found himself chuckling over the fact that his perfect and elegant wife wasn’t always quite so.
Lilith, for her part, was busy looking over countless magical arrays with Zellha, the both of them fine combing everything that they could possibly fit into the room. However, a moment later and a clearly disgruntled Maou let out a massive sigh as she pushed everything to the side and leaned back in her chair in resignation.
“Well isn’t this just a right mess we managed to find.”
Quickly getting up from her seat, Lilith started to walk away to a more open end of the room and magically conjured up a mirror. Sergio and Zellha had no doubt what she was fixing to do.
“Zellha? Could you be a doll and try to finish up what you can? Mommy needs to spend a few minutes making herself presentable again.”
Zellha, far too absorbed in the work she was given, gave no answer other than a small grunt. Lilith took that as a yes and got to work on her features. Sergio and Zellha however where busy looking over the data they had. Well… Zellha was, Sergio was just watching. A few moments later and Sergio decided that he had been in the dark long enough.
“Okay… so I know you two said this was a really major issue… But uh… no one has exactly told me what's going on.”
Zellha, not even looking up from her work, spoke up first, the Maou to busy trying to get herself straightened out.
“Well Dad… it’s a little complicated, but let me see what I can explain… You know that in our world we happen to have about 3 levels of existence right?”
“Well technically 6 if we count in pandemonium, Hades, and the inner realms.”
“… Yeah, but so as not to make this confusing, let’s just stick with Makai, Tengoku, and Heaven. Anyway, as you saw from the crystal, something or someone managed to breach the outer layer of our world, bust through heaven with ease before making a landing on the mortal coil of Tengoku. The real problem? Judging from the numbers and the calculations, it probably would have kept going until it hit Makai.”
“…That’s bad right?”
“Yes Dad, very bad. To put it into perspective… remember when you and Mom had to go to Heaven to knock some heads around to try to alter reality?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah… so remember when you had to go to Tengoku, break into the holiest place you could get into, convert almost half a nation of magical power to warp you guys up to heaven, and then had to use another half to kick the Chief Gods ass?”
“Yup… good times.”
“Well, this thing just took your achievement and made it look like a cheap magic trick in comparison. Whatever this is, is that freaking powerful.”
For a moment, Sergio let his daughters words sink in before the full implication hit him.
“Oh… wow… yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah… that’s pretty damn strong. But… if it is that strong, why didn’t it get into Makai?”
Zellha simply let out a huff before she shrugged her shoulders. However, Lilith was the one to answer that question, all done with altering herself to be more presentable as a Maou.
“We don’t know honey… but… if I was going to make an educated guess, I get the feeling it stopped cause it wanted to… and before you ask, no I don’t know what for…”
For a moment, the only thing that could be heard in the room was the faint buzzing of magical apparatuses along with a tense silence. However, Sergio could only stay quiet for so long.
“So… do we know what it is?”
Lilith let a sigh escape her lips before she shook her head.
“Not a clue… however, if the numbers are right and our calculations accurate, then whatever… or whoever it might be, has to be of an Overlord level of power…”
“I… get the feeling you told me what that is… but I can’t really remember what. Could you enlighten me Honey?”
The Maou should have felt agitated, she should considering the situation, but in all honesty, she couldn’t muster the strength of will to chastise her husband about his lack of study.
“It is at least on par with my level of power… Ah fuck it, let’s not mince words here. It’s stronger then me whatever it is.”
“… Honey… that is not a good thing.”
Zellha spoke up over the other two, her hand in the air and a look of knowing on her face.
“We don’t know that for certain Dad. Since we can’t seem to get a reading on it at the moment, we can’t arbitrarily make assumptions that it’s here to harm. They may just be lost and might try to find their way home.”
“Right, and lets not overlook the fact that whoever they are, they really messed up Heaven right now, and anything that gives that angelic bitch a headache isn’t all bad in my book, He he he…”
Sergio rolled his eyes at his wife’s evil laugh, but at the same time, he didn’t rebut her for it.
“But that just leaves us with the question of… is it benign… or is it malign?”
Nobody said anything. How could they when something that was as strong as the maou with unknown intentions was wandering around in the mortal realm? It made everyone feel uneasy, and for Lilith, scared for what this might do to the world. Something of such power had the potential to tip scales in favor of those who happened to acquire such powerful help. However, if nothing, she was someone who did things, not be passive.
“Well… for the time being, I’ll send out a small group of some of our strongest warriors to see what we can learn about the situation. Zellha, I want you to lead the team. Gather data as quickly as possible, and if you happen to encounter the being, ascertain if it can be reasoned with, even better if you can get it on our side. Also, watch out for the Order toady’s, they’ll most likely be investigating this on heavens behalf as well. ”
Zellha nodded confidently to her mother, a broad smile on her face.
“You got it mom!”
“That’s my girl. As for you Honey… I hate to ask you to do this, but in case it proves not so nice, I‘ll need you to be at your best. I want you gather up your old allies and to get yourselves ready for the worst case scenario. I’ll stay here and try to figure out what I can, I’ll have to leave the state of affairs with Charolet to keep Makai running smoothly.”
Sergio nodded his head empathetically.
“I understand Love. I’ll get right on it.”
Lilith gave her husband a smile before she walked over and gave him a quick and almost chaste kiss on the cheek. She then walked back to the table and sat down, giving the two of them one final nod before they departed. The Demon Lord simply sat there after the door closed, looking out into the room in deep thought as she tapped her fingers together.
“… I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come…”
Xx Meanwhile, Back in Havel xX
Kyle let out a long and heavy sigh as he flipped through the pages of the Monster girl encyclopedia, only half reading the words with the rest of his attention simply looking at the illustrations. Even then he wasn’t giving his full mental capacity to that, simply sitting on a bench he had found and contemplated the last few hours to himself, in particular, on Luvi.
‘You’re still thinking about the damn rabbit? Will you let it go already?’
‘Well excuse me for having a conscious and worrying about people we may encounter in the future. Is this going to be a reoccurring thing? Every time we run across someone, we just up and kapow! Memories gone?’
‘Oh by my unholy name, you whine about the dumbest things you know that? I won’t just up and zap memories away like that okay? I wiped the rabbits memories cause she was going to be the biggest pain in our ass. We don’t need such a useless tag along.’
Kyle closed the book forcefully, almost glaring down at the blade on his side.
‘Alright, then why didn’t you wipe Celti’s memories? Wasn’t she a nuisance?’
‘I do not have to explain every fucking thing I do you annoying shit. But out of the grace of my own limited patience, I’m going to explain why. The loli nun wasn’t going to stay with us forever, she wasn’t going to tag along like an annoying yappy dog, the meeting you two had was at most a passing meeting. The rabbit however, was going to keep following you until the end of your fucking days. As I have pointed out, she’s useless to us in the grand scheme of things, so I wiped her memories. End of story. Now let it drop. We don’t have time to think over things as stupid as this.’
Kyle wanted very badly to yell at Zamil and tell him that he shouldn’t have done anything to begin with, that he could have handled it well enough on his own. A moment later and he realized that he was something of an optimist, so he probably would have let Luvi stay… even if it was something of a bad idea. Letting out a sigh filled with all his pent up annoyance, Kyle looked back down at the Mamono encyclopedia and opened it back up again, oddly enough, dropping on an article he recognized immediately to be the wererabbit. It filled him with guilt the moment he saw it, but he decided to repress it and read the article more intently then the rest of the book. Spending a few minutes reading the article, Kyle took note of how Luvi acted and how the encyclopedia had described the very same behavior.
‘Good lord… I should have picked this up sooner… this could have saved me the guilt I feel right now.’
Zamil did not respond, obviously done talking about the whole situation and simply doing his best to keep Kyle’s Mana from leaking all over the place, this task much easier to do since the Overlord wasn’t busy trying to do two things at the same time. Kyle spent a few more moments looking over the wererabbit entry, his guilt still there, but deciding that his time was best spent doing something to take his mind off of it. Closing the book, Kyle stowed it away in his new bag and got back up, his gaze directing itself down the road and toward the bar he had been told about. Thankfully, on his way out of the Sabbath, Kyle had come across someone who looked like something of a guide. He was spot on, and when he asked where he could find the closest bar with decent information, he had been directed to a place that was called… the Bear Hug. Kyle had turned his eyebrow up at the name, but had thanked the man for the info and made his way into the city. Some 15 minutes later and he had decided to take a break to read the manuals he got from the bookstore.
That had been something like 40 minutes ago, and Kyle had felt as if he had been sitting long enough, his mind drifting far too much on Luvi for him to keep reading the manuals. Kyle made his way over to the entrance of the bar, the sign catching his attention for a moment with its bear arms wrapped around the name. Again, Kyle couldn’t help but cock his eyebrows upward in some wonder at the apt name. However, the exact moment he took his eyes off the door was the moment when someone obviously decided to make their way out said door. Kyle, not paying attention, in an almost cliché manner, ran into said individual. However, instead of either of them bouncing off of each other, Kyle felt himself almost sink into something soft in front of him. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what just happened, but he wasn’t quite panicking. After a second of confusion, Kyle backed up a bit to see exactly what it was he had run into.
He quickly got his answer when he saw the very large and very bouncy bosom that his head had made a temporary home. After taking a moment to admire it, Kyle realized what it was that just happened and looked up to apologize. However, the person he had run into looked rather relaxed, even amorous, of course, the fact that the person before him wasn’t a human and was in fact a Mamono might have explained that last one.
“Oh Dear, my apologies. I didn’t know someone was on the other side of the door.”
Kyle, rather flustered, spoke up quickly.
“Oh! Uh… no, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been standing in front of the door to begin with. My bad.”
Kyle took a moment to look the ‘woman’ over, her obvious Mamono traits sticking out to him. The first thing he noticed was the fact that she stood well over 7 feet tall, a large size for an average individual. However, he could only attribute that to the fact that her human legs were replaced with a horse body with its head replaced with a woman’s upper torso. He quickly came to the conclusion that this woman was a centaur of some kind. However, he had no knowledge of what kind she might be, seeing as he didn’t know of any kind of centaur with two dark red horns that ran straight up behind the ears. Her hair and fur where of the same color, a deep violet color, which seemed to complement her deep red horns and eyes. Another thing to note about her was the unusual dress she had on. Shoulder length embroidered black gloves, a dark veil behind her head that covered her long hair, and as if she felt like her bust needed to be seen, the only thing covering her chestly modesty was what looked to be some kind of vertical metallic micro bikini that suspiciously seemed to be hanging on by magic alone. Oddly enough, she also had some kind of metal skirt around her human waist, though he wasn’t sure why that was. One of the last things to note was that on the back of her taruic-half seemed to be some kind of cloth saddle that was outlined with emerald green vines with some crimson red roses dotting across it… and oddly enough, those rose cores looked suspiciously like yellow eyes, though Kyle was sure he was imagining that.
However, the woman took his attention away from her body when she started talking, her hand cupped under her chin with a semi-worried expression on her face.
“No, it’s alright. If anything, I should be apologizing for running into you. I find my attention has been drifting a lot more as of late really, so running into people or things has become a little more common place then I would like. I hope I didn’t hurt you?”
Kyle held up his hand as if to deflect her question in some flustered reaction.
“No, no, I’m totally fine. You weren’t going at any speed to hurt me, and if anything, that bust of yours waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
Realizing what it is he had said, Kyle felt himself go red in the face.
‘Real smooth playa. So silky I could feel the whole conversation being run over.’
‘Fuck yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou.’
However, unlike the indignant reaction or the angry blush he was expecting, the Centaur(?) woman simply giggled at him before she cupped both her hands under her massive bust.
“Well, Glad to see I offered a good safe guard for you. My name is Helen by the way. May I ask for the pleasure of your name stranger?”
Kyle, still somewhat fumbling around due to his slip-up, found it hard to continue the conversation at the moment, but eventually he did in fact manage to get himself back in order, the woman’s patience being quite long from the looks of it.
“Oh… uh… sorry, Kyle. My name is Kyle Demonia. And, again… sorry for running into you… and being an outright idiot.”
“Oh, I don’t mind about the last bit, if anything, It’s nice for someone to make mention of my feminine parts. Maou knows I haven’t had much chance to hear them as of late… However, if your still feeling bad about our impactful meeting, then mayhap you would grant me the privilege of joining you in the bar?”
Kyle was just being run over in terms of conversation today, his mind not quite keeping up with all the things happening in such quick succession. He blamed the new environment for it all really.
“Oh… Uh… weren’t you just on your way out though?”
‘True, but at the same time, I didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day anyway. Plus, escorting such a handsome and… rare young man beats anything I could have done on my own.”
Kyle felt that her wording was quite deliberate, but he took it due to the fact that he had in fact just got done fucking a young witch not but an hour ago, so the scent of sex might seem strong to a Mamono, so he didn’t think much more of it.
“Well, if you’re not busy, then sure, I would be delighted.”
With that, Helen moved herself back into the bar with Kyle following behind her.
“Oh! Helen, forget something?”
Helen looked to the man who had just spoken.
“Oh, no, not at all Bert. I happen to come across something of interest was all, so I’m coming back in.”
Kyle looked from Helen, to the man she was speaking to. From this angle Kyle could tell that it was the barkeeper she was communicating with, and it immediately dawned on him where the name ‘bear hug’ came from. The Bar keeper, Bert as he was just called, was a bear of a man if you would pardon the ironic pun. Standing well over 6 feet tall, he was muscular by far, making one think of a thick standing oak. He was almost cliché in that he was bald, had a full beard and mustache combo, and even had some scars across his thick arms and his face. The bear aspect of him not only came from his size, but the fact that he was hairy like a bear as well.
‘Huh… didn’t expect to run into a cliché like that.
‘Clichés exist for a reason fool.’
Not wanting to get into a mental debate, Kyle brought his attention to Burt, the man doing much the same. Kyle wasn’t sure what the man was looking for, but he could tell the Barkeeper was giving him a critical eye. A moment later though and the older gentleman simply smiled.
“Oh? Showing the guy around are we Helen?”
“But of course, if I am to run into such a handsome young man, then who am I to squander the chance presented to me by fate?”
Kyle was sure he was missing something in this conversation, the obvious smile on Helens face telling him that the Bartender and Centaur must be sharing some privet joke together. However, Kyle didn’t get a chance to think further on it when Helen looked back and motioned for him to go ahead.
“Take your seat, I’ll sit where you do.”
Kyle took her advice and did in fact find a place to sit down. The place had obviously been tailored to many different types of Mamono if the amount of different seating was any indicator. Kyle took note of a table that had an average chair, and a kind of long body stool. He took it that this type of table seemed to be geared more toward the Taruic types, and took Helen into consideration. It didn’t take long for them both to be seated, and after a minute of getting themselves situated, Kyle found himself looking at a very eager and interested Centaur.
Giving himself a moment to think about it, the fact that Helen had been so eager to want to come and talk with him made him somewhat suspicious. However, he wasn’t going to go full on paranoid and starts assuming she was out to get him in some way, though he had learned it was good to stay cautious. After a few more moments of silence between the two of them, Kyle decided to initiate conversation. Or he would have had Helen not started it off.
“Soooooooooooooooooo… Kyle was it? What brings someone like you, a new, fresh and wide eyed adventurer to a place like Havel?”
Kyle took a moment to think on her question and thought it might be best to keep it pretty minimalistic as possible with a faint hint of suspicion.
“How do you know I’m some kind of adventurer? And how do you know if I’m new to the area?”
Helen giggled to herself for a moment before she lazily analyzed Kyle.
“It’s not very hard really. Your dress is quite unique, I can say I’ve never seen anything like it before. You also have the look of someone who drinks in his surroundings, as if you’re trying to gather as much information about the area as you can. However, your biggest tell is the fact that your Mana is leaking. I take it you’ve only just recently converted, so that’s why you’re wandering around town, which is probably why you came to the bar in the first place. Information is key after all.”
Kyle couldn’t necessarily bring himself to disagree with anything she said, a lot of her postulating coming very close to home.
“Huh… You’re right on quite a number of those. But I see it’s my Mana that has caught your attention huh?”
“Oh yes. From what I can feel of it, it’s quite… raw shall we say. You’re not sure how to control it, so you’re mostly just pushing it down. I take it someone told you about keeping it civil in a Mamono friendly town, which is why you’re trying so hard.”
“Yup… I’ve already had an incident of what happens if I don’t try to keep a lid on it.”
With a knowing smile, Helen stared knowingly at him as she tapped her finger teasingly on the wood of the table.
“I take it you ended up getting frisky with a Mamono if your smell is anything to go by. Your Mana, though still very potent with its untouched flavor, has a hint of something else added to it.”
Feeling his face flush, Kyle could only nod while muttering under his breath.
“Pretty much…”
Helen giggled to herself before she gave Kyle a reassuring look.
“I wouldn’t worry about it to much. As long as it was just the one time, any law enforcement is going to just ignore it the first time. However, repeated times and they might say something.”
Kyle nodded in understanding before letting out a small sigh.
“Yeah… but the ‘preventing it from happening again’ thing is gonna be a problem for me. I don’t have enough money to get something that might help, and I doubt I’m going to find some mage or sorcerer to teach me how to do that free of charge.”
Helen listened to Kyle before a thought popped in her head. Kyle, had he been paying much attention to her, would have seen the reflexive smirk of a cougar on her face for a brief instant. However, seeing as he was more curious about what info he could get out of the Barkeep, Kyle missed it. Helen then cleared her throat before speaking up.
“You’re right, looking for someone to teach you magic would be hard, even for a trading town like this that sees all kinds pass through its streets. And for free? Your chances are, at best, next to non-existent.”
Kyle let out a sigh. He knew the truth when it was staring him in the face, he just didn’t want to see it at the moment. However, he had not been expecting what next came from Helens mouth.
“However… if say you did in fact find someone who was willing to teach you how to control your Mana, and be willing to travel with you to show you how best to acclimate to your new circumstances… how would you react?”
It took him a moment to process that, but Kyle quickly caught the gist of what she was saying. However, he wasn’t sure how best to handle the situation. He couldn’t help but feel a couple of red lights where going off in his head, and since he had Zamil to deal with, he wasn’t sure how best to think this through. However, that didn’t mean he was just going to keep quiet about his thoughts.
‘Well Zamil… I’ll be honest, this sounds almost too good to be true. I’m not sure about a few things, but even I know how to pick up on some social nuances. She wants to travel with me, and is willing to teach me how best to control my man… and I don’t know why or what she’s even after.’
For a moment, Kyle only got static, telling him that the Zamil also seemed to be thinking it over.
‘Well Kid… suspicions aside, I can tell she’s a potent spell caster. I know you can’t see anything right this moment, but I can feel her power through you, and what I feel tells me she’s got some ability… a lot of it in fact. To me, it’s pretty obvious what needs to be done. I would accept for the time being, and if she shows that she happens to be some kind of pain in the ass, we can take care of her later.’
‘Yeah, but not before okay?’
‘Oh god… fine, only if she proves hostile or absolute positively fucking garbage will I wipe her memory, happy?’
‘Acceptable’
With that little agreement out of the way, Kyle turned his attention back to Helen, who had been waiting patiently for his reply. Kyle, despite the sheer amount of good luck this kind of deal was, couldn’t help but be skeptical all the same about it.
“Well Helen, I would say I would happen to be very fortuitous. It almost sounds like it would be too good to be true., hence I would be skeptical.”
Helen nodded her head in agreement.
“You would have every right to, I mean, where does such a chance come from if not through a planned effort? I will admit that I do in fact have a bit of an agenda with this bargaining, so you’re free to refuse if you wish. However, I guarantee you’re not going to find anyone else so willing to help you out at such little charge.”
“Yeah… you’re quite right. In truth, I’m more than willing to accept your proposal. However, would it be too much to ask what it is you hope to gain out of this?”
Helen giggled a little to herself before she pointed to herself.
“Answer me this. Do you know what I am?”
Kyle turned his head up in some confusion before he looked her over once or twice. He had been pondering that himself for some time now, because he was sure she was a centaur of some kind, but he couldn’t place if she was some kind of demon horse or not.
‘Look it up in the manual you idiot.’
‘Oh, right.’
Upon being reminded that he had a viable source of information at his fingertips, Kyle reached into his bag and pulled out the Mamono encyclopedia and quickly looked for anything that might resemble Helen. It didn’t take him very long, all he had to do was look in the B section of the encyclopedia before the answer came to him. Kyle read the article over once or twice, before he turned his attention back to the… Bicorn across from him.
“You’re… a Bicorn?”
Helen clapped once in excitement as she smiled lewdly at Kyle, her eyes looking for all intents and purposes as if she had hit the jackpot.
“Ding Ding! You win the prize, your prize being that you now have one new companion added into your party!”
Kyle, despite knowing what she was, felt as if his question had yet to be answered.
“Okay… so you’re a Bicorn… what does that explain?”
Helen wagged her finger a bit before she pointed to his book.
“What does your book tell you?”
“That your species is lustful on principle and that you seem to want to get your man a… Harem…”
It suddenly clicked in his head. This woman… Mamono, had just set herself up as some kind of wife seeker for him, and it was dawning on him that she probably planned on sticking around a lot longer than for a bit.
Helen noticed his growing realization and smiled at him playfully before she cupped her hands over her cheeks and started to wiggle her hips to and fro like a bashful schoolgirl.
“I like to think I’m a bit of a realist, but with you, it was love at first sight… and touch… and smell… heck, I fell in love with you the moment you landed right between my chest. I need to try to spread this feeling to others if I can help it, and with your level of power, doing this will be no problem. You’ll have yourself a decent Harem before the year is even up!”
Kyle felt as if now would be a good time for Zamil to make good on his promise.
‘Okay, here’s what we do… I lure her to the back on promise that we celebrate our meeting with some nooki, I take you in the sheath and club her over the head when she isn’t looking, sound like a plan?’
‘Sounds like a decent plan. Might work… only one problem with it though.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I ain’t gonna wipe her memories.’
For the longest internal moment, Kyle didn’t say anything, his brain trying to process what it is he just heard.
‘You fucking what?’
With an almost mocking tone, Zamil chuckled to himself.
‘Oh? I’m sorry, I thought we were trying to practice being considerate here. Ya know, ditch the whole mind wipe thing in lieu of a more tolerant style of communication. Be peaceful and all that shit ya know.’
Kyle felt as if he was going to toss the overlord across the bar, but refrained from doing so at first.
‘Why!?’
‘I dunno, you’re the one who doesn’t want to wipe memories. But in a more serious tone, she’s good, I mean real good. I doubt your gonna find such a top class individual like her for a good long while. And hey, if she wants to help you make a Harem in the process, then why the fuck not? If your still planning on being my right hand man, I would have been a mite bit miffed if you didn’t have a hoard of slavering cock-slaves of your own.’
‘I-You-!!! I don’t fucking believe this…’
‘Ah get over it, Plus, in the long run, this helps us, not hinders us. Give her a shot, she might not be all that bad. But hey, I’m a trapped overlord, I can’t sway you through any other means other than logical reasoning.’
Kyle should have made a retort, he really should have, but when it came right down to it, the only thing he could really do is whine about it, which did absolutely nothing for him and made him look like a giant man-child. There was reasoning here, and everything about the situation was a boon, not a negative. If he continued to bitch and moan about it, Kyle felt that he would end up looking like nothing more than a child, thus he relented, albeit reluctantly.
Letting out a small sigh, Kyle looked back at Helen and gave her a small smile.
“Very well then… If you’re so determined about it, I have no choice but to let you come along. I welcome you with open arms Helen.”
Surprisingly, The Bicorn nodded her head and did something akin to a curtsy, as impossible as that sounds.
“The pleasure is mine Kyle… or would you prefer I call you ‘darling’?”
“Ehhhhh… Mind if we just stick with our usual names for now? I’m… kinda not sure how to react to all of this…”
Helen nodded in understanding.
“Of course, It’ll take time for us to get to know each other, but that’s time that will be well spent in a more… intimate setting.”
With the predatory eyes of a cougar, Helen looked Kyle up and down, causing him to sweat a little.
‘I hope this doesn’t turn out badly…’
Spoiler: show
Chapter 6: Challenge.
Lugeria, Sky Terrace of the High Chapel. Pope’s study.
Pope Victor Olther Romania was a patient man. He had to be to deal with everyday headaches of all things that seemed to want to cause him misfortune. From Paperwork stating the most obvious of claims up to choices that could impact whole villages. All of them He had to do and all of them giving him no end of mental migraines.
However, even his patience had a limit, though rarely was it ever tested as much as it was right now. In the past few Hours Pope Victor had hurriedly yet discreetly sent out several of his agents to try to track down a particular individual. This person was someone who was powerful in their own right, but at the same time remained a bit of a wild card for the Order Church to use.
Victor had been somewhat hesitant to try to call on this particular individual, but many of the other churches… ‘Assets’ where being used for other missions in other kingdoms at the current time. This had left him with a few options at home, but he wanted to try to keep Lugeria safe in the case of a sudden attack from Makai or from whatever this invader may plan to do. This left him with a low number of options to use, so he decided on a particularly powerful one. Said ‘option’ currently trying his patience.
However, his long hour wait was rewarded with a knock on his door.
A single knock.
A single knock that was strong enough to tear the door from its hinges and fly halfway across the Popes study and land with a resounding thud on the stonework floor.
“This… Had better be important enough to pull me away from my study!”
Oliver, who knew of this particular individual and their violent outbursts, wasn’t as intimidated as he thought he would be despite the rough treatment of his door.
Standing at the door, looking viciously angry, was a young woman who didn’t look older then her mid-twenties. Her face would look quite cute if it wasn’t currently screwed up into rage, her Violet colored eyes looking quite vicious right now as she tried to bore a hole in the old man who had disturbed her current work. Her face and head was framed by long and curled pale pink hair that went to her mid-back. She kept a good deal of it out of her face with a black hair ribbon/band, which ended up matching the rest of her attire. She wore a black and white dress that closely resembled a maid outfit, but was more tailored to be an actual dress, the skirt of said dress extending a little past her knees, though none of the flesh of her leg was exposed due to the black and white stripped stockings that went past her knees. Her upper torso was armored by a whitish silver breastplate that helped to keep a long black mantel in place around her shoulders. Lastly, and by far the most dangerous piece of her attire so far, was the two-edged Rapier at her side. It was a beautiful blade, if not deadly. Unlike usual Rapiers though, this one was stronger looking and was thicker than average for a common blade, the guard too was of an unusual design, instead of the usual covering, it was some guard in the design of what he could only guess was the vague yet ornate shape of butterfly wings.
Pope Victor, despite the glare he was receiving, simply let out a small sigh at the destruction of his door before he ushered the girl into his study.
“Had this not been an utterly urgent matter, I would not have disturbed you in your study Alicia. Sadly, this is a very urgent matter, and it requires swift action, action I cannot take correctly due to many of my best agents already in the middle of equally dire tasks.”
Alicia, as she was called, toned her death glare down several notches, but she still gave the old man a hard look.
“Thus you need me, an outsider to the… ‘Order’ to help you.”
Letting out a massive sigh, Alicia dropped her glare at this point, though her face seemed to be stuck on annoyed at the moment.
“I suppose there are worse things I can do… so, what exactly is it that you need me for old man?”
Victor might have had something to say about the old man part of her remark, but he had other things to worry about at the moment.
“Very well… This situation could prove rather useful to you Alicia. You see, something from outside our world has… managed to work its way in. I have no idea how or why, but the servants of heaven have told me that it must be taken care of. Either captured or killed… however, I believe that it might have the ability to help you with your situation.”
Pope Victor was quick to note the sudden interest in her eyes, though the girl quickly tried to hide it in a mask of indifference.
“You think it might have the ability to pull me out of this world and return me to my own?”
“Who can say? However, it got in somehow, who’s to say it doesn’t know how to get back?”
Alicia couldn’t hide her interest at that point, and that is exactly what Oliver had been hoping for. He knew that Alicia was from another world, the girl having been lost and confused when she stumbled her way into the city some months back, and that she had come to the Order to see if she could find a way back. In return for allowing her to stay and research what she needed, Oliver had said that she would need to do jobs on occasion for the Order, and he planned on using this to locate the unknown entity.
With a well-executed sigh of exasperation, Alicia folded her arms and gave Victor an annoyed look.
“Alright alright… I’ll help out with this… I hit a dead lock in my research anyway… so, when do I leave and where am I going?”
“You will begin the search immediately. You will be going to Havel, the place closest to the entity’s point of entry. There you will find out what you can, and should you come into contact with it… ascertain if it can be reasoned with. If you can convince it to help us, that would be best, but if it is unwilling, then capture it. If that proves impossible for you, then kill it. If even that is outside of your ability to do, then come back and report what you know and I’ll send someone else.”
Alicia felt a tick grow in her temple at the disregard for her ability, but didn’t say anything about it, her temper reigning itself in.
“Fine… where is Havel anyway?”
“It is a trading town some ways off to the east. A weeks ride by horseback. However, you will not be using a horse. You will be provided with a warp stone so that you may gather as much information as quickly as possible.”
Alicia cocked her head to the side in some confusion.
“Warp stone?”
“I do not have the time to explain it to you. Simply head to the armory and speak with the man there, provide him with this letter-” Oliver pulled out a sealed envelope and lay it on the end of his desk. “-and you will be given instructions on how to use it whilst also being given rations if the need for travel should arise.”
Alicia cautiously made her way further into the room and took the letter from the desk. She gave it a once over before she stuffed it, to Oliver’s confusion, in the space between her chest armor and her clothing.
“Alright then. I’ll try to make it back as quickly as I can, but if whatever this thing is proves to be helpful to me, I hope you don’t mind if I have an extended chat with it.”
“Just get this done, I don’t care what you do before you bring it here. May the Chief God guide your steps.”
With that final statement Alicia took the note and gave the Pope one last look before she left the room. Victor let out a sigh yet again as he brought his attention to the task he had been given.
“I can only hope she succeeds… and if she fails… it’s not a serious loss for us… I had better make sure I have a backup in the event she does fail though.”
Victor then began looking over some reports to see what would be the best course of action.
Meanwhile, Alicia, who was making her way to the armory, looked down at the letter in some disgust.
“I swear, if this thing can get me home, damn this place and damn that old man, I’m taking what chances I have to get out of here.”
Angry at her situation, Alicia couldn’t help but grumble to herself. And why wouldn’t she? Where she had come from, she had worked hard to get the title of Royal SwordMage, spending well over 20 years devoted to her magic and fencing. Just the thought of one apprentice mishap sending her to an unknown world still made her blood boil at the thought of it. Taking a few calming breaths, Alicia re-focused her mind to the newest ray of hope she had. She would find this thing and she would get home regardless of what she had to do to do it.
Xx Havel, random street corner. xX
Kyle felt a shiver run up his spine, though he curiously looked around a moment to see if something was wrong in the general area.
‘Wassup Kid?’
‘Ever get a feeling someone or something is talking about you behind your back?’
‘Ah, somebody walking on your grave you mean.’
‘A bit morbid, but I suppose it gets the point across.’
“Kyle? Is everything alright?”
Kyle looked back a bit to see that Helen was giving him a quizzical look with a hint of concern mixed in. Giving her a nervous smile, he held up his hand as if to assuage her concern.
“Yeah, it’s all cool… anyway… you said something about having a room at an Inn?”
“Oh yes, I did. I’ve been in town for a few days now, and that’s mostly because Burt needed my help with some things. Mostly just a delivery here and a debt collected there… just small things.”
“And you’re sure you don’t mind me staying with you? I can try to pay you back.”
Helen waved his concern away, looking quite content with Kyle’s words.
“It’s fine, you and I are bound to be together for a very long time. I don’t mind if you rely on me after all Darli-… sorry, Kyle.”
Kyle found himself feeling a little uncomfortable with her slight slip. He was still not sure what to think of her, having only just met her and her sudden conviction to proclaim him as a loved one. Even more so since her intentions seemed less then innocent. However, he wasn’t going to contest it at the moment and simply nodded despite his thoughts.
“Alright. If you’re absolutely sure about it then I won’t contest it any further… Also, not to rush or anything, but when are you going to show me how to control my mana?”
“In due time. We still have the rest of the day to study, so I’m going to take this chance and get you something to wear. As far as I can tell, what you’re wearing is all you have, and it sticks out quite a bit.”
Upon mentioning, Kyle looked down at his fairly average clothes and noted that yes, they did stand out a bit more in comparison to what others were wearing. Shrugging his shoulders, Kyle looked back at the Bicorn and gave her a small smile.
“Alright then. Lead the way.”
With a delighted expression, Helen did just that with Kyle following behind her willingly. Kyle, still new to the town, simply let Helen do all the directing and buying. Despite his first initial thought of what was going to happen, Helen seemed as if she didn’t want to waste time with simple browsing. It didn’t take her very long to find an appropriate clothing stand and get a few simple garments for him to wear, and she even seemed to be a good judge of size based on the fact that when he tested them out, they fit nicely. However, the fact that she had made some comments about how the clothing store manager, which had been a harpy of sorts, was quite cute and would seem like a nice girl made him feel a dash more uncomfortable. Kyle hadn’t bothered with responding to Helen on that and had opted to get out of there before the centaur could attempt anything else of that nature.
After finally leaving the clothing store, Kyle now had himself a new set of clothes he could call his own. It was nothing if not comfortable despite the rough material he would have expected from an age where everything was made from the basest of materials. Helen, for her part, simply smiled to herself.
“There we are, now you look as plain as the rest of them… though in my eyes you’ll shine regardless of what you wear...”
Ignoring the subtle sexual overtone of her statement, Kyle looked himself over a few more times before he felt content with his new clothes. He turned his attention to Helen and gave her a questioning look.
“So, I look normal enough… now what?”
“Well… truth be told I was somewhat tempted to take you out and about in Havel for a spell to get to know you better… But that plan is somewhat out of the question due to the fact that it seems your mana is causing issues everywhere we go.”
Kyle cocked his eyebrow up in some confusion.
“Really? I haven’t noticed much myself.”
“It’s not very notable, but in truth, it’s been making a number of mamono somewhat… excited. Any more sightseeing will have to be regulated for later or else we risk the wrath of the city guard. I’ve done well enough not to get in trouble with them, so I would rather not start now. So, lets head on back to my hotel room and we can get you started on Mana training!”
Not even giving him a moment to respond, Helen started along in another direction, forcing Kyle to follow lest he lose her in the crowd. What he was not aware of was the man that had been following him, and by extension, Helen, for the last little while now. Captain Agni stood off a ways, his face unreadable behind his helmet. However, Kristin seemed to know exactly what it was he was thinking.
“Captain, I don’t mean to sound disrespectful or anything, but do you not think we may have wasted more than enough of our time on this little escapade?”
Agni gave his subordinate a momentary glance before turning his attention back to Kyle, watching the young man vanish into the crowd. A moment later and he let out a small sigh.
“Perhaps you’re right… I will admit that the physical changes he has undergone are extreme to say the least… I will also say that his illusion has become a lot less murky, though in doing so it has made it easier to bypass… But perhaps it is simply nerves that are getting to me. I believe we are done here.”
Kristian bowed her head lightly in response.
“Understood my lo-… my apologies Captain, I was about to slip up there.”
“It’s alright Kristian. We shall retire for the evening before I make my report to the King.”
The Dullahan nodded her head and gave her superior a small smile.
“Understood my love.”
Letting the remark go this time, Agni took one more glance in the direction of the youth before he turned back around and was on his own way.
‘I don’t know why he bothers me so much… but I’ll keep him in mind for the future.’
Meanwhile, Kyle had simply followed along with Helen, none the wiser of his monitored statues as the world seemed to take a more vested interest in him. The only thing he knew of right that moment was that Helen, despite being so… large as a quadrupedal creature, could easily maneuver her way through a crowd as if it was the simplest thing in the world to do, whereas he was struggling not to run into, step, or even outright push people out of the way to keep up with her. A fact that made itself well known when she actually stopped for a moment to allow him to catch up. She didn’t seem upset about it though, and simply gave Kyle an apologetic look as she waited for him.
“Sorry, I suppose I got a little ahead of myself. Here, take hold of my hand and I won’t let you get lost.”
Kyle looked down at her outstretched, though he somewhat hesitated to take it.
‘Awwwwwwwww, what’s a matter? A wittle hand holding to lewd for you? ‘Fraid you might catch girl cooties?’
‘Kindly stow it.’
It wasn’t that he was afraid of hand holding or anything, but it was more the mental stigma he felt about holding her hand in public. For all intents and purposes, Helen was treating there relationship as if they were already lovers, whilst he himself was still hesitating to treat her as anything more than an overenthusiastic first meeting. It must come from the mentality of his old world, but someone this pushy or eager was someone who was to be avoided. However, he couldn’t treat this worlds common sense as his own too much or he might risk alienating himself. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle held up his hand and took hers, though as chastely as he possibly could (though he was unsure what might constitute a ‘lewd’ hand holding).
Helen smiled warmly and gently led Kyle to their destination. Somehow, Kyle felt even more embarrassed doing this then he thought he would and tried rather hard to avoid eye contact with others, though he couldn’t help but note that his embarrassment was attracting more attention than the actual hand holding if the knowing smiles on some of the Mamono where anything to go by. After 15 minutes of this, Kyle and Helen made it to the inn she was currently staying at. It was a decent place, pretty well off, but not being overly expensive looking or gaudy for that fact. He had to wonder about the name a bit though. ‘Tap dancing Goat’ seemed rather odd, but he wasn’t going to question it. A little bit later and Kyle found himself in a rather large, if not simple, room with Helen currently rummaging through a bag that he could only guess belonged to her.
“Give me one moment and we can get started here…”
Kyle watched the Bicorn for a moment as she pulled odd items out of her bag (even a giant horse dildo if he was looking at it right) before he found the bed and sat down. He was quick to note that the bed, despite the wooden frame and somewhat rustic look, felt amazingly soft. Another wonder of a world that seemed to be pulled right out of a JRPG if he attributed it as such. Eventually, Helen managed to find what it was she was looking for, and she excitedly stuffed everything else she had out back into her bag.
‘Must be some kind of hammerspace bag or something.’
‘No shit. What was your first guess?’
Ignoring the overlord, Kyle found his attention diverted when Helen walked over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him. She then produced the item she had been digging for and showed it off to him.
“Here we are. This should help us get started.”
Kyle wasn’t sure wha it was he was looking at, but put into a few choice words, it looked a lot like some kind of magical wand. However, the ‘wand’ itself was odd, looking a lot more like some kind of knotty stick that only happened to have the vaguest shape of a wand. Kyle found himself looking at the… stick, and then to Helen, looking for all intents and purposes like he was confused.
“Uh… Okay… I’m not going to pretend I even know what that is or how this is going to work.”
Helen simply giggled to herself before she gestured for Kyle to hold out his hand. Doing so, Kyle held it out, only for Helen to place the wand(?) in his palm.
“That’s alright. I’ll explain. You see, what you have in your hand is what is normally called an ‘Emission wand’. What it does is that when you try to focus your mana into it, it tends to pull out more mana then a normal wand would.”
Kyle held it in his hand and turned it over a few times before he responded to her.
“That seems inefficient.”
“Well, yes. For a professional spellcaster, this wand isn’t something they would use at all. However, for a person who has just been introduced to their own mana and magic in general, it’s very useful.”
Kyle looked at her skeptically, though he still listened.
“Obviously, as someone who has never had to make use of Mana at all before in your life, you’re going to have a bit of a problem trying to… coax it out shall we say? It’s like if you don’t use a muscle in many years, it’ll atrophy and using it makes it that much harder for you. However, with this wand, it’ll pull out a lot more of your mana then you would expect, and thus, you’ll learn to control it more quickly the more familiar you get with your own mana.”
“That’s sounds reasonable, but wouldn’t that have negative side effects? Using something I’ve never used before might harm me in some way I would think…”
Helen nodded her head in agreement before she held her hand up in a way a teacher might.
“That would be a good guess Kyle. You see, pulling so much mana out so quickly will make you feel very tired from such an exorbitant mana usage, so in most respects, this wand is used sparsely in training. In some worst case scenarios, the mana drain can be so bad it can lay up an average mage for several days.”
For a moment, Kyle didn’t say anything, those words sinking in until it finally clicked.
“And you want to use such a method on me? … Can I just go ahead and say that that sounds both dangerous and stupid at the same time?”
Helen, however, didn’t seem to share Kyles concern about it.
“It would normally be a problem if you were by yourself. However, I happen to be here to help you, so you don’t need to worry one bit!”
“Why does that concern me more?”
‘Oh fucking get on with it.’
‘Alright alright… sheesh…’
Kyle let out a small sigh of resignation, Internally still not feeling all that gung-ho about this. Kyle then took a look at the wand one more time to get a good feel for what it was he was about to do.
“So… How are we going to do this?”
“Do you know how to pull out your Mana? Even the smallest amount would be helpful.”
“More or less. I was asked earlier today to do something similar with the ring I have on.”
“That’s a good first step. Now all you have to do is do the same with the wand as you did with the ring. After that, just try to keep putting out as much mana as you think you can handle and we’ll go from there.”
Kyle looked to Helen and gave her something of a skeptical look, the events from earlier today with the witch coming back to his mind.
“Um… I’m not sure if that’s a good idea to be honest. I’m sure you can tell from what you’ve felt all day, but my mana… is pretty potent. Last time I stopped trying to bottle it up, I ended up… well, things got… Hairy I suppose?”
‘That witch didn’t have any hair on her if I remember correctly.
‘You know exactly what I mean dammit!’
Helen cocked her head to the side for a moment before sudden realization hit her. She then laughed to herself for a moment before she gave Kyle a sultry look.
“Well, if it happens it happens I suppose, but I can assure you that I’m not quite one to follow my basic instincts quite so heartily as most other Mamono. But again, what happens, happens. Though I certainly wouldn’t mind it if it turned out in a more promiscuous manner…”
Kyle felt himself grow red from the implications of her words, but tried to push them out of his head as he mentally conversed with Zamil.
‘Alright, I guess you can go ahead and stop holding my power back’
‘I look forward to what she does next when I do.’
Kyle’s face was getting redder with each passing second he thought about it before Zamil released the hold on Kyles power. Again, he felt the familiar rush of power from earlier and again he noted the feeling of how the magical energy just barely seemed contained in his frame. However, his center of focus wasn’t on himself or his power, but on Helen. He had seen what happened to the last Mamono that got a face full of his mana, and he was unsure if Helen would react in the same way.
What he was not expecting upon seeing her was how… unperturbed she was. If anything, she looked quite normal despite the fact that he room was filling up with his mana. It was when that thought hit him that her realized something about the current situation.
“…Helen.”
“Yeeeeeeeeeees?”
“By some odd chance, did you happen to seal this room magically?”
“Now why ever would I do that? How could your mana flood the Inn if I bottle it up in one tiny room?”
For a moment, Kyle said nothing, his brain taking a few seconds too long to process that she did this intentionally.
‘…’
‘…’
‘…’
‘…’
‘I like her already.’
‘IDON’TGIVEAFUCKCHOKEITOFFNOW!!!!’
‘What? Don’t want a horde of horny monster girls barging into your room craving dick?’
‘NO! NO I DON’T! NOW CUT OFF MY MANA PLEASE!’
With a reluctant sigh, Zamil did as he was asked despite what he wanted to the contrary. Kyle felt the flow of power in his body abruptly come to a halt. He then turned his attention to Helen, who looked for all intents in purposes, somewhat disappointed.
“Aw, now why did you go and stop? … Though good job being able to cut it off so quickly.”
“Thank you… wait… that’s not what’s important right now. Why did you just up and let me unleash all that mana when you know what it would do to all the residents of the inn?”
Helen looked as if Kyle had just asked a silly question, and for all intents and purposes like she was confused about it.
“Why? Because it makes it so much easier to find single mamono of course.”
Kyle wasn’t sure how to react to that. Hell, he was pretty sure he had no comeback for it for that fact. For a minute or two, Kyle simply looked to Helen, who didn’t seem to think she had done anything wrong in this instance. As far as Kyle knew in his own limited logic of this place, maybe she hadn’t done anything wrong, but to him, he just simply thought of it as a little odd and somewhat irresponsible of her to do this. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle shook his head at her before he spoke up.
“Helen… I’m not going to chastise you on this cause as far as I can tell, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, but… I’ll be honest, can we not go wife searching right now of all times? I’m sure your eager to go about and get started, but I personally want to hold off for a bit until I can get myself in a… shall we say functioning state of mind and body first?”
‘You mean in a state where everything doesn’t try to fuck you silly?’
‘Crude but true.’
For a moment, Helen didn’t say anything. That changed a few seconds later when she let out a small sigh of resignation.
“Very well. I can understand the reasoning. I’ll hold off for a bit on the harem building. I will warn you though that I will be striking on any opportunities that do present themselves though. At least allow me that.”
Kyle wanted to say no on that, but even he knew that he should be fair in regards to certain things and nodded his head in agreement.
“Very well. I’ll give you that. So, let’s get to the training shall we? … After you seal the room up of course.”
With a small smile, Helen did as she was asked. With a quickness and efficiency that told of Helens long running skill and experience, the Bicorn made short work of her task and made her way back to Kyle.
“Alright then… now that the room is sealed as asked, let’s get to it shall we? As before, I want you to go ahead and release what small amount of energy you can, the wand will do its job to coax out more of it so that you can drench yourself in your own essence.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Then you immerse yourself in it for as long as possible. The more you come to understand it, the better you’ll come to control it.”
Kyle had to cock his eyebrow upward at what she said.
“Um…not to question you or anything, but I had heard that allowing yourself to be drawn into the essence of magic could literally pull your own soul out of your body.”
Helen blinked a few times before the words sunk in. She then shook her head and looked at Kyle as if he had just proposed the dumbest thing she had ever heard in her life.
“First of all, that only applies if you try to immerse yourself into a natural flow of magic. Such a thing is treated as very very dangerous and only a man who is trying to do something desperate or is suicidal would attempt such a thing. Second of all, why in the name of the Maou are you trying to immerse yourself in a flow of natural magic?”
Kyle didn’t say anything at the moment, this new information bringing to light something about how he got here.
‘Zamil. Is what she saying true?’
‘Yes. It’s true. Now before you go and start asking stupid questions, we already went over this before we cast the spell. You obviously don’t remember those details so I’m going to enlighten you once more. Hopefully it fucking sticks this time. First and foremost, the bit about using natural magic to power a spell as dangerous. It is, but as long as you’re powerful enough to keep yourself in check it’s only a minor danger. You’re no expert though, so don’t attempt it. Now, when using internal magical power, from yourself in other words, the worst you risk is knocking yourself out from overexerting your magical power. It’s like if you over use a muscle or something, you have trouble using it for a bit, but it gets stronger if you let it heal. Try to keep all this in mind and don’t make me explain it again. If I have to, I’ll make sure it fucking sticks next time. And not in a pleasant way.’
Kyle got the gist of what it was Zamil was saying before his attention turned back to Helen and gave her a sheepish smile of sorts.
“Oh… nothing actually… I just read it somewhere and was curious about it was all. I’ve never actually done that you see, and I don’t plan on it…not until I need to, and even then I plan on getting much stronger then I am now before I even attempt it.”
“Hum… alright then. So, let’s finally get to controlling mana shall we?”
Kyle simply nodded his head once in confirmation before he did as she asked of him, this time without fear of having the whole Inn swarm his room to get to him. It didn’t take a lot of coaxing, seeing as Zamil pretty much controlled his current Mana flow, but Kyle could feel the magic radiate off of his body. Oddly enough, it didn’t feel as if the wand was pulling out his mana, but when he looked at the wand in his hand, he could see that it was pulsating, almost as if it was alive. Feeling unsure, Kyle looked to Helen and nodded his head.
“Alright, now what?”
Helen nodded in turn and then got closer… a little closer then he would have been comfortable with in truth, but he tried to ignore it.
“Good. Now, as your energy flows out, I want you to try to restrict the flow of how much is coming out. You seem to have a good grasp on how to shut it off, but not of restricting the flow to allow you to use it at will. We’ll be trying to do that now.”
Kyle, however, couldn’t help but feel nervous. He actually didn’t know how to shut it off, Zamil doing that for him since he got here.
‘Uhhhhh… Zamil, you wouldn’t mind telling me how you shut my mana off would you? It seems she thinks I already seem to know this and is basing this lesson off of that.’
‘Yeah. That seems to be the case. Alright, it’s not very hard to do. First, you can feel the amount of Mana that’s coming off of you right now right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Good. Now, remember how you used that illusion spell a few hours back? Try to take what you felt there and apply it here, the difference here is that you need try to zero in on your inner self rather than outwardly. This lets you try to find where your power is coming from. It shouldn’t be too hard to do; any mage worth his salt can do this easily enough.’
Kyle inwardly complied with Zamil and closed his eyes to focus on himself. Just like with the illusion spell, Kyle mentally projected himself and he tried to go from there. For a moment, he didn’t feel anything other than the rush of his own power. However, that changed when he started to dig deeper into the flowing energy and found something like a line form in his mind. Curious, Kyle followed the line, and surprisingly enough, that one line began to join together with another line. Then that lined joined up with another line, and then those lines began to branch out. Eventually, Kyle found himself in a twisting maze of lines that where filed with his own power.
‘Ah-ha. I see you’ve found your internal ley-lines. Good job on that kid.’
‘Internal ley-lines? Are those kinda like ley-lines of the land, only for ones body?’
‘I see your study of occult bullshit is serving you well. Yes, you would be correct on that. These lines are like the lines of the land. Your power flows through them, and any mage can see this system if they look close enough at other living creatures. However, unlike land Ley-lines, which are pretty much just supercharged on their own without a single source, internal lines all derive from a single spot. Your job is gonna be to find it.’
‘… No hints?’
‘I’m not gonna hold your fucking hand the whole way through this kid. Figure it out for yourself.’
Kyle should have figured as much, but he wasn’t going to complain about it since Zamil had a point. Kyle did need to figure it out for himself, and that’s exactly what he was going to do. Looking back into himself, Kyle felt out the lines from before, only this time, he tried to determine all that he could from them. It didn’t take as long as he thought it would, and Kyle quickly came to understand that the lines seemed to act much like streams or rivers. The flow of power from his body seemed to go in a certain direction, and thus he tried to follow that flow in reverse. However, that was easier said than done, the outpouring of his power was so large and unknown to him that the best he could do at the moment was just get a general idea of where in this weaving flow of power to go. Thankfully, that seemed to be enough for him. It took him a moment longer then he would have liked, but Kyle quickly saw where it was he needed to go in himself. He found what he could consider his core of power, and to him, it pulsed with an almost evil light. In truth, he felt a bit unnerved by what he was feeling, so much so that he decided to prompt Zamil for an answer.
‘Hey… Zamil… sorry, Lord Zamil. Um… is my energy supposed to be so… negative feeling?’
‘For a human? No, that would be an indicator to a pretty corrupt spirit. Those happen to make some of the best followers in the material world, but in general, a human with such a negative aura would be by your terms, bat-shit crazy or evil. For demons, this is just natural. For you, who’s basically a demon by body and partial soul, it might seem odd, but trust me, your fine.’
‘Are you sure?
For a moment, Zamil didn’t say anything… but only for a moment.
‘Oh? I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was in the presence of another Sage of demonic and mystical arts! Please do enlighten me oh master of all things Daemon, surely you would have more than my paltry 8000 years of experience in the matter!’
‘Alright alright… I get it. I’m sorry for questioning you geez…’
‘Better be fucking sorry boy. Question my wisdom again, see if I give you advice in the future.’
Letting out an internal sigh at the overlords venomous statements, Kyle focused on himself internally again and on his source of mana.
‘Alright, so what do I do now?’
‘Easy. Magic and controlling mana is one quarter practice, one half imagination, and one quarter failure.’
‘I don’t like the sound of the failure part.’
‘People don’t like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, fucking deal with it. Alright, now, since you seem to be pretty good at the visualization bit, I want you to try to imagine yourself putting a stopper on your flow of power. Find the best way to do that and regulating the flow will be that much easier to grasp.’
‘Okay... sounds doable… what do I tell Helen though? She can surely see what it is I’m doing.’
‘She’ll just consider it part of your attempts to regulate the flow… and in essence, doing this first should give you a good idea of how to do that. Now hurry it up, you’re taking too long.’
Kyle did as he was asked, though with a bit of an internal sigh, and refocused in on himself. Obviously the chat with the overlord disturbed his concentration, so he needed to find where his center of power was again. Thankfully, doing it once had provided him with a point of reference, so he quickly managed to find it again. Kyle took a moment to think to himself on how best to do this. Zamil had told him that visualization was something he should do, and thus he decided that it would be a good start.
‘Alright… think… try to visualize stopping the flow… like stopping a draining faucet… yeah… that might be a good start.’
Taking that image in mind, Kyle tried to tie his image of stopping his power into practice. What he did not expect was the sheer amount of resistance he felt on the other end of it. He had been somewhat expecting it, but not to the degree he was currently getting. It was almost if he was trying to put a stopper on a geyser blowing at full force.
‘Holy shit! You have to put a stop in this every time?’
‘Yeah. I’m used to such explosive power though, long years of dealing with other demon lords and all, though make sure to shower me in some gratitude every once in a while for putting up with your bullshit.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind.’
Kyle mentally noted the overlords remarks and made sure to thank him later when he got the chance, a sudden appreciation for Zamil and what the sealed demon could do. A moment later and Kyle tried once again to force his power to a complete halt, and once again he felt such a massive level of resistance that he had to stop halfway through. Though difficult, Kyle was not deterred from his training and he attempted to do it several more times before, surprisingly, Kyle managed to succeed. He was somewhat surprised by the sudden progress and even took a moment to be sure that he had been successful and not wishful.
However, Helen spoke up before he could contemplate it further.
“Oh… you were getting there at least. Keep trying, I’m sure you’ll get it sooner or later.”
Kyle took a moment to acknowledge her encouragement and gave her a smile in understanding.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Giving her one more nod of appreciation, Kyle turned his attention back to his mana. He then took his time to see if his initial success wasn’t some fluke or lucky break that he was taking for granted. I took him a bit of effort and a few more attempts, but Kyle was happy to note that he had begun to emulate his first success several times over at this point with increased success with consecutive attempts.
‘Well well, look who happens to have some talent. That usually takes a lot longer for most beginners to pull off the first time around. Which is a good thing cause it saves us a fuck-ton of time. However, you’re still green when it comes to magic, case in point being you still need to concentrate when you stop your energy rather than do it subconsciously. Thankfully the demon horse woman is going to teach you a lot more about the subconscious control then I’ll be willing to sit through, meaning I’ll only help out when you suck absolute ass.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’
However, before the both of them could continue the mental debate, Helen interjected in the conversation, a kind smile and a curious look on her face.
“Would you like to take a break? I know that this kind of thing can be frustrating for most starting out, so I don’t want to test your mental patience just yet.”
Kyle simply gave her a shake of his head along with an appreciative smile.
“No, I’m still good. I don’t think I’ve worked hard enough just yet to warrant a break. Thank you for the concern though, it’s appreciated.”
“… Very well, let me know if you start to get frustrated or fatigued and we’ll put a stop to it for a bit.”
Kyle gave Helen an appreciative nod of his head before he went back to training. His day, despite being somewhat short, had left him with a lot to think about, though Kyle knew that this was only the start of his journey…
Lugeria, Sky Terrace of the High Chapel. Pope’s study.
Pope Victor Olther Romania was a patient man. He had to be to deal with everyday headaches of all things that seemed to want to cause him misfortune. From Paperwork stating the most obvious of claims up to choices that could impact whole villages. All of them He had to do and all of them giving him no end of mental migraines.
However, even his patience had a limit, though rarely was it ever tested as much as it was right now. In the past few Hours Pope Victor had hurriedly yet discreetly sent out several of his agents to try to track down a particular individual. This person was someone who was powerful in their own right, but at the same time remained a bit of a wild card for the Order Church to use.
Victor had been somewhat hesitant to try to call on this particular individual, but many of the other churches… ‘Assets’ where being used for other missions in other kingdoms at the current time. This had left him with a few options at home, but he wanted to try to keep Lugeria safe in the case of a sudden attack from Makai or from whatever this invader may plan to do. This left him with a low number of options to use, so he decided on a particularly powerful one. Said ‘option’ currently trying his patience.
However, his long hour wait was rewarded with a knock on his door.
A single knock.
A single knock that was strong enough to tear the door from its hinges and fly halfway across the Popes study and land with a resounding thud on the stonework floor.
“This… Had better be important enough to pull me away from my study!”
Oliver, who knew of this particular individual and their violent outbursts, wasn’t as intimidated as he thought he would be despite the rough treatment of his door.
Standing at the door, looking viciously angry, was a young woman who didn’t look older then her mid-twenties. Her face would look quite cute if it wasn’t currently screwed up into rage, her Violet colored eyes looking quite vicious right now as she tried to bore a hole in the old man who had disturbed her current work. Her face and head was framed by long and curled pale pink hair that went to her mid-back. She kept a good deal of it out of her face with a black hair ribbon/band, which ended up matching the rest of her attire. She wore a black and white dress that closely resembled a maid outfit, but was more tailored to be an actual dress, the skirt of said dress extending a little past her knees, though none of the flesh of her leg was exposed due to the black and white stripped stockings that went past her knees. Her upper torso was armored by a whitish silver breastplate that helped to keep a long black mantel in place around her shoulders. Lastly, and by far the most dangerous piece of her attire so far, was the two-edged Rapier at her side. It was a beautiful blade, if not deadly. Unlike usual Rapiers though, this one was stronger looking and was thicker than average for a common blade, the guard too was of an unusual design, instead of the usual covering, it was some guard in the design of what he could only guess was the vague yet ornate shape of butterfly wings.
Pope Victor, despite the glare he was receiving, simply let out a small sigh at the destruction of his door before he ushered the girl into his study.
“Had this not been an utterly urgent matter, I would not have disturbed you in your study Alicia. Sadly, this is a very urgent matter, and it requires swift action, action I cannot take correctly due to many of my best agents already in the middle of equally dire tasks.”
Alicia, as she was called, toned her death glare down several notches, but she still gave the old man a hard look.
“Thus you need me, an outsider to the… ‘Order’ to help you.”
Letting out a massive sigh, Alicia dropped her glare at this point, though her face seemed to be stuck on annoyed at the moment.
“I suppose there are worse things I can do… so, what exactly is it that you need me for old man?”
Victor might have had something to say about the old man part of her remark, but he had other things to worry about at the moment.
“Very well… This situation could prove rather useful to you Alicia. You see, something from outside our world has… managed to work its way in. I have no idea how or why, but the servants of heaven have told me that it must be taken care of. Either captured or killed… however, I believe that it might have the ability to help you with your situation.”
Pope Victor was quick to note the sudden interest in her eyes, though the girl quickly tried to hide it in a mask of indifference.
“You think it might have the ability to pull me out of this world and return me to my own?”
“Who can say? However, it got in somehow, who’s to say it doesn’t know how to get back?”
Alicia couldn’t hide her interest at that point, and that is exactly what Oliver had been hoping for. He knew that Alicia was from another world, the girl having been lost and confused when she stumbled her way into the city some months back, and that she had come to the Order to see if she could find a way back. In return for allowing her to stay and research what she needed, Oliver had said that she would need to do jobs on occasion for the Order, and he planned on using this to locate the unknown entity.
With a well-executed sigh of exasperation, Alicia folded her arms and gave Victor an annoyed look.
“Alright alright… I’ll help out with this… I hit a dead lock in my research anyway… so, when do I leave and where am I going?”
“You will begin the search immediately. You will be going to Havel, the place closest to the entity’s point of entry. There you will find out what you can, and should you come into contact with it… ascertain if it can be reasoned with. If you can convince it to help us, that would be best, but if it is unwilling, then capture it. If that proves impossible for you, then kill it. If even that is outside of your ability to do, then come back and report what you know and I’ll send someone else.”
Alicia felt a tick grow in her temple at the disregard for her ability, but didn’t say anything about it, her temper reigning itself in.
“Fine… where is Havel anyway?”
“It is a trading town some ways off to the east. A weeks ride by horseback. However, you will not be using a horse. You will be provided with a warp stone so that you may gather as much information as quickly as possible.”
Alicia cocked her head to the side in some confusion.
“Warp stone?”
“I do not have the time to explain it to you. Simply head to the armory and speak with the man there, provide him with this letter-” Oliver pulled out a sealed envelope and lay it on the end of his desk. “-and you will be given instructions on how to use it whilst also being given rations if the need for travel should arise.”
Alicia cautiously made her way further into the room and took the letter from the desk. She gave it a once over before she stuffed it, to Oliver’s confusion, in the space between her chest armor and her clothing.
“Alright then. I’ll try to make it back as quickly as I can, but if whatever this thing is proves to be helpful to me, I hope you don’t mind if I have an extended chat with it.”
“Just get this done, I don’t care what you do before you bring it here. May the Chief God guide your steps.”
With that final statement Alicia took the note and gave the Pope one last look before she left the room. Victor let out a sigh yet again as he brought his attention to the task he had been given.
“I can only hope she succeeds… and if she fails… it’s not a serious loss for us… I had better make sure I have a backup in the event she does fail though.”
Victor then began looking over some reports to see what would be the best course of action.
Meanwhile, Alicia, who was making her way to the armory, looked down at the letter in some disgust.
“I swear, if this thing can get me home, damn this place and damn that old man, I’m taking what chances I have to get out of here.”
Angry at her situation, Alicia couldn’t help but grumble to herself. And why wouldn’t she? Where she had come from, she had worked hard to get the title of Royal SwordMage, spending well over 20 years devoted to her magic and fencing. Just the thought of one apprentice mishap sending her to an unknown world still made her blood boil at the thought of it. Taking a few calming breaths, Alicia re-focused her mind to the newest ray of hope she had. She would find this thing and she would get home regardless of what she had to do to do it.
Xx Havel, random street corner. xX
Kyle felt a shiver run up his spine, though he curiously looked around a moment to see if something was wrong in the general area.
‘Wassup Kid?’
‘Ever get a feeling someone or something is talking about you behind your back?’
‘Ah, somebody walking on your grave you mean.’
‘A bit morbid, but I suppose it gets the point across.’
“Kyle? Is everything alright?”
Kyle looked back a bit to see that Helen was giving him a quizzical look with a hint of concern mixed in. Giving her a nervous smile, he held up his hand as if to assuage her concern.
“Yeah, it’s all cool… anyway… you said something about having a room at an Inn?”
“Oh yes, I did. I’ve been in town for a few days now, and that’s mostly because Burt needed my help with some things. Mostly just a delivery here and a debt collected there… just small things.”
“And you’re sure you don’t mind me staying with you? I can try to pay you back.”
Helen waved his concern away, looking quite content with Kyle’s words.
“It’s fine, you and I are bound to be together for a very long time. I don’t mind if you rely on me after all Darli-… sorry, Kyle.”
Kyle found himself feeling a little uncomfortable with her slight slip. He was still not sure what to think of her, having only just met her and her sudden conviction to proclaim him as a loved one. Even more so since her intentions seemed less then innocent. However, he wasn’t going to contest it at the moment and simply nodded despite his thoughts.
“Alright. If you’re absolutely sure about it then I won’t contest it any further… Also, not to rush or anything, but when are you going to show me how to control my mana?”
“In due time. We still have the rest of the day to study, so I’m going to take this chance and get you something to wear. As far as I can tell, what you’re wearing is all you have, and it sticks out quite a bit.”
Upon mentioning, Kyle looked down at his fairly average clothes and noted that yes, they did stand out a bit more in comparison to what others were wearing. Shrugging his shoulders, Kyle looked back at the Bicorn and gave her a small smile.
“Alright then. Lead the way.”
With a delighted expression, Helen did just that with Kyle following behind her willingly. Kyle, still new to the town, simply let Helen do all the directing and buying. Despite his first initial thought of what was going to happen, Helen seemed as if she didn’t want to waste time with simple browsing. It didn’t take her very long to find an appropriate clothing stand and get a few simple garments for him to wear, and she even seemed to be a good judge of size based on the fact that when he tested them out, they fit nicely. However, the fact that she had made some comments about how the clothing store manager, which had been a harpy of sorts, was quite cute and would seem like a nice girl made him feel a dash more uncomfortable. Kyle hadn’t bothered with responding to Helen on that and had opted to get out of there before the centaur could attempt anything else of that nature.
After finally leaving the clothing store, Kyle now had himself a new set of clothes he could call his own. It was nothing if not comfortable despite the rough material he would have expected from an age where everything was made from the basest of materials. Helen, for her part, simply smiled to herself.
“There we are, now you look as plain as the rest of them… though in my eyes you’ll shine regardless of what you wear...”
Ignoring the subtle sexual overtone of her statement, Kyle looked himself over a few more times before he felt content with his new clothes. He turned his attention to Helen and gave her a questioning look.
“So, I look normal enough… now what?”
“Well… truth be told I was somewhat tempted to take you out and about in Havel for a spell to get to know you better… But that plan is somewhat out of the question due to the fact that it seems your mana is causing issues everywhere we go.”
Kyle cocked his eyebrow up in some confusion.
“Really? I haven’t noticed much myself.”
“It’s not very notable, but in truth, it’s been making a number of mamono somewhat… excited. Any more sightseeing will have to be regulated for later or else we risk the wrath of the city guard. I’ve done well enough not to get in trouble with them, so I would rather not start now. So, lets head on back to my hotel room and we can get you started on Mana training!”
Not even giving him a moment to respond, Helen started along in another direction, forcing Kyle to follow lest he lose her in the crowd. What he was not aware of was the man that had been following him, and by extension, Helen, for the last little while now. Captain Agni stood off a ways, his face unreadable behind his helmet. However, Kristin seemed to know exactly what it was he was thinking.
“Captain, I don’t mean to sound disrespectful or anything, but do you not think we may have wasted more than enough of our time on this little escapade?”
Agni gave his subordinate a momentary glance before turning his attention back to Kyle, watching the young man vanish into the crowd. A moment later and he let out a small sigh.
“Perhaps you’re right… I will admit that the physical changes he has undergone are extreme to say the least… I will also say that his illusion has become a lot less murky, though in doing so it has made it easier to bypass… But perhaps it is simply nerves that are getting to me. I believe we are done here.”
Kristian bowed her head lightly in response.
“Understood my lo-… my apologies Captain, I was about to slip up there.”
“It’s alright Kristian. We shall retire for the evening before I make my report to the King.”
The Dullahan nodded her head and gave her superior a small smile.
“Understood my love.”
Letting the remark go this time, Agni took one more glance in the direction of the youth before he turned back around and was on his own way.
‘I don’t know why he bothers me so much… but I’ll keep him in mind for the future.’
Meanwhile, Kyle had simply followed along with Helen, none the wiser of his monitored statues as the world seemed to take a more vested interest in him. The only thing he knew of right that moment was that Helen, despite being so… large as a quadrupedal creature, could easily maneuver her way through a crowd as if it was the simplest thing in the world to do, whereas he was struggling not to run into, step, or even outright push people out of the way to keep up with her. A fact that made itself well known when she actually stopped for a moment to allow him to catch up. She didn’t seem upset about it though, and simply gave Kyle an apologetic look as she waited for him.
“Sorry, I suppose I got a little ahead of myself. Here, take hold of my hand and I won’t let you get lost.”
Kyle looked down at her outstretched, though he somewhat hesitated to take it.
‘Awwwwwwwww, what’s a matter? A wittle hand holding to lewd for you? ‘Fraid you might catch girl cooties?’
‘Kindly stow it.’
It wasn’t that he was afraid of hand holding or anything, but it was more the mental stigma he felt about holding her hand in public. For all intents and purposes, Helen was treating there relationship as if they were already lovers, whilst he himself was still hesitating to treat her as anything more than an overenthusiastic first meeting. It must come from the mentality of his old world, but someone this pushy or eager was someone who was to be avoided. However, he couldn’t treat this worlds common sense as his own too much or he might risk alienating himself. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle held up his hand and took hers, though as chastely as he possibly could (though he was unsure what might constitute a ‘lewd’ hand holding).
Helen smiled warmly and gently led Kyle to their destination. Somehow, Kyle felt even more embarrassed doing this then he thought he would and tried rather hard to avoid eye contact with others, though he couldn’t help but note that his embarrassment was attracting more attention than the actual hand holding if the knowing smiles on some of the Mamono where anything to go by. After 15 minutes of this, Kyle and Helen made it to the inn she was currently staying at. It was a decent place, pretty well off, but not being overly expensive looking or gaudy for that fact. He had to wonder about the name a bit though. ‘Tap dancing Goat’ seemed rather odd, but he wasn’t going to question it. A little bit later and Kyle found himself in a rather large, if not simple, room with Helen currently rummaging through a bag that he could only guess belonged to her.
“Give me one moment and we can get started here…”
Kyle watched the Bicorn for a moment as she pulled odd items out of her bag (even a giant horse dildo if he was looking at it right) before he found the bed and sat down. He was quick to note that the bed, despite the wooden frame and somewhat rustic look, felt amazingly soft. Another wonder of a world that seemed to be pulled right out of a JRPG if he attributed it as such. Eventually, Helen managed to find what it was she was looking for, and she excitedly stuffed everything else she had out back into her bag.
‘Must be some kind of hammerspace bag or something.’
‘No shit. What was your first guess?’
Ignoring the overlord, Kyle found his attention diverted when Helen walked over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him. She then produced the item she had been digging for and showed it off to him.
“Here we are. This should help us get started.”
Kyle wasn’t sure wha it was he was looking at, but put into a few choice words, it looked a lot like some kind of magical wand. However, the ‘wand’ itself was odd, looking a lot more like some kind of knotty stick that only happened to have the vaguest shape of a wand. Kyle found himself looking at the… stick, and then to Helen, looking for all intents and purposes like he was confused.
“Uh… Okay… I’m not going to pretend I even know what that is or how this is going to work.”
Helen simply giggled to herself before she gestured for Kyle to hold out his hand. Doing so, Kyle held it out, only for Helen to place the wand(?) in his palm.
“That’s alright. I’ll explain. You see, what you have in your hand is what is normally called an ‘Emission wand’. What it does is that when you try to focus your mana into it, it tends to pull out more mana then a normal wand would.”
Kyle held it in his hand and turned it over a few times before he responded to her.
“That seems inefficient.”
“Well, yes. For a professional spellcaster, this wand isn’t something they would use at all. However, for a person who has just been introduced to their own mana and magic in general, it’s very useful.”
Kyle looked at her skeptically, though he still listened.
“Obviously, as someone who has never had to make use of Mana at all before in your life, you’re going to have a bit of a problem trying to… coax it out shall we say? It’s like if you don’t use a muscle in many years, it’ll atrophy and using it makes it that much harder for you. However, with this wand, it’ll pull out a lot more of your mana then you would expect, and thus, you’ll learn to control it more quickly the more familiar you get with your own mana.”
“That’s sounds reasonable, but wouldn’t that have negative side effects? Using something I’ve never used before might harm me in some way I would think…”
Helen nodded her head in agreement before she held her hand up in a way a teacher might.
“That would be a good guess Kyle. You see, pulling so much mana out so quickly will make you feel very tired from such an exorbitant mana usage, so in most respects, this wand is used sparsely in training. In some worst case scenarios, the mana drain can be so bad it can lay up an average mage for several days.”
For a moment, Kyle didn’t say anything, those words sinking in until it finally clicked.
“And you want to use such a method on me? … Can I just go ahead and say that that sounds both dangerous and stupid at the same time?”
Helen, however, didn’t seem to share Kyles concern about it.
“It would normally be a problem if you were by yourself. However, I happen to be here to help you, so you don’t need to worry one bit!”
“Why does that concern me more?”
‘Oh fucking get on with it.’
‘Alright alright… sheesh…’
Kyle let out a small sigh of resignation, Internally still not feeling all that gung-ho about this. Kyle then took a look at the wand one more time to get a good feel for what it was he was about to do.
“So… How are we going to do this?”
“Do you know how to pull out your Mana? Even the smallest amount would be helpful.”
“More or less. I was asked earlier today to do something similar with the ring I have on.”
“That’s a good first step. Now all you have to do is do the same with the wand as you did with the ring. After that, just try to keep putting out as much mana as you think you can handle and we’ll go from there.”
Kyle looked to Helen and gave her something of a skeptical look, the events from earlier today with the witch coming back to his mind.
“Um… I’m not sure if that’s a good idea to be honest. I’m sure you can tell from what you’ve felt all day, but my mana… is pretty potent. Last time I stopped trying to bottle it up, I ended up… well, things got… Hairy I suppose?”
‘That witch didn’t have any hair on her if I remember correctly.
‘You know exactly what I mean dammit!’
Helen cocked her head to the side for a moment before sudden realization hit her. She then laughed to herself for a moment before she gave Kyle a sultry look.
“Well, if it happens it happens I suppose, but I can assure you that I’m not quite one to follow my basic instincts quite so heartily as most other Mamono. But again, what happens, happens. Though I certainly wouldn’t mind it if it turned out in a more promiscuous manner…”
Kyle felt himself grow red from the implications of her words, but tried to push them out of his head as he mentally conversed with Zamil.
‘Alright, I guess you can go ahead and stop holding my power back’
‘I look forward to what she does next when I do.’
Kyle’s face was getting redder with each passing second he thought about it before Zamil released the hold on Kyles power. Again, he felt the familiar rush of power from earlier and again he noted the feeling of how the magical energy just barely seemed contained in his frame. However, his center of focus wasn’t on himself or his power, but on Helen. He had seen what happened to the last Mamono that got a face full of his mana, and he was unsure if Helen would react in the same way.
What he was not expecting upon seeing her was how… unperturbed she was. If anything, she looked quite normal despite the fact that he room was filling up with his mana. It was when that thought hit him that her realized something about the current situation.
“…Helen.”
“Yeeeeeeeeeees?”
“By some odd chance, did you happen to seal this room magically?”
“Now why ever would I do that? How could your mana flood the Inn if I bottle it up in one tiny room?”
For a moment, Kyle said nothing, his brain taking a few seconds too long to process that she did this intentionally.
‘…’
‘…’
‘…’
‘…’
‘I like her already.’
‘IDON’TGIVEAFUCKCHOKEITOFFNOW!!!!’
‘What? Don’t want a horde of horny monster girls barging into your room craving dick?’
‘NO! NO I DON’T! NOW CUT OFF MY MANA PLEASE!’
With a reluctant sigh, Zamil did as he was asked despite what he wanted to the contrary. Kyle felt the flow of power in his body abruptly come to a halt. He then turned his attention to Helen, who looked for all intents in purposes, somewhat disappointed.
“Aw, now why did you go and stop? … Though good job being able to cut it off so quickly.”
“Thank you… wait… that’s not what’s important right now. Why did you just up and let me unleash all that mana when you know what it would do to all the residents of the inn?”
Helen looked as if Kyle had just asked a silly question, and for all intents and purposes like she was confused about it.
“Why? Because it makes it so much easier to find single mamono of course.”
Kyle wasn’t sure how to react to that. Hell, he was pretty sure he had no comeback for it for that fact. For a minute or two, Kyle simply looked to Helen, who didn’t seem to think she had done anything wrong in this instance. As far as Kyle knew in his own limited logic of this place, maybe she hadn’t done anything wrong, but to him, he just simply thought of it as a little odd and somewhat irresponsible of her to do this. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle shook his head at her before he spoke up.
“Helen… I’m not going to chastise you on this cause as far as I can tell, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, but… I’ll be honest, can we not go wife searching right now of all times? I’m sure your eager to go about and get started, but I personally want to hold off for a bit until I can get myself in a… shall we say functioning state of mind and body first?”
‘You mean in a state where everything doesn’t try to fuck you silly?’
‘Crude but true.’
For a moment, Helen didn’t say anything. That changed a few seconds later when she let out a small sigh of resignation.
“Very well. I can understand the reasoning. I’ll hold off for a bit on the harem building. I will warn you though that I will be striking on any opportunities that do present themselves though. At least allow me that.”
Kyle wanted to say no on that, but even he knew that he should be fair in regards to certain things and nodded his head in agreement.
“Very well. I’ll give you that. So, let’s get to the training shall we? … After you seal the room up of course.”
With a small smile, Helen did as she was asked. With a quickness and efficiency that told of Helens long running skill and experience, the Bicorn made short work of her task and made her way back to Kyle.
“Alright then… now that the room is sealed as asked, let’s get to it shall we? As before, I want you to go ahead and release what small amount of energy you can, the wand will do its job to coax out more of it so that you can drench yourself in your own essence.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Then you immerse yourself in it for as long as possible. The more you come to understand it, the better you’ll come to control it.”
Kyle had to cock his eyebrow upward at what she said.
“Um…not to question you or anything, but I had heard that allowing yourself to be drawn into the essence of magic could literally pull your own soul out of your body.”
Helen blinked a few times before the words sunk in. She then shook her head and looked at Kyle as if he had just proposed the dumbest thing she had ever heard in her life.
“First of all, that only applies if you try to immerse yourself into a natural flow of magic. Such a thing is treated as very very dangerous and only a man who is trying to do something desperate or is suicidal would attempt such a thing. Second of all, why in the name of the Maou are you trying to immerse yourself in a flow of natural magic?”
Kyle didn’t say anything at the moment, this new information bringing to light something about how he got here.
‘Zamil. Is what she saying true?’
‘Yes. It’s true. Now before you go and start asking stupid questions, we already went over this before we cast the spell. You obviously don’t remember those details so I’m going to enlighten you once more. Hopefully it fucking sticks this time. First and foremost, the bit about using natural magic to power a spell as dangerous. It is, but as long as you’re powerful enough to keep yourself in check it’s only a minor danger. You’re no expert though, so don’t attempt it. Now, when using internal magical power, from yourself in other words, the worst you risk is knocking yourself out from overexerting your magical power. It’s like if you over use a muscle or something, you have trouble using it for a bit, but it gets stronger if you let it heal. Try to keep all this in mind and don’t make me explain it again. If I have to, I’ll make sure it fucking sticks next time. And not in a pleasant way.’
Kyle got the gist of what it was Zamil was saying before his attention turned back to Helen and gave her a sheepish smile of sorts.
“Oh… nothing actually… I just read it somewhere and was curious about it was all. I’ve never actually done that you see, and I don’t plan on it…not until I need to, and even then I plan on getting much stronger then I am now before I even attempt it.”
“Hum… alright then. So, let’s finally get to controlling mana shall we?”
Kyle simply nodded his head once in confirmation before he did as she asked of him, this time without fear of having the whole Inn swarm his room to get to him. It didn’t take a lot of coaxing, seeing as Zamil pretty much controlled his current Mana flow, but Kyle could feel the magic radiate off of his body. Oddly enough, it didn’t feel as if the wand was pulling out his mana, but when he looked at the wand in his hand, he could see that it was pulsating, almost as if it was alive. Feeling unsure, Kyle looked to Helen and nodded his head.
“Alright, now what?”
Helen nodded in turn and then got closer… a little closer then he would have been comfortable with in truth, but he tried to ignore it.
“Good. Now, as your energy flows out, I want you to try to restrict the flow of how much is coming out. You seem to have a good grasp on how to shut it off, but not of restricting the flow to allow you to use it at will. We’ll be trying to do that now.”
Kyle, however, couldn’t help but feel nervous. He actually didn’t know how to shut it off, Zamil doing that for him since he got here.
‘Uhhhhh… Zamil, you wouldn’t mind telling me how you shut my mana off would you? It seems she thinks I already seem to know this and is basing this lesson off of that.’
‘Yeah. That seems to be the case. Alright, it’s not very hard to do. First, you can feel the amount of Mana that’s coming off of you right now right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Good. Now, remember how you used that illusion spell a few hours back? Try to take what you felt there and apply it here, the difference here is that you need try to zero in on your inner self rather than outwardly. This lets you try to find where your power is coming from. It shouldn’t be too hard to do; any mage worth his salt can do this easily enough.’
Kyle inwardly complied with Zamil and closed his eyes to focus on himself. Just like with the illusion spell, Kyle mentally projected himself and he tried to go from there. For a moment, he didn’t feel anything other than the rush of his own power. However, that changed when he started to dig deeper into the flowing energy and found something like a line form in his mind. Curious, Kyle followed the line, and surprisingly enough, that one line began to join together with another line. Then that lined joined up with another line, and then those lines began to branch out. Eventually, Kyle found himself in a twisting maze of lines that where filed with his own power.
‘Ah-ha. I see you’ve found your internal ley-lines. Good job on that kid.’
‘Internal ley-lines? Are those kinda like ley-lines of the land, only for ones body?’
‘I see your study of occult bullshit is serving you well. Yes, you would be correct on that. These lines are like the lines of the land. Your power flows through them, and any mage can see this system if they look close enough at other living creatures. However, unlike land Ley-lines, which are pretty much just supercharged on their own without a single source, internal lines all derive from a single spot. Your job is gonna be to find it.’
‘… No hints?’
‘I’m not gonna hold your fucking hand the whole way through this kid. Figure it out for yourself.’
Kyle should have figured as much, but he wasn’t going to complain about it since Zamil had a point. Kyle did need to figure it out for himself, and that’s exactly what he was going to do. Looking back into himself, Kyle felt out the lines from before, only this time, he tried to determine all that he could from them. It didn’t take as long as he thought it would, and Kyle quickly came to understand that the lines seemed to act much like streams or rivers. The flow of power from his body seemed to go in a certain direction, and thus he tried to follow that flow in reverse. However, that was easier said than done, the outpouring of his power was so large and unknown to him that the best he could do at the moment was just get a general idea of where in this weaving flow of power to go. Thankfully, that seemed to be enough for him. It took him a moment longer then he would have liked, but Kyle quickly saw where it was he needed to go in himself. He found what he could consider his core of power, and to him, it pulsed with an almost evil light. In truth, he felt a bit unnerved by what he was feeling, so much so that he decided to prompt Zamil for an answer.
‘Hey… Zamil… sorry, Lord Zamil. Um… is my energy supposed to be so… negative feeling?’
‘For a human? No, that would be an indicator to a pretty corrupt spirit. Those happen to make some of the best followers in the material world, but in general, a human with such a negative aura would be by your terms, bat-shit crazy or evil. For demons, this is just natural. For you, who’s basically a demon by body and partial soul, it might seem odd, but trust me, your fine.’
‘Are you sure?
For a moment, Zamil didn’t say anything… but only for a moment.
‘Oh? I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was in the presence of another Sage of demonic and mystical arts! Please do enlighten me oh master of all things Daemon, surely you would have more than my paltry 8000 years of experience in the matter!’
‘Alright alright… I get it. I’m sorry for questioning you geez…’
‘Better be fucking sorry boy. Question my wisdom again, see if I give you advice in the future.’
Letting out an internal sigh at the overlords venomous statements, Kyle focused on himself internally again and on his source of mana.
‘Alright, so what do I do now?’
‘Easy. Magic and controlling mana is one quarter practice, one half imagination, and one quarter failure.’
‘I don’t like the sound of the failure part.’
‘People don’t like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, fucking deal with it. Alright, now, since you seem to be pretty good at the visualization bit, I want you to try to imagine yourself putting a stopper on your flow of power. Find the best way to do that and regulating the flow will be that much easier to grasp.’
‘Okay... sounds doable… what do I tell Helen though? She can surely see what it is I’m doing.’
‘She’ll just consider it part of your attempts to regulate the flow… and in essence, doing this first should give you a good idea of how to do that. Now hurry it up, you’re taking too long.’
Kyle did as he was asked, though with a bit of an internal sigh, and refocused in on himself. Obviously the chat with the overlord disturbed his concentration, so he needed to find where his center of power was again. Thankfully, doing it once had provided him with a point of reference, so he quickly managed to find it again. Kyle took a moment to think to himself on how best to do this. Zamil had told him that visualization was something he should do, and thus he decided that it would be a good start.
‘Alright… think… try to visualize stopping the flow… like stopping a draining faucet… yeah… that might be a good start.’
Taking that image in mind, Kyle tried to tie his image of stopping his power into practice. What he did not expect was the sheer amount of resistance he felt on the other end of it. He had been somewhat expecting it, but not to the degree he was currently getting. It was almost if he was trying to put a stopper on a geyser blowing at full force.
‘Holy shit! You have to put a stop in this every time?’
‘Yeah. I’m used to such explosive power though, long years of dealing with other demon lords and all, though make sure to shower me in some gratitude every once in a while for putting up with your bullshit.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind.’
Kyle mentally noted the overlords remarks and made sure to thank him later when he got the chance, a sudden appreciation for Zamil and what the sealed demon could do. A moment later and Kyle tried once again to force his power to a complete halt, and once again he felt such a massive level of resistance that he had to stop halfway through. Though difficult, Kyle was not deterred from his training and he attempted to do it several more times before, surprisingly, Kyle managed to succeed. He was somewhat surprised by the sudden progress and even took a moment to be sure that he had been successful and not wishful.
However, Helen spoke up before he could contemplate it further.
“Oh… you were getting there at least. Keep trying, I’m sure you’ll get it sooner or later.”
Kyle took a moment to acknowledge her encouragement and gave her a smile in understanding.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Giving her one more nod of appreciation, Kyle turned his attention back to his mana. He then took his time to see if his initial success wasn’t some fluke or lucky break that he was taking for granted. I took him a bit of effort and a few more attempts, but Kyle was happy to note that he had begun to emulate his first success several times over at this point with increased success with consecutive attempts.
‘Well well, look who happens to have some talent. That usually takes a lot longer for most beginners to pull off the first time around. Which is a good thing cause it saves us a fuck-ton of time. However, you’re still green when it comes to magic, case in point being you still need to concentrate when you stop your energy rather than do it subconsciously. Thankfully the demon horse woman is going to teach you a lot more about the subconscious control then I’ll be willing to sit through, meaning I’ll only help out when you suck absolute ass.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’
However, before the both of them could continue the mental debate, Helen interjected in the conversation, a kind smile and a curious look on her face.
“Would you like to take a break? I know that this kind of thing can be frustrating for most starting out, so I don’t want to test your mental patience just yet.”
Kyle simply gave her a shake of his head along with an appreciative smile.
“No, I’m still good. I don’t think I’ve worked hard enough just yet to warrant a break. Thank you for the concern though, it’s appreciated.”
“… Very well, let me know if you start to get frustrated or fatigued and we’ll put a stop to it for a bit.”
Kyle gave Helen an appreciative nod of his head before he went back to training. His day, despite being somewhat short, had left him with a lot to think about, though Kyle knew that this was only the start of his journey…
Spoiler: show
Chapter 7: New meeting.
Makai. Maou’s Castle. ???
Zellha could only sigh in annoyance. A little over an hour ago she had finished up talking with her mother (A.K.A, the Maou) about the current situation in regards to the mysterious entity that had penetrated the wall of reality. Just as the Maou had instructed, she had been busy since her departure in getting everything ready. A first, everything had been going well, she had managed to procure provisions, armaments, and even the usage of the continental warp apparatus that would allow her to warp to Havel, the city closest to the point of entry. She was pretty much ready to go and get to her mother’s request… or she would have, if she had been the only one to go and do it. Sadly, this was not the case. The Maou had told her to get a team together, and in truth, she already had something of a team she could call on should the need arise. Unfortunately, out of the 8 man/mamono she was used to seeing in her entourage, only three had bothered to show up… and that was with her included.
Needless to say she was somewhat irritable.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Zellha closed her eyes for a few moments to try to collect herself before she asked the question she wanted so badly answered.
“Vera… Letto. Where is everyone else?”
For a moment, neither of the two spoke up, but that might be in part that neither one was paying attention to the team 'leader'.
Zellha waited a few moments before she spoke up again, a growing irritation in her voice that was very obvious. She then spoke up again, this time calling out one of them rather than both.
“Letto! Get up off your giant furry butt already!”
Letto, as she was called, looked over to her leader. Laying down on a couch, the individual called Letto was, by any definition of the word, some kind of wolf mamono. If Letto had been standing, she might have passed off as a girl of about 15, her body having a waifish figure while only just beginning to develop in all the aspects of a woman. Of course, most of her torso along with her head shared very human characteristics, her face looking cute if not somewhat cold with her narrowed red eyes. However, the traits that defined her as a mamono where... wolfish in nature in a literal sense. Her arms where human only up to about her elbow, where it then gave way to semi-long black lustrous fur that ended in a rather dexterous looking paw that was tipped with some incredibly sharp looking claws with her legs looking much the same. The girl's last two defining traits where the long wolf ears that extended from the top of her head that would flick on occasion from sounds she could hear with equally raven hair that fell to just to middle of her back. A long and fluffy looking tail would swish back and forth for no other reason than it could right above her butt, the furry tail making Zellha want to hug it... if she wasn't so busy being frustrated at the moment. Letto also seemed to choose a rather... simplistic style of clothing. A band wrapped around her modest sized bust along with what could only be described as a white string thong being used to cover her most delicate of areas.
Letto stared at her leader for a moment before she turned her attention to her taught rear. She gazed at it for a moment before she turned back to Zellha with a deadpan look on her face.
“My butt is not hairy.”
Zellha could only apply her palm to her forehead.
“I did not mean that literally Letto... and you kinda do have fur on your butt, it just comes from your tail is all. I mean, you are a Werewolf of sorts after all.”
“Garm actually.”
Zellha waved her hand in some mild irritation at the wolf's words before she let out a sigh and looked at her with an expression of some acceptance.
“Yes yes I know. Just trying to generalize. Also, that's a bit of a secret, so just call yourself a werewolf for the time being.”
Whether the girl understood or not was up to Zellha's judgment seeing as Letto didn't respond to her with naught but a simple shake of her head. After confirming(?) her first teammates response, Zellha then turned her attention to the one called Vera.
Unlike the 'werewolf' who left little to imagination, Vera as they were called, seemed to make it a point to make themselves as ambiguous as possible. Unlike their companion, one couldn't even tell what gender Vera was, the large hooded red cloak covering everything save their face, and even then Vera wore a simple white faceless mask to obscure their appearance. The only thing that seemed to stand out about the whole ensemble was that the mask had had one large and vivid red eye on it.
“Vera... seriously, take that off while where talking. I can't see your face with it on.”
For a moment the masked individual said nothing, almost as if they hadn't heard the Liliam. However, a few moments later and a muffled feminine voice came from behind the mask.
“Do I have to?”
“No, you technically don't, but it is nice to see your face every once in a while, you know...”
Zellha left the statement to hang for a moment, the woman behind the mask contemplating it for a moment before she let out a small sigh.
“Your rather good at guilt tripping me Milady... but don't expect me to do it every time you pull that.”
Zellha simply smiled to her teammate in response. Vera let out another sigh before she removed the mask, and in doing so, pushed the cloak back over her shoulders to reveal more of her body.
Just like before, Vera was more conservative than her lupine companion, however, it was for more practical reasons for her. Vera looked to be a younger woman, somewhere in the age range of fifteen if her young and cynical looking face was to go by. Her clothes consisted of a tight fitting leather jerkin with a pale white shirt underneath. Her pants were also of a similar leather and was equally tight fitting, of which both where a simple black in color. She also wore shoulder length gloves, also of leather, though these seemed to have etchings of an arcane nature to them. Her face was, to say the least, somewhat childish looking, much like a young teen just growing into her adolescence.
By and far, she looked incredibly human. However, just like her Lady Zellha, Vera was also a mamono. Despite the long blonde her she kept tied into a braid and the human appearance, three things stood out that indicated otherwise. First was her evil looking eyes, a deep crimson like her cloak and some hint of higher intellect in them that far surpassed a girl her age. Second was her ears, elongated much like an elf, they stuck out a bit beyond the loose hair she kept down. And lastly was the two elongated canines that indicated her species.
It would take a bit of observation, but these small things added with her pale complexion would tell anyone well versed in mamono that Vera was a vampire.
Zellha smiled to herself before she nodded her head in thanks.
“Now that wasn't so hard was it?”
Vera didn't reply and simply blushed a little to herself. With both Vera and Letto's attention focused back on her, Zellha took a small breath before she repeated her question from earlier.
“So, now that I have your undivided attention, where is the rest of the team?”
Vera was the first to get the ball rolling.
“Let me think... Abby and Simon I think are in the middle of a week-long date session... but seeing as she's a succubus, that 'date' is probably a week long fuck fest. Ren is in the middle of a desert exploration you asked him to do. He was in the middle of something out in the Hadarac Desert last I talked with him and said he was going to be busy for a while. He also said not to contact him unless the world was ending. He then promptly cut me off after that.”
Zellha could only let out a sigh.
“Alright... what about Aldelf and Alice?”
Letto let out a yawn before she answered that one.
“No contact for a while... I think about a month. Last I remember they went to check out an old ruin in one of the old fey realms. We can only assume Alice got lost again and Aldelf had to go and find her.”
Zellha could only facepalm.
“Why did we send the two most directionally challenged of our squad out on a mission together?”
Neither one could give her an answer at that. Zellha rolled her eyes before she simply resigned herself to this.
“It doesn't matter now... if they aren't here now there's nothing we can do about it. Anyway, did you both get the briefing memo I left?”
Vera nodded her head, Letto however did not.
“I didn't get it.”
Vera simply gave her lupine companion a cold stare.
“I explained it to you on the way here.”
“I know you explained stuff to me, but she was asking if we got a memo. I did not. I'm just being honest.”
“Doesn't matter! You both know what’s going on! We need to get going before someone from the Order gets there first and tampers with precious material! Vera, did you get the warp stone?”
The Vampire held up a small prism before she nodded.
“Affirmative.”
“Good, do you both have everything you need?”
Both nodded in answer.
“Good. Vera. Go ahead and warp us to Havel. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
Xx Havel, Next day. xX
Kyle could only slightly frown at his current predicament, his current state of dress and bedside companion not being as he last remembered them being when he went to sleep last night. For starters, he remembered that he had more clothing on, instead he found himself stripped to basically his boxers, and even then those seemed as if they had been moved down by some uncertain amount of degrees. Next was that where he had gone to sleep on the bed last night by himself (Helen saying she was alright with standing while sleeping) he now found that a certain Bicorn had worked her way into the bed as well (thankfully said bed was already fitted with her in mind, hence why she had the room in the first place). She was comfortably resting next to Kyle, her head having found its way onto his shoulder and a very much exposed bust wrapped around his arm while she cuddled him tightly. Her over clingy nature aside, Kyle distinctly remembered that she agreed to them both staying out of the same bed for the night... more like he made her agree to it, but an agreement nonetheless. He also remembered having pants and a shirt on before he had gone to sleep.
Now he was down too naught but his boxers.
Thankfully he didn't feel very different in comparison to last night, so he was hoping that Helen hadn't done anything to him without his consent. However, he found that his arm was still trapped in her cleavage, and though he didn't find it uncomfortable or anything, he still needed to get up. However, Kyle felt his eyes hanging themselves on her breasts. Her exposed breasts for that fact. He couldn't help but look down at the exposed nipples that seemed to be like targets for his eyes. For a moment, Kyle found himself thinking on what it might be like if he put that tit between his teeth, to lick and suckle on it. What noises would Helen make if he did that? Fondle her and caressed her. What would she do... how would he feel...
For a moment, Kyle found his mind filled with a lustful hunger, but a moment later and the sight of his hand actually reaching for that breast made him stop. One in part due to the action he was taking, the next due to the fact that his skin wasn't its usual cream color anymore. Kyle looked to his hand and saw that his illusion must have worn off and looked something like hellspawn again. Clenching his hand into a fist, Kyle felt the sharp edges of the claw like nails and let out a small sigh. He then looked back to Helen and slowly extracted his arm from her warm embrace. Kyle worked his way out of the large bed, trying to be careful to not awaken the bicorn, and found himself looking for his clothes. He didn't need to look far seeing as Helen (for who else could it be?) had neatly folded them and placed them on the bedside table. Kyle quickly got dressed and then went to fetch the next object on his list. Hanging from a rack above the door was Kyles sword, or Zamil. Kyle had put him their last night one part in that he wanted to keep the ex-maou away from Helen, and the other because the Overlord demanded he not be placed on the floor like a common tool.
Seeing as they both had something to gain from this, there was nothing argued. Upon taking the blade in hand, Kyle felt a familiar buzzing in the back of his mind.
'Bout fucking time. Hell you sleep forever and a day.'
'I wasn't out that long was I?'
'Bout the average 7-8 hours or so, but for me that's fucking forever due to the fact that I don't need sleep. So it gets really fucking boring just sitting up there by myself.'
'...then how did you survive being alone for so many years on earth?'
'None of your damn business. Anyway, show me what you can do after I ditched you yesterday. I wanna know how up to speed you are in terms of using and controlling mana.'
'So you admit that you ditched me yesterday...'
Sighing internally, Kyle simply let it go. He then smiled a little smugly to himself before he took a moment to show what he could do. Zamil could feel the effect immediately and took note that Kyle's power was completely bottled up.
'Oh? Got it already? Gotta admit, you're a born natural when it comes too magic.'
Kyle felt some pride well up in his body before he showed Zamil what else he could do. It took less than a second for Zamil to feel the difference.
'Well well well. The kid has some fucking talent. Capable of stopping your own power and able to control the flow. Color me impressed kid. Most people don't get this good overnight.'
'Thanks. After I put you away for the night I decided to practice a bit more. Turns out the visualizing thing works wonders like you said. After I got a good mental image going I could keep it up almost indefinitely. Even Helen mentioned that such skill was amazing for a beginner.'
'Hopefully she rewarded you for the effort.'
'No, and I'm glad she didn't. I'm not very secure around her right now. She's too... clingy for my taste. Though she did seem to want to reward me for the effort... by the by, did she do anything to me last night? I was stripped of my clothes save for my boxers when I woke up this morning.'
Curiously, Zamil let out a sigh, something Kyle found odd.
'Kid, you clearly don't realize it yet, that or you forgot, but I can't see, hear, or feel the outside world unless I'm in contact with you. Outside of maybe a few feet, and I get nothing. Even close by with just myself, things are hard to discern. So, getting back to the question. No, I have no idea if she did or not. Your mana still feels the same and I don't detect any residual fatigue in your body from any kind of white expulsion. I have no idea why you would think this was a bad thing though.'
Kyle wasn't sure why that was either. Maybe he was just being a little paranoid when it came to Helen, but he still didn't want to take chances. Simply putting it to the back of his mind for now, Kyle looked to the ring on his finger and did like he was told yesterday. He felt the illusion take effect and with it some sense of comfort.
Kyle had to admit, a new world, a new appearance, and odd encounters where far more than he ever experienced back on earth. It was all a little too fast in his opinion, and he felt that he needed some stability in some small form if he wanted to stay calm about the whole thing... even if the one thing was simply a fake.
“Aw, you didn't make a move on me. I was hoping you might fondle me warmly at least.”
Kyle turned around to see that Helen had awoken from her rest, or from the sounds of it, got up when she realized Kyle wasn't going to do anything. He then tried to keep eye contact with her, but found his eyes darting on more than one occasion to her breasts as she sat up, the large mammaries exposed to his eyes as they seemed to keep his attention more than her face.
Helen, not one to miss such an obvious sign of lust, seductively traced her hand up her chest to stifle a mock yawn. Doing so caused one of her large lady pillows to jostle in a tantalizing manner. Kyle found himself swallowing reflexively before he caught himself and turned away.
“I see you're awake. That's good, did you sleep well?”
Helen, giggling a little to herself, worked herself out of the bed and walked her way toward Kyle, eventually getting behind him and embracing him warmly around the neck.
“Oh, quite nicely, though I do find the lack of physical exhaustion in the morning to be a bit of a new experience. Maybe you'll help me get back into my old routine come tonight?”
Kyle found himself thinking of the breasts currently pushed into the back of his head, but pulled away out of slight panic.
'Chicken shit pussyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.'
'Shut the fuck up.'
“ANYWAY!” he said a little more loudly then he had intended.
“What did we have planned for today? Are we going to keep training?”
Helen looked a mite disappointed, but she let it slip away from her face. Rather than answer Kyles question straight away, Helen opted to make herself decent... though decent was a hard thing to describe when it came to a mamono, much less when her only real article of clothing was only some metallic nipple covers and a thinly veiled waist skirt.
“Well... that depends. You've shown some amazing progress for a beginner, and truth be told, I would like to take it nice and slow. Trying too much at once might harm you in some way, and I would very much like to keep you safe. Though I won't oppose if that's what you want to do.”
Kyle thought it over for a moment, and by that, he was consulting with Zamil on what would be a good thing to do.
'What do you think? Should I keep training?'
'Do I look like your fucking nanny? Do whatever the fuck you want, just don't forget what our main goals are. Gather information regarding the past, the current Maou, and anything in regards to what may have happened to me and my body. You getting stronger is a means to an end, not our end goal.'
Despite the bitter response, Kyle took the importance of the statement and simply agreed. He then turned his attention to Helen and shook his head.
“Maybe it would be a good idea to take it slow. I won't try with the Mana for the rest of the morning, but later this afternoon I'll start up again.”
Helen stretched herself out a bit, making sure her ample bust was in clear view for Kyle to ogle before she let her arms back down.
“I can agree with that. But in the meantime... what will we do for the rest of the morning?”
Kyle took note of the hidden meaning behind her words, her lustful look didn't do any favors in hiding her intent either. However, he simply went to where his bag was, pulled out the guide's he got yesterday and lay them out.
“Well... after we get done eating, maybe you can help me study? I'm still kinda new to this particular bit of land, so I need all the help I can get in regards to information.”
“Oh? I'd be more than willing to teach you anything you want to know... though if I might point something out... that magical item you've been carrying around with you this whole time... what is it? I can feel a subtle power coming off of it.”
Kyle was confused for a moment before he touched his neck and found the soft feeling of cloth around it.
'You totally forgot you had that thing on didn't you.'
Kyle didn't bother answering Zamil, but he did answer Helen.
“I'm not sure really... I found it in a cave some ways out of town. I found it, I liked it, I put it on and kept it.”
Helen looked at him for a moment, a look that seemed to say 'did you do what I think you did?'
“What?”
“And the thought that it might be cursed never once crossed your mind when you put it on?”
'Ha! Even the horse knows her basics!'
'It was one fucking time, Jesus Christ let it go already. I learned the lesson, let it die.'
'Never' was all Kyle got back in response.
Internally sighing to himself, Kyle simply shook his head.
“No, it didn't... but as far as I can tell, it hasn't brought me any problems and I haven't felt any different from before I found it. But I do understand why it would be best to check those kinds of things before doing anything with it, so I'll be sure to be more cautious in the future.”
Helen glanced at him one more time before she simply resigned herself internally.
“Very well. If you don’t mind though, would you allow me to examine it for a bit? You have no idea what it can do yes? I’m not a true mage, but I do have some experience in the art of spellcraft.”
Kyle thought it over for a moment before he nodded in agreement.
“Sure, Go ahead. I’m a little curious about it myself to be honest.”
Getting the go ahead, Kyle removed the cloth and held it out to her, which she then took and started to examine closely. For the next few minutes, Helen silently scrutinized the piece of cloth in her hands, turning it this way and that, looking at it closely before muttering under her breath and tracing a symbol in the air. Kyle, not wanting to disturb her, opted to go downstairs and see what he could find for breakfast. Leaving the room quietly, Kyle made his way downstairs, where he then quickly found out that a lot of people had managed to wake up before he did. The downstairs dining hall already had a sizable number of patrons with a serving girl (notably human) already setting plates out for the Inns guests.
Kyle, not sure about what Helen might enjoy in terms of breakfast seeing as she was a centaur of sorts. Kyle found a few plates of food that looked like vegetarian based diets and grabbed one of those for her while he simply went with an average breakfast for himself. The serving girl gave him a friendly smile as he took them, and a smile he returned along with a ‘good morning’ before he made his way back out of the dining hall. On his way out though, Kyle listened in on the chatter going on around him, trying to pick out anything that might seem useful to his current mission.
“Heard about that legend-”
“-Business is slow-”
“-Order creeping in again on the border-”
“-Crazy chick outside of town today-”
It all sounded like drivel to him, but just as he was about to make his way out the door, he managed to overhear a particular bit of info from what looked to be a succubus and her husband.
“Darling, it’s almost that time of year again. The Carnival of Carnality is just around the corner. Do you feel up to heading to Makai this year for another week of ‘fun’?”
“It’s 5 months down the line honey, we can hold off on going for a little while. Besides, it’s not like anything new will be happening this year. It’s been the same for a while now.”
“Not what I heard from a friend of mine. Turns out this year they’ll be hosting a fighting tournament Grand prize winner gets the chance to make a wish from the Maou herself and they get to attend the end-of-festival party in the castle. What do you say? Wanna try?”
The Man thought it over for a moment before he clasped the blade on his side.
“Hum… maybe… it sounds interesting, but I’m not sure how well my sword arm will do. But I guess I won’t know unless I try right?”
“Of course Darling!”
Kyle was already making his way out the door, though the information he just heard was tantalizing to say the least.
‘Hey Zamil, did you catch all that?’
‘How could I miss it? It went straight into your ear didn’t it? But yeah, I got it. Gotta admit that it’s pretty interesting, and suspiciously coincidental. However, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean that this might be a good chance for us to A: get a look at who we might be dealing with, and B: get the information we need. Two birds one bullet.’
‘Huh… I see. This way we don’t flounder around for information since the current Maou is someone who would obviously know what we need in terms of the past and your body.’
‘Exactly. Only one problem.’
‘Yeah, I can’t fight. Sure I’m strong as a… half demon I suppose, but I don’t have any combat training of any sort, and my magical capabilities aren’t even off the ground.
‘Ding ding ding! That’s right! You’re a weak ass lil’ shit right now. However, it is a good idea to keep it in mind. It’s an opportunity, and it’s best to keep them in mind in case you fail to find anything else… Also, wanted to point out. You’re full demon hands down. Not a half, full, you’re just not a demon in the soul department.’
Kyle felt disturbed over being reminded about what he was, but he opted to simply let it go. It was the truth after all, and him trying to sugar coat it wasn’t going to change it, even if he still felt like resisting it to some degree. During that whole internal debate, Kyle had made it back to the room and had already opened the door. Helen was now sitting on the bed, her eyes scrunched up in though as she still held the cloth in her hands. Kyle then placed the plate on the table in the room and sat down on one end of it, curiously looking to Helen.
“So, find out anything about it?”
Helen, still scrutinizing, tapped her chin curiously as she responded.
“Well… yes and no.”
“… What do you mean by that?”
Helen let out a small sigh as she put the piece of cloth down on the bed. She then looked up and saw that Kyle had brought her some food, something she gave a delighted smile for before she got up and, much to his surprise, gave Kyle a quick kiss on his cheek as she went to eat.
Kyle floundered a little bit, but didn’t go much further in his reaction then that. Helen then answered his question as she began to eat.
“I mean that yes, I know that this shawl does something of a magical nature, but as far as I can tell, it’s magical circuit is incomplete.”
“… Meaning???”
Kyle left his question hanging for Helen to answer.
“It means it’s an incomplete magical item. It needs something to finish the circuit, and thus it won’t work unless the external stimuli is presented. As of right now, I have no idea what might be needed to activate it.”
Kyle, having walked over and picking up the magical cloth, simply looked down at it curiously.
“So… what should I do with it?”
“Keep it if you want to. Who knows? Maybe it’ll have use down the road.”
Kyle mentally agreed with Helen on that. A magical item with an unknown effect? To him it sounded like a setup for something much further down the line in this journey.
‘That or your digging way to deeply into it Kid. Even if this land does have Fantasy elements in it, that doesn’t mean everything is gonna have some hidden subtext or quest attached to it.’
‘I know that… I may think like that on occasion but that doesn’t mean I’m treating this like a game…’
Kyle looked down at the cloth one more time before he tied it around his arm. He then looked to Helen and gave her a nod.
“Alright… I’ll do that. Anyway… after we get done with breakfast, I’m going to study the encyclopedia and travel guide for a good portion of the morning. Mind sticking around to help me?”
Helen smiled at Kyle before she nodded to confirm.
“But of course, what kind of a wife would I be if I didn’t at least do this much for my darling husband?”
“Ehhhhhhhhhhh… he he… yeah… sure.”
Pushing the awkward feeling in his chest aside for the moment in hopes of forgetting about it, Kyle cracked open his bag and pulled out both books and got to studying, his impromptu teacher all too happy to do what she could to give her charge more knowledge… and a chance to tempt him even more…
Xx Havel, outside of town. xX
Alicia scowled in the direction of Havel, the sight of the town… or more specifically, what she felt. To her, the city felt sweet in a sickening manner, as if someone had coated some kind of sour tart with far too much sugar. It made her feel agitated, and to be honest, uncomfortable. She was no resident of this world, and to her, the magic felt wrong, and the Mana of monsters that permeated this world made her feel physically ill. Even worse, she could see that it had some kind of effect on humans. In truth, the fact that it made humans a lot more sexual, and downright transforming woman into monsters, caused a shiver to run up her spine. Ever since she had arrived in this world, she had done her best to stay away from places like this. Corrupted and magically dangerous to her. Despite knowing a great deal of spells and having a formidable magical aptitude, even she would have problems getting it out of her body if she was heavily dosed with it. Sadly, the women of this world didn’t seem to have that option, but she could only be thankful for her otherworldly knowledge in that regard.
However, this was where her target lay. Ever since she arrived, she had done her best to try to track down what she could. Thankfully the teleportation crystal had landed her almost right on top of where she needed to be. She found the cave she needed and upon entering it had been greeted with such a powerful surge of magic that her own power started to fluctuate. She wasted no time in trying to track it, and she had done well enough on the road, where there had been little to no interference, but then it started to thin out the closer she got to the city. Granted, it was still very potent, but it had started to mix in with the sickly nauseating power of Havel, and thus it got much harder to track. She then opted to stay out of the city for the night, not wanting to get herself in the middle of the Monstrous mana in the city and had spent a good deal of the morning setting up wards around key points of her body that where the easiest to be corrupted by the succubus power.
It was still embarrassing for her to have to put wards on her body, even more so when some of those areas where rather… delicate in nature. However, Alicia refused to be corrupted by this odd land she found herself in, and thus she would take every precaution available to her to prevent that.
“Alright… I think everything is in order… all I have left to do is find this unknown entity and get what I can out of it… Keep it together Alicia, you’ll be home soon enough…”
Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, Alicia let out one last long sigh before she nodded her head and began to make her way into Havel. She hadn’t stayed very far from town, so access was easy enough by the road. However, she started to feel somewhat apprehensive when she started to run into others, especially Mamono. She didn’t want to be anywhere near them, but she had no choice in the matter this time around, so she opted to just keep pushing forward. By the time she made it to the gate, she noted the two gate guards there. One a human woman, the other some kind of reptile. She directed her attention to the Human, said woman nodding in acknowledgement of Alicia before she put her hand up to stop her.
“Greetings stranger! What brings you to Havel today?”
Alicia looked at the girl for a moment before she let out a small sigh.
“I’m… looking for someone.”
Both guards gave Alicia curious gazes before the human female gave her a nod.
“Alright… not uncommon for people to go around looking for others around here. Especially angry girlfriends coming to find their man.”
Alicia gave the gate guard a cross look, but did nothing more than that.
“Anyway… if you’re looking for someone, a bar or tavern would be a good place to start. Other than that, stay out of trouble, and no public displays of sexual conduct if you can help it… or brutal executions.”
“I’ll keep it in mind… though before I go, can I ask you a few questions?”
The Human woman gave Alicia another puzzled gaze before she nodded her head.
“I don’t see the harm. Ask your questions.”
“Alright… did you or your companion happen to see or feel anything… strange yesterday? Coming from outside the city or going into it?”
The chestnut haired woman thought about that for a moment before she shook her head.
“Not that I can think of… we get all kinds of odd sorts, so nothing really stood out to me. What about you Je’skir? Did you see anything out of the ordinary yesterday?”
Alicia turned to look at the Lizardwoman to see what her reply might be. Je’skir thought about it for a moment before she seemed to realize something.
“A few things… Though, before I tell you anything about them, I would ask you tell me why it’s important.”
Alicia mentally growled at herself and the lizardwoman. She honestly had not been expecting someone to try to butt into her business, but she couldn’t do anything about it now at this point. Letting out an aggravated huff, Alicia simply shook her head.
“I ask because the person I’m looking for is… kinda odd. They might have something of an odd aura around them, or be trying to hide their appearance.”
Je’skir looked at Alicia with an analyzing gaze as if to validate the truthfulness of the statement. However, the lizardwoman relented and she let out a small sigh.
“Honestly, something about what you’re saying doesn’t sit well with me, but I’m willing to simply let it go. I’ll tell you what I know, but if you cause trouble in town, I should warn you that you’ll not come out without a serious lashing from the guard.”
Alicia simply looked on at the two guards, not wanting to paint herself anymore suspicious then she already was.
“Alright… in answer to your question, I felt or saw three things unusual yesterday. The first was an eastern warrior woman. She couldn’t speak common fluently, and in all honesty, I had never seen a Mamono like her before. She was in search of something, though she wasn’t very clear about what it was. The second was a young man who accompanied Barrus and his wife Ralina, a pair of traveling smiths. He was unclaimed, which was odd. But the thing that caught my attention was both the potency of his mana, and the oddity of it. It was unusual. The last thing of note was a person I had not been expecting to see. Captain Agni from the Agni Kingdom. Sasha almost freaked out when she saw him.”
The human guard named Sasha nodded her head at that one.
“Yeah, was not expecting the Flaming Massacre himself to show up. If he is here though, then that can only mean that something important is going on around here. Weather it’s good or not is up for debate.”
Alicia simply gave both woman a semi-understanding look. She could understand why it might be important, but she honestly didn’t know who this Agni man was. However, of all the things she just heard, the only one that caught her attention was the bit about the young man traveling with the smith. Finding it the most logical choice, Alicia pressed for more questions.
“About the smith… Barrus was it? Where is he now?”
Sasha thought it over for a moment before she recalled that detail.
“He and his wife made deliveries to the guard yesterday. Other than that, I have no clue. I know he’ll be leaving in a few days though.”
Alicia nodded at both of them before she started walking.
“Thank you for the help. You may have cut my search time in half… may you both have a good day.”
Makai. Maou’s Castle. ???
Zellha could only sigh in annoyance. A little over an hour ago she had finished up talking with her mother (A.K.A, the Maou) about the current situation in regards to the mysterious entity that had penetrated the wall of reality. Just as the Maou had instructed, she had been busy since her departure in getting everything ready. A first, everything had been going well, she had managed to procure provisions, armaments, and even the usage of the continental warp apparatus that would allow her to warp to Havel, the city closest to the point of entry. She was pretty much ready to go and get to her mother’s request… or she would have, if she had been the only one to go and do it. Sadly, this was not the case. The Maou had told her to get a team together, and in truth, she already had something of a team she could call on should the need arise. Unfortunately, out of the 8 man/mamono she was used to seeing in her entourage, only three had bothered to show up… and that was with her included.
Needless to say she was somewhat irritable.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Zellha closed her eyes for a few moments to try to collect herself before she asked the question she wanted so badly answered.
“Vera… Letto. Where is everyone else?”
For a moment, neither of the two spoke up, but that might be in part that neither one was paying attention to the team 'leader'.
Zellha waited a few moments before she spoke up again, a growing irritation in her voice that was very obvious. She then spoke up again, this time calling out one of them rather than both.
“Letto! Get up off your giant furry butt already!”
Letto, as she was called, looked over to her leader. Laying down on a couch, the individual called Letto was, by any definition of the word, some kind of wolf mamono. If Letto had been standing, she might have passed off as a girl of about 15, her body having a waifish figure while only just beginning to develop in all the aspects of a woman. Of course, most of her torso along with her head shared very human characteristics, her face looking cute if not somewhat cold with her narrowed red eyes. However, the traits that defined her as a mamono where... wolfish in nature in a literal sense. Her arms where human only up to about her elbow, where it then gave way to semi-long black lustrous fur that ended in a rather dexterous looking paw that was tipped with some incredibly sharp looking claws with her legs looking much the same. The girl's last two defining traits where the long wolf ears that extended from the top of her head that would flick on occasion from sounds she could hear with equally raven hair that fell to just to middle of her back. A long and fluffy looking tail would swish back and forth for no other reason than it could right above her butt, the furry tail making Zellha want to hug it... if she wasn't so busy being frustrated at the moment. Letto also seemed to choose a rather... simplistic style of clothing. A band wrapped around her modest sized bust along with what could only be described as a white string thong being used to cover her most delicate of areas.
Letto stared at her leader for a moment before she turned her attention to her taught rear. She gazed at it for a moment before she turned back to Zellha with a deadpan look on her face.
“My butt is not hairy.”
Zellha could only apply her palm to her forehead.
“I did not mean that literally Letto... and you kinda do have fur on your butt, it just comes from your tail is all. I mean, you are a Werewolf of sorts after all.”
“Garm actually.”
Zellha waved her hand in some mild irritation at the wolf's words before she let out a sigh and looked at her with an expression of some acceptance.
“Yes yes I know. Just trying to generalize. Also, that's a bit of a secret, so just call yourself a werewolf for the time being.”
Whether the girl understood or not was up to Zellha's judgment seeing as Letto didn't respond to her with naught but a simple shake of her head. After confirming(?) her first teammates response, Zellha then turned her attention to the one called Vera.
Unlike the 'werewolf' who left little to imagination, Vera as they were called, seemed to make it a point to make themselves as ambiguous as possible. Unlike their companion, one couldn't even tell what gender Vera was, the large hooded red cloak covering everything save their face, and even then Vera wore a simple white faceless mask to obscure their appearance. The only thing that seemed to stand out about the whole ensemble was that the mask had had one large and vivid red eye on it.
“Vera... seriously, take that off while where talking. I can't see your face with it on.”
For a moment the masked individual said nothing, almost as if they hadn't heard the Liliam. However, a few moments later and a muffled feminine voice came from behind the mask.
“Do I have to?”
“No, you technically don't, but it is nice to see your face every once in a while, you know...”
Zellha left the statement to hang for a moment, the woman behind the mask contemplating it for a moment before she let out a small sigh.
“Your rather good at guilt tripping me Milady... but don't expect me to do it every time you pull that.”
Zellha simply smiled to her teammate in response. Vera let out another sigh before she removed the mask, and in doing so, pushed the cloak back over her shoulders to reveal more of her body.
Just like before, Vera was more conservative than her lupine companion, however, it was for more practical reasons for her. Vera looked to be a younger woman, somewhere in the age range of fifteen if her young and cynical looking face was to go by. Her clothes consisted of a tight fitting leather jerkin with a pale white shirt underneath. Her pants were also of a similar leather and was equally tight fitting, of which both where a simple black in color. She also wore shoulder length gloves, also of leather, though these seemed to have etchings of an arcane nature to them. Her face was, to say the least, somewhat childish looking, much like a young teen just growing into her adolescence.
By and far, she looked incredibly human. However, just like her Lady Zellha, Vera was also a mamono. Despite the long blonde her she kept tied into a braid and the human appearance, three things stood out that indicated otherwise. First was her evil looking eyes, a deep crimson like her cloak and some hint of higher intellect in them that far surpassed a girl her age. Second was her ears, elongated much like an elf, they stuck out a bit beyond the loose hair she kept down. And lastly was the two elongated canines that indicated her species.
It would take a bit of observation, but these small things added with her pale complexion would tell anyone well versed in mamono that Vera was a vampire.
Zellha smiled to herself before she nodded her head in thanks.
“Now that wasn't so hard was it?”
Vera didn't reply and simply blushed a little to herself. With both Vera and Letto's attention focused back on her, Zellha took a small breath before she repeated her question from earlier.
“So, now that I have your undivided attention, where is the rest of the team?”
Vera was the first to get the ball rolling.
“Let me think... Abby and Simon I think are in the middle of a week-long date session... but seeing as she's a succubus, that 'date' is probably a week long fuck fest. Ren is in the middle of a desert exploration you asked him to do. He was in the middle of something out in the Hadarac Desert last I talked with him and said he was going to be busy for a while. He also said not to contact him unless the world was ending. He then promptly cut me off after that.”
Zellha could only let out a sigh.
“Alright... what about Aldelf and Alice?”
Letto let out a yawn before she answered that one.
“No contact for a while... I think about a month. Last I remember they went to check out an old ruin in one of the old fey realms. We can only assume Alice got lost again and Aldelf had to go and find her.”
Zellha could only facepalm.
“Why did we send the two most directionally challenged of our squad out on a mission together?”
Neither one could give her an answer at that. Zellha rolled her eyes before she simply resigned herself to this.
“It doesn't matter now... if they aren't here now there's nothing we can do about it. Anyway, did you both get the briefing memo I left?”
Vera nodded her head, Letto however did not.
“I didn't get it.”
Vera simply gave her lupine companion a cold stare.
“I explained it to you on the way here.”
“I know you explained stuff to me, but she was asking if we got a memo. I did not. I'm just being honest.”
“Doesn't matter! You both know what’s going on! We need to get going before someone from the Order gets there first and tampers with precious material! Vera, did you get the warp stone?”
The Vampire held up a small prism before she nodded.
“Affirmative.”
“Good, do you both have everything you need?”
Both nodded in answer.
“Good. Vera. Go ahead and warp us to Havel. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
Xx Havel, Next day. xX
Kyle could only slightly frown at his current predicament, his current state of dress and bedside companion not being as he last remembered them being when he went to sleep last night. For starters, he remembered that he had more clothing on, instead he found himself stripped to basically his boxers, and even then those seemed as if they had been moved down by some uncertain amount of degrees. Next was that where he had gone to sleep on the bed last night by himself (Helen saying she was alright with standing while sleeping) he now found that a certain Bicorn had worked her way into the bed as well (thankfully said bed was already fitted with her in mind, hence why she had the room in the first place). She was comfortably resting next to Kyle, her head having found its way onto his shoulder and a very much exposed bust wrapped around his arm while she cuddled him tightly. Her over clingy nature aside, Kyle distinctly remembered that she agreed to them both staying out of the same bed for the night... more like he made her agree to it, but an agreement nonetheless. He also remembered having pants and a shirt on before he had gone to sleep.
Now he was down too naught but his boxers.
Thankfully he didn't feel very different in comparison to last night, so he was hoping that Helen hadn't done anything to him without his consent. However, he found that his arm was still trapped in her cleavage, and though he didn't find it uncomfortable or anything, he still needed to get up. However, Kyle felt his eyes hanging themselves on her breasts. Her exposed breasts for that fact. He couldn't help but look down at the exposed nipples that seemed to be like targets for his eyes. For a moment, Kyle found himself thinking on what it might be like if he put that tit between his teeth, to lick and suckle on it. What noises would Helen make if he did that? Fondle her and caressed her. What would she do... how would he feel...
For a moment, Kyle found his mind filled with a lustful hunger, but a moment later and the sight of his hand actually reaching for that breast made him stop. One in part due to the action he was taking, the next due to the fact that his skin wasn't its usual cream color anymore. Kyle looked to his hand and saw that his illusion must have worn off and looked something like hellspawn again. Clenching his hand into a fist, Kyle felt the sharp edges of the claw like nails and let out a small sigh. He then looked back to Helen and slowly extracted his arm from her warm embrace. Kyle worked his way out of the large bed, trying to be careful to not awaken the bicorn, and found himself looking for his clothes. He didn't need to look far seeing as Helen (for who else could it be?) had neatly folded them and placed them on the bedside table. Kyle quickly got dressed and then went to fetch the next object on his list. Hanging from a rack above the door was Kyles sword, or Zamil. Kyle had put him their last night one part in that he wanted to keep the ex-maou away from Helen, and the other because the Overlord demanded he not be placed on the floor like a common tool.
Seeing as they both had something to gain from this, there was nothing argued. Upon taking the blade in hand, Kyle felt a familiar buzzing in the back of his mind.
'Bout fucking time. Hell you sleep forever and a day.'
'I wasn't out that long was I?'
'Bout the average 7-8 hours or so, but for me that's fucking forever due to the fact that I don't need sleep. So it gets really fucking boring just sitting up there by myself.'
'...then how did you survive being alone for so many years on earth?'
'None of your damn business. Anyway, show me what you can do after I ditched you yesterday. I wanna know how up to speed you are in terms of using and controlling mana.'
'So you admit that you ditched me yesterday...'
Sighing internally, Kyle simply let it go. He then smiled a little smugly to himself before he took a moment to show what he could do. Zamil could feel the effect immediately and took note that Kyle's power was completely bottled up.
'Oh? Got it already? Gotta admit, you're a born natural when it comes too magic.'
Kyle felt some pride well up in his body before he showed Zamil what else he could do. It took less than a second for Zamil to feel the difference.
'Well well well. The kid has some fucking talent. Capable of stopping your own power and able to control the flow. Color me impressed kid. Most people don't get this good overnight.'
'Thanks. After I put you away for the night I decided to practice a bit more. Turns out the visualizing thing works wonders like you said. After I got a good mental image going I could keep it up almost indefinitely. Even Helen mentioned that such skill was amazing for a beginner.'
'Hopefully she rewarded you for the effort.'
'No, and I'm glad she didn't. I'm not very secure around her right now. She's too... clingy for my taste. Though she did seem to want to reward me for the effort... by the by, did she do anything to me last night? I was stripped of my clothes save for my boxers when I woke up this morning.'
Curiously, Zamil let out a sigh, something Kyle found odd.
'Kid, you clearly don't realize it yet, that or you forgot, but I can't see, hear, or feel the outside world unless I'm in contact with you. Outside of maybe a few feet, and I get nothing. Even close by with just myself, things are hard to discern. So, getting back to the question. No, I have no idea if she did or not. Your mana still feels the same and I don't detect any residual fatigue in your body from any kind of white expulsion. I have no idea why you would think this was a bad thing though.'
Kyle wasn't sure why that was either. Maybe he was just being a little paranoid when it came to Helen, but he still didn't want to take chances. Simply putting it to the back of his mind for now, Kyle looked to the ring on his finger and did like he was told yesterday. He felt the illusion take effect and with it some sense of comfort.
Kyle had to admit, a new world, a new appearance, and odd encounters where far more than he ever experienced back on earth. It was all a little too fast in his opinion, and he felt that he needed some stability in some small form if he wanted to stay calm about the whole thing... even if the one thing was simply a fake.
“Aw, you didn't make a move on me. I was hoping you might fondle me warmly at least.”
Kyle turned around to see that Helen had awoken from her rest, or from the sounds of it, got up when she realized Kyle wasn't going to do anything. He then tried to keep eye contact with her, but found his eyes darting on more than one occasion to her breasts as she sat up, the large mammaries exposed to his eyes as they seemed to keep his attention more than her face.
Helen, not one to miss such an obvious sign of lust, seductively traced her hand up her chest to stifle a mock yawn. Doing so caused one of her large lady pillows to jostle in a tantalizing manner. Kyle found himself swallowing reflexively before he caught himself and turned away.
“I see you're awake. That's good, did you sleep well?”
Helen, giggling a little to herself, worked herself out of the bed and walked her way toward Kyle, eventually getting behind him and embracing him warmly around the neck.
“Oh, quite nicely, though I do find the lack of physical exhaustion in the morning to be a bit of a new experience. Maybe you'll help me get back into my old routine come tonight?”
Kyle found himself thinking of the breasts currently pushed into the back of his head, but pulled away out of slight panic.
'Chicken shit pussyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.'
'Shut the fuck up.'
“ANYWAY!” he said a little more loudly then he had intended.
“What did we have planned for today? Are we going to keep training?”
Helen looked a mite disappointed, but she let it slip away from her face. Rather than answer Kyles question straight away, Helen opted to make herself decent... though decent was a hard thing to describe when it came to a mamono, much less when her only real article of clothing was only some metallic nipple covers and a thinly veiled waist skirt.
“Well... that depends. You've shown some amazing progress for a beginner, and truth be told, I would like to take it nice and slow. Trying too much at once might harm you in some way, and I would very much like to keep you safe. Though I won't oppose if that's what you want to do.”
Kyle thought it over for a moment, and by that, he was consulting with Zamil on what would be a good thing to do.
'What do you think? Should I keep training?'
'Do I look like your fucking nanny? Do whatever the fuck you want, just don't forget what our main goals are. Gather information regarding the past, the current Maou, and anything in regards to what may have happened to me and my body. You getting stronger is a means to an end, not our end goal.'
Despite the bitter response, Kyle took the importance of the statement and simply agreed. He then turned his attention to Helen and shook his head.
“Maybe it would be a good idea to take it slow. I won't try with the Mana for the rest of the morning, but later this afternoon I'll start up again.”
Helen stretched herself out a bit, making sure her ample bust was in clear view for Kyle to ogle before she let her arms back down.
“I can agree with that. But in the meantime... what will we do for the rest of the morning?”
Kyle took note of the hidden meaning behind her words, her lustful look didn't do any favors in hiding her intent either. However, he simply went to where his bag was, pulled out the guide's he got yesterday and lay them out.
“Well... after we get done eating, maybe you can help me study? I'm still kinda new to this particular bit of land, so I need all the help I can get in regards to information.”
“Oh? I'd be more than willing to teach you anything you want to know... though if I might point something out... that magical item you've been carrying around with you this whole time... what is it? I can feel a subtle power coming off of it.”
Kyle was confused for a moment before he touched his neck and found the soft feeling of cloth around it.
'You totally forgot you had that thing on didn't you.'
Kyle didn't bother answering Zamil, but he did answer Helen.
“I'm not sure really... I found it in a cave some ways out of town. I found it, I liked it, I put it on and kept it.”
Helen looked at him for a moment, a look that seemed to say 'did you do what I think you did?'
“What?”
“And the thought that it might be cursed never once crossed your mind when you put it on?”
'Ha! Even the horse knows her basics!'
'It was one fucking time, Jesus Christ let it go already. I learned the lesson, let it die.'
'Never' was all Kyle got back in response.
Internally sighing to himself, Kyle simply shook his head.
“No, it didn't... but as far as I can tell, it hasn't brought me any problems and I haven't felt any different from before I found it. But I do understand why it would be best to check those kinds of things before doing anything with it, so I'll be sure to be more cautious in the future.”
Helen glanced at him one more time before she simply resigned herself internally.
“Very well. If you don’t mind though, would you allow me to examine it for a bit? You have no idea what it can do yes? I’m not a true mage, but I do have some experience in the art of spellcraft.”
Kyle thought it over for a moment before he nodded in agreement.
“Sure, Go ahead. I’m a little curious about it myself to be honest.”
Getting the go ahead, Kyle removed the cloth and held it out to her, which she then took and started to examine closely. For the next few minutes, Helen silently scrutinized the piece of cloth in her hands, turning it this way and that, looking at it closely before muttering under her breath and tracing a symbol in the air. Kyle, not wanting to disturb her, opted to go downstairs and see what he could find for breakfast. Leaving the room quietly, Kyle made his way downstairs, where he then quickly found out that a lot of people had managed to wake up before he did. The downstairs dining hall already had a sizable number of patrons with a serving girl (notably human) already setting plates out for the Inns guests.
Kyle, not sure about what Helen might enjoy in terms of breakfast seeing as she was a centaur of sorts. Kyle found a few plates of food that looked like vegetarian based diets and grabbed one of those for her while he simply went with an average breakfast for himself. The serving girl gave him a friendly smile as he took them, and a smile he returned along with a ‘good morning’ before he made his way back out of the dining hall. On his way out though, Kyle listened in on the chatter going on around him, trying to pick out anything that might seem useful to his current mission.
“Heard about that legend-”
“-Business is slow-”
“-Order creeping in again on the border-”
“-Crazy chick outside of town today-”
It all sounded like drivel to him, but just as he was about to make his way out the door, he managed to overhear a particular bit of info from what looked to be a succubus and her husband.
“Darling, it’s almost that time of year again. The Carnival of Carnality is just around the corner. Do you feel up to heading to Makai this year for another week of ‘fun’?”
“It’s 5 months down the line honey, we can hold off on going for a little while. Besides, it’s not like anything new will be happening this year. It’s been the same for a while now.”
“Not what I heard from a friend of mine. Turns out this year they’ll be hosting a fighting tournament Grand prize winner gets the chance to make a wish from the Maou herself and they get to attend the end-of-festival party in the castle. What do you say? Wanna try?”
The Man thought it over for a moment before he clasped the blade on his side.
“Hum… maybe… it sounds interesting, but I’m not sure how well my sword arm will do. But I guess I won’t know unless I try right?”
“Of course Darling!”
Kyle was already making his way out the door, though the information he just heard was tantalizing to say the least.
‘Hey Zamil, did you catch all that?’
‘How could I miss it? It went straight into your ear didn’t it? But yeah, I got it. Gotta admit that it’s pretty interesting, and suspiciously coincidental. However, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean that this might be a good chance for us to A: get a look at who we might be dealing with, and B: get the information we need. Two birds one bullet.’
‘Huh… I see. This way we don’t flounder around for information since the current Maou is someone who would obviously know what we need in terms of the past and your body.’
‘Exactly. Only one problem.’
‘Yeah, I can’t fight. Sure I’m strong as a… half demon I suppose, but I don’t have any combat training of any sort, and my magical capabilities aren’t even off the ground.
‘Ding ding ding! That’s right! You’re a weak ass lil’ shit right now. However, it is a good idea to keep it in mind. It’s an opportunity, and it’s best to keep them in mind in case you fail to find anything else… Also, wanted to point out. You’re full demon hands down. Not a half, full, you’re just not a demon in the soul department.’
Kyle felt disturbed over being reminded about what he was, but he opted to simply let it go. It was the truth after all, and him trying to sugar coat it wasn’t going to change it, even if he still felt like resisting it to some degree. During that whole internal debate, Kyle had made it back to the room and had already opened the door. Helen was now sitting on the bed, her eyes scrunched up in though as she still held the cloth in her hands. Kyle then placed the plate on the table in the room and sat down on one end of it, curiously looking to Helen.
“So, find out anything about it?”
Helen, still scrutinizing, tapped her chin curiously as she responded.
“Well… yes and no.”
“… What do you mean by that?”
Helen let out a small sigh as she put the piece of cloth down on the bed. She then looked up and saw that Kyle had brought her some food, something she gave a delighted smile for before she got up and, much to his surprise, gave Kyle a quick kiss on his cheek as she went to eat.
Kyle floundered a little bit, but didn’t go much further in his reaction then that. Helen then answered his question as she began to eat.
“I mean that yes, I know that this shawl does something of a magical nature, but as far as I can tell, it’s magical circuit is incomplete.”
“… Meaning???”
Kyle left his question hanging for Helen to answer.
“It means it’s an incomplete magical item. It needs something to finish the circuit, and thus it won’t work unless the external stimuli is presented. As of right now, I have no idea what might be needed to activate it.”
Kyle, having walked over and picking up the magical cloth, simply looked down at it curiously.
“So… what should I do with it?”
“Keep it if you want to. Who knows? Maybe it’ll have use down the road.”
Kyle mentally agreed with Helen on that. A magical item with an unknown effect? To him it sounded like a setup for something much further down the line in this journey.
‘That or your digging way to deeply into it Kid. Even if this land does have Fantasy elements in it, that doesn’t mean everything is gonna have some hidden subtext or quest attached to it.’
‘I know that… I may think like that on occasion but that doesn’t mean I’m treating this like a game…’
Kyle looked down at the cloth one more time before he tied it around his arm. He then looked to Helen and gave her a nod.
“Alright… I’ll do that. Anyway… after we get done with breakfast, I’m going to study the encyclopedia and travel guide for a good portion of the morning. Mind sticking around to help me?”
Helen smiled at Kyle before she nodded to confirm.
“But of course, what kind of a wife would I be if I didn’t at least do this much for my darling husband?”
“Ehhhhhhhhhhh… he he… yeah… sure.”
Pushing the awkward feeling in his chest aside for the moment in hopes of forgetting about it, Kyle cracked open his bag and pulled out both books and got to studying, his impromptu teacher all too happy to do what she could to give her charge more knowledge… and a chance to tempt him even more…
Xx Havel, outside of town. xX
Alicia scowled in the direction of Havel, the sight of the town… or more specifically, what she felt. To her, the city felt sweet in a sickening manner, as if someone had coated some kind of sour tart with far too much sugar. It made her feel agitated, and to be honest, uncomfortable. She was no resident of this world, and to her, the magic felt wrong, and the Mana of monsters that permeated this world made her feel physically ill. Even worse, she could see that it had some kind of effect on humans. In truth, the fact that it made humans a lot more sexual, and downright transforming woman into monsters, caused a shiver to run up her spine. Ever since she had arrived in this world, she had done her best to stay away from places like this. Corrupted and magically dangerous to her. Despite knowing a great deal of spells and having a formidable magical aptitude, even she would have problems getting it out of her body if she was heavily dosed with it. Sadly, the women of this world didn’t seem to have that option, but she could only be thankful for her otherworldly knowledge in that regard.
However, this was where her target lay. Ever since she arrived, she had done her best to try to track down what she could. Thankfully the teleportation crystal had landed her almost right on top of where she needed to be. She found the cave she needed and upon entering it had been greeted with such a powerful surge of magic that her own power started to fluctuate. She wasted no time in trying to track it, and she had done well enough on the road, where there had been little to no interference, but then it started to thin out the closer she got to the city. Granted, it was still very potent, but it had started to mix in with the sickly nauseating power of Havel, and thus it got much harder to track. She then opted to stay out of the city for the night, not wanting to get herself in the middle of the Monstrous mana in the city and had spent a good deal of the morning setting up wards around key points of her body that where the easiest to be corrupted by the succubus power.
It was still embarrassing for her to have to put wards on her body, even more so when some of those areas where rather… delicate in nature. However, Alicia refused to be corrupted by this odd land she found herself in, and thus she would take every precaution available to her to prevent that.
“Alright… I think everything is in order… all I have left to do is find this unknown entity and get what I can out of it… Keep it together Alicia, you’ll be home soon enough…”
Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, Alicia let out one last long sigh before she nodded her head and began to make her way into Havel. She hadn’t stayed very far from town, so access was easy enough by the road. However, she started to feel somewhat apprehensive when she started to run into others, especially Mamono. She didn’t want to be anywhere near them, but she had no choice in the matter this time around, so she opted to just keep pushing forward. By the time she made it to the gate, she noted the two gate guards there. One a human woman, the other some kind of reptile. She directed her attention to the Human, said woman nodding in acknowledgement of Alicia before she put her hand up to stop her.
“Greetings stranger! What brings you to Havel today?”
Alicia looked at the girl for a moment before she let out a small sigh.
“I’m… looking for someone.”
Both guards gave Alicia curious gazes before the human female gave her a nod.
“Alright… not uncommon for people to go around looking for others around here. Especially angry girlfriends coming to find their man.”
Alicia gave the gate guard a cross look, but did nothing more than that.
“Anyway… if you’re looking for someone, a bar or tavern would be a good place to start. Other than that, stay out of trouble, and no public displays of sexual conduct if you can help it… or brutal executions.”
“I’ll keep it in mind… though before I go, can I ask you a few questions?”
The Human woman gave Alicia another puzzled gaze before she nodded her head.
“I don’t see the harm. Ask your questions.”
“Alright… did you or your companion happen to see or feel anything… strange yesterday? Coming from outside the city or going into it?”
The chestnut haired woman thought about that for a moment before she shook her head.
“Not that I can think of… we get all kinds of odd sorts, so nothing really stood out to me. What about you Je’skir? Did you see anything out of the ordinary yesterday?”
Alicia turned to look at the Lizardwoman to see what her reply might be. Je’skir thought about it for a moment before she seemed to realize something.
“A few things… Though, before I tell you anything about them, I would ask you tell me why it’s important.”
Alicia mentally growled at herself and the lizardwoman. She honestly had not been expecting someone to try to butt into her business, but she couldn’t do anything about it now at this point. Letting out an aggravated huff, Alicia simply shook her head.
“I ask because the person I’m looking for is… kinda odd. They might have something of an odd aura around them, or be trying to hide their appearance.”
Je’skir looked at Alicia with an analyzing gaze as if to validate the truthfulness of the statement. However, the lizardwoman relented and she let out a small sigh.
“Honestly, something about what you’re saying doesn’t sit well with me, but I’m willing to simply let it go. I’ll tell you what I know, but if you cause trouble in town, I should warn you that you’ll not come out without a serious lashing from the guard.”
Alicia simply looked on at the two guards, not wanting to paint herself anymore suspicious then she already was.
“Alright… in answer to your question, I felt or saw three things unusual yesterday. The first was an eastern warrior woman. She couldn’t speak common fluently, and in all honesty, I had never seen a Mamono like her before. She was in search of something, though she wasn’t very clear about what it was. The second was a young man who accompanied Barrus and his wife Ralina, a pair of traveling smiths. He was unclaimed, which was odd. But the thing that caught my attention was both the potency of his mana, and the oddity of it. It was unusual. The last thing of note was a person I had not been expecting to see. Captain Agni from the Agni Kingdom. Sasha almost freaked out when she saw him.”
The human guard named Sasha nodded her head at that one.
“Yeah, was not expecting the Flaming Massacre himself to show up. If he is here though, then that can only mean that something important is going on around here. Weather it’s good or not is up for debate.”
Alicia simply gave both woman a semi-understanding look. She could understand why it might be important, but she honestly didn’t know who this Agni man was. However, of all the things she just heard, the only one that caught her attention was the bit about the young man traveling with the smith. Finding it the most logical choice, Alicia pressed for more questions.
“About the smith… Barrus was it? Where is he now?”
Sasha thought it over for a moment before she recalled that detail.
“He and his wife made deliveries to the guard yesterday. Other than that, I have no clue. I know he’ll be leaving in a few days though.”
Alicia nodded at both of them before she started walking.
“Thank you for the help. You may have cut my search time in half… may you both have a good day.”
Spoiler: show
Chapter 8
Kyle tapped the side of the encyclopedia he was reading in an erratic fashion, the unstable beat indicating that his current mood was set to something like annoyed. For the past few hours or so, Kyle had seen fit to study the Mamono guide and encyclopedia, the guide having taken up less of his time then he thought it would while he was about a quarter of the way through the second book. He had taken to trying to remember anything important in the profiles and had asked Helen a few question in regards to them, like if the information profiles pictures provided where the most accurate information to date. She quickly answered those questions for him (the information being something like a guideline while the images where just the picture of one particular girl and that the image presented wasn’t what all of them looked like) and he accepted those answer quietly. However, sometime in his study, Kyle had quickly noticed that Helen had been hanging around a little too closely, the Bicorn so close that he could feel her heartbeat on his neck. It only took him a moment to realize that she was intentionally pushing her large breasts into his back, the cushy feeling acting as something of a soft distraction. Kyle tried his best to ignore it, but for each minute he didn’t react, Helen seemed to take it as an invitation to keep going until eventually Kyles head was sandwiched between her breasts. Not to say that he wasn’t enjoying it, but he seriously could not focus like this. Letting a heavy sigh escape his lips, Kyle decided to respond.
“Okay… you have my attention. What do you want Helen?”
“Oh, now don’t sound so peeved. I’m just so bored right now. I can’t find much to do by myself and you won’t even look at me, let alone talk to me.”
Kyle looked up between the valley he was squished in and saw that Helen had a cute pout on her face with a bit of a dejected look in her eyes. However, he could see that she was trying to hide something else under that façade as well.
“I’m trying to learn something here ya know…”
“I know, and it’s admirable. But I’ve been helping you with all your questions so far and done my very best for you until now… Can I maybe have a little reward from you? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?”
It wasn’t hard for Kyle to figure what Helen would consider a ‘reward’ if her previous behavior was anything to go by. However, he could not deny the fact that Helen had in fact been doing her best to help him, so he felt a little obligated to do something for her… he just wasn’t sure if he was willing to have sex just yet as the means to her reward. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle looked back down at the guide. He had managed to read up into the D section of the encyclopedia, and he was fairly sure he was halfway through it. He felt like he should keep reading, but at the same time, He had no idea what Helen might do if he simply ignored her for much longer. He had a feeling she wouldn’t get violent or anything, but he felt her attempts at subtle seduction would only get more frequent if left alone for much longer. Letting out a sigh, Kyle simply closed the book and pulled himself away from the desk. He then stood up and turned around, escaping Helens grasp and turned around to look at her. He hadn’t noticed it before, but she had apparently bent down for her bust to encompass his head in such a manner. He still only came up to her bust at full height.
“Alright, alright… I can’t really refute the truth now can I? So… what exactly did you want?”
With a strangely innocent look in her eyes, Helen simply walked over to the bed and sat down. She then closed her eyes, and with a smile on her face, gave a simple response.
“All I want is a Kiss.”
Kyle blinked several times. He wasn’t sure if he had heard her correctly, so he asked her again.
“I’m sorry… what?”
“A Kiss. I want you to give me a kiss.”
Kyle felt even more confused now that he knew what she wanted in comparison to what he was a second ago.
“Ah… You… that’s it?” He asked in bewilderment.
“That’s it.”
As far as he could tell, that’s all the bicorn wanted out of him. He couldn’t find a reason why she would want something so simple, but he also wasn’t going to complain about her plain request.
Walking over to the bed, Kyle noted that she still had her eyes closed, though the smile on her face left him feeling just a little suspicious about her intentions. However, he wasn’t going to push his mental facilities trying to find meaning in this, so he simply let out a sigh. A moment later, and Kyle leaned in to give her the kiss she wanted before a thought hit him.
‘What kind of kiss does she want exactly?’
Thinking it more to himself, Kyle found that he wasn’t quite certain what exactly she might want out of him in a kiss.
‘Does she want a simple peck on the cheek? On the lips? How long does she want to kiss for? Does she want a French kiss? Do they even have French kisses in this world?’
Kyle quickly came to realize that such vague terms left a great deal to his imagination, and he was having a hard time coming to a decision on how best to approach this request. After a few seconds, though to him they felt a great deal longer, Helen spoke up again, catching him off guard.
“Ara? Is everything alright?”
“I-I-It’s fine, sorry, just thinking about something!”
Kyle simply opted to stop thinking at that point, his mind in too much disarray to even try to come up with appropriate rational. Without another thought, Kyle pressed his lips to Helens gently, an action she took with a little surprise on her own face. However, she showed no sign of being displeased with this action, and Kyle simply continued on, closing his own eyes to feel the sensation on his mouth. He became somewhat aware of the fact that her lips where incredibly soft in comparison to his own, his own mouth feeling somewhat rougher then hers by a large margin, though she seemed to show no sign of this being something she disliked. In fact, she seemed to press herself closer, her mouth moving deeper in, but not quite breaking the point of uncomfortable for him. Kyle had no sense of how long this went on, but when Helen pulled away first, he noted that he may have let himself get a little carried away. Kyle pulled back a bit and noted that his face felt very hot, and he no doubt was doing a good impression of a tomato right now. What he did not expect was to see a blush of almost equal color on Helens face, though she didn’t look awkward about it, the smug smile on her face giving a fine indicator to that.
“Well, well… I was honestly expecting for you to simply kiss me in a more neutral area. Maybe you’re not as timid as I had originally believed if the first thing you aim for is my lips…”
“I…I wasn’t really thinking… I just went with what might seem right was all… and it’s just a kiss for crying out loud… it’s not that big of a deal…”
Helen simply kept on smiling as she stood back up and stretched herself out lazily, leaving Kyle feeling somewhat embarrassed about the whole thing.
“Well, I would have to say that I’m quite satisfied with that.”
“Good for you…”
“Oh, come now, don’t be so sarcastic about it. I know that you enjoyed it deep down…”
Kyle opted to not say anything, but instead he stood back up and went to look at his guide. However, his mind was wandering more back to his kiss with the bicorn more than his thoughts about reading the book and opted to start getting dressed into his village attire. Curiously, Helen noted this and paced around the room for a bit before she asked.
“What are you up to?”
“I’m going to go out into town for a bit… maybe see if I can find some more information in regards to this carnival of carnality thing taking place in a few months…”
‘That and go try to cool my head a bit.’
“Oh? Mind if I tag along?”
‘You’re the whole bloody reason I’m going out in the first place!’
“Eh… do what you want… I personally can’t find myself caring much right this moment…”
Helen simply gave him a smile as Kyle could only sigh in resignation. The both of them took a little time to get ready before they departed into the city streets.
Xx Meanwhile, in said same city streets xX
Zellha was currently sitting on the edge of the city fountain, her eyes closed and her thoughts deep in concentration at the moment. As she did this, Letto and Vera where busy keeping their eyes open for anyone who might try to interrupt Zellha in her work… or for anyone who might attempt to harm her. But mostly to try to keep any curious bystanders from getting a good look at her. A Lilim in the city was a pretty big deal after all, and if Zellha was discovered as she was now, they would have no end to the Mamono who wanted to get a good look at her, and overlord forbid they fawn all over her. A few moments later and Zellha let out a small sigh before she opened her eyes and stood to her feet.
“I can’t get a good reading on it, the area is too dense with all other kinds of Mana for me to find a good trail.”
Both Vera and Letto looked to each other before they nodded in agreement.
“Well, if anything, it prevents whoever got there first from finding him at least.”
Zellha nodded in agreement with Vera before she sighed and remembered what they had found at the cave. She hadn’t expected the Order to be so quick in its recovery, but at the same time she didn’t have time to debate on the workings of it. If the order already had someone out and about looking, then she needed to redouble her efforts to find this mysterious entity. Thankfully, even the best kind of Mana tracker would have issues in a city this dense in monster mana, so she had a little in the way of breathing room. However, even she knew that it was a race at this point, even if her adversary wasn’t aware of it just yet. Scratching her chin in thought, Zellha motioned for the other two to follow her and began talking in a low whisper.
“We need something definitive. If I can get close to it, I know I can identify it, but until we know what it even looks like, that’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack… Letto… could you perhaps…???”
Letto looked over her shoulder for a moment at the unspoken question before she turned back and let out an annoyed sigh. She then turned her nose to the air and started to sniff. However, a moment later and she shook her head.
“Sorry, I can’t find that particular scent amongst all the other ones. It’s unique, but trying to find that one smell amongst all the others is about like what you just said… plus the scent in town is a day old, smell doesn’t keep for very long… but if we’re lucky, it’ll still be here somewhere, and I can pick it up then.”
Zellha simply nodded in appreciation.
“I only ask you do your best.”
Vera looked around a few times in the area to see if anybody was watching them, but she didn’t see anything of note as of yet. She then spoke up, though she was still being cautious.
“Then I guess all we do at this point is keep wandering around until we find it?”
Zellha only nodded her head.
“Correct… So let’s be about our way then.”
Some distance off from the trio and currently looking up in the directions of the signs hanging from the buildings, Alicia was trying to see if she could find the name of a particular bar, that bar being the Bear Hug. Apparently, someone had seen the person she was looking for, a young man in odd clothing, go into this very bar and leave a little bit later in the company of a bicorn. Alicia was determined to find out where he had gone after that. Eventually, the sign she sought emerged and she made her way inside. The moment she found her way into the bar, she was quick to note that outside of the barkeeper, there were only a few patrons, some of which were Mamono. Mentally checking them off her list, Alicia made her way to the barkeeper, a large battle hardened looking man who was in the process of writing in a ledger of sorts, though the moment she sat down, his attention was on her.
“A little early in the morning for a drink lass, wouldn’t you say.”
“With the crap I’ve been through, any time of the day is a good one for a drink.”
Bert nodded slowly before he put his ledger away and pulled a glass out from under the bar.
“So whats your pleasure? I have a good assortment of things that could knock even an Oni on her ass if that’s what you’re after.”
Alicia looked behind the man at the selection that was on display. She didn’t know of any good brands in this world, and thus she couldn’t get her usual drink. Letting out a sigh, she spoke up.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a magical vintage made from moonshower petals would you?”
Bert gave her a confused look before he shook his head.
“Afraid I’ve not heard of the like before. However, I do have some magical drinks for you if you want those, all purified to remove all monster taint from it of course.”
Alicia nodded her head.
“Any one of those will do… though if it’s made from something like a magical plant, I’ll take that.”
Bert simply nodded once before he turned around and got to work on her drink. While the barkeeper was distracted, Alicia glanced this way and that in the bar, her eyes trying to find anything she might find useful, though she knew it to be a useless venture when all she could glen from the area was that it was well kept. Bert put her drink on the counter in front of her and then leaned on the bar itself.
“So lass, if you don’t mind my asking, what brings you into my establishment? Most don’t bother showing up until later in the day.”
Alicia took the drink and looked at it for a moment before she experimentally sipped at it. It was nothing like how she was used to, but it was palatable at least. She took a drink before she responded.
“I’m looking for someone, a man, and have yet to find him.”
Bert nodded his head almost sagely at that before he crossed his arms.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh… I see I see… we get your type around here more often than naught. Lovers do tend to vanish from the sights of their old commitments in this city. Especially if they seek the company of mamono. I’m sure if you grab him by the ear and give him a few good smacks, he’ll get the picture not to leave such a lovely young lady again.”
Alicia felt the man had made a rather big mistake in her problem, but she wasn’t going to argue it since she thought of a way to use it to her advantage.
“Yeah… it’s so hard to keep him in one spot, especially when he goes running after bicorns and the like. He doesn’t act like a carnivore, but he likes to hide it behind a mask of nervousness.”
Alicia paid close attention to the barkeep and was rewarded with a look of thought, as if the man was thinking about something. Seeing this, Alicia decided to push a little more info out to see if she had a trail.
“And I even went to the trouble of getting him those rare clothes to. Geez, why can’t a man just be happy with the little things in life rather than go chasing after Horse Mamono?”
The look of sudden recognition on the barkeeps face was unmistakable. Alicia knew she had something here. Striking while the iron was hot, Alicia acted as if she just now noticed his familiarity to the subject.
“Oh? You act as if this is something you know about.”
Bert thought about it for a moment, something that made Alicia wonder if she may have given to much away too quickly, but the man nodded his head.
“I think I actually know who your guy is… though he didn’t strike me as type you talk about… but he went with a friend of mine by the name of Helen. The Bicorn you’re talking about. They stayed here for a bit yesterday and talked about plans and as far as I can tell, he went with her back to the inn she was staying at.”
Alicia, trying her hardest not to grin, looked at the man with her best innocent face she could muster.
“Really now? Would you mind telling me the name of this inn? I need to have a few words with my little run-away… I’ll pay you if that’s what you want.”
Bert eyed her for a second before he let out a resigned sigh.
“Just pay for the drink is all… I won’t take your money for information given freely. However, I ask you be careful with my friend. She’s not violent, and she’ll see reason, just don’t do anything too rash alright?”
Alicia gave the man a sweet smile that hid her true intentions.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Xx Kyle xX
Kyle looked out into the crowd as people and mamono alike made their way through the bustling city streets. It was fascinating really, to see all these people and monsters move about as if everything here was normal to them. For him though, it was something of a wonder, he felt as if he wasn’t ever really going to get used to seeing things like this. He could sit and watch for hours if he felt like it and not see anything boring in that time. However, as he continued to look outward at the people walking around, the sound of Helens voice behind him caught his attention, though he didn’t turn around.
“Everything alright? How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing well enough, and as you can tell, my mana is being kept well under control.”
“Ahhh? Then why don’t you turn around and look me in the eyes when you say that, I’ll perhaps be more inclined to believe you if you do.”
Kyle wasn’t about to fall for it, as he knew that Helen was currently in the middle of changing her clothing, or what little of it there was.
“How about you get dressed first before I try… and I have no idea why you would want to change in the middle of the bazaar like this… it seems like a bad idea to me…”
Helen chuckled a little to herself as she went back to looking.
“Oh? Are you afraid that some other guy would happen to see me in my full naked splendor?”
Kyle didn’t answer immediately, but he managed to get a stuttering answer out of his mouth a moment later.
“D-don’t be ridiculous. Jeez, I mean, you Mamono don’t seem to have an ounce of shame in you at all, is that all your race seems to- !!!EHHH!!”
A moment later and the feeling of something soft pressing into his back caused him to stop short with his words, the familiar arms of the Bicorn wrapped lovingly around his shoulders as she pressed her breasts into his back.
“Aw, why can’t you just be honest with yourself and just say you don’t want others to see me naked!”
“Because I don’t care about that at all!”
Kyle managed to pull himself away and turned around to give Helen a rather pissed glare. However, he quickly took note that Helen seemed to be wearing her usual attire, as if she hadn’t changed at all. The mischievous smile on her face told him that she must have changed back when he wasn’t looking. Staring at her chest for a few more moments longer, Kyle stopped when he realized what he was doing and was almost glaring daggers at her.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Ara ara… I got found out.~”
Kyle simply continued to glare at her, causing her smug look to drop into a simple smile.
“Now now Kyle, what’s a little teasing here and there? I simply want to see all your adorable expression after all. What’s the harm in that?”
Kyle found that there really was no harm in it, but he was still annoyed at her antics. However, he could only stay so mad for so long, especially when a demon overlord pops his input in.
‘This shit is giving me diabetes, and I don’t even have a body to do that in. Get back to searching for information dipshit.’
‘I thought you were being awfully quite as of late…’
‘I was quite cause I thought you would be doing something constructive by now. This is not being constructive. Now get to being useful!’
With that last comment, Kyle felt Zamil retreat back into his mind, though he could feel that the overlord was still hanging around the edges of Kyle’s consciousness.
Letting out a small sigh, Kyle drew his attention back into the crowd.
“So are you actually going to get anything or are we just going to play this game? Cause if it’s the latter, I can think of other things to be doing right now Helen.”
Letting out a small sigh of her own, Helen simply trotted up next to him before she looked at him with a half accepting, half plotting kind of look.
“No, I’m done, I simply wanted to see what kinds of clothes you might enjoy.”
Rolling his eyes, Kyle could only turn back into the crowd and start walking, the bicorn following closely behind him. The two of them where looking around for information, though in truth Kyle was the one looking while Helen was something of a tagalong, her desire to be near Kyle keeping her as close as he would allow. Thankfully, Kyle knew of a place he could go to get the answers he was looking for, and it was perhaps the only bar he had been to in town that he felt would give him information he might need. It didn’t take them long to find the place, and Kyle still found the name aptly put for the establishment based on the barkeeper.
The Bear hug.
Without waiting, Kyle pushed his way through the door, careful this time to avoid running into another tauric type mamono who may be coming out. Thankfully he was spared another such meeting, and the first thing he noted when he walked in was the barkeeper Bert. The man was hard to miss, though the look of surprise on his face was confusing to Kyle.
“Oh? Aren’t you the lad from yesterday? Get your fill of Helen and decided to come back here eh?”
The man had an odd smile on his face, as if something about the situation was somewhat ironic to him. A moment later and Helen herself walked through the door, causing the mans look to become quizzical. Kyle made his way to the bar, noting Berts expressions before he sat down. Helen was the first to speak, her tone light and cheerful.
“Good morning Bert. I take it the client from yesterday was happy with the results?”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, they were. But I’m sure you don’t care much about that right now… what brings you and your lucky friend into my establishment so early? Normally I would find you down here in the later afternoon.”
“That’s would normally be the case, but since I found someone, I’ve found that my usual schedule might not apply anymore. As for what brings us in today, well, we happen to be curious about any news regarding the Carnival of Carnality.”
“Hum? Well that’s interesting… can’t say I’ve heard much, though I did hear something about their being something of a fighting tournament going on this time around. Apparently, a lot of the Ares worshippers wanted something a little extra this time around.”
Helen smiled to herself as she sat down at the bar in one of the specialty seats.
“I see… I heard of something like that going on… well, I don’t see why we shouldn’t do something to appease Ares as well, I mean, we have events for many of the other gods, so why not that one. I’m glad to see the Lady Maou taking into consideration the fighters as well, even if she’s made it known she dislikes violence.”
Kyle looked back and forth between the both of them as they talked about it for a moment before he felt the need to interject.
“Well… that’s cool and all… but if you don’t mind my asking, what is this Carnival of Carnality thing?”
Bert looked to him, as if he just asked a strange question. However, Helen remembered her companion’s circumstances and clapped her hands together in realization.
“Oh, right! Sorry! You wouldn’t know much about that, would you?”
Kyle gave her a look that answered that for her. Unaffected, Helen took a moment to think on what she could say before she cleared her throat and began explaining.
“Alright… To put it in a nutshell, it’s pretty much a holiday in memory to when mamono started to lose there more violent natures and began to explore the more fascinating world of the sexual. However, it hasn’t always been a carnival, more of a day to remember for all mamono and something we gave our thanks to the Maou for. In truth, it didn’t start being called the Carnival of Carnality until the Maou herself started to do something some 600 years ago when she and her husband began doing public displays of affection. Then everyone started to do it, and from then on, more and more just started to get added on until it’s become what it is today.”
Kyle blinked a few times in some thought before he spoke bluntly.
“So it’s pretty much a giant orgy with a bunch of stuff added on to it then?”
“Pretty much, but the actual orgy doesn’t occur until the last day of the five-day carnival.”
“Huh… interesting…”
Helen cocked her head curiously as Kyle started to ponder in what he just heard.
“So why are you curious anyway? You want to attend?”
Kyle looked to Helen before he hummed in thought.
“Maybe… I’m not sure as of yet. The thing I really want to do is the fighting tournament. Mostly cause I heard you get a wish granted from the Maou herself.”
Bert nodded as if to confirm what Kyle just said.
“Aye, I’ve heard much the same thing. I reckon that with that going around, a lot of fighting types will want to participate as well.”
Helen curiously looked to the both of them before she also hummed in thought.
“Well… that’s rather interesting. Though if you want to join you’re also going to have to learn how to fight.”
Kyle nodded in agreement.
“Yeah… and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find the time to do that on top of magical training.”
“Well, you can only do what you feel like is in your ability to do Darling. Even then, the carnival isn’t for another 5 or so months, so we’ll have plenty of time if you want to learn. And even then, just the carnival by itself will have plenty for us to do if you still wish to go.”
“Hum… alright then… but for now, I need to stick with what I can… and see if I can find a Library that dates back to before the current Maous reign…”
Bert perked his ears up at that and nodded his head.
“A grand library? The Makai capital actually has one. You’ll need permission, but that by itself is actually pretty easy to get. There also happens to be one in the Order capital of Lugaria as well… but I don’t know if they’ll have what you’re looking for or if they’ll even let you in to look at it.”
Kyle looked to Bert in surprise before he looked to Helen for conformation.
“Is that true?”
“Of course darling. If I was to be honest, the one in Makai might actually be less biased due to the fact that the order isn’t maintaining it. The only upside to the order library is that it might even date back to the age of the warring gods. However, I have no idea what you might need to find that would go back that far.”
Kyle didn’t say anything, his mind working quickly with Zamils at the newest bit of information presented to them.
‘Shit… so the information we might need is in some religious wankers library? Fuck me… Just do what we can kid. I’ll leave this decision to you.’
‘You sure?’
‘Just do what you want kid, the information isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so we can take some time figuring out the next move. Hell, maybe we can spend some time getting you whipped into shape so that your actually good at defending yourself if need be.’
Kyle lightly nodded in answer to the overlord, but he stopped when he realized that he must have looked silly doing it. However, when he looked at the only other people talking, he noted that the barkeeper was giving him an odd look again. Normally he would have left it alone, but the man looked as if he wanted to say something to him.
“Burt… was it? Thanks for the info, it should help me out… also, not trying to be rude or anything, but is there any particular reason your looking at me like that? If you have something you need to say, then say it.”
Burt blinked a few times before the realization that he had been staring had hit him. Mentally admonishing himself for it, the grizzled man let out a small laugh before he leaned against the counter with something of an apologetic look on his old face.
“Sorry lad… I couldn’t help it really. Some odd things been happening in ma’ bar this morning. Had a young woman in here asking about you not but an hour ago. Claimed she was your fiancé and that she was right annoyed at your running away from her in lieu of horse tail.”
Kyle felt a quizzical expression overcome his face. However, Helen looked positively delighted.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Really now? What kind of Mamono was she?”
“No Mamono, a human woman as far as I could tell.”
“A human woman? Now that is interesting! I had no idea you had someone before coming here Kyle. Though I have to say, I would be rather irked myself if my beloved ran off to find another woman without informing me.”
Kyle looked to Helen with a semi-annoyed look before he shook his head.
“That’s… not really how it works where I come from… but I’m sorry to say, I don’t have a fiancé.”
“Really lad? She acted as if she knew you.”
“I can one hundred percent attest to the fact that before coming here, I had no such woman in my life.”
Kyle was going to continue, but Zamil ended up interrupting him.
‘Well well… I honestly did not expect someone to pick up on us quite that fast. I expected maybe a week before they got someone out here to investigate, but if they got someone here already…’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Kid, seriously, you need to start thinking a bit more right now about our foreseeable future. Has it not occurred to you what our presence here might do to the surrounding world?’
‘Not really no. I had just thought that it would be like they do in games. Show up in world, have an adventure. That kind of deal.’
Zamil let out a heavy sigh before he spoke up, irritation growing in his voice.
‘I suggest you start using the fucking gray matter in your head. Did you honestly think our appearance here wouldn’t go unnoticed? That our busting through the stuff between worlds wouldn’t be felt by beings as equally strong as myself? Those powers will want to know what’s going on as quickly as possible, though I honestly expected that it would take a little more time for them to mobilize…’
Kyle bounced those words around in his head for a few moments, the meaning behind them starting to bleed into his mind and craft a picture for him.
‘Are… you saying that we just might happen to have turned into targets?’
‘Yup. I would suggest you start to be very cautious from now on and getting to learning how to defend yourself. If we are going to be hunted, then we’ll need to figure out what happened to my body quickly before anything… shall we say terrible happens to us?’
Kyle felt a cold sweat start to run down his back. He honestly had not expected this of all things to suddenly make itself an issue. No, far beyond it in fact. He hadn’t been expecting to be hunted at all. Sadly, he couldn’t find a way to get out of it, and Helen talking pushed the issue away from his mind for the moment.
“Is everything alright? You’re looking a little pale.”
“Huh? Oh… yeah, I’m fine. Really. Back to the woman though. I don’t know her, so it would be best if you just forgot about her. Probably some… weirdo or something.”
Bert hummed to himself in thought before he shrugged his shoulders.
“Hum… alright then… I’ll put her out of my mind. She won’t be my problem anymore, but you’ll have a little trouble since I told her were you were staying at.”
Kyle whipped his head to look at the barkeep, his eyes bulging in both anger and fear.
“You did what!?”
The man jolted from Kyle’s shouting, though he took a neutral look when he shook his head.
“Yeah, I wasn’t going to turn her down since she seemed rather upset about the whole thing.”
Kyle felt himself start to grind his teeth in worry, however he stopped himself when he saw that Helen was giving him a look.
“Is everything alright? Is this person dangerous in some way?”
Kyle looked to Helen before he let out a sigh and shook his head at her.
“I… honestly don’t know. Like I said, I don’t know who this person might be, but I think we should be a little careful from now on.”
Helen could only tilt her head in some confusion before she only shrugged her shoulders and pulled up a glass that Burt gave her. Kyle looked at her cup for a moment, a clear glass filled with a jade green liquid of sorts before he looked up at the display behind the barkeeper. Noticing a bright pink bottle, Kyle cocked his head to the side and drew the man’s attention to it.
“Hey, Burt. I think I could use a drink after all this. I think I’ll have whatever’s in that bottle there.”
The bar keep looked to Kyle before he looked at where he was pointing and gave the young man an interesting look.
“Oh? A bit of ‘passion’ eh? Coming right up, though I warn ya. It’s got a bit of kick to it.”
“That’s fine, the stronger the better in my opinion.”
The man gave him a nod before he got to work. Kyle looked over and saw that Helen was giving him something of a knowing look.
“What?”
“Oh nothing…”
Staring at the bicorn in some confusion, the smell of something sweet filled the room and Kyle turned to see that his drink was already in front of him. He noted that the bottles color matched the color of the drink he currently had his hand wrapped around. It wasn’t a large glass, but Kyle could tell it was pretty potent whatever it was. He looked to the drink, then to the barkeeper before a thought hit him.
“Um… actually, how much is this? I’m not sure I’ll be able to-”
“Oh Don’t worry about that darling. I’ll pay for it.”
Kyle noted that Helen still had her knowing smile and suddenly thought that maybe he should have asked what was put into this to make it the way it was. However, he was kinda stuck at this point seeing as it would waste Helens money if he didn’t drink it. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle lifted the drink to his lips and took an experimental sip of it. He felt his tongue being assaulted by something he could only say was love given a liquid form. He felt his face flush quickly and his heart beat rapidly, his body began to tingle and his pants got strangely tight from his growing erection.
‘I fucking knew it.’
Mentally chastising himself over not having thought this out a little more, Kyle was about to say something to Helen before the sound of the door opening caught his attention and made him turn to look at who came in. It was a group of three, not odd by many standards, but he found it odd that of the three of them, two of them wore cloaks, while one of those two wore a faceless mask. The one who didn’t ordain to wear a cloak was some kind of beastman mamono in something of a skimpy outfit, though she didn’t seem perturbed by it.
“Lady Zellha, I seriously think stopping by a bar right now is a bad idea.”
Said a muffled voice, no doubt the woman in the mask.
“Vera, I smelled ‘passion’. I am not about to let myself pass it up if I can help it, especially with the kind of day we’re having right now!”
Kyle noted that the other cloaked person had no such mask on, it was easy to see that they were trying to keep their face hidden though.
“Sometimes Milady, I find it curious how your nose seems to work better than mine when it comes to drink.”
“Yeah yeah… now how about you two get off my back already and let me drink in peace.”
Kyle watched the group curiously for a moment longer before he turned back to his own drink. Was it seriously that strong? Not thinking about it again, he decided that since he had taken the first sip, he might as well as finish it off. Trying to ignore the aphrodisiac effects that raced across his tongue, Kyle had to admit that it was a good drink, though it didn’t have quite the buzz he was used to in alcohol. However, as his attention was on the drink, he failed to pay attention to the group as they walked past. The moment they started to go past, Zellha stopped in her tracks and quickly whipped her head to the side to look at the man sitting at the bar. The Lillim knew that odd magical energy from the cave. She was almost too surprised to even comprehend that the thing… person she was looking for was currently right in her reach. Vera and Letto where curious as to why their lady had stopped stone cold, but Letto quickly picked up on the scent surrounding the man. Vera could see Letto’s eyes open in recognition, and she quickly saw that Zellha was also wide eyed. The three of them knew they had found the target, but they almost didn’t know how best to go about this. That is until Zellha shook her head and moved quickly. Zellha walked over to the bar and sat two seats from Kyle, the young man only glancing in her general direction before he went back to nursing his drink.
Burt noticed her and how small she was, but he knew better than to judge based on appearances.
“Morning. What’s your pleasure?”
Zellha decided to take a risk, and she let out a small sigh as she pulled her hood back, revealing her features as a Lilim.
“If you don’t mind my good man, I thought I smelled a hint of ‘passion’ in this establishment and I found I was rather thirsty. I’ll take a cup of that.”
The mans eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw the girl, and across from her target, the Bicorn almost choked on her drink when she saw Zellha. The only one not surprised by the sudden appearance of a Lilim was the young man sitting close to her.
Kyle saw Helen nearly choke on her drink and gave her an odd look.
“Hey, everything alright there Helen?”
The Bicorn he was so used to seeing being rather calm and in control of herself, looked as if she was about to start fangirl-ing all over the place.
“Fine!? I’m absolutely shocked that your acting the way you are! Do you not see a Lilim sitting in the very same room as us?!”
Kyle gave Helen a confused look before he turned to look at the girl seated a few feet away from him. He gave her something of a curious look before he looked back to Helen.
“Why is this a big deal?”
For all intents and purposes, Kyle may as well as told her she should go shoot herself. Her shock almost made him feel bad for even saying that, though a moment later, Helen was all too pleased to explain to him the reason why.
“Why!? You ask why!? The reason being is that in this very room, a daughter of the Maou herself is sitting here! Any mamono would be thrilled to be around someone of such status!”
Kyle looked over to the girl again, this time noting that she was staring at him intently. It wasn’t a harsh stare, but it was as if she was trying to see through him. A moment later and something in his mind clicked with what Helen told him.
‘Daughter of the Maou herself?!’
He had no doubt in his mind that this girl may be someone who was also looking for him, and he suddenly felt as if he had just been placed in a trap. He looked behind him and could see that the two women who were with this Lilim had come up behind him. However, Burt and Helen didn’t seem to sense the danger in this situation, which left him all alone right now.
He jumped when the girl cleared her throat.
“I can see that you puzzled rather quickly what I happen to be here for. Bravo, though I can see that your rather… nervous right now. However, I don’t mean to cause you any harm. If anything, I wish to talk with you. How about we start off with introductions?”
Bowing her head slightly, Zellha gave Kyle a charming smile filled with nothing but sweetness and kind intentions.
“I am Zellha, sixty ninth daughter of the Maou and current overseer of magical research.”
Kyle looked at her for a moment, his gut telling him not to believe that overly sweet smile for a second.
“I’m… Kyle… Kyle Demonia. No child of anybody interesting. Occupation is… well… I’ll get back to you on that when I know myself.”
The girl giggled for a moment before she noticed that a cup had been placed in front of her. She took a moment to pick it up and take a small sip out of it, her face relaxing greatly as the liquid washed down her throat.
“This is a fine drink you’ve picked up for yourself you know. Not suitable for woman seeking to remain uncorrupted as this is almost literally charm magic turned into a drink. For a man I suppose it would illicit sexual desire quite rapidly, though you don’t seem to be swooning right now. A testament to your nature.”
Kyle took another small drink, hardly noticing the alcoholic beverage on his tongue as he swallowed.
“Woo-hoo, you know what I am. Now let’s get to talking already before I change my mind and go with my initial instinct to get out of here before something happens.”
For all intents and purposes, Helens face looked as if Kyle just told the Lilim to go fuck herself in a rather vicious manner. Seeing this, Kyle scratched his chin curiously.
“Oh? Don’t think I’ve ever seen that expression on your face before. Kinda interesting to see truth be told.”
However, Helen was not amused by this and quickly trotted up next to Kyle and started to viciously whisper in his ear.
“What are you doing! This is one of the Lilim! A daughter of the Maou herself! Why are you treating her with such a flagrant attitude!?”
“I seriously can’t bring myself to care right now Helen, if anything, I’m highly suspicious of her right now.”
Helen wasn’t sure what Kyle was on about, but it was making her nervous, more nervous then what she was used to. Kyle decided to ignore the bicorn for now and turned his attention back to Zellha.
“So…what would a daughter of the Maou herself happen to want with someone like me?”
Zellha smiled sweetly again before she downed the rest of her drink.
“Quite simple Kyle. I want to talk with you, nothing more, nothing less. Would you be willing to hear me out?”
Kyle cocked his head to the side in mock thought, though what he was really doing was conversing with Zamil.
‘What do we do? I didn’t expect such a big player to show up literally right after you said something about it!’
However, Zamil sounded pretty relaxed right now, something that simply added to Kyles confusion and panic.
‘It’s not that big a deal ya dumbass, pull yourself together. Just keep talking to her. She hasn’t been giving off any killing intent, more like a fascination mixed with some anxiety. Though the ones behind you…’
Kyle resisted the urge to turn around again, though he suddenly felt like his neck was locked in place trying not to do that very thing.
‘What about them? Are they about to attack?’
‘nah… more like one of them has a weird feeling to em. Don’t ask me what it is though. It’s not hostile though, so don’t get your panties in a wad. The other one is just cautious right now is all, like any good bodyguard should be. Anyway, it won’t hurt you to at least hear her out. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to work something out.’
Kyle thought about it for a moment, but he honestly couldn’t refute the logic without looking like an idiot. It was true that it wouldn’t hurt to listen, but he was also somewhat curious as he was half expecting whoever found him out would just try to jump him. And he was curious as to what she might have to say. Trying to act as nonchalant as possible, Kyle slowly drank the rest of his drink, trying to ignore the raging boner in his pants due to the aphrodisiac effect.
“Alright, I’m listening. What did you want to say?”
Zellha nodded once in understanding before she began.
“Alright… I’ll try to get to the heart of the matter since you seem the type not to want to beat around the bush… or are you into that? I wouldn’t know with someone outside the confines of this realm.”
Kyle simply gave her an unamused look, causing her to giggle to herself.
“Sorry, not the point is it? However, I am in fact curious about you… or more to the point, my mother is. I want to extend an invitation to you to come to Makai. My mother would personally like to meet you due to the fact that your someone who managed to break through the outer barrier of the world into this one. The amount of knowledge you contain too things unrelated to our universe would be valuable by itself, but it would also give us a chance see what we could learn in terms of magic outside of this world. We could be looking at being able to do things no one would ever have thought possible.”
“So in short, you want me to come with you?”
Zellha thought about that for a moment before she smiled at him in that sweet way.
“I would be overjoyed if you would accompany me back to Makai. However, the choice is yours in this matter. I wouldn’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do after all.”
Kyle stared at her for a moment, trying to see if he could find any kind of falsehood in her words by looking at her facial expressions. Problem was that he wasn’t trained to read people’s faces, so he was sure he would have missed the signs even if she displayed them. He then turned his attention to Zellha’s companions and noted that the both of them where rather neutral… or at least the wolf woman did, he couldn’t tell with the other one since she had a mask on.
“I assure you that Vera and Letto will do nothing to you. In fact, I’m not looking for an answer right now. If you wish to think on it for another day, myself and my team will still be in town. If you wish to speak with us, then look for Letto in the city square around noon tomorrow. Until then, we will find ourselves some accommodations. Vera, Letto, let us be on our way… by the way, should you encounter someone else wishing to speak with you, then I would suggest you ignore them. I get the feeling that the other party might not be so kind as to give you a choice in the matter.”
With that warning having passed her lips, Kyle watched the Lilim get up and put a few coins on the counter before she donned her hood and left the bar with her followers. Kyle blinked a few times in thought before he looked back at Helen, the Bicorn many parts confused.
“I guess I have some explaining to do then don’t I?”
Kyle tapped the side of the encyclopedia he was reading in an erratic fashion, the unstable beat indicating that his current mood was set to something like annoyed. For the past few hours or so, Kyle had seen fit to study the Mamono guide and encyclopedia, the guide having taken up less of his time then he thought it would while he was about a quarter of the way through the second book. He had taken to trying to remember anything important in the profiles and had asked Helen a few question in regards to them, like if the information profiles pictures provided where the most accurate information to date. She quickly answered those questions for him (the information being something like a guideline while the images where just the picture of one particular girl and that the image presented wasn’t what all of them looked like) and he accepted those answer quietly. However, sometime in his study, Kyle had quickly noticed that Helen had been hanging around a little too closely, the Bicorn so close that he could feel her heartbeat on his neck. It only took him a moment to realize that she was intentionally pushing her large breasts into his back, the cushy feeling acting as something of a soft distraction. Kyle tried his best to ignore it, but for each minute he didn’t react, Helen seemed to take it as an invitation to keep going until eventually Kyles head was sandwiched between her breasts. Not to say that he wasn’t enjoying it, but he seriously could not focus like this. Letting a heavy sigh escape his lips, Kyle decided to respond.
“Okay… you have my attention. What do you want Helen?”
“Oh, now don’t sound so peeved. I’m just so bored right now. I can’t find much to do by myself and you won’t even look at me, let alone talk to me.”
Kyle looked up between the valley he was squished in and saw that Helen had a cute pout on her face with a bit of a dejected look in her eyes. However, he could see that she was trying to hide something else under that façade as well.
“I’m trying to learn something here ya know…”
“I know, and it’s admirable. But I’ve been helping you with all your questions so far and done my very best for you until now… Can I maybe have a little reward from you? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?”
It wasn’t hard for Kyle to figure what Helen would consider a ‘reward’ if her previous behavior was anything to go by. However, he could not deny the fact that Helen had in fact been doing her best to help him, so he felt a little obligated to do something for her… he just wasn’t sure if he was willing to have sex just yet as the means to her reward. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle looked back down at the guide. He had managed to read up into the D section of the encyclopedia, and he was fairly sure he was halfway through it. He felt like he should keep reading, but at the same time, He had no idea what Helen might do if he simply ignored her for much longer. He had a feeling she wouldn’t get violent or anything, but he felt her attempts at subtle seduction would only get more frequent if left alone for much longer. Letting out a sigh, Kyle simply closed the book and pulled himself away from the desk. He then stood up and turned around, escaping Helens grasp and turned around to look at her. He hadn’t noticed it before, but she had apparently bent down for her bust to encompass his head in such a manner. He still only came up to her bust at full height.
“Alright, alright… I can’t really refute the truth now can I? So… what exactly did you want?”
With a strangely innocent look in her eyes, Helen simply walked over to the bed and sat down. She then closed her eyes, and with a smile on her face, gave a simple response.
“All I want is a Kiss.”
Kyle blinked several times. He wasn’t sure if he had heard her correctly, so he asked her again.
“I’m sorry… what?”
“A Kiss. I want you to give me a kiss.”
Kyle felt even more confused now that he knew what she wanted in comparison to what he was a second ago.
“Ah… You… that’s it?” He asked in bewilderment.
“That’s it.”
As far as he could tell, that’s all the bicorn wanted out of him. He couldn’t find a reason why she would want something so simple, but he also wasn’t going to complain about her plain request.
Walking over to the bed, Kyle noted that she still had her eyes closed, though the smile on her face left him feeling just a little suspicious about her intentions. However, he wasn’t going to push his mental facilities trying to find meaning in this, so he simply let out a sigh. A moment later, and Kyle leaned in to give her the kiss she wanted before a thought hit him.
‘What kind of kiss does she want exactly?’
Thinking it more to himself, Kyle found that he wasn’t quite certain what exactly she might want out of him in a kiss.
‘Does she want a simple peck on the cheek? On the lips? How long does she want to kiss for? Does she want a French kiss? Do they even have French kisses in this world?’
Kyle quickly came to realize that such vague terms left a great deal to his imagination, and he was having a hard time coming to a decision on how best to approach this request. After a few seconds, though to him they felt a great deal longer, Helen spoke up again, catching him off guard.
“Ara? Is everything alright?”
“I-I-It’s fine, sorry, just thinking about something!”
Kyle simply opted to stop thinking at that point, his mind in too much disarray to even try to come up with appropriate rational. Without another thought, Kyle pressed his lips to Helens gently, an action she took with a little surprise on her own face. However, she showed no sign of being displeased with this action, and Kyle simply continued on, closing his own eyes to feel the sensation on his mouth. He became somewhat aware of the fact that her lips where incredibly soft in comparison to his own, his own mouth feeling somewhat rougher then hers by a large margin, though she seemed to show no sign of this being something she disliked. In fact, she seemed to press herself closer, her mouth moving deeper in, but not quite breaking the point of uncomfortable for him. Kyle had no sense of how long this went on, but when Helen pulled away first, he noted that he may have let himself get a little carried away. Kyle pulled back a bit and noted that his face felt very hot, and he no doubt was doing a good impression of a tomato right now. What he did not expect was to see a blush of almost equal color on Helens face, though she didn’t look awkward about it, the smug smile on her face giving a fine indicator to that.
“Well, well… I was honestly expecting for you to simply kiss me in a more neutral area. Maybe you’re not as timid as I had originally believed if the first thing you aim for is my lips…”
“I…I wasn’t really thinking… I just went with what might seem right was all… and it’s just a kiss for crying out loud… it’s not that big of a deal…”
Helen simply kept on smiling as she stood back up and stretched herself out lazily, leaving Kyle feeling somewhat embarrassed about the whole thing.
“Well, I would have to say that I’m quite satisfied with that.”
“Good for you…”
“Oh, come now, don’t be so sarcastic about it. I know that you enjoyed it deep down…”
Kyle opted to not say anything, but instead he stood back up and went to look at his guide. However, his mind was wandering more back to his kiss with the bicorn more than his thoughts about reading the book and opted to start getting dressed into his village attire. Curiously, Helen noted this and paced around the room for a bit before she asked.
“What are you up to?”
“I’m going to go out into town for a bit… maybe see if I can find some more information in regards to this carnival of carnality thing taking place in a few months…”
‘That and go try to cool my head a bit.’
“Oh? Mind if I tag along?”
‘You’re the whole bloody reason I’m going out in the first place!’
“Eh… do what you want… I personally can’t find myself caring much right this moment…”
Helen simply gave him a smile as Kyle could only sigh in resignation. The both of them took a little time to get ready before they departed into the city streets.
Xx Meanwhile, in said same city streets xX
Zellha was currently sitting on the edge of the city fountain, her eyes closed and her thoughts deep in concentration at the moment. As she did this, Letto and Vera where busy keeping their eyes open for anyone who might try to interrupt Zellha in her work… or for anyone who might attempt to harm her. But mostly to try to keep any curious bystanders from getting a good look at her. A Lilim in the city was a pretty big deal after all, and if Zellha was discovered as she was now, they would have no end to the Mamono who wanted to get a good look at her, and overlord forbid they fawn all over her. A few moments later and Zellha let out a small sigh before she opened her eyes and stood to her feet.
“I can’t get a good reading on it, the area is too dense with all other kinds of Mana for me to find a good trail.”
Both Vera and Letto looked to each other before they nodded in agreement.
“Well, if anything, it prevents whoever got there first from finding him at least.”
Zellha nodded in agreement with Vera before she sighed and remembered what they had found at the cave. She hadn’t expected the Order to be so quick in its recovery, but at the same time she didn’t have time to debate on the workings of it. If the order already had someone out and about looking, then she needed to redouble her efforts to find this mysterious entity. Thankfully, even the best kind of Mana tracker would have issues in a city this dense in monster mana, so she had a little in the way of breathing room. However, even she knew that it was a race at this point, even if her adversary wasn’t aware of it just yet. Scratching her chin in thought, Zellha motioned for the other two to follow her and began talking in a low whisper.
“We need something definitive. If I can get close to it, I know I can identify it, but until we know what it even looks like, that’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack… Letto… could you perhaps…???”
Letto looked over her shoulder for a moment at the unspoken question before she turned back and let out an annoyed sigh. She then turned her nose to the air and started to sniff. However, a moment later and she shook her head.
“Sorry, I can’t find that particular scent amongst all the other ones. It’s unique, but trying to find that one smell amongst all the others is about like what you just said… plus the scent in town is a day old, smell doesn’t keep for very long… but if we’re lucky, it’ll still be here somewhere, and I can pick it up then.”
Zellha simply nodded in appreciation.
“I only ask you do your best.”
Vera looked around a few times in the area to see if anybody was watching them, but she didn’t see anything of note as of yet. She then spoke up, though she was still being cautious.
“Then I guess all we do at this point is keep wandering around until we find it?”
Zellha only nodded her head.
“Correct… So let’s be about our way then.”
Some distance off from the trio and currently looking up in the directions of the signs hanging from the buildings, Alicia was trying to see if she could find the name of a particular bar, that bar being the Bear Hug. Apparently, someone had seen the person she was looking for, a young man in odd clothing, go into this very bar and leave a little bit later in the company of a bicorn. Alicia was determined to find out where he had gone after that. Eventually, the sign she sought emerged and she made her way inside. The moment she found her way into the bar, she was quick to note that outside of the barkeeper, there were only a few patrons, some of which were Mamono. Mentally checking them off her list, Alicia made her way to the barkeeper, a large battle hardened looking man who was in the process of writing in a ledger of sorts, though the moment she sat down, his attention was on her.
“A little early in the morning for a drink lass, wouldn’t you say.”
“With the crap I’ve been through, any time of the day is a good one for a drink.”
Bert nodded slowly before he put his ledger away and pulled a glass out from under the bar.
“So whats your pleasure? I have a good assortment of things that could knock even an Oni on her ass if that’s what you’re after.”
Alicia looked behind the man at the selection that was on display. She didn’t know of any good brands in this world, and thus she couldn’t get her usual drink. Letting out a sigh, she spoke up.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a magical vintage made from moonshower petals would you?”
Bert gave her a confused look before he shook his head.
“Afraid I’ve not heard of the like before. However, I do have some magical drinks for you if you want those, all purified to remove all monster taint from it of course.”
Alicia nodded her head.
“Any one of those will do… though if it’s made from something like a magical plant, I’ll take that.”
Bert simply nodded once before he turned around and got to work on her drink. While the barkeeper was distracted, Alicia glanced this way and that in the bar, her eyes trying to find anything she might find useful, though she knew it to be a useless venture when all she could glen from the area was that it was well kept. Bert put her drink on the counter in front of her and then leaned on the bar itself.
“So lass, if you don’t mind my asking, what brings you into my establishment? Most don’t bother showing up until later in the day.”
Alicia took the drink and looked at it for a moment before she experimentally sipped at it. It was nothing like how she was used to, but it was palatable at least. She took a drink before she responded.
“I’m looking for someone, a man, and have yet to find him.”
Bert nodded his head almost sagely at that before he crossed his arms.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh… I see I see… we get your type around here more often than naught. Lovers do tend to vanish from the sights of their old commitments in this city. Especially if they seek the company of mamono. I’m sure if you grab him by the ear and give him a few good smacks, he’ll get the picture not to leave such a lovely young lady again.”
Alicia felt the man had made a rather big mistake in her problem, but she wasn’t going to argue it since she thought of a way to use it to her advantage.
“Yeah… it’s so hard to keep him in one spot, especially when he goes running after bicorns and the like. He doesn’t act like a carnivore, but he likes to hide it behind a mask of nervousness.”
Alicia paid close attention to the barkeep and was rewarded with a look of thought, as if the man was thinking about something. Seeing this, Alicia decided to push a little more info out to see if she had a trail.
“And I even went to the trouble of getting him those rare clothes to. Geez, why can’t a man just be happy with the little things in life rather than go chasing after Horse Mamono?”
The look of sudden recognition on the barkeeps face was unmistakable. Alicia knew she had something here. Striking while the iron was hot, Alicia acted as if she just now noticed his familiarity to the subject.
“Oh? You act as if this is something you know about.”
Bert thought about it for a moment, something that made Alicia wonder if she may have given to much away too quickly, but the man nodded his head.
“I think I actually know who your guy is… though he didn’t strike me as type you talk about… but he went with a friend of mine by the name of Helen. The Bicorn you’re talking about. They stayed here for a bit yesterday and talked about plans and as far as I can tell, he went with her back to the inn she was staying at.”
Alicia, trying her hardest not to grin, looked at the man with her best innocent face she could muster.
“Really now? Would you mind telling me the name of this inn? I need to have a few words with my little run-away… I’ll pay you if that’s what you want.”
Bert eyed her for a second before he let out a resigned sigh.
“Just pay for the drink is all… I won’t take your money for information given freely. However, I ask you be careful with my friend. She’s not violent, and she’ll see reason, just don’t do anything too rash alright?”
Alicia gave the man a sweet smile that hid her true intentions.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Xx Kyle xX
Kyle looked out into the crowd as people and mamono alike made their way through the bustling city streets. It was fascinating really, to see all these people and monsters move about as if everything here was normal to them. For him though, it was something of a wonder, he felt as if he wasn’t ever really going to get used to seeing things like this. He could sit and watch for hours if he felt like it and not see anything boring in that time. However, as he continued to look outward at the people walking around, the sound of Helens voice behind him caught his attention, though he didn’t turn around.
“Everything alright? How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing well enough, and as you can tell, my mana is being kept well under control.”
“Ahhh? Then why don’t you turn around and look me in the eyes when you say that, I’ll perhaps be more inclined to believe you if you do.”
Kyle wasn’t about to fall for it, as he knew that Helen was currently in the middle of changing her clothing, or what little of it there was.
“How about you get dressed first before I try… and I have no idea why you would want to change in the middle of the bazaar like this… it seems like a bad idea to me…”
Helen chuckled a little to herself as she went back to looking.
“Oh? Are you afraid that some other guy would happen to see me in my full naked splendor?”
Kyle didn’t answer immediately, but he managed to get a stuttering answer out of his mouth a moment later.
“D-don’t be ridiculous. Jeez, I mean, you Mamono don’t seem to have an ounce of shame in you at all, is that all your race seems to- !!!EHHH!!”
A moment later and the feeling of something soft pressing into his back caused him to stop short with his words, the familiar arms of the Bicorn wrapped lovingly around his shoulders as she pressed her breasts into his back.
“Aw, why can’t you just be honest with yourself and just say you don’t want others to see me naked!”
“Because I don’t care about that at all!”
Kyle managed to pull himself away and turned around to give Helen a rather pissed glare. However, he quickly took note that Helen seemed to be wearing her usual attire, as if she hadn’t changed at all. The mischievous smile on her face told him that she must have changed back when he wasn’t looking. Staring at her chest for a few more moments longer, Kyle stopped when he realized what he was doing and was almost glaring daggers at her.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Ara ara… I got found out.~”
Kyle simply continued to glare at her, causing her smug look to drop into a simple smile.
“Now now Kyle, what’s a little teasing here and there? I simply want to see all your adorable expression after all. What’s the harm in that?”
Kyle found that there really was no harm in it, but he was still annoyed at her antics. However, he could only stay so mad for so long, especially when a demon overlord pops his input in.
‘This shit is giving me diabetes, and I don’t even have a body to do that in. Get back to searching for information dipshit.’
‘I thought you were being awfully quite as of late…’
‘I was quite cause I thought you would be doing something constructive by now. This is not being constructive. Now get to being useful!’
With that last comment, Kyle felt Zamil retreat back into his mind, though he could feel that the overlord was still hanging around the edges of Kyle’s consciousness.
Letting out a small sigh, Kyle drew his attention back into the crowd.
“So are you actually going to get anything or are we just going to play this game? Cause if it’s the latter, I can think of other things to be doing right now Helen.”
Letting out a small sigh of her own, Helen simply trotted up next to him before she looked at him with a half accepting, half plotting kind of look.
“No, I’m done, I simply wanted to see what kinds of clothes you might enjoy.”
Rolling his eyes, Kyle could only turn back into the crowd and start walking, the bicorn following closely behind him. The two of them where looking around for information, though in truth Kyle was the one looking while Helen was something of a tagalong, her desire to be near Kyle keeping her as close as he would allow. Thankfully, Kyle knew of a place he could go to get the answers he was looking for, and it was perhaps the only bar he had been to in town that he felt would give him information he might need. It didn’t take them long to find the place, and Kyle still found the name aptly put for the establishment based on the barkeeper.
The Bear hug.
Without waiting, Kyle pushed his way through the door, careful this time to avoid running into another tauric type mamono who may be coming out. Thankfully he was spared another such meeting, and the first thing he noted when he walked in was the barkeeper Bert. The man was hard to miss, though the look of surprise on his face was confusing to Kyle.
“Oh? Aren’t you the lad from yesterday? Get your fill of Helen and decided to come back here eh?”
The man had an odd smile on his face, as if something about the situation was somewhat ironic to him. A moment later and Helen herself walked through the door, causing the mans look to become quizzical. Kyle made his way to the bar, noting Berts expressions before he sat down. Helen was the first to speak, her tone light and cheerful.
“Good morning Bert. I take it the client from yesterday was happy with the results?”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, they were. But I’m sure you don’t care much about that right now… what brings you and your lucky friend into my establishment so early? Normally I would find you down here in the later afternoon.”
“That’s would normally be the case, but since I found someone, I’ve found that my usual schedule might not apply anymore. As for what brings us in today, well, we happen to be curious about any news regarding the Carnival of Carnality.”
“Hum? Well that’s interesting… can’t say I’ve heard much, though I did hear something about their being something of a fighting tournament going on this time around. Apparently, a lot of the Ares worshippers wanted something a little extra this time around.”
Helen smiled to herself as she sat down at the bar in one of the specialty seats.
“I see… I heard of something like that going on… well, I don’t see why we shouldn’t do something to appease Ares as well, I mean, we have events for many of the other gods, so why not that one. I’m glad to see the Lady Maou taking into consideration the fighters as well, even if she’s made it known she dislikes violence.”
Kyle looked back and forth between the both of them as they talked about it for a moment before he felt the need to interject.
“Well… that’s cool and all… but if you don’t mind my asking, what is this Carnival of Carnality thing?”
Bert looked to him, as if he just asked a strange question. However, Helen remembered her companion’s circumstances and clapped her hands together in realization.
“Oh, right! Sorry! You wouldn’t know much about that, would you?”
Kyle gave her a look that answered that for her. Unaffected, Helen took a moment to think on what she could say before she cleared her throat and began explaining.
“Alright… To put it in a nutshell, it’s pretty much a holiday in memory to when mamono started to lose there more violent natures and began to explore the more fascinating world of the sexual. However, it hasn’t always been a carnival, more of a day to remember for all mamono and something we gave our thanks to the Maou for. In truth, it didn’t start being called the Carnival of Carnality until the Maou herself started to do something some 600 years ago when she and her husband began doing public displays of affection. Then everyone started to do it, and from then on, more and more just started to get added on until it’s become what it is today.”
Kyle blinked a few times in some thought before he spoke bluntly.
“So it’s pretty much a giant orgy with a bunch of stuff added on to it then?”
“Pretty much, but the actual orgy doesn’t occur until the last day of the five-day carnival.”
“Huh… interesting…”
Helen cocked her head curiously as Kyle started to ponder in what he just heard.
“So why are you curious anyway? You want to attend?”
Kyle looked to Helen before he hummed in thought.
“Maybe… I’m not sure as of yet. The thing I really want to do is the fighting tournament. Mostly cause I heard you get a wish granted from the Maou herself.”
Bert nodded as if to confirm what Kyle just said.
“Aye, I’ve heard much the same thing. I reckon that with that going around, a lot of fighting types will want to participate as well.”
Helen curiously looked to the both of them before she also hummed in thought.
“Well… that’s rather interesting. Though if you want to join you’re also going to have to learn how to fight.”
Kyle nodded in agreement.
“Yeah… and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find the time to do that on top of magical training.”
“Well, you can only do what you feel like is in your ability to do Darling. Even then, the carnival isn’t for another 5 or so months, so we’ll have plenty of time if you want to learn. And even then, just the carnival by itself will have plenty for us to do if you still wish to go.”
“Hum… alright then… but for now, I need to stick with what I can… and see if I can find a Library that dates back to before the current Maous reign…”
Bert perked his ears up at that and nodded his head.
“A grand library? The Makai capital actually has one. You’ll need permission, but that by itself is actually pretty easy to get. There also happens to be one in the Order capital of Lugaria as well… but I don’t know if they’ll have what you’re looking for or if they’ll even let you in to look at it.”
Kyle looked to Bert in surprise before he looked to Helen for conformation.
“Is that true?”
“Of course darling. If I was to be honest, the one in Makai might actually be less biased due to the fact that the order isn’t maintaining it. The only upside to the order library is that it might even date back to the age of the warring gods. However, I have no idea what you might need to find that would go back that far.”
Kyle didn’t say anything, his mind working quickly with Zamils at the newest bit of information presented to them.
‘Shit… so the information we might need is in some religious wankers library? Fuck me… Just do what we can kid. I’ll leave this decision to you.’
‘You sure?’
‘Just do what you want kid, the information isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so we can take some time figuring out the next move. Hell, maybe we can spend some time getting you whipped into shape so that your actually good at defending yourself if need be.’
Kyle lightly nodded in answer to the overlord, but he stopped when he realized that he must have looked silly doing it. However, when he looked at the only other people talking, he noted that the barkeeper was giving him an odd look again. Normally he would have left it alone, but the man looked as if he wanted to say something to him.
“Burt… was it? Thanks for the info, it should help me out… also, not trying to be rude or anything, but is there any particular reason your looking at me like that? If you have something you need to say, then say it.”
Burt blinked a few times before the realization that he had been staring had hit him. Mentally admonishing himself for it, the grizzled man let out a small laugh before he leaned against the counter with something of an apologetic look on his old face.
“Sorry lad… I couldn’t help it really. Some odd things been happening in ma’ bar this morning. Had a young woman in here asking about you not but an hour ago. Claimed she was your fiancé and that she was right annoyed at your running away from her in lieu of horse tail.”
Kyle felt a quizzical expression overcome his face. However, Helen looked positively delighted.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Really now? What kind of Mamono was she?”
“No Mamono, a human woman as far as I could tell.”
“A human woman? Now that is interesting! I had no idea you had someone before coming here Kyle. Though I have to say, I would be rather irked myself if my beloved ran off to find another woman without informing me.”
Kyle looked to Helen with a semi-annoyed look before he shook his head.
“That’s… not really how it works where I come from… but I’m sorry to say, I don’t have a fiancé.”
“Really lad? She acted as if she knew you.”
“I can one hundred percent attest to the fact that before coming here, I had no such woman in my life.”
Kyle was going to continue, but Zamil ended up interrupting him.
‘Well well… I honestly did not expect someone to pick up on us quite that fast. I expected maybe a week before they got someone out here to investigate, but if they got someone here already…’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Kid, seriously, you need to start thinking a bit more right now about our foreseeable future. Has it not occurred to you what our presence here might do to the surrounding world?’
‘Not really no. I had just thought that it would be like they do in games. Show up in world, have an adventure. That kind of deal.’
Zamil let out a heavy sigh before he spoke up, irritation growing in his voice.
‘I suggest you start using the fucking gray matter in your head. Did you honestly think our appearance here wouldn’t go unnoticed? That our busting through the stuff between worlds wouldn’t be felt by beings as equally strong as myself? Those powers will want to know what’s going on as quickly as possible, though I honestly expected that it would take a little more time for them to mobilize…’
Kyle bounced those words around in his head for a few moments, the meaning behind them starting to bleed into his mind and craft a picture for him.
‘Are… you saying that we just might happen to have turned into targets?’
‘Yup. I would suggest you start to be very cautious from now on and getting to learning how to defend yourself. If we are going to be hunted, then we’ll need to figure out what happened to my body quickly before anything… shall we say terrible happens to us?’
Kyle felt a cold sweat start to run down his back. He honestly had not expected this of all things to suddenly make itself an issue. No, far beyond it in fact. He hadn’t been expecting to be hunted at all. Sadly, he couldn’t find a way to get out of it, and Helen talking pushed the issue away from his mind for the moment.
“Is everything alright? You’re looking a little pale.”
“Huh? Oh… yeah, I’m fine. Really. Back to the woman though. I don’t know her, so it would be best if you just forgot about her. Probably some… weirdo or something.”
Bert hummed to himself in thought before he shrugged his shoulders.
“Hum… alright then… I’ll put her out of my mind. She won’t be my problem anymore, but you’ll have a little trouble since I told her were you were staying at.”
Kyle whipped his head to look at the barkeep, his eyes bulging in both anger and fear.
“You did what!?”
The man jolted from Kyle’s shouting, though he took a neutral look when he shook his head.
“Yeah, I wasn’t going to turn her down since she seemed rather upset about the whole thing.”
Kyle felt himself start to grind his teeth in worry, however he stopped himself when he saw that Helen was giving him a look.
“Is everything alright? Is this person dangerous in some way?”
Kyle looked to Helen before he let out a sigh and shook his head at her.
“I… honestly don’t know. Like I said, I don’t know who this person might be, but I think we should be a little careful from now on.”
Helen could only tilt her head in some confusion before she only shrugged her shoulders and pulled up a glass that Burt gave her. Kyle looked at her cup for a moment, a clear glass filled with a jade green liquid of sorts before he looked up at the display behind the barkeeper. Noticing a bright pink bottle, Kyle cocked his head to the side and drew the man’s attention to it.
“Hey, Burt. I think I could use a drink after all this. I think I’ll have whatever’s in that bottle there.”
The bar keep looked to Kyle before he looked at where he was pointing and gave the young man an interesting look.
“Oh? A bit of ‘passion’ eh? Coming right up, though I warn ya. It’s got a bit of kick to it.”
“That’s fine, the stronger the better in my opinion.”
The man gave him a nod before he got to work. Kyle looked over and saw that Helen was giving him something of a knowing look.
“What?”
“Oh nothing…”
Staring at the bicorn in some confusion, the smell of something sweet filled the room and Kyle turned to see that his drink was already in front of him. He noted that the bottles color matched the color of the drink he currently had his hand wrapped around. It wasn’t a large glass, but Kyle could tell it was pretty potent whatever it was. He looked to the drink, then to the barkeeper before a thought hit him.
“Um… actually, how much is this? I’m not sure I’ll be able to-”
“Oh Don’t worry about that darling. I’ll pay for it.”
Kyle noted that Helen still had her knowing smile and suddenly thought that maybe he should have asked what was put into this to make it the way it was. However, he was kinda stuck at this point seeing as it would waste Helens money if he didn’t drink it. Letting out a small sigh, Kyle lifted the drink to his lips and took an experimental sip of it. He felt his tongue being assaulted by something he could only say was love given a liquid form. He felt his face flush quickly and his heart beat rapidly, his body began to tingle and his pants got strangely tight from his growing erection.
‘I fucking knew it.’
Mentally chastising himself over not having thought this out a little more, Kyle was about to say something to Helen before the sound of the door opening caught his attention and made him turn to look at who came in. It was a group of three, not odd by many standards, but he found it odd that of the three of them, two of them wore cloaks, while one of those two wore a faceless mask. The one who didn’t ordain to wear a cloak was some kind of beastman mamono in something of a skimpy outfit, though she didn’t seem perturbed by it.
“Lady Zellha, I seriously think stopping by a bar right now is a bad idea.”
Said a muffled voice, no doubt the woman in the mask.
“Vera, I smelled ‘passion’. I am not about to let myself pass it up if I can help it, especially with the kind of day we’re having right now!”
Kyle noted that the other cloaked person had no such mask on, it was easy to see that they were trying to keep their face hidden though.
“Sometimes Milady, I find it curious how your nose seems to work better than mine when it comes to drink.”
“Yeah yeah… now how about you two get off my back already and let me drink in peace.”
Kyle watched the group curiously for a moment longer before he turned back to his own drink. Was it seriously that strong? Not thinking about it again, he decided that since he had taken the first sip, he might as well as finish it off. Trying to ignore the aphrodisiac effects that raced across his tongue, Kyle had to admit that it was a good drink, though it didn’t have quite the buzz he was used to in alcohol. However, as his attention was on the drink, he failed to pay attention to the group as they walked past. The moment they started to go past, Zellha stopped in her tracks and quickly whipped her head to the side to look at the man sitting at the bar. The Lillim knew that odd magical energy from the cave. She was almost too surprised to even comprehend that the thing… person she was looking for was currently right in her reach. Vera and Letto where curious as to why their lady had stopped stone cold, but Letto quickly picked up on the scent surrounding the man. Vera could see Letto’s eyes open in recognition, and she quickly saw that Zellha was also wide eyed. The three of them knew they had found the target, but they almost didn’t know how best to go about this. That is until Zellha shook her head and moved quickly. Zellha walked over to the bar and sat two seats from Kyle, the young man only glancing in her general direction before he went back to nursing his drink.
Burt noticed her and how small she was, but he knew better than to judge based on appearances.
“Morning. What’s your pleasure?”
Zellha decided to take a risk, and she let out a small sigh as she pulled her hood back, revealing her features as a Lilim.
“If you don’t mind my good man, I thought I smelled a hint of ‘passion’ in this establishment and I found I was rather thirsty. I’ll take a cup of that.”
The mans eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw the girl, and across from her target, the Bicorn almost choked on her drink when she saw Zellha. The only one not surprised by the sudden appearance of a Lilim was the young man sitting close to her.
Kyle saw Helen nearly choke on her drink and gave her an odd look.
“Hey, everything alright there Helen?”
The Bicorn he was so used to seeing being rather calm and in control of herself, looked as if she was about to start fangirl-ing all over the place.
“Fine!? I’m absolutely shocked that your acting the way you are! Do you not see a Lilim sitting in the very same room as us?!”
Kyle gave Helen a confused look before he turned to look at the girl seated a few feet away from him. He gave her something of a curious look before he looked back to Helen.
“Why is this a big deal?”
For all intents and purposes, Kyle may as well as told her she should go shoot herself. Her shock almost made him feel bad for even saying that, though a moment later, Helen was all too pleased to explain to him the reason why.
“Why!? You ask why!? The reason being is that in this very room, a daughter of the Maou herself is sitting here! Any mamono would be thrilled to be around someone of such status!”
Kyle looked over to the girl again, this time noting that she was staring at him intently. It wasn’t a harsh stare, but it was as if she was trying to see through him. A moment later and something in his mind clicked with what Helen told him.
‘Daughter of the Maou herself?!’
He had no doubt in his mind that this girl may be someone who was also looking for him, and he suddenly felt as if he had just been placed in a trap. He looked behind him and could see that the two women who were with this Lilim had come up behind him. However, Burt and Helen didn’t seem to sense the danger in this situation, which left him all alone right now.
He jumped when the girl cleared her throat.
“I can see that you puzzled rather quickly what I happen to be here for. Bravo, though I can see that your rather… nervous right now. However, I don’t mean to cause you any harm. If anything, I wish to talk with you. How about we start off with introductions?”
Bowing her head slightly, Zellha gave Kyle a charming smile filled with nothing but sweetness and kind intentions.
“I am Zellha, sixty ninth daughter of the Maou and current overseer of magical research.”
Kyle looked at her for a moment, his gut telling him not to believe that overly sweet smile for a second.
“I’m… Kyle… Kyle Demonia. No child of anybody interesting. Occupation is… well… I’ll get back to you on that when I know myself.”
The girl giggled for a moment before she noticed that a cup had been placed in front of her. She took a moment to pick it up and take a small sip out of it, her face relaxing greatly as the liquid washed down her throat.
“This is a fine drink you’ve picked up for yourself you know. Not suitable for woman seeking to remain uncorrupted as this is almost literally charm magic turned into a drink. For a man I suppose it would illicit sexual desire quite rapidly, though you don’t seem to be swooning right now. A testament to your nature.”
Kyle took another small drink, hardly noticing the alcoholic beverage on his tongue as he swallowed.
“Woo-hoo, you know what I am. Now let’s get to talking already before I change my mind and go with my initial instinct to get out of here before something happens.”
For all intents and purposes, Helens face looked as if Kyle just told the Lilim to go fuck herself in a rather vicious manner. Seeing this, Kyle scratched his chin curiously.
“Oh? Don’t think I’ve ever seen that expression on your face before. Kinda interesting to see truth be told.”
However, Helen was not amused by this and quickly trotted up next to Kyle and started to viciously whisper in his ear.
“What are you doing! This is one of the Lilim! A daughter of the Maou herself! Why are you treating her with such a flagrant attitude!?”
“I seriously can’t bring myself to care right now Helen, if anything, I’m highly suspicious of her right now.”
Helen wasn’t sure what Kyle was on about, but it was making her nervous, more nervous then what she was used to. Kyle decided to ignore the bicorn for now and turned his attention back to Zellha.
“So…what would a daughter of the Maou herself happen to want with someone like me?”
Zellha smiled sweetly again before she downed the rest of her drink.
“Quite simple Kyle. I want to talk with you, nothing more, nothing less. Would you be willing to hear me out?”
Kyle cocked his head to the side in mock thought, though what he was really doing was conversing with Zamil.
‘What do we do? I didn’t expect such a big player to show up literally right after you said something about it!’
However, Zamil sounded pretty relaxed right now, something that simply added to Kyles confusion and panic.
‘It’s not that big a deal ya dumbass, pull yourself together. Just keep talking to her. She hasn’t been giving off any killing intent, more like a fascination mixed with some anxiety. Though the ones behind you…’
Kyle resisted the urge to turn around again, though he suddenly felt like his neck was locked in place trying not to do that very thing.
‘What about them? Are they about to attack?’
‘nah… more like one of them has a weird feeling to em. Don’t ask me what it is though. It’s not hostile though, so don’t get your panties in a wad. The other one is just cautious right now is all, like any good bodyguard should be. Anyway, it won’t hurt you to at least hear her out. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to work something out.’
Kyle thought about it for a moment, but he honestly couldn’t refute the logic without looking like an idiot. It was true that it wouldn’t hurt to listen, but he was also somewhat curious as he was half expecting whoever found him out would just try to jump him. And he was curious as to what she might have to say. Trying to act as nonchalant as possible, Kyle slowly drank the rest of his drink, trying to ignore the raging boner in his pants due to the aphrodisiac effect.
“Alright, I’m listening. What did you want to say?”
Zellha nodded once in understanding before she began.
“Alright… I’ll try to get to the heart of the matter since you seem the type not to want to beat around the bush… or are you into that? I wouldn’t know with someone outside the confines of this realm.”
Kyle simply gave her an unamused look, causing her to giggle to herself.
“Sorry, not the point is it? However, I am in fact curious about you… or more to the point, my mother is. I want to extend an invitation to you to come to Makai. My mother would personally like to meet you due to the fact that your someone who managed to break through the outer barrier of the world into this one. The amount of knowledge you contain too things unrelated to our universe would be valuable by itself, but it would also give us a chance see what we could learn in terms of magic outside of this world. We could be looking at being able to do things no one would ever have thought possible.”
“So in short, you want me to come with you?”
Zellha thought about that for a moment before she smiled at him in that sweet way.
“I would be overjoyed if you would accompany me back to Makai. However, the choice is yours in this matter. I wouldn’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do after all.”
Kyle stared at her for a moment, trying to see if he could find any kind of falsehood in her words by looking at her facial expressions. Problem was that he wasn’t trained to read people’s faces, so he was sure he would have missed the signs even if she displayed them. He then turned his attention to Zellha’s companions and noted that the both of them where rather neutral… or at least the wolf woman did, he couldn’t tell with the other one since she had a mask on.
“I assure you that Vera and Letto will do nothing to you. In fact, I’m not looking for an answer right now. If you wish to think on it for another day, myself and my team will still be in town. If you wish to speak with us, then look for Letto in the city square around noon tomorrow. Until then, we will find ourselves some accommodations. Vera, Letto, let us be on our way… by the way, should you encounter someone else wishing to speak with you, then I would suggest you ignore them. I get the feeling that the other party might not be so kind as to give you a choice in the matter.”
With that warning having passed her lips, Kyle watched the Lilim get up and put a few coins on the counter before she donned her hood and left the bar with her followers. Kyle blinked a few times in thought before he looked back at Helen, the Bicorn many parts confused.
“I guess I have some explaining to do then don’t I?”
